Here I go again, the scale hasn't moved in 2 weeks.
 

I was rolling right along, losing half pound a day, after an initial 11 lb loss in 1st week of restart, then a 6 lb GAIN over the next 3 weeks. May 28 is last time I lost weight.

I'm 100% on program. I even stopped drinking my green tea, as coffee seemed to be the culprit last time. I increased my water by another half more; I'm drinking 15 - 8oz glasses per day.

I'm eating more veggies. I'm so sick of broccoli! I eat bell peppers like apples. I eat celery sticks like gum. I gave up my xylitol gum.

I tried eating 4 whole eggs, evenly spaced throughout the day instead of 8 oz protein in evening.

I tried 8 oz protein for breakfast. My proteins are strictly tenderloin, chicken, fish. I cook them all myself. We go out 1x per week and I always have an 8oz tenderloin and plain broccoli or a double salad. I bring my own cider vinegar evoo dressing and get nothing but lettuce, tomato, cucumber. I don't eat tomatoes during the week just so I can have toms on a salad on my night out. We're down to a rotation of 4 places we can go so I can eat out.

I tried an xtra packet. I tried an xtra restricted treat. I tried no restricted. I tried only 2 packets.

Nothing. The scale will not budge.

My coach is just useless. I know more about IP than she does, thanks to this site and my previous time on IP. Her advice was to stay off the scale, and what 3 boxes of food did I want this week? I've decided not to go back, so I'm hoping to find some answers and ideas here.

My personal issues are thyroid (meds are controlling), I've done IP before and easily lost 88 pounds in 5 months, my period is due in 2 days, I'm 50 yrs old.

Please give me some hope. I'm ready to quit this very expensive program if I'm going to stall every 2 weeks!

I can feel your frustration! I would be, too! You don't eat beef much so you might throw a steak in there on occasion. Try just RTDs or shake mixes for a week to see if that shakes things loose (pardon the pun ;) ) Make sure constipation isn't a culprit, too. Go with strictly raw veggies if you use cooked mostly or vice versa. I know others will chime in from a more personal experience. I've been pretty lucky so far with only small losses here and there but never a true stall like yours.

Stay strong!

Thanks for your words. Tenderloin I should have stated is beef. I make the pudding packets into mini muffins, I eat them every morning. On Saturday I bake a week's worth and freeze them. I'm getting very fancy with my combos.

Today I'm trying a frozen treat, blended pudding packet with ice and cold white rose tea.

I don't use any RTD, the program is already expensive enough.

... and scratch 2 days from period, it just started.

Personal question I know – but how are your bowel movements? Do you feel stopped up at all?

Also what is your activity like? Any exercise, or none at all? And do you do activity otherwise when you work?

And how is your sleep? Are you extremely fatigued?

How long ago did you do IP? And are you in peri-menopause now- or are you are on any hormones that you weren't before?

I am not an expert, but having this information will likely allow some other more experienced people on the site to give you their opinions.

Any inches lost or other non scale positive changes?

I like knowing my weight fluctuates with TOM but if it's that bad on you, wait 3 - 5 days (from start today) and weigh

Also, have you had blood work to be sure your thyroid / TSH levels are optimal? I found out about 12 weeks in I had an issue - I had been taking an old Rx and was above a 4 - I function best with a TSH between 1 - 1.5

BMs are just slightly off normal, non IP ... but much better than the first time I did IP, so I've been happy there.

I've been doing light activity, 30 mins walking, sometimes 15 on the stairmaster. I was thinking of starting yoga again tomorrow. Coach told me no exercise until I was around 165 and steady on IP.

Sleep, hmmmm. I've not been doing well last week, but that's my boyfriend being unusually restless. Usually ok. Do you think there's something in that?

I did IP in 2011. So far, not peri-meno. No hormones.

Taking all req IP vitamins + enzymes, extra collagen, vit C and forskolii (fat burner).

