Please Provide Advice on When and How to Transition
 

All,

Please help.

You have a wealth of experience and I am seeking some insights from you on when to transition and how you did it - advice for someone struggling with final week(s) of phase 1. Given my journey so far, I don't think my coach is going to be helpful at such a critical step, and I have tried to find this in maintainers' thread but there is way too much conversation to try and filter out this info (no offense).

I couldn't do something I really enjoy yesterday, which is to golf. I was so dizzy that I had to quit the round - tried to golf 36 holes yesterday; 18 was fine but couldn't finish another 18 even with bringing my IP packets and having them during the rounds. I'm in Scottsdale this weekend for a golf weekend to escape winter weather and this program is hurting something I really enjoy so I am conflicted between this program and enjoying my hobbies.

Also, for those who have noted my earlier thread, I abruptly went off p1 to a p4 type diet for 6 days due to dizziness, etc and gained 20 pounds which I am still working through to lose so I stuck with strict p1 protocol in spite of dizziness and just stopped the activity which I really didn't want to do - I told my nephew that I guess I need to get into p4 in order to do my more active hobbies, which means transitioning I guess to avoid rapid weight gain.

Plus, is the dizziness and fuzziness my body telling me enough is enough - that it needs carbs/energy - I just don't trust my body yet as we've had a love/hate relationship :-)

The reason I think this is my body telling me it has had enough is that I did a 3 month home remodel during p1 where I did a lot of the work and I was completely fine physically - this has just started over the last month.

Please provide your advice here. Thanks!

Hi, Ro - This isn't entirely according to the program, but I was just really burnt out, so I went directly from phase 1 to phase 3 after reaching goal. I did two full weeks of phase 3. I don't think it had any negative impact. I continued to lose even into maintenance for a while.

At one time, there was some talk here that IP was considering eliminating phase 2, but that never happened.

If you are feeling like you need more calories, that would help, perhaps.

Also, consider checking your blood pressure. Dizziness can be a sign of low blood pressure. You have lost quite a bit of weight. My first time around, I experienced dizziness and had to reduce my BP meds.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by Lizzy63:
Hi, Ro - This isn't entirely according to the program, but I was just really burnt out, so I went directly from phase 1 to phase 3 after reaching goal. I did two full weeks of phase 3. I don't think it had any negative impact. I continued to lose even into maintenance for a while.

At one time, there was some talk here that IP was considering eliminating phase 2, but that never happened.

If you are feeling like you need more calories, that would help, perhaps.

Also, consider checking your blood pressure. Dizziness can be a sign of low blood pressure. You have lost quite a bit of weight. My first time around, I experienced dizziness and had to reduce my BP meds.

Good luck!

Thanks, Lizzy. I guess part of what you are saying is that one won't just lose on p1 - you can lose on the other phases as well. This is where I don't have any knowledge and it scares me because of what happened with abruptly adding more carbs and calories and getting a 20 pound weight gain. I swear that although most of weight is gone, my fat cells in my belly and hips/thighs are enlarged than where they were before those 6 days - I don't think this is my eyes/mind playing tricks on me as I can tell from my clothes.

Hi Ro,
I agree with Lizzy's post about considering upping your calories, possibly carbs, and also recognizing if you are burned out. The fact that you were able to do the remodel before probably reflects the fact that your body could find more fat to burn. Maybe not so now. So you need to provide it with more food on days of activity. (This is imo a big shortcoming of of the one-size fits-all approach to P1. I had low blood sugars episodes on my busier work days--totally unnecessary and not very healthy).

I'm not sure I understand your words about enlarged fat cells. If it looks like most of the fat is gone, are you happy with your shape now? Don't worry about what the scale says. The goal is pretty arbitrary, just a guide to aim for. Fwiw, I am 5'4.5 and can maintain and fit into size 6-8 anywhere from 145-154 lbs. At 5'8" I would think 168 is a great weight.

Due to your experience with p1-p4, could you try a more gradual uppage in your cals & carbs? In among the chats of maintenance, evemomma has what has worked well for her--I think she did the standard phase off and then established a comfortable maintenance by upping her food 100 cal per week to see how her metabolsim handled it. I'll try to find and paste her post. My coach told me many many folks have success without follwing the IP guidelines; some skip P2, some skop P3, some do their own thing. Gradually increasing cals and carbs from P1 was his suggestion.

Meanwhile, as long as you feel okay with normal activity, I'd suggest avoiding exertion until you increase your intake, even just a few more days while you figure out this next step. It's worth it to take your time. Good luck!

EDIT Here is evemomma's post from last week with my highlighting:

"It's a challenge to get our brain out of losing/restricting mode. Much like you I kept my calories low at the start of maintenance, mostly because I did a lot of reading about how the metabolism needs to be stoked to get back in shape after a very restrictive diet. BUT....the key to KEEPING the metabolism up and going is not to stay too restrictive. What I did was to slowly start upping my calories by about 100 after I would see a loss once in maintenance. My body seemed to go like this: I would up my calories for a week or two, and my body would stabilize with my new calories....and then I would see a loss again (a consistent loss, not normal up and downs), and so I would add in more calories. I also kept changing my ratios, upping my carbs and lowering my proteins. Currently, I have hit a good homeostasis for my height/weight and activity level at about 1700 calories a day (but my level of intense exercise is very limited)."

