When I joined, I did't think I would be able to stick to this strict a program. I agreed to try it for 3 weeks because I was going on vacation for two weeks right after I started. After two weeks in a beach house (where there were not lots of tempting foods in the kitchen). I decided to try it for another couple of weeks at home. I have pretty much been "re-upping" since then. I try to set goals based on actions rather than results as I can control that better. My goals have included staying 100% for X days, recommitting to the program 30 days at a time, posting my meals, trying new foods, etc.

I am now on Day 164, and part of me can't believe I have stuck with it this long! (no one in my family can either!) One big factor is that I am not hungry most of the time, I no longer have blood sugar spikes and drops, and I really don't have bad cravings for non-program foods.
I am 2/3rds of the way to a 100 lb loss, which, even though I put it as my goal in my profile, I never really thought I could achieve. Now I am beginning to think I can!

I continue to plug along with my little action goals because that's what works for me. My goal for January is to post my meal plan here at least 3 days a week and to increase my walking everyday. I feel confident that if I do this, the scale will do what I want.

Welcome sweetvt. Always good to have a new face on the "lots to lose" thread.

I agree with Oneuh - P1 seems super easy once you get the hang of it. Many of us get into a routine of certain ingredients together and kind of rotate them. You can see some great meal plans on the daily "what are you eating" threads, too. Even the maintenance thread (while it has some things we aren't allowed) has some good ideas for P1.

I think there will be more opportunity to stray in P3/4, but I'm going to worry about that when I get there.

I agree with JJTx, too. One day at a time is also the way I handle it. To think about losing 100+ is daunting. Setting smaller goals (watch out for Lisa's regular challenges - currently 25 by spring) really helps. I also started out with a wardrobe of mixed sizes to shrink into, so I set some of my goals to be into certain clothes as well.

The biggest issue for me was learning to stock the right vegetables in the right quantities at the start of the week. It's when the cupboard is bare that I start looking for alternatives that aren't acceptable.

It's great reading responses that I can identify with. It really shows me WHY IP is successful, when we come up with similar results and the same effects of the diet. I have no craving for sweet (although some mornings I could murder for a piece of cracked wheat toast with butter!!!!) and only get a minor hunger sensation if I miss a regular mealtime.

I really LOVE IP. It's flexible enough that you can build in (allowable/acceptable alternatives/real foods) deviations that fit into your personal lifestyle, yet you can also be 100% compliant and keep on losing.

I credit the lovely IP folks here with keeping me sane enough to stay OP, and there is always lots of excellent advice.

Thanks everyone! Looking forward to this journey with you!

it's a great place to be!

The task is daunting at first but as others have said break it up and stick to the plan. I am so happy I finally found something that works....Just follow the plan and the weight falls off..

Yup..one day at a time...

Hi, I'm new to this thread and have a lot of weight to lose. I did IP 2 years ago, lost 35 lbs and in the past two years have gained it back. I started back on 1/1/14 and so far so good. I have night time eating issues which is a habbit I have to break. Can anyone tell me if it's during the first week you can have an extra IP packet? I thought I read that somewhere or maybe the coach told me. My head is a bit foggy this week.

When I first started, my coach said 3-5 packets per day the first week (of course, only one restricted). I was 260 at that time. I think I used one extra once or twice.

The biggest thing for you will be finding distractions from nighttime eating. I had to turn off the TV and find projects instead. Plus, I started going to be earlier.

