Originally Posted by CenTXChk:

Thank you for letting me vent! :tantrum: I do have to say I texted DH about my outrage and he replied with the sweetest text that I am a winner to him and he was proud of his skinny rockstar wife. I got a good egg there ladies.

CenTXChk - You are the winner! That text alone is worth so much more than $50!!!

CenTXChk -- you should impose a new requirement on the weight loss challenge -- in order to be eligible for a prize, you have to maintain your lowest weight (or lose more) for 3 months. That should stop those unhealthy tactics. That is just crazy...

Originally Posted by CenTXChk:
Ugh, I am so disgusted. I made the mistake of signing up for a weight loss challenge within my neighborhood right after the new year. $50 pay in with cash prizes for the top 3 losers (percent of body weight lost).

I really thought I would have a good chance of placing in the top 3, if not taking winning the whole thing due to IP.

The lengths that these ladies have gone to lose weight are not only unhealthy, but dangerous. The lady who won lost 9lbs this week alone and emailed that she hadn’t eaten or drank hardly anything for days, no salt for a week and rate 8 miles a day (she is a marathon runner). She said she kept her kid home from school yesterday to make sure she made it home from her run before weighing in for the last time.

The top two ladies were crazy and I wasn’t going to jeopardize my diet or health to compete with them for the top 2 places. Felt pretty good with my loss this week and thought I’d secured third place which I’d been at for the last 4 weeks. Sent in my number and photo of my weigh in. The lady in #4 place reported a crazy loss beating my weight loss percentage by 1lb. :nose: Seriously?

I know this is not scientific and we are not all getting on the same scale but I am calling foul! I had to refrain from sending them all an email on my opinions about the whole thing. Don’t want to sound like a poor loser but I told my husband if I had read this email from the #1 finisher and removed her name and inserted my 12yo DD, I would be freaking out and rushing her to the pediatrician for an eating disorder. #2 finisher, also a marathon runner, did equally crazy diet tactics….and she is a nurse! :censored:

Thank you for letting me vent! :tantrum: I do have to say I texted DH about my outrage and he replied with the sweetest text that I am a winner to him and he was proud of his skinny rockstar wife. I got a good egg there ladies.

And think of the chemical and hormone reactions that are going on in their bodies right now. In a couple of weeks they will see gains where their bodies try to fix what they have done. Metabolically they have probably screwed themselves just to win money.

Your stance is the right way to view it - health first, weight loss second. I'm so glad you have a hubby who is supporting you on this journey. Great job on the loss this week, and hold your head up high. In my book, YOU are the winner because you're doing it honestly and in a way that isn't screwing your overall health. Way to go, CenTXChk. :)

Originally Posted by CenTXChk:
Ugh, I am so disgusted. I made the mistake of signing up for a weight loss challenge within my neighborhood right after the new year. $50 pay in with cash prizes for the top 3 losers (percent of body weight lost).

I really thought I would have a good chance of placing in the top 3, if not taking winning the whole thing due to IP.

The lengths that these ladies have gone to lose weight are not only unhealthy, but dangerous. The lady who won lost 9lbs this week alone and emailed that she hadn’t eaten or drank hardly anything for days, no salt for a week and rate 8 miles a day (she is a marathon runner). She said she kept her kid home from school yesterday to make sure she made it home from her run before weighing in for the last time.

The top two ladies were crazy and I wasn’t going to jeopardize my diet or health to compete with them for the top 2 places. Felt pretty good with my loss this week and thought I’d secured third place which I’d been at for the last 4 weeks. Sent in my number and photo of my weigh in. The lady in #4 place reported a crazy loss beating my weight loss percentage by 1lb. :nose: Seriously?

I know this is not scientific and we are not all getting on the same scale but I am calling foul! I had to refrain from sending them all an email on my opinions about the whole thing. Don’t want to sound like a poor loser but I told my husband if I had read this email from the #1 finisher and removed her name and inserted my 12yo DD, I would be freaking out and rushing her to the pediatrician for an eating disorder. #2 finisher, also a marathon runner, did equally crazy diet tactics….and she is a nurse! :censored:

Thank you for letting me vent! :tantrum: I do have to say I texted DH about my outrage and he replied with the sweetest text that I am a winner to him and he was proud of his skinny rockstar wife. I got a good egg there ladies.

DietBet has a reportage site, for unsafe 'dieting' to win weight loss challenges. Perhaps your site does too? The results can be reassessed by their moderators.

Liana

Originally Posted by canadjineh:
DietBet has a reportage site, for unsafe 'dieting' to win weight loss challenges. Perhaps your site does too? The results can be reassessed by their moderators.

Liana

Sadly this was just a Yahoo group made up of people from my neighborhood. Even sadder, one of the 3 is the person who moderates the group.

