I have been on IP since 7/19 and went from 188 down to 164 and down 4 sizes. My goal was to hit 145 and somewhere about three weeks ago- I broke down and cheated. It started with a stupid triscuit...just one nibble. Then since everyone was telling me how fabulous I looked- I started slipping. I ate pop corn, grahm crackers, ice cream, was skipping my veggies and wahla...I gained 3 pounds in three weeks. Needless to say- last night I had icecream with my family ( something I have not had since Julky) and it was my last horrah. My husband told me that I am not far from my goal and to just finish so today I had resolved myself to move forward. We are human- we slip, we fall and we pick ourselves up and move forward. I don't want to lose sight of my goal. I always quit things I start or lose interest- well, I am finishing this. It is my goal to eat Christmas dinner with my family. We can all do this and we know it. I am rooting for everyone of you!!!!

Ahhh, I made it to day 5 and then my DD decided to bake goodies. The last 2 days have been all downhill from there. OK, time to pull my head out of the grazing trough and get back on plan! If I could just make it through the first week...!!! I was trying to give up diet coke but I think I've gotta put that on hold for now and see if I do better with the food.

You can do this! I love your attitude adjustment, encourages me to try harder

LOL! My mantra for today

Well look at that. I made it through my first day back yesterday without cheating and the sun still came up this morning.

I've been thinking of changing one of my habits. I'm not going to jump on the scale everyday like I did in the past. Too often it sets the mood for the day. If it's down, I celebrate, if it's up, I feel like throwing in the towel. This time I am staying off of the scale! I've even read on here somewhere that someone didn't even look at what the scale said at the clinic when they weighed in. Now that takes willpower! I wonder if I can do that or if it is wise to do so. Maybe tell my coach not to tell me until I am at goal. Might keep me on course that way. Look at me, talking about reaching goal and only been back one day. Is that positive thinking or what?

On another subject, at my house we always have a cocktail before supper. In the summer it's sitting on the deck and discussing our day we had. I figured out that I can be just as satisfied with a large glass of water flavored with MIO and crushed ice. Another idea when dinning out is always order water and take the MiO with me to add to it. Besides that, it's a lot cheaper!

Made it through last night without cheating. Whew. Did pay off in a half lb. loss. I can't go back to WF dressings so I've been using different Newman's types. I realized a couple days ago that I was using too much. So now I measure out 2 tablespoons of Newman's Lite. It's 45 cal and 3 carbs. Probably part of why I was losing so slowly was that I wasn't measuring and it doesn't have one of those special little tops that help you use less. (Whole Foods brand does.) I'm still considering that "on plan." I am only eating one restricted a day. I thought about eating another one last night but told myself, "Just wait until tomorrow. Go to sleep!" I don't think I could handle having anyone baking something - especially if it stayed in the house - right now when I'm "detoxing." One of the benefits to being an empty nester. I don't think I could have done this with kids at home. Maybe you could announce that for your first week or two back on plan there is a moratorium on certain things? Good job to all who made it through the day yesterday. Now for day 2!

This so sounds like me. Last week was my first week back on IP. I took a six week break over the summer. I have a goal of 155. I started at 215 and am not at 181. Lost 4#s last week and then...ate like a madwoman over the weekend. I too just want to be done. I want to eat normally on Thanksgivng! Thanks for posting it keeps me inspired.

I think of all the months of reading this IP forum, this is the most helpful thread. I started IP July 2010 and lost 40 lbs of fat. I did not commit to phase 3 because I experienced a disconnect with knowing my own body as a thin person. By the time I felt like I knew my body, I had gained 10 pounds of fat and knew I needed to get on track.

I know that I am doing this for myself, and yet I find myself feeling awkward about the work of getting recommitted -- the work of letting friends and family know that I am still working on my IP.

Reading this thread has seriously helped to give me a reminder that it is my health and my sanity that matters...and that IP is for life. I think I knew this -- and that's what I love about IP...but I was still mentally avoiding the fact that all the phases are critical to successfully committing to a life of phase 4 .

