Fantastic news Frita! great accomplishment!

Had my first weigh in today and I lost 8 pounds! Woohoo! I have been lurking here for the last week, reading everyone's experiences and advice, thank you so much.

Emma Jayne, when you think of the body process it makes sense ... retain water just in case conception occurs. I do know women who say they can sense/feel ovulation, that they have very distinct body sensations at that time.

What a terrific start to the program! You have got to be absolutely thrilled. A friend once told me, "Smart women learn from their own experience, wise women learn from others' experiences." You, are a wise woman!


Me ... WI 4, down another 3.5. 19.2 in first 4 weeks on IP and now BMI = overweight

I"ll measure inches tomorrow wearing the same clothes as my first weigh-in. Also on the agenda is finding the set up to take a picture -- I have no full length mirror and no camera -- and the guts to post it/them. You've all been so generous with yours.

Almost every day, I'm very hungry 3-4 hours after lunch usually an IP soup and salad and olive oil + lemon juice. When the hunger hits, I'm a couple hours from home and dinner at that time (1-2 hours of work left and 30-50 minutes commute). I suppose I could use denser vegetables than lettuce and spinach.

I think I would feel better having my protein that used to move about by hoof/claw/fins to mid-day. I asked my my coach about it, she said that it's better to have carbs at night. At the time I was too stunned to ask further questions and thinking about it, I don't "get" the explanation.

I'm willing to try the switch to see how it works for me, and am just wondering if there's some important biochemistry I don't understand and she didn't explain. Is there any reason not to have the minimally processed "real" protein earlier in the day?

Okay, I'm going to explain it:

First of all the room is dark, like we're going to have a romantic dinner. I'm brought in sat down across the table from Jeff (VP) and the 4 managers under him. They each have 1 piece of paper in front of them. There will be 10 questions, we'll take turns asking them. (and now picture SPEED DATING - they each have one minute to ask 2 questions and I have to answer in between). Here are the questions:

1 Why do you want to leave your current position?
2 What do you like least about your current position?
3 What is your greatest strength?
4 What is your biggest weakness?
5 Name a time when you offered exceptional administrative support.
6 How would you handle it if a manager asked you to do a task that you didn't agree with?
7 What is your supervisory style? (I would have people who would report to me)
8 What is your ideal work environment?
9 How would you handle an approaching deadline, but you're not going to finish on time?
10 LCB strikes again, I'll edit this and add it when it comes to me!

"Melissa, do you questions for us?"

I ask 2, they answer, and off to take the test:


THE TEST:

Type a memo
Create a spreadsheet with formulas
Create a power point with results from the spreadsheet data
Attach all files and send in an email.

Sounds pretty simple right??? I can do these things without a problem, however here's the catch: YOU GET 20 minutes to COMPLETE the test. I made it, but barely!!! (I heard that none of the 7 people on Tuesday finished the test, I haven't heard how many / if any finished yesterday).

It's like if I asked you to write the ABCs and 1 - 100, you'd be like, oh that's easy, but then I said now, do it in 20 seconds. You'd be like - well that's not possible! You'd give it your best shot, and that's what I did! OH and you have to do it in the DARK!!! I tried to look at my watch, but it was so dark in there that I really had a hard time seeing the time!!!

As I was walked out I saw that in the 20 minutes that it took me to take the test, they had already gone down stairs, got the next person, interviewed her, and she was on her way to take the test!!! Speed interviewing at its best.

SO, I was uneasy and not feeling too good about the interview. Last night a friend of mine who works in that department told me they do that because they want to see how well you react under pressure, how well you think, and how quickly you are able to respond. WELL THANKS, NOW YOU TELL ME!!! Once he told me that I actually felt better. Given that information, I actually don't think I did badly at all. I can't imagine many doing much more, or much better. When I sent my thank you note/email I asked that they take a look at some of my work on our company-wide drive. If they do, well that should help. Not sure if they will or not.


Kelsey.. sounds scarey but you did it and you did it well! i am very proud of what you have accomplished, no matter what the final outcome is. i hope you hear good news very soon!

there are days when i have my "dinner" real meal for lunch. my coach did not have a problem with it. he only said that when in phase 3, it is important to have breakfast for breakfast. not sure why, but when i get to Phase 3, i will ask.

also, i tend to have my snack between lunch and dinner - i am usually very very hungry about 2 hours after lunch, so the snack holds me over until dinner time.

thanks that pic is actually of me 4 pounds ago yup, enjoying another glass of cold water tonight.

