Hello everybody,

It was the worst weekend ever for me, the worst cheat I could have ever imagined putting myself through :(. I blame it all on my TOM, it was awful, it gave me the worst craving and I ate all the wrong things, starting with sweets: candies, biscuits, fruits, and ending with carbs: bread and pasta and to top it all, I ate a lot.

Obviously, today, the scale showed a huge difference, I gained 6 whole pounds! God ! It surely sucks to be a woman sometimes.

Now, back to the program, but what a bad timing to gain the 6 lb, I have a wedding on this coming Sunday and I was dreaming of hitting -40 pounds, instead, now I gained :(((.

Hope everybody did better than me.

OK, don't beat yourself up. It's a slippery slope and anyone who has struggled with weight for their entire life, totally understands that one little cheat can open up the flood gates for a whole-lotta cheating.

Start fresh today. Drink tons of water and keep coming on here for support.

More than halfway down!!
 

That is just awesome!!! Congratulations to you :carrot:

And thank you, because your post made me realize that with yesterday's weigh-in, I am now more than halfway to MY goal, too! I am now 56 pounds into a planned 100 pound weight loss for me. I have a mini-goal for 6 weeks from now and 16 pounds left to go on that, but my plan is to keep on going on Phase II. I have been on Phase I since May, and I don't think that I can or should do it more than the 6 months I will have been on strict Phase I... some foods I am just missing too much. ;)

It's been so nice to get so many compliments from co-workers and friends who are noticing the weight loss! Yesterday, I even survived a baby shower - at least they had veggies and some lo-carb option snacks. I don't think the 2 bites of cake I had will cause a problem... Doing great and I feel so good! Nice to have so many of my old clothes fit.

NSV - I DO NOT have to shop in the "Women's" plus size section anymore! WHOOOHOOOOOOO!!! Thank you, IP! :D

How about anyone else? Getting closer to goal?

Way to go! Keep up the good work. 30 pounds is an enormous amount of weight to get off your body. I am sure that your joints are thrilled with the lighter load on them!

Sandra, It sounds like a very hard weekend. It is is very easy to jump back into old habbits,especially with TOM. I am sure the pounds will come off quickly as soon as you get going on Phase1 again. Don't be hard on yourself. Everyone has hard days. Just remember you have done so well losing and you will continue to do so.
Today will be a better day!!!

No worries!! It's rough enduring a carb cheat. I was at a conference for a week, and broke down pretty early into the trip and ate pretty much anything they put in front of me. But I got back home, struggled through the three days of carb cravings that resulted from the cheat (it was awful!) and got back 100% OP. It will take some time, but you'll get back on track. Just stick to non-restricteds if possible for the week, drink lots of water, and avoid any bars or puffs. That will help you kick the cravings sooner.

I did that and (thankfully) lost more than 5 pounds the next week. Hang in there!! :hug:

Hey! Wow- you just made me realize that I do not have to shop in the 'womens' section anymore either. I think that was the biggest blow to my ego and made me 'give up' last year. There was something psychological about having to go up yet another size...so I put on another 15 pounds since xmas....

But, the good news for me is that I am shrinking and starting to fit about into clothes that I actually like. When I like my outfit, I know I stand taller and feel more confident. I wish my weight didn't impact my body image so much, but it does.

Congrats on your weight loss and keep it up! Keep us posted on how you do moving into Phase 2.

Thanks for your encouragements everybody :) Much appreciated.

Well it's Monday.
Back to your routines for those that work M-F days.

I start my new job in 2 weeks. I'm sure the time is going to drag and fly at the same time. I had planned to start phase 3 that week too..but I think I'm going to do one more week of phase 1, so that I can have 1 week getting used to a routine before I throw in thinking about what to make for breakfast!

Maybe I can be closer to my number goal by then too :D

Have an OP day.

