I'm from Moosomin originally but live at Katepwa Lake north of Indian Head and because I'm very fortunate I spend some of the winter in Arizona

Beautiful! My parents used to live in Indian Head! I love the valley!

I saw Chef Verati when he was in Regina in November. Outstanding turn out -- I am told one of the biggest IP gatherings in Canada? Saskatchewan is burning its fat!

Many here weigh daily, or have learned to, after a while, to develop a healthier relationship with the scale.

I think the comments you're getting about daily weighing are due to the angst you're sharing about the scale. Frequent weigh-ins need to be a very emotion-neutral situation. Viewed as factual data, rather than "good" or "bad". When we see someone sharing every little freak out, we're trying to calm them down and keep them on the program because we know it works. We also know that quick WL releases a flood of estrogen, which does crazy things to our bodies and emotions. So, those who have been at it a while can see when someone new comes in & starts micromanaging the scale & over analyzing every movement (or non movement).

If we stay 100% OP (easiest to do if we don't battle from within about it), the overall trend is down. There may be little blips up (always weigh the same time daily to reduce those) or some flatlines, but the trend line is DOWN!!! If the weight is charted, it'll be a jagged looking chart, but if a straight trend line is drawn, you'll see the downward slope.

It is very hard to separate the emotions from the facts but the more we are able to do it, the less stress we cause ourselves and the less cortisol is secreted. Excess cortisol isn't good for weight loss. The Beck Diet book is masterful at helping with the cognitive work necessary to re formulate the thoughts and reduce the emotional response.

So, the suggestions for less scale time come from people seeing reports of an emotional response to the scale. Once the emotions can be calmed (usually after the body becomes accustomed to the Ketosis and the quick fat burning) the scale can be viewed as the monitoring tool it is. Only one monitoring tool, however. Before/during pics and measurements are HUGE motivational tools. When we see the scale causing angst, we look for other ways for people to find motivation. The scale will be there when we're ready to hop on and work on detaching from it emotionally. We've used it for a long time as a tool to beat ourselves up.

Time for a new relationship.

I went bridesmaid dress shopping yesterday with the gang and it turns out I can now comfortably fit into a size 14 I was fitting a size 16/18 when I first started this process. We found lovely dresses, but as my friends wedding is not until October, I thought I will hold off a couple of month before ordering mine. Of course the sales rep tried to warn about the possibility of the dresses being discontinued and this of course stresses the bride out! The sales lady then says she can alter any dress up to two sizes smaller...I feel really bad because I don't want to stress out my friend, but I am also trying to avoid paying for a $200 dress and then pay having to pay another $100 in alterations? What would you do? I am weary about ordering a smaller size than I am now because you never know what can happen...I myself feel pretty confident that the dress is not going to be discontinued, i think its all just a sales pitch, but I also know that when you are the bride, your perspective can get a little blurred because of all the things on your plate. Do you think I should just suck it up for my friends sake?

Wow - so many great posts to read this morning. Congrats to everyone!

I didn't own a scale for many years. Kept saying "the number isn't important, it's how I feel that counts." Yeah, right. That kept me in denial that I was grossly overweight for years. I now weigh daily and find that I view the number more as just one measure of how I'm doing than the be all and end all. It took me awhile to get used to the fluctuations - the "OMG I'm up a pound I'm going to gain it all back!" feeling. Biggest mistake I made was getting on the scale the day after hernia surgery - I was up 6 or 8 pounds, totally freaked me out until I talked myself down. I mean, what did I expect? It was all gone in a few days.

I like other measures of my success better than the scale. Like my 21 year old niece bringing me clothes yesterday that she was getting rid of and most of them fit! It was a great feeling!

I'm with Lisa - if daily weighing stresses you, don't do it for now. Later you probably will be able to view it more objectively but at least in the beginning you don't need the stress.

Jasmine, Deanna went through the same dilemma on the board earlier this year. I believe that she decided to honor the bride's wishes. She kept losing, but it turned out fine. How do you respond to pressure? Do you see it as motivation? Then maybe order one size down.

One of the great things about my IP journey is timing. My niece/godchild got engaged in Nov, but the wedding is not until August 2015. Perfect motivation to maintain my goal weight, because there is no way that I am going to be the "fat" one in the family pictures. Wishing you luck in your decision.

