Thank-you for making this forum the information will help me get through the holidays, my daughters birthday and my own! I am still a little sad about no cake... baked goods are my weakness!
CAke is good, but it will be there when your done, whats that saying nothing tastes as good as thin (& healthy) feels..... healthy part I added, getting into a size 4 is just a great bonus, but feeling fantastic is priceless
Hi Mama!
I am so glad you brought this up. Please do not take this as any kind of harsh message, it is not meant that way, but instead to cheer you on to success.
There are a lot of different opinions, and you'll have to decide what you think is best for you. That said, as a person in Phase 4 (and no weight gain 5 weeks in...) here is my take on it....[WARNING: SOAP BOX HAS BEEN PULLED OUT FROM UNDER THE COUNTER...]
(ahem...) IMHO The whole point of IP is to learn to eat differently. FOREVER.
If you are not ok with that idea, you will ultimately gain back your weight and have wasted all the money (and hard work!) you are putting in now. So if that idea makes you think, "holy cow, I thought I was just going to use this to lose some wait for x months, and then I could eat 'normally' again!" my personal advice would be to quit IP now and save yourself all the money and time.
If, however, you really want to take control of your life for the REST of your life, and you are OK with the idea that you will NEVER go back to eating what was "normal" (for me that meant pasta-based meals, cheesy or creamy sauces, wine every night with dinner, french fries or fried food 1-2 times a week, potato-based casseroles and dessert at least 3-4 times a week) then IP is for you.
SO: for me, the whole point of IP was to use the weight loss time/process to learn how to cook and eat differently for THE REST OF MY LIFE.
In that world view, going off plan for holidays is self-defeating.
Instead, it's important to use that time to figure out how to eat well and love your life through the holidays.
How to find what parts of the food around the holidays are actually important, and which are not.
AND really importantly--to disconnect the love and comfort and family and spirituality (and whatever else the holidays mean to you) from the food. They are NOT inextricably linked, but you need to decide that they can be unlinked--or at least most of them can.
In my life, based on that measure....
Christmas cookies...not important
Sugary and other bad food at Christmas parties....not important
Eating a reasonable portion of my 80-yr-old dad's molasses baked beans at Christmas dinner...pretty important.
For you it could be a special Hanukah meal, or some ritual food that is important to your core values. But you need to make those priorities and separate them from the typical 6-8 week excuse for eating bad food which we typically call "the holidayz"
So, I would urge you to consider staying on plan through the holidays. Will it be hard, omgosh yes! But if you stay FULLY on plan, you can also be taking serious stock about what matters to you and what you will or will not engage in NEXT year, and every year after...by deciding what is actually important to you--and why.
And my opinion is that if you go off plan during the holidays, then you are giving yourself permission--now and for the rest of your life--to eat badly every time the situation is just "hard". So I would urge you to just quit IP now and save the money.
Of course, its easy for me to say, because I am in maintenance now. And I can pick one day a week to "splurge" in the holidays.
But to get here I had to live through months and months of weddings, vacations, my daughter's graduation and accompanying series of parties, 4th of July and Memorial Day picnics, etc., etc.
My point is that there is always a reason to eat badly (overeat or eat the wrong foods), no matter the time of year.
If IP is going to be the last diet you are ever on, then you need to learn how to make it permanent.
I wonder if we need a new thread to just talk about the holidays. Even for those of us in maintenance, it presents a whole new set of challenges. And it is pretty dauntingly looming in the future. So, maybe we could all help keep each other focused through this next few months? [because I talk a good game, but this is going to be a challenging and interesting time of growth for all of us!]
ok, returning soap box to under the counter now....
Given that one holiday is upon us, Canadian Thanksgiving, I'm cross-posting Rocky Monarch's post from the daily thread for the bump and easy reference.
Given that one holiday is upon us, Canadian Thanksgiving, I'm cross-posting Rocky Monarch's post from the daily thread for the bump and easy reference.
thanks so MUCH for the bump and keeping track of all the moving parts...I don't know HOW you do it!!
Great post, Rocky, and it did get me thinking about the holiday's as well.
Like you, I'm lucky enough that I'm going to on phase 4 starting in November. I too lived through my birthday, 4th of July, several week long trips, my friends wedding, and many other events. However, just because I'm in phase 4, I realize that I'm still going to need to make choices in order to not get back to where I was.
Occasional drinks out with friends? Yep.
Two days of stuffing myself with anything that looks remotely good at my parents house: Nope, not going to happen this year.
Have already asked mom if I can cook cauli potatoes.
I will enjoy the dinner, but I don't intend to eat myself into a coma. Maybe one piece of my favorite desert. One. Not 5. Not half the pumpkin pie.
Svelting, I so agree with you and the others about the fact that this diet needs to be the end of diets and the beginning of a new lifestyle when it comes to eating.
I have been feeling so much better without all the carbs and the energy they used to drain me of that I never want to eat like that again. Dr Triens ebook also says that diets don't fail because if you follow them you lose weight, it is what happens when the diet ends that causes weight to pile on again if you have not permanently changed the way you eat.
