IF you chose to work out I say do light cardio (keep your heart rate low) and resistance training because that will build muscle HOWEVER keep in mind that muscle weighs more than fat SO don't focus too much on the scale and focus more on inches lost and how your clothes feel.

When you start working out your muscles retain a lot of water, it is not you putting on muscle mass per se, but fueling the muscles to grow. The muscles will retain water and glycogen to fuel themselves, and this causes a weight gain. A woman trying really hard doing some serious lifting can maybe put on 7 lbs of muscle in about 6 months (if they are lucky), so don't be fooled by assuming it is muscle weight. It is probably water weight.

But don't be afraid of weights. Muscle is good for you and even gaining a lb of muscle is awesome for your body and metabolism. Muscle takes up less space than fat so you will be smaller in the end, with your muscles burning extra calories for you throughout the day.

Have a great vacation Carla!!
Kelsey...I sure hope those Geeks hurry up with your laptop!!
Taylor/Bella...hahahaha!!!

Congrats all on your losses!
Welcome all newcomers, you'll love how well this protocol works.

I am colder than usual, but still hot at the old usual times. I must say, when I am hot, I sweat like a pig, guess that has to do with hydration.

Granny panties...well, I'll just say, mine are falling off and trying to take my britches with em and I am sick and tired of pulling the both of them up all the time! I guess it's a good problem to have, but, geesh!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Well, I know that if I eat off plan, I will lose 3 days of weight loss, waiting for my body to burn the carbs off. I had a goal - to reach 225 by July 21st - and I'm ahead of goal! I'm meeting family again August 21st, who love me but (often verbally) worry about my health/weight - and when I see them, I'd like to be as low as possible.

About the eating? Well, I don't have kids, and the spouse is willing to cook a piece of fish & steam veggies for me nightly (before he eats whatever he likes). I have gone out a few times - made my shake and ate it, plus brought some veggies in my bag, as they never seem to have anything I can eat.

I am also someone who, while a big foodie, can eat the same thing every day, too, if needed. Breakfast is usually Wildberry Yogurt, or the Blueberry one. Lunch (hot) is usually chicken soup (or mushroom occ), with asparagus, broccoli, & cauliflower in it. Or it could be a big salad with Walden Farm's Bacon Ranch Dressing, and a Wildberry Yogurt or occasionally a Syntrax Nectar protein drink (23 g pro, 0 fat/carb/sugar/etc). Dinner is usually fish, sauteed mushrooms, steamed broccoli/cauliflower/asparagus/zucchini. With a pudding for dessert. So I am okay with the limited variety, and, as a friend told me, "You wake up to a new body every day!"

Carla, did I read somewhere you are coming to San Francisco?? i live about 20 mins south. weather is great, SF is a bit on the cold side, make sure you bring some warm clothes!


taking a much needed day off tomorrow and will be going river rafting again this weekend... will be tough on the IP plan but still committed!! I ran into my trainer at the local farmer's market. next week, he's going to check my body fat levels... i am very curious

congratulations to all of you for the amazing people you are!
ciao, dina

Hey, Motiv8edMama! I just noticed that our SW/CW/GW are just about the same! Godspeed, IP twin!

Thanks, Roz! I will! I am seeing my younger sister and her 2 daughters for the first time since April. I love my nieces but, with them in Virginia, I don't get to see them often enough. I am really anxious to see what my sister thinks of how I've changed since I last saw her. It has been since April that I've slowed down. The interesting thing is this, as I try to pack for the trip I am finding that the stuff I thought I'd wear on this, is just sloppy looking. It fits in some ways but just looks wrong. I wore some of these things for my trip to her place in APRIL! I guess something is still working! Let's just say, I am in a much better mood for the first time in awhile.

I also realized that a pair of shorts I remembered wearing at my "last smallest" was actually 2 sizes bigger than the ones I just bought!! HOLY COW! This diet really works because I am the same size now as I was then.

Have a great weekend. I can't wait to hear about all your new success when I get back!


Hey Dina! YES San Francisco! I am so excited but anticipating it will be hard. I love the food up there! Amazing fish, sourdough, clam chowder, chocolate, wine, farmers markets! At least I can try for the fish and farmers market! At least my family is very supportive of my efforts to keep going. I am blessed with a "skinny" family that doesn't desire much "junk" in the way of food. That keeps things easy.

I am planning on bringing some warm layers. I am so cold all the time it is really pointless for me to pack summer vacation clothing. I have a jacket, a few sweaters, and some long sleeve mid-weight tops in mind. I will look like a dork but be comfy. Oh well!

I hope you have a great time at the river! Plan for success, stay hydrated with water, and wear your sunscreen!

