Hi all,
I was just writing a long response to all of you - but lost it - so this one will be short.

Molly,
I feel your frustration at leaving the shrimp at the restaurant - I've done that too. At least you are in lovely Pensacola!



Evepet,
Staying on P1 just a tad longer might be just the thing - there's something about not quitting (like I did :() and finishing up a whole year strong. Impressive. (BTW, over halfway through Mastering Leptin)

I had the same thing happen Chole. This morning before the fiber festival, I had quotes, mushy "I love you gals" comments, named names (worried I'd forgotten someone) and next thing you know it "Poof!" went away. Sometimes when that happens it has posted but not today. This is not the first time that's happened either :)

Teena and Evepet - good job! I agree it is in your frame of mind. You are doing it!

I had lots of compliments from my friends at the fiber festival today. It's rather amazing to me one of them asked about the diet ("what are you eating") and our discussion ended up turning into what she was eating... which was Paleo. I asked her if she had any recommended reading or sites, and she said of the three Paleo books she has bought she likes Practical Paleo the best, and highly recommended it. http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Pale...ractical+paleo We ordered it tonight, it sounds like a good place to start.

So far so good today - going to bed now to read for a whiile. I've been reading about Paleo too - that looks like a good book.

Thx Denise. I decided I had to readjust my thinking and get back 100%. I really would like to 'release' at least a bit more stomach flab. I have that 'spongy' feeling there that generally means it's in progress. Hopefully, with the necessary discipline the weeks between now and end of March will do the trick. Reading YesMyQueen's post this morning somehow spurred me on.


Thx for the reminder about your Mom's experience. If I'm not at goal by end of March, then I'm going to switch over to P2... but surely 5 weeks of 100% effort will do the trick. I've been waffling these past few weeks, and I know it! Time to buckle down again and get this done!

I do have a couple of soup recipes I'll pass along. I've made my own personal version of broccoli protein soup and mushroom protein soup now, and found them both quite good. I'll send you a PM with the info tomorrow. I use unflavored 80% whey protein isolate for them. Some of my alternative products have soy, but I've tried to use a fair amount of whey protein based alternatives too, so it's minimized somewhat. I personally haven't noticed any problems, but too much soy does concern me. I've also been reading recently about the benefits of hemp protein, so that's something else to consider.


Yes, it's always nice to have companions on this journey. Thanks for spurring me on this am. :hug: I hope you've had a good day.

So far so good for me today. And it's bed time for me, so no more temptation today.

Hi, all! Just dropping by to check on all of my 50+ friends. I've been missing you!

Fishette - Lily is beautiful! Aren't grandkids just such a joy? I know I adore all 3 of my grandsons.

Molly, Evepet, Maezy - deciding when to transition to maintenance is hard! I just knew when I was ready and went directly to phase 3, even though my coach objected. (I hadn't reached goal on their scale - had on mine - and they did not want me to skip phase 2.) I really can't imagine doing phase 1 for 55 weeks!

You may very well lose as you transition. I lost in phase 3 and also in maintenance (much more slowly of course).

It's good to see that so many of you - Halfagain, Teena, Lisa, and others - are still here working hard at this!

Looking forward to seeing all of you on the maintainers thread soon! :)

I haven't weighed in at 199 since 1990, sometime in December! That's when I left my exhusband. I've been fighting this weight over 200 lbs since then and now I'm on a winning track.

Congratulations! You are indeed on a winning track. Keep it up!

Way to Go! :carrot:

Great to see you Lizzy. I am reading the maintainers thread some now as well, but wont be posting there until I'm closer to goal. There is certainly a lot to read and learn about. The end to phase 1 is getting much closer.

Hi lizzy, so good to here from you, yes we're still moving along, slow but sure!

Yea ONDERLAND and beyond! Congrats


Happy Sunday all, having a much better frame of mind and have NOT had any tastes or licks, sticking with exactly how I started and I already feel better mentally, like I'm the one back in control. Also have been walking with my MIL.
Wishing all a losing day! Teena

CONGRATS!!!
you must be so excited!!!! I am so happy for you!!!!