I plan to make the holiday dinners this year and we will be serving IP friendly turkey, squash, mashed cauliflower, asparagus o gratin and other dishes that will not sabotage my new healthy eating. I encourage others to get creative with their meals and offer to provide veggies for any dinner they are attending so that they can eat on plan and get to goal on time.
Showgirlaz- thank you for re posting the info about holidays. I bet that coache had alot of successful IPers in her program. It's about making wise choices not elimination!
Showgirlaz- thank you for re posting the info about holidays. I bet that coache had alot of successful IPers in her program. It's about making wise choices not elimination!
Mama,
I am so glad you appreciated the info. Yes, it is about wise choices but, it is also about elimination. When you are reading about moderation, don't miss those KEY PARTS of the coach's post that say:
1. Moderation is KEY. Let's not un-do all the healthy habits we've built on this program. Practice regulating portion sizes. Don't go back for second helpings. Skip the cookies-they're so full of sugar and fat and just not worth it. Have some mashed potatoes and gravy (one moderate serving), have a small piece of pumpkin pie(skip the cool whip, don't eat all the crust-super fattening), only have one or two glasses of red wine (this is Ideal Protein's alcohol cheat of choice-red wine) NOT the whole bottle, not a half-pint of liquor, etc. Plus, if you don't moderate, you may feel very sick... eewwww.
2. The one day pass is just that- a ONE DAY pass. You are not authorized to spend the whole week of Thanksgiving on an eating spree. It's not healthy and it's destructive to all the new healthy habits you've worked so hard to build.
3. If you use the ONE DAY PASS approach, you must go to bootcamp for three days starting Friday after Turkey Day. Bootcamp means Phase I, very low carb-no restricted items. This will give your pancreas a chance to rest and recooperate from the holiday abuse and get you back to fat-burning mode faster.
ONE of the key parts of this program is to retrain us about how to eat. There is NO way around it. Eating all the usual fair is no longer the way to go. You have to give up the things that don't agree with maintaining a healthy, trim body. You may get away with part of it, in moderation, during some special moment. But, special moments are not regular events so, if you adopt the moderation approach, decide on one meal or one day to do what you will in moderation and then get back to the plan.
Just remember moderation is not ONLY in portion it is also in selection. Carbs are in veggies, potatoes, squash, yams, desserts and crusts of pies. REMEMBER to choose wisely so that you moderate your carb intake with your food choices and don't just moderate your calorie content.
I did the iron will approach last year and will be doing it again this Thanksgiving. I am choosing to do the moderation approach for Christmas day. Outside of that, having lived it for all holidays last year, I know I can do IP on plan and have a great Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, Super Bowl party and, Valentines.
I'm really looking forward to Christmas dinner which, if it's anything like the last two I've had, will be spent in a small village about 120 miles south of Berlin with my daughter-in-law's family. It should consist of baked ham, fruit salad, lots of vegetables, and potatoes (did I mention this family is German?). And bread and butter. And apple cake with powdered sugar on top rather than icing. Delicious. Long walk in the afternoon. Sound like I'm home free?
A couple of days ago my son called and asked if I'd like to go on to Venice for New Years. Would I really like to spend New Year's eve slipping on the ice outside San Marco, standing ankle deep in icy wash when the canal surges over the Rialto? Are you kidding? Yes. I'm working on food strategies. The mind boggles. All suggestions welcome.
I have been wanting to post about my upcoming trip for a while now, but I must admit that the "cheat" kerfuffle on the thread last week made me a bit cautious. I think this is the right place to post this, because it's really about Thanksgiving and birthdays combined, and could equally apply to Christmas, so relates to holidays and celebration occasions in general.
I've been thinking about the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and following week for quite a long time. I'm going to visit my mom, and we will be celebrating my sister's, my mother's and my birthday all at the same time. My mom's bday is 3 days after mine, and both of us are hitting significant numbers this year.
The reason I called this post "watching my mind change," is because that is what has been happening as part of my weight release journey thus far. I have had help making the shift with the emotional component, but I also feel liberated by the lack of food cravings on this protocol, and have been watching my position regarding holiday eating shift over the weeks since starting the program.
The way it works out, Canadian Thanksgiving (and my bday) is in my week 10, and Christmas is in my week 20, so when I started I had decided that I would take planned off-protocol weeks for these holidays, breaking things up into 10 week chunks. I have so much weight to eliminate that this seemed like a sensible approach, so that I wouldn't go starkers and eat every sugary food in sight in rebellion if I didn't give myself a planned break. Not to be able to go out for dinner or have bday cake seemed like a huge hardship. (notice the past tense there) I even talked with my coach about it in our first meeting.
As the weeks have ticked by, however, I have noticed an increasing reluctance to shift out of ketosis, even though I'm one of those who needs to eat every 2-3 hours on this program, and have not experienced the euphoria or huge energy boost that many others have. My decision was also made before I knew how much variety I would find in this program, and things like WF products, which I had never heard of before. Discovering Low Carb Grocery (LCG) has made things much, much easier for me in planning for this week away from my normal routine. I have discussed my thoughts with my coach, and I want to share with you what I am planning for the holidays.
