Hi everyone!
I am in a much more positive place today.
Betsy if chocolate is evil, I love evil. I was at the store today and didn't even think about it being half off and all of a sudden I turned my head and I was inches away from it. I gasped and quickly ran to the checkout. It may have helped that I was buying a new scale so weight loss was on my mind. Are you still letting your natural color grow out in your hair? I am and some days it scares me! Give Toby a big lick back from me.
Terra when I was young my cousins were taking care of me and made me watch a scary movie. It was not nice, I remember crying. I am with you on the fact that they have ratings for a reason.
Cindy yup nuts are one of those things I can not stop eating until they are gone. Along with apparently most everything but broccoli.
Sam not to put pressure on you BUT I've discovered that when our little community is back in a good groove I do better also. Glad you are back to yourself for your sake as well as mine. As usual I agree with Betsy and I think you should start a recipe thread. Terra had one going for a while.
I had a good scare today. I jumped on my scale and it was 15 pounds higher then it should be. (I made my weight consistent husband stand on it.) Anyhow I just about had the big one. Seeing that number made me realize I never want to see it again. I have my new scale and will start weighing daily. I don't obsess though it can dictate my mood if I let it. However, I need the accountability. It feels good to be back to thinking I can do this!
Have a peaceful day.

Y'all, I don't know if it was the isolation (I live alone, because DH is on the other side of the country right now, while we both look for work -- he's still working, back there, luckily! I am not, though I have a few good possibilities in another city, where he is also looking) or if it was all of the reading I was doing about the pointlessness of diets (as opposed to healthy habits) or if it is that I am just a big impatient baby, but I am going off of Ideal Protein. My bad/rebellious days were outnumbering my good days, and although I never cheated, I felt more and more angry about that stupid diet over time; I think a cheat was coming.

I want to be able to follow along with a Zumba video and not freak out that my heart rate is getting "too high" and I might be burning muscle instead of fat. I want to be able to meet friends at a restaurant and not freak out that every single dish has carbohydrates (or cheese or bacon or whatever). I want to be able to eat beans and orange vegetables.

I think the time I turned down a really cool social engagement because there would be healthy, illegal-for-me food there, might have been the beginning of the end, particularly given how few social engagements I've had, lately.

So, my plan (once I've transitioned off IP, which will take me about 3 weeks): stay within the World Health Organization's guidelines for sugar (no more than 6tsp per day, including natural sources AND added sugars), eat 4+ cups of veggies per day, eat protein of some sort with breakfast every day (even if it's just a spoonful of peanut butter in my oatmeal), avoid highly processed foods and oils high in linoleic acids, go for "brown" grains wherever possible (brown rice, no white flour), and watch my artificial sweetener intake. I'm going to try to cultivate LESS of a sweet tooth. I'm going to take it easy on cheese. I'm going to stop eating the ridiculous portions of meat that come with IP (8 oz is a LOT). I'm going to try to eat until I'm 80% full and then stop -- which will require some relearning of habits, for sure. And when my household has a positive net income again, I'll buy local, grass-fed meat and visit farmer's markets a lot.

And I'll bike and Zumba and walk and follow along with Leslie Sansone to my heart's content. Also, with that whole positive income thing, I hope to get back into swimming or water aerobics. I love the water.

magpie— I just want to say that I love your going-off-IP posting. It's a thrilling mélange of awaking to freedom, taking charge of your own life, and determination to do better. Way to go!

Hello!!!!

Betsy Love the doggy kisses from Toby today I have my oldest cat sitting behind me staring at me right now...maybe she is plotting her way to dispose of me LOL...Making a cooking channel on YouTube could be pretty neat...Just don't know where I'd find the time to do it...But I think Ubee may have a good idea too with putting a thread here for recipes and such. Hope you like your haircut you got today ...and hopefully the rain went away so you can go enjoy the tulips! I love tulips and would die to get to go to a huge field of them...ooooo that would be soo nice!

Ubee No pressure at all ...I do agree with you 100%...Honestly if I didn't have you guys in the back of my mind I may not have pushed forward and given my self the smack in the face I needed to get back on plan. I know what you mean about the scare and the weight gain...but honestly you needed to get you back in gear...that's what did it for me...Luckily my gain was only 6 pounds but I want it to be a loss not a gain!! We got this!! Maybe I'll take your suggestion and start a recipe thread if I can.

