Epaprn: I was sorry to hear about your miscarriages. Hugs.I am glad you are seeking medical help. I think your hormones could be influencing your gain or difficulty in losing. Your P4 eating plan sounds healthy. I eat PB pr actually almond butter daily and it does not seem to hurt. Hope your doctors can help you.

DRegan: Have a great day with your MFP app. You are doing well!

Rainbowsmile: It is good to feel in control. I hope your reboot is going well today.

Evepet: The first days are hard in the reboot...but nice that you have reached the no cravings stage. You are doing well despite frequently eating out.

Joysh: Those nuts sound like the ones my husband bought. I usually have almonds, but tried the cashew mix. I also had to walk away as they tasted good. Great job of throwing the can out.

Infoplease: I vary my exercise and levels, but still have trouble with that interval training. That was good advice.

Maile, it is always so nice to see your smiling face yes, it is GREAT to be in control. Week one was great... 9.7 lbs gone! Week 2 of reboot going well so far. I planned ahead so as not to have to think too much about what i was going to eat. Bought lots of nice veggies at the farmers market, made a weeks worth of orange ginger soup for lunches and some raspberry rhubarb gelatin, and cabbage rolls...so second week I am just trying to press on an not focus on food so much. Just heat and eat and get out of the kitchen!

How are you doing??

Hope everyone has a lovely day!

EPAPRN - so sorry to hear about your miscarriage. Hugs!

Joysh - way to go on the nuts - that was a truly COURAGEOUS act! Unfortunately, I didn't do the same with some cocoa roast almonds last week... Ate the whole thing. Funny how nuts can be more dangerous than ice cream and cookies...

Working up to doing a phase 1 stint to go lower before my vacation. I am in my range, but feel the need for a preemptive strike. I do not want to have my clothes fit too tight when I come home!

Lizzy63: good plan in the preemptive strike. Hope it works before your vacation.

Rainbowsmiles: I like cooking ahead in batches and freezing things for the week. Cabbage rolls sound good. Hope week two of the reboot goes well for you. I love your recipes! You are an accomplished chef.

I am in my range..the high end, but still fitting my clothes. I am off to Chicago for 4 days to help my son move into an apt. I should get lots of exercise carrying boxes.

Hi all I have about a month and half before I get to this point, but I like to plan ahead. I have really enjoyed the coaching videos and the references to micheal pollans book. Prior to IP I had read in defense of food, and just finished it again. I would like to work in the direction of eating real food once I'm in maintenance. I have accepted that ill buy the low carb bread for phase 3 but afterwords I would like to make my own, and get away from processed food in general. So my question is is anyone else following his food rules, and does anyone have a good bread recipe that doesn't involve highly processed flour? I guess that's 2 questions. Any input is appreciated.

Morning all
I have been in maintenance now for 3 1/2 months and have lost 6 more lbs. Not finding it hard at all, having the odd desert here and there. Keeping my portions of meat at 5 6-7 ounces for supper. As far as carbs im kinda over them. I have one slice of toast for breakfast and thats about it for the day , maybe some croutons in my salad if we go out to eat. Love the IP program and thanks to you all for the support. Hubby has started last week with a great loss of 11 lbs already

heritagesoftail Congrats on maintenance! It's always good to do maintenance and weight loss as a team!

Wesstrom I follow the rules but the only bread I eat is my two slices in the morning for breakfast and I use Silver Hills Little Big Bread (a sprouted grain). I don't miss carbs and find I'm only eating fruit or MAYBE a granola bar at night (as my carb! still eating protein and veggies lol).

rainbow 10 lbs DOWN, WHOOP WHOOP, way to go!

maile Good luck moving! Hopefully there aren't too many stairs!

Lizzy With you on the preemptive strike, I didn't really "get" people who insisted on losing 10 lbs before going off to Mexico. I 'get' it now!

+++++++++++++++
So my running has FINALLY shown up on the scale, took about 2 months this time for it to show up. I haven't added anything extra and just timed my meals when I was suppose to be eating after a workout. BOUT TIME! lol

I went to a TOPS incentive days and did a speech about my weight loss and maintenance. Incentive days are smaller then Provincial Recognition Days or International Recognition Days. There was about 35 people in attendance. I recieved good feed back, it was fun! VIP came and listened to my speech (he didn't hear it in April) and we had quite the discussion about emotional eating (he does not do this, he gained his weight originally by just making poor and quick food choices) on the 2.5 hour drive home.

Here is a photo of that article from Dr. Sharma. I tried to find time this weekend to type it out and couldn't find the time. It occurred to me this morning I could just scan it DOH! So here it is! (hope it's big enough for you to read it!)

Have a great day!

Is anyone here a TYPE 2 Diabetic? I need some feedback/thoughts… It will require a little if my history. I know I am asking a lot for you to read this, but if you have experience or are knowledgeable on the topic, I certainly appreciate your help!

Diagnosed 4 years ago, cut back on sugars and a few "white things" THEN 2 years ago came to the realization that I had to manage my overall daily carb intake in order to manage my diabetes (as well as lose weight, etc.) Did Atkins 10 years ago so already aware of low carbing lifestyle. Started testing, working with a nutritionist to guide portions; she reviewed meal/blood sugar log to pinpoint things that cause sugar spikes.

