Not sure of my image. I find myself being critical because, I now have more wrinkles on my face. Yet, some of my old students came to visit today and said that I look much younger. I feel much more comfortable with my body and how much space it takes up in the world. Being able to cross my legs, sitting Indian style in my new living-room chairs and not filling the whole seat of a chair. Yet, I still feel large. I see pictures of people that are my height and weight and think they look great, but remember being this weight in my younger life and being considered fat. I think in someways, I am glad that this is taking a bit longer, because it is giving my mind- time to process my feelings and habits.

I made the best dinner tonight! Arugula, mixed with sautéed mini portobello mushrooms, basil/ rosemary sea salt, garlic olive oil, topped with 6 ounces of beef tenderloin sliced and then sprinkled with toasted dried shallots. It was delicious. Felt like- this is not "diet" food. Have not had red meat for a couple of weeks, my body must have needed it.

Wantanewme fantastic restart! You are on your way.

Had my WI today and I gained .6lbs but I am thrilled about this because I thought I gained 2-3 lbs. I thought I was 185 and not 187. So I am happy about this. I did cheat a little while my brother was here last weekend.

Like I said earlier new lab work said my AST and ALTs went up again but the rest of my liver functioning and blood in the liver is all normal.

So the coaches and Dr were going to put me on an alternative P1 plan where I eat carbs at every meal the rest is the same but I would lo0se only about .5 -1 lbs a week and it would be more of a low fat diet. Not the route I want to do.

My office called IP Headquarters and spoke to some Doctors there and said they think I should still stay on the diet P1 and just keep getting check for my liver. IP still says this is normal and it can go up and down and stay up until you get to P4. It also happened to my coach his enzymes went up and then went back down when he got to P4. IP says this can happen to diabetics or people who have Syndrome X (insulin resistance stuff). It is called gluconeogenesis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluconeogenesis

I will still go see the liver specialist in April to see what he says. I will probably have more blood work and maybe ultra sound on the liver. So now I am motivated even more to get rid of the weight - the quicker it comes off the quicker I hope to have my normal liver enzymes back.

So IPers if you are going in for regular blood work - have your liver and kidney's checked out to make sure they are running normal while on IP. You might be surprised what you might find. I feel fine-just cold and tired.

Thanks for listening and Have a good day!

Luccilove, you are right, more incentive to get the job done quickly.

I am feeling better, just minimal coughing left. But of course, TOM! Looking forward to the weekend.

Kawaii, hope you feel better soon.

Jig, you out there? Please check in and let us know how you are doing.

Hey all,

Today overall was a GOOD day... Cause guess what?!?! I *finally* made 100lbs!!!! Down 4.4 this week, for a total of 103.4 gotten rid of. I'm **this** close to 50% of the way to goal!!! (117lbs is 50%).

I'm still in shock a little bit I guess.. That was the upside of the day. After my weigh in, I went to the dr's for what I thought was a cold, possibly bronchitis judging by the way my chest felt. Found out I have: Sinus infection, bronchitis, inner ear infections in both ears, and shingles. Yeehaw.. I never do anything in half measure! Guess if I'm gonna get sick, I should go all out!

In any event, I'll be here the next few days since shingles are contagious, so I'll be hanging out at home. It's been really interesting reading everyone's responses to their body image that they see. I was talking about this with my coach today (Jason) and he was telling me that there is a class that our center is running next month called Phantom Fat. It's what happens when your brain just can't compute the changes your body has made, and you're left with an emotional and physical disconnect between your actual body size and your mental image.

Hoping I can learn lots so that I will be able to share with any that are interested.

Aww Kawaii, way to get sick! Oh my goodness, I bet you are feeling crummy but you sure don't come across that way in your post. Congrats on passing the 100 lb mark!

I would love to hear more about the Phantom Fat. I have "fat" days and I have "less fat" days. It is still blowing my mind that I'm wearing a few size x-small items. It doesn't seem real. I still feel like I'm still 40+ lbs heavier.

Kawaii-

Congrats Kawaii! Hooray for hitting -100!

Sorry you're sick though - rest up and get better soon!

Congrats Kawaii on hitting 100 lbs on IP! I'm so proud of you and happy for you! You are well on your way!

Sending healing thoughts your way to Kawaii and Lucci!

I've had a pretty good week, but I'm definitely ready for the weekend. I had a friend who was in town for a conference and it was so nice to catch up with her. We went out for dinner two nights and I stayed OP which is big for me because I'm not experienced with eating at restaurants on IP.

