[QUOTE=thumper;3872554]Welcome back, you have been missed! You offer such great insight.
Mary

Thank you all for the encouragement. You have talked me off the ledge. I had my weigh in this morning and was at break even from last week. The consensus we came to was too much stress. And I obsessed about my lack of weight loss so severely that I was part of the problem. There is a lot more at work in some of us (or against some of us) than just food + exercise. I applaud all of you who have been perfect. 10 months in my perfection is gone but my diligence is extremely high. To quote my husband who was on IP for two months to lose 40lbs, "you can do anything for a couple of months, it takes real diligence to stay at it for 6,7,10 months with half a pound lost each week." the battle is far more difficult now than it was 7 months ago when it was new and I was losing 3lbs a week. I'm going to stay at it as long as I can and try to be more careful to stick to it exactly. I have to phase off in 8 weeks for vacation so I will do my best until then. Thank you

I know you can do it, welcome back and keep going.

Linden: thank you it makes me laugh every time I think of it... one of my friend's said why isn't there a camera when you need one. Have a good day.

I urge you to try phase 2. I was stalled stalled stalled and since switching to phase 2....I have lost 3 weeks in a row and I am down so far this fourth week...one more day until weigh-in. I plan on staying in phase 2 as long as I continue to lose. It makes me feel so much better...just try it!

I will darbs, thank you. When you do phase two, how many carbs a day do you stick to? Since you're replacing the lunch packet with non carb meat, do you get more leeway with the two packets you're still eating? Or do you take advantage of the drop in carbs to try to promote faster weight loss?

I still have the omelet packet for breakfast....meat and salad for lunch and meat and veggie for dinner and a bar for my snack packet. I didn't alter anything other than switch out the packet for meat at lunch.

I hadn't even thought about that!.. we might be adding a little more fat with the meat, but reducing the number of carbs should more than make up for that... cool!..

hugs

Good morning ladies, okay close to afternoon and most of you late afternoon, the other day I told you my nsv from the lady from another office? So I was talking with my friend and she had talked to that lady and she said that "the lady" didn't even recognize me... it feels good, but I still don't see the difference much... know my face is longer but I am thinking eventually I will see that I have lost and what I really look like. I guess it is hard as I still see all the fat I have yet to lose... Have a great day.

I know what you mean. I've now lost about 80 pounds total from the very beginning of my weightloss journey. I really don't see that much of a difference..I know it's there..but I DON'T "SEE" it! The time for me that it really hits home is when I am walking with my friend who is the size I used to be..and see our reflection in the mirror or window..I'm like Woah! Where did the rest of me go?
We've seen ourselves in the mirror everday..so it's hard to see the difference, cuz we've gotten used to it. It's also hard when we still have a ways to go..
But look at your progress pics to remind yourself..I have changed, and I looked darn good now!

I hear ya! You know what makes it real for me? Putting a before and after pic side by side...THAT is what reminds me of how far I've come and how others view me now...even if I can't really see it sometimes

i struggle with this everyday. i can only see the fat that i still need to lose, not the progress i have made. i mean, i know that i look a thousand times better than when i started, and i know that right now i weigh the lowest amount that i can ever remember weighing (age 14), and i am wearing smaller sizes than i have ever worn, but i can still only see the problem areas. it's tough. will we ever be happy with ourselves? i have 18 lbs left to lose, but i'm afraid that when i get there i will still think i'm fat. one day my mind has got to catch up with my body... but it will take time.

i have WI#21 today. i didn't lose much this week, but i'm pretty positive that my hips and thighs got smaller, which makes me really happy. the other day i tried on my boyfriend's 29" jeans. they didn't button over my wide-set hip bones, but i was thrilled that i could even get them on! if they were longer and i could get them to my waist then they would have buttoned and zipped all the way up. ugh, i really need to go pants shopping. i have a pair of 31" that i am wearing now, but they are quite loose.

I have the same issue everyday. I feel happy when I am in clothes, getting compliments, etc. However, then I undress to shower, and I look the mirror and get critical.

I still have flabby thighs, I am back to noticing the knee fat, and definitely have excess flab around my lower abdomen. I've tried to envision how I will look after the next 15 lbs come off, but then start to wonder if I will ever be happy with my body. I hope that I will learn over time to be less critical, and truly focus on all that I have accomplished.

Congratulations on all that you have accomplished. I hope that you too can be less critical and, as you say, that your mind catches up with your body. If it's any consolation, as an independent bystander, you look smokin' hot!!

Thanks! you are too sweet! it's funny because my problem areas are exactly the same as yours. knee fat! ugh, it's the worst. i want that to go away so i can feel comfortable wearing shorter dresses and skirts. i think the flabby thighs are here to stay, which is why i'll be hitting the gym as soon as i am in phase 4. my body is so weird right now because i have bones (collar, ribs, shoulder blades) sticking out all over my upper torso, but i still have a flabby belly and love handles (but then my hip bones are sticking out about .5" below my love handles!). that whole spare tire (or in this case, more of an inner tube) needs to go away. hopefully the next 18 lbs will take care of that... along with the knee fat!

You look great, I love your pictures. It is funny how the body decides where it is taking its fat from... same with me I still have the spare tire but do now see my hip bones and collar bones... (showed the shoulder bones off for the first time the other day)...too bad we couldn't just will it away from the problem areas. Great Job LongDiv...

Those who are using Nashua, is it the ProDiet products or ProtiThin?? They look about the same. Darbs...which ones are in the same packaging as IP?