Didn't lose a lot or fast that way, but did get my sugars/A1C to start decreasing. A1C went from mid 9's to mid/low 7s. Blood sugar after meals initially would climb to the 180s (sometimes higher, sometimes lower), but after awhile, started creeping down to the 140s 2+ hours after eating and drop to 120s fairly quickly. Morning Fasting BS continued higher than desired, almost no matter what I ate at night (or didn't eat). Often was 130s-140s. Over time moved into the 120s, teens and sometimes close to 100. ALSO found I am very sensitive to carbs in the morning if I eat more than 15-20g.

Of course, IP was not only the magic bullet to weight loss for me (YAY!!!) but also hoped it would work its magic on my blood sugar as it has for SO MANY other IPers (low/no spikes, off meds, etc.) First 2 months I saw overall decreases; often morning BS in the low to mid 90s. A1C after first 3-4 months 6.3. Fasting blood sugar 115 (It can be 90s at 6-7 am, but by 8 am if fasting is on the rise - hence higher when I get labwork).

I have dropped 40lbs met a good weight goal, moved thru P2. In P3, the BIG breakfast with carbs in low 30s, using both grain (thin wheat round) and fruit (blueberries) with yogurt, BS spiked into the 180+ range! EEEK!! Still sensitive!! Grrr! Tried a couple different combos of BIG breakfast, but just cannot eat the carbs unless I choose grain or fruit, not both.

UPSHOT - I am into maintenance, 40 lbs lighter and still on meds to help diabetes. I am not going wild in maintenance, in fact eating some days like P2/P1. Morning BS is higher again (110-120) and getting more spikes after reasonable meals with few grain/fruit carbs (or even none except P1 veggies). Recently read that low carbing for diabetics can actually get the body used to lower carbs so it starts reacting to them as if they were at a higher level, raising sugars anyway. No idea how accurate that is!

Anyone else lose a good deal of weight but still have the same blood sugar issues?? Doc originally said, "Loose 10-20 lbs and you will probably be off all your meds…" NOT! FRUSTRATED (though still very HAPPY with weightloss). Really want to figure out how to get better control over blood sugars! THOUGHTS?? THANK YOU!!!!!!!
(Posting in several threads to get feedback!)

ISHBEL. Thanks for the reply, I was happy to see you are also from SK as so much of the stuff people talk about isn't available here. I was wondering where you got this little big bread?

Wesstrom:I do not have any bread recipes..but I would look online for one and then check out the reviews. That is how I find new recipes. Eating non processed food is a healthy way to go. Hope your last month goes well.

Ishbel: That was a great article. It is very much eye opening to realize that your body is ready to move back to that awful highest weight. The rubber band analogy is a good one. I bet you gave a great speech! You are an inspiration with your success.

Off to move my son who is still packing.

EPAPRN - I missed you on my last post. I'm so sorry about the miscarriages

Wesstrom - many times you can find items but it takes a while to find them. You can get little big bread at nutters, Safeway and sometimes shoppers (odd!). I usually get it at Costco as its a reasonable price, 5.99 for two loaves where it's 5.19 for one at Safeway. VIP and I bought an upright freezer in Jan and its a godsend for coordinating healthy eating as cheaply as possible. I do a Costco run and stock it every 6-7 weeks and will buy 8 loaves at once lol.

Maile - good luck on the move!

Have a great day everyone!

Wow, Ishbel, that was an interesting little article about the rubber band. It makes sense, although I don't like it. It's like we're working against gravity. I guess I need to believe that if we keep it off for a number of years our self-image changes and we can change that tendency. I can only hope and work toward that. But I see already that I have to remain diligent and on top of this.

Lizzy63, I love those cocoa almonds. I can only have them when they're in the little individual packets. And, btw I passed up bringing swiss cheese into the house yesterday. Sigh.

Wesstrom, I rarely eat bread now. It's just one of those things I don't have in the house. My grain carbs com from my daily dose of granola, which I love dearly.

Rainbow, 10 pounds is great! Keep it up!

Maile, have a good time in Chicago with your son. I've realized how wonderful it is when they ask us to help!

Have a good day, everyone. Wow, I'm really late today!

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and advice. I got a call from the office saying that all of my labs were 'normal', which includes my tsh, t3, t4 and thyroid antibodies. I am waiting for my copy so I can see everything for myself (I'm an NP). She did suggest that I do one month of p3 to try to get some pounds off. Depending on the outcome of my pg test next week, I may do that.

Hi everyone! I haven't been on here in the last few months! I have a lot of catching up to do with reading through the thread! Just wanted to say hi! I am officially 18 weeks pregnant And feeling good! It is hard finding a balance with food and exercise, but I am doing my best. This is such an exciting time, but I can't help but worry about gaining too much weight. So far I have stayed on track and have gained 9.4lbs (about 1lb above which is considered normal) I have noticed myself eating more junk type food and need to stop that!

Anyway- figured I should check in here for some motivation!

that was a good read!! love the analogy and i think i need to wear a rubber band around my wrist for awhile! i would LOVE to have been able to attend and hear your speech!

don't work too hard!!! Enjoy the windy city!!

thank you joy