Magpie Your ideas for getting the weight off sound like a good one. I don't know much about IP but I think if you are on the brink of having a binge or just having a cheat to where you can't control yourself, it can't be a good diet. Keep up the good work!

I'm making an effort to be out of work by 4:30 every day now that I'm back on plan. I could stay until 6 or 6:30 some nights and when I wasn't well or something else medically going on with me that has kept me from working out that was ok because I didn't have anything to do except go home and make dinner. But now I'm putting my health back in the right place it needs to be so I can get this weight off once and for all..

Came home from work and made my smoothie for my afternoon snack. I have some strawberries freezing on a tray right now so they don't all stick together in a bag (thanks for the tip grandma!). Tonight DH wants me to make turkey burger soup. It's a poor mans veggie soup but instead of using beef I use turkey since that is what is on plan for me. It's just turkey with a frozen bag of mixed veggies, crushed and diced tomatoes and some spices...It's quick and easy which is one reason why I don't mind making it. I'll get started on that after I exercise.

The weather here is nice in some spots but really cloudy in others. My plan was to go on a walk today and try to get DH out the house but he keeps falling asleep on me when I try to talk to him. I really need to work with him on getting on a better sleep schedule. But since the weather could turn to a down pour at any given moment I guess I'm going to work out inside today. I'll probably do one of Chalene Johnson's videos again...not sure which one and maybe some yoga if the CJ video isn't long enough.

It feels great to be posting back here often...I've made it a lot easier for myself by putting my computer out in the living room so I can post here and use it for my exercise videos...It's hard posting on my phone and they updated the mobile site for here which made it even more difficult to use in my opinion.

Anyway I best be going now so I can get my sweat on!!! Have a POP day everyone!!

Hi everyone.

Betsy, I hope the weather was dry today so you could see the tulips. There is a big tulip festival in one of the parks here every May. I have never gone because I can't walk very far, without pain or getting completely out of breath. I'm hoping that maybe by losing weight and starting to walk on a treadmill, I will be able to go next year.

Ubee, you can do this. You have done this Look how far you have come already. That, in itself, is proof. I weigh myself every day also, even on days when I feel the scale may show a higher number than I want it to. I need the accountability. I know too well what happens when I ignore my scale.

Magpie, good for you. It sounds like you have made a great decision for yourself. You sound determined and happy and that's good to hear.

I hope everyone has a good day tomorrow.

Good morning everyone. The day yesterday was about as close to perfect as they come (or at least for one of the older set here). I picked up my grandnephew who loves flowers, and we went to the tulip festival. I think he will end up having the prettiest yard in the neighborhood some day! The sun came out while we were there, saw lots of gardens and fields and fields of tulips, and bought fresh cut ones for his mom. Then back to their house and I played with my other grand who would have spent the time attacking the tulips like they were Ninja warriors which is why he didn't go. His big treat (oh, to be 4 and think this is a big treat) was to ride in my car and sit next to me at dinner.

Ubee Good job on buying the scale and running away from the chocolate. You're not alone. I regained the 13 pounds I lost last month and managed to do it in 4 days. And it's not water weight! Honestly, we have got to get it under control. I'm using Fi's ideas and am beginning to question everything that even remotely doesn't resemble being on plan. My hair has all grown out. Turns out I'm salt and pepper with definitely more salt. I like it and am glad not to have to color it every month now.
Magpie Finding an eating plan you can live with is the most important thing in my mind to being successful. And I do believe that it has to be an eating plan that will sustain you for the rest of your life. A lot of this is about changing habits as much as cutting down on calories. If IP was driving you nuts, then it wasn't the right one for you. The great thing is recognizing that and finding something that will mesh better with your lifestyle and pleasures in life.
Sam Your soup sounds good! Is DH sleeping during the day and then awake at night? Maybe time to have a heart-to-heart with him about getting back to healthier habiits.
Cindy I can't walk far either, and usually take a cane with me everywhere. But, I'm determined to get off enough weight this year that I will be able to tell the difference.

I need to package up some chocolate dipped pretzels for the gym lady as it's her 60th birthday today. I have managed to avoid them and since I made just 60, I can't eat them while I'm packaging. Then off to the gym, home to vacuum as it looks like Toby brought in half of the outside yesterday. Depending on the weather, either weeding or else woring on doing the touch up painting for the trim.

I'm really hungry for a salad -- the miracle occurs! Haven't had any greens in a couple of days, and I need to get some in me. Hope everyone has a great day.