Oh Sandra, I know that next day icky feeling, but remember this is for life, and this is going to happen to all of us from time to time when we are maintaining. All my skinny friends have times like this, but they get right back on the wagon the next day and move on. We need to lear this as a lifestyle. Try not to be too discouraged, just pick up where you left off.
It's my TOM too and the cravings were wild. I was barely hanging on yesterday. Made some kale chips which saved me, but i did have some red wine (one glass) with some friends.
I am 100% back OP today. The past is behind me and i'm living in the present moment.

Just wanted to add, it would take 3,500 calories to gain a pound of fat. You would have to have eaten 21,000 calories yesterday to gain 6 lbs of fat. Most of it is water retention, and the weight of the food, especially if you have not eliminated it all yet. So jump right back on and those 6 pounds will be gone in no time.

Good Morning, I think I got my ticker and I want to confirm it works. If not I'll try again.

Sandra, hang in there!! Get back on bootcamp and in a few days you should see a huge difference. You can do this and a cheat weekend is not the end of the world. You are strong and can get past this. Just get back on the horse. Goodluck this week. Remember you're still a lot lighter for this wedding than you would have been without IP! Be proud!

I am sorry this happened. I'm feeling the cravings bad right now too also brought on by my own cheat. As long as you don't let that continue and let it just be what it was then you should have no problem getting rid of that nasty 6 fast. So what happens in Phase 4 on cheat day, do we really risk that big of a gain or is it different then?

Love the new avatar, 2ride! Super cute and sassy ;)

3 lbs is lovely! Congrats.

and
Congrats on being halfway to goal!

Happy Monday! After a very lazy summer it's back to school for the kids today and back to a full week of real work for me. I'm going to miss my 2-day work weeks, but my vacation time is pretty much used up now ;) My boys are going into grades 2 & 4 and they're pretty excited even if they're grousing about not wanting to go back. I think they think it's uncool to not complain about school.

IP-wise, I realized last night that I am sick to death of cutting and chopping veggies. :dizzy: My mission today is to find some frozen veggies that will make the occasional meal easier to prep. I may even laze out and buy precut lettuce in a bag. I don't know why, but some days it just seems like work.

To all who have been impacted by Irene, good thoughts and positive energy coming your way!

Another attempt at keeping up with daily chat - hoping to be able to!

Good morning and welcome to another week! Week 16 for me so officially 4 months on IP. Been a little bit stuck lately. With reason - lets just say that. I had a 2 day (planned) cheat. Not this past weekend but the one before. I was completely OP with food but cheated with alcohol. We saw concerts two different nights and I can say it was amazing and so much fun/totally worth it but gosh I am still paying for it.

The week prior to the cheat I was 138.8. The week after the concerts it put me back to 141.2. This will be my first gain (also first {major}cheat) since starting. I wonder how long it will take me to get back on track? I would love to be back to the 138.8 at this week's WI (Tue) but I don't know if its going to happen.

More than anything at all it brought cravings back full force!!! Isn't that something!? So on two occasions since then I have added a 4th packet. But its the best I can do to stay on track.
So where I sit I am blaming my cheat weekend, TOM, and the big C. Hoping to turn things back around reaalllll soon! Weigh in Tue (at night) and will be satisfied with anything below 141.
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Other random mentionings:
Gosh that pancake is good. I'm finding its starting to become like the bars - almost too good and leaving me wanting more.
I started having the Target brand, Archer Farms, spring water. They are just so delicious and fend off cravings that I've been having lately. (they are sucralose, not aspartame)

Really wanting to start using alternative products from Nashua this week. I know exactly which ones I want and have compared nutritional values. holy crap I can't believe the difference in cost. I can get the same amount of food for far less than half the cost. Not sure how to work this out. As in why aren't you buying all of your food this week? Any tips for that? I still want to be able to go into the clinic for supplements/WF and the foods that I don't want from online.

NSV that I realized happened last week. My waistline is smaller than my husband's since…NEVER. I have never been a smaller size jean/pant than him. That is kind of neat.

Oh and following up from weekend chat I took magnesium citrate for the first time last night. Is there anything anyone thinks I should know about that? I'm just plain not going enough, only every 2 days. Yes I get all my water, No I'm not very good at getting all my lettuce.