Hi Ashli,
Welcome!! I am a newbie myself!! I think you can get those graphs after 20 days and after 20 posts!! I cant wait to get mine
Good luck with your journey!! You will get a lot of motivation from all the wonderful folks here!!I do

I have was on ideal protein very strictly for 5 months and a little loose for 3 I have lost 68lbs since I started and only have 17 to go to meet my goal. It's harder now I think I am going to do strict IP for 2-3 weeks and hen phase off.

Thanks for your reply. I look forward to that too.

So, what is "IP". I see that in a lot of posts.

This thread is on a forum specifically for the Ideal Protein diet, abbreviated "IP".

Thank you. Trying to find my way around. There's a lot to learn!

Aria
IP won't tell you that you can use 3 whites & 1 whole egg for an omelet equivalent. They don't sell packets when you do that!!! But it works.

Thank Lisa!! I found another post from you on a different thread which helped me a LOT!! Yes, makes sense!! And my PI center is the pits!! One lady is clueless and just shrugs when you ask any question!! But is very persistent when it comes to buying their packets!! They are not *coach* material!! They just enrolled me quickly, took my money and never followed up with me, check on me, check my food journal or have any explanation for my concerns!!*Rant ends*!! So, I am so glad that i found 3FC and you guys!!
And like i said there:I will be doing the following from now
B-vanilla shake powder IP
S-chocolate drink in carton IP
L-eggs!!! and real ones this week!!*
D-8oz of real protein!!
Hope I get good results on my next WI!!
Week 3 IP, here I come!!!
PS-"Losing weight is hard. Maintenance is hard. Being fat is hard. Pick your hard. (-Ishbel)" Such an inspiring quote!! Thanks for sharing it Lisa!!!

Would love to follow this thread, as I am new and in the 20 lb. category as well. Great info all over the board! Question about the muscle loss and exercising, especially to those like @Hawaii69 and @Lynnie63, who mentioned it above: What is the best way for a newbie to keep muscles toned and not let them get flabby while on P1? OK to exercise moderately, e.g., Pilates or simple strength-training and core classes?

Hey Mimi: I didn't exercise at all when I did Phase 1 of the diet as its low calorie and the suggestion is to not worry about exercise at this point. There are ones that do some light exercising like walking or stretching but keep it to a minimum. When I started on maintenance, I started running again, did weights at a gym twice a week and now do zumba once a week. The toning doesn't take much time at all. I did the plan 100% and the weight came off quick! I couldn't wait to start exercising though and continue to do so in maintenance.

Hawaii -- I thought I replied to this last week, but maybe I messed it up. Anyway, thank you for the exercise tips! Right now, I am just walking and doing a stretching class with some pilates moves. Might do a 5k (part run part walk) over Thanksgiving with the kids since my oldest will be home from college and it's always a fun family activity.

This is a very helpful thread for the 20 and unders. Keeps us motivated even with the seemingly smaller victories each week Hope to hear from more of you in the same boat!

bump

Thanks for bumping - I have had this page bookmarked for a while.

Hoping others in this category will post. It's a slow slog when you "only" have to lose 20 pounds and we could use all the camaraderie we can get . My first week on IP was -2.8 pounds, then -0.6 the next week and -1.0 for yesterday's official weigh in. That puts me at -4.4 pounds for three weeks, which is a huge success for me.

That makes my calculations of ~4 months to lose 20 pounds seem to be on track... IF I can maintain approximately 1 pound per week loss. ONLY a pound, should be easy, right? ha.ha.

Here's some of my inspiration:


(from pixgood.com)

Wish I could make one of those ^^^ come off of each side of my hips!

I know this is debated on IP but I know that for me, I have to exercise to lose more than a few pounds - but not strenuously, which would be hard on this few calories. So I am attempting to get back into regular low-level exercise, mostly walking, yoga and light jogging and strength training.

I'm committed through September 1, then I will see what the situation is, if I continue or phase off or what. It's 15 weeks away .... so theoretically I could weigh 15 pounds less by then. Which is not exactly my goal weight, but honestly I haven't been that weight in more than SEVEN YEARS so I would be fine if that's where I end up.

So I hope to lose a pound a week (wouldn't complain if it was more of course!). But my goal, something under my control, is to stick with the diet and get some form of exercise every day of the week.

It's going to be an interesting summer

Hi Emma D: Just wondering, why is your commitment ending at Sept 1st? What happens after that date?
Liana

Oh I just meant that I made a mental commitment is to this strict diet for 4 months, which might possibly get me to my goal weight. Then like I said above, I will evaluate and either continue, switch my strategy or begin to phase off to maintenance.

It's an arbitrary date of course, but I have tried repeatedly to vaguely "stick to plans" for the last 4 or 5 YEARS and never followed through once the weight loss slowed down ... so this time I decided that rather than motivation or willpower or relying on the scale for encouragement, I was going to commit to a certain timeframe. I could have committed to a certain number on the scale, but I have had very bad luck in the last few years with that mentality. The scale number is pretty irrelevant to me in the end, but it provides an easier measurement than getting my body fat tested all the time (though my scale seems to be fairly accurate in body fat measurement; matches other times I have been tested).

So far this strategy has worked better than any other I have tried. Somehow knowing that this is what I am doing for the summer alleviates the constant pressure about over-thinking what else I could be doing, other strategies I could be pursuing, etc. etc., ad infinitum. (which sadly is my usual M.O.)

---

The body fat measurements I have had done and the calculators I have used indicate that I have about 96 pounds of lean mass (and currently 50 pounds of fat) ... if I want my body fat to be 25% or less, I would weigh around 128 pounds - assuming I keep the same lean body mass... a big assumption!

I don't know if that is an attainable goal for me, but we'll see. (30 percent fat puts me at 137 pounds.)

So I have around 10-20 pounds to go.

Ahhhh, Emma, now I get what you meant. Commitment is important alright...
Hang in there.