Good morning everyone!

I am scheduled for surgery in September and am currently on Phase 1 with 23 pounds left to lose. My coach told me yesterday that I will need to start phasing off next week until after the surgery. I have to say that I am not ready to do this....but know I don't have a choice...my weight loss has slowed but I am still losing lots of inches and hoped to be closer to goal. I just don't want to go backwards. She said that I should continue to lose weight even though I won't be in ketosis. I just started my 6th week of phase 1 and have not cheated and am terrified about gaining weight back. I don't think it will be a problem to follow phase 2 and 3 protocol....probably is just psychological. I know that after surgery I will gain some major fluid weight and that will come off in time...just looking for some reassurance that this will be ok. I really like the safety of phase 1...and know that it will get me where I need to be. IP has been amazing!

Hi Terri,

Check out Life After Phase 1 and you will see that phasing off properly and following the principles of phase 4 will allow you to maintain (and sometimes even lose) your weight. The most important piece though is to go through all of the phases properly so that your body will become efficient at burning calories.
Also if you look through Life After Phase 1 and the weekly chat you will see that fear of leaving phase 1 is pretty common (I was in this boat recently ). Just follow the principles and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Best of luck with your surgery and I hope your recovery is speedy!

Best of everything for the surgery, and did you safely transition?

Thanks to you both! Yes, I am phasing off successfully and still losing...it is amazing. will see where I am after surgery and then probably go back to phase one to lose what I have left.

hope everything goes well with your surgery!! one step at a time and you will be fine (huh, a poet and I didnt know it )

Hi Terri,
I am going to have surgery on Sept. 22nd-It is interesting to see what your coach says. I have 4.5 lbs. to go until I have lost 90% of my weight and would move to Phase 2. My coach said we will wait and see what happens the next couple of weeks. She didn't seemed concerned and never mentioned phasing off before the surgery. We talked about it being just one day. She's checking to see what they recommend.

Good luck with your surgery!

It is interesting. My surgeon does not have any issue with me staying on phase 1 throughout this whole process. I know I won't feel like going wild with the food anyway and will have some fluid to lose from IV and such...so not sure what the reason is behind it. They said that once I feel like eating, I can jump back into phase 1. My coach who is a RN talked to her contact at IP who is a PA. Good luck with your surgery as well! You are in the home stretch on your weight loss. That must be a great feeling!

I just had surgery unexpectedly this past Monday and I was told that as soon as I'm up to it, I can jump back into phase 1 full force. I noticed you are in Iowa, as am I. You mentioned that the contact for your coach is a PA, so I think our coaches must have the same contact at IP. My coach said she was told by the PA that since I had laparoscopic surgery I was able to start up again with phase 1 when I was ready to. She did say if I had more invasive surgery or major surgery I would have to wait 4-6 weeks to let my body recover/heal before I could start back with phase 1 again. They didn't mention though if I would have had to phase out had this been a planned surgery. Despite all of the IV fluids and being extremely constipated from the pain meds, I'm up about 5 pounds. I'm actually surprised it's not more than that. I know once things get moving again and I'm back on plan 100% it will come off without any trouble. Good luck to you!

yelliemom Sorry to hear about the emergency surgery. It sounds as if you're on the mend. Take care of yourself and all the best for a speedy and full recovery!

Yelliemom, hope you are doing better after surgery. Take care of your body and don't over do it.

Terrid61, I think it depends on the type of surgery that you are going to have. if it is quick less invasive surgery you should be fine to get back on IP once you feel up to it. You will gain a bit of weight but it comes off really fast. It is water weight etc.

I just recently had a major invasive surgery on Aug 12th. I am still not cleared from my doc to go back to ip. I was up about 8lbs after surgery but I am pretty much doing a modified version of phase 3 and have lost 4lbs of the "water weight" gained. My doc wants me to wait at least 5-6 weeks before going back to Ip so that my body has time to heal and fight against chance of infection. Please follow your doc orders. it is easier to do it on the front end instead of the the back.

Good luck to you and hope you have a speedy recovery.

Thanks everyone for all the good information! My surgery is invasive and I will be in the hospital for about a week and then off work for 6 weeks...so I think phasing off until I get the go ahead to continue sounds like the smartest thing to do. This is not my first surgery and the pain meds usually make me sick...so won't be very quick to over indulge in anything anyway...I am just 4 pounds short of where I would start pahse 2, so this will be ok. I have to say that I will miss my IP puddings, shakes and bars...and I can't say that about other programs I have tried over the years....

Hi! I was just wondering if you all had to stop the supplements 2 weeks prior to surgery? I am getting breast augmentation and my doctor didn't say anything to that effect and Im nervous about them. Thanks so much

You DID see the previous pistes were from over 2 years ago, right?