Wow. Sounds like everyone has been having a few rough days. I had a couple of small cheats last week during my first really rough TOM on IP. I feel extra sorry now for all of you ladies who have had these issues every month on IP.
I know I won't have much loss this week, but I'm feeling so much better today anyway. WI isn't until Wednesday. Even a single pound lost will make me happy. I had a Vanilla RTD for breakfast and a vanilla peanut bar for lunch. I'm off work here shortly (no daycare this afternoon), and I'll grab a quick salad. Tonight for dinner I'm going to keep it super simple - soft boiled eggs and a spinach salad, vanilla pudding for snack. I know I said I would do bootcamp after cheating, but I had to be on the go a lot today, and a bar was just more convenient.
Just have to say, I love being able to wear dresses again without feeling self conscious about my chubby knees!! Boy are my legs ghostly white, lol! Today I'm going to break down and buy a digital scale and probably some self tanner!

You are both doing phase 1 right? Are you doing it with or with out restricted products? Are you allowing any dairy other than the 1 oz of skim milk in the morning? Are you using the 5oz of meat and 7oz of fish or are you using the new 5 to 8 ounce of anything guideline?

I only ask because the guideline of losses averaging (over the whole total weight you lose) of 3 to 5 pounds a week was based on a much more rigid program (IMHO).

Back then, you could have no restricted foods until you were at 90 to 100% of your weight loss goal. You could have occasional veggies only after week 3. You could not have any cheese as a substitute for milk. You could only have salmon or tuna 1x per week. AND, your meat/poultry portions were 5oz PREcooked.

The result was a much lower calorie diet and you did tend to lose faster even if you didn't have a large amount to shed. The problem was for some people, losing a bit more slowly and being a bit more satisfied was necessary if they were to be able to stick with it in the long term. THUS, the add of the restricted from day 1 or week 2 (depends on the coach) and the increase of regular (dinner meal) protein.

If you feel you aren't losing fast enough and you are doing it the new way, you could try the old method and see if the results are better for you. If you can manage it, it really isn't bad.

Also remember the closer you get to your goal the less you need to eat and the less fat you have to offer in the ketosis process so, just eating a little too much more than you should in a day could prevent your body from tapping into its fat reserves for the calories and slow you a bit.

Think of it this way, your body needs a specific number of calories a day say 1500 for easy purpose. You can get that from food or fat. What you don't get from food, IF IN KETOSIS, will be taken from fat. So, say you eat 1000 calories on the diet, your body will take the equivalent of 500 from your fat reserves. If you allow that to go up to 1100 you use only 400 of fat and, you lose out on burning an extra 100 calories a day or 700 calories a week. That is why it becomes more important to stay with the program protocol.

If you are an average height, 140 pound women (need of approx 1650 calories a day) and are on program and getting around 800 calories a day you are getting about 850 calories a day (equivalent in fat). That means you would be losing about 1.7 pound per week of fat plus related fluid loss. So, 2 pounds a week is normal for that person at that weight, without exercise, if on program and not adding extras in.

Sorry if that got confusing. Just trying to illustrate how we can slow ourselves down when we aren't meaning to do it.

I updated my avatar today. I had a descent pic from the fair this weekend. Congrats on all that have had losses!

Carla, you are a fountain of information, thank you for taking the time to explain it.

Also, your progress pictures are awsome!

Carla, that was a great explanation. Thank!

Thanks so much for the explanation Carla.
I know people like to see lots of pounds gone quickly. I on the other hand was was thrilled with -2.3 at my weigh-in this morning. As we get older it goes a lot slower. But the reason I am pleased with the slower steady loss is that I have lost quickly on very strict low carb diets over the years. But as soon as any carbs were introduced the weight was immediately back in the blink of an eye.

Last year I did the Dukan diet. That called for 5 to 7 days of "pure protein". Then after that you have alternate days of protein only and protein plus veggies. As soon as I added the veggies back the weight lost from the protein only days was back.

My IP coach told me that the people who had good losses were people who really had good size salads at lunch. So I have done this. I don't think there is such a shock to the system when things are added back if done according to the plan. I don't think I would be able to stick to the old plan as Carla outlined it and I know I would not hold any losses from such a restricted plan. It's still early days for me, but I'll be very pleased if I can keep losing at a slower but steady rate.

I find the more protein I eat at night, the more I lose so I'm not sure all of that is true. I understand the logic behind it and all but I still don't think I agree with it 100%. Also, when i ate the restricted for lunch rather than at night, I stayed the same. (There may have been other factors but the day after I switched it back to eating it at night, I lost again.) I think our bodies just need more then that.

I've had really good losses, and I've had a restricted a day (after day 5) since the beginning. I also eat according to the new protocol. I'm sort of leary of cutting out the restricted, as it is the most carb laden thing that I eat, and I think that when I start adding carbs back that hopefully it won't be such a shock to the system. IDK though. Every body is different! It's just the way it is. Some ppl are just going to lose faster then others. No bodies body chemistry is the same.

Love all the new pics of everyone!

PI think I 8m getting enough of the oil. For veggies I eat broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, mushrooms, red cabbage, red onion and cucumber. Usually broccoli in the soup at lunch and the rest in a salad. I have a bar ir drink (usually chocolate or yogurt) at breakfast (9am), lunch is 1230-1, chicken soup with 2 cups broccoli. Dinner at 6, chicken with salad. Snack is a pudding.

I don't usually do the extra salad, I can try that. Just 1?

I love the pix! Thank you for adding it. I'm thinking I need to go run to the BR and take a self pix 'cause yours is so cute. Smile. :dizzy:

Update... OK so I tried it and realized that though I now weight 10 less pounds, my pix included the toilet, a cat, a post surgical arm splint on my arm. WOW! I laughed so hard. I think I'll wait till the splint is off and close the toilet seat next time!

That is too funny. I was concentrating on the picture on the front on my blackberry in the mirror (so I was sure I was even in the pic) so I am lucky I didn't end up with a really stupid look on my face. ;) I also stood over in front of the shower curtain as much as I could so I didn't have the toilet and junk in there.

I love reading all the posts - it's very inspirational to hear everyone encourage and support each other. I have joined/quit/joined/quit (are you getting the cycle here?) WW so many times and it was partially because I didn't feel a sense of accomplishment and 'belonging'.

I attribute a lot of my success to this forum and all the positive people on it.

Hi all!! I am new to this site and to IP. I just had my 2nd weigh in and lost just about nothing. First week was great at 7 lbs. I just finished my period on Saturday. Could this be water weight? I didn't cheat during the week at all.

I got my WAGS gloves today. (look for "wrist assured gloves dot com.") I am SO excited. They stabilize your wrist so that you are less likely to injure it doing Yoga or Pilates. I tore a ligament in my right wrist in 2004... never been the same since. THREE wrist surgeries later and I avoid a lot of poses in yoga (well, that's not true, I just all out avoid yoga now), and many things in Pilates make me a little unsure.

I pounced into downward dog NO PROBLEM with the gloves. I still took it easy, but very exciting. My Pilates class kicked my you-know-what today. My abs were so tired after, but that is good, right???

Gary Taubes. Why We Get Gat and What To Do About It. Chapter 11. Right after the little Calvin and Hobbes cartoon.