This is somewhat normal. Estrogen is stored in fat. When you loose really quickly, the estrogen is released and can jump start your cycle.

I'm on the 3 month pills too and ended up having monthly cycles my first 2 months on plan.

Coaches are supposed to infom women of this so that they know to switch to barrier contraception, but it seems as though they rarely do.

I have heard a lot of women on IP have trouble with TOM. I haven't had any problems with it since starting Oct 20. In fact, I think I my TOM is more regular and shorter now that I'm on IP. I don't know why it affects some more than others. It's kind of like how some have hair loss and some don't. I would make sure to use a back-up method of BC and hopefully it sorts itself out soon!

Hope you are doing well :hug: I will be starting tomorrow - first time ever and will check in.

I was warned about BC, but my coach seems pretty stumped by this. I question how versed she is.

It's pretty common for coaches to have minimal training. Only a few REALLY know the program well

Traveling through Arizona, doing LOTS of walking on the college campus today, and drinking lots of water. However, I'm finding it REALLY hard to get enough veggies in during the day. I had a salad at lunch today with my IP bar...but there weren't very many vegetables I could add to it. Then at dinner tonight, I got some steamed veggies, but I know it wasn't 2 cups worth, let alone 4. I am going to have to get more creative. Two more days down here. I'll have to hit a grocery store tomorrow and get some things. How do you do it traveling? I'm getting the IP foods in. I think I'm hitting my protein. It's the veggies!

When I eat out I sometimes have to order an extra serving of veggies to make sure I get what I need.

You're doing fantastic on your vacation. So inspiring.

Happy Tuesday!

I travel quite a bit for work and have become quite the hotel cooker. Most of my travel is in my car so I am able to take spices and microwave bowl/plate for cooking... BUT...

If you have access to a microwave , you can get frozen veggie steamer bags (usually just broccoli or broccoli and cauliflower. The others always have carrots!). If cooking at the hotel, I always grab a couple packets of lemon meant for the tea and squeeze over the veggies then add salt/pepper.

Otherwise, you might just gave to cave and order an additional side of steamed veggies!

If you're hitting the grocery store, you could buy bags of pre-cut celery. Maybe not the most exciting veggie, but you don't have to wash or prepare it, making it easier for traveling.

Or maybe an English cucumber; that would require minimal prep as well.

When I need to travel or unable to cook, to get my veggies in, I get a cucumber and cut it into spears and snack on them.

Or find a grocery store with a salad bar and you can load up on veggies!

Help! Phase 4
 

Hello!
I recently started phase 4 and am so lost. I've been reading all the threads that are going on here but there are still things that don't make sense to me.
What is a fat? We're supposed to at fat at lunch time but I don't want cheese or salad dressing, what are my other options?
Do we HAVE to add a fat and carb at lunch/dinner or can we keep eating like phase 2/3 for those meals?
What do you have for snacks? I found some rice cakes that are 7 carbs and nothing else (only ingredient is whole grain brown rice), could I have that with peanutbutter or can I not mix these?

So lost...:dizzy:

Good morning! Back to work today after a three day weekend. Of course today it snows and buses are cancelled. Supposed to be pretty mild all week though, so I can't complain!

Hope everyone has a great day!

http://www.ziploc.com/Products/Pages...okingBags.aspx

I bring these guys everywhere with me! I use them a lot at work for freshly steamed veggies. I guess I could cook at home and warm up here but I'd rather cook 1 time. Anyway, it tells you on the bag how many minutes to cook for, depending on the veggie. It works very well. Only thing is that it may be hard to prep while traveling but you could definitely prep before and put in a small cooler!

scheduled my appt with my new coach tomorrow at lunch. When we talked yesterday, she told me about this 'health profile' to fill out before we met. Um, old coach never did that. She also told me about these videos you get from IP. Old coach never got that. Then I had to make an actual appointment. Old coach never did that. Just show up and wait. I'm pretty excited about all of the above because it shows me how much she cares! I have to go at lunch instead of the early AM though because they don't open early enough for me to go before work. :(

Thank you ems for posting these ziploc baggies. I am getting them on my next trip to the grocery store. Last week I bought those baggies with broccoli and steamed them at work, added apple cider, salt and pepper and had a really nice salad. I find that cooked or steamed vegetables fill me up better than a salad.

