Mainly checking to see if Linden has been on. Hope she is well and her pup.

Updating on my progress....or lack of. Back on plan today and I am craving carbs! I'm satisfying my sweet tooth with flavored herbal tea. Goodness this is hard to get back on plan. It really is a mind control thing.

Honestly, I wrote yesterday but I guess in haste I just didn't post. Dumb. Puppy is back with the living but none to chipper. Still. . . . Started an intense Geman class yesterday, 4 1/2 hrs/day, then came home and studied. Up at 4:30 studying. And have acupuncture scheduled for my back this afternoon. Never done that so it should be interesting and, I hope, good. I guess one might say I'm leading and eventful life. And the scale is UP despite being totally on plan. Way up. I think maybe I should slink away for a little while until I have some really good news. Nah, I'd settle just for good news. Please take care, all. IowaM, you're doing WELL! 3 weeks to Arizona? ANn I've been thinking about you, Pat, and that loooong commute.

Good to "see' you Linden, and it is good news that the pup is recovering even if slower than you and he would like.

Oh my, on the studying at or before the crack of dawn. I wouldn't be able to do that anymore!

I don't have to commute far this week. I am in the city till the end of the week doing the last of the cat sitting with Ms. Screechy Kat while my daughter is vacationing in Africa. When my daughter got her from the SPCA her name was Cloepatra, but my son renamed her as her personality quickly became clear. She is your basic domestic tabby but there must have been a Siamese in the woodpile at some point in her ancestory.

We had one week of bitter cold -40 Celcius, but now we are back to strange temps for this time of the year. +5 C today.It was very nice to have less driving while it was so cold.

Actually my commute is not bad when the weather is good. It is about an hour each way which does add two hours to the working day so that part is not good.
But for a good stretch of the drive the highway is bordered on both sides by a national park. It is Canada's smallest national park but has the most varied wildlife of them all. It is fascinating to see what animals one can spot while driving by, elk, moose cayotes, foxes, beavers and so on. But what is spectacular is hundreds of bison. It is quite a sight to see them sometimes as far as the eye can see.
I will have to post some pictures sometime, I have a pass and love to walk in the park when the weather is good, but we have at least six months of winter.
I often see American license plates on cars with people taking pictures because we are on a major route from Alaska.

I almost forgot for a minute there that this is a diet site, I love to talk about the bison. I know it is so frustrating when an unexplained gain shows up. I am creeping dowm a bit after I came to realize I had cut the fat content down almost to nothing. Most of my protein is in the form of chicken breasts and I had not been getting much oil on my food because I have been taking the WF dressing in individual packets. I was basically just getting fat content from my one krill capsule. I have really been making sure I am getting in my olive oils on salads now.
Sometimes a stall or a gain is from we are not getting rather than eating the wrong things.
I hope everyone is getting back on track after the disruption of the holidays.

Pat

So glad to see you pup is doing better Linden. I hope your acupuncture session helps your back. Somehow I forgot what is going on with your back. Having back problems is awful. I have arthritis in mine and there are some nights it is impossible to get comfortable. Maybe having two dogs vying for space in my bed doesn't help much either. Some nights I end up with a two foot wide section of a king size bed. It's great you are learning a new language! Don't know if I would be able to learn a new one or not. I'd love to take piano lessons once again but afraid I would fail. I leave for Phoenix in 17 days. I can't wait to warm my bones in the valley of the sun. Yesterday was absolutely terrible here with a strong wind straight out of the west. Temp wasn't that bad but with that wind it was bone chilling. My poor girls only got half of the usual walk. While driving the interstate it was difficult to stay driving straight. I thought someone might think I was drinking and driving with the wind blowing me around.



Patns...your drive sounds beautiful! I have never been in that part of Canada. Only place in Canada I have been is Montreal for the Worlds Fair in 1967 and that's barely across the border. The wildlife has to be abundant. That would be awesome to see. We have a lot of deer here but that is about it. At night we have to slow down while driving in fear of hitting one.

Everyone have a great day!

I've had acupuncture for my back and had very good results though I will say that the acupuncturist themselves can make the difference. I had a guy who regularly did mine and his boss, the person you'd expect to be better filled in when he was on vacation and it wasn't nearly as good.

Does it help if I say I like to eat bison?

Hey Everyone, I havent been on in a while, I was in mexico for a week after Christmas and went off plan completely, which I had planned. I am back and I am a 1/4 of the way to my goal. I am having a really hard time restarting. I have planned for tomorrow to be my first day back on track. Anyone have any suggestions? on how to get back in the mentality? I was doing really well for a while then the holidays came and mexico and now I really just want to be done the program and I just want to loose this weight and be maintaining.

I hope everyone else has been doing really good! Next Weds is my first official weighin in about 3 weeks. so I am hoping if I can start tomorrow I will be back to what I was when I left.

Hi and welcome AshGFonIP!

