Welcome back, Snozzie. You're still here and ready to climb back on, and you WILL get back to losing.

From what I've read there are any number of valid reasons that you can stall out, so good job on staying positive. This is just a blip, and you'll be back to losing again soon!

It's not like we're here for a couple months, Snozzie, so I'm sure we'll balance out as we keep going.

Thanks B!

Your losses are amazing! Have you cheated at all? You should be so proud! Almost to onederland!

I'm not really very compliant most of the time. I still have about a 1/4 to 1/2 tbsp of butter per day, use some alternatives and use GNC products for the gym and long walk days, use unapproved spices that have a carb or two (although carefully) so it's hard to know whether they are classed as cheating or not. To me they are modifications that allow me to stay on IP, as it's going to be at least another 4-5 months, maybe more. It's working for me, so I stick with it.

One thing I did notice though, is that not all alternatives are created equal. I loved the Weight Loss Systems pudding/shakes until I noticed that they contain sugar as well as approved artificial sweetener. Now they are special occasion restricted (when I'm really craving something that has the sweetness of real sugar).

Now I tend to use the vanilla drink as a pancake base (just add a half tsp of baking powder, no egg white needed) or the vanilla pudding as a waffle base (same deal, no egg). The texture isn't quite as light and fluffy but the taste is yummy! and some days I just scramble it like eggs and make it crispy.

Hi Amanda, Good theory on why there are so many August starters. I think you might be right!

On my increased weight loss rate since my exercise bump ... my body is very susceptible to changes in my "calories in / calories out" equation -- but that might NOT be true for everyone here. I think all I did was increase my burn rate -- and yes your idea that a slight increase in muscle mass might be increasing my resting burn rate as well is also probably true.

That being said, many on this board claim that IP has little to do with exercise that it's all about sugar depletion and ketosis (which I totally get). And I do think it's true that IP does work fine with little to no exercise -- I have lost a lot of weight on IP doing little moving -- but for me at least, moving more seems to make a difference in how fast I lose.

Good for you for occasionally doing weight training. I have never had good scale results from doing that -- I always seem to gain weight when I touch weights -- (I'm sure it's muscle) -- and I do think it's likely beneficial long term for the reason noted above. But I have been burned too many times with lifting and seeing a quick 3-7 pound gain, which always freaks me out! But that's just me and my weird body. I never get that weight increase with increasing aerobic exercise.

I totally agree that our bodies are amazing machines. The more I learn about it the more I am amazed by the complexity.

Yes, my weight loss and measurements loss chart was a free Microsoft Excel Template that I downloaded a number of years ago. You simply punch in the numbers and those pretty graphs get spit out.

Yes, my IP loss rate is very consistent and sometimes as predictable as clockwork -- but I do hit occasional plateaus. It was the same in my first go round with IP as well. The only thing I've noticed between my first go-round with IP and my second go-round, is my weight loss was FASTER in my first go-round. A good reason not to backslide!

One plateau should be coming up for me very soon in the low to mid 270's range ... that area always seems to bring with it a slowdown/stall that lasts a week or more. I am wondering if the body remembers certain body weights and feels "comfortable" there -- which increases the odds of a stall. It's interesting -- but I don't really have a good explanation for it.

Stay STRONG with your husband tempting you with chocolate. That's a real test of will power! If you are a chocaholic like me, get those IP Chocolate Drink mixes -- they really help with the cravings!

Good Luck in your journey!! You are doing FANTASTIC!

Sun is shining brightly (although not warmly) here today. 3 lbs down this week, and hubby has actually gone up.

Now that he's close to goal weight he's bouncing around like crazy, but I know he's been lifting heavier weights at the gym so I suspect he's gained muscle. I didn't think men would fret about it as much as we women do, but apparently they do.

Hope you're all headed for good weigh ins this week, my August buddies.

Avalon - Of course you can join our thread, it would be awesome to have you with us I am very impressed with your graphs, you've done a great job keeping track of your weight loss, I might do that too myself, thanks for sharing your amazing data with us Congratulations on your losses, you're doing great!


Snozzeberries - Good to see you again, keep up the good job!

Briael - Congratulations on your weight loss!! you're doing an amazing job

August Starters, the month of December is here already!!! Time is passing by super fast for me, I feel great, I know I've lost weight because my clothes are lose, but I know I have a long way to go, but I know I've already advanced half of the way, and every day my goal gets closer.

Today I went for my WI, ( I lost 3.6lbs) and when talking to my coach, I told her about my Thanksgiving long weekend, and she was amazed, surprised and very proud of me for not cheating...she told me that I was her only patient/dieter who didn't cheat because all others cheated...so she told me to pick a free WF product- I think that's how they're called- I picked the caramel, I haven't tasted it yet, I hope it tastes good because I've purchased the peanut butter and the mayo and I disliked them. Keep up the good work! I'm very proud of all of you

Well done on 3.6 over Thanksgiving, Ariel. That's some serious willpower!