Your calorie amounts are not necessarily the same as anyone else's. She has lowered protein ratio and upped carbs somewhat. I think her latest post said 135g net carbs. There is no science to support the need to separate carbs and fats in maintenance lunch/dinner, btw. More important is to figure out what works for your body.

Hope this helps!

Thank you, Lizzy and Mars - your responses give me ideas. I'm just so gun shy given the 20 pound gain due to upping my calories to a "normal" amount and shifting the macronutrients dramatically.

Lizzy - I really appreciate the long, detailed post and the research to find the related post/quote.

Originally Posted by Ro22:
All,

Please help.

You have a wealth of experience and I am seeking some insights from you on when to transition and how you did it - advice for someone struggling with final week(s) of phase 1. Given my journey so far, I don't think my coach is going to be helpful at such a critical step, and I have tried to find this in maintainers' thread but there is way too much conversation to try and filter out this info (no offense).

I couldn't do something I really enjoy yesterday, which is to golf. I was so dizzy that I had to quit the round - tried to golf 36 holes yesterday; 18 was fine but couldn't finish another 18 even with bringing my IP packets and having them during the rounds. I'm in Scottsdale this weekend for a golf weekend to escape winter weather and this program is hurting something I really enjoy so I am conflicted between this program and enjoying my hobbies.

Also, for those who have noted my earlier thread, I abruptly went off p1 to a p4 type diet for 6 days due to dizziness, etc and gained 20 pounds which I am still working through to lose so I stuck with strict p1 protocol in spite of dizziness and just stopped the activity which I really didn't want to do - I told my nephew that I guess I need to get into p4 in order to do my more active hobbies, which means transitioning I guess to avoid rapid weight gain.

Plus, is the dizziness and fuzziness my body telling me enough is enough - that it needs carbs/energy - I just don't trust my body yet as we've had a love/hate relationship :-)

The reason I think this is my body telling me it has had enough is that I did a 3 month home remodel during p1 where I did a lot of the work and I was completely fine physically - this has just started over the last month.

Please provide your advice here. Thanks!

R022, I am recently having the same issue. I'm getting dizzy and feeling unwell (and this didn't happen when I started p1). From my research, I was planning to switch to the diabetic P1 protocol if it happens again. I am not actually diabetic and went to the doctor to have my blood pressure and blood work checked just to make sure (it was fine). As soon as I decided that, I was feeling better. But you can add in a fruit, or yogurt, or cheese at each meal.

Alternatively, if you want to phase off, my coach said you could do it more rapidly if you had to. Do a few days or a week of P2, a few days or week of P3. I didn't ask about skipping it.

Everyone has given such great advise so far.

I have 2 thoughts.

Piggybacking on the BP: are you getting all of your salt? It is crucial on a LC diet because the diet itself has a diuretic effect.

Second: if p1 isn't working for you but you're still wanting to drop weight, have you though about switching to the alternative p1 for diabetics? You add a dairy, a starch, and a fruit per day (one at each meal). There is more info on it in the links in the Daily chat.

Thanks, Lisa and Shasta. I'll look into the diabetic protocol.

Lisa - I believe I am getting plenty of salt. I love to flavor my food with salt so I am pretty sure I am good there.

I am leaning towards that it is a matter of simply not consuming enough calories and/or right mix of macronutrients. I can't explain why for more than 5 months my body was ok but now I do not feel right physically with dizziness, fuzziness and headaches. My fear is that simply increasing or changing these will cause another rapid weight gain - I suppose that means I just weigh myself daily and resort back to p1 if so before a dramatic increase. I will get my blood pressure checked.

The other thing I noticed is I am either much weaker or don't have energy as I am hitting the ball dramatically less distance than before IP - 25 to 40 yards less so I think it is time to begin my weight training/working out so I need to figure out how I work that in here with the right mix of calories and macros.

Have you had any blood work done? I'm wondering if your iron is low? Checking your blood pressure at the dizzy times too. I was getting dizzy spells before I phased off.

I am eating P3 now and losing weight, just not as fast. The big breakfast keeps me going.

IMO, P2 helps transition up you to eating regular protein at lunch and gives you time to get used to the extra prep time that it takes to eat real meat at lunch and dinner. P1 grab and go is so simple. Making a real breakfast takes time too.

I might not be a single digit size, which is what I hoped for before I started, but I feel good and I look "normal". If you don't feel right, you need to stop - belly fat and all.

Ok ya'll I have to jump in here. Yesterday I didn't feel "right" I was dizzy and felt a bit off. I thought maybe I was coming down with something but then I was fine....It sounds like what some of you may be experiencing. Weird.

Originally Posted by Kellyc14:
Ok ya'll I have to jump in here. Yesterday I didn't feel "right" I was dizzy and felt a bit off. I thought maybe I was coming down with something but then I was fine....It sounds like what some of you may be experiencing. Weird.

Yes, it sounds like it's the same thing. I make sure I eat protein every 3-4 hours, make sure I'm getting all my water.

