Hysteria: my heart aches for the loss of such a young man. I can understand how devastated you feel and his young family. Glad you're cherishing all the great times your families have had together.
I have a NSV....I HAVE HIPS!!!! Well I always had large hips but there's bones there. I noticed when I was talking to my DH and I put my hands on my hips and I stopped talking. I felt something hard. What???? It has to be over 20 years since I felt that. What a feeling! Have a great OP day all!

Yay!!!! I was so "weirded out" when I was laying in bed and felt the ends of my bottom ribs! I still think it's funny (again, laying in bed) and looking towards my feet and it's my ribs I see and NOT my big belly- oh for it to be that flat in reality...in time, in time....

Yay!!! How awesome is that? Rock on!!!


Beth I am so sorry to read about your loss. It's hard to focus on the good when you're feeling such emotional pain.

I am glad this week is winding down because it's been hard on me to stay focused on eating right.

Wishing everyone the best!

HIPS! Grooviness!

No surgery scheduled yet for the husband. He has to have a CT scan first, and then we'll decide what to do.
I just got home with my daughter after her procedure. The gastroenterologist didn't find anything alarming, but we have to wait for the biopsies to come back. She's sleeping on my sofa and I cooked up some chicken, rice, and gluten-free biscuits for her. I'm going to eat my OP chili and romaine lettuce. I really want those last 12 pounds to go away soon!

Happy Friday IP family,

I realize I haven't had much convo on here as of yet, ( I just finished my second weeks on IP and it was a good one :-)) , my friend made fun of me because I'm like that in real life- I enjoy listening to conversations but don't always join in because I tend to overthink what I need to say, lol! At least I continue to be myself I suppose😀
Just met with coach for second time yesterday and she was very happy, and so was I
Question: is anyone convinced the "hydration" thing is accurate? It keeps saying my hydration levels are super high and yet my skin is super dry?

Also, woke up starving for the first time this morning- I don't think my body likes the restricteds- I believe I am consistently hungry after( from what I can tell) - which seems dumb to me- but Lemon Waifer- OMG- so good!

I used to literally eat 1 meal a day before this plan, so having to think about meals and food all the time is exhausting, does it ever get to feel like routine?

Having a background in exercise physiology and experience with the high-dollar instruments used to measure bodies, I don't have a lot of confidence in the tools used in clinics. So it's possible you're not hydrated enough. You should be drinking about half your body weight in oz. of water. (i.e.., if you weight 150, drink 75 oz. of water per day) BUT - from my research, dry skin is a common side effect of ketosis. I'm drinking more than enough water, but I have dry, itchy skin only on my lower abdomen. I just lotion it and ignore it.

Re routine: It's very routine for me, but that's because I don't vary my meals a whole lot. I hate to cook, so I tend to stick with easily prepared meals that I know I like. So I have the same 2 or 3 things on rotation for my meals.

Breakfast: Shake w/ spinach, OR protein pancake
Lunch: Protein chili over lettuce, OR oatmeal w/ zucchini "apples"
Dinner: 8 oz protein (whatever I'm making for my husband) + 2 c. steamed veggies, OR Big Mac in a Bowl
Snack: Quest or ProtiDiet bar, OR protein pudding, OR shake
If I need another snack during the day, it's usually a dill pickle, or a hard boiled egg, or some stewed rhubarb.

It works for me, but some people might get bored with the same things over and over again. I like the simplicity of it.

A routine does take a little getting used to but beneficial for long term success because eating healthy does need some planning. Wow, I'm not sure how you did on 1 meal a day. I'm not a doctor but eating small amounts several times a day keeps your blood sugar constant and your metabolism working.
I don't really enjoy cooking either so I eat a small variety of foods that I like and are easy. I'm a creature of habit anyways.
Sounds like you're on the right track so far. It might take a couple of weeks for you to get in a routine but you'll do fine.

Sending positive vibes for your family!

Things have been going smoothly so far, but today I have heartburn. I feel like the more water I drink, the more I get heartburn. Anyone else??

Cindy, in addition to what HIS shared, I thought I'd offer that I also splurged on some expensive concentrated Vitamin E oil to use on my "problem" areas along with some other oils and lotions to dry to help the skin elasticity along as it was shrinking. I have no idea if it helped or not but the practice of it was nice and also kept me in touch with my changing body.

Cindy - I started taking collagen about a week ago and I believe it is making a difference. My skin was constantly ashy, even with lotions / vit E, but is looking less so with the addition of collagen / biotin supplements

mama - sorry - I had bad heartburn before IP but it really seems to have settled down - unless I eat too many raw onions / garlic.