Just a little I've recorded below my avatar. :(

Blood work is all current within last 2 months. I also work closely with a naturopath, I'm in the health food industry. I really only went back to IP since it was the last resort. Nothing else was working and I was really gaining weight. I'm still careful about my soy intake on IP and I stay away from anything w/ too much wheat.

Guessing you are talking about "too much wheat" off IP? I've avoided most soy products since my diagnosis in 2008 - but found out I have a sensitivity regardless so avoid it completely.
I am sorry you are having so many issues. Wish there was an easy button...the rapid weight gain and continuing issues with WL make my alarm bells go off though...if the thyroid is in check have you done any testing for adrenal fatigue?

I found that when i ate all lot of the "baked" goods, my WIs were at their lowest. Maybe just using packets "straight" for awhile to switch that part up. I have to keep switching things around to keep WL steady. When I get in rut, WL slows down, too.

I have never had my thyroid checked, that I know of. I get blood work done once a year for chl, blood sugar, and liver enzyme count (diagnosed with fatty liver a couple years back) but dr has never mentioned thyroid. I will ask next time I go in just in case mine may be off. I've never even looked at symptoms to see what might fit. :(

Just to chime in here - non-restful sleep and fatigue can have a huge impact for some people, myself included. When I changed my sleep schedule I had the only weight gain during the 9 months I was in P1. Gained 2lbs and it took two weeks to get it gone again. Stress is also a big one for me as well.

Sleep or lack of sleep also has a major effect on the scale for me. If I'm up on the scale, if I get a good long night's rest, often it will pop right back down. Also if I'm tired I eat on the higher calorie side, when I'm rested I don't need as much.

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your ideas. I'm going to cut my restricted "snack" this week and see if that helps. Odd that adding the restricted brownie helped break the last slump. ::sigh::
I have to do something, because now I've GAINED 2 pounds, and my appetite is non-existent. I could not even finish dinner last night, about 4 oz protein and 1 cup veg. I'm still not hungry this morning. :(

Did you cut your dinner in half, or did you allocate the other half to another meal?

If you're having trouble losing weight, you have medical issues, you're cutting into the food called for in protocol... you need to be talking to your doctor. We have answers, but we don't have all the answers, and I really think you should be getting help from a professional that knows your medical history.

Best of luck!

Just didn't eat the rest of it. :(

My doctor was horrified at the IP protocol. He's a good guy, but his solution was a weight loss drug. No way I was doing that, so I'm on IP against his advice.

I've been reading Dr. Tran's book this morning. Wow, there are some great revelations there. I've been eating beef tenderloin, cabbage, mushrooms, cauliflower and broccoli quite a bit, I see those things should be moderated from Dr. Tran's writing. I also think some of the now unrestricted packets that used to be restricted are not for me and my basically lifetime of dieting messed up metabolism. Dr. Tran makes this statement: "Eating the slightest amount of fast or slow sugars during the protein diet may stall weight loss for two to three days." I looked at the info on those coveted double chocolate brownies more closely ... OMG. :mad: No, just no.

I've decided to go purely old school IP this week and see what happens. Again, I should have listened to myself and not the coach. I know what worked last time. I never transitioned. It was so easy last time, I convinced myself I had my weight issues licked.

Oh life, you gloriously messy process. This time I will know better, and hopefully learn better.

Double Choco Brownies
 

http://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nu...olate-brownies

Ok, so maybe these are ok for some. I'm so mad at myself for not looking at these as closely as I needed to, and letting the coach tell me they were ok to have daily. I do not think I should be eating these at all ... at least not until I've dropped about 25 pounds!

Total Fat 6g
Total Carbohydrate 25g (which is moderated by next line)
Dietary Fiber 10g (so net of 15g carbs!! ARRRRGH! :mad: )
Sugars 4g :mad:

"There are 190 calories in a 1 brownie serving of Ideal Protein Double Chocolate Brownies. Calorie breakdown: 25% fat, 47% carbs, 28% protein."