Originally Posted by ChipnDip:
Have you had any blood work done? I'm wondering if your iron is low? Checking your blood pressure at the dizzy times too. I was getting dizzy spells before I phased off.

I am eating P3 now and losing weight, just not as fast. The big breakfast keeps me going.

IMO, P2 helps transition up you to eating regular protein at lunch and gives you time to get used to the extra prep time that it takes to eat real meat at lunch and dinner. P1 grab and go is so simple. Making a real breakfast takes time too.

I might not be a single digit size, which is what I hoped for before I started, but I feel good and I look "normal". If you don't feel right, you need to stop - belly fat and all.

Thanks - did you determine what the dizzy spells were from? I did not have blood work done. I am traveling a ton right now plus I don't generally go to doctor but I will check that.

I don't have any issue with eating regular protein. I routinely had chicken and turkey at lunch and dinner (I don't eat red meat) when I was following my own 1200 calorie diet with 6x a week workouts and never had feelings I do now but I thought I could lose faster and better on IP and that has happened. I've been at this weight before but not at this size. Getting to this point has been the easiest thing I have done to lose weight but for last 3 weeks or so, it is also now the toughest as I have never felt like this with the physical symptoms.

I am thinking phase 3 and then phase 4 is the way to go for me especially because I want to start weight training again. I am fine at this point of losing more slowly or even just maintaining - I just want to make sure I have removed the 20 pounds I gained while off phase 1 for 6 days which I won't know until Friday. In the meantime, I have let my physical symptoms dictate what activities I do.

Hi Ro,

You've gotten some great advice. While you are losing the 20lbs and doing high fitness days you may want to add 1/3 cup of oatmeal along with your IP packet in the morning. In discussion with my coach we came up with this for when I ran over 10km as I would get dizzy at the end of the day. I would ason add the extra packet for when I finished it helped. I think it important to take the time and transition slowly they the phases. A lot the the maintainers have found their bodies have responded differently to the added food.

Post a question on the maintainers thread and it will get answered by people who have gone thru it.

Originally Posted by Jenny38:
Hi Ro,

You've gotten some great advice. While you are losing the 20lbs and doing high fitness days you may want to add 1/3 cup of oatmeal along with your IP packet in the morning. In discussion with my coach we came up with this for when I ran over 10km as I would get dizzy at the end of the day. I would ason add the extra packet for when I finished it helped. I think it important to take the time and transition slowly they the phases. A lot the the maintainers have found their bodies have responded differently to the added food.

Post a question on the maintainers thread and it will get answered by people who have gone thru it.

Great - thanks, Jenny!

Originally Posted by Ro22:
Thanks - did you determine what the dizzy spells were from? I did not have blood work done. I am traveling a ton right now plus I don't generally go to doctor but I will check that.

I don't have any issue with eating regular protein. I routinely had chicken and turkey at lunch and dinner (I don't eat red meat) when I was following my own 1200 calorie diet with 6x a week workouts and never had feelings I do now but I thought I could lose faster and better on IP and that has happened. I've been at this weight before but not at this size. Getting to this point has been the easiest thing I have done to lose weight but for last 3 weeks or so, it is also now the toughest as I have never felt like this with the physical symptoms.

I am thinking phase 3 and then phase 4 is the way to go for me especially because I want to start weight training again. I am fine at this point of losing more slowly or even just maintaining - I just want to make sure I have removed the 20 pounds I gained while off phase 1 for 6 days which I won't know until Friday. In the meantime, I have let my physical symptoms dictate what activities I do.

Not really. My blood work was fine. I thought my blood pressure was li but IT was still normal. My scale tells me my water % and although it may not be perfect it its a relative number and it seemed to be lower so I increased my water. I phased offpretty soon after.

If you don't eat red meat, you may need to add more eggs into your meals for the fats, and you should also check your hemoglobin/iron levels, they could also be low.
Hope you find out soon and get feeling better!

Liana

Hi All,

I thought I'd give you an update.

I continue to be lightheaded/have headaches and just low on energy in general - I feel weak. This has made it hard to stay on phase 1.

In my 7th month, here is how Feb went.

I went off phase 1 for 6 days and gained 20 pounds.
I went back on for 8 days and got dizzy/no energy while on a golfing vacation.
I am weak - for any golfers out there, I have lost the equivalent of 2 club lengths in distance - this is very troubling to me.
I went back off for 3 days then back on for 2 then off 1.
This week I have been OP on phase 1.
Right now, I am up 3 pounds from my lowest weight on Feb 3 before I deviated at all from phase 1.
That equates to a total of 10 days off phase 1, pretty much having what I want to eat, and 16 days on phase 1 during the month of Feb.
I will tell you that the trade-off was worth it as I am about the same weight and have enjoyed the splurges but more enjoyed the self-restraint to get right back on. After many significant yo-yo episodes in my life, this is a big deal to me as I have never got back on a diet so quickly. I have always let myself go and wouldn't start again until I gained it all back and then some. With this program, due to loss of more inches and immediate bloating by going off phase 1 abruptly, I find it motivational to get back OP much more quickly.

