Thanks magpie - appreciate the well wishes. I am trying to not have anxiety about Saturday but today was a nasty set back. I really felt good yesterday i have continued to rest (although I didn't nap like I wanted to) and really do feel better.

Glad you feel better!

I was moving the past week which contributed to my MIA status but congrats on the great losses ladies! I got a new scale because my old one crapped out so I am officially 231 on this scale vs. 222 on the other :-P oh well 14 lbs in 3 weeks isn't that bad.

Finished my first full month! 16 lbs down and over 10 inches! Feels amazing to stick to something that long and see the amazing results! Before this, I would diet for months just to maybe lose 10 lbs!

You guys, I am so proud of all your results!! This board is so wonderful and so are all of you!

This weekend I am facing a bit of a challenge. There are a group of us expats that get together frequently. Historically I've been the one eating all the bread. One nice (and unexpected) thing about France is that yeah, there are TONS of amazing baked goods, but there are also SO MANY ketogenic-friendly options. The meats and cheeses here are divine.

So I think this weekend I will be bringing a snack tray of my favorite veggies and charcuterie (and pickles!!) to share. I think I will have to 'fess up about not eating carbs anymore. Not that I'm particularly ashamed of that because I feel awesome, but some of the expat group are not, shall we say, my "best" friends.

It's funny, I had my first IP social event about 5 days after my reboot, so I made sure to bring my own stuff. There were the usual huge amounts of baked goods available because one expat loves to bake. Nobody gave me a hard time for not having any, and everyone DEVOURED my veggies and shrimp ring!! So I better go buy a bunch in advance

I'm planning on having light supper beforehand, but also saving some room for my charcuterie and pickles.

WI-wise, I'm starting to get my groove back (and a bit of a woosh, I think I was retaining some water) and my WI chart is starting to look IP-like again.

Have a fantastic Friday!!

It sounds like you have a great plan in place, I'm sure it will go well. I understand not really wanted to tell everyone, but having to 'fess up, so they don't hound you all night long! I'm kind of in the same boat with alcohol at work! So far I've gotten by with telling everyone I gave it up for lent, but once that's done, I think I'm going to have to tell the truth and just tell them I've not drinking for a while!

Hysteria I hope you are feeling even better than you were yesterday! Being sick is never fun, but I agree that perhaps your body needed a few more calories to fight off the sickness. Hope you continue feeling better and better!

I'm off to the in-laws tonight with a plan and determination. I'm prepared, I will not give in to eating off-plan delicious things. I will eat what I have planned, and enjoy my loss when I get home

My meds give me a built-in excuse, though I've stretched it a little further in talking to acquaintances. "My doctor told me not to drink for a while." It's ... true enough. Not sure if you want to go that route, Eagle, but it's a thought. People usually back off, because it's 1) temporary, 2) mandatory, and 3) health-related so kind of personal.

LuckyDvl, your plan sounds great! I hope the meetup is really fun!

magpie what a great idea. I'm definitely going to use that, just personal enough that people won't press it.

Thanks for that!

I commend you all for the various approaches you are using to stay OP - good job! I have realized that unless I plan it is very easy to cheat so I am loving all your suggestions.

You guys, I have been having fantasies about what I will eat when I get to goal and I am terrified. I am going to spend some time really thinking and researching how to successfully maintain my weight loss because I am sick and tired of feeling deprived. I know I am carb sensitive so I will have to overcome my sugar addiction to be successful. Sheesh.....

Fosfos, have you seen the Phase 4 sheet? It has a maintenance plan. (Here is one version, but I like the narrative approach in this one better; if they disagree at all, go with the first one. It's newer.)

It was one of the things that made Ideal Protein feel like a good choice for me: there's a plan for what to do for the rest of my life!

Like you, though, I have sugar addiction problems, and I am considering going semi-Paleo for at least part of my maintenance.

(Skip the rest of this if you want. It's about what semi-Paleo looks like, for me.)

I don't believe in any lifelong eating plan that doesn't allow beans or peanuts (especially since I'm allergic to tree nuts!), because those are both healthy and affordable food choices. I also don't think it's reasonable to expect that I will live without dairy products for the rest of my life, given my love of yogurt and cheese. I know tastes change on Ideal Protein, and I hope that my love of cheese decreases. I don't expect it to go away entirely, though.

Since Paleo is so pseudo-scientific (with heavy emphasis on the pseudo), anyway, I don't feel bad about modifying it to meet my needs. So my version is just grain-free, potato-free, and mostly sugar-free.

I say "mostly sugar-free," because, realistically, I will use purchased tomato sauce and eat berries and citrus fruits. Sugar is hard to avoid entirely. This really interesting video talks about why sugar is poison, unless it's paired with enough fiber. I know this guy has his detractors (since the whole field of nutrition seems so dogmatic, everyone with an opinion about nutrition has detractors), but his reasoning sure sounds good to me. So, since there's enough fiber in a butternut squash (for lasagna), or a cauliflower pizza crust, I am not going to sweat the sugar in the future tomato sauce I buy. (Besides, I've seen lots of Paleo bloggers use coconut sugar for baking. I feel like that's kind of cheating/missing the point, unless there's enough fiber to make the final product look like something humans could get before processed foods.)

I think alcohol is generally a no-no on Paleo. My nod to that is that I won't do mixed drinks or beer. (I shouldn't do beer, anyway; gluten aggravates my arthritis.) I'll probably avoid cider, unless I'm at the cidery (like a brewery, but for cider), and I'll do a very-low-carb day the next day, to make up for it. And I don't drink a lot of wine, anyway; I will probably continue that trend. Basically, my plan is to just drink whiskey... and not every day.

Magpie, thank you so much for the information! You have put a lot of thought into your approach in P4 and I think that sets you up for success - good job! I was leaning toward paleo/primal in phase 4 and the info sheets were helpful. I can now develop a sustainable plan that works for my lifestyle.

Felt overly hungry today! Took everything I had in me not to nibble! I think I'm going to start walking again now that the weather is better. Hopefully being able to get out will help with cravings.

I'm sorry that I don't post often. Work is crazy as usual. Last week being my 5th weigh in, I am down 20 pounds. Over joyed with the results. I finally fit into clothes I bought 5 years ago and could never fit into to. Yup, what I couldn't do for 5 years on my own I've done with IP in 5 weeks. Mind blowing!! I'm in a good groove and feeling very motivated to lose the other 38 pounds.

One thing I've noticed is that I get very light heading sometimes. I have to be careful about getting up slowly. I'm still cold all the time and look forward to Las Vegas summer.

Has anyone here taken b12/lipo shots while on IP?

Britt - this comes and goes from time to time...but especially (for me at least) when TOM is lurking. I make sure I am eating meals I have found to be more filling, like the shepherds pie - and I may change my snack from after dinner to mid afternoon.

KDL - awesome! Congrats on a great NSV! I 100% agree - so long as I stick to this, I will finally be able to do again what I haven't been able to on my own in 12 years (which is be a size 8/10 and healthy BMI!).
We need to post this now though to be able to remind ourselves when losses are 'lean'

So I finally officially updated my stats - another 4#'s down.
27.8 over 7 weeks
I am not expecting much this week - while I was sick last week it was very difficult to put much effort into cooking or eating. I was getting my calories, per MFP, but I have a feeling I was burning a lot more trying to fight off the infections - I even had a couple "up" days (2 over 1,000 calories / extra meat one day, extra pre-made shake the other). Back to normal this week!

hysteria_625- those are some awesome results!!

AMAZING results!! My old coach said that IPers could expect about a 3 lb/wk loss - you are well above that! Definitely a testament to your hard work. Congrats!