Hello All! Congratulations to all of you who have 20 or less to lose! I am really close to my goal and I am dying for a glass of wine. I am a school teacher and want to celebrate the end of the year so badly with my teacher friends, but know that a night of drinking will set me back at least two days and I want to get out of phase 1 so badly.

Wow Bootros, you have done so well getting to 119. How long did it take you?

I have lost twelve pounds in 6 weeks. I am proud of doing this, but mad that I have done this diet (restarter) three times now. So I am less patient than I was before. I have got to make maintenance work this time. I can't wait for phase 2 and then on to phase 3. The breakfast in phase 3 is so awesome! I wish that I could exercise away the next 4 pounds. It is fascinating to me that exercise doesn't really help in this diet.

I tried exercise on this diet but my weight loss stalled for two weeks. Just not enough calories.
What amazes me is how quickly the weight comes back on. I'm so afraid of losing this weight and gaining it back yet once again. But I know IP is the ONLY diet that works for me to lose the last 20 lbs.

You seem pretty tiny already, perhaps you should phase off if you're losing your patience. It's hard when you have the final few to lose. Hang in there.

Sunflower- I feel like I am so close to the end, I don't want to give up now. I have had mixed results with exercise. I ran 4 miles yesterday at a really slow pace and was down a pound today. I am not exercising today. Who knows what the scale will show tomorrow (Yes, I weigh every morning and a lot of people tell me not to do it, but I can't help it.) I agree with you that it is so easy to put back on, but this truly is the diet that I have the most success. I also love how healthy the diet is.

Remember you guys, exercise is for fitness and toning, YOUR EATING PLAN IS WHAT HELPS YOU LOSE THE FAT WEIGHT. Trust me, I was a fitness instructor and Physio Rehab specialist for 25 years. People tend to not hear the second part of that simple lose weight formula "Move more, eat less."
Weight loss is 80% kitchen and 20% gym. And you will not see the effects of what you do the very next day on the scale so don't try to correlate it . The way to see if what you are doing is working is to keep at the same routine (eating or exercise) and follow your results over a couple months. Looking at yesterday to see why today's gain/loss doesn't give you the correct answers (except for sodium & water weight).
Two weeks is not a 'stall', don't forget to check your inches lost as that is really what counts. Sometimes the body needs to 'pause' in its losses to reconfigure, many then get a whoosh of weight dropping off the next WI.
Patience, grasshopper, lol.

Liana

Canadjineh-

Thank you so much for your reply. Your posts are both motivational and informative! I have 5 pounds left to lose and the scale is not moving. I am measuring everything (oil, salt, veggies) and eating no restricted bars. I have thrown in some light jogging just to see if this is effective. I just called my coach about entering phase 2. She said to move on I have to be at 100% goal. Ug! So that has changed since a couple of years ago. Do you sell the IP products? If not, do you use alternatives? I sometimes use EAS carb control ready to drink shakes, but not lately because I do not want to deviate from the program in the slightest. I also don't understand how people can just use a TBS of oil when a lot of the recipes I have been given for the dressings have a lot of oil in them. (I do not like any WF products). So I usually make the dressings and then add extra apple cider vinegar.

Thanks again for all of your helpful insight. I really appreciate it!

Hi everyone, can I join your thread? I am starting IP Saturday. I have 25-ish pounds to lose. The last 10 I gained rather quickly -- with a late miscarriage and then 2 chemical pregnancies -- my body seemed to hold on to the weight and no matter how much I exercised or counted calories, it kept putting it on.

I am hoping this plan shocks my body back into weightloss so it can be healthy for a pregnancy and I can get back into my clothes!

I plan on participating until I get pregnant, however long that takes (then returning after the baby) I was successful on IP years ago when I lost my "law school weight" haha.

Any tips for my first week? I know some people get big numbers the first week, but its harder when you have less to lose. What can I do to up my numbers? (Since there is always the possibility that I am only on this plan for a month, I want to do all I can to be successful...)

Tell your coach you want to change your goal weight
But seriously, you may be under eating. Add the restricted bars back in and add a little more oil. Are you only having lean protein like chicken breast? if so, have a steak or pork chop.

Hi Katy -
I have been on IP one month and I had around 25 pounds to lose when I started ... I have lost a little over 5 pounds, which is great for me. Many people here have lost faster than that.

I think this diet helps to get on track with healthy habits in general, like all the veggies, eating regularly, solid protein choices (the dinners I would continue in maintenance). So even if you only stay on a short time, it helps reset to healthy eating. At least that is what I am thinking.