Maybe it will help, maybe not but last time on IP and again now during reboot when i got stuck in a little 3 lb window for over a month, I changed up my timing. So my heaviest calorie laden meal is breakfast at 7am when I get to work. It's my 8oz protein and either 2cveggie or a giant serving of mixed green salad with WF dressing. Lunch at 1-ish is IP chips/crisps every day except Sunday plus my second veggie or giant green salad. Third meal is an IP drink like pina colada on crushed ice at about 6:30pm. Snack is either IP pudding or IP drink. This week (second week eating this way) I lost 2.6lbs instead of my stupid gain or -.8. I've only been hungry on late afternoon doing this. YMMV

Those are excellent ideas! Thank you, it helps to be reminded of tweaks like these.

I realize I sound like a shrew right now, and I hope people taking precious time to read and comment will know I am so frustrated right now. Thank you all for being a life line. :grouphug:

No worries, we’ve all been through these phases. Let us know how it goes.

This currently is more frustrating to me because I did not have any stalls the first time on IP. Not one. It was a breeze. There were weeks where I lost a whole pound every day. I was steady at half a pound a day most of the way, with bonus periods of varying extra up to whole pounds. I wish I had kept journals all the way through, but once I passed a 50 pound weight loss I quit journaling. :stars:

I do remember I took up light weight lifting, hmmmm.

If nothing else flvamp, the light weight lifting will help your mind calm, remove total focus on food & scale, lower cortisol, help you tone up - so it's a win!
While you watch your food plan as usual, you will feel better being active with your exercise. FWIW, a few people have to stay under 40 or even 30 net grams of carb in MAINTENANCE (which is what seems to be happening for you right now).

We are all rooting for you! :cheer3:

Good Morning. Sorry to hear about your troubles -- have you seen a doctor? Unexplained weight gain can be an indicator of other serious issues.

Edit:: I'm sorry -- I just went back and read your other comments about your doctor. Maybe you should try phase 2 for a week or so and then go back on phase 1? I believe Lisa has used that to beat a stall before and it worked for her.

True for weight lifting benefits. I agree, these numbers seem to be for maintenance ... which was happening until just a couple days ago. Steady weight maintained for 2 weeks.

I just got to the part in Dr. Tran's writing where he clearly says no deli meats or eggs in phase 1. He also says only white fish and white meat ... no tuna, salmon or red meat. Holy cow, I wish I read this stuff before now. [edited to add: Keep reading this thread, we discuss Dr. Tran's 2nd book further on. Don't give up eggs yet.] I've been eating much more beef tenderloin, sliced deli roast beef w/o any additives and eggs than chicken since I started end of April. I think I've only eaten chicken thrice and fish twice. :o

I think I've been in more of a phase II mode anyway for last 3 weeks. Tomorrow I'm going old school strict IP, according to Dr. Tran's words and see what happens.

Agreed! (had to copy & agree due to lack of "like" button :))

Those are a restricted. One per day on IP.

Now that I've read the rest of the thread, I'm wondering if you should seek the support of a different doctor. Perhaps one that does adrenal hormone testing (usually integrative, functional, or naturopathic doctors). There is a reason you aren't losing.

And, remember how long ago Dr. Tran's first book was written. He wrote a 2nd book (hard copy only) with updated info. He didn't recommend swearing off eggs or sticking with only white meats/chicken (he always suggested leaner cuts tho). And you're correct about deli meat. I stay away from the highly processed. Often there is hidden sugars in those.

I had quite the stall, as well, and never could get to the 100-off mark I was looking for. Then we found thyroid issues (some more functional/integrative docs don't agree with the standards of mainstream docs when it comes to thyroid tests...) and adrenal dysfunction. This could have been caused by 10 months on P1 with no break. Two years later, I'm still working on fixing all of that.