Hi everyone.
Betsy we have got to do this. What helped you to be successful other times? The tulips sounded lovely. What kind of car do you drive that he wanted a ride? My hair is like 9 different colors. Some days it blends in and looks great other days it looks like a 2 year old colored it!
Cindy thanks for the encouragement. I really need it. When you get a little more weight off you will really notice it in your knees. Can you see it in your face yet?
Sam does you hubby have sleep apnea? When someone can sit down and fall asleep right away that is a big red flag. I am glad you are making exercise a priority again. Once again so glad to have YOU back!
Fi do I dare ask how you are? Hope it is better.
Magpie nice post. This is a journey of learning by reading, trial and error, self discovery, sharing... It is important for us each to find our own way so we can maintain our successes.
I tried a new recipe today. It was so so. Baby crying...
Have a peaceful day.

Betsy ~ Yup they are the same thing. I'm glad you agree with me about parents that take their kids to R rated movies.

Ubee ~ Yes I agree that movies have ratings for a reason.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up at 8 a.m. and got ready for school and when I was already, Mom called and said she thought I should stay home because we're getting a really bad storm today and she didnt want me on the bus when there was a storm so I stayed home today even though it sucked that I had to stay home but if I would of went mom would of been worried about me the whole time but I really wish I could of went to school today. We had Lunch and Bingo today so I missed out but oh well. I hope there arent storms tomorrow too cause I have cooking class tomorrow but we'll see I guess. Sorry for rambling on. I'm gonna do my 30 min. walking dvd today here pretty soon.

Betsy DH has always been a night owl...ever since I met him...sometimes I can get him on a good sleep schedule but he almost always goes back to being the night owl. Granted he does usually go to bed by 1 am but it is still later than me. With him being disabled he can pretty much go to sleep whenever he wants so he will usually take a nap in the afternoon before I get home too. Not sure if I'll ever be able to change that but I definitely want to get him eating better.

Ubee I don't think he has sleep apnea. He doesn't exactly fall asleep on me all the time, just when he stayed up really late the night before sometimes he gets tired during the day and will doze off while watching tv. In all honesty if I didn't have to be up early for work every day I'd probably stay up late too. On the weekends I'll sometimes stay up until 2 or 3 depending on the situation and how early I need to get up the next day. Thank YOU for having me back I feel really good and posting daily is just what I need. My computer being set up in the living room has made that easier for me. I don't even try to post while I'm at work anymore because I barely have enough time to breathe. Sometimes I wish that we would hire someone to be my customer service rep because it's hard to do all of my job but at the same time I wouldn't want that to hinder me from making any more money...Ahhh when do I get to retire again? LOL

As usual it was another busy day at work. Surprisingly my boss has not gotten irritated that I have been leaving shortly after 4 pm when we close. I guess she is now realizing that I need to do this in order for me to stick with my diet plan and exercise. I know that if I have to get up by 7 to be at work at 8 and work until 6-6:30 every night, I am going to be too tired to exercise. It's just a lot of time to put in and my brain gets fried.

I had to fight temptation today...after lunch I was really craving something sweet and there was nothing remotely healthy that could satisfy my sweet tooth in the office...but there were some birthday cake oreos in the back...I thought to myself...Oh I could just have like 1 or 2...Then I gave myself that mental smack in the face and said NO!! Girl don't keep doing this to yourself!! Is that 1 cookie really worth losing the hard work you've done so far this week!?!? Of course the answer was no and I just went on about my day...I'm very proud of that.

I came home and tried to get DH to go on a walk with me. He was too tired and his tummy wasn't feeling good. He's a little stopped up so he decided to stay behind. It's another excuse but whatever...I can't make him do anything...I know last time he finally got on board with me he did it on his own so I'm hoping that's what will happen again. I went to the park and walked 4.5 miles...I was hoping to try and push past my usual and do 6 miles but at towards the last mile my lower back on the right side started hurting. I was in a car accident in 2006 and every now and then that side still bothers me from the accident. The last mile was a little slow paced but I still got it done. Tomorrow I'm hoping to do some yoga or maybe do another Chalene Johnson video. I told a client I would come to his house after work to pick up his insurance premiums for the next year. He's a really nice man and is really the only client I do this for. He has been battling cancer this year so I wanted to make sure I made the special trip out to him. He likes to talk so I'm not sure how long I'll be there. I'm hoping to at least have a little time to get some exercise in but if not I'll take it as a rest day. I know I still need to rest every few days so I don't get burned out but inside I just want to go go go!