Yesterday I did some great planning for the week (it was a day off in Ontario). I cooked kale with some garlic, salt, and pepper, and prepared baked lemon chicken breast. I buy this organic free range chicken from a local butcher shop and find that it is well worth it. For less than $20 I have an excellent source of protein for about 4 meals. I also found a great recipe how to prep chicken breast without any oil (bbq I soo miss you), and baked the chicken breast in parchment paper seasoned with sea salt, herbs and slice of lemon. It came out amazing. I think I finally discovered the joy of baking meat in parchment paper and plan to prepare my file of sole the same way once I get through this chicken.

Hello making moves. There is a maintainers thread on the forum. I'm sure they would have lots of answers for you. Well done for making it to phase 4.

Day 2 going well desertflwr. we took the children to the movies, I took soya choc balls as a snack. Before that we went to Mc Donalds for lunch. I got a coffee and brought some apple pancake/potato purees muffins with me. Playing around with the packs make this diet a lot more interesting. Good luck. I will be looking for your posts.

@Sarahbell. I'm sorry to hear about your grandad. Some me time and reflection should help you heal your heart a little.

What a great thing for which to look! I have never seen these and perhaps because I am home most of the time, I would never notice.

BUT I NEED HELP! After 6 months on IP, in two weeks I am finally flying on a long trip to Orlando/Disneyworld...business, believe it or not. I have a 6 hour flight for which I think I can prepare, but I am stumped about what to do for the 5 days we are there and in a hotel at Disneyworld.

The dinners are corporate sponsored and I am sure I can navigate my way around those like I do in a restaurant, but what do I do about the days walking around the resort? I borrowed a really nice chic tote from our daughter to stash my water supply and I have room there for more stuff, but what?

Suggestions for success?

Use the internet. I bet there are maps of the resort that will tell you what restaurants are available, and from there drill down to the menus that they have. That way you will have a list of compliant places and where they are at.

I've traveled a lot on IP, these were my 'go tos' - baby cucumbers, celery sticks, mixed broccoli and cauliflower florets, packets of tuna are all very portable. I took my shakes and shaker, and bars. I asked for fish with no sauce and steamed veggies at every restaurant i went to and it was never a problem, even with buffets. I've ordered cucumbers and celery from room service and they'd deliver it every morning as my 'breakfast' - they would also bring me hard boiled eggs. You can do this, I promise! You can call the hotel in advance and let them know and if it's a big one, like Marriott or Holiday Inn, they will accommodate you no problem. You are so worth the effort, and it's service they provide so please ask for it. Good luck!

ems70508: you are going to love Ms. Suzi, she is awesome!!

Good morning everyone, havent been on here in a few days and I was having withdrawals, LOL! I was a little worried about my weigh in this week since I had boiled crawfish for dinner Sunday (lots of sodium) but as of this morning the excess fluid seems to be gone :)

Big thank you
 

Such great ideas, sincere thanks for the guidance!

The packs of tuna I never would have thought of. When you travel, do you buy the veggies at home and pack them into your checked bag or do you go looking for a grocery at your destination?

Hard boiled eggs also a great idea and I love them. My mind is now churning with more ideas. Thank you, ecdcslim. I have worked so hard for this that I want nothing, not even a free trip to Disneyworld, to derail my progress.

I'm so excited to meet her and have someone to motivate me for this last leg of the race! How were the crawfish? Where did you find them?? Most places are just starting to sell....

I'm feeling SUPER munchy today. I just want to chew on something. Gum isn't doing it. I think i'm immune to gum.

My grandpas funeral is Saturday and the wake Friday :( My unlces and mom are planning the times around when we can be there :( (mother nature has been a royal "B")

I am really not hungry surprisingly. I guess this really has not hit me yet, it will Friday when I am there to start my goodbyes :(

So a NSV for me "no emotional eating"

Hang in there!
 