Maybe your pregnant? (Inside joke...to myself...I am surprisingly 10 weeks along...)

For real?! Then I am SOL :p ... I do eat some white fish, but otherwise all of my protein sources are eggs, tuna, salmon (and vegetarian proteins). Aw man, it is hard enough to be on this diet without taking things off "the sheet" ... I wonder if there are many other things that differ between Dr. Tran's original ideas and the current plan? Was he always advocating the processed-protein "packets"? (I clearly don't know much about the origins of IP ...)

Anyway, flvamp - good luck with figuring out what is going on with you! It is a very frustrating situation for sure.

See my comment below re: Dr Tran's book.
His first book and 2nd book (hard copy only) are very different.
I think he has discovered some things along his journey, as well, necessitating a 2nd book.

Your above words are exactly why my doctor doesn't want me on IP, lol. My naturopath doesn't like it either. ::sigh:: However, gaining all this weight and nothing else working doesn't put me in a great place either, so....back to what worked.

I did progress to Dr. Tran's website and see he has given updated and more relaxed info. Brother, I'm back to being confused. :?:

I'm still resolved to go old school IP for a week and see what happens.

Interesting. I just read Dr. Tran saying it's impossible not to lose weight on this protocol. If you are not losing, there are still too many carbs in your diet. Further for me to drop all these extra carbs in brownies and try the lowest carb veg possible.

Update: It's Thursday, now 3 weeks without any scale movement. 3 days with much lower carb intake. Still no weight loss. :shrug:

Time to get cortisol and other hormones checked.
Get the complete thyroid panel done again, as well. VLC can
Also check for adrenal fatigue. Something is blocking the WL.
I understand the frustration!

I feel your pain, I am in the third week of no weight loss, tried almost everything, still stuck at 137. I truly believe that your body gets used to ideal and platueaus because you've done it so many times, at least i have. This is the third restart where Im stuck at 137. There must be a reason.... One more week and I am giving it up.

I just wanted to make a comment that the first time I did IP, I lost weight much faster than I did the second time.

I lost 77 pounds in 4.5 months the first time I did IP.

But the second time, on my "do-over" one year later, it took me almost 6 months to lose those same 77 pounds. A month and a half longer!

This is a good reason not to backslide, as I think (for some at least, or me especially) ones body builds up a bit of "immunity" to the IP diet over time.

Don't get me wrong, the IP Diet still works, but it's just slower on subsequent tries (at least it was for me, about 33% slower, which can lead to frustration if you compare your old weight loss rate to the new rate).

That being said, you should not be stalled for so long, remaining compliant -- especially this early on in your dieting journey. I agree with those that said to get better medical support and new blood workups.

A final note there have been peer-reviewed scientific studies that getting between 7 and 8 hours of sleep a night optimizes weight loss (not less than 7 and not more than 8). So track your sleep, make a log, and try to stay in the 7 to 8 hour zone. If you need to go to bed earlier to do that, do that.

Thanks folks. I have routine thyroid check due in 2.5 months, I'll consider getting it sooner. I have to check w/ doctor and insurance tho ... they consider it under control now. I've had normal range numbers on thorough tests 2x now.

Something to think about: What is 'normal' on the charts may not be normal for your body, some people have better health with different numbers. If you are having symptoms, your numbers need to change even if they are so-called 'normal.'
Hope you find out the answers to this frustrating issue. I feel for you!

Just backing Liana - "normal" TSH on my blood work is between 1.0 - 4.1 & I can say without hesitation I know when my levels are at or above a 2.0! My PCP knows this and we keep me 1.0 - 1.5
I always feel like my T3 / T4's are a little wacky (my T4 runs high) but as long as I feel ok I go with it
Truthfully I don't see why insurance wouldn't cover the test of you go into your PCP complaining of symptoms - w/o those numbers, they can't treat you...but I feel your pain there

Regarding Dr Tran's books - Can anyone give me the dates of the first and second publications?

Thanks!