Hello! I lost 93 pounds in one year. Then went off for a year. Now back on to lose the additional 50 that I didn't lose when I was on. Been back on now for 4 days and am finding it easy so far. For me, when I first started, I just had read all the great successes on this site, and saw before an afters, and saw that the group was so nice. And I decided that I was going to do this for the long haul. Nothing else had ever worked, ever. Been overweight for 30 years. As long as I was losing, I just kept putting one foot forward and head down, I never went off. I just stuck to the program. Didnt put much attention on food because if I did, I would think about it more and more. the single most successful thing for me was reading these posts DAILY. Also, measuring and keeping a chart. I couldn't stay away from the scale. But this time, I'm going to. For me, the world started changing once I lost 50 pounds. I could buy really different clothes than before. I shopped mainly at second hand stores since I knew I wanted the sizes to continue to go down fast. I lost much more in size than pounds. I travel some for work. Planned my meals. Got inventive on weekends only. After that first 50 came off, my body really started changing,And surprisingly to me, people were different to me. People had been good to me at my heaviest , as well. I like people. But surprisingly, to me, men started paying attention to me. I started getting flirted with! My daughter offered me a vacation for a week for anywhere in the world I wanted to go as soon as I hit my goal weight. My siblings were all talking about me and how good I looked. I found out they were passing photos of me arouond to each other on the email. All my family were very excited for me. Life just got different. It was already good . It just got a lot better. I went off after 93 pounds and had intended to just take a break, was traveling a lot and I was actually very happy with the new me, and thought I'd take a break for a couple weeks. that turned into a year. So, the moral of the story is, stay OP, it works. You'll hit a point where your body really starts changing and it's all downhill from there. Knowing what your goals are in size, and taking your wins at every 1/4 inch that comes off, it just all adds up and continues, as long as you stay OP. I started using alternatives the last 4 months. Nectar protein. NOW protein. Ebay and Vitacost for both. Use Carbquick occassionally, to make pancakes and brownies but I keep it to a minimum because it makes me crave it more. I use WF dressings. but started likely just plain old olive oil and lemon after about 8 months. I read recipes often and shake things up on the weekend only. During the week, at work, it's all very simple with veggies and an envelope. I also am using some Proti Thin products. Lisa and Scorbit were and are a Godsend regarding alternatives. I just make sure I stick to the basic fundamentals with all the ratios and abolutely no aspartame.
upshot is, just keep going. Don't cheat. Stay connected. You'll lose the weight. and you'll be healthier and happier .
I never wrote much on this site. But I love reading it and do every day. Because I had so much to lose, I wanted to chime in on this one, rare for me. I wish you all so much success. And I know you'll have it.

California Kathy thanks for sharing your story and IP experience....good luck with the remainder of your journey....

I didn't start that far off from you starting weight and I hope I am as successful. I am aiming for 100 down at this point and then I will go from there....

Thank you I will try to copy this.

Hope all of the 100lb-ers are hanging in there during this post holiday period.

Did anyone else have a tough time staying OP after the holiday hoopla was done? Oddly, I found it was not so hard to stay OP through the holiday parties and special meals. Since then, however, I find myself having all sorts of cravings and thinking a lot about food. It may just be that I am back on my own (w kids back at school) and back to the "feed everyone three times a day" routine. On holidays and for special events, I only have to focus on what I eat, the rest of the family is taken care of. The cold, dreary weather doesn't help either.

This too shall pass...we are in it for the long haul, 100+ losers!

Another day, a fresh perspective and focus for all of us. Yesterday is done and gone, can't make changes but today .... it's all opportunity.

Hubby, my greatest critic and supporter, now comes and prods and pokes me as I get ready to shower. He is happy for the slimmer me, but worries that the loose skin and fleshy fat pads that are developing will make me unhappy and derail further loss efforts. I keep telling him that it's something that will get worse, long before it has a chance to get better. As a result I've been doing a lot of reading on skin shrinkage after 100+ lb weight loss. While many people rush to get it fixed surgically, there is a growing medical opinion that we should continue to work on reducing body fat percentage and building healthy muscle and WAIT for at least 2 years to see how our body will handle it. The loose skin is more than just loose skin - it has a very thin lining of fat cells that prevent it from shrinking back. Skin, as a living organ, has the ability to shrink if we are sufficiently hydrated and have moderately healthy diets. So, full steam ahead on the weight loss, everyone. Let's worry about the loose skin when we reach goal, and can plan our longer term futures. For now, I'm focusing on getting rid of the fat around my organs (and my butt *grin*).

I agree with the above posters that there are a lot of degrees of freedom here. A few other things to consider:

When and how do you weigh yourself? I find I get more consistent (steady weight loss) weights when I weigh myself when I first get up in the morning (after using the bathroom). The more consistent the conditions at weight in time, the better in terms of removing a lot of the weight loss "wiggles".

