Jases - great job on the 100% OP day. That is my mission today as well, including fewer splenda packets and no restricted. The scale was up another .25 this morning (not surprisingly) so I am keeping that in mind and know I don't want it to get any further.

Not sure if it was chicken or egg, but I crashed on the couch yesterday by 9 and slept until this morning. Apparently I was completely spent!

What is this salt water flush? I cannot drink salt water, but I could put lots of extra salt in my food and drink a lot more water lol. Would that count?

Has anyone had any stomach problems after using the WF salad dressings? I know that people either love them or hate them. I actually thought the blue cheese was really good but I was ridiculously sick from lunch on yesterday. The only connection I could make was that I had used the dressing at lunch and dinner on my salad. I'm thinking my stomach dislikes one of the ingredients, but they have no sugar alcohols as far as I could tell?

Okay... numbers are in, my first weigh in yesterday I lost 6.2lbs and an inch off thigh and 1 1/2 off waist and hip. woop woop! And I enjoyed Zumba it's like dancing and old school aerobics class; what's not to love.

Everyone hang in there and fight the cravings, it's just emotional and mental. drink water, drink tea, chew gum, chew tea. and REMEMBER how gross and uncomfortable you feel after you eat something awful. And how much you regret it. The less you cheat the sooner you meet your goal and can eat what you like in moderation!!

Glad you posted, where do you go (store) to get your WF products? Was thinking of trying world market over in Sanford.....I know I have seen the sign for Astor, but can't place where it is....I may order some WF today from online, by buddy WUV 2b sent me the link....

Most random OP lunch ever - raw cauliflower, 2 dill pickles, chocolate shake ... fast - but OP!!! :)

Day 6 OP, looking forward to my first weigh in on Friday :)

I'm also curious about the "salt water flush" mentioned by Jasesgirl

I have not tried the mushroom yet, but I make the tomato basil into a cold soup (mix per directions, but in processor w/ 1.5 cucumber and .5 celery) mix, this is also similar to a V8 vegetable drink. The chicken soup, I add 1/2 to 1 cup grilled mushrooms and I LOVE it......

WOW cherbe, don't know I could have done that, but CONGRATS.....

Holy crap..... what a day so far.
O.k. I need to heed my own advice and stop getting on the scale everyday.
I have been hovering, and I am sorry I don't eat anything lol.
I have done nothing but plan, but I am almost stalled, I need to quit obsessing.
What a crappy busy day thus far.... had taco salad last night for dinner again, man that's great stuff.
Chocolate drink for breakfast, having a salad and cappuccino drink for lunch.

Still no real hunger pains or anything like that, my exercise has suffered the past couple of days, been too busy, and I don't like getting on the bike right after physical therapy, don't want to undo what they just did.
My father is flying in from out of town today so no exercise tonight, but he needs to meet his grandson so it will be a good visit.

The wife got ran off the road almost this morning, and of course it was right where there are a ton of bushes along side the road.
So now her new car is all scratched up on the side..... dangit.
So $330 later worth of supplies ordered to buff and polish it up.
Have been on the fence for years on getting a polisher etc. to take care of my cars, but I will be damned if I am going to have a scratched up new car.

So finally did it... could be worse I guess, I could be eating lol.
It's going to be a long week, weigh in tomorrow :)

Everyone do their best to stay positive, I am doing my best.

Can you post a link for your WF? I bought 2 things on Amazon and they are ridiculously priced! about 10 a bottle for stuff. I can get salad dressing here at Martins. Its in the special food (think diabetic / diet aisle) not with all the regular stuff. We don't have other products though!

I have been OP all day. Had a an ok run for the first time since starting. I didn't make it the whole 3 miles, mostly because of the heat, so I did a walk/run on the way back home. Going to do more exercise because it makes me happy. Love me some ZUmba too sO I will try for that this week as well...maybe I can make a Thurs class!! I need the middle workout it gives (I always feel it in my hips)!

As for soup, I love the chicken soup. I use extra water so its not soooooo thick, then I use 1/2 cup chopped asparagus and/or 1/2 cup chopped broccoli (total 1 cup veggies in it). I heat a soup pan with some pam in the bottom and pan toast the veggies until they are a little soft. add teh soup mix and heat gently. Season with white pepper. Tastes like cream of asparagus soup, which always seems like a luxury since I never eat cream soups!

The vanilla pudding was my post-workout snack today. I make it per diretions and add cold coffee to it. Frothy shake =)

Dinner tonight will be baby bok choi and ahi with tamari I think . . .

