Good for you for showing up at your weigh in, TOgden! It sounds like a lot of folks are derailed by Thanksgiving, but not us! My coach said he didn't bring the scale because he's seen people break down having to get on it after going way off plan and he's decided it's better not to show people their retreat from progress but instead to talk about re-focusing the week after.

I guess I can understand that, but I still wish he'd had his scale hiding in his backpack to pull out for those of us who didn't go off plan and who showed up needing another weigh-in boost.

My coach is a former IP-er who just set up and he's kind of a muppet. I've seen some complaints that coaches usher dieters in and out in 5 minutes without so much as a "good job". My guy is the opposite. He's given me the same spiel three weeks in a row now and every meeting lasts an hour. My eyes glaze over and I just smile and nod.

Anybody else dealing with a coach they'd like to politely ask to cut the sales pitch if he's not going to tell me anything new week after week?

At least his coaching is mildly entertaining. He loves to talk about "wading through the reeds and turning over stones" to discover bad habits, or that "we come out of the womb knowing how to eat" or that "ketosis is like hiding our muscles behind a curtain" so the body can't find it to nibble on. He's very into imagery, I guess!

An hour?!?!?!?!? GEEZ ..... I thought my 20 to 25 minute meeting was long ... My coach measures, weighs, takes vitals, reads my food diary and asks are you ok? do you have any questions? did you have any things to overcome this week? etc etc then I'm out. I even preorder my food through the online system so all I have to do is swipe my card .... Your coach might need a little thanks ... I understand and see you next week

Hello all, I am Faye and I just started IP 2 weeks ago and so far I have lost 4Lbs each week so 8 LB total. The first 3 days were absolutely horrible, I was starving, feeling tired and sorta cranky too, but now I am totally fine. It's still hard to watching other ppl eating at the dinner table but I don't have as much craving anymore. I plan to lose 30-40LBs , so my phase 1 is going to be long.
Just wondering if you can have the 8oz protein for lunch instead of supper.
Really nice to have so many people going through the same thing together and supporting eachother!

Faye - you may be very surprised at how fast those 30-40 lbs go. You may slow down a bit as you get closer to your goal, but just for information it took me 12 months to lose 120 lbs. I'm not suggesting you compare your losses to mine, but it does show how fast IP can work if you stick to it 100%.

And yes, you can move your protein to lunch if it works better for you. You can even break it up and have 1/2 at lunch and 1/2 at dinner if that works for you.

Hi there!
I joined IP on 11/1/14!
I am down 20 and am loving it! My issue is I am not sure what my goal should be and the amount of weight I will need to loose is daunting. I am 5'2" with a large frame. Any ideas on where I can figure out a realistic goal? Thanks!!

Thanks Ruth. It is astonishing how much you have lost in such a short period. I will definitely stick to it 100%. And thanks for answering my question, I don't really get a quick response from my coach.

I thought the coach would measure your BMI and Fat percentage. IMO as long as you are in the healthy range and you feel good, your goal is achieved.

Hmm123 - Congrats on the loss!! I'm with Fluffeifei, your coach should have measured your BMI and Fat Percentage at the beginning. If you aren't sure I would probably go in the middle of the healthy range? If you're someone who works out a lot, go a little higher due to extra muscle. I like the go on the higher end because it makes the goal seem more attainable, remember, you can always stay on P1 and adjust your goal weight once you get to your original goal. You'll know where it is that you feel most comfortable in your body. I am fortunate that my mom and I are built very much the same and when she got married she was 150 and size 8, she looked great. So that's how I got my goal weight. If you have a situation like this you could maybe do that too?

Hi fellow noobs! I have a timing question that I'm hoping someone a few weeks further into this may have figured out. I'm in law school and it's exam time, so my schedule is really crazy this month. I had my breakfast packet at 6:30 am, then had an exam from 9-12 and brought along my lunch bar which I ate mid-exam at about 11. I'm finally home and having my veggies now at nearly 3pm. Do I need to have my dinner protein by 4:00 and my last snack by 9 and if so, does it matter that I'll probably be up studying until about 1 am?

My coach is really, really focused on timing the intake of protein, but I'm not sure how to spread things out when I'm going to be awake for 19 hours a day and am feeling extra hungry (studying has always made me hungrier than I typically am. Weird, I know.)

If anyone else has figured out the most efficient way to tackle a long and irregularly-timed day, I'd love to know what you do!

Oh exams...I do NOT miss that at all! If you're going to be pulling long days like that I would ask the coach if it's okay to have an extra pack if you feel the need. That being said I don't think the timing matters that much? I believe the idea is to eat regularly so you don't get hungry/cravings and eat stuff you shouldn't. That being said if I were you I would eat dinner when I'm ready to eat it (just make sure it's ready to go so you don't get hungry then have to wait an hour while you cook). If you have dinner at like 6 then the protein around 9:30 that should hold you over until your bedtime. Though, I'm a noob too so my advice may not be the best..Maybe you should post that question on the daily chat if you haven't already, I think there might be more people who have been on IP a while reading those threads.

Short answer, NO. As long as you get in all of your food (packets, protein and veggies), water, supplements, salt and oil every day, it doesn't matter how you break up your day.

When you are in ketosis, your body is hitting up your fat stores 24/7 to make up the difference between what you are eating and what your body needs to function. There's no magic "off" switch that suddenly makes your body start burning muscle instead of fat if you go 5 instead of 4 hours between eating. Stretching the time between meals/snacks might mean you're hungrier, and more prone to eating off-plan, but that's about it.

Make good use of your unlimited veggies to fill in those gaps on long days or to curb your hunger! Have a spinach salad with cukes and mushrooms, or just snack on cuke or celery slices. I find the BEST thing I can do on long days is plan ahead. I work full time and I'm a full time student, so many times I am pulling 18 hour days between work and studying (nevermind that the kids have activities after school too!). I just plot out my whole day - extra veggie snacks, a hardboiled egg if I really need a protein boost (especially if I'm on my feet all day), and a plan for all of my meals and packets. It makes all the difference!

Hi Ladies, sorry I haven't been posting much lately. Work is nutso!

I have been doing well, staying OP 100% and really hoping for a good loss this week! I joined the holidays challenge too, so hopefully that will keep me motivated to stick to it over the holidays. I had thought of letting myself have a cheat at Christmas, but honestly the closer we get to it, the less I want to break down and cheat. That's a good thing, I think!

So, I have heard a lot about the Beck Diet Solution book, does anyone here know what it's all about?

Thanks for the advice, ladies. Scorbett, I can't believe you work full time and are a full time student! And a mom! Basically, you're wonder woman. I'm glad to know I won't drop out of ketosis if I stretch my time out a bit. I haven't yet had a day where I eat an additional packet, so if I can keep the hunger at bay with plenty of unlimited veggies hopefully I can keep from needing one.

I'm also going to try to heed your advice about planning a bit better. Last night I got caught with very little food in the house and no idea what to cook for dinner, so I had to get a little creative. I had a can of tuna, 1 egg, a potato puree packet, some green onion - long story short, I discovered that with enough old bay seasoning, anything can be a crab cake!

It's a self-help book of sorts that helps you re-set your thinking processes when it comes to dieting, food, body image....it's a REALLY great resource. If you're curious about it but don't want to buy the book just yet, they have a Facebook page and post daily tips that I've found really helpful.

https://www.facebook.com/BeckDietSolution

Awesome! Thanks, scorbett!!