I was feeling low and bummed and letting myself slide into bad health but you have all helped me to remember that ultimately no matter the stresses in life, I am still in charge and nothing can be good if I am not on track.

I understand what you mean here. I experienced a sort of dismorphia myself - I was 3 sizes smaller, but I didn't see it in the mirror. I didn't look different to myself, but I could see that I was swimming in my clothes. It was very strange. I too am having to recommit to living this way for the rest of my life. It's very, very depressing to think of this kind of dieting and restriction for ever. And reading the maintainers, that is what we're going to have to do. You follow Phase 4 until your cheat day, and then spend the next 3-4 days on Phase 1 to lose the weight you gained on your cheat day. I'd like to think that we lose the fat, then start exercising and eating whole foods and just maintain. That would be the dream.

On a personal note. Does anybody feel that they've missed out on some of their life because they didn't feel good about their weight? I live in Los Angeles and it's such a brutal environment for women here, just brutal and I don't go out much just because I don't like the way I'll be treated. I feel like I've missed out on a lot hiding at home. The carrot I hold out for myself is being able to feel great. I don't care what the number is on the scale - I would just simply love to look good in a pair of jeans. Anybody out there relate?

Just wanted to know what this IP Diet is that everyone is raving about? I've never heard of it before.

I vented a minor tirade yesterday on the subject of "planned cheat" so maybe I'm on a roll. The maintainers you refer to are inevitably people who have just begun to maintain; the ones who sustain surely must fit your image of the good life: exercise, healthy food, and an overall satisfaction with what they've attained. To be honest, and maybe it's because I've been around for a while, I've come to loathe the word cheat and what it stands for -- usually gorging, resulting in physical nausea and mental nausea if not downright self-loathing. And in fairness, I think those people who write about that type of experience are expressing part confessional, part embarrassment, part guilt, and part cautionary tale. They sure aren't endorsing over eating or eating garbage.

Where in the literature (and in the name of good sense, I ask myself ) does the Ideal Protein literature say that a free day has to be a dawn to dusk orgy? I ask you! Sheeze! Surely your dream of maintenance is more than a dream.

But then there are also some nagging elements of reality that color the personal experience losing weight and maintaining -- diabetes, auto immune diseases like hypothyroidism and fibromyalgia, and their attendant medications. They have to be factored in and accounted for but they don't totally make losing weight and keeping it off impossible. I had two cortisone shoots yesterday (necessary for a while if I want to walk) and yes I gained two pounds overnight and wiped out the small week's loss and then some. But shoot, this plan is the only one I've found that still works under really adverse circumstances. So. . .what's the logical conclusion? Bite the bullet (sorry, a disgusting metaphor), suck it up, and get on with it. At least that's my only solution.

I surely hope you don't take what I've said as a criticism because I think instinctually and practically you know what you need to do to be happy. I'm just trying to reinforce what you've said while embellishing the reality of the dream. And maybe say that you're not alone?

I so appreciate your gift of being direct and succinct! I have struggled with some demons in my life and have never overcome them because someone patted my hand and told me the status quo was OK. It was only when someone took the risk of telling me I could have a different life if I was willing to work hard for it, that I began to crawl out of the deep hole. Thank you for the reminders that happiness is a choice!

After weeks of unconscious bingeing and multiple failed attempts of half hearted commitments to the program, I decided that today is the day to begin IP with the same resolve that I had when I first did IP. I am donning "my big girl panties" on too and am sucking it up to do IP.

In fact, I even took my measurements this morning......ugh! I was shocked. Even though I am 22 pounds less than when I originally started IP, my measurements are almost identical to when I first started. That really upset me, but I keep reminding myself that this program works and that I physically felt so much better when I was on IP. Also, I want the cravings to stop and know that once I get through these next 3 days, I will feel sooooooooo much better.

We did it before and we can do it again!