Ah, craaaap. It seems my learning curve is steeper than I thought. I went off plan today for one meal, approx 60-70g carbs and 50g fat. DANG IT! And before my vacation, I was all self-righteous about staying OP! Even though I stocked up w/protein and veggies, I also got food for the kids. And it was stuff that doesn't even tempt me usually. But today the kids were driving me nuts, and I had a HW assignment due online today (because school goes on even during vacation!), etc etc etc excuses excuses. I gave in to the sugared cereal, PB, and choc bar. But then I STOPPED! I put the brakes on! The interesting thing is, the junk food was way too sugary for me. My palate has already changed in the 10 days I've been on IP. The PB, for heavens sake, was too sugary. I ended up being somewhat tired after the binge, so I took a 90 min nap. After that my energy came back. I wasn't hungry for 11 hours after the binge (until now, midnight). So hopefully I wasn't knocked out of ketosis too much. The ketostix say I'm still in moderate ketosis, but I don't trust them too much. Besides, I could still be peeing out the remaining ketones floating around in my body. I hope my binge doesn't mess up ketosis too much.

I want to share some advice for all you IPers who may have moments of "weakness" - this was invaluable advice given to me in my weight loss journey:

A LAPSE is falling off the wagon.
A RELAPSE is falling off the wagon, again, maybe several times, but still getting on again.
But a COLLAPSE - that is giving up completely.

We all have lapses. And yes, every now and then, we may even experience relapses (hopefully not too many!) But we don't have to make them collapses!

GO TEAM!

Hi guys - I started this high protein, low carb, low fat, low sugar thing - very similar to IP - on March 23rd. Prior to that I was doing WW counting points. I stayed with WW for 1 wk. and lost zero pounds, so I started counting calories only the following week, staying around 1200 calories and lost a pound. My husband, who is much more overweight than me, wanted to begin IP and it was so expensive, we decided I'd do pretty much the same thing and research nutritional analyses of IP products to make substitutions. We began our journey on March 23rd, with his goal being 40 lbs of weight loss & mine 23 lbs of weight loss. Today, I have lost a total of 7 lbs and he has lost 16! It's been difficult for both of us, because a lot of our enjoyment with each other has been movies, with jumbo popcorn, drinking beer, and eating out at the best restaurants - with cheesecake for dessert!! Now we're having to find other interests to enjoy together. I miss cooking fancy meals with cream sauces, potatoes & my delicious desserts I'm so proud of, but hopefully once we reach our goals, we'll be able to afford to "cheat" once a week. I am fearful that we'll go back to our old ways - we'll always have to stay on top of this. Him, especially - his family has a history of being overweight, diabetes and heart problems. Mine, not so much - but for him, I have to do this.

Almost three weeks in and DOING SO much better than the last time I was on IP! I am hoping I can continue!!!! It is expensive and hard but so worth it to see the scale move!!! I started walking this week while my little is at Baseball practice and that has helped some as well! Looking forward to the three week weigh in on MOnday! Hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!

Great work Redonkulous. Yes, the key is never give up....

Hello all. Just wanted to share my progress with everyone. I started on April 20 (3 weeks ago today), and lost 25 pounds!

I have to admit though, there are times that I struggle (especially going out to eat with friends), but when I get tempted to indulge I ask myself two things: Is one meal worth giving up 4 days of weight loss (which for me, is about 3 pounds), and Is it worth how awful I will feel (physically & emotionally)?

The main thing that keeps me motivated is continuing to fit in clothes that I haven't worn in years, as well as donating my clothes from before the diet.

Keep it going everybody! You got this.

35 yrs. old/male/starting weight-289/goal weight-189, current weight-264

Geauxnoose, Wow, 25 pounds since March(?) 20! Amazing! Congrats on your success and keep up the good work. You are an inspiration to me! Thanks for sharing.