When I was first put on meds for Graves I was put on what I now know, way to high of a dose. When your resting heart rate is 40 and you are fighting falling to sleep on the drive to work and your hair loses all of its luster and falls out, you know there is a problem. That is when I quit weighing at all. It was so discouraging. In 2 months I put on about 20 pounds and the weight gain continued for another 6 months. After that I stayed off the scale because it was depressing me. For me, getting back to daily weighing was my signal that I was ready to do something about my weight. I understand fluctuations and my weight is actually very steady and always has been from day to day so I trust this measure.

That is me, if it bothers you, stay off.

Laurie, I looked around a bit and when I read the sticky about phase one I realized that IP is too restrictive for me. I'm disappointed because others seem to have done so well on it, but being realistic, I know myself and I would slip up too often.

That being said, there may come a day when I accept that nothing else is working and might face the fact that "restrictive" is the only thing that's going to help me. It does seem like a very healthy plan. Good luck to everone!

Thanks!

I agree I understand my body fluctuates, I'm new to the diet which has made things different, but the only way to get a grasp on that is to weigh and see how my body is reacting. I think part of the problem for me I guess is that I have posted when my weight went up, twice, the first time turned out to be TOM and the second because I was sick. Yes I was curious, a bit discouraged, and upset because I haven't seen much of that in my body even before I started this diet, I pretty much sat at the same place for the last 2-3 years. I am wrapping up a month OP and getting the hang of it. This week was discouraging because I did kinda hit a flat spot and although it happens to all of us it doesn't mean that we all aren't a little discouraged by it. I also take pictures every two weeks so I will take my 3rd set tomorrow. I also measure myself once a week as does my coach. Part of the discouraging week may be do to the fact that my coach's body comp system was down and I like to see the number of lbs of fat lost. I'm far from overly emotional about it, I don't quit the diet, I know it's temporary, it doesn't ruin my day, just makes me a little discouraged for a minute.

On another note I didn't go out with my family and friends last night. No drinking still 100%op and no cheating.

Congrats on that victory Amber! I never took any pictures. I do not like myself on film. Recently I found a family picture from last year's gathering for my Mom's 80th birthday. It was surprising how big I was. My mother-in-law wants some family pictures and when my daughter comes back between semester end and intern, I am going to try and get some for her. I think it will help the brain.

So far I don't like my pictures but they are my personal pictures and I don't share them, they are just in bra's and underwear so I can see better.

I've become a daily weigher since starting IP. The scale I used to use was wildly inaccurate and needed lots of fiddling in order to work at all. Needless to say, it was frustrating to use. I would easily get disappointed and distressed by the numbers when I was trying to lose weight on my own.

Then I started IP and weighing myself somehow stopped bothering me. The little differences from day to day no longer had an impact on how I felt. When I went in for my 1st weigh in, I ended up with a different person doing my measurements. She didn't pull as hard as the coach who did my initial measurements, and I found out that they had nothing on hand to tell me my body fat %. I didn't want the weekly official weigh in & measurements done by different people to be my only gage of my progress, especially as I can only go in during the mid to late afternoons. So I splurged on a fancy new scale. It is the kind that breaks down body fats, muscle %, and gives a body age. I plan on keeping up with daily weigh ins, and doing the full body scan stuff the morning of my official weigh in. With multiple sources of information, surely I will be able to find something about my progress to get excited about! I am counting on this scale to keep me on track once I go into maintenance (and that I can get my body age at or below my actual age)

RosiePosie - I almost get chills reading your story - I kept waiting to read words that you "had" to eat this or that off OP for whatever reason and that never happened! Congratulations on staying the course and being thoughtful regardless of what challenges you faced.

It can be kind of a fun game sometimes to navigate and evening like that and discover that you CAN do it. One thing I have learned from OP is that it is OK to "make a fuss" when it comes to getting the food you need. When they offer to make that salad, just gush how sweet that is of them to offer, accept, and ask them to prepare it the way it needs to be!

Part of being successful on IP is learning to stand up for your health and your life by politely asking for what you need. I am always very grateful and thankful to places that do that and my waiters always see my gratitude expressed when the bill comes!

Job well done and a nice clean head and mind and body the next day. What a victory!

Question about measuring broccoli. I bought fresh crowns today. Do I include the stem in measuring. I wasn't planning on eating them. Not sure of I should keep them on while measuring. I don't want to have extra in the measuring cup. Thanks in advance. Also, I heard on the radio it's the last weekend of winter. That made me

You look so happy and starry in your new picture - someone just having a great time in life! Congratulations and start thinking of all the things to which you can treat yourself because you are so close to goal. That reflects a lot of discipline and hard work.