I stayed OP yesterday, but no weight lost this morning. I'm probably due for one of my 4-day plateaus. Hubby and I went kayaking yesterday and I'm feeling a little sore this morning, but plan to do my walk in a couple of hours.

As I'm nearing goal, I'm trying to work out how many packets I have and whether those can get me through the next 6 or 8 weeks. I'd really like to avoid buying more protein food, but I wonder whether I will continue to eat some of these things into maintenance. Miwi, are you eating all "real" foods now, or do you occasionally have an IP food for a snack?

Hi Teach - I am right there with you in trying to decide 'how low will you go'? I have a set weight / clothing size I would like to achieve, but need to be practical as well - at almost 39 having never been a normal weight, I really just don't know and will try to listen to my body the best I can.

Welcome back stick :) I've found new recipes and vegetables on IP I will be incorporating into my diet for the rest of my life - such as rhubarb (so delicious!), that I would have never tried before - I recently went through a couple tough weeks with no WL and being able to shake things up I believe has helped immensely. One recommendation if you don't have it already - Janeva Eckhoffs (sp?) IP cookbook!

Yesterday was hard for everyone. I am still having a hard time sleeping...a lot of that is personal regret and just an overwhelming sadness for DH's cousin and girls. Someone dying so young puts your own life into perspective too...now to be proactive about some of the positives that came out of the last week - ie, staying more closely in touch with friends and family again (DH & I have a core group of friends but had self-isolated from his family for a variety of reasons...We will see how it pans out. I doubt people have changed and for me it is a tolerance issue - too much to go into on a diet blog :p ) I know I have good life insurance and DH is looking into what is available to him.
Come to find out that he did not die of a massive heart attack, but sudden cardiac arrest - apparently very common after a heart attack (he'd had one the week before & had a stint inserted) and there wasn't anything anyone could have done without a defibrillator :( I didn't realize there was a difference, but a heart attack is where blood flow is constricted from the heart (plaque in the arteries, etc...) vs SCA, which is the heart losing its normal rhythm and this quickly leads to blood not getting pumped out of the heart correctly and eventually it stops beating. :( Just too sad and too common - it is the most common cause of death in men 35 - 45.
My family has a history of heart disease - I am glad too for losing the weight and right now have even more incentive to be sure I keep it off.

The scale finally moved and I am firmly in the low 150's now! Yay!

NSV - For the first time in my life I am comfortable wearing slacks and a TUCKED IN blouse :D

Beth I work in a Medical Center and I honestly didn't know the difference. Hopefully going through this difficult time together will help with family in the long-run. Also congrats on your weight loss. Woo hoo! Yay!

HIS For the most part, I eat all "real" food. The exception is sometimes I have an IP-alternative snack bar or EAS carb control shake as a snack. I continue to stick with Phase 3 breakfast for the most part and I allow myself to eat carbs for dinner, although I have yet to cook a pot of pasta which was a total staple for me before IP.

Talking about eating on maintenance, my hubby and I got a medium cheese pizza over the weekend (indulgence day) and I could only eat one and a half pieces and I felt really, really full. There was a time I could eat four pieces of a large pizza and still have dessert. My stomach has shrunk! Yay! I am so happy about that.

Had my WI this morning, and I was holding my breath hoping for even a small loss,
and :cp::cp: DOWN 3.0 for the 2 weeks. Also some inches (hips and thighs)
I'm officially down more than 40lb :dancer: Hopefully by next week, I will say goodbye to the 160s.
My coach is so nice, when I walked in, wearing the size 14 pants that just fit so nicely a few weeks ago, she said to me: look at you, those pants are just way too loose, you have to go shopping. She's right of course :D, I've been putting it off, trying to wait till fall got here (it has!) before I put away summer things and went looking for fall clothes


HIS, you are so close to reaching your goal, :crossed: :goodluck:
We're rooting for you!
And, oh yeah, we're going to want to see that dress when you get it ;)

:rofl::rofl::rofl: Love it!!

I've heard great things about Janeva's cookbook too, am going to order it this week. Also, if you haven't spent some time looking at the recipe threads lately, there's a lot of great ideas there since you haven't been back since 2011.

