I am just starting IP with alternatives and with all the reading I am terrified that I will lose the weight and it will all come back afterword. In all that I have read it says that once you go back to real food and real life eating a lot of people are not able to maintain and it scares the **** out of me. I guess I am just scared that I will reach my goal and then fail again. Anyone been through this?

Can't say for sure because I haven't hit maintenance, but my aunt and uncle have been on maintenance for over a year. My husband has been on maintenance for 2.5 months. None have them gained it back. It's all about learning to change your relationship with food while you're eating different things. If you go back to eating the way you were pre-IP, then of course you're going to gain the weight back...

It's a fair concern and the bottom line is "If you do what you always did, you'll get what you always got"... You have to make a change after losing the weight. The "maintainers" thread is where you want to hang out -- even now -- to learn from the experts what works.

If you go back to the "real" food that made you fat to begin with, then yes, the weight will come back. If you apply the principles that you should learn from this diet, phase off properly and then follow P4 protocol, no, you will not gain.

I think td a fear for all of us, right up there with will I even be able to stay on this diet to reach my goal. Obviously none of us would be on the diet in the first place if we had ever had that kind of success in the past.there are also the naysayers out there who don't think this diet can work.

We have proof on here that it can and it does, so now you just need to believe in yourself and trust this plan to work for you to. If you follow it, it will work!

The simplicity and the success of IP/Alternative products will allow you time to focus on you in the coming weeks and months.

All that others have said is true...and it is a no-brainer yesterday's methods will get you yesterday's results in the management of your diet for the long haul.Advice from most of us on here is to use the time in P1 wisely to get your head in the game for the necessary lifestyle changes that must happen.

Know your metabolism ..and understand it. Making peace with moderation...or in some cases personal decisions to eliminate certain trigger foods, exercise and self monitoring of your weight, regularly. Many have trouble making peace with the scale, but to be successful long term you need to understand your body, how it reacts to restaurant food, salt, seafood carbs etc.... Observe the skinny people in your life...and pay attention to what they do. You want to be that person. Most do NOT eat everything they want all the time. Some interesting observations are being posted everyday on this forum...for the first time IP people noting that others ORDER ...but don't finish..Order and share in restaurants. Some exercise and watch every morsel days before and days after an event. Thin people don't care what others think...they order what is good for them and do not respond to pressure to eat what they have decided is a no go to maintain...it goes on and on. And lastly..no one pays much attention to what is on your plate unless you are an overweight person...you can be sure others notice your unhealthy choices. I look around me all the time now...and notice who is out of control...And lastly...Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is looking. The rest of your life you need to be 100% honest with yourself .

These are all good things...and you can do it!!! It is not impossible.

The simplicity of P1 will allow you to get yourself to this point in stages .... if you take advantage of it! Set small goals and every few weeks move your head to the next one. Best wishes!!

Totally agree with this. The definition of "real" is important. How I look at it like this: If everything I did in the past got me to where I was then I wasn't doing it right. Real food doesn't need to be garbage.

Totally off subject, but this Easter weekend I went to taste some "Real"/junk food, Doritos and some cheese puffs, and yuck! They used to be favorites of mine. They just tasted disgusting after eating "Real" Good for me food for the past 6 months. I don't think I'm ever going back to that crap.

Be strong and hang in there. You can do this.

"The National Weight Control Registry
Brown Medical School/The Miriam Hospital
Weight Control & Diabetes Research Center
196 Richmond Street, Providence, RI 02903
Phone: 1-800-606-NWCR (6927)
E-Mail: [email protected]

The National Weight Control Registry (NWCR), established in 1994 by
Rena Wing, Ph.D. from Brown Medical School, and James O. Hill, Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, is the largest prospective investigation of long-term successful weight loss maintenance. Given the prevailing belief that few individuals succeed at long-term weight loss, the NWCR was developed to identify and investigate the characteristics of individuals who have succeeded at long-term weight loss. The NWCR is tracking over 10,000 individuals who have lost significant amounts of weight and kept it off for long periods of time. Detailed questionnaires and annual follow-up surveys are used to examine the behavioral and psychological characteristics of weight maintainers, as well as the strategies they use to maintaining their weight losses.

Research findings from the National Weight Control Registry have been featured in many national newspapers, magazines, and television broadcasts, including USA Today, Oprah magazine, The Washington Post, and Good Morning America."

A very interesting site that I was directed to by the IP videos now that I am on maintenance. There are several success ideas in a general way (not just IP) that those who have kept weight off long term have shared. A hugely interesting study and they are recruiting successful maintainers still since it is an ongoing study. A great read.

Here's the site: http://www.nwcr.ws/

Liana

I joined the NWCR and recommend it. I also recommend Refuse To Regain. It is an excellent book.

IP is one of the few programs that focuses on maintenance and offers you tools to keep it off. P1 is always there.

I did see your picture on there Pat, but didn't point out any connections on this thread as I figure it's your choice. Good for you, BTW!
Liana

I learned the hard way that losing the weight is only half the battle. I was on IP in 2011 and lost 80 pounds. I stopped and went back to exactly what I was doing before. I gained it all back except for 10 lbs. I am here again but with a different mind set. I'm learning about emotional eating and what to do mentally. It's going to be different this time.

I totally get how you are feeling. I have felt that way, too, but it has lessened the longer I have been on IP and the more weight I have lost. As you lose weight, you gain new strength and you gain self-esteem and you gain self-worth . . . and those are tools that you will have to keep yourself at a healthy weight. It won't be magic. It will require the same focus that losing requires, but you will be more skilled at it. That is my belief.

Also, this is why losing weight too quickly is not a great thing and those small-loss and no-loss weeks are actually blessings in disguise. Your head needs time to catch up with your body. It is during those weeks that the mental work gets done and your strength builds for maintenance.

Those are my thoughts . . . but I think your concerns are natural and honest and they are what will keep you from not making the mistake that others make which is not thinking about it enough and not preparing or respecting the work that is maintenance.