Glad to hear it! Sometimes you need to go easy on yourself, so that you can keep going.

Also, the best advice I ever got about this diet was, "Don't make yourself crazy." We're still human. We're just humans doing something remarkable. :-)

cajun- ditto on the advise against weight watchers. i've done it twice and was fairly successful per se, but like mentioned before i learned how to use my points for candy bars and crap. the trouble imho with ww is it continually lowers the amount of food you can have, which in turn, lowers your metabolism. and if you eat a pack of crackers say, or bread/ pasta, your appetite is usually out of control from the sugar. i was always a raging you know what on ww because it doesn't control your blood sugar. one of the girls kept losing, and the leader kept lowering her points, then what? is she supposed to live on water? on IP, you start adding food. and you are burning fat, and the protein is protecting from losing muscle. after ww it is super easy to gain it back fast, because your muscle mass is lower which is the part of us that burns the calories.

i'm rambling, aren't i..... sorry- just my 2 cents.

Ramble on rondar!

Just reading Fitjerk.com and this guy can't get pass the Whey Crisps... lol
Must be some good stuff...and he's funny too!

I made 4 loaves of banana bread with huge walnuts for the gallery opening tomorrow. Man it smells good in here. I don't even want to eat it. Yeah right,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I know...I love the bars...I immediately wish I had more but about 30 minutes later I feel pretty full or I have a coffee with some RTD in it. I also treat once a week or every other week with the blue cheese dressing ....so yummy and does not affect anything.

Keep up the good work!



Do you exercise? That slows me down...sometimes I need more protein. If you are losing 2 a week...that is great. Have you tried the omelet..it is very good....and lots of protein. My first weeks (5-6) I did not have any restricted and then I added restricted 3X a week and then I added it every day and from weeks 6-16 I lost 3.5-4.0 consistantly....I just think every one is so different....but I was walking at lunch every day...when I added weight training the loss slowed and I got frustrated and ended up with planned cheats (week 16 when I started having planned cheats)

Keep at it and your weight will be gone.


Wow...one year mark! Excellent. Did you take any time off or have planned cheats? I started on September 13th and planned to be done by the end of February when I had a cruise scheduled. So that was planned cheat #1 and was followed by 4-5 more. I am hoping to go from the day I returned from Atlantic City (April 20th) to goal without cheating (hopefullly mid-June), but I have my anniversary the end of May so who knows. But every day has been a life lesson and worth it. Keep up the good work and congrats!

I feel the same way about getting to onederland! I am on day 15 (2 weeks) and it is going great, but I am just so anxious to get under 200!! Keep up the good work you have come so far...only 13 more pounds (per your ticker)!!!!
I started IP 235 and tomorrow is my weigh in at office (i weighed myself at home yesterday morning and was 222!!)

Hi experienced group!

How long did it take to lose the last few pounds? I have lost 20, but have 6 to go to my goal weight.

Should I move on to phase 2?

Mom....

My experience is it takes weeks to lost the last few pounds. But I think it's all based on your body. I'm still phase one'ing it and I'm 3 pounds past my goal. Some may disagree with me, but I would wait as phase 2 will slow you down, or at least it should.

Are you stuck in a plateau? If not, if it's still working, I would stay with phase 1 until you're done/closer.

You lost all that weight since September? Holy cow. That's amazing. It's taken me much longer. :-)

This past weekend was my second planned cheat. The first one was back in February at my doc's advice to help get me through a plateau. (Which worked, for a while.) It was very difficult at first to have carbs, to remember how to eat normally, but I got over it pretty fast. This one was part for the plateau, part because I knew I would have very little control over my food that weekend, and part because I was losing my little mind on this diet and needed a break.

I wonder if I'd have done better to cheat more, and keep my metabolism up. *shrug* That's the most annoying part - it's impossible to tell what's going on, when it's working or not working, WHY you're losing or not losing.

I'm a little worried about whether or not it's healthy to be in ketosis this long, but, my docs are telling me it's fine, so I guess I'm ok.

I haven't always been strictly 100% on program - for the first six months or so, I wasn't measuring my oil when I cooked my veggies, I would have the restricted veggies more like once a day than twice a week, but as I was still losing 2-3 pounds a week, I figured that was enough. When it slowed down, I got more strict, which worked up to a point.

I'm honestly not sure what will happen with taking a cheat a few days after starting phase 2, and then going back into phase 2, but I'll keep you posted.

This place is a lifeline. I wish I had found it sooner. All my friends must be sick of hearing me talk about this diet by now, but it's the most important thing in my life right now, and it's pretty much all I want to talk about. SO happy to find other people going through the same things.

Not sure if this has already been mention but part of the process of switching to phase two is adjusting your body to more calories so it is def important to get that second portion of protein.

I love, love, LOVE that dressing... I thought I could have it a couple of times a week & be just fine... trouble is, I love it SOOOOO much, I end up eating it right out of the jar & that's NOT just fine... so I think I'd better just leave it out of my grocery cart for a while...

Being good the past few days has paid off with a great NSV surprise... I usually measure every Saturday morning as soon as I get up, but forgot about it yesterday 'til I had already eaten breakfast... so, I did it this morning... a total of 4 inches lost since last week!!!.. I measure 13 spots, both upper arms, bust, rib cage, waist, abdomen, buttocks, both upper thighs, both calves, both upper knees... a loss of 1/2" in my waist, that was the best... only places I didn't lose were the arms & bust, & those stayed the same... suits me...

I haven't checked with ketostix, but from my headache last night & my (TMI) smelly urine, I'm thinking I'm in ketosis!.. whew!!!!!!!..

I hope everbody is having a SUPER Sunday...

hugs

Phase two you should be on until you have lost the last 10% of your weight. My goal weight is to maintain 125 but they recommend that you go 3-5 pounds below the weight you want to maintain as you will likely gain 3-5 once you are maintanence phase. Which is due to the glycogen stores increasing and the water retention that goes along with that. Hope that helps if you haven't gotten an answer already.

Darbs,

I love reading your posts and your attitude towards this process. Last night I had a planned cheat, not horrible but still a serving of German potatoe salad and a slice of better then sex cake. Mmmmmmmm! It was so good!! Kind of ironic but yesterday morning I actually met my phase 2 weight, but now I have to do phase 1 today because of my cheat.

Meeting your goal is important -- I skipped ahead and emotionally I always felt like I didn't cross the finish-line. By not committing to doing the phases whole-heartedly it changes the experience. iP is all about the phases. After being off iP for 2 months I am now recommitted to phase 1 and have a strict goal of 135. I think it's like school -- it's important to move from phase 1-4 like grades and then graduate! Congrats on losing 20!!