Amber, did you have blood sugar issues prior to losing weight? I remember that you have thyroid concerns but is sugar new? I am glad that you have figured it out and that you are starting to feel better.

Bootros, I gained 12 pounds during my Maine vacation last year. I came home went back to Phase 1 for 4 days and the weight dropped off. I think my gain was carb shock!

Mooselover, welcome back. You are right the threads are a great way to stay on track.

As for me, I am two days in on clean eating. I feel so much better and the inner brat has been vanquished for now. It really helps that veggies are so fresh and tasty right now.

[Slip, the blood sugar & thyroid wasn't diagnosed before IP, but I have had symptoms for at least 10 to 20 years. I have been asking for tests on both for 20 years, and have always been just on the edge of "treatable".
I think being on IP revealed the problems, because I couldn't "self treat" the symptoms of fatigue, etc. with caffeine or carbs.
Definitely they weren't caused by IP.

The doctor finally decided to treat based on symptoms rather than tests. Since starting on the thyroid my test now has thyroid directly at midline which is great.
Blood sugar is next. It's very low, so working to have it not swinging.
The problem with blood sugar is it may or may not show up on a test depending on what time of day you take the test.
For the first time this time I took it after eating, and it made it worse, not better.
p.s. I have also a strong family history genetically of diabetes, thyroid, blood sugar, and weight issues.

Amber, glad that they are addressing the issues now and that you are getting positive results. I have had swelling of the ankles for years but the Drs. dismissed it as a symptom of being overweight. Imagine their surprise when it continues with good blood pressure and a size 8 body! Suddenly, everyone was concerned and ordered immediate heart testing. What if it had been my heart at 250 pounds? I call their dismissive attitude when I was heavy "fat girl syndrome". They just assumed.

Day 4 of really clean eating. Feeling in control and on a mission to have my pants fit better

I know Slip I have had very similar experiences with doctors. It's actually both painful and tragic to the general populace, I think. It's so simplistic to say "calories in calories out" and all health problems are about the extra weight. There is very little looking at what other causes might be.

One doctor in 2009 (not my current doctor) said "well, your tests definitely show thyroid problems, but let's wait until you lose weight to see if it gets better". Looking back on it now, how stupid was that. How about let's treat the thyroid problem, as maybe that's causing the weight in some way?

Anyway, enough health care ranting.

I feel so much better today after 2 days of lower glycemic foods. A ton of inflammation has gone done, and I don't feel completely exhausted. 5 lbs water retention gone pretty much overnight. I'm mourning my fruits a little, but looking back at the last few weeks, all I ever wanted to eat was fruit, so it indicates my body had started to crave it to counteract the blood sugar swings it was causing.

So many doctors and plans are such high espousers of fruit, I thought I was being so healthy, but I guess for my body it doesn't work. Live and learn. I'm happy my pants are fitting better already - all the extra water went to my waist and the muffin was annoying.
I'm with you Slip, 5 more lbs down and I'm back to goal and back to my pants fitting properly again. Let's do this thing

Amber, some of my vacation -slide bloat is diminishing and my skinny jeans are fitting again. You are right, we can do it! I am using the past month as a lesson. I needed a break from being food vigilant for almost 2 years. Frankly, I was sick of always thinking about working the plan. But, I went a little crazy! Many of my crutch food behaviors reappeared and guess what? I did not feel any better! I felt out of control and achy. For the first time in my life, it is not about the weight- but how I feel in my physical body. My "get with the program" moment was that I noticed that crossing my legs did not feel the same. Heck no! I am not going back to that feeling. My favorite motto for IP maintenance has been Progress not perfection. For me, this is going to be a lifelong journey.

I absolutely agree with you about sugar and inflammation. Without IP, I never would have noticed the difference between my body on sugar/carbs and off. I would have blamed the swelling on something else.

Sorry about the loss of fruit

That’s so funny the crossing my legs thing bothered me too! They didn’t fit together the same. And yes ankle/finger/generalized swelling. Boo to that.

