Beth - I definitely do a lot of those things too since starting IP. I also think about food A LOT, whether it be my next meal or what. One time I legit had a dream about eating cake! Like really, lol. Can't say I've ever dreamed of food before.

Frawnie - HEY! I'm so happy for you!! It sounds like life is bueno!

Blue - I knew you wouldn't have to go back to P1! You're doing awesome!!

Hi all

DH is in a better mood today (Beth I wonder if there was something in the air with DH's yesterday).

Snowstorm Cindy is visiting us. I am ready for spring and don't want a winter visit.

Frawnie - nice to hear from you and that you are enjoying your new life:)

smda and Beth, I know it sounds crazy, but in my profession, we say that on the day of and/or before the full moon, peoples emotions get out of control. This certainly was the case with my patients yesterday. Whoa. I left work with a friggin headache. So anyway, if your DHs were acting emotional, perhaps the moon played a role. Ha!

Frawnie Yay! So glad that life is going well.

OK, I want to get out of work early today so that I can enjoy the beautiful weather, pick up a healthy dinner on the way home, and buy my mom an Easter card. See you all later.

I took a mental health day today - :cheer2: f*** yah!!! :lol:

Truthfully, I got back from my run this morning (where runners gut hit me, again...at least yesterday I was on the course where I pass a gas station) and *ahem* :o montezuma revenge hit me, hard. I've been eating a TON of fiber recently b/c I switched to low carb bread - and I've been eating rutabagas at lunch all week. Derp - honestly what should I expect :crazy:

Also, as my mind churned this morning (with my gut) I realized I just needed a day with my kids. It's spring break here - mid 70s, gorgeous...and I need to spend some time with them. DD11's cousin came to stay for a couple days and we're going to have a nice lunch and then see Zootopia - not exactly a perfect combo with the fantastic weather, but DD19 has terrible allergies so we have to compromise.

Hope everyone has a fantastic day!

Beth, that body fat post was after BraLady had posted that she's down to 15% BF (yeah, right), and then that same day I read the article in Consumer Reports about the scales. CR said every scale was very accurate at measuring weight, but very inaccurate at measuring BF. (They put all the test subjects, fat and skinny, in a Bod Pod to get their true BF.)

Yesterday I walked two miles, very easy pace. Felt good, no pain.

Last night I went to a friend's house with some other ladies, and we ended up spending 30 minutes together in her bathroom when the tornado sirens went off. A funnel cloud touched down about a mile north of us. As I was driving home, in the pouring rain, I saw a house on fire from a lightning strike! What a night.

Today I feel achey all over. Don't know if I'm getting sick or it's the weather. SO cold and windy here today! Gusts over 40 mph, and the wind chill makes it feel like 37 degrees. I'm giving serious thought to going back to bed for a while, and I never take naps unless I'm exhausted. I'm not even hungry, which makes me suspect I'm sick.

While I'm thinking about it: for anyone who has cruised the Caribbean, hit me up with your favorite excursions. You can PM me, to keep threads here on topic. Thanks.

I'm going to finish my coffee and crawl back in bed.

HIS thanks for the snack ideas, a couple of ones in there I hadn’t thought of.
Scary day for you, that tornado sounds way too close!!
Sorry you’re not feeling well. Nasty bug going around here too, I’ve had a cough/sore throat for a few days, lots of people with flu-ish symptoms. Yesterday I had to go out in the morning, but back at noon and spent the aft on the couch, had a nap, drank tea… feel way better today. Maybe a day in bed will do the trick for you too.

Frawnie – WOW, so great to hear from you, and that your new life is treating you so well. Glad to hear you are in such a good place! Keep in touch when you can, you have friends here!

Sue, buying/selling a house is stressful ( btdt a number of times). Hope it goes smoothly for you!
Winter storms at this time of year are NOT FAIR!! Hope it melts very soon!

Beth enjoy your day off, always nice to spend time with the family. DS will be home for a few days over Easter wk/end, always nice to have a few days to spoil him ( Mom forever, no matter how old he gets )


Went in to see my coach this morning, first time since I got back...she was delighted that I had maintained so well on vacay. I’m pretty comfortable with what I’m doing on P4 so far, so I didn’t have too many questions for her. Had a nice chat though, about going forward from here. Will probably just pop in every 2 weeks for a while, then once/month, I think. She gave me a free box of IP bars ( I chose choc-coconut, my fave, which I haven’t had for months, since I’ve been having mostly less $$ alts. Nice treat! :)
SIL is having Easter dinner tomorrow ( to accommodate out-of-town family). I’m taking appetizers and a salad. This may be a splurge day for me, I think. She always has a-ma-zing desserts!! Small portions for me, if I can resist the temptation, but definitely going to have some!
Is Good Friday a holiday in the US? I can never keep track (it is here, most things are closed).
Have a Happy Easter weekend Ipeeps. Do not eat all the chocolate bunnies ;)
:bunny2: :bunny2: :bunny2:

Glad you had a nice, pain free walk...but :( YUK! Hope you got some rest and feel better today!