As appalled I was about the unhealthy tatics I was ticked at the person who came out of nowhere to claim third place since it was such a last minute play. Lesson learned.

The positives, it makes me appreciate my DH for the great guy he is and the support I receive here. I just need to compete against myself, not others. I think that is what sounds so great about DietBet.

That really sucks! Your neighbors will be kicking themselves in a few days while you March on. And your hubby is awesome :)

I am leaving on a cruise on Sunday. Our whole family is going. School spring break schedules and work schedules coordinated this year; we figure this is the last time that will ever happen. Can't wait for a warm week in the Caribbean!

I've been reading about being low carb on cruises. It looks like there are lots of choices, and if I make good choices, I will be ok. I feel like there will be lots of desserts, but I think I need to get the mindset that those aren't the last desserts I will every have, and I am fine without them - especially if I take my chocolate wafers along!

I really don't want to blow it next week. I think it would be hard to come back and be up 5 pounds after all the work I have put in. Anybody been on a cruise recently? Do you think there are lots of low carb options? I haven't been on a cruise in 27 years.

CenTXChk - he's a keeper for sure :) and don't worry about the other and just feel proud of your own personal journey.

Lose2Win - enjoy your trip, I'm jealous, I've never been on any kind of vacation :). I'm sure you will have good options and make good choices. We are all rooting for you.

Originally Posted by Lose2Win2014:
I am leaving on a cruise on Sunday. Our whole family is going. School spring break schedules and work schedules coordinated this year; we figure this is the last time that will ever happen. Can't wait for a warm week in the Caribbean!

I've been reading about being low carb on cruises. It looks like there are lots of choices, and if I make good choices, I will be ok. I feel like there will be lots of desserts, but I think I need to get the mindset that those aren't the last desserts I will every have, and I am fine without them - especially if I take my chocolate wafers along!

Can you stock up on packets of the soy chocolate puffs or chocolate drinks to take with you so that you get a treat after your meal and don't feel so drawn to the desserts on offer?

Hope you have a fabulous cruise - it sounds wonderful. :)

Originally Posted by Lose2Win2014:
I am leaving on a cruise on Sunday. Our whole family is going. School spring break schedules and work schedules coordinated this year; we figure this is the last time that will ever happen. Can't wait for a warm week in the Caribbean!

I've been reading about being low carb on cruises. It looks like there are lots of choices, and if I make good choices, I will be ok. I feel like there will be lots of desserts, but I think I need to get the mindset that those aren't the last desserts I will every have, and I am fine without them - especially if I take my chocolate wafers along!

I really don't want to blow it next week. I think it would be hard to come back and be up 5 pounds after all the work I have put in. Anybody been on a cruise recently? Do you think there are lots of low carb options? I haven't been on a cruise in 27 years.

Have fun on your cruise!! You will be fine for lunch in the buffet if you stick to making your own salad and pack your own dressing. I think you will have better luck in the dining room for dinner where you can request to modify your food (request no butter or sauce). Buffets for dinner will already have proteins in sauces etc.

Good luck on your trip. Cruises are know for their foods and have temptation everywhere but you can do it!! Plus you will be walking SO much. You will be getting plenty of excersize.

Have a great time!!

Jumping in to say you should be just fine on the cruise.

I've been on 6 or 7 and always have had a great salad bar and a buffet with yummy, plain grilled chicken and steak.

Originally Posted by shasta10:
Hi all - I started IP September 2014. A co-worker was doing the program and at that point had lost 46 pounds so I joined up! I love the program and have lost steadily and then in late January and a lot of February I started having symptoms (dizziness mostly) so I had to switch around my schedule so I had protein every 3 hours. I went to the doctor to get checked out but all blood work, heart rate etc came back normal. It seems to be under control now so I think it might have been related to stress.

I went thru a period between Thanksgiving - mid January where I would buy new work pants only to have to have them altered because the hem was dragging on the floor to needing the next size. I went from 12 to 10 to 8. Which shocked me how rapidly it happened. And to top that off the 8s now need a belt !!! Not sure how that can be except that they are from Talbots so maybe their sizes have gotten bigger since I was this weight at least 10 years ago. But, heck, I will take it.

There never was a September group so I'm happy to be with the "summer" group! Everyone is doing so well and I really think I will need support in maintenance. It scares me and seems so confusing.

I am running into the same finding related to Talbots pant sizes -- I have a closet full of clothing of different sizes - some I have had since the late 1980's... the 14's from back then are notably smaller in the waist than the ones I bought 4 years ago... and I find this with other brands, too... I wore a pair of Liz Claiborne slacks last nite to go dancing -- definitely snug in the waist... but ok thru hips and thighs. Maybe our population that has been trending to overweight and obese has driven the waist size at least to change get larger.