Now, what to do about the headaches/light-headedness and loss of strength...
I have testing scheduled for next Saturday - it consists of a whole health screen plus resting and active metabolic profiling. I am anxious to get this data as I think it is important for transitioning/long-term maintenance. I would like to lose another 20 pounds but not at the expense of energy and strength so I think this testing is a good complement to this program to figure out how to fix my issues - this is the 6th week of continual headaches, light-headedness with the realization of strength lost. I'll let you know how it goes. As I expected, my coach was no help - just the pat answers about vegetables, adding a restricted etc, which isn't helpful as I have had these symptoms even when I deviated from phase 1 for the days that I did. There are working theories about low blood pressure, low blood sugar, drinking too much water causing electrolytes to be flushed out to low iron.

I'll let you know what I find but also what program we come up with for me to add strength training (reformer Pilates and free weights) and have energy to do my favorite activities especially with Spring-time approaching while continuing to lose fat.

Thanks for the update, Ro22. Good idea to get thoroughly checked out, and good for you to go beyond the IP coach to get good help. Looking forward to hearing you are back on your game!

Glad to hear you're getting a full set of panels, that's a great place to start when there are no obvious reasons for the symptoms you're having.

Hope they can find something that is causing the problems and then you can fix it and focus on the longer term maintenance plan. :)

Thanks for the support.

I am down another pound so only 2 away from my lowest at beginning of month. I think I'll be back there by Monday.

I recalculated and updated my post as I realized I have been off phase 1 fewer days than I listed - it should have been 10 days off this month and 16 days on - that is from the light-headedness causing my math to be off :-)

I am very committed to sticking to a program right now so I think the deviations helped with diet fatigue - I can easily see myself continuing now to lose those 20 pounds, but I don't think phase 1 is the right way to go about it at this point due to how I am feeling so I don't know if another phase is appropriate or another approach. I don't want to go more weeks being told I can't workout feeling this low on energy. In the past, I was doing my own program of 1200 calories with 40/40/20 % mix between protein, complex carb, and healthy fats so I am leaning towards something like that as long as I can be assured it won't cause a rapid gain or undue the overall purpose of this program of fixing the pancreas as I have read about the importance of phase 3. When I was following that program, I had great energy and strength and good results - I just felt I could get better, faster results on this and I have - I never hit a plateau on this where I would have to overcome those on my own program. I have never been in a size 8 or 10 and this is my size now depending upon the brand so this has been good to me up to this point and achieved what I wanted from it. So, I am in search mode for what is best now knowing I also want to fix the yo-yoing which inspired me to follow IP. If I wasn't worried about that, I would simply switch to 40/40/20. We'll see what I learn in the next week or so.

One additional thing I wanted to share is that I questioned the head of fitness at my gym about my weakness. I told him IP was designed to maintain/increase lean muscle mass but I must have lost muscle due to my loss of strength so I feel I was duped (even though all my fitness numbers indicate I did maintain/increase muscle mass). He told me this is not contradictory - he said it is quite reasonable the program did exactly what it said it would do in spite of my strength lost. He said muscle needs to be conditioned for strength and not working out for 7 months after doing it for years for 6 days a week, I have lost the conditioning and that when I start again, I will get it back and get it back more quickly due to muscle memory. So, I am anxious to start this. He told me the testing will tell me how much muscle I have added as I have all my measurements since I started so he'll be able to use those with the testing they are going to do.

I felt better when I heard that from him. It was also comforting mentally that he wasn't disparaging this program - we are just approaching this scientifically. This was different than the manager at GNC that I encountered yesterday that says this is a bad program. I don't feel that way at all in spite of my recent troubles - I just feel I am at a stage now with most of my weight/fat loss achieved that this may not be best to take me to finish line all things considered. My family thinks I am obsessing too much - they think I look ideal and should just transition so getting conflicting advice so that is why I feel good about the testing to do this objectively.

Good going on being serious about getting everything checked medically Ro22! So many people just try to tweak things around or 'ignore the problem til it goes away' (I think mainly due to medical costs in the US). The problems you have been having are not usual for IP or anyone in general. I'm glad that the head of fitness knows what he is talking about at your gym... so many places are run by people that don't really have enough expertise in the field. I would make sure that once you find out your results you latch on to that person, in tandem with whatever docs you need to help you through this. Make sure you sign a paper that allows them to share info with each other so that they truly can work as a team.

Keep us updated :hug:

Liana

Originally Posted by canadjineh:
Good going on being serious about getting everything checked medically Ro22! So many people just try to tweak things around or 'ignore the problem til it goes away' (I think mainly due to medical costs in the US). The problems you have been having are not usual for IP or anyone in general. I'm glad that the head of fitness knows what he is talking about at your gym... so many places are run by people that don't really have enough expertise in the field. I would make sure that once you find out your results you latch on to that person, in tandem with whatever docs you need to help you through this. Make sure you sign a paper that allows them to share info with each other so that they truly can work as a team.

