Good morning all!

Sarita, loved the story about the skunks. At first I thought your friends were being skunks and eating your food, then I realized, you meant actual skunks! How did they manage to know food was in the foil packages, I wonder?

Beannie mommy, I am so glad I caught up on yesterday's thread, and I picked up your rhubarb recipe and am looking forward to trying it. I have added it into my special notebook of recipes gleaned from this site. May just have to cook it up today!

Today is my first day of the IP diet! I am doing it strictly alternative! So far so good! I know it will be hard to get used to eating less food than I normally do, but I am feeling okay today. I even have most of my water done and its only 2!
I do have a question for anyone who does the diet alternative. I do the quest bar. I see they have a new bar that is chocolate chip cookie bar flavor. Are these okay?
Excited to be here finally!!

Sarajp- I've been eating the Quest cookie dough bars as my restricted around 2-3x a week and i've had consistent losses. I think the calories from fat is a little high, but I believe there's less total carbs than the other bars (21g compared to 24 or 25). Maybe try eating them on a day where your total calories/fat is a little lower (myfitnesspal is a great tool to track that daily).\\Good luck!

65x65

If we had not been posting at almost the same time, I would have seen your post and commented on it.

First off, thank you so much for your posting, you write so well. I had a definite feeling inside of "ditto that" as I read through your writing.

I too have various comfort levels of what I tell people. It all depends on the person, the situation, and my mood as to what info I give. When asked what I am doing, answers vary from "ideal protein, look it up" to "low carb, eating healthier"

I have found I am more sensitive to the "how much weight have you lost" question. At first, I felt comfortable answering to whoever the actual number, but now I am tiring of it. The last people knew I had lost 50, so whenever asked, I find myself saying 50, even though the actual total number is now much higher. I may move to answering by saying "haven't done the math lately" and leave it at that.

The main comment that I am getting that is bothering me, and I have thought to myself, now why is this comment bothering me? But it is, is this one: "you must feel so much better" I am getting irritated by that comment. If anyone has any clever responses, I am all ears. I have answered lately "I feel about the same" and the person fired back "But you MUST feel better!" I feel like saying "you know, I know I LOOKED like a beached whale, but my activity level was and still is as high as it ever was, so I truly feel about the same" The truth is, life is easier, but I have adjusted to my new weight and I don't notice it as much as I initially did anymore!

Thanks for listening to my story, I needed to get it off my chest to people that can understand!

Thanks for the word of advice floridasunshine and 65x65. I'm only trying to keep this a secret for 10 more pounds. Lol. That will put me down 20 and I want people to notice rather than me tell them. Most of our group loves snacks, booze, pizza etc etc. but so far so good. I also have an amazing husband who is in on mt deception, like pretending I am having a vodka,soda,lime when the vodka is missing! Haha.

I will try some of the suggestions you gave. I feel so motivated as we are going on a trip in October and I hope to be almost at my goal by then! SHOPPING!!!!

Just finalized my France trip and we are going a whole month earlier! Yikes, now I'm panicking because I wanted to be down 20 more pounds by then. In doing the math, that is most likely not possible. We are leaving on August 28th. My question is: should I do phase 2 for a few days and then move on to Phase 3? When should I begin this phase out? Two weeks before we leave? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hi! I am leaving next week for a 9 day trip to Paris and London. My coach and I decided that I would do a mini-phase out before the trip. 2 weeks prior, start phase 2. 1 week prior, start phase 3. Of course, talk to your coach and get his/her recommendations, but this is what I am doing.

I too feel like I am "quitting" too early, being nowhere near goal, but I know it's only temporary and as soon as I get home, it's right back on! Good luck and have a great trip

I'm also debating phasing off for a camping trip in August. My plan all along was to just stick with it to the end, but now I'm thinking I'd like to do more hiking and biking, without worrying about getting sick due to IP. I keep going back and forth on my decision. I'm planning on bringing it up with my coach next week, and get her opinion. Such a hard decision. I still have a long way to go to goal, and honestly the thought of reliving those first 3 days getting back into ketosis isn't that appealing.

I don't have a coach, went rogue from the beginning with the help of 3FC. I think one week on Phase 2 and one week on Phase 3 will do it for me too. Thanks for the info. Enjoy your trip. London is spectacular!

Brelo--thanks for the kind comments...and on the same note...your song rings some bells for me!!

Also...seriously HATE it when someone assumes I did not feel well..! My response to that is to look back mustering a scrunched up quizzical face and reply .."Gosh...I'm lucky...never had that experience...I've always felt pretty good!"

