Did I read somewhere on here that having an injury can cause you to retain more water?? I hurt my hip last week and I feel like I'm holding on to more water.

65, Ruth Ann, & I all agree, the stress can cause your cortisol to increase and cause you to hang on to the weight, and lack of sleep can affect your ghrelin levels to make you feel ravenous.

You need to take a bit of breathing room and time for yourself. And yes get thyroid (& maybe some other hormone levels) checked.

Above all don't give up - stay on plan and realize that you are not gaining fat when you stick with it. We are all here for you. Try some journaling about what you DO feel good about each day - you need something to help you refocus on the positives in your life.

Liana

That & your body will be concentrating on healing and not on losing weight (slightly simplified of course) so you may not see much happen for a bit depending on the injury.

Liana

Amber -- First, . Now, this is a chance for you to break a cycle. Do not let emotions overtake your care for your body and your health. Your inner "little voice" is beginning to overtake you with doubts and frustration. Shut that voice down. Make up your mind that you are staying OP and are going to ride this out. You WILL lose if you stay OP. You just have to trust that. As we always say, it takes 3500 calories to gain a pound. To gain 3 lbs??? Did you ingest over 10,000 calories that we don't know about? No, of course not, so you have not gained fat. There are untold reasons for a fluctuation like this, but true weight gain cannot be one of them this time.

When I had weeks like this, I tried to push the whole weight issue to the back of my mind and "just do it." Don't make it the focus of your day. Try to go on automatic pilot. Eat OP, drink your water, and try not to get mired down in thinking about it too much. As someone who has suffered from Cushing's Disease, I can attest to what too much stress hormone (cortisol) can do. Do whatever you need to to calm yourself down and change your focus. Before you know it, those pounds will come off. Ready? Deep breath . . . and go!

Had my weigh-in and did slightly better than anticipated: "officially" down 2.5 lbs from last weigh in. My scale read 158 this AM but was 159 by this afternoon. So that's 11 official pounds in 3 weeks. Next goal is the elusive 155 siinceI haven't weighed less than that since having my daughter 4 years ago. No inches down this week but oh well.

Good job!
That's great , about 3.6 average a week.

Ya I don't get a lot of self time. Kids don't have a stable dad so I'm on my own and of course I work with kids so it's all kids all day! I ended up having such a generally bad day that after talking to my dads estate attorney at lunch I just broke down and started crying in my car. I couldn't go back to work cause my eyes got so red and puffy. I basically came home and cried for about an hour. Now my head and eyes hurt and I certainly don't feel any better, but the lawyers bad news was just one too many things for the day I guess.

I wish I had time for down time! LOL Life is so hectic for me right now. End of school year so meetings, transitions, pt conferences, etc, plus end of my college classes and I mean the end forever (well till I start my masters) but these last 4 papers and 2 tests aren't going to do themselves. The kids don't give me a break, we all get home at the same time and it's time for homework, back pack checking, gymnastics, soccer, dance, etc. and now is end of the season so we also have shows and expos and games. Plus my mother is going out of town and she is my babysitter so I had to pull that together. The kids dad isn't really in the picture so there's no break there. I get 2 hours a week for yoga and that's about all the me time I get. Dealing with my dad's estate still isn't helping and it seems like every call from them is more bad news, which doesn't make any sense. I'm not sure what the heck the point of leaving a will was if it essentially means nothing. So I guess I'm saying yes I do have a TON of stress!!! I will make an appointment with my doc to check my health just to be safe.

Be proud of yourself and keep on losing!

Some weeks it might be more inches and less weight and other weeks it might be the reverse. You are on track

Dcs, I love your new hair! Wonderful that you donated it too!

Hi! I'm looking for some advice! I just signed up with ideal protein and my clinic has now changed over to the proti diet. Will I still get results or will I be happy with this change? I'm just very new to this and any information will be extremely helpful!!

I use a lot of Proti Diet alternative products buying from Nashua. I check to see which match IP guidelines (most do). Many of us use alternatives and get the same results. It's not the IP label that makes the products and diet work... It is the carefully designed protocol.

FYI - on Nashua, most of the products run $12-15 for 7 packets. I would hope the clinic is charging LESS than the $28 per box that IP products cost... But they will certainly charge more than ordering them direct on your own. Worth it if they give you the support and accountability that you are looking for. Not worth it if they just measure you, sell you food and send you on your way!

I'm in the same boat -- and with the same symptoms. I keep telling myself the bad breath is a good sign (ketosis and all that). My poor kiddos though -- between coffee and IP, I must be a nightmare to talk too

Thanks for sharing the link. I always enjoy Lisa's thoughts but now if I miss a day, I can check 'em myself!

I think I lost 10 inches of hair today too -- but that's only because I wanted to wear my capris and had to shave my Canadian winter legs Okay -- sorry that visual was just TMI!

Okay, I got exhausted just reading about your life. You definitely have a lot on the plate so acknowledge that to yourself and don't worry about the weight gain -- you've heard enough today all the reasons the scale is not budging. Stop worrying about the scale, stay OP, but call on friends to help if you can. I'm sure another mom could pick up the kids for soccer or something one night? If you saw your profs, perhaps work "extensions" are possible for some of the projects for your course? If you are dealing with a death in your family, they may even allow you to pro-rate your mark based on the work you've already done...

There are ways to get help. Don't be afraid to ask. If you need a "me" day off work or something, take it. If worse comes to worse, just accept that the next few weeks will be rough but the end is in sight! You're strong enough to handle it, and we're all here for ya

Thank you for the support. I'm gonna be ok. I'm at the end of my last term there isn't any room for putting it off, in fact my deadline is tighter than normal and if I miss I don't graduate. But it's ok, the school is the easy part. And the death isn't current, my dad passed a year ago but unfortunately despite his will there is a fight and I'm getting tired of having to fight to do what's in his will I'm ready to give up but then that means his widow gets exactly what she wants which is everything and leaving my brother and I with nothing but when you're up against someone without a conscious and who is greedy it seems to be a losing battle. I am strong enough to handle it though, you are right! I knew this month would be tough on me but today was particularly bad. Thank you for your support.

I'd like to tell everyone thank you for the support today! I had a particularly emotional day but I would like to say that I didn't throw in the towel, I stayed OP. I am a trooper and I know it, but I think today was destined to be rough. Gotta have bad days to remind yourself to be thankful of good days.