I am on week 2 of IP and have lost 11 lbs so far I have a couple questions...

Am I correct to be measuring my veggies before they cook? Especially spinach, but they all cook down somewhat.

What are the enzymes for? How much are they? Are they worth it?

Is this dressing ok?
Maple Grove Farms FF Balsamic vinaigrette
Cals 5
Carb 1
Fat 0
I know we aren't suppose to have balsamic, but this seems ok. What if I used it once/day and only 2 Tbsp?

oops one more...
Does it matter when I have my snack? I have been eating it around 3pm

veggies- yes before cooked
enzymes- they help break down the proteins....I don't take them, but some do.
dressing- IP wise- no, not on protocol as protocol is 0/0/0
snack- eat whenever you need it! some wait until 8 PM so their bodies have something to run on at night...others eat it before lunch! do what is right for you!

OH, and congrats on the WL!!!! What I would give to see my scale move that quickly again!

Thanks Ok so give me your best guess, if I were careful to eat just this one carb in my salad/day, do you think it would impact my weight loss? (I just cannot stomach the WF!)

Why don't you try making your own with apple cider vinegar, olive oil, lemon, and a little splenda? I also add garlic to mine and love it. I couldn't stomach the WF dressing, and now I love the ranch (eating a salad with that now!). I bought the dressing you're talking about when I started, and found that one teaspoon, not two tablespoons was enough. I chose to stop using it, though, because it helped me justify other "little things." THAT would impact weight loss. Try keeping a food diary of EVERYTHING you put in your mouth for a day. A normal day for you. Then go back and add the carbs. I stay within 20-25 NET carbs, and usually about 25-30 full carbs. Hope this helps!

Huh? Which one carb? Am I being dense? The time below is Hawai'ian time. I'm 11 hour later.

She's talking about the 1 gram of carbs per serving in the salad dressing. :-)

I am supposed to go out for sushi next week...any ideas???

PLEASE let me know how this work and what you do!! Sushi is the one thing I am CRAVING!!! I missed it so much when I was pregnant, now I'm doing IP... I don't know if I can go an entire year w/o it!!!

Naruto style (no rice, cucumber wrap), soy paper or seaweed wrap with no rice, and be very careful about having no cream cheese or avocado. What worked for me was boiled shrimp, asparagus, and crab stick in a soy paper wrap. Sashimi is fine, too, of course, just don't eat the rice! Most sushi places are very accommodating to special requests.

Everywhere I go, I check the menu online, make my decisions before I go, write them down, and specify what I need. I don't explain that I'm dieting, just that I have very strict dietary restrictions. If they can't do that, I carry a pack in my purse, my own dressing, and order a salad. Dinner is no longer about the food, but about the company. If your friends are really your friends, they'll be supportive of your choices.

I guess I was having an Alice moment. "If you don't mean what you say, then say what you mean." Charles Dodgson was a prime definer of logic (and pronoun reference).

And look at you. Half way there. If you don't make your goal by late Spring, even given last few pounds slow down, I'll be very much surprised.

Please don't surprise me.

I don't intend to surprise you! It's been a rough couple of weeks keeping my head in the game mentally, but my goal is to go back to work after surgery (March 7 is my first day back) 60 lbs down. Just as I suspected in October when I started, I'm betting that I'm done in April. With this phase anyway! :-)

[QUOTE=Mrs Diettrich;3677859]

About "It's been a rough couple of weeks keeping my head in the game mentally."

Maybe my perceptions are WAY, WAY off, but you seem to be so totally engaged -- if results are any indication.

Funny thing about perception, versus reality.

I tried adding garlic powder, celery salt and dill to apple cider vinegar and olive oil. It was great.

I use evoo, apple cider vinegar, dehydrated onion, mrs. dash....almost every day. Sometimes I switch it up and do evoo, apple cider vinegar, splash (very little) of tamari, truvia. Play around...find what does work....also, when eating out- try evoo, mustard, truvia....yummy! How about evoo and lemon juice?