No cheats in 4 weeks is pretty unbelievable for me. There is something about this plan that just fits my lifestyle! Occasional gum and diet soda but
otherwise I am on the plan. AND I have been to Napa for a week and just spent the weekend away again.
About the crispy cereal. I have found it great for traveling- the boxed vanilla drinks are heavy to carry-- the cereal is easy to prepare but it does need cold water. It's not frosted mini wheats but it fills you up and reminds me of a normal breakfast.

Thanks for the note -I think it's neat to hear how we all got connected to IP. I also noticed we've got similar goals. You go Girl!

My only regret is not finding it sooner - even more so this forum has really cleared up a ton of misconceptions I had..and I was actually doing some stuff wrong. Any chance you go to Spearfish to see your Coach? If so, welcome neighbor - thats where I go!

I am officially on Phase II for 2 weeks...and wherever I end up at that time is ok. It has actually helped kick the weightloss back in moving to 2 - I had stalled/slowed to a turtle's pace on Phase I.

Good Morning everyone!

Another beautiful day here in Ottawa and I am looking forward to getting out for a long walk along the canal with my dog.

The scale is finally moving so Im excited to see on Monday how much of a loss I have for week 2.

I had a NSV last night. Not only did my engagement ring slip off my finger and fall on the ground (scary but still good) but we went to Montana's and I had plain chicken with double order of brocolli while all of my friends had ribs and potatoes and the garlic bread and I didn't even want to cheat! I had forgotten to tell them to not cook the brocolli with butter so I ate one and realized it was cooked in garlic butter and sent it back.

We are having friends over tonight and FH has told them we will order in pizza to watch the game so Im going to attempt Jordanna's egg pizza. Hopefully it satisfies my pizza craving.

Have a great weekend everyone!

KimAnn


***Week 1 - lost 14 pounds, only 60 more to go to be a smoking hot bride on Sept 18 *******

Great idea!! I had a back injury through work and in December '09 went to a chiropractor for relief. His associate was offering the plan and after a week of researching and reading everything I could on 3FC I signed up! Best thing I have ever done for myself! However, I find I get a lot more information and support on here then through my coach ....

Early in December I went to my chiropractor for my monthly adjustment. I had just seen him 4 weeks earlier. He looked like he had lost 50 pounds. It was only 25 (only?!), but it looked like more because that's how this diet works. He said he was going to offer it in his clinic starting in January, so I waited through the holidays to get started on January 5. I've lost 30 pounds in 9 weeks!

Sorry to be a downer, but have to share something that happened at my weigh in this past week ....

My coach occasionally has an assistant help her with weigh in days - which was the case this week.

First off the assistant wouldn't show me the results of my weight loss right away, then sits down, crosses her arms and legs, smiles and says "did you cheat this week?" I was so offended! I personally haven't had a single lick, bite or sip of anything non IP since I began! I found this attitude to be very demoralizing and shame based.

Then she measured me and stated that I had actually gained inches on my thighs since last month! How in the world is that possible when my pants are falling off my a**!!! She then measured again and wrote that my inch loss was the same number as before ...... what?? Very frustrating to say the least.

After this incident, I felt like a dismal failure and had to do a lot of self talk and remember my success so far. (and of course I came on here and got the much needed encouragement I really needed!!)

Really dreading next week's weigh-in in case she is there again.....

Any suggestions?

The lady that measures at my coach's office did the same thing to a dear friend of mine just after superbowl Sunday. My friend has not cheated and she is training to run a 10 miler. I don't think she had gained either but had not lost very much. The woman said right away "Did you cheat for Superbowl?" I would have been so upset.

Did the person measuring you go through this diet? Our coach and her assistant could hide behind a 2 by 4 if they tried. I cannot imagine someone that has struggled with dieting ever accuse someone of cheating when they are supposed to be supporting you.

I am sure you have not cheated and are just at a plateau. One of the girls on here before, remember ShowgirlAZ, she went 2 weeks without losing and then lost 8 pounds. I think my body likes where I am at because it always comes back to this weight and it is hard to get the scale to move.

Have you been playing with your WII? You could be building muscle. Does your coach measure body fat and tell you if you lost fat but gained muscle?

You hang in there and don't let them get you down.

Ask for someone else to measure you next time.