Know that we have put you in our thoughts and prayers. You are probably right that your grandfather's death may not have hit you yet. There are many and complex stages of grieving - the process goes years often. I have found that finding time to both share stories with loved ones AND finding quiet time are helpful.

While you in the "not having hit me stage", do some planning for how you might handle it when you do get a flood of new emotions - have legal IP snacking food available, or your favorite IP drink mix that you can throw in a blender and make something comforting and soothing with nice flavors.

You may not resort to food at all and that is a good thing. Then you could spend some time reflecting on what you need to get through this - time alone on a long walk, making yourself busy with helping or just escaping shopping - whatever works for YOU.

Do not be afraid to let others know what you need to make your way through this - ask for help or a hug or a few quiet moments or a drive to Starbucks, or whatever. What is hard for people around you is when they do not know how to help you and you can just step in and let them know.

This is so true. I know when my dad died a couple of years ago, all the planning and coordinating fell to me and one of my sisters. I remember about the 3rd day of dealing with everything (I have a very large family and it took some time to gather everyone) I looked at my husband and said "will you please take me out to lunch?" I needed the break from everyone so much and just that couple of hours where we turned off our phones and no one could find us made so much difference in how I was coping.

So be nice to yourself Sarah as much as possible. Being kind to ourselves during hard times makes us so much more able to deal with things.

C'mon over to the maintainers thread. There has been some recent posts on this topic.
In the mean time...other fats would be avocado, nuts, seeds and coconut.
You don't HAVE to add the additions but you should consider finding some foods that are nutrient rich in the fats and carbs categories because now we are after a balanced diet. Some people find that they can't add carbs at dinner or add it periodically. Don't forget fruit can be added as the dinner carb. Also, you can now add back vegetables such as artichokes and those on the restricted list (plus those pesky carrots).

For the snack, think along the proportions of a restricted bar or packet, which I think 1 tablespoon of peanut butter and the rice cake would meet. The "official" plan would be to have a piece of fruit with protein (protein & carb) or cheese & celery (a fat but no carb). You can, of course, still snack on vegetables alone. Some also snack on nuts, but usually a measured amount or a single serving pack for portion control.

I hope the daily people don't mind too much that I posted this info here. I think it is helpful to remember that the restrictions of phase 1 are temporary but phase 1 is building the backbone of the foods (protein & vegetables) that will remain the backbone of successful p4, and its good to think about the nutrient rich foods to bring back every day to maintain the new body that Phase 1 built. My opinion, anyway.

ems You'll enjoy the daily videos, I know I do. Its a little motivator for the day to keep me on track and I always learn a thing or two!

It depends on the trip - when we went to Napa (yep and lots of spitting of beautiful wines!!) I went to the grocery store and bought the veggies and ziplocks. When I went for business trips of 2-3 days, those suckers went with me, pre-measured - in my luggage. I split them between checked and carry on, never had a problem with making it through the metal detectors. Good luck!!

My heart goes out to you, please commit to taking care of yourself as well as others during this trying time.

Nsv
 

I had a good NSV today - isn't it nice when you can fit into clothes properly?

I've never been able to wear button down blouses because of my size/shape. Even buying a larger size I would get weird gaps between the buttons and then the girls can peek out - not cute!

I've had one such blouse in my closet that I hung onto in case I could ever get into it and make it work (because it's such a pretty blouse!)…tried it on this morning and it fits perfectly! No weird gaps or openings between the buttons! I couldn't believe the buttons actually were lying flat. Now I have a new style of shirt open to me for work - no more just wearing pullover blouses!

is regular mustard allowed on phase 1?

thanks in advance

maureen

Yes.

2nd week...Blah
 

I was down 5 pounds the first week, but up 1 this week. I was 100% OP.
That is just discouraging.
:?:

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!

I love this!

So Sorry SaraBell. It is such a difficult time. :hug: Hugs to you.