Wayward - how are you seasoning your taco meat? Are you using a package mix? Perhaps the sodium from that, if you are, could make it appaer to be a stall when really you are just retaining a bit of water? I have felt swollen the last few mornings and not sure why. My sodium should be just fine even with a couple of slip ups . . . so just a thought for you.

Also, perhaps making it with lean ground turkey or ground chicken? or Shredded chicken (i.e. make in crock pot and shred) so you are not having so much red meat? Just another thought . . .

Keep at it though. I bet $$ you are losing inches even if the scale hasn't budged. And let's not forget, we are losing in places they are NOT measuring! I know I feel thinner overall even though I have had virtually no change in measurements and less than 10 pound loss so far. I keep telling myself there are other places - calves, rib cage, various locations on waist, face / neck, forearms, etc. You are making progress even if ugly Mr. Scale (who I get on every morning as well) doesn't reflect your hard work. Even though I may vent some disappointment with no scale movement, or an increase, I know that weight loss is not linear so it will not always show me what I want to see. Keep strong!!!!!

[QUOTE=coliep;3956696]Can you post a link for your WF? I bought 2 things on Amazon and they are ridiculously priced! about 10 a bottle for stuff. I can get salad dressing here at Martins. Its in the special food (think diabetic / diet aisle) not with all the regular stuff. We don't have other products though!


here is a link for WF products that are reasonably priced
http://www.netrition.com/cgi/prices.cgi?manu_id=394

oh wow, that is a much better deal if I buy more than 1 item. Thanks!

Coliep

I myself haven't looked at the seasonings, it's a package my wife picked up, but I know it's near 0's on everything.
I will check tonight, but my wife is eating the same things I am and she is losing so I know it's not that, and we eat basically the exact same thing, except she eats a more varied amount of veggies than picky old me.

My sodium count should be ok, I have really been watching the intake on it, but it's a good point to be aware of.
I do feel like I am still thinning down in places, it's just frustrating to not see the numbers drop, but I am ok.
Just needed to vent a little, since I rarely do lol.
Take care everyone!!!! :carrot:
Oh we had a turkey roast on Sunday and chicken like 5 of the last 7 days so please no more chicken lol.
Just bought another 10 pound bag this weekend.

welcome:)

If you cant drink salt water..then dont do it..You have to put two tbsp of un-iodized salt into a litre of warm water and drink it down as quick as possible..you lay on your side for 30 minutes so it gets down your intestinal tract faster and within 45 minutes..your body begins to elminate and clean out..The nice thing about it..is there is no cramping associated that i found..and it takes a couple hours to complete itself depending on how much sewage in your body is in there..i heard from a nutritional coach that our bodies are like a big long sausage casing and they can hold up to 15 pounds worth of sewage when we arent eliminating properly.. They say saltwater is very beneficial..its like an internal bath for the digestive tract..It can be used every day if needed..but be aware...you need to continuously drink water..cause you need to stay hydrated..Also..it works on the premises that your kidneys dont absorb the salt and the blood doesnt absorb the water..which is awesome..So its safe..and very effective..i felt tired after going to the bathroom so much..but by the evening..i felt refreshed and not so blah..and not so tired..and i craved nothing alll day or all evening..

So despite it being disgusting.. i will probably use it again next week..

So for those who want to know:

Saltwater flush: Internal salt water bath for your digestive tract.. I used it cause i was having issues going to the bathroom and i felt reallly blocked up..

Preparation:

2tbsp un-iodized salt in 1 litre of warm water..mix till dissolved..add a squeeze of lemon if you think it will be more palitable(in my case..i thought it was way harder to choke down being so sour) Drink with a strasw..Drink as fast as you can...in one sitting..then lay down for 30 minutes on your left side so that it can coat your intestinal tract..and then wait up to an hour for your body to begin eliminations..It will literally be like your peeing out of your butt(sorry if its tmi but its true) Your body isnt absorbing the water into the kidneys and the salt isnt being absorbed into the bloodstream..so its all going through you.. THe salt acts like an intestinal scrubber..to scrub the walls of the instestinal tract clean..

Was it worth it? Oh ya...i felt way more engergized..not blah..and had no cravings..and still havent today...

BE WARNED: it tastes horrible..and best option is to plug your nose and drink fast and not think about it..keep saying mind over matter.. It makes a huge difference in how you feel in my opinion...and today..ive been going to the bathroom like regular a couple times today...so i feel a lot better!