I've been doing some thinking on my goals for this year...I know we're already 1/3 into the year so I feel like I've lost some time there with not being consistent...But originally I said I'd like to lose 50 pounds by the end of the year. I think that's totally doable...But I'm setting that goal to the end of September. I think if I can work hard and lose at least 2 pounds a week I can make that goal...That would put me right at 200 pounds with a couple months left to lose more weight...My ultimate goal this year would be to get under 200 pounds...and if I just keep my head in the game I think I can do it.

I just had a little snack of some pineapple while I wait on my soup to reheat on the stove...I didn't eat a snack when I got home from work like I usually do, before my exercising so I felt a little famished.

I'm gonna leave on that note but I hope everyone had a great day!!! It feels so great to be posting here every day again <3

Sam your recent posts about work really resonated! I am a super workaholic, I get stressed out and want to be perfect, I have a reputation of being in control of everything and a perfectionist and reliable and etc., etc. And that tires me out and stresses me out and I don't have time to exercise, and I don't feel like cooking and when I go out, I get into the 'I deserve to have such-and-such!' mindset and eat unhealthy stuff or binge on sugar.

I've been working hard to turn that around this year but the workaholism is starting to slip. We have a genuine disaster at work today, but Monday and Tuesday I worked 9 hour days -- then turned around, went home, and worked another 3-4 hours. Granted, it's on a project that is 'fun' for me, but it's still tiring and mentally draining. I will probably be stuck working 14-16 hours today, after only sleeping 4 hours last night.

Already I can feel the 'you deserve a treat!' mindset creeping in. Luckily I have been eating healthy and treats are no longer as appealing. There is a drawer FULL of Hershey and Milky Way and Snickers and stuff at work, and cheesecake in the fridge, and chips in the kitchen, but it's not tempting me. I have had five or six mandarin oranges today but that's fine, they're pretty small and so be it, I'm hungry and that's reasonable. Oh, and three animal cookies. I really just wanted to bite the heads off, and they luckily didn't taste great so I didn't want more after my brief moment of decapitating the animals.

Tonight I am not eating leftovers, I've decided. I'm going to get a salad and apple at Panera Bread. I may do my 20 minute walk, or I might make this one of my two rest days. And if I can swing a comp day on Friday, I'm going to the spa to get a foot massage. Healthy treats!

Hi everyone.

Betsy, glad you had a perfect day yesterday. It sounds lovely.

Ubee, I don't really see any difference in my face yet, but I do feel some difference in the way my clothes fit. I really need to take some "before" pictures soon.

Hi Sam, Rabidstoat, and Terra.

Today my DIL asked me if I would make baked ziti for my grandson's 16th birthday party on the 25th. Of course I said I would, even though I won't eat any of it. Then she asked me what I would eat because she wanted to make sure there would be food there that I could eat. I thought that was very sweet of her to ask, but told her not to worry about me, that I was sure I would find something. I had already decided I would make sure I had lunch before the party in case there wasn't anything there for me As it turns out, most of what will be there are things that I will eat. That got me thinking a little though, about how I never want anyone to fuss over me, or accommodate me - that I am always the one who will make the compromise. I don't think that's who I want to be anymore. Not that I will ever be demanding. That isn't me either - but if someone is offering to accommodate me, I think I should let them.

She and I also had a nice conversation about how well I was doing, and what I was doing to lose weight. She needs to lose some and is feeling quite frustrated about it right now. Counting calories seems to work best for her because she is unwilling to give up the food groups I have, so I believe she is going to give it a try again. She also told me she was proud of me, and that made me smile,

I hope you all have a nice day tomorrow.

Cindy, a lot of women (and men too of course, but it seems a bit more prevalent in women) are people pleasers who like to accommodate others, to the point of not taking care of their own needs. I'm not so bad at that myself, and I sort of wonder if it's because I've never had kids. It seems like having kids might reinforce them as when they're young you have to accommodate them, there's a lot they can't do and don't know.

It's a shame I can't bottle up some of the selfishness in a few people I know and send it your way, maybe redistributing it would make it easier for you to let yourself be the one who is accommodated some of the times -- and them less likely to be self-centered jerks.