So this is how I'm intending to handle it now: I've decided to take an Atkins-ish approach to my week away. What I really miss are dairy products, cheese and nuts, so these are going to be my treats. I'm going to stay low carb, hopefully stay in ketosis, and still enjoy some celebration and a couple of nice restaurant meals. I'm bringing IP packets and on most days I am planning to eat pretty much like I do now.
Going out for a fancy brunch or afternoon tea (think little sandwiches, tea cakes and scones) can wait. It really is as others have said--there will still be birthday cakes, fruit pies, good restaurants when I'm done with weight release. I had lots of summer fruit before starting IP, and I find that the fruit drinks satisfy my desire for fruit flavours. There will be apples next year. For right now, I'm letting these things go in favour of low carb alternatives. I'm still having treats, but not with sugar/carbs which is a HUGE shift for me!
What is surprising is that I no longer even want to chomp on Twizzlers and Cheetos while I'm driving. For a couple of weeks, even though I didn't want them, I still wanted to want them, but that too has gone by the boards. I am astonished, but I really don't want them. They have simply lost their appeal. What I do want is to have radishes, and maybe a few cherry tomatoes with baby bocconcini, and a few nuts, and IP chips & protein bars to satisfy the desire for salty & sweet snacks--it's a 5 hour drive, so I do have to eat. I like to drink tea and water while I drive, so nothing needs to change there.
For Thanksgiving and the rest of the week I've stocked up from LCG on other low carb options like their special bread, low carb pancake mix to which I can add protein powder, and Carol's low carb cheesecake instead of birthday cake. I don't really miss potatoes or rice, so when we go out for dinner, I'll opt for additional veggies, preferably cauliflower which is a favourite. I might have one or two glasses of red wine during the week, but none of us are big drinkers, so I might not. I had been planning to bring a nice bottle of wine, but somehow it doesn't seem important anymore. But it does still feel important not to put up too many restrictions to push against, even though I'm not planning to stray far from the IP path. But I'm not obsessing about it. Astonishingly, I'm feeling really relaxed about the food part of my visit.
Wow, talk about a change! No guilt. No excuses, no justifications. Before IP, I had thought and spoken about how I would love to just be able to eat, without all the emotional baggage, anger, shame and resentment, and the ever present fear of weight gain that has governed every morsel for such a long, long time. Amazingly, I seem to be coming to that peaceful place now. These days it seems such a small sacrifice not to have some types of food for now, if the future is bringing the realization of my dream of enjoying food for its nourishment and delights, while being able to take it or leave it because it is just food after all and is only one part of my life and experience.
What seemed like such a big deal, a huge sacrifice, in August, is now just not that important. It is a sea change. As I have watched, my mind has changed and the tide of my thoughts has changed direction. Interesting. Empowering. And such a relief.
As always, Jackie, you are a beautiful writer and I love your post. You express yourself so well -- words like kerfuffle and sea change -- thank you, very much, for the post & inspiration.
Jackie,
Bravo! Loved your post. I agree. Once upon a time I would dream of holiday dinners - endulging, nothing was off limits. Always had seconds. Amazingly, things are different. My favorite times of the years are the holidays. I ADORE cooking lots of food and having family over.
This year, I'm thinking of all the ways I can make my holidays IP friendly. I thought of some type of creative non-bread stuffing (mushrooms, a bit of ground meat, zucchini, celery, etc..), definitely mashed cauliflower, roasted turkey, and roasted IP veggies. Loved Carla's idea of using arrowroot to thicken the turkey juice (making it into "gravy"). Also off the menu (my fav) bread & butter, and I'll figure out some kind of IP dessert. I can't believe that I don't care about "giving my favorite foods up". Am I in the Twilight Zone? I sure feel like it. I have been a slave to food for so long - just seeing what I liked and eating it. Not considering calories, fat, carbs, etc.... Didn't care. Saw it, wanted it, ate it. Yet very much disliked what I saw in the mirror.
I thrive on the success of each one on this group and it just pushes me closer to my goal. (It sure helps looking in the mirror and saying - WHOSE thighs are those? NOT mine! Too small to be mine!) I'm not saying I haven't had to sacrifice, but my oh my, is it worth it!!!!!
I also agree this is a lifestyle change. I really can't see myself going back to the gourmet cupcake shop and eating two cupcakes ever again. All those times I thought I was "treating myself", I was actually robbing myself of being thin!
We can get through these holidays together. I love seeing everyone's idea of what their IP holiday will look like. I can't wait to hear all the success stories the day after Thanksgiving!
Jackie, what a great post. I so enjoyed reading it and am so glad I think to visit some of these other threads once in a while.
I think the mind shift thing is one of the greatest miracles on this program as well. I have been on so many diets and always in the back of my mind is "I can't wait until this is over". With IP I find myself planning for the future and a new way of life. I feel that sense of 'peace' with myself as well, instead of the guilt and angst. Of course, this forum helps A LOT!
Please do not take this as any kind of harsh message, it is not meant that way, but instead to cheer you on to success.
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