I agree. If you stick to the program, it will work! I started a month ago and am LOVING this diet! My only complaint is that my clothes don't fit now and I don't want to go into debt buying clothes every few weeks. lol

Congrats to everyone and welcome newbies. Today is WI for me as well. The start of week 5! I have a facebook blog if you call it that is private for a couple handful of friends. I promised them a month of updates and a new picture so I can't wait to see a side by side myself.

As for as clothes shopping nat1015 I fully agree on that complaint. I however do have a goodwill that is minutes from work so my plan is to take clothes in and purchase new there while my body changes. That way I am not forking out $35+ for dress pants etc. I recently bought 4 pairs of dress pants *look new* for $4.00 (total). I feel as long as I am donating, taking out I don't feel so guilty. :) have a great day all and keep the water chugging going.

I started on June 12 and have a WI on Friday. I'm really hoping I hit the 20 lbs lost mark then (I'll only have to have a 2.2 lb loss to hit it). I've been 100% OP and yesterday was probably my first day that I really just felt insatiably hungry LOL. I fought through it though and feel good today.

bad day
 

the last day of week 7 for me and I blew it. I had a very bad day yesterday and was very stressed out. Still am.

I had a dinner party to go to last night and they had food and wine that was not OP and I ate and drank it to make myself feel better. I didn't work and now my stomach is upset and I feel guilt, shame, and angry at myself. The scale is up 1.5lbs.

Getting back on track today for week 8.

Sounds like the dinner party was with people you may not be totally comfortable with, I understand the feeling as I sometimes have anxiety issues when mingling at official events. Ahh well, today is a new day and you are 100% again, so just keep going but remember how you felt physically afterward - it helps to keep us on plan. Just drop the guilt, shame, & anger, and move on from there. You will do fine and will drop the 1.5 quickly, I'm sure.

Well I just came back from WI. I am a little sad though. Today meant so much to me as being one month mark. I wanted measurements to post along with my WI achievements (next week for my page). My coach was backed up in the office so the staff has to do my WI/get my weekly food. I am however excited to change my little chicky there on the left from 10 pounds to 15!!!! :) Next week I should hit my first mini goal of going below 200! It's been years..so crossing fingers. I will drink MORE water this week if that will truly help. Just need another 3 pound loss. :) Also messed up my food order..meant to get vanilla pudding and I ended up asking for vanilla shake..oh well I will deal with it. Not going to drive back and try to exchange it LOL.

Congrats on the new chickie!! sdhinds
I can hardly weight (intended, lol) to see your post of measurements as I'm sure we will all be excited for you! Check out the recipe threads for things to do with your mistaken vanilla shakes. I'm sure there's something out there...
Liana

Are we allowed to post a link for a video? I found one I think we can all relate to and probably most have seen it..it just cracks me up! If we can't look up: How women put on tight jeans. It's a women in a black tank and undies. I die laughing at her shoving lettuce in her mouth.

Try a copy & paste, lol. I look forward to a laugh today, perhaps you can post on the humour thread a little further down the list. I do remember the lying on the bed, coat hanger trick to haul up the zipper (1980's what can I say...).

Found it... wipes tears, blows nose with romaine, lol.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRxsweDq0FE

OMG I SO NEEDED TO LAUGH TODAY!!!!! TOO FUNNY!!!:D

Hello my IP peeps!!! Its my first period on IP . Should i expect no weight loss this week? Last week if you remember i cheated and had a few dates and when i had my WI on Friday the needle had not moved an inch!!! Come monday I have my period and coach said that ten days before the period our body starts retaining water so that its ready for the period. Now does that mean that I will gain weight by this friday or expect no changes at all? I am so angry at myself for cheating! I am going on week 4 and so far have lost 10 lbs and that includes no loss for week 3 :(..had i not cheated i might have lost a few more..but hey i still have ten lbs less fat and i do believe that regardless of weight loss, I am losing inches though. A shirt that i had recently bought which was an XL and was quite snug on me and i deliberately did not buy the plus size, today was quite loose on me. YIPPIE YAY!!!!!