& OMG!!!! I couldn't live in tornado-alley :yikes: :eek: so glad you are all ok!

Bra-lady must have removed her post after you posted that CR information...I was trying to search for her post and ended up on her personal FB page - she has it locked down fairly well, but there were 2 recent posts / pictures of her - one holding a beer (one of those Bud Light - Rita things :barf: ) - and yah, she's 15% bf and I'm Twiggy ;)
Honestly wondering a little bit if she's a troll...

Blue - have a great weekend with your son!
Glad your coach validated everything you are doing - you are rocking P4 & a true inspiration lady!

I stayed off-line most of the day yesterday. We had a nice time & the kids enjoyed Zootopia, and since DD19 has been taking her allergy meds, we were able to take a short walk around the neighborhood and enjoyed looking at our blossoming trees. At one point, the majority of homes in our 'hood had cherry trees, including ours, but sadly, a lot of them died over the last 10 years because of some kind of disease.

We had dinner at Red Robins - I had a lettuce-wrapped bacon cheese burger with a serving of their sweet potato fries - should have looked them up before ordering :eek:
Word of caution for those who may eat there...be sure to ask for a "PLAIN" burger and get the condiments on the side...I've never had this problem before - but apparently it is now SOP for them to slather the burgers in mayo!!!!! I don't mind a little mayo on my burger, but the amount they put on is obscene - I had to remove most of the lettuce and wipe it off with napkins!!!!

Also, for those who peruse the FB page, I found the post in the protocol P2,3,4 about "P5" very timely. I like the simplicity of asking ourselves:
"Should I eat this...?"
...the only problem is when you ask yourself this question, as I did last night, and even though the angel on your shoulder whispers "noooooo", the devil on the other shoulder is whispering sweet nothings like: "you ran today...you're hungry...you know what fruit does..." and so you grab that serving of dark chocolate with a heaping helping of roasted almonds :o
I'll add that I was exhausted to boot...
I guess I'm just not quite in true "P5" yet :cool:
I did have a slight 'win' last night in that I stayed out of the nut butters and after that snack, and a handful of granola, I took my tired @$$ to bed.
Anyone else read that post? If so, thoughts...?

I saw that P5 post, too, and either I'm not there yet, or that approach just won't work for me. Because, to me, it puts some foods in the "bad food" category, and I don't believe most foods are inherently bad. Like post-race pancakes w/ butter and real syrup: some people would say to avoid them - like a woman I know who's fanatical about paleo - because of the fat, white flour, and sugar. But I think there's a time and a place for those things, like after a race! But on the other hand, there are certainly times when we need to ask ourselves if a food is something we should eat, particularly when we're hungry and just looking for something quick and easy instead of the best nutritional choice.

I think BraLady's 15% BF post was in the regular P1 FB group. But it got buried pretty quickly. Yeah, I saw the beer pics. She is so not 15%. I still say she's probably around 20%. But if she wants to believe she's leaner than an elite marathoner... whatever. I don't think she's a troll, she just seems to need a lot of validation.

blue, Easter desserts! That'll be fun. :)

Still at 6 pounds over goal, even with eating around 1400-1500 cal/day. :sigh: Just goes to show how few calories you really need when you don't exercise! No wonder I was fat.

Once it warms up a bit, I'm going outside :carrot: to do a 4 mile walk. The cooler temps are great for running, not so much when you're just walking. LOL.

Tomorrow I'm driving up my son's house in OKC to take him some furniture - those leather sofas we picked up last Sunday. So I'll get to see my little grandson for a few hours. :D We don't have plans for Easter dinner; DH has to work over Saturday night so he will be sleeping all day on Sunday.

I saw the P5 post too. Actually, it resonated with me. I didn't get the impression it was talking about good foods/bad foods, but good/bad choices.
I like the idea of reaching a point where I'm not tracking all my food (not there yet, but - oh, yeah, there's a glimmer of it near the horizon :) )
Should I eat this? - that HUGE piece of pecan pie? nope. But should I eat a much smaller piece. Why sure you can!! Or pancakes? Of course. And those mid-day snack attacks...should I have handful of M&Ms, or should I have a handful of almonds?? ;) I'd like to think my life could include all of those. But I am aware of the consequences - like having an indulgence, and then following it with a clean, low carb day. Sure, I see myself living like that.
I don't know if you recall awhile back, I think it was oneuh2 (where is she, BTW?? hope all is well!) ...anyway, she posted some links to some threads by Novak, she was one of the early Ipeeps - Life after P1, I think - and I remember reading it back then and thinking she made a lot of sense, and that's the attitude I hoped I'd end up with. Essentially, like the FP person said, find your P5 place, and live like a normal person.

Getting ready for Easter dinner tonight. Had my usual breakfast, but will just have salad for lunch. Made the Brussels sprout salad and the dressing, some tomato basil pesto for the apps, and have to finish the mushroom bacon dip for the veggies. Easier to take stuff that doesn't have to be heated, so just easy nibblies. Want to get stuff done by noon, DS should be here by then, so it should be a nice afternoon before we head over.

