My, my, my....YOU NEED TO EAT!!!!!
Please start phasing off my love. Your body has had enough. Less of everything will slow your metabolism down to a halt. Anyone disagree with me feel free to chime in, but I've seen this more than a handful of times. Time for food. I promise you the rest of your weight will come off. This is truly a matter of more will equal less.
Do phase II right away, so you can get to ph. III and start having the larger breakfasts.
I lost my last 7 lbs AFTER I left ph.1. I've lost most of it in 3 and believe it or not, I lost surprise weight in phase 4.
Gals and Guys, please chime in here! Good luck and keep in touch please.
I agree, when I plateau I have 2 restricted! I sleep better, feel better and lose. Keep the water flowing.
My, my, my....YOU NEED TO EAT!!!!!
Please start phasing off my love. Your body has had enough. Less of everything will slow your metabolism down to a halt. Anyone disagree with me feel free to chime in, but I've seen this more than a handful of times. Time for food. I promise you the rest of your weight will come off. This is truly a matter of more will equal less.
Do phase II right away, so you can get to ph. III and start having the larger breakfasts.
I lost my last 7 lbs AFTER I left ph.1. I've lost most of it in 3 and believe it or not, I lost surprise weight in phase 4.
Gals and Guys, please chime in here! Good luck and keep in touch please.
This is very welcome advice! Thank you!
For those of us getting close to phasing out, there's a lot of anxiety, and what I hear most is to get below goal because we'll probably gain in phase 3. Now, i know that is a possibility, but it's good to hear this, too. As we get close, and the weight loss slows, theres the tendency to 'try harder', and maybe that's not the way to go.
Thanks, Sunnymae. This wasn't written for me, but I'll be taking it to heart!
I am scheduled to have my knee replaced on June 1st. I do not want to go off program for my recovery. Has anyone had major surgery and remained on the program during the recovery?
I'm definitely what you would call 'experienced' with IP, I've been at this for nearly a year, and I've lost 83 pounds to date. (I'm 5'4", I started at 231, and I'm now down to 148.) I have 7 pounds to go before I hit my goal of 90 pounds at 141, and I'm hitting plateau after plateau.
The last 15 or so pounds has been harder than the 40 or so before it, and has taken about the same amount of time. I did a 'reset' in late February where I went off the diet for 4 days (on my doc/IP councilor's advice) and that helped for a while. But now I'm right back where I was before - the last three weeks I have lost basically nothing.
I am sticking to the plan more strictly than I ever did before. I cut out all the 'twice-a-week' veggies and am now only having the preferred veggies. I measure my teaspoons of oil, and keep track of when I can put them on my salads and when I have to use just vinegar. I cook nearly everything I put in my body myself, so I know what's going in it.
This week, I'm trying one last push. I cut out all the restricted foods, and I'm only having the premixed shakes, veggies, and protein. I'm even cutting out the ounce of milk from my coffee. If this doesn't do it, I will probably do another reset and go off the diet over the weekend.
I have less than three weeks to go to my one-year mark. (With the exception of the four days I did the intentional reset, I have been in Phase One for a year, as of May 8.) I'm not sure how much resolve I have left in me to keep going on this, let alone push harder. It's easy when the scale is moving, but when it stops dead like this, it's really hard to keep going.
So, I guess I'm looking for help and advice from dieters in the end game. Have you lost everything you wanted to lose? Did it get insanely hard at the end? What did you do to break through your plateaus?
Any advice and encouragement you can send would be very, very appreciated.
I agree with Sunny! Phase 2 is calling your name, in a big way. The only thing I would add is that you may want to incorporate some exercise, if you haven't already. When I added walking to phase 2, I was able to break through a plateau. Be sure no cardio, not until you are in maintenance. Good luck and keep us posted!
Anyone here one phase 3? Question for you...
I just want to make absolute sure that those general guidelines that IP gives you for phase 3 are just for the new and different breakfast portion. (ie 50 grams CHO, 15 gram FAT). For example, I can still have a restricted bar, my oil on salad, and the small amount of fat in meat and NOT have to count those as part of my 15 grams. Is that correct?
Thanks!
Phase 3 guidelines are for the breakfast only. Use Phase 2 for lunch, dinner and your snack. There is a lot of helpful PH 3 info in the 'life after' threads.
My, my, my....YOU NEED TO EAT!!!!!
Please start phasing off my love. Your body has had enough. Less of everything will slow your metabolism down to a halt.
Thank you so much for the advice Sunny! It has definitely been at the forefront of my mind that maybe my body has just had enough of this for now, and maybe I should call 83 pounds good and call it a day. I am 38, and I'm approaching the weight I had in my early 20's - but this doesn't mean I'm going to look like I did back then. Mostly, I am mentally very attached to getting into the 'normal' BMI category for my height, even though I know BMI is outdated and doesn't take into account things like muscle mass and body frame. I've just been overweight most of my life, and I'd like to be able to point at some objective metric and say, 'Look! That says I'm not overweight!'.
But just wanting it isn't going to make it happen. I have to face the reality that my body just might be sending me a message.
I have my weigh-in tomorrow, and today is my third day without the restricted foods, which should be enough to tell me if this is going to work or not. When I weigh myself in the morning, and when I go for my weigh in, if I don't see positive improvement, I may start phase 2.