Yaaaay, Bull, on your NSV un-snug shirt! Period sux, I always gain about 3 lbs about 3 or 4 days before, some gain up to 5 my coach said, so that may be true of you, especially if you used to gain with bloat before IP. I have usually lost it by day 3 of my period though.
Dates & figs are hugely full of sugars - lol - if you decide to cheat with fruit have a 1/2c of fresh berries instead, BUT you didn't hear that from me!!! :sssh:

Keep goin' it will get better!
Liana

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome! So thrilled to find others in the same boat as me. Thursday is my WI and restock! I really am starting to see the difference as is my husband. I have a lot to go, so I need to stay the course. I have a vacation coming up to Disney and I know I am not going to be able to be 100% all the time. I certainly will do my best but if anyone has been OP please suggestions are welcome.. I plan on packing my shakes and having breakfast in our room. (we own a vacation club) Bringing my morning snack / shake with me to the park. Lunch - dinner will be a different story. Oh and we are traveling with a group of 20 all family but only my Mom. son and husband know I am on IP. So many other failed diet attempts I am not ready to let the cat out of the bag and listen to everyone gripe about how much money it cost for another program that wont work......SO Help LOL....

There was a recent thread about vacationing at Disney that had lots of great suggestions in it and ways to stay OP. Let me see if I can bump it for you.

Thanks! Found it

Hello my fellow June Starters!!!! Had my Week 4 WI. I have lost 6.2 lbs this week :D....I slipped in week 3 and lost nothing and now i am wondering had i not cheated how much more would i have shed??? regardless i am very proud of myself. I am 14 lbs lighter. Yippie!!!!

Just wanted to say that I am on my final day of my vacay -- before the trip I posted on here worried and sure that I couldn't stay 100% OP -- however, I DID! We did some back country hikes where there was no food, and we did some restaurant eating where everyone else had delicious food and I had 2 cups of steamed cabbage (the only thing they had without sugar). I didn't think I could do it, but I did, AND I had a great time. I didn't miss out on a thing, I never felt tired from over eating (super plus) and I learned some new coping mechanisms. My kids had cupcakes and treats of all kinds, including campfire smores. Ironically, I found that the more active I was, the LESS hungry I was. I thought surely all the extra activity/walking would leave me starving. Good luck fellow vacationers!

Started June 2nd, down 20 Lbs! YIPPEE!:carrot:

Good for you!!! Keep it up!!!

thats awesome!!!!

Yay!
 

:carrot: yay! Isn't it the best feeling? Nice round number losses? :carrot:

What?
 

You have a medically necessary diet -- they have to let you have your packets at least!

Most of my weeks were 2-3 lbs but had a 1 lb week too. Upside is I feel so much better 20 lbs lighter! 3 more Lbs and I will be lower than I have been in 19 years! After all of the crazy and not so crazy things I have tried to lose weight nothing worked like IP. I'm melting! :dancer:

Thats fantastic.....Now I know I can do it too....thanks for the inspiration...:carrot:

Me Too!! Started June 23 and hit 20 this week....Keep up the good work. We can do this....

I was wondering where you were! WTG! :carrot: Don't worry about last week...just focus on this week. :)

Good morning June IP'ers. Ever find that when you go to restaurants and they agree to make a salad to your liking it still comes out wrong? Happened to me again yesterday. Plus totally skimped out on veggies. So I asked for lettuce, bell peppers, onion, tomato, cucumber and olive oil. (No white vinegar is at this place). I get a very small plate with lettuce, 4 bite size peppers, one cherry tomato, 2 small onions rings. (I think I could have worn them out on my fingers), 1 cucumber slice and a MOUND of carrot shreds on top. Really ?!? Plus did I ask for carrots. No! Surprised they left the cheese off! Luckily I drank 3 glasses of water. In which the first glass had a slice of cucumber. That I ate eventually lol. I walked out full but from water.
Hope everyone's weekend is going good. Just had a vanilla shake with a little pumpkin pie spice in it. Delish. Hugs to all of your. Everyone is doing great from the sounds of the posts :D WI tomorrow for me. Can't wait.

Yes, eating out is the most frustrating part of this for me. You just can't trust people to prepare your food the way you want it.

Good Luck tomorrow. My WI is tomorrow too. We (the June starters) are ROCKING this! :D:carrot:

Congratulations to everyone with victories this week! :D

We went out to eat yesterday and I drank water and ate my ip wafer. I gave up on eating out. We know the owner of one restaurant and she says that she can adapt the food to my diet, but then she does what she wants and tells me that it's not bad for me. Really!? So now I just take my ip food.