Keep us updated :hug:

Liana

Thanks, Liana. I am really frustrated with my coach right now as he doesn't seem open to any of this. He tells me the personal trainer (he made the assumption I am working with a personal trainer when in fact it is a team approach of nutritionist, doctor and exercise physiologist) will push that weight loss must come from major activity - that was not the case - if anyone is being close-minded, it is my coach. I cannot get it through to him that my goal is 1) being healthy 2) having the energy to do activities I enjoy 3) having the strength to do the activities I enjoy the best I can possibly do them and 4) weight loss only if 1-3 are met. His sole focus is on 4 without the qualifier. My problem has always been maintenance/transition and boy that is no truer than now when I have a coach just keep pushing weight loss and therefore phase 1 when my needs aren't being met. He said this is a medically supervised program - I haven't been medically supervised so I don't know what he is talking about. Maybe he meant medically designed instead of supervised but I emailed him 6 weeks ago or more to let him know my symptoms and no adjustments have been made.

Ro22 - If it helps at all, my symptoms which including dizziness and fatigue seemed to have cleared up. I think for me it was related to stress and now that I have the tools (like you) I know that I am going to add back in more food and more importantly I know which foods that would be if my body is telling me I need more. So sorry about your coach. I think my coach really helped me thru my episode which also included diet fatigue and she was not so strict with P1 or even IP. I think sometimes with the coaches they go to the easiest explanation which he/she is assuming is your personal trainer without listening to the whole story.

Originally Posted by shasta10:
Ro22 - If it helps at all, my symptoms which including dizziness and fatigue seemed to have cleared up. I think for me it was related to stress and now that I have the tools (like you) I know that I am going to add back in more food and more importantly I know which foods that would be if my body is telling me I need more. So sorry about your coach. I think my coach really helped me thru my episode which also included diet fatigue and she was not so strict with P1 or even IP. I think sometimes with the coaches they go to the easiest explanation which he/she is assuming is your personal trainer without listening to the whole story.

Thanks, Shasta10. They have been going on now every day, all day for 6+ weeks. I think something has happened that has built up following this for 7 months like low blood pressure or low iron or electrolytes or something. I'll know soon hopefully. In the meantime, I'm following phase 1.

So, I went to the doctor today. I really liked the place. I have found that it is difficult to find all-in-one location of a medical doctor, exercise physiologist, nutrition/dietician and I have found all that in the location I went to today.

The fact that they are familiar with ideal protein as well as other diet programs was a nice bonus.

We did a couple of tests today:
1 - blood pressure and heart rate are good 118/75 with a resting heart rate of 57
2 - BIA (body impedance analysis) - gives all kinds of data about body composition - more accurate than the Omron hand-held device my clinic has been using - bad news is it says I am 1% body fat more than my clinic but it is what it is right now. It also included resting metabolism calculation.
3 - blood draw for lots of panels to be done including full iron panel, magnesium, thyroid function, and other electrolytes but he specifically added the ones I noted based upon my symptoms (I don't know if ketone testing is included - I forgot to ask when I was there so I sent a follow-up email as I read this is a source of energy so if on a very low cal diet and not in ketosis, that could explain low energy).

I'll let you know what I find. They said this is not typical to have symptoms like this so far along. The various tests take different # of days to complete with thyroid taking the longest but they said they would call as early as tomorrow if the early results come in that is a red flag.

I don't know if anything will show up in blood test, but I feel like I now have a proper support system (and further comforted that it is via a medical doctor - an internal medicine doctor) in this that will help me through it, which is a relief in and of itself. We are going to figure out whether I should continue in weight loss mode and how as well as what my strength training/fitness program should be - they were adamant that I should have the energy and green light to strength train so I am also happy about that so we'll see what the test results reveal and go from there.

I am happy I moved up my testing from Saturday to today. I will still do the active metabolism test on Saturday.

One other piece of good news is that I was down another pound which puts me at my lowest weight to date which means I have now lost everything I had gained from my numerous deviations from p1 in the past month plus another pound.

I'll let you know what the blood tests reveal as well as their overall recommendations on next steps. As they note, their services are not cheap and are for people that are serious about their well-being so hopefully folks here will benefit from what I learn as well making it an even better value.

Congrats on finding the 'jackpot' Ro22! :high: It's so great to have all those resources in one spot, and it will be worth it to regain your strength & health! We are rooting for you, keep us up to date, and let us know what they suggest once all your results are in.

Liana

Originally Posted by Ro22:
So, I went to the doctor today. I really liked the place. I have found that it is difficult to find all-in-one location of a medical doctor, exercise physiologist, nutrition/dietician and I have found all that in the location I went to today.

The fact that they are familiar with ideal protein as well as other diet programs was a nice bonus.

We did a couple of tests today:
1 - blood pressure and heart rate are good 118/75 with a resting heart rate of 57
2 - BIA (body impedance analysis) - gives all kinds of data about body composition - more accurate than the Omron hand-held device my clinic has been using - bad news is it says I am 1% body fat more than my clinic but it is what it is right now. It also included resting metabolism calculation.
3 - blood draw for lots of panels to be done including full iron panel, magnesium, thyroid function, and other electrolytes but he specifically added the ones I noted based upon my symptoms (I don't know if ketone testing is included - I forgot to ask when I was there so I sent a follow-up email as I read this is a source of energy so if on a very low cal diet and not in ketosis, that could explain low energy).