I was on plan for 7 weeks and then went off during the holidays (turned out to be nearly 4 weeks.... got the flu etc.) and re-started on January 6th. It has been MUCH harder this time around and is a battle daily. I am the lowest weight I have ever been as an adult, 155 lbs this morning, and I feel good and comfortable. I don't have that drive that I had back in October.

The only advice I have is to get your head in the game and decide you can do it again. I am in a weight loss challenge that is 6 weeks long. That is my goal... to stay OP for the 6 weeks and then I am going on a girls get-away with some friends for a weekend where I will be living and eating normally.

hang in there!

I really liked the image of your drive, Pat, and I hope, hope, hope your daughter is in Tanzania for the annual migration. Ok, cruising down the Nile isn't too bad, either. But the migration!

So I walked 6 miles today. Pup's first venture out, to and from class, then to and from (1) acupuncturist, (2) orthopedic physician, (3) radiology, and (4) the grocery store, of course. So I have a cracked 11th vertebrae and maybe 6 and 7. Have a CT scan on Friday. (I got hit by a bicycilist on a dark and rainy night. She didn't have a bike light and was yacking to someone on her left. By the time I saw her, I was down.

Been toughing it out for a while, thinking I could walk it out. There's a German word, very like an American word, that starts with S and comes to mind every hour or so. I have no idea what all this back business implies but I know my back hurts like H-ll with all the poking, prodding, and twisting, not to mention 2 cortisones shots that were worthless.

And while we're adding insult to injury, I can't understand the German teacher half the time because of tinnitus and although I've had mild dyslexia all my life I've usually found coping mechanisms. Maybe my lucks running out. And PLEASE, while I'm not laughing out loud, this continuing comedy of errors so borders on the ludicrious, that it's a little hard to take it all seriously (or in). The only thing I REALLY MIND is the weight gain. Cheers.

Its getting harder and harder each week for me now. I am not loosing as fast as I was last time. I dont know why but I am determined to stick to this plan and loose the last 13lbs I need to loose. My social life is zero and I am hibernating for the winter.Loosing this slowly is getting expensive and tough mentally

So, what are you doing to make a difference? Recording everything you eat? The real boot camp for 5-7 days? Walking 10,000 steps a day? Maybe we can help? Really need more information, though.

Linden, can you tell me what the real boot camp is??

I'll tell you what it was when I had a coach. I don't think it's changed, but I could be wrong.

4-5 packets a day, so long as you got at least 80, better 100, grams of isolate protein a day. One could be jello if it was #5 because the jello doesn't have all the essential amino acids.

4 cups of vegetables

2 smallish salads. Work on the balance between the vegetables and salad, and use Romaine, especially the outer leaves, where most of the nutrition is. Plus oil and cider vinegar. No lemon or lime -- too many carbs.

Total carbs 30 or under -- so one has to watch the carbs in both the packets and the vegetables.

I realize this is the IP standard but I think you can adjust it to what you're doing. Just watch the carbs in the vegetables really carefully. Spinach is good, but don't over do it. Endive is great, if you can find it? (And afford it. It is dirt cheap here. Hurrah!) And while you're at it, try to get red and green vegetables into the mix. Tough.

Note: I think, but I'm not sure, that you might be able to use one egg and 3 egg whites plus vegetables in place of one packet. That's MY interpretation.

Off to bed. Studying comes far too early.

I completely understand what you are saying, Linden! Sometimes it feels like I just have one difficulty after another but I'm not exactly sitting around feeling sorry for myself----at least most days. I do hate the weight gain!

On that note, they found nothing remarkable on my throat ctscan. This does not explain my constant sore throat or the swelling in my sub-mandibular gland. Not wanting to rush into surgery to remove it, the doctor wonders if it's caused by acid reflux. Now, I get to pop a pill for few weeks and see her in a month. (I can't say how much I hate taking pills!). I t didn't take me long to think that the acid of this diet might not be helpful. Not really sure how I feel about any of this or what I'm going to do. I need to do some research.

Did I mention there is a part of me that wonders if I have mono?

It is good to see others struggling with the second time around. The first time I did IP I was doing it with my teenage son who lived with us. This time he is out of the house and living on his own so I am doing this on my own while cooking for my husband and 4 year old. I agree with those who said they start each day with the mindset of being op all day. i wake up the same way but seem to mindlessly put things in my mouth without even thinking. I really need to get with this! I did well the first week then the second and third week have been not as great. I am just looking to find my way to be strong this time. It is good to find this thread. I am not making excuses as to why I cant stay op this time. I know it is all up to me to get it done I just need to find my true motivation. That being said, I am just glad to be here and really want to re-lose the weight i gained back and get back into all the cute clothes I bought then!

I went searching on Mark Sisson's site (Primal Blueprint) for acid reflux and found a great post which is making me think about what I should do and alleviating my fears about the low-carb aspect with acid reflux. I must admit I'm a little confused, frustrated and at times I want to curl up in a little ball, but I think that's just hormones right now.

I don't think I have to go to the office today, so I'm looking forward to just staying home and seeing how much of my school work I can actually complete. Midterm, here I come!