New thread, especially for the June, July, August and September 2014 Starters!

Those of us who began IP last summer and who are still working our IP program have been in this for 5 to 7 months -- some of us are at or close to goal and some have a ways to go yet.

Most of us are feeling the usual concerns about leaving the comfort and safety of Phase 1, with some fear regarding Phases 2, 3, and 4.

And a bunch of us think that banding together as we approach and travel through maintenance is a good idea.

So come join the Summer 2014 Starters conversations -- post a quick hello and intro, and tell us what you think about our March 2015 theme: Putting Spring in Our Step!

So I will start us out with a quick intro:
I began IP July 9th, and have tried to stay 100% OP since the beginning. My most common transgressions are drinking Sobe Lifewater instead of plain water, and adding a restricted bar to my day now and then, because I just feel like I need something sweet beyond my regular P1 intake. I've had 2 uptick WI's in my 7 month journey... pretty darn good for a 63 year old lifelong yo-yo dieter. This is the most weight I have ever lost, and the longest I have ever stayed with an eating management program. I am 'all in' this time, and determined to be as attentive to maintenance as I have been to losing the excess in P1.

I love to dance - ballroom and latin, but I am about to make the hard decision on which Fitbit to buy and my goal for March is to work my way up to 10,000 steps in day. I spend way too much time sitting in my lazyboy chair, working from home or posting here, or,
I am sad to confess.... playing Spider Solitaire or Candy Crush....

I need to get moving and put some muscle tone under this loose skin I now have after losing the better part of 70lbs, and before I get to phasing off into maintenance. I need the exercise!!!

How about you?

Yay, glad for a new Summer 14 losers thread! Hopefully we can now close down the individual month ones to stop the confusion.

I began IP Aug 26th using 100% IP products, but soon got annoyed with the soy ingredients and that nasty aftertaste in some of the packets. Migrated more to the protein powders and real foods (eggs, eggs and more eggs).

I'm one of the lucky folks who got endless energy on ketones, so took up Couch to 5k running when the walking just wasn't curing me of the need to move. While I'm seeing a few upticks here and there as a result of muscle-building, I am definitely looking sleeker as a result of the exercise, and I'm happy to trade the "good" value losses (in quotes because ALL losses are good, no matter how small, right?) for better metabolism with more muscle.

This is the least I have weighed since 22 (ie 28 years) and I finally feel great, and ready to shed some more. 83lbs down and wanting to drop another 30ish, if it's possible on this muscular frame.

I am also a computer addict, with a little Warcraft (gaming) thrown in the mix.

Hi! My name is CenTXChk and I am from Nebraska. I kid, I kid. I come from the land of sun and heat (typically)...although I have been frozen out this winter. How much is extra cold weather vs weight loss? IDK

I started IP June 23rd and as of today have lost a total of 95lbs. I have never been so successful on a diet for as long term as IP. Some days I feel like I am cruising through this diet plan and others are a real struggle. I have had a couple slip ups (mostly planned) but I am ready to reach goal and move on to the next phases. My goal weight is 140 which leaves me another 32lbs which I hope to reach by June.

I work FT and have 2 kiddos (16 & 12) with DH who has been very supportive of IP. I love to cook and have enjoyed trying many of the IP recipes I've found here and revamping personal favorites for P1.

My WL has dug up issues that landed me in therapy (which I recently "graduated" from, yay!). If I am going through losing all of this weight, I wanted to deal with my issues that caused me to overeat. I am also reading the Beck Diet Solution, although not as diligently as I should be.

I cannot begin to say what support 3FC has been to me and especially the summer starters who seem to be on a similar WL track. The support I've received here has been invaluable. I my Summer Starters!

Hi All. It is nice to be among all of you as we work through same sort of challenges.

I started Aug 25 and was militant about being 100% compliant until beginning of Feb - I am 1-2 sizes smaller (depending on brand) than I have ever been in my adult life. Since early this year, I have been having symptoms of what I have read is described as keto-flu (only difference is it seems to be happening at the end rather than beginning). In the beginning of Feb, it all seemed to catch up to me of feeling lousy and lots of travel so I went off phase 1 - this led to brief stints off throughout month of Feb but still a ratio of 2:1 (2x more days on phase 1 than off). This amounted to starting March at same weight as Feb. I'm ok with that seeing how I am still fighting these symptoms but back committed to phase 1.

