So a little about me. I am 22 years old and have been struggling with my weight ever since I can remember. I have tried lots and diets/pills and I still ended up failing. At one point I just felt like I was destined to look this way. Yes.. I had my own pity party.. Now I am just fed up with my weight. I want to feel like I belong and don't want to be the "fat girl" in my group of friends. I want to be comfortable in my own body instead of hiding in baggy boy clothes.

So now why I am here. I am curious in joining IP. I have read and heard of so many people being successful. I am 265lbs right now and I would love to lose a 100lbs. I know it will be a long and hard journey but I want to do this for me. I want to be healthy! I just have a few questions about IP.

- I have heard the first week is really hard. How did you deal with it?
- What are some of the foods you eat? Good/Bad.
- I know that it is pretty expensive, was it worth it for you guys?
- How is your success? I would love to hear your stories!
- Any addition info you think I should know?

Thanks!

I am starting not to far off your weight and you know the first week went better than i thought it is just the first 3 days that are the battle. You will be headachy and tired and cranky but if you know if you get through those days then your golden!!

I have tried everything known to plan and this plan is the cheapest i was on jenny Craig and had to get off because weekly was 175 dollars and i pay here 80 dollars a week. And it works a **** of a lot better on jenny i was there a month and lost 3 pounds...... here in 1 week lost 8... and i loose weight quickly than other diets. I would seriously recommend this diet to anyone. It is a tough diet but what diet inst?

Days 2-3 were horrible for me. I had all the side effects they warn you about and they were awful. My tip is that you start on a Friday so that Saturday and Sunday you can spend pretty much sleeping in case you do have the side effects. I had nausea, extreme fatigue, head-aches, diziness and felt feverish.

That being said, it's the best thing I ever did. When I started this in July I was wearing 1X tops and size 16-18 pants. Today I am wearing size 10 skinny leg pants and a medium top. I'm still strong and plan to see this through to a healthy body fat %.

You are worth the expense. The nice thing is you arent tied into an expensive long term contract. You can stop whenever you want, if you feel it isnt working.

A few other tips-

1. try to cut down on sugar and carbs a couple days before you start to minimize the withdrawal symptoms the first week.

2. No cheating. this site is full of people who have cheated and then can never get back to being fully on plan. This program doesnt work if you cheat. I know that sounds really hard, but once you get the carbs and sugar out of your body, your cravings virtually dissapear.

3. Come here to post and see what every one else is doing. It helps so much to see every one's successes and failures. We all learn from each other.

Good luck!

read through the stickies, read about the phases, understand it all before you start

i slept through most of the first week because i was so tired. then it gets easy

if it's too expensive, buy offline or consider alternatives

phase off correctly or gain it all back.

My first week wasn't too bad. I had already cut my carbs way down so the switch to IP wasn't as bad as others but I still had headaches.
It cost a lot but there are several links about alternative products. I started off with IP products to get used to the program and am slowly switching to alternatives. I have had great success and am very happy with my results. I don't know how tall you are but I started at about the same weight and want to lose 115 lbs. There is so much support here and that has made the difference between success and failure.
I can tell you that if you are truly fed up and are willing to have a different relationship with food then it will work. My taste buds have changed, or at least I think that they have. I no longer crave all of the sweets that are around my office right now.

Good luck!

The first week is tough - but you push through! I had some mild dizziness (solved with a little extra salt in my day), hunger (I made good use of the unlimited lettuce) and struggled at first to get in all my water. I also had a tough time with coffee - I used to be a "have a little coffee in my creamer" kind of girl, and switched to drinking it black for the first few weeks. But it broke my taste buds of the sweetness of the CoffeeMate creamers, now I can use a little Vanilla shake as my creamer and it works great!

I liked most of the IP foods, the only things I couldn't tolerate were the fruity drinks. But some people LOVE them, so you just need to find what works for you and your personal tastes. There's a big enough variety of products to choose from!

Yes, it's expensive, but TOTALLY worth it. How much money would I spend on Weight Watchers to lose at a third of the rate? Probably close to the same amount, and the results would not be as fast. Plus I'm not learning how to make the SAME food choices within guidelines, I'm learning how to make BETTER food choices overall. There are SO many things I've come to love in Phase 1 that I will continue to eat through maintenance.

