Educated sheep! LOL

Okay. I'm done.

blondgirl, stay on track, you are doing great!

Thanks for the laughs - you guys are great!

To address the original question about having non-IP food in the house. As a mom of two kids and a normal-weight hubby, having non-compliant food in the house has been incredibly helpful because I have had to practice self-restraint every day. Now I TOTALLY understand that if anyone lives by themselves, it just may not make sense to have non-compliant food around, but I do strongly suggest that you challenge yourself in healthy ways: eat at a restaurant, hang in the break room at work where the goodies are.

NOT to be miserable, but to practice saying "Nope, that's not for me right now."

That being said, our kinetic memory (popping grapes in your mouth) is powerful! I had to stop myself for at least 3 months from licking the peanut butter knife from making my kids sandwiches (because it just doesn't rinse off well). I would always get it close to my mouth before I would put it in the sink. Now, I have finally retrained myself to wipe the extra off with a napkin without having to make the additional fly-by of my mouth, lol!

Keep up the hard work and realize that none of us are perfect!

Don't refrain. Please, tell me where I am wrong. I love to learn new things and only when one is wrong or ignorant can one learn. Here is an opportunity for you to learn. I don't view IP dieters as sheep. I'm actually pretty amazed to hear you of all people backing this notion (bolded above) because you're self educated.

I am extremely critical of the "education" the IP diet provides but I do encourage all dieters to educate themselves not just IP dieters. Look at my post history I'm like a broken record.

By the way I'm not a follower of Lyle Mcdonald I am a follower of science he just happens to be the only person I am aware of that has hundreds of free articles on his website so he is a great resource of factual information almost entirely free of marketing.

The point is that these two things are not dependent on one another.

Fact: you can be in ketosis and gain fat because it is energy balance that dictates fat loss/gain not the concentration of ketone bodies circulating through us.

It matters because unless you can live by the rules of phase 4 your entire life you're going to have to find a long term strategy or way of eating which restricts calories without one having to obsess over them. The phase 4 rules would never work for me and judging by the number of regainers I hardly think I am alone.

I have seen so many posts about people who regained because they didn't phase off properly. This is false paradigm but again it all comes back to the lack of education IP dieters are given.

The only way to find a long term strategy that will work for you is by learning about the fundamentals of fat loss/gain and self exploration as to what works for you and what doesn't.

Don't focus on the short game. Broaden your thoughts to how you're going to maintain your loss.

I hope to follow phase 4, once I get there, as it seems realistic to me. With any weight loss regime, if you go back to your old eating habits, you will end up right back where you started. If you want long term results, you have to make long term changes. I'm working on that. Have I been perfect? No. Am I trying my darnedest to be? Yes. I have a goal and a plan, but sometimes life takes you down other roads rather than the most direct one. As long as we learn what does and does not work for us, and implement what does more than what doesn't, we will eventually get to where we want to be.

Well stated. This is exactly why understanding how fat loss/gain actually works is so important.

Reading this thread has made me want to share a reminder of the support policy of 3FC:

"Diet plans are a lot like politics and religion – everyone thinks that theirs is the right way. Unlike most diet sites, 3FC supports all healthy weight loss plans so we have to ‘agree to disagree’ about which is the best plan. Everyone here has a unique body and life, with different needs. What works for one person may not work for another and no one here knows what is appropriate for another member.

‘Agreeing To Disagree’ means that we acknowledge that other 3FC members have differing views and opinions on weight loss that are equally valid as our own.

The following are not permissible under our Agree To Disagree policy:

- Debating weight loss methods and plans.

- Telling another member that his/her diet plan, exercise plan, and/or food choices are unhealthy, wrong, bad or won’t work unless your opinion is specifically requested."

Thank you for bringing this site policy to this thread. Good practices for all of us to follow.