I am really stumped with why I am feeling the way I am when I felt great for 5 months or so and had great energy.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow for blood test, etc to find out why I have been feeling the way I do. This may result into going to phase 3 or doing something different. I want to feel well and be able to strength train. I think I want to lose 15 more pounds; although, I am 5 pounds away from lowest weight I have been as an adult so not sure if my goal is realistic. I know that having energy and strength are more important than what scale says so I am open to what doctor says tomorrow. He is familiar with Ideal Protein as well as other weight loss programs so I think I will get an objective analysis and recommendation about what is next given my goals and test results.

I should say that I never go to the doctor so for me to do this, it is way out of character for me and out of my comfort zone. But, I am anxious for answers and a game plan that will achieve my goals as well as properly transition at the appropriate time.

Love the new thread! Oneuh2 thanks for kicking it off!

I have been on program since July 1, 2014. To date I have lost 70 lbs and gained my life back! I am a working mom (realtor) who can put in over 50 hours a week sometimes working. I have a very supportive of IP husband of 23 years and a just shy of 17 year old son who plays ice hockey and golf. I love to travel and have been away 3 x while on program....lost weight every time!

Lately my weight loss has slowed to a crawl....I am up one week and down the next only to be up the next, I think my body is adjusting and I get that, but it begins to get very frustrating this late in the game. My goal for now is 31 more pounds then I will re evaluate.....my body is not cooperating lol ..

My spring goal is to get the exercise in. I think in the long term it is something I will have to make part of my maintenance. I cannot do much outside as it has been bitter cold and snow every other day around here.....

Look forward to the updated on everyone's journey!

Hey Sue!

I was thinking about your losses. Are you journaling your food? Would you mind sharing here to see if we see something that might be slowing your losses down? More than once I thought I was eating OP only to have my coach tell me something I was eating was slowing me down. Just an idea.

Good morning all! Started end of June and soon to phase off to 2. I had a few hiccups along the way but always got back on track. I only have 15-20 pounds more to go. YIPPEE!!! Good luck to everyone

Hello IPeeps,

I started my journey on September 28, so I joined the October thread, but that died very quickly Since then I've been lurking everywhere, but it's nice to have a "home"

I am married (two years at the end of the month) to a wonderfully supportive DH. We don't have any children and both share an unhealthy addiction to Netflix and snacking

I've tried to be more active in the last five years, but it hasn't been enough to keep up with my eating. I found that my major weight gain started when I got a desk job, I am a graphic designer for our local Inuit government, and sit on my arse in front of the computer pretty much all day.

I started IP because the pharmacy where DH works was starting up the first clinic here in town. I'd never heard of it before or really contemplated following a commercialized diet (any successful WL in the past has been by upping my activity level and reducing my calories on my own), but DH mentioned that his boss wanted a few test subjects before he opened it up to the public so he had some actual working knowledge of the program. I was always complaining about my weight so I said yes to being a test subject. Which is great because it helps me stay OP knowing I'm doing this partly to be a success story for their clinic They have since opened to the public and things seem to be going well so that is great.

I've been keeping active with my weekly indoor soccer game and recently added indoor ball hockey to my Monday nights. I gave up learning to run shortly after I started IP, but have taken that up again and I am in week 6. Like Amanda I think it may be slowing my losses down a bit, but the activity feels great and I know I will need it for maintenance.

I am 6lbs from goal and thought about lowering it as that still puts me in the OW category by 4lbs, but I am going to stick with that weight and then see how I maintain for 6 months, check out if/how my skin and body adjusts and then if I want lose a bit more. I'm curvy with T&A that both me and DH like, so I don't mind being at the top range of a healthy BMI

I look forward to continuing to read about, relate to, and support each other.

Keep strong!

Good morning y'all!!

Thanks Oneuh2 for gathering us all together and starting our March thread.

