Happy New Years everyone... I will be at work all day tomorrow. So I hope that I will get to hear all your party stories!!!

Happy new years everyone!! Well I've been driving 45 mins (one way) to my clinic for weigh in every week... And I just found out that there is an Ip clinic--- ON MY STREET!! Omg when I called the closer place the woman laughed nicely at my story then told me to start going there. I'm going for a "final" weigh in and to get my folder so I can transfer smoothly. How foolish of me!! I'm going to save so much gas and time. I cancelled my weigh in last week fir an interview so I have no clue how much i am down :( I'm so anxious!!! I have never cheated, so I wanted that smile and the good feeling of a loss during the holidays... Oh well. Big loss Thursday I hope! Good job on losses for everyone!

Why is it difficult to come back to IP after already having done the program? I'd like to take a break from Ketosis over the summer and then start up again in the fall. The threads I've read say to keep going until you've lost all the weight and don't go OP. Has anyone successfully gone 6 months, transitioned off for awhile and then successfully restarted IP to finish their weight loss journey that would recommend doing it that way?

JellyMae,

Sorry to disappoint, but no party updates from me. My family and I went to church last night and I think I was in bed sleeping by 8:15 PM. I didn't even manage to stay awake for the Bourne movie I was watching, let alone see the NY Times Square ball drop. Well, I did remain OP, so for me, my new year's quiet, sleep-in celebration was fab!

Anyone have any great resolutions to share? Here's some of mine:
(1) Exercise - strength train 3 x per week; do lots of cardio - at least 3 x per week, but may always work in more
(2) De-clutter my house - love the changes in my closet due to IP - need more of these changes in many areas of my home
(3) Explore cheaper cable options - need to learn more about hulu and netflix to lower my cable bill - with all the IP changes in my life, I'm home less to watch all those channels, and I feel I need less clutter in this area as well
(4) Reward myself for Maintenance (on Phase 3 now) by purchasing an ipad so I can continue to be rejuvenated by this wonderful community of Ipeeps

Happy New Year all!
Jo

I was looking at the iPad as well... I saw it for a pretty decent price at sams club.... My birthday is in 2 weeks!!

Also. If anyways likes to read people magazine.... It's a pretty motivational issue. It's all basically about weight loss and different programs.... But I loved all the before and after pictures!!

I'm so glad you are going to be able to get to your weekly weigh-ins much easier! I too drive 40 minutes each way to see my coach. But even if I found one closer to me I wouldn't change it. My coach is in my primary care physician's office and she checks with my doctor if something comes up that may impact my health. This makes me feel like I am being very well-cared for.
I just don't go every week for the weigh-in. I chose to go for 3 weeks this time between official weigh-ins but may go to every other week so I don't have to wait so long.

I hope you find your new coach to be absolutely wonderful!:)

I can't address the issue with the IP diet but I CAN say without a doubt that I have stalled out trying to return to other diets. Atkins was the last one I tried to return to after going off of it for a while. I just could not make myself get back into tracking all my carbs and figuring out net carbs or trying to find something crispy to eat (celery just doesn't do it). I didn't want to give up my simple carbs (candy, cinnamon rolls, homemade bread, potato chips, etc). I just couldn't make myself do it.

It's kind of the same as quiting smoking. If you quit and never start again you begin to get used to feeling better, breathing better and finding other things to do with your hands. But if you quit for a little bit and then start up again you never get to the up side of not smoking. You have a hard time trying to quit again because now you know how truly difficult it is to stop smoking, how crappy you feel while you are quitting and you don't want to give up the high you get from smoking. You never got to the point where you felt so much better NOT smoking so you just don't want to go to the work of trying to quit again.

I'm hoping this makes sense to you because I truly believe it would be a mistake for you to stop following the IP plan for the summer thinking you will restart it in the fall. Once you start eating all the food that got you overweight in the first place you will have a very difficult time giving them up again. Plus you will most likely gain any weight you had taken off and have to start all over again. But it IS your decision and only you can make it.

Have a great day!

Are you talking about totally going off IP or are you talking about phasing off into maintenance? Why do you feel a need to take a break from Ketosis? Judging from how much you have left to loose, it looks like you might get to goal before summer anyway.

I don't think getting back on IP after stopping it before you reach goal is any more difficult than any other diet - all diets are difficult to restart. I do speak from experience too. I have been on lots of diets, but Atkins and Jenny Craig are the too I lost the most amount of weight on. Both of them I fell off of the wagon about 40 to 50 pounds into it. I was never again successful about restarting either of them again and of course I eventually gained back all that I had lost plus more. I call it the golden rule - it's never the same as the first time around. For that very reason I'm not stopping till I reach my goal and then phasing off into maintenance. This is for the rest of my life otherwise I will end up just as I have before.

SekC, At the risk of being much less than subtle, I wouldn't be worried about summer yet. It's barely January. If you stay on plan and don't cheat, it's likely you can be at your goal by then. It's only going to give you an excuse to fail if you focus on doing or not doing what many of us have told you is going to be difficult. Focus on doing what is best now,

The reasons it is difficult vary for each person, but the reality is that it is.

Tomorrow 11 am is my start appointment. I guess I will actually begin on Tuesday morning...SO EXCITED!!!

Is it odd that what I am most looking forward to is buying new bras?

Not odd at all! Love the idea of being able to buy bras that I don't have to buy out of the big women's catalogs. Something pretty instead of totally functional.

I think you will love the IP plan...I know I do! Good luck!!!

Thank you galpal.. I'm excited to switch because my previous coach was more of a salesperson and never really answered any of my questions... More like walked around them. Very frustrating. Glad you have a great coach--- hopefully I will too :)

Hey everyone, stayed in last night, the kids had friends over for a party here. Just had chips and I grilled so it wasn't tempting. There was a really bad fog here so i suggested they just stay home and invited friends to come over. They had a great time so that is all that matters. Here is starting off 2012 with a positive note!!! We ALL can DO THIS and we ALL will DO THIS!!