I'll let you know what I find. They said this is not typical to have symptoms like this so far along. The various tests take different # of days to complete with thyroid taking the longest but they said they would call as early as tomorrow if the early results come in that is a red flag.

I don't know if anything will show up in blood test, but I feel like I now have a proper support system (and further comforted that it is via a medical doctor - an internal medicine doctor) in this that will help me through it, which is a relief in and of itself. We are going to figure out whether I should continue in weight loss mode and how as well as what my strength training/fitness program should be - they were adamant that I should have the energy and green light to strength train so I am also happy about that so we'll see what the test results reveal and go from there.

I am happy I moved up my testing from Saturday to today. I will still do the active metabolism test on Saturday.

One other piece of good news is that I was down another pound which puts me at my lowest weight to date which means I have now lost everything I had gained from my numerous deviations from p1 in the past month plus another pound.

I'll let you know what the blood tests reveal as well as their overall recommendations on next steps. As they note, their services are not cheap and are for people that are serious about their well-being so hopefully folks here will benefit from what I learn as well making it an even better value.

I'm glad you found a good well rounded office to figure out what is going on. My MIL was just referred to a similar office by her cardiologist. She didn't even realize it was the same diet that I've been doing and is very gung ho to get started once she realized that she could make the same progress as me and it was sanctioned by her doctor. She's obviously older and in pretty great health but will benefit from the expertise of the various doctors. She did say that I gave her way more information then the ideal protein girls that explained the protocol. She said that the doctor's office also referred her to this site.

Originally Posted by shasta10:
I'm glad you found a good well rounded office to figure out what is going on. My MIL was just referred to a similar office by her cardiologist. She didn't even realize it was the same diet that I've been doing and is very gung ho to get started once she realized that she could make the same progress as me and it was sanctioned by her doctor. She's obviously older and in pretty great health but will benefit from the expertise of the various doctors. She did say that I gave her way more information then the ideal protein girls that explained the protocol. She said that the doctor's office also referred her to this site.

Thanks! Isn't it amazing how much collective knowledge we have been able to compile? We should all become coaches because we know way more than the ones that are actually serving in that official capacity :-). I have numerous family and friends doing this now as a result of my success and I feel an obligation to figure this out and not fail them by encouraging them to follow a program that may have throw off their electrolytes, etc. I am hoping for my sake and theirs that I get answers soon because headaches have gotten worse over the last week.

Results are Back
 

Well, I got my results today. I go Monday to speak to the internist about them.
My electrolytes are fine but thyroid and adrenal system are not.
I have extremely low T3 and extremely high TSH (I think it is) but basically my thyroid is significantly under-performing. Also, I have adrenal system abnormalities but the PA told me that I have to speak to the physician about that so that has me a bit rattled.
The PA said the doctor suspects I have had an under-performing thyroid for a while but why my symptoms became so pronounced about 6-8 weeks ago to the point that I couldn't avoid them is that is when they believe the adrenal system couldn't compensate any longer. Don't really know what that means. I will get all of this explained to me on Monday and understand the treatment plan but wanted to share because if you are feeling the way I was, I suggest getting a blood test. The doctor had anticipated these problems based upon my symptoms and ordered extra tests so that he had all the data rather than seeing some abnormalities and having to order more blood tests so make sure that you get the more elaborate testing if you find yourself in this situation.

I'll let you know what this all means in terms of the diet, exercise, etc. I feel that I am in very good hands (although, I will get a 2nd opinion) - I am anxious to feel better. My headaches are awful and I am tired of dragging myself around.

Ro22
The throid/adrenal issue pretty common for people who have been an extremely low carb/low-fat diet for quite some time. I found quite a bit of literature about it. I believe Chris Kresser (among others) has some info online about it as well.

It did not happen suddenly, however you may just have started feeling some of the effects. Most people rebound pretty quickly from that problem when they phase off. I did not. I am currently following phase 1 (again) except I add a little bit more fat to try to help support proper thyroid functioning.

I also will not stay on phase 1 for more than four weeks at a time without cycling through phase 3 and then back to phase 1. The extra carbs and fat in phase 3 will also help support proper thyroid functioning. After a year and a half, I am off thyroid medicine but not completely healed from that issue.

At the time the doctor I had consulted said I had to be willing to gain about 25 pounds back to restore my thyroid functioning. That didn't quite happen, although the weight regain has been very frustrating. I'm willing to do what I need to do to be healthy but I also know being overweight/obese is not healthy. There absolutely must be some kind of happy medium for that somewhere.

I'm scheduled to consult two more doctors this year. One has just ordered testing and another one I can't get an appointment till August.

I started out at 260 and unhealthy. I lived in pain. So the fact that I've had some struggles along the way to me is just part of the journey of restoring my health.

Thanks, Lisa. That is alarming. I asked and they said this diet did not cause this. I'll get more info on Monday.
What I can't figure out is I have lost 3+ a week every single week I followed phase 1 so if my thyroid is shot, how could I get such great results? My coach kept telling me what optimal results I was getting so not to change a thing. I can't determine how much I have lost since my symptoms got so bad because I deviated from phase 1 in an effort to make myself feel better and my symptoms just got progressively worse so it seems very weird that there was no impact on weight loss in first 5 months.
But, as I said, I'll know more Monday.
I know there was a dramatic change in my energy level from end of 2014 to mid-Jan 2015.