Hi, everyone. I thought that I would check in. I'm in a decent amount of stress right now. I'm not feeling well. So, no personals today. I had a lot of right side abdominal pain Monday evening, into Tuesday, so I went to the doctor Tuesday. I wasn't going to go, thinking that it was muscular pain, or something less severe. It turns out that I had appendicitis. I was admitted into the hospital, Tuesday, to get emergency surgery to have my appendix removed. Fortunately, they were able to remove it via laparoscopic surgery, so I'm home now. Good news, according to their scale when they checked me in, I weigh less than my scale says. I was over calories today, but yesterday I was way under, so it should balance out.

Hi everyone.
tootsie hope you are up and around and feeling better then ever in no time.
rabid I am one of those people pleasers, it can be a curse.
Cindy that is so nice that your DIL is proud of you. I hope you are proud of yourself too.
Sam it sounds like you, Betsy and I all have a goal to be under a certain weight by 2016. This gives us 266 days. Let's get going!
Terra I saw those storms on TV last night. Tell your mom she is one smart cookie!
Betsy did you see my Sam post? 266 days to go.
This morning I found out that my health nut sister had a heart attack last night. She is thankfully going to be OK. I imagine my husband will really be encouraging the healthy eating for us now.
I did not weigh myself on my new scale yet. Hopefully I will remember tomorrow morning. Kick in the pants time to get serious.
Have a peaceful day.

I love this board. I come in all "wah, I don't want to do this stupid diet anymore," and I'm feeling like a quitter, and you're all like "that sounds like a solid plan" and, just, BEAMS of support. Thank you. So much love. ♥ ♥ ♥

Cindy, I think you're right. When people offer to accommodate you, it's great to let them. They feel good about helping out! Plus, if what they're accommodating is healthy eating, then they probably get some benefit out of that, too. I know, even when I wasn't watching my food or my health at all, if there was a veggie plate at a potluck I'd at least take something off of it to eat.

Tootsie, you're healing from surgery. If you go a little over your calories for a couple of days (with healthy, nourishing foods), that's probably not a bad thing. It sounds like the surgery went well! I'm so glad you went in when you did, and they did the surgery laparoscopically! Heal well.

Ubee, I'm glad your sister is doing OK! And it sounds like you'll have good support for your health efforts, going forward, so that's a little bit of a silver lining--though of course everyone wishes your sister didn't have to go through that, to get everyone there.

Stoat, my own workaholism (I was going to ask if that was a word, but my browser's spellcheck didn't flag it -- I guess it is!) got me to the weight I'm at now and probably is to blame for my chronic illness, as well. I mean, yeah, I could have made healthier choices when getting the inevitable takeout and working lunches. But there wasn't time or energy outside of work to exercise and cook healthy food and take care of myself, because I didn't set those boundaries and make that happen. I hate that I let that happen to me. ... What I'm saying is, fight it, girl! I know that fight, myself, and it's hard. But you've got to prioritize YOU, because nobody else will. - And you DO deserve a treat, but if you can make that treat a kind of exercise you like, or visiting a place you enjoy, or taking the time to cook something healthy that you really like, or ... yeah, you get the idea.

Sam, you walk 6 miles per day? That's fantastic! Do you mind my asking, how long does that take? I'm still a pretty slow walker, so a 6 mile walk for me is ... well, for one thing, I haven't walked 6 miles at a go in a very long time, but even a 3 mile walk is a time investment for me.

Betsy, a tulip festival and making chocolate-dipped pretzels as a gift. That sounds like a really nice day.

Fiona, ♥, how are you doing? I'm reading that book you suggested. I think I might do better with the book that she cites as starting her healing--the one about radical recovery--but even if all I got out of this book was a citation to a book that would help me more, it'd still be worth reading. And I'm sure I'm getting more than that out of it!

~~~

So.... I didn't go off IP the way they suggest. I'm doing it my way. I'm still getting at least half of my calories from protein drinks and packets, but I've reintroduced carbohydrates fairly gently. I can tell it's gentle, because my scale hasn't freaked out at me yet. (When you drop carbohydrates below 50g/day from, um, lots , then your body sheds a LOT of water as your glycogen stores deplete. That water is healthy and good, in general, and when you go back to eating carbohydrates at a normal rate, you gain it back. I do not seem to be gaining it back, just yet.)

I've had two of my favorite foods in the last two days, and I had moderate amounts of them. I didn't overeat. This is a pretty massive victory. I'm feeling pretty good. My knees are sore, but it might just be that I haven't been out for a proper walk in a couple of days, and they need loosening up. I'll try to fix that this afternoon.

I hope everyone's having a great day!