Thank you for mourning my loss of fruits with me … but I’d rather not have a muffin top than have fruit It was kind of like starting IP - after 3 days I don’t care about the fruit anymore. I think that craving though pointed to the problem - my doctor said intense cravings for things are a sign from the body - for me it was blood sugar too up and down, and not enough protein. I have little baggies now of nuts and 1/4 protein bars (20 g protein, 0 g sugar) and I eat those every two or three hours. No big meals. More like little snacks here and there - I make sure to include veggies two or three times a day. So far I feel tons better. I was surprised because eating so much protein/bars felt strange to me, but the doctor said try it, and it’s actually working well.

I understand about the getting tired of tracking things. I had a really nice little vacation last week and lifted the restrictions a little, and actually felt tons better getting on track after. I think I need to do that from time to time.

Boy, Amber and SlipI wish that I could get my boyfriend to read some of this stuff- He's been incredibly supportive of my I/P journey, but he is adamant that he is not giving up the foods he loves having to "feel better" he thinks he'll be miserable- he's on a ton of meds, pre diabetic, blood pressure, stomach issues- Aleve by the mouthful- he claims that its all age-he's 58 and that's not old!!! Maybe I'll read some of it to him as he sleeps- get it through subliminally. Thanks as always for sharing your journey- !!! Glad that you are feeling better Amber, and these are things I will take along with me for when I make it in to maintenance

Happy Friday Maintainers!!

I've haven't posted in bit because nothing has really changed for me nor have I had any startling revelations. Just chugging along. I agree with both Slip and Grateful, the constant monitoring and "working the plan" can wear you down. I haven't been doing the 3:1 ratios for over a month and I have seen a bit of an increase as far as fluffiness and a bit of muffin top but still within 5 lbs of goal weight. I am keeping to my macros and at or under 1700 cal/day. I'm running into a bit of a sugar problem. It was always sweets for me, never the salty/crunchy things. I'm making myself sit at my desk right now while most everybody in the office is in the kitchen noshing on donuts. So I decided to come here and read/post. I went out to a mixer night before last and had 1 beer and 1 glass of wine and was up 2 lbs the next morning. Ugh. So lo carbing it to get back down to my happy area of 140.

My exercise ban is finally lifted! I went to my pool last night and did laps. I only did 4 but I was so proud of myself that I was able to at least do that. I'll keep that up every other day as well as going to the gym now that I can do more than just walk on the treadmill.

Destony: I hope your boyfriend will listen to you on this. I never realized how "sick" my body was when I as fat. I was prediabetic, and on my way to taking statins as well as having elevated blood pressure. That is all gone now. I feel so much better now. Hopefully he will come around before he develops really serious health issues.

Grateful:Sorry about your loss of fruits, but feeling better trumps a strawberry any day.

Slip: Glad to see that you are crossing your legs with ease again. I was ecstatic when I could do that again!

I have read that most doctors get ZERO training in nutrition. I simply can't understand that. If you get better performance out of your car by using high grade fuel, wouldn't the same hold true for our bodies? Most people take better care of their cars than their bodies, don't they?

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Amber I'm glad you brought up the fruit issue. I am such a "fruitaholic" that I think that us why I would have such sugar cravings preIP. Is it healthy to eliminate fruit altogether. Now that I've taken a big break from them I'm thinking I'm better off without.

Interesting reading about the fruit issues...Over the course of the last 15 years on/ off low carb, I also started researching Paleo and natural diets. I remember reading about how many of the fruits we have access to now were not available to our parents / grandparents (think tropical). Also, think about this - 100 years ago (speaking generally of the northern US) you got lower glycimic fruits such as berries in the spring / early summer and higher glycimic fruits, such as apples and pears, right before fall / winter. Same with potatoes, corn, etc. Now, you can have these fruits and veggies any time of the year. Kind of interesting in the big picture

I have been busy this week and missing you all, great chat about low glycemic food. I posted a list of these on my fridge last Sunday,

Amber - so happy that you got the health issues sorted out, sad about the fruit and amazing how it was impacting your body. Sounds like you are on a roll now and water retention and puffynesss is gone and you!re feeling better which is the most important.