I don't have any special tips for the first week, the plan is rigorous enough as it is. Sounds like you have done this before, but check out the current protocol, as there have been changes in the veggie choices and a lot more "unlimited" veggies, which are so great for the munchies - celery, cucumbers, mushrooms, spinach etc. I guess my only advice would be to choose the most nutritious variety of veggies for your select veggies - such as kale, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, spinach, tomatoes etc. But that is for ensuring a variety of nutrients rather than for weight loss.

I was so sorry to read of your miscarriage! That is a lot to deal with. I still get sad over mine and it was years and years ago. But best of luck to you with weight loss and getting . Keeping yourself healthy is the best thing you can do.

Thanks Emma!! Yes it was a lot to deal with. I read somewhere that doctors suggest this diet to women trying to get pregnant who need to lose weight - so I am hopeful that on top of losing this weight, it helps with fertility. Two birds, one stone.

If I lost 5-10 in the first month, that would be good, considering how wacky my hormones are at the moment!

I like your suggestions. Yes, I have only been eating very lean proteins- chicken, fish, shrimp and eggs.

Katyindc- Good luck with starting this program again. It seems like everyone has different outcomes for the first week. I have restarted about 3 times and each time (with about 15/18 pounds to lose each time) I have lost about 3 pounds the first week. I am slow loser . Just stick with it and remember the first 3 days are rough. Get rid of all the temptations in your house and have your veggies ready. It is really easy to put off the diet when you don't have the right food in the house.

Also, I am sorry for your loss. It sounds like you are on a positive track though. Great for you.

Just an update for those struggling to lose "just a few" ...

As of today, I have been on IP 22 weeks (not perfectly ... not proud of that fact, but it is the reality of me and my disordered eating + not having a lot to lose so not feeling comfortable advertising my diet to others bigger than I am...). I have lost 22 pounds - an average of JUST ONE POUND per week.

Which is a HUGE accomplishment for me

I feel back to my "normal" self. The 90% of my clothes that didn't fit/looked horrible fit again. I have a long ways to go in terms of fitness and toning but I discovered that I needed to focus on weight loss first. (Funny, I noticed that I posted earlier in this thread about needing to exercise to lose weight .... noooope.) I am not getting enough calories to feel good exercising right now.

I committed to 4 months, and here I am going on month 6. I am going to stick out IP for another month, I think that is about when all the packets I have will run out. I hope to lose ~3 more pounds to meet my arbitrary goal, but really these 22 pounds have made all the difference in the world on my small frame. My doctor agreed. I would be OK maintaining right here (with some firming up of course).

For any of you out there out there who are dealing with the slow losses that often accompany those last few pounds - stick with it! I know, that sounds trite and I am a terrible example .... but I never gave up. I kept coming back, and often had my best losses following a gain (calorie cycling benefit maybe?) AND even when I wasn't perfectly on plan, I didn't dive back into carby binge territory - I kept things at around a maintenance level in general and/or never spiraled out of control by letting things continue for more than a day or two.

I'm not recommending anyone go off plan at all - probably I would have lost a lot faster if I was more diligent - but I AM recommending not to give up if you do slip up. Also fight the good fight against all-or-nothing thinking (I had huge issues with thinking if I am not going to eat perfectly, I might as well be as horribly as I can! So lame )

It has been really difficult. I am very tired, cold all the time , feeling stressed about social events and traveling, eating separate meals from my family ... but without a doubt, SO worth it!

IP is the only plan that has worked for me in 6 years of trying to lose those extra pounds I packed on as I got a desk job and got older. It may not have been a huge amount of weight to lose, but they were stubborn, stubborn pounds and very unhealthy - it all came in my belly. I felt like such a failure that I could never get my weight back down.

Now to start figuring out maintenance... exciting but scary...

I'm actually wanting to stop IP this week and focus on working out and toning to lose inches. Even though I have been losing a few lbs my inches have remained the same. I wonder why that is?
I'm also very very lethargic, light headed (yes I take ALL my pills/salt/oils). My stomach for some reason over the last month hurts every time I eat. I simply feel unhealthy.

I am the smallest I have EVER been as an adult. Everyone is noticing my weight loss now which they never did before, so I feel very proud. I'm down to a size 6 and was hoping to be a size 4 by the time I was done, but I've lost steam. I'm so afraid of gaining this weight back. Quite frankly I would be happy maintaining where I am at now, I just want to feel healthy again and get my energy back.

Bootros are you still around? how are you doing?