:cheer: Nice loss this week, and you are getting so close to goal :dancer::dancer:
Love that NSV :) That Tucked in blouse struck a chord with me, for sure, I keep trying to do that, but not a good look for me (YET ;) )

Just my pov as I was reading through this thread.... I still use bars occasionally during the week when I need a quick snack on the run, etc. When you actually think of it these kinds of products replace the 'I will just grab something :cbg: from the *insert fast-food joint here* because I am in a rush and don't have time for a proper sit down meal/snack'. So it's really not a change from our everyday lifestyle, just a better choice of 'real food' replacement. We all know 'fast-food' isn't real food, lol. Of course if you have more time to prep before you run out the door you can always bring HB eggs, veggie spears & a bit of cheese, a small serving of nuts, a mini tub of Greek yogourt, etc. Lots of athletic people run around with protein bars in their gymbags or purses, it's not uncommon in people of healthy weight.

Liana

Thanks Liana that makes sense. I always try to think, "What would people of a healthy weight do?" Mid-afternoon I am going to be hungry. I know that, so I bring my bar so I know I won't eat junk.

blueskies Yay for your weight loss and NSV! I hope you have fun buying new clothes.

True. I know there are at least two days a week when I don't eat a proper meal before leaving the house - Sunday mornings, and one weekday evening when I leave for work at 5:45 and don't eat dinner before. On Sundays, I have a protein shake, and on my work night, I eat a Quest bar in the car. So I guess I will continue to need at least protein powder and bars. I really like the bars and have to keep myself from having more than one a day.

This morning I woke up with a sore throat. Feels like the start of a cold coming on :(
Normally, I'd be having tea with honey and lemon to soothe it, and I've never liked the cough-droppy type candy thingies...I'm sure it'll only last a couple of days, but...
This is the first time I've been at all sick since starting IP, so just thought I'd ask - anyone have any suggestions?

blueskiesahead, I'd probably have the tea with lemon and whatever fake sweetener you like.

Scale edged up a little more today, which always makes me twitchy. Especially since I'm really anxious to lose these last few pounds!! UGH.

blue - take care of you...I got really sick / antibiotics necessary back in March (double ear infection / sinus infection) and it took about a month before I really was back to normal. It started as a cold and quickly went downhill and I stayed protocol throughout. Was that wise...?? Again, idk - I have no proof being IP made me sick(er) but I wonder sometimes if being that low calorie while your body is fighting an infection is really smart :?:
I did lots of organic chicken broth with black pepper and RTD's - just didn't have much appetite for a while.
I know there are liquid medicines you can't take b/c of the sugars (NyQuil). I think pills, like Mucinex, are ok. I was taking that while I was sick, plus the antibiotics.
:hug: feel better soon!

HIS - sorry about the scale-flux - a return to stricter alt-protocol (removing onions, cutting back on Quest bars) finally got things moving again for me...but it took about 10 days to start seeing some results. I know you have a tight deadline with the race coming up...crossing my fingers for you!

Things are getting back to normal - co-worker returned this morning and that's kept me very busy :lol: normally this place moves like molasses but boy they got him out of all the systems ASAP :dizzy:

Finally got a really good nights sleep...so much so, I didn't hear my alarm until I was almost an hour late :o :eek:

I didn't even note that early yesterday (9/29) morning our Labrador got sick so I was cleaning up the hallway at 12:30a & again at 4:00a - she is much better now...on a doggy-BRAT diet for a couple days ;)

Funny & embarrassing story - I've laid off the red onions, both cooked and raw and switched to green onions. Apparently, my intestines really don't like green onions and I made Janeva's fried cauli-rice Monday night after the funeral. So I walked into my bosses office yesterday and with NO warning, went off like a foghorn :lol: :lol: Luckily, we are friends and we both just laughed and laughed...another co-worker came by and said "what, did I fart or something" and that got us laughing even harder!
Once we stopped laughing, boss said "well, I WAS considering IP but if that's a normal side effect, I'm not so sure..." :lol:

Had some yummy steak and zoodle last night. The next 2 nights are 'fend for yourself' as DD10 has dance classes and with all the family stuff had very little prep-time this weekend. I don't have any cauli-rice ready to go...I do have some in the freezer but that requires cooking. Thinking I may do breakfast for dinner tonight with some veggie-eggs (1 whole / 1 egg white, 2C spinach, mushrooms, colored peppers, cilantro) and a proti diet pancake.

For anyone on IP who gets ill, check with the pharmacist for alternative cough syrups, throat soothers, etc. as lots of people cannot have sugars or alcohols in their meds. The alternatives just aren't always advertised as well.

