Thanks coffeebean and Lori T. I am a carb addict, too. One bite and it is all over for me. I am mad at myself because I have to do this all over again. The first time I lost 120 pounds and I regained 80 of it. I have been dieting my whole life. I am so tired of worrying about what I eat. I am a diabetic, too and when my food is out of hand so is that. Well, that felt good to just say it.

This thread is perfect for me. I have tried to reboot on and off more times than I can count. I just got back from vacation last week and told myself I need to just suck it up for a month or two and get back to feeling confident again. I haven't stepped on the scale yet, but just based on how my clothes fit I know I'm at my top weight and need to do something about it.

What I love about this thread so far is hearing that some are slightly tweaking it to work for them. My coach has switched to Pro-energy so I'm not exactly following the IP protocol, but it's very similar.

Like many of you, I'm an all or nothing kind of person. Once I have a small cheat it derails me for the rest of the day and sometimes even weekend. Right now my mind is set on being 100% till I get to my goal, but I also think I need to learn how to have a "cheat" and not go hog crazy.

I am looking forward to my WI this afternoon (I think ;-). I was able to slide into a smaller pair of jeans this morning, zip them up with only one gut tuck in and a slight wiggle AND I can sit down in them!!!! (you all know that test right? Can you both zip them up and sit down in them without fainting??) So NSV nirvana!!!

This is just what I need. I lost 60 pounds in 6 months following IP. I have been in maintenance now for 3 months. I gained 10-12 pounds right away. The maintenance plan is just not working for me. I have also been trying low carb which is working to maintain but I'm not at my goal. I didn't make my goal originally due to some health issues. The health issues are somewhat resolved but I have even more limitations as to what I can eat, but IP is all that has worked for me.

Day 20 of successful reboot. I am keeping my eye on the prize. All my cute summer clothes in my closet that I haven't been able to wear for 2 summers due to weight gain and not being able to reboot.

Man, this reboot has been a SLOG. Going into week 4 now. Just rebooting because I wanted to lose an additional 10 pounds to get squarely within the healthy BMI category. I had managed to maintain okay, but did feel I was getting a little looser with my maintenance routine -- it was time for a reminder of how hard I'd worked to get back in shape. Man, what a reminder it has been. First, it reminded me of why I phased off early -- those last few pounds were so-o-o-o slow to go. They still are. It takes such patience! It was also a reminder of how hard those first 3 days of P1 are. You earn every last pound you lose! Finally it is a reminder of the fact that, once you get in the zone, and are eating cleanly, the cravings and hunger subside. I initially ate pretty low carb in maintenance, but was beginning to stretch a bit with a craft brew date once a week (talk about a fun day!) I may be reconsidering that.

The vigilance does pay off, however. Since losing the initial 50+ pounds, I feel great. And I particularly feel every pound I have (slowly) lost on my reboot. The other day, I was clothes shopping and the sales person started helping me find clothes. There was a jacket I liked -- she regretfully informed me that the smallest size they had it in was a 10. A 10!? And you think it will be too big for me?! I love IP. It's worth the work to feel healthy and good about myself. Welcome back, fellow rebooters!

I have a meeting with my coach today after work. I had some leftover product from before my vacation so I've been eating some of that, otherwise I picked up some Quest bars for my snack and then just been eating salads at lunch and a meat and veggies at dinner. Not exactly 100% on plan, but close to, and very manageable.

Once I got back from vacation the mental switch flicked for me and I finally got in the right mind frame to stop eating all the junk. Thursday-Saturday I was great with very little cravings, Sunday and last night I had an ice cream craving, which is bizarre since I'm not a huge ice cream person, but managed to resist. hoping I can make it through this week and hopefully see some results in how my clothes fit and then I'll be motivated to make it through this weekend!

I know that if I can just stay committed until the end of April I'll be at or very near my goal!

Congrats to all those having successful weigh ins and to those sticking to the plan!

New thoughts on maintenance
 

An update on my reboot in case anyone can relate. So when I last did IP I was very pleased with the results (I had specific goals for losing fat around the middle - not many pounds really, but still very successful). The maintenance plan didn't work for me though. At first I followed it to the letter. But I felt terrible a lot, probably because I have extreme carb sensitivity. And the whole concept of keeping fats and carbs apart just didn't suit my tastes. So I experimented with other maintenance systems, like the one where you eat whatever you want one day and then do a P1/P2-style day the following day. That actually worked pretty well, but then I gradually stopped for no reason. I guess I was just enyoying the taste of food too much :D

On this reboot I have had success again, over around 5 weeks or so. But I recently took a long weekend trip and cheated (apple pie sundae one day, blintzes the next, that sort of thing. stuck to packets, veggies, and lean protein the rest of the time. oh yeah, a few glasses of wine too, not much). Somehow the cheating was different this time. I didn't feel guilty and I really lived in the moment. Back home now and went back to 100% OP. After two P1 days I feel great again and no worse for the wear.

