Had my weigh in today... I am -4.2 and I am very excited to finally report, I now weigh less than my hubby!!! I am doing happy dances as well as in your face dances!!

pookee i too breastfed till 16 months for my daughter (only 8 for my son bc my husband and i were in a horrible rollover car accident that left us in the hospital for a week)
i started a 1000 calorielow fat, low carb, high protein diet of my own while i was weaning and the pediatrician said i was FINE. you're a great mom for breastfeeding for so long, congrats to you!!

motiv8tedmama
i LOVE the in your face dance!! i just saw a recent picture of an awfully mean ex-friend of mine who used to call me fat. she has packed on the lbs and i'm also doing the in your face dance tonight!

jordana - went on your blog to get recipe and realized we have a wonderful thing in common....I have a precious little girl (well she is 23 now) who we adopted at birth....they are so special...and then another miracle 2 years later when I gave birth to my son! enjoy every moment, it goes toooo quickly

thanks to everyone on the boards...I know I don't post much...not a good writer, but I try to read everything you write...sometimes I get behind and it takes me about a day to catch up :0

I have finally dropped another pound and I bought some ketoine sticks and I am in ketosis. My son is doing it as well and the other day we were talking about what we would eat if we cheated and he had his all lined up (McD's and Chic-fila) but I did not really have anyting I wanted to cheat with. I know in the past if I had cheated I would have really binged and made it worthwhile, but this time it is diffierent. It is like I don't want to cheat so I am not planning it. But I did have a dream last night about eating cold french fries and hush puppies...what an odd combination, plus they were cold and not that good...so as long as I can just dream about it I won't have to feel so guilty....haha! now everyone thinks I am crazy

hoping everyone has a great week and realize how important your post are for all us readers out here!

wen

motiv8edmama and mamaerinb: YEAH for the 'in your face' dance! This is a huge motivator for me -- we spend too much time around some really mean people!!!

Thanks for the kudos on breastfeeding for so long, everyone. I did the calculations and for the last 4 years and 4 months, I've been either pregnant or breastfeeding (nursed my first girl for 18 months). It's TOTALLY time for me to get my body back.

Novak - Way to go, you made it!!

sassykimann - so glad you are back and that your doc is supporting you in this.

neeseebaby22 - your post earlier today had me laughing out loud, you sound like such a hoot! Don't worry, it'll be no time and you'll be feeling like a real wild woman!

mamaerinb - I know I shouldn't say it, but I soooo love it when the mean girls turn fat! Or even when they turn super ugly!

pookee - you have given so much for your children and they will be so proud when they look back and see what you have sacrificed for them.

It appears everyone is rocking and rolling this week, either in pounds, inches or other NSVs...LOVE IT!!! I forgot to mention earlier, I am down 4% body fat!

Welcome all newbies, this is an amazing way of living and is sooo worth the time, effort and at times frustration to get healthier day by day! When you are frustrated at the scales that won't budge, remember we are getting healthy from the inside out and sometimes our bodies want to keep what they have and hold on to it, this will pass, don't give up, you will be amazed and so proud of yourselves for sticking it out.

pookeei just realized we started at close to the same height and weight, when did you start? i cannot WAIT to lose these 2 oz and be in the 170's!!

motiv8tedmama i felt so bad thinking about how happy i was to see her like that, but hey karma is a *you know what*! and yes, ugly is just as exciting-the ugly finally found it's way out and is taking over that face of hers!hahahaha, ok i'm done being awful. ah, so glad i have you ip ladies to help me out, through the difficult times AND the funny ones

Lady5andy- Oh my, I hope you feel better soon. That sounds awful. I recently came back from Mexico and had the Montizuma's revenge. That was bad enough and I had to get an antibiotic. So, I feel bad for you. Also I wanted to tell you that I love your city. My son lives in Montreal and we were there for a visit last May and went to Quebec and stayed at the Frontanac. Great time!

Rocky Monarch- I loved all the great ideas you gave for different ways to cook things. I have been on IP for several weeks now and some of your ideas will jumpstart my plan too!

So happy for you! It must feel good!!!!!

Thanks for the great info!!!

TO LADY5ANDY: I don't know how long you've been on IP, but if you just recently started, it's possible you have an allergy to the milk (whey, casein) protein, the soy protein, or the egg (albumin) protein. If you didn't consume much of these in the past (or did so in moderation) and are suddenly doing so in isolated forms, it could be allergic reaction. Everyone has different reactions to different allergens. It doesn't mean you'll have a runny nose, etc. You may have GI issues if you are related to something; there is a huge spectrum of potential symptoms to any given allergen. There are also delayed-reaction allergies so make sure your doc is being thorough!

TO LADY5ANDY: Also, you may have heard of the BRAT diet often recommended for youngsters with diarrhea. B=Bananas, R=Rice, A=Applesauce, T= Toast. Eat these foods (the pasta would be starchy like rice or toast) to help minimize the diarrhea. Also, I hope your doctor recommended an electrolyte supplement or drink like Gatorade (many ZERO calories forms on market) b/c you'll get dehydrated and low on electrolytes as the diarrhea continues. Did you try taking any Imodium type products?

mamaerinb: Hey, you're my twin, but you look amazing in your pic (I still look like a beached whale). The 170's have been a major goal of mine for a long time... now my goal is a BMI of 25 (that would be a weight of 169)... hopefully in 2 weeks I can do it.
I started April 24 with 10 pounds lost in the first week, and 3+ the following 2 weeks. I won't be able to officially weigh-in for the next 2 weeks, though, so my WII will be my weigh-in.
Do you have the energy to exercise with 2 little ones running around?

Someone posted a couple days ago about "what motivates us?". I've been thinking about it a lot since then and I realize it's a lot of things. I obviously needed to get to some kind of "tipping point" about my weight before I was ready to do something about it. What changed? Hmmmm....
Some of the same things I heard other folks: I want my life back. I want to be able to go wild with my husband I want to look good again. But I think for me it's mostly about getting my confidence back. I used to be fully engaged in life and while I got my knocks like everyone else, I was able to spring back. Now that I have gotten so fat, it seems I am emotionally less resilient. I take less chances. I don't put myself out there.

For the past month, since I started IP I can see this starting to change already. I am becoming more assertive, I think in part because I feel like I am getting control of my physical body, so it feels more realistic I can get in control of other parts of my life. And I want that.

I could NEVER do this without IP, it's hard enough looking at 3 or 4 or 5 months of this (but I've been on bootcamp for the first 4 weeks, and maybe it will be less daunting when I can have a few more foods to choose from!).

pookee i doubt you resemble anything near a beached whale awwww! a 25 bmi is where i can't wait to be either, so many little mini goals i can't post them all bc they'd take up too much room wow, you are doing AMAZING! 18 lbs in 3 weeks-well let me just say-it's very motivating i honestly don't work out much except for floor exercises while i watch tv at night(while the little ones are fast asleep). i like crunches, leg lifts and squats the best, all things i can do over and over again and zone out on the tv. a little here and a little there really makes me feel good and i love that sore muscle feeling the day after. what about you? are you exercising? i'm thinking of cutting out even the little bit of exercise i am doing and going back to boot camp mode with no restricteds, i gotta get out of this plateau

I be interested in effect of exercising or not too. Really... Is it better not to?

I'm doing good but I love crunchy things. You can only eat so much celery Does anyone have a good legal crunchy recepie? I'm not comfortable with eating the higher carb IP stuff yet. Any suggestions would be great!

Thanks!