Blue I hope that you feel better soon. Maybe some Chloraseptic spray? Not sure of the ingredients, but when I had strep, that was the only thing that helped my throat.
HISHope that the scale moves soon- that would do the same thing to me-likely will too once I get to that point.
Beth glad things are getting back to normal in your life. You must be so happy to have your work hubs back. He better treat you like gold for all the stress he put you through!:hug:
Here we go again with similarities...started using green onions as the weather has gotten a bit cooler, inspiring me to be creative and cook-my tummy has been a bit (lot) more gassy lately than normal- at work I pray no one comes upstairs until the "effects" *ahem* go away. Sounds like that wasn't an issue for you thank goodness...:D Glad to hear you are sleeping better again, it's been a pretty tough ride for you lately.
So glad it's Thursday. We were planning to pull the boat for the season tomorrow, but in light of the weather here on the East coat (I'm off the coast in MA) we've had to put it off. She's de-rigged, sails and canvas' and such, so we'll just keep our fingers crossed and she'll ride it out on the mooring. I hope that everyone has a great Thursday-time for my morning exercise on demand-I hate that Comcast changes things up- I miss Jennifer Gilardi and the ones I used to do a couple of years ago. Oh well, I'll get used to the new ones. Much success to everyone today!!!

Feeling better this morning, I had many cups of tea yesterday, a long bubble bath followed by an afternoon nap, just a no energy day. Today still a bit of a sore throat, not nearly as bad, but it doesn't feel like it's going to develop into a cold, thank goodness, I just hate feeling crappy. :)
Thanks everyone for the suggestions, and just to be proactive for the next time, I'll go see my pharmacist and get some suggestions.

Linda, sounds like nasty weather your way, and getting worse for the next few days, hope you don't get affected too badly with the wind and flooding.

blue - glad you are feeling better! I had the yukkies too (headache, sore throat) but seem to have fought it off! DD10 / DD19 were both sick though :(

Linda - yes, batten down the hatches lady! The original track of Joaquin brought it right over D.C. but it has shifted east / NE...heard this morning possibly a Jersey hit - but hoping it just goes away! Are you guys under the gun for this Nor-Easter Friday / Saturday? Started raining this morning in NoVa with no let up until Saturday afternoon - blah!
& LOL on the green onions...I love them SO much, but gosh they don't love me at all :( ;) had another embarrassing issue on the ELEVATOR yesterday :o :o - think its time to invest in some Beano :o :o

So yah...I got issues :lol: I am just going to have to suck it up and save green onion eating for the weekends I guess. I know there are pro-biotics out there that would help but omg they are $$$$$$$$ I think I can live without the flavor for a couple more weeks

Well, the mid-atlantic is going to take care of its rain deficit in the next 2 days - prediction is 3 - 6" of rain now through Saturday (and our direct region just got 4" of rain Tuesday night!). Glad I live outside the flood plain. Also glad Joaquin is turning east and hope it just doesn't make landfall

Scale has remained steady the last 3 days. Really enjoying the elliptical and starting to see changes to my thighs / calves :)

One thing to watch...I really don't know about the collagen supplement - thought I was doing ok - but to get a full daily dose, you are suppose to take 6 pills (yuk). I had cut back to 1 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, 2 after dinner and 1 before bed & was doing ok - but was also consistently forgetting a couple pills (so probably taking 4 a day instead of 6). Yesterday / this morning I did 2 again on an empty stomach and am feeling wonky :( Just wish I knew what in the supplement was doing it (it has more than just collagen & biotin)...I had NO issues adding the 5,000 biotin. Obviously i am going back to what I was doing before...Blah - I dislike being so sensitive to medications.

Sounds like everyone is doing well, or at least on the mend. :)

Scale went up another half pound yesterday, despite being OP and doing a fair amount of walking. I don't know what's going on. I don't have TOM any more, and my plumbing is working. I'm trying not to feel stressed about it, because that just adds to the problem. I might have to cut out my evening Quest bar and see if that helps. I'm going to try having shakes twice a day, since those are low in calories and carbs.

Made two batches of zucchini chips in my dehydrator this week. Man, I love those things, but you sure don't get filled up with one dehydrated zucchini! :D But they are easy to take as an out-and-about snack, and they satisfy my craving for a crisp, salty treat.

I'm not on the pumpkin spice bandwagon, but I love all the chocolate peppermint foods that show up around the holidays, especially coffee creamer. Yesterday I found white chocolate peppermint Dunkin Donuts coffee at WM, so I had that this morning with peppermint flavored stevia. YUM YUM YUM.