Originally Posted by Ro22:
Thanks, Lisa. That is alarming. I asked and they said this diet did not cause this. I'll get more info on Monday.
What I can't figure out is I have lost 3+ a week every single week I followed phase 1 so if my thyroid is shot, how could I get such great results? My coach kept telling me what optimal results I was getting so not to change a thing. I can't determine how much I have lost since my symptoms got so bad because I deviated from phase 1 in an effort to make myself feel better and my symptoms just got progressively worse so it seems very weird that there was no impact on weight loss in first 5 months.
But, as I said, I'll know more Monday.
I know there was a dramatic change in my energy level from end of 2014 to mid-Jan 2015.

I had no impact in WL for the first 6 months before the thyroid disruptions finally caught up with me. You are not alone.

Update - Dr visit Today
 

So the saga continues and for those following, I thought I would share an update. This isn't intended to be a blog about my IP/health journey but an intention of sharing information so that it may help one or more of you. I found the visit very insightful and I am hoping you will too.

First- what caused me to seek treatment is that there was a dramatic change in energy and constant headaches and light-headedness that became more pronounced when I attempted to exert myself. The weakness led me to conclude it was a strength issue related to not being able to workout for many months. I experienced this dramatic difference in well-being after about 6 months of being strict Phase 1. I thought I had an electrolytes problem from some research I had done.

Here's an explanation as to what was found.
The doctor, an internist familiar with Ideal Protein as well as other weight loss programs, ordered advanced blood testing from the get-go as he had clues based upon my symptoms - he ordered advanced thyroid and iron testing in addition to standard blood test.

Test Results
Hypothyroidism due to critically low T3
My blood work reflects #2 in the linked article
http://chriskresser.com/5-thyroid-pa...dard-lab-tests
It also shows abnormally high platelet count (inflammation) and high LDL (bad cholesterol) that he believes is due to thyroid which he believes will normalize when thyroid problem is resolved.
He believes Cortisol is high - we are getting further testing on that and DHEA (adrenal testing).

Here is what he says about the diet, how it is being administered and monitored, etc:
1 - it is a nutritionally sound program, emphasizing fat loss vs weight loss, which is doubly good
2 - it is not being monitored correctly within the clinics. He said given my height and muscle mass and commitment to protocol, I should have received the results that I have in half the time if not for thyroid. He said a blood test should have been done before and during and they should have caught this.
3 - He said because it is a nutritionally sound program it masked the underlying thyroid problem until it reached a critical state; more reason why it should be monitored through blood work, etc
4 - he said it is being administered as "one size fits all" when it needs to be personalized. For example, he said that no one should have advised me that I could not workout - he said it should have been personalized for me to accommodate overall fitness goals and that waiting until Phase 4 to workout is for someone who has never worked out before so he said the protocol is normalized based upon the average and should be personalized for the individual for those that seek that (I wish I had gone to him 7 months ago).
5 - he believes the clinics should be administering periodic detox cycles for the IP plan. He said that the fat that is released from the cells go into the bloodstream and build up. Our body views them as toxins so we need to cleanse them out. He said even though IP is nutritionally sound, it is still processed food so for those 2 reasons, he advises detoxing periodically (see below for what it is).

As for me personally, he says my numbers are good and he does not want me dieting any more. He said the last 10 pounds/last few body fat % points I want to lose will happen naturally with thyroid being fixed, and if not, he says my current numbers are good where they are. As I have never properly transitioned before, this was a sense of relief to have a medical doctor review my health/fitness scores and say it is good :)
He says that he doubts there will be any sort of net gain with transitioning off due to offset by thyroid getting fixed but that we'll re-evaluate if that happens.
My transition off is different than P3. It is 10 days of a detox program with T3 hormone so that my cells are getting the energy they need while we fix the underlying thyroid issue (probably with adrenal help to address high cortisol and resolve inflammation/high platelet count). The detox is a no calorie counting, organic, no processed food regimen where food groups are mixed and matched together throughout the 10 days with supplementation - it is basically a 10 day anti-inflammatory diet.
I have a follow-up appointment on Friday to see how I am feeling as he believes that I will feel dramatically different on 2 days of T3 hormone. We are also going to do a follow-up blood test in 3 weeks to check thyroid as he expects improvement but he believes in 3 months we will cure thyroid/adrenal problem.

He said that there is more research done on thyroid and that a cure vs long-term maintenance is a reality. He said I would get a very different treatment plan if I took my lab results to an endocrinologist who has been practicing for many years vs a Northwestern graduate practicing for a couple - the newer doctor would be well-versed on the info in that article I linked. In fact, he said that these are now licensing exam questions and that missing one is automatic failure.

I start my treatment tomorrow.