I went to dinner Friday night with friends and while it was easy to say no the the wine at the BYOB, I did ask for a naked salad and got it, but my dry steak was certainly not dry. I should have sent it back, but I didn't. As all my friends at their meals and drank their wine, I ate and worried how much butter sauce my green beans were in and what they basted my steak in. I should have just stood up for myself and sent it back, but I didnt.... I suffered all night. My body was not happy at all. I ate a few tums and spent the night dealing with stomach cramps....Lesson learned ask for what you want and send it back till you get it. My body knows....

I am actually amazed that this is the only program that I have ever been on and I have been on quite a few, that my body is actually at a point where it tells me. Over doing it is not an option.

Bummer. Majority of the time we are only going out on weekends for lunch. I am just very picky on where we go and now have started having my IP meal either before we go or right after if we are coming home and I just get a salad at the restuarant/eat whatever 2 cup veggies still need to be had if salad is only a few bites. It's torture somedays seeing what hubby and the daughter have LOL but since this IP thing is working I don't let it get to me to long. If I was struggling at all it would almost be impossible to conquer. :) WI 4 hours away .... woot!

Had my weigh in and thought I would share end of 5 weeks (last week no measurements). I am really happy!!!!

Weight: 217.4 --> 199 (-18.4)
Hips: 51 --> 44 (-7)
Waist 44 --> 37 (-7)
Leg: 27.5 --> 25 (-2.5)
Arm: 15.5 --> 13.25 (-2.25)
Neck: 15 --> 13 (-2)

Weight lost: 18.4
Total inches lost: 20.75

I will take that!!!

Sdhinds - Wow! Welcome to Onderland! You must be so excited!! :)

I've been killing it the last couple weeks. Drinking lots and lots of water has made a difference on the scale for me. Lost 3.8 last week and 3lbs today. Leaving for vacation on Wed and I already know that I will not be OP for the next week. This is a vacation planned prior to starting IP and discussed with my coach. I think I could stick with the food portion of my diet but the alcohol will be an issue. Traveling with friends to an all inclusive.

My coach made me feel better telling me life happens but you just reboot and get back on Phase 1right away. Going to try very hard not to go crazy but just letting the thoughts in my head are giving me cravings. Literally had my DH throw food away out of the fridge to aviod eating it (when it hadn't tempted me before).

Worried I will have trouble hopping back on the plan when I've been doing so well. Please keep positive thoughts for me

That's great your doing awesome! I should chart side by side like that too. Great motivation!

Good luck on vacation. I'm leaving in 2 1/2 weeks to Disney with the whole family (19 of us). Only My husband, son and mom know I am on IP. I am packing my packets and will just do my best. The alcohol will tempt me, but I'm going to try to take care of me this vacation.... I'm inspired by all the fantastic results here and I want the same.....

Thanks all! Good luck on your vacations. Luckily I don't go to Florida till December. I should be rockin that bikini right?!? ha. No matter what phase I am in come that time, I plan on going off a little bit but not going crazy. I have heard to that if you eat a lot of foods your not used to getting you will get sick...so take it easy. Allow it to settle etc. before shoving more unhealthy foods back in. That's the last thing we want is to be ill on a vacation. I have a friend who one night had pizza (reg pizza) and it took 4 days before she felt normal again.

Very good point, why wreck your vacation by being bloated and sick? Those high fat/high carb combos can be murder now that your body is used to healthier food. If you have decided to not be 100% OP, then at least don't be 100% in the opposite direction, hahaha. You know the saying, "Pick Your Poison." Don't waste your meals on non-quality fast foods, have good wines, fine cheeses, fresh fruit, etc if you are going off plan.

CAVEAT: YOU DID NOT GET THIS 'non-OP' ADVICE FROM ME!! :o

Thanks ladies!

My coach and I were having the same conversation about choosing foods carefully. Only the good stuff. Our fridge was empty so tonight was my first bite not OP in 5wks. I stared at the food and my family stared at me for a good 30 seconds before I took the plunge.

You know what...it wasn't that good. I am just as happy with my veggies and clean eating! I swear IP changed something in my brain. Now thinking of taking my shake for breakfast, having salad and veggies for lunch and a nice dinner. Is it worth spending the money on IP shakes if I know I won't be on plan otherwise? A complete waste of money??

Thanks for the words of encouragement!!

I think it was 65 who posted some great info on staying OP while at an all inclusive. Let me see if I can find that for you and bump it.

ETA: Bumped up the Mexico thread for you.