Carla

gosh, it's so hard to keep up with this thread! as always, it's great to read everyone's successes to keep the motivation going

weigh in for week #6 today and I've lost 18lbs. I've changed my goal weight by 5lbs less. I originally wanted 120lb but I figured that would be unrealistic so I said 130lbs. Now that I am close to 130, I'd like to lose a little more (hopefully in the tummy area and make the flapping-flabby arms go away!). 120lbs would be too little so after a small talk with my other half, I decided to go with right in the middle - 125lbs

Played our 2nd last regular game tonight (hockey). I turned around to try to clear a guy out from in front of our goalie and WHAM, puck to my calf where there is no padding by one of their stronger players... it hurt real good for a minute but was able to walk it off. BUT then last period, puck to the skate.. I could barely talk because I was trying to choke back my tears! I was scared to take my skate off but it wasn't so bad.... until now.... which is why I'm up - trying to fall asleep with my foot throbbing wasn't fun and now it hurts to put weight on the ball of my foot. So this might set me back on exercising for awhile. I have until Monday for it to do its thing and heal because that's our last reg game before playoffs

Hope everyone has a great, successful, no-food-temptation weekend!

Welcome to you both! I wanted my sister to join up, but she waited until I was about to enter Phase 2... so now I'm in maintenance, and I've been her coach. She just hit her goal the last day of Phase 2, so she's delighted...

Stick to the protocol and you will do great!

Don't you hate that?

Yes. That's what I have used for months now... even for snacks on maintenance!



Welcome and congratulations! Glad you are reading through the posts... there's so much great information on these boards. And if you can't find the answers to your questions, just ask!

Fantastic results! Stay motivated and stay on plan... it's SO worth it to get to the end.

The same for me. It's a diet, right? I'm obsessive enough to just plow through and keep doing what works; boredom was really never a factor for me on this program. That's where the mental part comes in. If you can just focus on following the protocol, stay motivated by the results (over the entire course, not just the day-to-day or week-to-week stats), and keep your eyes on the prize, you can accomplish something amazing... something to be very proud of.

If you are like me, when you get to maintenance, you'll really begin to understand what a powerful tool IP has given you to manage your weight for life. (You'd think I own stock in the company or something!) But seriously, every day I think about what I have gotten from this program... and what it has done for my sister and her family. It was worth every penny.

That's helpful, thanks sgorny. I'm planning a week in the Caribbean in Nov/Dec. Setting a bathing suit size target for Oct 31 might be a great motivator.

I have no kids and a live-in sweetheart who wants to cook for me. This weekend I'm going to give him the IP list of foods (meat/fish/veg) and instructions. He gets to cook for me, I get to eat on protocol so, win-win. I'll look at trying the soup for lunch one day next week. Though in the hot, humid weather it's a lot less appealing than it will be after October. And on my next visit I'll pick up the Wildberry Yogurt.

That's interesting advice. I'm thinking I'll start some resistance/strength training 4-6 weeks into the program.

Wasn't it Mark Twain who said somthing along the lines of, "The coldest winter I ever had was a summer in San Francisco?" Have a great vacation and stay warm!

Three cheers for you and your weight loss!

Foot pain = no fun. Ice and ibuprofen are my go-to items. My mom once mentioned a natural liniment called Traumeel. She swears by it; I haven't had any reason to use it since she told me.

I could really use some advice. I have stuck to the protocol totally. Done everything I was told to do, including have one restricted packet a day for the first two weeks. Probably only the second time in my life I've been so diligent. (First time was when I was pregnant.) Twice now I've had good losses; and twice, over 30 days, I've gained back practically all the weight. Apparently I've gone into starvation mode. But [I]if[I] I follow protocol I can't seem to get above 800 calories a day.

My coach says add more protein. That will take me well over 100 grams of protein a day. And she has never seen this happen before. Please, if any of you have had a similar experience could you please share how you dealt with it? What you might have been advised? I really, really want to do this, and do it right.

And congratulations to all of you. Unfortunately, being 6 hours behind most of you, by the time I get to your great posts, many, many people have said WoW and mine would just be redundant. But heart felt.

And Carla, have a great time in SF. Unfortunately someone got to my Twain quote before me. The first time I came back to SF from Hawai'i I was so cold I thought my teeth would rattle out of my head. And then the wind picked up! I was so cold I went to Goodwill to buy some woolen slacks because that was the only place I could find wool in June.

Correct, I just think it is easier to say Muscle weighs more than fat (for all the reasons you explained) to my clients at the gym and they get it.

I had a lady that was very excited about how much thinner she was looking and then says "but how come I have not lost weight?" see? so she was shrinking but putting on lean muscle, and muscle burns more fat...well you know the drill ;-)

It is VERY difficult for us women to "buff up" like guys yet so many of us are afraid of weight training. Truth is it helps us in so many ways (without going crazy of course) and especially with our bones (osteoporosis) I for one feel more women need to start befriending the weights more and not focus all their energy on just Cardio alone.

So I caved in and bought Ketostix... so far carrots haven't done anything to me... Used one last night and this morning, and it came up darker this morning than last night... Trying to limit myself on using them though... but I feel an obsession coming on... lol

They actually told you to HAVE one restricted package a day? hmmm For me it was IF you wanted it. Actually the Stew and Spaghetti also say ONLY have once or twice a week. Maybe you want to look into not having the restricted one every day?

They can become one so careful...LOL and it also changes a lot depending on your water consumption too, so keep that in mind