I hope you are able to glean some info from all of this and apply it if/when it makes sense. I think the bottom line is to challenge the clinics/coaches - it is your health and well-being! And, if you are doing this on your own - don't...partner with your doctor to ensure you are getting optimal, healthy results. For someone who has white coat syndrome, that is saying a lot as I have always avoided the dr until I couldn't.
I don't buy into the logic any longer that it is easy and designed so you don't have to think, etc. The truth is that this is an extreme program and should be more closely monitored - thyroid issues should be suspected, ruled out and then monitored as we all have/had weight issues.

Wow Ro. It sounds like you found a great doc! Those are as elusive as good IP clinics. If there were a medical doc office offering a clinic around here, I'd probably go for it. All I've found is Chiros who add IP by hiring a coach and keeping it basically separate. I found one medical doc but they don't monitor either. Glad you've found true support

Originally Posted by lisa32989:
Wow Ro. It sounds like you found a great doc! Those are as elusive as good IP clinics. If there were a medical doc office offering a clinic around here, I'd probably go for it. All I've found is Chiros who add IP by hiring a coach and keeping it basically separate. I found one medical doc but they don't monitor either. Glad you've found true support

I really think so, Lisa!
What I didn't write in the update is he met with me for 90 minutes to review in detail my lab results, what they mean, my treatment plan and challenged me to ask whatever questions I had. Overall, my appointment was 3.5 hours with him and then his staff (exercise physiologist and nutritionist/dietician) with a follow-up on Friday. They said that someone who commits 7 months to a strict protocol like this is worth their equal commitment :-)

Btw, I see you are in St. Louis. He is in Chicagoland suburbs - it may be worth your while to visit given your overall thyroid struggles and such. If not, he did mention having out of state IP patients via the internet - I am not sure how that works but I could ask him on Friday if you would like. I don't know if it is a partnership with local clinics where he is reviewing/ordering tests and individualizing the program.

I was really amazed and impressed by him. Far into the appointment, he shared with me that he has leukemia. He shared this with me to tell me how important nutrition and fitness is and that nutrition is the first type and most important medicine. He said that he has always done his blood work every 6 months (he advises everyone to do this) and 3 years ago, he got his blood test back that showed leukemia. After getting it re-tested numerous times by different labs with same result, he asked his oncologist friend out for a drink and masked the patient name and asked his opinion and he said that I give this patient 6 months to a year to live. He said he went into a bit of a depression over it and stopped practicing for a bit but overcame that and became more committed to his clinic in regards to this type of education and helping patients as he says that through nutrition and fitness, he has kept his labs in a steady state for last 3 years without chemo, etc.

In regards to this, one of the tests he has ordered for me is a food sensitivity test because he said that can cause inflammation and wreak havoc on the system. He showed me his test that he has included as part of his nutritional plan which he believes is helping maintain his labs vs a progression in the leukemia. He said that he has a lot of professional athletes as patients for this as nutritional counseling is part of their contracts including the food sensitivity analysis due to what the inflammation can do to their achieving their optimal performance.

It is a blood test that takes a few weeks for the results. He said that given that I don't have much variety in my diet, I have an increased risk to becoming sensitive to the foods I eat due to overexposure and could be a factor in my platelet count being high (inflammatory response). It will be interesting to see what is revealed there. I forgot to ask him about soy as it relates to thyroid - I am going to do that on Friday. He did not mention to me about avoiding soy but that could be that we just haven't gotten to that part of the treatment plan yet as the 10 day detox does not have soy.

Ro - that is fantastic! You must be so relieved to get some answers, affirmation about the IP program overall, and a solid plan moving forward.

Thyroid is such a tricky thing. I was diagnosed with hypo a few months after my son was born. So I knew going into IP that it might be an issue, which is why I go through my endocrinologist's office. My check up in January showed my numbers are still stable, but she wants me to get tested again once I get under 200# and reach goal.

Wow, Ro!.... just.... wow! What a doc - one in a million! Best wishes on your T3 & detox protocol!

Liana

I have to admit I was completely lost in the grocery store - took me 2.5 hours to shop for 10 days :-)
After 7 months of IP P1 and now a different program; although it is only 10 days and probably similar to when folks transition from P1/P2 to P3. Many things I bought that I haven't bought in a very long time (fruits, sweet potatoes) or ever (quinoa, rice milk, etc). It is interesting but I find more challenging than IP. They took away my main source of protein - turkey and chicken. They want me eating fish - I don't eat fish so I stocked up on legumes as the alternative option. I don't even know what to do with them lol. They gave some recipes. I guess I'll figure it out but boy it is hard especially feeling the way I do.
I guess what I can say is IP as well as this detox have opened me up to new foods - I have never heard of jicama or chayote squash nor had I eaten rhubarb - all of which I did recently and now I guess I'll be further exposed to things like rice milk and legumes.

Ro22- That article is very interesting. It sounds like you found one of the few doctors who know what they are talking about and are not dismissive about thyroid issues. Please keep us updated on revelations with him. Did you post which doctor you are seeing?

Originally Posted by CO_6:
Ro22- That article is very interesting. It sounds like you found one of the few doctors who know what they are talking about and are not dismissive about thyroid issues. Please keep us updated on revelations with him. Did you post which doctor you are seeing?

I did not. If you are interested, PM me.