Have you tried any of the sugar free/carb free Torani syrups? We absolutely detested all the WF products but the Torani ones are pretty good. Can pick some of them up at Target, but World Markets sell all of them (just have to make sure it's the SF/CF variety as they sell the regular ones, too).

I like the caramel one on waffles, the salted caramel in dark choc pudding and the english toffee in the cappuccino drink.

I am officially 50 pounds down as of today!!!! So excited!

Finally broke thru whatever was slowing me down last month -- and i seem to be back to my 4-5 pound average weekly weight loss. 215 today. Official WI tomorrow with my coach, so maybe I will be a pound more down by then?

Have a good week everyone! Ariel good job on thanksgiving! I didnt bode so well but I'm ok with it.

Finals next week, so you probably wont hear much from me until after I get thru the next week and a half.

See you later fellow losers! (Losers is meant in a positive way!).

Yay, congrats Snozzie! Good luck with the finals, stay strong. Good food = brain in good working order.

Major milestone for me after 4 months on IP, I'm officially no longer considered obese.... I'm merely OVERWEIGHT! I'm so excited to be able to say that!

Oh and for the first time in at least a decade, my driver's license weight is accurate .

Congratulations Snozzeberries and 2BSkinnyAgain!!! Those are tremendous milestones! Love it.

Briael - Thanks, it paid off to be 100% OP I tried the WF caramel and it wasn't bad but it wasn't good either, so I can live without it, but it wasn't terrible as the peanut butter. I have not tried those Torani syrups, but I will look for them, I would want to some English toffee and some caramel, thanks for the information, I really hope to like them!


Snozzeberries - WOW!!! I know how you feel! It's such a great accomplishment to hit the big 50 loss, you should be very proud of yourself, and we are too! Also, I hope your finals went well, I had mine last week, right after Thanksgiving break, and I was exhausted, well, I have been exhausted ever since, I still haven't been able to catch up on my sleep and I'm still tired, so Good luck to you and I hope you do great!

2bskinnyagain - Congratulations!!! You're no longer obese (Oh, how I dislike that word) I don't ever want to be there again! That's great that now your DL's weight is true Keep up the good work!

Avalon - Nice to see you here I will try to work on creating a graph of my weight loss and inches loss during this upcoming Christmas break. Did you join Lisa's mini challenge?

Tomorrow will be my WI- It's TOM for me, so we'll see how it goes, it will be my 17th WI. I'm losing inches from everywhere, my lower stomach is going away, I'm surprised because I would always have it big, but now it's almost gone! but my upper stomach, that's another story, I have that pouch, tire, love handle, I hope it would also go away My coach says that it will also go down, and I've read the stomach is the last thing to go away. I don't have a big belly or look pregnant like before, its just a big love handle, I don't know, it bothers me. I mean, I'm glad is not like I had it back in the summer, but I can't wait for it to go down too!! Anyone else having this problem?
Have a great day everyone!!!

Morning Augustuns!

ONEDERLAND has arrived - 199.8 on the scale this morning.

Congrats 2bskinnyagain, that's got to be a wonderful feeling to know that you aren't officially obese any more. Looking forward to joining you there in the future!

From what I've read, Avalon, fat will go from everywhere once your body fat percentage decreases, but genetic predisposition determines where your body's natural storage location is, and that will go last. I don't mind if it goes at the last possible second, provided it DOES go.

How are you doing this week, Snozzie? Back on target?

Ariel, what's your plan for the Christmas period? You did so well at Thanksgiving that I'm sure you have something in mind for the "period of indulgence".

WOW Amanda CONGRATULATIONS on reaching ONEDERLAND!!! It's a beautiful place to be! I'm so excited for you Now we have to move to the 80's

I hope that you're right, and that ALL my fat finally goes away, along with that belly! Have you been doing any exercise? I'm noticing that I am going to have to do some serious toning. This weight loss has been rapid, and my skin will need some time to catch up and shrink? I hope I can reach my goal by May, so I can hit the gym all summer long to tone up.

This week's WI I didn't lose any weight or inches and my coach asked me if I had followed the protocol- Of course I did, as always- then she asked me if it was my TOM, and I said it was, so she blamed it on my TOM...Maybe I was bloated? It was the first time that I had no loss, the least I've ever lost was half a lb. I have to confess that I kept on asking myself what did I do wrong, but I didn't do anything out of the plan, I had my water, supplements, everything...Is this normal? Having weeks with no weight loss even though you follow plan 100%?

Sounds like you're in a consolidation period. Mine seems to coincide with ToM every other week, too. I normally lose a lot less then. I tend to get very bloated and retain water like crazy, but if ToM is at the start of the week I can usually pull some loss by the start of the next week (my WI is Tuesdays).

Yes, I'm exercising. I go strength training twice a week with hubby, and I walk every day. For the first six weeks I didn't really see any difference. The "hard" fat on the knees eventually went soft, and the squats appear to be getting rid of it completely. The thighs, unfortunately, are not yet playing nice!