So what a WEEK!

We visited with DH's cousin yesterday. She is doing awful, as we expected, but I think was glad to see us...we genuinely understood her & M
Pulled together the rest of the pictures for the memorial on Monday - tough but nice to reminiscence

Finally caught a break and got some good news too - co-worker who left is COMING BACK!!!! It didn't work out and he texted me last night / this morning and will be back Wednesday

NSV - the 10's I bought the week before vacation are getting LOOSE! WHA???

I'm so very sorry about your husbands cousin. That is so sad. It's hard enough when we lose an older person, but someone so young. You and your family have been in my thoughts and prayers.
Now, THAT is a piece of news that must be having you jumping for joy!! Thank goodness that stress is going to be over for you. Phew!!
Wha-WHA???? 10s are getting loose? That's incredible!! Good work lady!!! That's so great!!! So proud and happy for you!!
I wonder if my body will let me go below a 12, I went closet shopping again Thursday night, and there are still a bunch of 12 jeans that are still too tiht- there's several that did fit- I'm not complaining, not by any stretch, it's just weird how it takes me so long to move through sizes- it was MONTHS before I was out of my 18s and 16s.
Well, the moment of truth is a few hours away. ( I don't remember if my confession was on this thread or the other one-) My W/I is at 9:30, and we'll see what happens...It's colder here, but I'm still going to wear similar clothing to what I have worn all summer and not jeans. That way if my weight goes up from the cake, it won't have the added weight of the jeans and cooler weather clothing.
Happy saturday everyone- hope that you all have a great one!

Destony, I hope the scale is kind to you.
Beth, I'm totally jealous of the loose size 10s! I tried on some 8s yesterday but I'm still pretty far away from that size. Motivation to keep going!

Re: oils. My husband's surgeon recommended Bio Oil after his surgeries, to help the incision scars heal better and itch less. My husband LOVES it. We bought it at Walmart. It is pricey; $30/bottle I think? I need to try it out on my itchy belly.

Losing these last few pounds is TOUGH. It's hard to stay motivated. It's hard to cut back on goodies like restricted bars. I find myself thinking, "Maybe this weight is good enough." But I don't want to be one of those people who later says, "I'm going back on P1 to lose the last 15 pounds." I want to get it done on THIS round of P1. I want to get in size 8s. I want to have "wiggle room" when I phase off and gain a couple of pounds. But, my goodness, I can't wait to have real food again. And I'm not craving junk food - I dream about oatmeal and yogurt and potatoes and apples. LOL.

Hysteria, Thanks for your comment and encouragement. I'm sorry for my late reply - I went MIA for a while. Yeah my first week I slipped up on some cheese and then I had absolutely no appetite for days and then totally cheated for three days straight. Now I'm back on plan and sticking to it. It has been difficult this time around because I feel like I work so hard (at my job) and food or more like a good latte is a nice reward. I'm trying to remember my low point (not fitting into any of my clothing) and use this as motivation. Thanks again for the encouragement and wish you well.

Well, back from weigh in- and another fortune spent, damn you Janeva's cookbook!! lol-(I'm fine with it, really!) Down 2.4 lbs, though with the exception of my waist, all measurements remained the same- but my waist went up a quarter. Strange, no C issues, in fact, this morning, there were a couple of trips in-so not certain what that was all about. I don't feel bloated or anything - I would have expected that to be last week- I did feel bloated. I do wonder, as I was pretty certain the blasted cake threw me out of ketosis for a bit, as I ate last week, no restricteds till Wednesday, I also did NO exercise at all. Treated it very similar to my first week. Maybe? Maybe not...but starting Monday, I'm back at it- actually tomorrow because I will start my fall garden cut back and that's a pretty fair amount of work.
HISI'm with you- I want to get it all off before I phase off. I dream of cheese, glorious cheese- as for the apples- we go apple picking up North next month when the JonaGolds come in and I WILL have one apple. I will savor ever delicious bite and then be back to OP.
As the weather is getting cooler here, I am noticing the dry skin starting again on my finger tips. I don't think its IP related, more likely just my age, but I hate it- it catches on everything!!!
I bought a box of the rice krispy treats- there were samples at the clinic this morning...mmmmmmmmmmmm delish!! I love how sweet they are. I also bought premade vanilla drink and strawberry syrup- had a straberry milkshake with my salad at lunch...I really do enjoy the food- and again- damn you Janeva's cookbook!!