agreed....

I agree this is a place to keep us on track and encourage success.....

It does seem that different folks require different things to stay on track. No surprise. Some of us need to feel that the rules are rigid for our own good and some of us need to know we will be forgiven by their metabolisms for slip ups.

True but some of us find out the hard way that our metabolisms are not very forgiving. I'd be in that group I know.

Oh my gosh! Those choco soypuffs got me through my first week. DEEEE LICIOUS!

I totally agree! I went off diet for two days (after a death in my family). At that point, I had been on IP for eight weeks. Before going off diet, I had small losses the previous weeks. After getting right back on IP after those two days, my weight loss was -5.6 lbs for the week . I also think that it jump started things for me.

It was easy for me to jump back on IP being 100% OP because I have seen incredible results and I have decided to keep at it until I reach my goal. If I see the slow weight loss again, I'll probably do the same thing.

Everyone is different, so what works for one, might not work for another....

Good for you! I cheated last night..had one 5 ounce glass of wine and was up a pound this morning!! I know it's not a real pound..but depressing!

Your scaring me!! I leave for Paris in a week and I do plan to go off plan for 5 days...because it's Paris and I have not been alone with my husband in 7 years or ever out of the country. Do you think I will get sick? Should I slowly introduce whole grain carbs a few days before the trip?

By the title of this thread I honestly thought this was a troll. Assuming it's not at this point, after reading the entry...

I want to say that I am upset that this thread was posted, since with my own experience, I know that cheating is not the way to go, believe me. And I am scared that some newbies would assume that it is ok to cheat on this diet and that it might even be a boost to their weight loss (which is wrong)

I know from my own experience that cheating on this diet put me way back and I regret each and every moment I did, I wish I could go back in time and undo it, but I can't and now that I can't, it got sooooooo hard for me to go back 100% like I used to be, I struggled like crazy to go back on this program just because I decided that I wanted to cheat for my Christmas break (which by the way continued until my Easter break plus some more), so I lost time and money and most of all I did not lose the weight I wanted to lose and now that I see my fellow Ipeeps who stuck with it and I see their numbers and mine, I really regret my acts.

So, please, do not consider cheating, you will only be cheating yourself.

Sincerely.

Yes you should. I wish I had known about your trip sooner. I did a mini phase off thanks to Jennydoodle's post about her own experience. I did phase two for one week and then phase three for one week before my trip. I gained 6 pounds on the trip but then lost 7 when I got back on IP the very first week. Maybe you can tweek that and split up the time you have before you trip between phases 1 and 2.

My coach had me have a cheat day - because I platued - but it did the opposite for me - was so hard for me to get back on track...that I ended up having more cheat days and just fell off the wagon completely.

I'm more of a rule follower - so as long as I'm on IP - I am strict with it - because I know I can't just have a cheat day to trick my body into losing more.

Having said that - this time around - I'm varying my meals (since I got into a soy patty and choc pudding rut - I think my body adapted to that and plateaued and wouldn't drop anymore).

I can't help but wonder, if one could achieve the same end result by not going totally off program and risking a slip out of ketosis, but by upping the daily calories for a day or two through the addition of an additional 'plan approved' item ? For example, I have days where if I'm careful to choose lower-carb veggies and non-restricted items, I could add an additional alternate-product bar or package of soy nuts into my food intake, but stay under the 40 gms carb upper limit. Some of my alternate products have more fibre in them than the IP versions, so that also affects my daily net carb bottom line. It would be like adding a version of calorie shifting (within the range of approved carbs/fats/sugars, etc) into the daily food intake.

Not too long ago I did this myself and thought the same, but it was hard for me to stop cheating since I had such a good weigh in week. Stick to your guns and try no more cheating. It was hard for me to break the cycle. GOOD LUCK!:carrot:

I wonder also but again this is one of those areas where everyone is different and it's hard to say if a cheat day planned or unplanned is worth the risk. But, I have to wonder which is why I have been so fascinated reading this thread. It seems like there are some different leanings with IP. One is very strict, very hard core. Some cut out restricted. Some steam veggies and use only the required amt of oil. Some only eat chicken and fish. But, I have to admit that on the days I went above and beyond and ate extra or more fatty meat (steak/beef) adding extra oil to veggies and some days even two restricted the results were better on the scale. I did not make a habit of this is but it seems like jazzing a little on such a classical diet might help to stir the pot a little. It's certainly more enjoyable for the taste buds and can result in better bathroom time which is good on all fronts. It's not something I would do often and it usually was not planned. It just happened and I paid attn to the scale. It's also not something I would do regularly I just think that our bodies hold back because we are restricting it so much going fully classical. It's probably just trying to protect us. I feel like when we give it a little something extra, something that it wants, it's happy and feels safe and in turn allows us to lose weight again because we aren't doing anything crazy like starving ourselves. The tricky part in this is knowing the difference between what your body wants and what it needs. I don't think it ever needs cake or pizza or fries. I think that's what our minds want. So, it's a matter of figuring out need vs. want and learning to override what is not to our long term benefit. I think that is going to be the tricky part in maintaining. 20-something me had the metabolism to choose want over need. I don't think 40-something me has that luxury.

It's about making wise decisions, wise choices for ourselves. We really can't tell other people what to do because we are so fundamentally different. I love that people try to protect others from sliding down that slippery slope but you can't do it. You can't jump through the computer and knock those cookies off of anyone's table. We each have to learn our limits and based on what I have seen here some are classical and some like to jazz a bit.