My WI had a pretty small loss this week (.6lbs), but I lost some inches and my clothes keep getting looser, so I'm still happy.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Happy Friday to you too Kooky! Congrats for staying OP while your friend is in town. My parents are arriving tonight for a 3 day visit. I am supposed to be doing phase 3 while they're here. I'm hoping not to slip too much but no matter what, I'm hitting Phase 1 HARD on Tuesday until April 18 when I am going to phase off properly. My goal will be whatever I am at the end.

Congratulations on losing 100lbs!! What a milestone! You have done awesome. Look after yourself, get that needed rest. I have heard of a few getting shingles this year. It takes time to heal. And the class on Phantom Fat sounds interesting. I have my days of feeling like I haven't lost anything either, the brain takes time to catch up. So many have mentioned that!

Just got back from my yearly physical. Everything seems to be okay but doc said my thyroid feels "bulky". I guess we'll see what the bloodwork says...

On a positive note my blood pressure was 105/67!

Wow Kawaii, every time I see you reach another milestone I think "This woman should write a book!!"

Congrats! You are an inspiring woman!!!

Hello fellow Octoberers!

Hope everyone is doing well. Sorry for my absence! I am getting towards the end of earning my MBA so classes keep my very busy. Our family business is doing awesome as well, we have put several new people to work and have several more being interviewed and hour HR manager is gone so I've been doing double duty! Also been traveling a little.

My ideal protein coach is actually a primary care doctor who also does IP on the side. I missed my weigh in last week because I was out of town. I went in this morning for my weigh in and the receptionist told me that the doctor has unexpectedly stopped doing IP coaching and I should'v been called (which I wasn't). I wasn't exactly a happy camper. Kind of a sudden blow for me. This made me quite nervous because at the time I started in Oct, there was only one other place near me that did IP and it had a bad rep. Since there, several new places have started so I choose one and went in to see if I could start with them.

Turns out, this might of been the best thing for me. I always felt my past IP coach wasn't anywhere near up to date on IP, she didn't really take it seriously, and wasn't knowledgeable about it. Turns out my hunch was correct. The new clinic was more than ready to get me signed up, they didn't charge me any new consultation fees and is waaaaaaaay better stocked on products. I got to try some new items that I've never been able to before. They had me describe what I normally eat and do and we discovered that my last coach was pretty far behind on what was required for the diet. And they're actually going to have my doing the weekly BAC, which I only did once or twice ever with my last coach. So overall, a frustrating morning actually turned out to be a blessing. My weight this morning was 292, so I'm down 68 lbs! I also didn't notice this until I updated my ticker but this puts me past the 50% mark to my original goal! But I think with this new coach we're going to shoot for an even lower goal.

Sorry for the length of this. Just thought I'd give you all an update. I haven't had a chance to read through all the last couple weeks of posts but I will. Hopefully you all are doing well and enjoying yourselves!

JIG--that is so awesome for u. Sometimes things work out for the best. I bet you will super excel at ur new clinic!!! that is very exciting. Glad you poked in to say hi. We totally understand u are a busy. Nice to hear from u.

I switched coaches and my date and time and so far I like him a lot since he was on the plan and knows what I am talking about - it helps a lot.

What is ur family business? Glad it is doing well.

Kawaii-AMAZING---what can I say you are a true inspiration to all of us. So very proud of u

I just tried the new or reintroduced chicken pattys they were really good-as long as u follow the directions. I have the new mint choco bars for tonight to try

I was just at Costco and BJs by myself and that is probably not a good thing as they had a lot of stuff to sample. I did sample 2 bad things for me piece of cheese and cheese (Cheese is my down fall) on a thin wafer and then I realized I should not be doing this---it is not like I am going to buy it at this point since I cant eat it. So I am glad I recovered because there was a yummy looking cake sample that I did NOT have. So proud of myself.

Question of the day for me - does anyone use flavored olive oil? I do - I use a truffle oil has the same everything as olive oil. I tend to put it on my mixed green salads.

Jig,

You have NO idea how excited I am for you right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, I know I really don't know you from Adam, but your status update really brought me to tears. Three cheers for you: 1) Sticking with things when work/school got tough. 2)Sticking with it even when you were faced with a huge hurdle of your less than stellar coach quitting on you. 3) This last cheer is for breaking your hurdle of "officially" making it into the 200's!!!!!!

So stinking happy for you!

(little side note that made me laugh.. we weigh exactly the same amount! My WI yesterday I was 292 as well)

Maddy