I don't use facebook :( What's this talk of phase 5?

Kalaya - just so there is no confusion, P5 is NOT IP 'sanctioned' - it is not a real phase...just terminology being used by some in maintenance to describe getting beyond the tracking / obsessive worrying that seems to accompany many of us after P1 - P3 - basically, "real life" :lol:

I know I am an all-or-nothing type of person - and again, progress not perfection - it's something I need to work on...also, right now, there is something psychologically pleasing to me to see "you have logged in for 400+ days" on MFP ;)

I can only dream of a day where I won't obsess about food! Can't even fathom not tracking to some degree...I mean ffs if I eat an extra protein bar for the week it completely derails my weight loss efforts. Don't even want to think about the stress of adding other things back. I imagine 'phase 5' takes quite a while to be comfortable in.

Happy Friday. Just wrapping up my documentation before going home. I cheated yesterday y'all. I had cheese. I allowed myself to get REALLY REALLY hungry and I was really tired and stressed and I got AF. So I had some low-fat string cheese. That is my testimony.

Phase 5 is an interesting concept. Given my cheese slip-up, I am not exactly hopeful about being there, but it's a work in progress I guess.

I actually have NO plans for Easter. None. I guess DH will cook a yummy pork loin or something.

In case I don't get back to you until after the holiday, have a great Easter everyone!

Hi all,

Snow storm Cindy was generally not as bad as we thought it would be today, though the snow is still coming down. I am spending the first part of my evening cleaning and sorting in my office. I ran across some cards I made when I tried to follow the Beck Diet Solution. One of the cards reads " Remember how far you have come -- Once a week walk one mile with the weight you have lost since starting" OMG that thought just scares me. I see one place on FB that makes you hold a big water jug for each 40# lost. I can't imagine walking 1 mile with 2 of those each 3/4 full. Puts things in perspective a bit.

I went to my weigh in today and can and lost 3.6# this week. :). I am now officially below my initial goal of 195. She also printed out my weight history since we went to our electronic medical record in 2008. In 2008 and 2009 I was 201/202. then it was +6 to + 10 per year after that. I think that is one reason to have that scream / reset weight.

I also decided that I am going to do a full phase off for Hawaii. The date is picked. 3 more weeks of P1. I hope I can loose at least another 6# in P1 (honestly I would like another 10).

I also saw that P5 post. While I believe each of us has to make p4 our own, if I remember this person had only been on P4 for a month, I am not sure that strategy will work for me.

MiWi - Have a great Easter. Enjoy the time with the family.

Blue - I hope you were able to enjoy the time with your family for Easter. The last I read oneuh2 DH was having difficulties and it was affecting her ability to stay OP.

HIS - wishing you a sunny warm day for an Easter walk. Your 1200 - 1400 calories sounds scary to me, (sounds like living in P3). Enjoy your time with your grandson. I wish I could help you with excursions, but have only done one at one of those ports and I would not recommend.

Beth - I think those off line days are good for the soul and the mind. As are MH days. Congrats on on winning the NB battle last evening.

Destony- how are you doing?

Did anyone read a post on FB on carb exhausted exercise? It was very interesting but now I can't find it. It compared athletic performance with refueling carbs after exercise versus staying carb exhausted. The carb exhausted group had greater improvements in overall performance.

The appraisal happened this week on the house. So now we just wait for that and the bank. Need to do some packing this weekend between the other activities. I have to work a brat fry tomorrow for the Lions Club, make a cobbler for Easter and figure out what I am going to take to eat at my sister in laws for Easter.

Posting tonight since I won't have time in the morning...

Sue, I did not see the post on carb exhausted exercise, and want to read it. Sounds interesting. I'll do some searching.
How do you feel about having that 3-week end point for P1? Will you go back on it when you get home?

Candi, there are FAR worse off-protocol things you could have eaten!! Honestly, the small amount of fat and calories in one string cheese isn't enough to stress about, and it may actually be helpful, as Beth & I experienced at the end of P1.

Stuck to 1300-1400 calories today, so I had a good deficit of calories with all my walking. Hope the scale reflects it tomorrow. This is why I don't see myself doing the P5 thing; 1400 calories is NOT much food, and it would only take a couple of slips to be way over that number. I would much prefer to be eating 2000 calories and have a little more freedom in my diet.

The IP FB page seems to be imploding. I really can't believe all the conflicting advice from coaches. It's crazy how many make up their own rules about the protocol. Now there are coaches urging people to do the "turbo charged" protocol to lose weight faster. The client eats no restricted items and chooses the lowest carb veggies possible. Basically keeping daily carbs under 25g. It's not an official IP thing, just something some clinics made up. Then there are the coaches who say it's okay to have dairy, and the ones who give out outdated info.... Sheesh.

Y'all have a good Saturday!