Remember that most of your body is WATER! And water weighs a lot. We are supposed to drink 80 oz of water a day. Once for fun I weighed a 50 oz bottle of Evian Water and it clocked in at 7 pounds! So you can imagine if your salt intake was a little higher the previous day or if you are a bit more hydrated, your weight might vary by 3-5 pounds. This might be why some only weigh themselves once or twice a month.

Next, do you cheat at all? If you are 100% on program ... try not eating or drinking anything after about 8 pm or so. Drink lots of water just before 8pm though so you are not dehydrated when you sleep.

Are you getting between 7-8 hours of sleep a night. 7.5 hours is optimal and studies show that less than 7 or more than 8 can impede weight loss.

Try walking some. When I started taking 3-5 mile walks every morning my weight loss really accellerated. Although some might swear that IP is not about exercise it's about keytosis. I think my issue is I have a very sedentary job and dont move much normally -- so the walking really kick started my metabolism

Make sure you drink ALL YOUR WATER ... Measure it. Your body cannot release and flush the fat unless you drink lots of water and are hydrated. I think you actually pee out the burned up fat -- or at least some of it.

A final thought is I have certain weight intervals where i ALWAYS stall out. One for me is 270-276 pounds. Something about that weight where I just stop losing for longer stretches. I am not sure why. But perhaps the weight you are at is one of your natural stall zones (Actually in chart reading they call them "resistance/support levels"). You just have to stay patient and keep doing the right things even tho the scale is not moving. The good news is once you break through the stall zone your weight loss will scream lower really fast (bombs away). So you end up making up for the time lose in the stall. At least that's how it works for me

Good Luck and keep us apprised of your progress!!!

Hello all - great thread!

I started IP April 2013 and was pretty successful over 1.5 years (which wasn't as hard as I thought it would be), then went on a sugar bender for 3 months and undid some of my hard fought success but caught myself and have restarted with the start of 2015. At this point, I've got about 65 pounds left to go. Am doing some work to make sure I don't undo myself again and will come off properly and permanently next time.

Sugar is definitely my nemesis. Although I was not yet pre-diabetic officially I was genetically and my older brother had had some serious heart issues that were a real scare for me. Me and both my siblings had been obese from childhood and my older brother had actually lost the weight in the years leading up to his health crisis. His doctor was clear with him that he probably would not have survived but for the changes he had made.

So I was pretty motivated and I started IP in the year before I turned 40 and after starting we got a puppy, I got engaged - many good things. My DH has been an amazing support.

A few themes in the threads that really resonated for me:

Not knowing how to pick a goal weight. Holy smokes it was such a surreal exercise at the start to choose a number. I didn't want to be too ambitious (and talk myself out due to impossibility) but even more so, as someone who had been overweight - obese - for as long as I can remember I was/am so alienated from my own body that I didn't know what the number would mean for me. It was too abstract and too surreal. I settled on a number and as I get closer to it will decide what to do and when it feels good to be me.

Another theme I can related to is the idea that those with less than 100 pounds to lose are on an entirely different journey. I remember telling DH who was OP with me for a stretch but who was a life long athlete that he was "sojourning" in diet land and had no idea what it was like for me, the fear, the guilt, the alienation from self. But as the pounds shed and I came out of my invisibility cloak (that's how I think of my layer of fat), I can see more similarities than differences in the struggles that we all share in wanting better for ourselves and working hard to achieve it, no matter what our weight.

I've posted this link in only a couple threads as am still pretty shy about it (the invisibility cloak was a comfortable place to hide) but for this particular group, I thought it would be good to share my story a little more personally.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvYpv-QzjOs

Best wishes to all of you in reaching your goals! We can do this!!

Avalon makes some excellent points. The other important thing is to eat everything you are allowed to. Make sure you are having your 2 tsp of healthy oil, your required supplements AND your free salad items (lettuce, cukes, celery) but without dressing. While they may seem like extras, they help keep you regular. Without being regular you are retaining excess water to bulk you out and avoid constipation and, on top of high sodium intake which also retains water, that can make it look like you have no loss.

Sometimes the scales will refuse to move but the tape measure shows losses. This has happened to me in the last two out of four weeks. Don't use the scale as the only method of judging if you are losing.