SusieCJ, I lost 4 lbs this week too. It was my first weigh in and I was disappointed until she measured me and told me I'd lost an inch off my waist and thighs, I did a little happy dance! I wouldn't sweat the scale too much, this diet is burning fat not simply weight....I bet you lost inches, which to me is far more victorious!

Tonight I was starving when I came home, so I made my lean hamburger right away and scarfed down my protein. I am grilling veggies and now that I am not starving I will be in more control I hope.

Way to go!!!!! Amazing that inches were lost in just one week! That deserves some IP-compliant celebration:

It's soooooo rewarding when the diet pays off!!!

I'm looking forward to using my grill, too! Everything tastes better grilled. I was running errands yesterday and decided to stop at a local Chinese restaurant. I got grilled chicken (no oil) and steamed mixed veggies (minus the small corn and the carrots). It was delish!! And I think I doubly enjoyed it because I didn't have to cook!. But the grilled chicken (thin slices) was so flavorful!!

Yes, I've got my second WI on Monday. My scale isn't dropping much (still on the alt plan for Type 2 Diabetics but this is my last week for that). Fingers crossed for a better weight loss after Monday!! But I'll be sure to post my results.

Meanwhile, I hope you continue to have good results and congrats on your first WI!

Fingers Crossed for you Susie!

Hello Fellow dieters, hope everyone is having a good diet weight loss week

Hi all... I just thought I would introduce myself... I'm starting IP tomorrow... I've got everything I need and I'm ready to go!

I've been a member here on 3fc for a few years and it's been great... And I've sort of followed the IP forum and always thought it was pretty interesting... And of course I've always wanted to see if I'd be able to follow the IP protocol... Well I've decided that I'm ready to lose the rest of weight and IP is the way to do it!

I've been following a ketogenic plan already and have been in ketosis for the last month, but I am a little bit afraid that the reduction in fat and calories might be a bit of a shock to my system.... I guess we'll see... But I'm ready... I know I can do this... And I Will Reach My Goal!

Just did my six week weigh-in. Down another 3 pounds and 2 inches, for a total of 27 pounds and 18 inches lost. I've been able to pull out smaller-sized clothes from the far back corner of the closet they've been hiding in for years, and can no longer wear some of the larger sizes because they're too big. Some advice my coach gave me was to get rid of the larger clothes, not having those to go back to can serve as additional motivation to avoid gaining the weight back.

Still maintaining with no cheats. I was proud of myself for going out to a steakhouse that serves yeast rolls, and avoiding their temptation. Just having them there on the table wasn't a problem, but the smell…still, I persevered with my plain salad and steak and broccoli. Being around "forbidden" food, seeing it, I'm okay with that, but the smell dang near does me in. Like walking past the bakery at the grocery store…eesh.

I've started incorporating a few alternative products, in the interest of softening the blow to my wallet caused by IP. As much as it's worth every penny, that unfortunately doesn't make any pennies magically appear. IMO, Quest bars are pretty good, the Muscle Milk shakes are so-so, the EAS shakes are pretty good. Those are all the alternatives I've tried so far.

Good luck to everyone. I'm seeing light at the end of this tunnel for the first time since I started gaining weight, so here's hoping it keeps getting brighter, or at least doesn't go out.

Weighed in a day early this week (Saturday instead of Sunday) due to weird stuff happening tomorrow and I'm down 2 lbs. I'll take it! It's nice to see the scale move, even if it isn't a massive change.

Bought a salad today on the go and when I was finally able to dig in, it was... rancid. I don't know what in there was rotten, but it was overpowering everything else. It was a chopped salad and everything was all completely mixed together, so none of it was salvageable. Grrr. I only had a few bites, but I don't feel so good (but that's probably more mental than actually due to the nasty salad). So yeah, happy rotten salad day, everyone! I hope your veggies fare a little better than mine did.

Wow! So much awesomeness here! Congrats on the weightloss and on fitting into stuff that used to be too small! What an awesome 6-week accomplishment!

Welcome, TripSwitch! Sounds like you're well-prepared! Good luck, you've got this!