So now I have a new thought about maintenance. I'm thinking of making my "maintenance" routine be some variation on P1/P2 WITH cheating. The thing I realized with my deliberate cheating was that since in my mind I was still MOSTLY OP, I never get TOO far off plan. And it was very easy to "detox" when I got back. My rationale is that MOSTLY P1/P2 is something I can live with, and will keep me from going completely crazy with too many carbs, huge midnight snacks, and all the rest. I do use some alternatives like Quest.

This thinking may change, but I have to come to terms with the fact that IP's maintenance plan just doesn't work for me and that I need to come up with something else.

I'd love to hear others' revelations and ideas about maintenance too.

I'm not on maintenance yet so I don't know if you really want to hear my perspective or not but I have been studying up on maintenance as I'm 5 pounds away and I can't wrap my head around IP maintenance. Adding so much food at breakfast and then seperating out carb and fats just seems so strange to me and really hard to set up and live by. So, I was thinking about doing Paleo but using IP alternative things like the Quest bars and some of hte other alternatives that I love for the "on the go" type issues that usually make me go off a diet.

Nearthebay - I agree with you that separating carbs and fat is easier said than done. It doesn't really "meet my tastes" either.

I have rebooted so many times and have never found a plan that works for me, but I also haven't changed my eating habits, I just love sweets too much.

I've always had less than 20 lbs to lose, so I can usually get to goal within two months. Sounds great, right? Except I don't think I really learn to change my eating habits in that short time frame, so what takes me two months to lose, I can gain back in two to three weeks.

Hi shasta10 and knm,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I'm glad I'm not alone in my skepticism of IP maintenance working for me.

knm, I have been pinning a lot of recipes lately, trying to find very very low carb substitutions for all the bad stuff that I love. Latest discoveries have been cauliflower + egg pancakes (totally satisfies my pancake craving with pumpkin pie spices and WF syrup), zucchini noodles and miracle noodles, burgers protein style (with lettuce as the bun), and many more. I made these lemon macaroons for my kids and they Loved them. I would substitute WF syrup for at least half the sweetener, if not all: http://www.addictedtoveggies.com/201....html?spref=pi

I have never wandered over to the maintainers thread, but maybe I will now to see what ideas others have...

Nearthebay -- I would encourage you to follow Evemomma's approach on maintenance. She has said that she basically eats at phase 3 with adding carbs or fats to her lunch/dinner. That was an easy plan for me to follow and I was successful in maintenance for 5 months (I'm now doing a reboot to lose 10 pounds I didn't lose on P1). Using Evemomma's approach, I never did a P1 day, although I had a fun meal (never a full fun day) now and then. It seemed easy and my weight was stable. I know that she's subsequently made adjustments, but that concept made maintenance pretty easy for me.

Day 21 if my reboot while on a month vacation. I have been able to stay 109% OP. When everyone else is having wine at the end of the day I pour ICE flavored water in my wine glass and have as good of time as the rest of the people. I do not know what clicked this time on my reboot but I feel so good being OP.

Rebooting to lose 10lbs gained
 

Hello to all. I've been away for about a year. It's time to get back OP to get rid of 10lbs I've gained since last March when I had lost 32lbs. I went from a size 12 to a 6. I had tossed my whole wardrobe and started over. I'm still in most of my pants but I think I'm favoring the bigger ones and even a couple of 8's I had while I was in losing mode last year. I have two beach vacations coming up March 28th and then again in May. I'm hoping to fit into my summer clothes from last year. I have 3 weeks to lose 10lbs and I know that if I stick to plan I can do it. I have a couple of questions for the expert IP'ers. Is Chicken/Apple Sausage okay as a protein? Is sautéing my veggies in 1 Tbls. of extra virgin olive oil okay? Are Shallots on Phase 1 or are they onions?? If I have a late dinner (8pm) should I skip my 3rd IP packet because of the late hour (9pm) plus I'm not hungry. Thanks for any advise you can lend.

Hi Nearthebay, I haven't gotten to maintenance yet, but recently took a break from IP due to multiple issues, one of which was diet fatigue. While I was "away", I did as you are suggesting. Mostly P1 or P2, but with controlled cheats. I didn't gain any of the weight back over a 6-8 week period. I did weigh myself daily, looking for the "scream weight" that folks talk about. Don't get me wrong, my weight fluctuated 2-3 lbs up and back down, but never stayed up. What I did notice though was that I felt and looked bloated through my whole midsection, a puffy little buddha belly. I don't know if it was the occasional glass of wine or the processed carbs but it was definitely noticeable. 5 days into my reboot (my head is back in the IP game) and the bloat is gone along with what looks to be about 3 lbs already.
So what I'm trying to say is that I think your plan could work for me, but I might have to experiment to see what causes the bloat. I'm far from goal and hope to reach it this time OP, but I do see the value in having an exit strategy in place for when the happy time comes for transitioning off plan.