Sorry your having such a rough day.. Keep your head up! You can do this! We all can do this! Always remember we are here for you even..come and talk and vent and chat whenever you need the support! We are all in it to win it!

Well im very happy today! I jumped on my scale and i lost a couple of pounds! Yay!!! I feel pretty good today..I got the pd a penut butter crunch bar in the mail today and tried it..oh my goodness!!! Delicious!!! I have never had a bar till now..and it was awesome! very filling! I also got my salt and viniger ridges in and i got my chocolate covered soy puffs..Someone told me they tasted like chocolate covered soy puffs..and they were right..they were all very good! I feel like i have what i need now to meet the "i need to cheat"feeling.. I feel like im set up for success.. Im also happy im on day 2 and completely on plan! I keep saying to myself "cheating is not worth it...."

Have to ask, how do you know how good they all are if you just got them today? You know those are all restricted and you can only have 1 a day right?
Just making sure :)
And yes the peanut butter bar is really good, I actually like the lemon ones too. And my wife had the chocolate raspberry one last night and really liked it.
I have to say I am lucky I have a clinic that lets us order whatever we want and lets us bring back and trade stuff, I know some of you don't have that luxury and it would suck to order a box of stuff and hate it which I know some of you have to do.

How do you do the baby bok choi? I saw it in Wegmans today and kept looking at it, but didn't know what to do with it. lol

WOW!! Well, thank goodness she was okay even though the car wasn't.
I hope the rest of your day went well.
Hang in there!!

Hello.
I am so glad that I found this sub forum. I have been a member of 3fatchicks for a while. When I first came here I was doing a lowcarb program back in 2004 and because of the support I got from people here I was very successful and made it to goal. Then I got married and had my two boys but I have not been able to get rid of pregnancy weight again. Anyhow, I hope that I can make it to goal again.
I am starting the IP program tomorrow. I am looking forward and am excited to start the program and hope that it works well for me too.
See you tomorrow.

Welcome Rachel - I am working on the last 5 of baby weight and then an additional 5 of desk job before babies =) My baby turns 1 tomorrow!!

Wayward - always welcome to vent here! I bet you will see some large movement soon!

Bella - I prepare just about all my dinner vegiges the same way. Some variation of the same thing lately. This time I just chopped the bok choi (turned out it was large, not baby). Heat pan on high, use spray pam (can use olive oil if you still need to get some in), and stir a bunch of chopped ginger (to taste) for a minute or so, then toss in bok choi and cook down. Add a little water if you need to for softening / cooking. You can also do it with minced garlic. I season to taste with the sea salt, sometimes ground pepper. TOnight I did the bok choi and romaine together in a stir fry wtih pam and ginger root, sea salt, and white pepper. I served it with 8 ounces (2 small filets) of tuna broiled in the oven after putting a little olive oil, sea salt and pepper on top. I dipped the ahi in wasabi and tamari. It was a poor man's not-so-seared-ahi =) I was quite full.

I had a pretty good day but ended up having a restricted bar, even though I had planned not to. I forgot that I was really trying to do week 1 all over, not just imposing an arbitrary rule on myself. Dumb, but could be worse. Hopefully it was offset by my jog (though not likely, since I am sure I was tapping into the excess calories and fat from yesterday and certainly didn't need any more today). Oh well.

tomorrow is a trip to the zoo. We are not packing our lunches this time, so not quite sure what I will do. Probably a side salad somewhere and bring a packet and my shaker (I always have bottled water in the car)....

Hi Everyone,

I'm on Day 2 of alternative products. Breakfast was an EAS CarbAdvantage Shake (110 calories). For lunch I had a package of the Chicken & Veggie soup mix today from Healthwise or one of those alternatives. The sodium count was pretty outrageous. I added about 1/4 cup of baby shrimp and 1/2 cup of cauliflower to it and found it to be filling. I think that I needed to eat more veggies/lettuce because soon after lunch I was craving more food. Felt like craving, not actual hunger. It honestly didn't occur to me to go get a bowl of lettuce (I have organic romaine in the work fridge) and instead ate a restricted bar. After that I was quite content to drink water the rest of the afternoon. I'll have on OP dinner tonight. I'm looking forward to that first drop on the scale so I'll do better spacing out my food tomorrow.

I walk a mile this morning and tomorrow evening have a 3.5 mile walk planned with friends. So far my energy is good and the headache I had last night is gone.

Thank you all for posting all the great tips because they are definitely helping me!