At one point when some one really pressed for how much I'd lost...I said "...10 pounds...more than once!" then changed the subject.

I don't know why those things are important to others...or even more, why they feel they are entitled to that very personal info...would they ask a person what size slacks ...or bra they wore??? REALLY!!!

Now that I'm far enough into this...I only explain why I'm ordering or eating what I am if the question is intelligent and appears the person really cares...and do not give ANYone a clue this is a "program" people are too judgmental...and again...not for me to be the subject of a conversation when I am not around. ...What I do when we are entertaining...being entertained or go out is really how it will be from now on for the most part, so our friends are getting so used to it and it's not really an issue!! No one questions diabetic..or someone with food allergies if they say.."No thanks" to something...or "I think I'll pass on that.."

At some point a glass of wine with dinner will be nice, but I don't foresee that being the reason to go out...or how I spend an entire evening out. I've enjoyed shopping for new clothes W-A-Y too much!! Now the sales...I'll tell anyone who will listen "WHO has WHAT" on sale!!!

A quick aside: I have a father who is a diabetic and a son with anaphylactic food allergies, so I have a lot of experience advocating for others when we eat out. I have noticed that many people say they have food allergies when they can't be bothered to explain their dietary restrictions, so I have to be very firm when I ask questions about peanuts and tree nuts for my son and stress that they absolutely cannot prepare his food near either of these or he may die in their restaurant. Personally, that makes my dietary restrictions not seem like a big deal to me.

That said, if people ask about my food choices I simply tell them that I am gluten-free and I severely limit sugar and any high-glycemic index foods because I feel much better not eating them. I sometimes add that I am eating more protein because I find it's better for my muscle recovery after workouts, and I have a lot of protein shakes and bars because it's more convenient than cooking. (All this is true and people are usually blinded with science by this point because I said fancy stuff like "glycemic index".)

No one has yet asked me how much I have lost, but I live in NE and no one would ever ask that When I get compliments and questions, I just say I am eating healthier and getting more from my workouts. When I turn down wine, I echo that I'm being healthier and no one tries to argue about the health benefits of drunken reveling.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts too!

Our oldest granddaughter is allergic all you mentioned...plus a host of fruits and vegetables (cross-reactivity to pollen from some species)...and shellfish. Epipens everywhere...

I raised two kids who were BOTH allergic to milk...(let me tell you, that was a trip 30-40 years ago..) and now they both have celiac disease. (tough being Italian with that!)The rest of us also appear to have some degree of gluten/wheat sensitivity....and a few other bizarre food allergies....

We actually stick to restaurants that are known for a complying attitude and for the most part we deal with the chef. Their waiters are trained to take the order...talk to the chef and then he actually comes out to the table. Last year we took the grandkids and the whole family for a day at Sesame Place in Langhorn PA...They actually have a food cafeteria venue in it's own building that is a peanut and nut free zone, ...(yea to french fries NOT cooked in p-nut oil.) We were amazed at how sensitive and knowledgeable they were there...and we were with other families that had similar stuff going on in that respect.

Brelo - Hope you like the rhubarb compote and vanilla pudding thing. I had it for lunch at the office again today. Yum! My coworkers are pretty much all into WW, so there a lot of lean cuisines going around at lunchtime. Can't say I'm jealous at all, lol.

To pick up on the hush, hush topic about being on IP - I tell everyone who asks what I am doing now. The first time around I kept it under wraps, and people commenting on my food choices constantly. Now I just tell people straight up and I just let them call me crazy and rant about how they couldn't give up bread, pasta, alcohol, fruit. I know this works for me. It's their loss (or lack thereof) if they think that the company sponsored WW is the only way to go.

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Made Popsicles today with my mango RTD! Nice to have an option other than drinking it straight!

I am totaly annoyed by my clinic, and today is just about the last straw. Went in there on the weekend to get my stuff for the week and they didnt have the items i buy. They told me someone would call me to let me know when things would be in. Wound up going down to the store to talk to them and was told they just ordered stuff today and nothing will be in till friday or next monday. well that doesnt help me out at all since i have food for today and thats it, i usually go for my wi on monday morning and i stock up then. now i have to travel over an hour to the next store to get my food and when i told them that they didnt seem to care. especially since im going away this week and told them i need my food before i leave. not to sure how to handle this as this is not the first time this has happened. i just find it really frusturating.