Slip- yay skinny jeans! I love your comment about maintence that it is "progress not perfection". I think that allows for us to be successful and to live with something manageable. The all or nothing thinking doesn't work. Happy to see that you are feeling good

ishbel - you've got some great races lined up. That's great that you can run with your little girl the BOB strollers are great, we had a BOB double stroller for the twins. Never ran with it tho.

Andrea - so happy that your exercise ban got lifted. Will you be heading out for some biking or hiking?

Mooselover - congratulations on 3 years of maintaining! That is a huge accomplishment. That is a great plan to post here for support to get your 10lbs off.

Bootros - keep up the great running.

I ran this morning, 13km, and it was crazy hot and muggy but we got it done. Tomorrow I'm off to do some tri training, hoping to swim 1km, bike 40, and then I'll be lucky if I can't run 3km after. I really struggling with the run coming off the bike. I'll pack a Luna bar, a protein bar with more carbs in it for energy for a snack and add extra shake tomorrow as well to help repair muscles. Was still at goal weight yesterday morning

Good morning,

Jenny, hot and muggy seems to be a theme. Hopefully the humidity will break soon. Love that you keep exercising through it all.

Andrea, yay! Glad that you will be able to exercise again. I know how much you love hiking.

As for me, successful family dinner party in the garden on Sun. Tons of work and hot though. Looking forward to a relaxing week with very little planned.

Hope that all of you are well .

Andrea - great to hear from you, you must be elated to be able to move around more, I know I would be. I'm really starting to notice also the sugars (for me in fruit at least) and how much effect they have on me. The same thing is happening with a glass of wine or even hidden added sugars in restaurant food. It triggers immediate cravings and subsequent fatigue that lasts for a day or so.

Slip - glad the party went well.

Jenny - I'm so impressed by the tri-training. I'm nowhere near that yet but love hearing about it. I pulled a calf muscle at a dance party this weekend so have to take a few days off my 5K training but trusting within a week I'll be back at it. I see my physical therapist today so hopefully he can help me speed up the recovery some.

Beth interesting your point about fruits - I was a child in the 70s and both my parents were farmers, and we definitely were more on the "crop cycle" - like I really only had apples toward the fall.

3 big dogs - not sure about fruit for all people and what is needed - I'm just trying it for now based on my doctor's recommendations. I think once I get things at a stable baseline I will use it more as a condiment - like some berries on a salad or a few on yogurt. I was probably eating 3 servings of fruit a day and that wasn't working.

I've been losing a pound or so a day, starting to stablilize, but feeling much better overall. I ate out twice this weekend and saw the scale go back up - apparently my body is just really sensitive to added things, as what I ate was the same type of things I always eat, but I'm sure there was a ton more salt in it all.

Happy Tuesday Maintainers:

Jenny: Unfortunately I no longer have a bike. I borrowed one for a short period of time from a friend. The brakes seized up and I couldn't ride it. That happened about a week before I had surgery so I brought the bike back. I think that I will start researching bikes again and take a few for a test ride and then buy one in the fall/early winter. It's over 100 degrees here right now so outdoor activities are severely curtailed right now.

Slip: If I want to hike I have to get out there by 7 on a weekend, and NO. But I have been doing laps in my apartment pool and walking for 30 minutes every day so I am upping my exercise. Now I just need to get in a groove for strength training and I think I'll have a plan.

Grateful: Glad you are feeling better. I was limiting my fruit to breakfast and sometimes as dessert at night, but I have cut back to just a small amount at breakfast. I'm having a serious sugar issue right now so I am cutting it out after dinner. I think we would all do better if we ate seasonally as nature intended. I dropped 1 of my up lbs so only 4 more to go before I'm back to my happy place of 140.

Hi All,

Did 3 mile exercise DVD tonight, but this headache is still ugh worth! Was hoping the endorphin release would help.

Andrea, 7:00 because of the heat? Pool sounds like a much better option. glad that you are getting to work your plan.

Amber, glad the scale is moving down for you. Sorry to hear that you pulled a muscle. Isn't it amazing how in tune we have become with our bodies? Another good point in IP's favor.