About me: I'm a native Texan, and work as a church business administrator. I'm married and we have a son who's six years old. I started IP on June 30th - I learned about the program from couple friends who started in January 2014 and melted away all spring. (Now I have people asking me how I melted away!)

I've struggled with my weight my whole life, and have tried a variety of programs to lose. Thanks to IP I'm down to a weight now that I haven't seen since college, and I'm not done yet. I'm determined to make it to Onederland, and stay there.

Exercise plan: I got a Fitbit in November and love it. (I also like how it links with MFP, so everything coordinates back and forth.) I've started walking some in the afternoons - although not for over a week thanks to the icky weather! I hope to get back to it and keep it up during the spring. Not sure what I'll do in the summer, when it's 100+ degrees outside. I also started a beginners Yoga class a couple of weeks ago and am really enjoying it. I plan to make it a regular thing after the intro class is over, and go at least once a week.

In other news, had my WI today and dropped another 2.8! I think adding some protein in the afternoons has really helped, so my coach said to keep it up unless we start seeing scale issues. Or if I feel full at dinner I can always back that off to 6 oz.

Got a new restricted to try, so far I've only been getting the sweets - it's Southwest cheese curls. Has anyone else tried them? I've got them packed for today's lunch or snack. Thankfully we have a swap bucket so if I don't like them I can take the rest back.

Thanks Oneuh2 for getting this thread started. It'll be nice to have everyone in one place.

Now for a little about myself and my weight loss journey. I did WW for 3 months back in 2008 and lost about 20 lbs only to find out I was pregnant! So, here I am now 7 years later with three beautiful children in tow. Doing WW again was not really feasible with my hectic schedule (I work FT too), so I did a ton of research and decided IP was for me. Everything is black and white and I like that. I began IP on August 7th and have lost 79lbs.... hoping it'll be 80lbs at WI today.

I have been 100% OP this whole time, I've traveled four times and didn't slip up once! Peer pressure has got to be the hardest thing to resist! Especially in the beginning when you're losing weight, but it is not that noticeable to the people around you.

I have a very supportive hubby who joined me on my journey back in October, but that lucky duck has already phased off! Albeit, he didn't have quite as much weight to lose as me.

I'm just about at my goal and was really scared of phasing off, but I've been hovering around the lower 150's for a few weeks now and am READY. I got a Fitbit for Christmas in 2013 and I LOVE it. It syncs with my scale and I just joined My Fitness Pal. I started logging my food again in preparation for phasing off to help me make sure that I don't start over eating again.

I did want to share with you ladies that I went from wearing a size 20 to wearing a size 8 and sometimes 6. I never thought that I would be this small as an adult! I feel amazing and this diet has changed my life and my relationship with food.

Sorry this is really long. I'll stop for now. I'm not big on posting all the time but I do lurk and enjoy reading all your posts. They have been such a great support for me. Thank you!

I started in May and have lost 84 lbs. I never would have believed that I would be where I am now back in May! IP is amazing! My losses have slowed down considerably since the holidays, but it's my fault. I'm OK with that though, because I am still losing, I'm healthy, and I feel great! I'm ready to hunker down and get the remainder of this weight off.

I played tennis for the first time in my life on Sunday at my son's prompting, more like insisting! He went out and bought me a tennis racket and told me I was playing. We had a great time!! Never in a million years would I have been able to play tennis before losing 84 lbs!! It felt great to get out there and be active and bond with my son. Of course the next day I felt like I was run over by a Mack truck! lol But I feel good! I'm excited at the possibilities that lie ahead for summer, and so much more!! I feel like I got my life back.

I love you ladies and 3fc!! I couldn't do it without the support and knowledge that I get here.

That is awesome, Kelly...Congrats on all of it - doing something healthy you have never done before as well as the weight loss that allowed it to happen - keep going!!!

It's so terrific to come home from work and find that a bunch of Summer Starters have discovered the new thread, and posted introductions and some current status and/or issues!

thanks everyone!!
BriaelI was not surprised to see you were the first to post behind my opening of the new thread -- so glad you are here to fill in the science behind what's going on, when we need it. I hope Avalon will find her way here too - when you two get to sharing research items back and forth it is often quite informative!

