One thing to consider, as far as IP goes, is that eating carbs and stalling weight loss is a momentary thing. It is short-sighted. Our goal is to "fix" the problem, i.e. our pancreas. When we eat off plan carbs, we are not resting our pancreas. Resting the pancreas, then reawakening it slowly is the key to keeping the weight off physically. Much of the binging and some of the cravings are more a psychological thing. We need to become aware of our destructive behaviors and make an effort to change how we cope with stress & triggers. We can have the best diet in the world (IP) but if we don't change the other stuff, the weight will come back because the old habits were never changed. I read somewhere on this board a quote that has saved me several times. “Not NEVER…just not NOW”. There have been foods I wanted to eat because they were seasonal. Instead of eating them, I bought them and set them aside for when I am done and it’s time for my “free” day.

I hear people say “I’ve been good and I felt I deserved a treat.” The problem is that the treat is like poison. It’s not a healthy fuel for your body and your body tells you so after you consume it. If you view IP as torture, you set yourself up for failure. Same thing if you view the processed food (carbs) as the best food ever. If you look at processed food as it truly is, a less than healthy food that you will be able to eat once a week, if you choose, once you are into Phase 4, you will have made a great strive toward success.

I believe that the only thing we can truly control in our lives is how we react to what life gives is. Everyone has heard of someone who had a smile on their face despite tragic circumstances. And every knows someone who has it really good and complains ALL the time that life is terrible. In both cases, it is how each person arranged their mind, and the way they look at things that makes one happy with nothing and the other unhappy with everything.

The same thing goes with you and IP. Start by telling yourself you are valuable, even if you don’t yet believe it. You ARE valuable and you WILL believe it if you keep telling yourself you are. Then, the next time you want to binge, tell yourself “I am valuable. The food I crave is not healthy and is not good enough for me. I can have it later (phase 4) if I still want to”. For now your health is too valuable to give it up for that bag of XXX.

Everything is just a MIND GAME. One YOU can control!

Very well said. Thank you very much for this. I REALLY needed it. I have been struggling and binging.....i need to stop. I am VALUABLE.

Great post. I'm not commenting more, because you said it all so well.

Actually, I came back and edited this because there is 1 thing I'd like to add... every once in a while, there's a post on here that I find so important I think of printing it so I have it to reread as a 'reminder to self'. This is definitely one.

It was your post that inspired me to write this.

THANK YOU. It brought tears to my eyes to know that someone i do not even know...gets me and understands....and wants to help. I can't thank you enough for touching my life like this.

I love this blog!!!!! It is a life saver!!!!

Great post and ty JHW! I so want this so bad this time. IP is the greatest plan on the earth.

Keep your eye on the prize

So right. So right. To your whole post, JoesHotWife

We eat the nutritionally dense and valuable food that does our body good and we serve others the pasta, cake and ice cream. Who is getting the good food?

Great post!

I have been so struggling today. Great success over the months and then suddenly a down time. A pull of old habits and coping mechanisms nipping at me. I am drinking my water and decided to go with extra protein rather than risk the bad carbs.

Read this from Anthony Robbins a few minutes ago.

‎"Let's do a simple anchoring exercise now. Stand up and think of a time when you were totally confident, when you knew you could do whatever you wanted to do. Put your body in the same physiology it was in then. Stand the way you did when you were totally confident. At the peak of that feeling, make a fist and say "Yes!" with strength and certainty. Breathe the way you did when you were totally confident. Again make the same fist and say "Yes!" with the same tonality. Now speak in the tone of a person with total confidence and control. As you do this, create the same fist and then say "Yes!" in the same way.... I want you to actually do this, like every other exercise in this book. Just reading about it won't help you. Doing it will work wonders."
-- Unlimited Power, page 324

I did it and did feel better. I realized that often when I think I want something not good for me, I am feeling weak and unworthy or fearful. There really is a feeling of lack of power when cravings pop up! I am working to realize I do have power even though, of course, I can 't control everything. There are some basic messages that I've long lived with that can sabotage me at times. Feeling better now though, "YES!!".

I will try just about anything to help myself out of the eating patterns that had so harmed me. This is work, but I have belief and hope and determination.

Indeed, we are all "worth it"!

AWESOME!!!

Thank you for this reminder.

I need to save this...it is so eloquently stated!

Thumbs up Girlfriend. What you said about behaviors/thinking patterns is spot on but this jumped out at me as the backbone to what IP is all about and WHY it's important to adhere to the IP protocol. We COULD chose another plan (Weight Watchers, etc) if having more carbs was preferred. It's all about the insulin, and reinstating a healthy pancreas is the goal.

That said, I was not 100% during my 6 months. I had two vacations in Jan and Feb where I binged. But when I returned, I jumped right back on the bandwagon and have managed a clean run. I'm hoping this will take me a long way. Blood work is coming toward the end of the month so I'll see then what has transpired.

Again, good post. Self-checks with honesty are always important.

Excellent post! well thought out.
I was 99.9% on program for one reason. I was so sick with migraines during the detoxing in the first week that there was no way I ever wanted to go through that again. So no way was I opening the carb Pandora box.

But I don't post on the 100% threads because I was not 100%. Over Christmas while preparing all our favorite family traditional food and having much company I thought I was going to die from the effects of constipation.

The headaches from that were as bad as the carb withdrawal. So I made the conscious decision to have two apples. I have always felt I had to confess that for some reason!!!
I later read on here that for that problem I should have cut back the calcium. Since then I have just taken the calcium/potassium supplement
and extra magnesium on its own and the problem is solved.

Now on maintanance an apple a day is the first thing I added back. So I guess my point is we all have to monitor very carefully what has harmful effects on our body and make a rational not emotional decision.

Thanks again Joe's Wife for posting such a well thought out observation.

Pat

Thanks for that! I've been 100% OP and I often think "this is only for a short time." However, I still miss my old way of eating and wish I could do it...I know I can NEVER eat that way again and be successful, but it is a struggle that I have to keep working on to prepare me for maintenance...thanks again for such a well-put, thoughtful post!

I am so glad you all found this helpful. This whole concept made a huge difference in my life and the more I embraced it the better my life became. It effected all areas, not just weight loss.