Thank you so much for the response. It really does help a lot.
I agree with Sunny! Phase 2 is calling your name, in a big way. The only thing I would add is that you may want to incorporate some exercise, if you haven't already. When I added walking to phase 2, I was able to break through a plateau. Be sure no cardio, not until you are in maintenance. Good luck and keep us posted!
Thanks, Jenny!
I've been adding in more and more exercise as well - low resistance exercise bike - nothing approaching full cardio. I'm actually concerned that the reason I'm not seeing the scale move may very well be that I'm gaining muscle.
How long do people stay in phase 2? I thought it was only 2 weeks.
I love reading the threads they are always full of useful information. I have reached my 90% as of today, but my WI is on Friday so i am going to stay on phase I until than, and Saterday I will start phase II. I am very excited. I am not sure why because the packets are so easy and phase II means I will have to cook more food. I guess I am excited because it is like knowing you have run a marathon and the last couple of miles are insight. I thought losing weight would feel good, but I really think that knowing that I stuck with something and am completing a goal has really helped my psychological out look about myself, and what I can do if I make a commitment.
Thanks for everyones post, it is so rewarding to be apart of this group.
I love reading the threads they are always full of useful information. I have reached my 90% as of today, but my WI is on Friday so i am going to stay on phase I until than, and Saterday I will start phase II. I am very excited. I am not sure why because the packets are so easy and phase II means I will have to cook more food. I guess I am excited because it is like knowing you have run a marathon and the last couple of miles are insight. I thought losing weight would feel good, but I really think that knowing that I stuck with something and am completing a goal has really helped my psychological out look about myself, and what I can do if I make a commitment.
Thanks for everyones post, it is so rewarding to be apart of this group.
Ginger
Hi Ginger,
It's great to "see" you. It looks like you have shed your winter coat! You look so different!
Congratulations on the great job you have done. Welcome to phase 2. You will do great. Please join us on the "Life after Phase I" thread too.
I love reading the threads they are always full of useful information. I have reached my 90% as of today, but my WI is on Friday so i am going to stay on phase I until than, and Saterday I will start phase II. I am very excited. I am not sure why because the packets are so easy and phase II means I will have to cook more food. I guess I am excited because it is like knowing you have run a marathon and the last couple of miles are insight. I thought losing weight would feel good, but I really think that knowing that I stuck with something and am completing a goal has really helped my psychological out look about myself, and what I can do if I make a commitment.
Thanks for everyones post, it is so rewarding to be apart of this group.
Ginger
Congrats!! Life after Phase 1 is amazing (the thread too! hehe) and life after Phase 2 is even better! And Phase 3 - well I think you get the picture. Way to go!
Ok..I have not read the entire thread..so this may already be answered.
My question is...Does this diet have an end? I read a few ppl say that they are going off plan, etc. and a few others that say they are in maintenance, but sounds like they are still spending the money and such to keep up the high protein.
So, if I were to choose to do the IP plan, and I get to my goal weight, do I ever get to go back to a more average diet? Or to maintain do you continue eating the same Protien with Minimal carbs?
I had an interesting comment from my Sister-in-law yesterday. As we were packing her house up for her move, she said "I miss the old you, where we would sit down and eat junk together!" That was a huge compliment. She sees that I have made a lifestyle change and as hard as it is, it pushes her to be better. When we had a break, instead of reaching for the bag of Doritoes (which were calling my name all day) I had a protein bar and she had a protein shake! Job well done!! I also got 6 hrs of continuous exercise. The only downfall was when they ordered in pizza for dinner and I wasn't prepared. Seeing as how I am on maintenance I had a couple of pieces, but am back to protein and veggies today!
Have a great day. I am excited because I am only 2 mo. away from keeping this weight off for 1 year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok..I have not read the entire thread..so this may already be answered.
My question is...Does this diet have an end? I read a few ppl say that they are going off plan, etc. and a few others that say they are in maintenance, but sounds like they are still spending the money and such to keep up the high protein.
So, if I were to choose to do the IP plan, and I get to my goal weight, do I ever get to go back to a more average diet? Or to maintain do you continue eating the same Protien with Minimal carbs?
Yes and no.
What they call "Phase 4" is actually a maintenance plan. You're in it (theoretically) forever, but in reality, it's just a guideline for a healthy eating lifestyle. I believe you start reintroducing carbs in phase 3. You get 'cheat days' in phase 4 as well, where you can eat whatever you want, and a plan for recovering so you don't gain weight from it.
Phase 4 does not officially contain any IP prepackaged foods, but my center, at least, allows you to continue buying them if you choose to incorporate them in your diet. But you don't HAVE to.
Hope that helps! (I'm still in Phase 1, so, someone who's actually finished might have better info than mine.) :-)
Is anyone else having a hard time staying asleep at night? It seems I'm in at 10:30 and up at 3am. Then I am twilight or awake until 5:30.
Hi there,
Yes I am on about the same schedule of waking up and doing it at least 3-4 nights a week.
The nights I sleep better are the days I get up extra early and expend massive amounts of physical and mental energy and then do not go to bed til 11:00 to midnight.
Any other thoughts from other people ?
P.S. I had just sent you a PM, Mary
Carol