CenTXChk - you forgot to tell everyone that you had a big whoosh WI this week after some slow down period.... Way to gog

Ro22- best of luck with your doc appt -- I so hope that there will be some explanation about what's going on for you. When you have had success and felt good, it becomes very depressing to feel inexplicably crummy, and to make adjustments in your food intake that mess up your WL journey. Hang in there -- keeping fingers crossed for some helpful good news!!

Sgrealtor2 - Thanks for coming over to the new thread! Can you believe you have only about 30 lbs left to arrive at goal? I am so looking forward to going into maintenance with you - you have been so inspirational to me on my journey. I hope I can be a good support to you, too!

sdhinds and DeterminedDieter - Spectacular results to date, and -- oh goodie!!! you guys are so close to phasing off - I want to hear all about it, and I am sure the rest of the Summer gang will want that too. If I can stay on track, I am only a few pounds behind you!

JJTx - you are my inspiration when it comes to the FitBit and posting to MFP - you may have struggled with weight all your life, but you sure seem to have a grip on the eating management program this time -- I want to be like you!

2bskinnyagain -- personally, I don't mind longer posts - I love to share the experiences of others, and your story is a really accomplishment! Your post is not too long for me!!

KellyC14 -- You are the veteran of the group with your May start - love your tennis story -- I played some in high school and college - just took classes and practiced, nothing involving competition, of course.... but about 5 years ago I went back out on the court with some friends for the first time in decades. Golly that court seemed huge, and it took so much work for me to hit that ball hard enough to get it well into the opponent court... I was carrying more weight then, and I was definitely a couch potato, so it was pretty demanding. It's a great game though, and I love that your son just put that racket in your hand and cajoled you into playing with him. What a wonderful experience between a mom and her son!!!

Lovin' all of this!!!

Today's news for me is that I made it successfully thru Round 2 (2nd month) of the 6 month Diet Bet I signed up for on Jan 1st. I have lost just over 6% of my Jan 1 weight, and I have won a pittance of money so far -- about $10, I think. Still trying to understand how they calculate winnings.... my stake has been $25 per month, but part of it goes to the first 5 monthly rounds and then the 6th month is the final round where the whole 6 month pool is known... I signed up for this cause losing 10% of weight on IP is pretty easy, and I am hoping to win back some of my investment in IP packets and bars... I will continue to report progress on this. It has added a whole new dimension of incentive to my journey!

Thanks! Your the best wanting to look at my journals...I wish I was not so lazy to type them here lol....I actually go thru them with my coach and this week I was up .4 which was not what I wanted, but I lost another inch in my chest and hips so that makes 2 weeks of "steady WI" but significant inches lost. I'm ok with that. I also did the body moniter this week and lost fat by 2 lbs and gained lean mass by 2... I am thinking that it is the exercise I started this week. I do need to be more careful about eating times as some times I go a while in between meals for work. My coach suggested keeping a RTD in a coffee to go cup and I can sip it throughout my appointment and not feel like I am eating in front of my clients....Brilliant idea lol.

So glad there are so many summer starters still on plan!

Oneuh2 - ah my friend I too have enjoyed my journey with you...we will be holding hands into maintenance I promise.

Got the new vanilla almond drink from my clinic this week to try. Also someone had mentioned the southwest puffs....very spicy....make you drink lots of water lol....they are actually one of my favorites.

Heading down to the treadmill to work out as soon as DS heads off to school. Day 3 of the c25k program. So far so good. I feel like I have so much more energy. Like the beginning of the program when I hit that honeymoon 1st week! Lol...

Sue,

One option for sharing your food journal is to post a link to it vs typing. A while back I created a thread that had an Excel spreadsheet that is an electronic form of food journal as well as alternative product comparison to IP. I am using this heavily now as I get close to finishing phase 1 as I think it is important to track as our body slows down the weight loss. I use it to do my meal planning as I am paying extra attention to net carbs/total carbs. This will be an important tool for me for p3-p4 when the plan is not so scripted. I have made changes to it since I last linked so if you are interested, I can share it here.