My goodness, I've missed a LOT this weekend! Have been busy just putzing around the house and napping a bit here & there. Just can't get rid of the 'tireds', so must still be fighting something.

So much news you've all shared...congrats to those with good losses and have re-committed to reaching your goals. Molly, I agree with you on your decision to begin phasing off. As long as you're comfortable with where you're at, and not doing it out of frustration with the slow losses.

Just wanted to say HI before I start dinner. VIP should be home in an hour or so. (I'm so happy he is working, but hate that he has to work 2 jobs which means 7 days a week...I miss him and our time together.)

Fishette, she's beautiful!!! I remember praying for her!! Grandkids are the best, aren't they?!?!:):)

What a beautiful beach, even though you say you're not a beach person. You're so close and 55 wks OP is a long time, I agree.

Yup, decisions, decisions. But you're so, so close!!!

Congrats on the loss! The fiber festival sounds great!

Part of the following is a repost from the 100% thread, but I also wanted to share with you all that I'm back from my 4 day trip to San Antonio to the music educators convention. This was the first time in many, many years that I did not walk around the exhibit hall eating the candies and chocolates, etc that the companies put out. This was the first time I ate out in SA and felt really, really good afterwards.

I stayed OP the entire time. I had the hotel put a little fridge in my room and kept veggies and pickles there, just in case there were not enough veggies around.

For one meal at a Mexican restaurant on the Riverwalk, I spoke to the manager and he was able to get me grilled veggies without onions. So I had a beautiful plate of just the fajita meat and a mountain of grilled green and red peppers, zucchini, and mushrooms. It was yummy! More on the other thread about the food choices I made on this trip.

I guess I learned a lot about how we can make it work if we don't allow ourselves to even consider going off. I'm so close to my goal I did not want to go off at all. I want to finish in 3 weeks and begin phasing off. I don't want to prolong this, but I want to get to my (new) goal before I begin phasing off.

Of course, the icing on the cake, so to speak (the pepper on the rutabaga???) came in all of the comments I got. Apparently the word got out to my former students and they all came to around to see me. I felt really, really great. Also, I bought a really cool skirt and dress at a little store with clothes from Nepal. One of kind stuff. I never, ever would have been able to fit into these clothes. Last year (pre-IP) I bought a beautiful over-shirt, all batiked and beautiful. It was a one-size-fits-all "butt cover" kind of shirt. Now it's too big for me. I'll take pictures in my new clothes soon.

Have a great week, everyone! And here are some new Feb. pictures!

Joysh - What a beautiful transformation! I bet your former students were amazed and thrilled for you. Great control with your meals. We'll see you in maintenance very soon!

Great Job! You've got this! Nice to take the MIL out for a walk too :-) I miss my MIL, she died far too young.

Awesome NSV's there. The one-size-fits-all being on the too big size is awesome! Your Feb photos look fabulous, congratulations! Looking forward to you modeling the new clothing as well. I'm preparing for a trip soon, nice to hear how you handled it.

My frustrations have been with eating, though I'm now overwhelmed by trying to figure out Phase 3. That's putting me into analysis paralysis.

Had my WI and lost 2.6#. Was surprised at that. I'm now less than 10# from my second goal and over 10# past my first. Without trying, I may not be able to avoid another set of clothes.

After the 55 weeks, I'm finding this is so ingrained in me that I can't easily transition to figure out what to eat that's not P1. Plus, I'm afraid to eat those "foreign" things. Gee, what do strawberries taste like? LOL

And congrats on the clothes "issues." I doubt one size fits all would ever be too big for my large frame. One reason I slow down earlier than most, I'm never what he charts say for my height. Years ago, I lost that much and looked gaunt.

Off to my "what to eat" analysis paralysis.

Molly