Sorry I have been absent the past couple of days -- I just caught up reading thru all your posts, and I am so happy to find so many Summer 2014 starters still in the game and doing so well.

JJTx -- I get measured every week by my diet coach - I arrive, pop in the bathroom, join the coach in the office, remove shoes, step on the scale (wearing the same clothes I did the day I first weighed in - except I bought the same top in a smaller size). The coach takes the tape measure and wraps it around me to capture and record my measurements.I step off the scale and pick up the hand held fat and hydration monitoring tool... That info get's recorded, too. All this takes about 5 minutes. I photo the measurement log. I thought every coach was doing weekly measurements.

Tell yours that you have friends across the country on IP and we get measured weekly - you'd like yours a minimum of every 2 weeks.

IMHO... really, you are paying a lot of money to IP, so the request should not be a problem for your coach. I say, stand your ground!

Ro22 -- thanks so much for sharing your google sheet - the comparison of IP and alternative products is a fabulous reference. What a lot of work you have put into pulling all that data together! Your approach seems like it should be good prep for phasing off to maintenance.

All of you who are working on C25K -- I am so impressed with your commitment to serious cardio. I enjoy walking, but have never been an aficionado about running... but so many of you are into C25K that I am curious about the program, now. I'll be checking it out.

I really am glad to see that we have quite a group of committed IPeeps heading toward maintenance -- I think we have some fear in common, but I think we'll really be able to support one another successfully! I am forgetting who posted hear about the thread re: Life After P1 -- thanks so much for pointing us to that particular post - I have been reading through The Maintainers and I try to lurk on the more current Maintenance thread. Just building familiarity with how folks are working those phases is helping to allay the fears.

Just a quick update on me -- my job situation that I had complained about recently seems to be very improved - my current boss announced he is leaving effective April 6 - and the guy who will be taking his place is a terrific leader and manager. I am psyched about the new energy that this change will bring to my job!

Also DH and I saw the vascular specialist and the thoracic surgeon yesterday about my husband's PET scan. No indication of metabolic activity to indicate any presence of cancer -- this was a big fear, and now we can relax about that! DH does have a couple of aortic aneurysms, but too small to be of immediate concern. Just wait and watch items. Annually we'll go back for a scan to keep any eye on them. So that too was good news.

Overall, it was a terrific Wednesday at my household!!!

Today was supposed to be my WI, but as Sue said - the forecast was snow, and we got 7 inches at my house. A kind neighbor used the snowblower on my driveway and walkway - terrific that I did not have to do a 4th shoveling episode in the past 3 weeks.... but I did miss out on getting my WI done. Will try to get that done on Saturday. My home scale shows I am down about 1.5 from last week. I'll let you know if I have something official to report on Saturday, otherwise it's going to be a 2 week WI next Thursday.

My WI also canceled due to snow. I go tomorrow, but in the middle of the afternoon. I usually go right when they open in the morning, so I will try not to be discouraged if the number is not what I expect!

Originally Posted by Ro22:
I have read lots of posts with similar concerns on this forum as well as experienced my own anxiety about life after phase 1. However, the other day I read a post that has me feeling a whole lot better. I read through the whole thread but a particular post really helped me as it seemed to do for others in the thread as well. Take a look at the first sticky thread. In it, you will see a link to a thread for Life After Phase 1. Read posting #27. If you have the time, read through the thread but I keep referring back to that posting. I like how the coach in the workshop does her cheat day by spread it out over 2-3 weekend days after 3 pm - I was planning to do that and was reassured it wouldn't be too disruptive when I saw the workshop instructor proposing this. The other thing that resonated was that I have read a bunch of stuff too about future phases and wasn't getting the big picture either until this post addressed that and it really crystallized things for me regarding maintenance.

This posting was a good summary - you are so right, Ro22!! It's a summary by IPeep named Novak, based on her takeaways from a workshop that Dr. Zumbado does in Gaithersburg MD.
Sadly, my clinic does not offer any workshops of any kind.... :(

I happen to be in Northern Virginia, and I know we have several Summer 2014 starters who are from the DC metro area -- if that office will allow people from other clinics to attend their workshops, anyone want to go to her P3/P4 Workshop on March 14?

I have email'd Dr Zumbado to ask if we can attend.... will post what I learn about that here in the thread as soon as someone gets back to me. I would love to connect up in real life with any of you who are in the area, and if we can share an experience like this, it would be a great addition to our journey, I think. And it would give us good info to share with others in 3FC.

There is another local IP Clinic Director referenced by Novak - chiro Dr. Ronald Wichin whose office is in Herndon. He did a workshop called Keeping it Off, and had Dr. Zumbado in as a speaker, apparently. I will check that clinic source too and see if those workshops are still held, and if they available to any other IPeeps.

stay tuned as I learn more!!!
cheryl