I suggest you tell your real coach exactly what you told us. And ask that the assistant not be permitted to weigh and measure you in the future. Tell her to let you know if she's going to be busy and you'll take care of your own measurements. I do my own and email them to my coach. As for thigh measurements, it's hard if not impossible to get the tape measure in the exact same place every time, especially with two different people doing the measuring. The assistant should have realized that. She sounds like a completely awful person. Being a female, she should also realize that hormones play a big part in water retention for a woman and the scale doesn't always reflect true weight loss. You know you're doing great 'cause your clothes tell the true story. Don't let that witch bring you down or get you off track!

Mystical Mamma I would measure and weigh myself before I go and most importantly look at what you have accomplished so far. Do not let this "person" intimidate you in anyway. If necessary find something about her you don't like (maybe her poor people skills) or something physical about her that strikes you as funny or odd, is she ugly (heh,heh,heh) or are her eyes to close together, is she knock kneed, big teeth? Anyway that is wrong of me but she should not be in that position if she is condensending like that. If the assistant continues that type of behavior you could always speak to your coach privately and let her/him know the assistants negataive behavior. You may not be the only one of her/his clients that feel that way.
Anyway just my opinion but it erks me to no end that someone is making you feel that way after all you have accomplished. Ok enough I'm now off my soapbox.

I heard in a round about way. I was exhibiting with my company at an Osteopathic Convention, and the booth next to me happened to be IP, reps talking to doctors, I listened to what they were saying throughout the entire conference (when I wasn't talking) and really liked the sound of things. They let me try their samples and mentioned Ideal to Go since there was no coach in my area, signed up that day and ordered my food that week, and one week down I'm excited. Posted the weight loss yesterday, but measured after, down an inch and a half!!!! I'm very excited as my boyfriend totally noticed on the hips and belly. Body fat down 1%

Thank you for your feedback!

I had to laugh when I read the 2x4 comment! Both my coach and her assistant are extremely thin people and would have a hard time making a shadow! When I spoke of the chemical breath and body odour that accompany's this meal plan, she stated "yeah that happened to me when I was on the diet too" I was incredulous that she was ever on it, as she might be 100 lbs soaking wet, and asked her how much she had lost. She stated she had lost over 6 lbs in one week - but didn't stay on it because "I don't need to lose any weight...." ugh.

I have had slow and steady weight loss since I began but never have had the big numbers like some others. I had actually lost 2.9 lbs that week but she behaved as if that number was due to a cheat. Uh, no.

To me, if you have lost weight, how in the world could you gain weight (inches) on just one part of your body? I have been using the wii daily - but highly doubt I have built that much muscle to actually increase the size of my thighs! But you never know!! Unfortunately, they don't have a gadget to measure body fat - so just have to use my clothes as my guide!

Thank you for your kind words! I am going to have a good talk with my coach at the next weigh in. I am not going to let her take my measurements or weight again - no matter what! lol!

lol! yeah she is definitely knock-knee'd! Seriously though, I think that in this situation, because she has never had a problem with her weight, she doesn't realize how her comments can impact other people. I am treading lightly right now because my coach is the only one in the city who offers the program - but will take the plunge and talk to her this week about this incident and hope she doesn't send me packing!

I would definitely talk to the real coach and tell her how it made you feel for her assistant to suggest that. Especially since you lost weight anyway. I don't give much credit to the inches especially if different people do the measuring. I know I have lost inches by how my clothes fit and I don't really care to know the amount of inches. I have had weeks where I have gained inches and lost weight too. That is a deceiving number I think.

I hope it helps to talk to your coach and she can instruct her assistant to not say things like that. I talked to my coach about the lack of privacy and moving the scale from where the food was and when I got there that night she had moved the scale. I just think them skinny people are clueless to understand what we are going through.

You are doing a great job! You hang in there and ignore what she had to say!

Hey Mystical - sorry to hear about your weigh in experience...try to shake it off, I'm sure you'll have a great week next week and be able to look at the assistant and say "take that crazy-rude assuming quick to accuse assistant, take that".

Speakign of the unprofessional assistant, I would mention to your coach how uncomfortable it made you feel to be treated that way when you've done nothing wrong. Maybe she needs to learn to be more sensitive to people and not so quick to accuse if she wants to continue in that field.