Calee, good job so far. Tell me what your weight means....249 ip/155/155/145

Re; Salt Water Flush. I was doing some research on this after you posted and while I read a lot on the benefits, it seems to be associated with a master cleanse or other purifying / fasting / totally liquid type diet and it appears it is done after 5 days without solid food or something. Also says not recommended if you are having trouble with your bowels (until you have done gentle laxatives first). do you know anything abotu this? I would love to try a cleanse, but certainly fear the absorption of hte salt (as was suggested on a few sites) due to solid food being in my stomach . . . just curious!

Hi all: I have just finished day 1, just a bit more water and done for the day. Around 3pm I started to feel hungry, but then I remember I had that Cranberry drink waiting for me..had it for afternoon snack instead of evening.
So that was great to drink before preparing dinner time at my usual time.

Wayward - so glad that you are loving the taco salad - it's great to love your dinners. Also, if there's one thing this forum has taught me is that we all have stalls - it's so frustrating that the body doesn't do CONSISTENTLY what it should, despite the fact that we're doing the same thing that worked the week before. But, from the sounds of it you have great will power - and your mental consistency of continuing despite the stupid scale WILL PAY OFF. I know you're probably over the venting - but I wanted to say something anyways.

So besides taco salad, one of my new favorite dinners is Asian lettuce wraps. I sauteed garlic and bison and then added tamari and a little splenda to sweeten the sauce then rolled it in regular lettuce - I felt like it was a PF Changs appetizer. I plan on buying water chestnuts (if allowed) and doing this once a week with broiled asparagus to make sure I get all my veggies. LOVED! :)

One of my friends suggested that I get rid of my IP snack. My coach recommended I eat B: IP Shake, L: IP Shake/2c veggie, Snack: IP bar, D: same as everyone. My friend thought I could drop the snack and do maybe a cucumber to help see movement - but would this be TOO low calorie? Thoughts?

Hi to everyone new and everyone old (I mean seniored! :)) - You make this so much easier for me!

Thanks for the ideas. I picked up the chicken soup today, so I'm going to try your mushroom chichen soup.

Coliep!

I know about the saltwater flush..ive done one too.. From what i heard and tried..you need to take a gentle laxative the night before to help your body loosen stuff up..Then take the salt water flush in the morning on an empty stomach..Ive heard lots of people using it even when not on the master cleanse.. In my personal thoughts: i think the master cleanse itself is just a load of bull.. I mean..cmon..lemon juice and pure maple syrup? sounds like your begging to get out of ketosis if you did that whole cleanse..

I personally hated the taste of the salt water but man.. i felt so good at the end of the day! I have had no issues or problems or feelings of being sick..i think its safe.

Just finishing my 3rd week of IP tomorrow and I must say, my results have been been so much better than I could have dreamed thus far. I haven't experienced hunger and the weight is melting away. LOVE THIS PROGRAM....and love this forum too. So helpful to us new kids on the block. :D

Opps, I guess it's difficult to read. My top weight in 2009 was 249 and yesterday I started IP at 155. I'm in the home stretch!!

Yay...i lived to survive another day 100% OP... boo yah!!!...

However..im not likin this watermelon lookin tummy.. i hate looking so bloated all the time!

Wow Calee, how did you go from 249 to 155?

Cher - don't drop the snack. We are supposed to eat everything they tell us. If it were your 4th packet, I'd say drop it . . . but not your third. Perhaps just switch them up? Are you eating any restricted foods or veggies?

Port - thanks for the info. I am having problems with hte big "C" on this diet. . . .haven't gone in 2 days now :/ I am scared of the flush until I get everything else going I guess, I but I love the idea!! How are things going for you?

Jases - Great job!! I hear ya on the watermelon tummy esp as 2 days of food is now stuffed in there! In due time, right?! Try some light walking and situps perhaps?

Ok, so the scale is almost to 146 after having been at a low of 143-144.2. I didn't expect huge losses, maybe even about .25 gain after my cheat but t is steadily creeping upwards. I am not totally freaked out yet because I think it is mostly due to not being able to go to the bathroom (at least I hope). I have practically finished a bottle of milk of magnesia and the last few doses haven't helped. I drink coffee in the am on an empty stomach. I have 3 liters of water a day or more. I eat my lettuce regularly, get all my veggies. I got exercise. I am just at a loss. My weigh in is tomorrow and besides wanting to feel better generally, I really don't want another week at the SAME weight! I ordered something to take preventatively from here on out, but any thoughts on what I do today? Keep in mind I am out and about til mid afternoon today and tomorrow, so I am afraid of a faster woring laxative type product.

This thread is way past 500. Time for a new one.