Hi Everyone! I'm so sorry that I fell off the face of the earth for the past few weeks. Work has been crazy and I've been working/traveling a lot. Very long days, handling and learning lots of new responsibilities. The good thing is that I still like my job and I've been able to have a little bit of a social life in my new locale. Also, I'm doing well with maintenance...scale is at 154. I've been so busy that I've been doing a hybrid of P1 for breakfast and lunch most days and a P4 dinner. I don't have any more trips planned for now, so I need to make sure I'm nourishing myself with more fresh foods rather than relying on shakes and bars so much.

I caught up on everyone's posts and I'm proud of all of you ladies for putting your health first despite stressful things going on and the usual life stuff that can get in the way if we let it. I believe in my heart that all of us are capable of maintaining/losing/rebooting-whatever we need to do to be at our healthy weight.

I realize this is somewhat of a generic post, but I just wanted to say hi and apologize for not being active on the board lately. I'm back and will check in more frequently. This board is a source of collective strength and comfort for me and I like to contribute to it as well.

Kooki! Yaaay! So glad you are enjoying your new locale and job. Read & post when you can, we like to hear from you too!

Liana

Kooky: glad you are enjoying the new job and surrounds still. Nice to have a job you enjoy. Will you be lots of traveling for this job? Great job on maintaining, that is great!

Slip: Food poisoning? Yuck. Hope you are feeling better.

FOOD POISONING!! Slip, yikes! better keep that restaurant experience in mind when looking for a place to eat, scary. My DH had food poisoning twice when he was younger - both times were on vacation at restaurants and it was the chicken... I've never had it, luckily, but he is pretty paranoid about how well food is cooked. He won't even touch my rare steak and I'm the one who has to convince him to take stuff off the grill before it's shrivelled and dried out.

Liana

Liana and Want2b, I am pretty sure it was undercooked ground beef. I ordered it rare, should have ordered med. rare. Thought it was raw and did not finish it, but believe me my body rejected it!

Kooky, so happy that your new job and life is going so well. I absolutely understand the bar concern. I think it would be healthier to eat more whole foods, but the bars are so convenient.

Hi October Newbs!

Glad to see you are all still checking in. I'm sorry to be such a stranger. I have been super busy juggling work/school/and running. I've been running at least 3 times a week since the end of May. I just ran my first 10k yesterday! Never would have set out to do that if it wasn't for IP. So I've been doing really well with the running but not so good at staying on track with the eating. I planned to go back to Phase 1 after my big run but my coach suggested going back to Phase 3 which is great because I can continue running that way. Today is day 1 of my "reboot" if you want to call it that and I'm looking forward to having more control over my eating. I instantly wanted to return to this forum because it was so important to my success the first time around.

Big hugs to you all!

Steph

Hi Steph!

Saw your awesome run on FB. Hurray for you! Maintenance is an ongoing process. Feeling at peace with our food intake is a huge part of the challenge. I wish you a happy Phase 3 reboot.

Hey Slip!

I saw that you liked my less than flattering running photo yesterday lol. I wish my hubby had tried to take a frontal shot rather than the dreaded profile - oh well! I just filled out my IP journal tonight and realized I started IP on October 20, 2013. Funny. Didn't mean for it to work out that way!

How has maintenance been for you?

Steph, I so admire that you ran the 10 k! Always wished that I was a runner, but it is not to be. (Broken foot twice). Maintenance is okay for me. I have stayed within a couple of pounds of my goal so far.

School this year has been stressful/tiring so I am craving sugar. But... I really have not given in much. When I was grocery shopping tonight, I wanted sweets but if they are not in the house-they are not in my mouth.

Weird that your reboot is a year from your start date. I think your coach is smart to have you on Phase 3 rather than phase 1. We have to learn to live a life of real food.

Slip, I'm so glad to hear that you've been maintaining successfully. Your ability to not give in to the temptations despite feeling stressed is just awesome.

Funny thing about the running. I always thought if I was a "runner" that I would never have to worry about what I ate. Runners are usually skinny, right? I'm still amazed I managed to run a full 10k straight through carrying an extra 20+ lbs.

My coach is super smart and I absolutely adore her. I never would have thought to start with Phase 3. We'll see how it goes. If I find it too slow I can work my way backward to Ph 2 and 1 if necessary. She thought it would be too hard to go back to Phase 1, that it would be "like being back in prison". I didn't think it was THAT bad! lol. Then again I think I did plenty of whining here during the Phase 1 period last year...

Well, I am glad to be back on plan and back here checking in daily. Good to see your familiar face in our old thread!

Steph; glad to see you are back, not glad about the 20lbs thou. Great job on the 10k, that is a great accomplishment. I started running on the treadmill a couple of weeks ago and ran 5k, so not ready for 10k. So I do admire you. Welcome back, I am sure those lbs will be gone soon.

Slip: great job grocery shopping and not buying the sugar foods. Learning how to not eat for emotions is going to take more practice then most things, I think. Lol.

Hello October Newbies!

Welcome back Steph! And I'd love to do a 10km run, I've run it but its been years that I've gone in an actual 10km run. Maybe one day.

Slip: You continue to do so well on maintenance and face things realistically which is so important! Good for you!

Want 2 b: Always great to hear from you!

Kooki: nice to see you checking in and hear how you are doing too!

Liana; you are always so helpful and full of good suggestions so thanks!

I have had a good week on P1, down 6lbs, one more week and honestly I don't really care what the scale says, just that its down a bit and I am feeling back in control and ready to get back to my maintenance plan. This time with a better plan for my weekends. Its a work in progress, just figuring it all out and I appreciate all of your support and good suggestions! Have a great day!

Want2b and Hawaii! Good to see you two still check in. I'm also glad to see you are both maintaining better than I have.

Hawaii - I started with the Couch to 5k app on my phone at the end of May and then I did the 5-10k app after that. It's amazing how well it trains you if you follow it! Do you think you'll start running now that you've lost your weight?

Hi all,

Just wondering if I am ever going to have a school day this year that does not leave me exhausted? Parent conferences tomorrow and Thurs. Kids have a big map test on all the countries in Europe tomorrow, should be interesting.

Hawaii, I am realistic. I think IP worked because I had already dealt with what was not working in my life. Food has never made the stress or tiredness go away. Sugar/carbs just made me fat, which made me feel worse about myself. There are times when I slip, but I am being vigilant about not letting it turn into a slide. For me the key is weighing every day, that data point helps inform my choices for the day.

Want2b, I think we are human and sometimes emotional eating might win for one food choice, but learning to break the eat/guilt cycle is going to be key.

Hawaii: Great loss this week, and great attitude too. I find the weekends the hardest to stay on track too, still fighting to win that battle.

Steph: I just went to p3 last Thursday, hoping to lose the last couple of lbs in this phase. I will see where I am in Jan and then decide if I need to go back o p2 for a while.

Slip: it seems like on school thing after another for you this year. Hope this week passes quickly for you. Hang in there. Remember to pre plan your meals and have something ready so you are not tempted to eat junk when you get home.

Today was a rough one at work, 4 year olds are so exhausting sometimes! Got home and all I could think about was getting out of town for awhile. NSV normally would have eaten junk to cope, but not this time. And I decided not to do a road trip tomorrow. Lol.