My recommendation is not to fast during your IP diet. The point of ensuring you eat the meals at the specified timeframe is to ensure you do not lose muscle mass which will happen if you don;t eat enough. when your body goes into starvation mode, then it begins to store fat and your metabolism slows down. if you fast during the day and only eat before sun up and after sun down, then you are slowing your metabolism.

since you are losing weight for health reasons, can you make up ramadan at a later time. your husband should support you knowing that you will make it up at later time. my understanding if you are traveling, sick or during the TOM, you can choose not to fast and make it up at a later date.

if this does not work, my suggestion is to eat your "lunch" (veggies, 2 IPs, lettuce, salt, and lots of water) before the sun goes up so that you have enough nutritian and elctrolytes to get you through the day and then for dinner have a full dinner and your third IP pack, water and lots of salt). will be difficult and may work???? just an idea - has not been tried and tested.

good luck with it... i know this is a tough time since the days are longer and hotter in the summer months.
-dina

lcw32
your coach is silly, you can eat your real protein meal AT ANY TIME OF THE DAY, really makes me wonder wher they get these people. maybe they mistaked you for being on phase 4 where you should eat your carbs at night.

again, the coaches...idk where they come from. mine was eating taco bell soft tacos at lunch today. she specifically told me earlier this week not to mix carbs with fat once on maintainance. aren't flour tortillas made with lard and flour, i.e. FAT AND CARBS?

I definitely think it worth doing! I am sure he will enjoy having dinner with you I hope it works.

I like most everything now. I can tolerate soups but really don't use them much. I hate the banana and lemon pudding; it tastes too fake to me. My favorites are the ready to drink vanilla, chocolate shakes, omelette, and blueberry drink.

OMG! You are a whole new person! I love how much you have changed. Thanks for sharing.

Congratulations on all the change. What you experienced is somewhat normal. If you are losing all or nearly all fat, your change in size will not correlate with pounds lost. You will drop size much faster when losing all fat.

You don't have to do the phase 2, is my understand, HOWEVER, it is best if you could do 1 week at least to help adjust back to animal proteins. Phase 3 is more important as it starts your body adjusting back to carbs, turns on the pancreas, and manages insulin spikes in the day.

Ask questions here. You will find lots of people willing to help.

I am inclined to go with Dina's advice. It is not recommended or a good idea to be fasting while do the IP program. It is a medically designed and monitored program because it causes rapid changes and healing, in addition to being low carb/calorie and ketogenic.

I hope you can explain to your husband it in a way that he can understand.

Thanks. It is one of my favorite. Another one is called "which wolf do you feed." Have you ever heard of it?

Novak or Wannabe may explain this more but, my understanding is in phase 3 they are waking up your pancreas and creating your first insulin spikes. You want this to happen in the morning, and have the carbs for that reason AND so that you have all day to burn off those carbs. You don't want anything unused which might start your body to signal "store fat!" . At least, this is what I have been hearing.

Thanks everyone. I guess I do look different. It is hard owning a B&B and trying to stick to this program. I have made some changes. I do not sit and eat breakfast with everyone. I will have a cup of tea and visit. I drink a shake when everyone leaves. I often send the left over baked goods with my guests. That gets them out of the house. Have a great weekend.

I do a religious fast once a month for 2 meals/24 hours. I just load up on water before I start and then start drinking again once the fast is over. I don't know how it would be for several days in a row. Good luck figuring out what to do for your situation

Well, they aren't side by side, but they are on here. The first 2 are today at 153.4lbs. and the last one is last fall at about 200lbs.[/QUOTE]

WOW wish I looked as good at 49 lbs down

Wow, I cannot keep up with all of these posts! You guys are quick! I have had such a stressful week that I have not been on the computer much. I also thought that the stress and lack of sleep might cause me to lose much, but I am very happy with my week 4 weigh in - down another 1.8lbs which makes it a total of 15lbs in one month! I cannot believe it! I hope month 2 is just as great of a loss! I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/idea...12th-18th.html

If you go to this thread and start reading at message #215, you can follow the discussion on feeling cold... I think it will answer all your questions, but if not, c'mon back here and post what you want to know!

Guys we'll need a new thread this morning. We're already at 495 posts...