I'm still in Phase 1, but I've lost 52lbs in 20 weeks! I went from a size 18 over the summer to a size 12 (and even a 10 in a few things!). I have my old spark back, I can keep up with my kids, and I feel great. Success all around! I have 15lbs (or so) to go before I phase off, and total confidence that I'm going to succeed there too

The one thing I will encourage you to do is stay involved in this forum - the people here have been invaluable in my journey, with advice, encouragement, the occasional kick in the pants when I need it. There is so much good information here and so many people who want to see you succeed!

Good luck!

DO IT!! You have great support here!! The 1st week is ROUGH. I had headaches and was tired. I was a moody crazy woman as well. BUT it gets easier and all that goes away. It really becomes second nature.
Seriously, this was the best decision I have made about my weight issues EVER.

Does a center near you have informational sessions?? I'll tell ya, I wish the man who spoke at mine could speak to everyone. I was so impressed (and he in no way try to hard sell AT ALL) I knew I had to try it. I am 6wks in?? and I have lost 21lbs.

The women here are truly inspirational as well.

GL!!

PS: Scorbett also mentions a good point. I was debating having Gastric Bypass. I thought about it and between the co-pays, $500 cost and time off, even with short term disability, it was totally worth it monetarily wise to try this 1st. And now that I am getting the hang of it, I plan on using some alternatives to defray the cost of IP.

I am fairly new to the program I am just on my 5th week & have lost 21 lbs in a month. I still can't believe it. My best advice is to read the boards, get information from other people that have been on it an also go to one of the seminars that some chiro-places offer. My first week was tough the only thing I craved that week was a cold can of diet pepsi. Once I saw my first week results I was hooked. Yes, for me the expense is worth it.

Hi! I started about 5 weeks ago, I started at 277.4, am 5'3" and am 36. For the last 4 years I was always between 255 and 265 and I gained 10 lbs this year and just felt horrible!

Anyway your questions:

1. I 90% of the time drink the ready made Chocolate Drink. I love it, it's easy and if you have ever had slim fast, Special K or muscle milk it reminds me of those. Use to love drinking those too! The powdered ones are okay, but I like the creaminess of the RTD. I like some of the other ones but got tired of them after I had them 2-3 times a week, so I save those for weekends. Everyone likes something different, my hubby does it with me and there are ones he loves and I don't like. Puddings are good but I freeze them for 15-20 min and they are best that way.

2. TOTALLY worth it! Even with both of us doing it. We use to eat fast food a lot and it's way cheaper this way!

3. I weigh in tomorrow but I have lost over 25 lbs already. It's just melting away!

4. DO IT!

Awesome job!!

Ditto to everything that has been said! I wouldn't change my decision 5 months ago for anything.

I can't tell you enough how invaluable reading (and posting if you want) the threads are. It is amazing how many times I read the posts and am amazed that someone else is going through the same thing I am. It definitely helps you not to feel alone in your journey. You can find help with anything from a pat on the back; to a kick in the pants; to recipes; information and friendships. You will laugh and cry with the group.

BEST WISHES!!

Ack! I forgot the 1st week question. My 1st week was a breeze, good friend of mine, her 1st week was HORRIBLE lol.

So everyone is different, I felt great my 1st week, only had 3 very mild headaches. 2nd week craved some things but still was okay.

I also had already given up caffeine (soda) before I started IP.

My first 4 days were tough. I started on a Wednesday, and had to power thru working the first three days with an almost constant headache. It's a good thing I work with cute 3- and 4-year old children that make me laugh, or else it wouldn't have been pretty! LOL! On the fifth day I woke up with no headache and haven't looked back.
It is SO worth the expense...I have never been successful on any diet plan, and I have now lost 33 pounds in 10 weeks. Amazing!
Speaking of amazing, this forum is amazing, too! Tons of support, ideas, and really nice people. It is so helpful to know that others are going through what you are going through, and they honestly understand. I'm lucky, one of my coworkers is doing this diet, too...so I have one other person who is eating the same sort of thing I am at lunch and we compare notes, recipes, struggles successes all the time. But I still love this forum for all the support and great motivation!

Hope to see you around the forum