You are doing fantastic work! I love your attitude. It is hard not to want to move on as fast as you can, but be careful not to set your self up for disappointment. If you follow protocol the weight will take care of itself. Keep up the good work !!!!


I would talk to my doctor - I have been on the plan for 6 months and have not had that problem (not that I wouldn't like that on days that I feel hungry). Take care of yourself - no one should feel miserable while on this plan.

I agree with you Linden - I can't imagine a coach suggesting sabotaging your life changes that you have work so hard on. This is a life change and 75% of the work goes on in our heads. It is ultimately everyones own choice, but my thoughts are that I would feel guilty, mad at myself for readjusting my thinking patterns, and having to relose weight that I already had lost.

I found that for the peach/mango drink (which is way too sweet for me) adding a little bit of partially cooled off chai tea mixed well with it. I haven't had any problems with the flavor or it mixing poorly.

I think it takes time to figure out which packets will work for you. I can't tolerate a lot of the drink mixes. The most convenient thing I get is the prepackaged liquid vanilla or chocolate drink. They are both very yummy and not bad tasting. They also have only 3 carbs in them. They are great when in a pinch and have no lumps.

Thank you for ranting! I'm not much of a fan of the drinks for meals, especially breakfast. I found they were ok as a snack to bridge the long lunch to dinner period in my schedule.

As for the sweetness, you can add sweetness but you can't take it out! (ARGGGH!) I do, however, like the pina colada drink. I wish they'd reduce the sweetness of the packets and sell a liquid sweetener that people could use to increase the sweetness if desired. I've added a pinch of salt to the water to take the edge off the sweetness, though I then have to more water because of the solubility issues.

Great tip! I mix chilled decaf coffee with the vanilla pudding powder for a latte-pudding or a drink; the bitterness of the coffee helps balance the sweetness.

Gabby, I have been an emotional eater for most of my life, but I finally feel like I might have that under control for now. Here's what I would be asking myself if I were in your shoes... should I be doing this diet right now? If my life is so stressed by finances, I would worry that not only does a break down to emotional eating beat me up a little, but then, I would worry about the money I'm spending but not getting the benefits. All of that would be me in a cycle to fail so that by the time I have less stress in my life and can really focus on losing weight, I will think that IP doesn't work or that it was just another stress in my life.

Ultimately, you need to make the right choice, but maybe you could make some less expensive changes in your eating without adding the guilt of expenses of IP, and then when finances are better, you'll be ready to go.

Praying for a job for your husband!

You did a great job. You had a plan and you stuck to it. Don't beat yourself up. You did better than me. I messed up big time last night. I am going to do what you did next time I am out. Have a plan.

I add 10-12 oz. of water to the drinks and that helps a lot with the clumping. Plus, I love them so it makes them last longer.

MY problem is the chocolate pudding which used to actually dissolve in 10-12 oz. of water is now all thick and clumped up, and this is the old version NOT the new higher carb version.

Have you tried to mix your drinks in one of those small blenders? I bought a Magic Bullet and it seems to eliminate the globs of powder but created all kinds of foam. I have to pre make the drink and let it set for awhile for the foam to subside. The bullet is great for mixing up your pudding and then putting it in small tupperware containers in the refrigerator. I used to hate all of the puddings but now I like them! Also keep in mind that according to several on the boards, your tastes may change and you may like the sweet drinks someday. I'm with I'm Svelting the Pina Colada is great. Still, my favorite is the chocolate drink - no globs.

I think the hair changes are interesting - I have naturally curly hair and it has gone STRAIGHT.

[I have never experienced food not tasting or not tasting good. I have wished for that many times though in my history of relationships with food.

[QUOTE]The fact that for repeated dieters, this is about what is in our heads and how we handle that, is correct. We do have to know ourselves and we have to be honest with ourselves and others about why we make certain decisions along our journey. This makes it reality and long lasting for changes that we want to accomplish. No one gets up one day and says, "Gee, I think I will start gaining weight today". Of course we don't. Our head, or our brain, our psychological makeup drives us to repeatedly turn to the same solutions to what is "eating us". What we are trying to do with the IP plan is to change some of those solutions to ones that we like and can live peacefully with. We have to repeat over and over again the response that we give ourselves each time the little guy in our heads says "eat it". Eventually we will be doing it because we want to and because we learn new ways of handling the issues in our lives. to everyone that has ever found themselves in this place.

Good morning fellow IPers!
It is a blustery Fall day here on the west coast. Had quite a wind storm last night and there is still a wind warning in effect.
Had a great time last night bowling to raise money for Kids Help Phone. Our team dressed up as lady bugs, complete with wings, antenae, false eyelashes etc.
I didn't cheat, but it was a challenging evening to stay on protocol. I did wonderfully the first part of the day (lots of water and proper breakfast and lunch) but it was too early to eat dinner before the bowling event. Drank perrier there and didn't have dinner until 8:30. We went to the pub next door and I ordered the sirloin steak (probably closer to 7 oz than 5), asparagus and mixed green salad. By the time I got home (an hours drive) it was almost 10:30 and I just couldn't take the thought of another packet, so missed my third one for the day. I thought this might be a lesser sin since I had extra protein at dinner? Thoughts?

Jackie, thank you again for putting into such great words my own feelings on this. I've never been an emotional eater and I don't believe (for me) that going off protocol over Christmas is a 'license' to go nuts on food. I've gained my weight over the years through drinking too many glasses of wine each evening (stress reliever ) and being lazy about preparing proper meals. Leading very busy lives we too often relied on packaged entrees at home and went out to eat too often.
Over the holidays I don't expect I'll do things much differently than I do now, EXCEPT, when I do go to an event, I won't feel guilty if I haven't weighed everything exactly or if I have a restricted vegetable or, of course, if I have ONE glass of wine. I am not dreaming of having chocolate or baking or any of the other holiday goodies. As you commented, Jackie, my thoughts and awareness of what I am eating and drinking has changed, and this is a journey.
My coach is not taking a vacation during the holidays because she wants me to continue to come in each week to see her even if I don't buy packets. I am not paying her for this. Together we'll make sure I don't gain weight. Yes, the journey will take a longer. I'm okay with this. For me it's not about the money either. I haven't worked it out but I may actually be saving money since we're not going out or ordering pizza like we were. I wasn't going to at first, but after reading Jackie's post I might continue on packets over the holidays. I'll discuss it with my coach. Thanks again Jackie!

Sorry for the long post. Just trying to be clear where my head is at on this.

I have been the same way the past couple of weeks. I have always been very regular, but right now I need to take the Floralax once or twice a week to clear things out. I find that it works very well though and seems to be very natural. If I take it mid afternoon/early evening I'm generally right as rain by the next morning.

Well, unfortunately paperwork at the office is calling my name. Happy Sunday everyone!

Hi all, how are you all making out this weekend?
I am here trying to be strong and mom is frying up some chicken to go with her famous potato salad....argh! You can smell the chicken from way down the street and I am here.....baking cauliflower...(*sigh*).
This plan is so expensive though. I literally cannot afford to slip up!

I LOVE your metaphor!! You are putting so much thought into your life and your future and that is why you are so successful now, and you will make this work in the long haul!

I couldn't agree more! As people suggested, adding more water will both cut the "sweet" and get it out of the container more easily. Also, I learned that basically anything cut with vanilla RTD or vanilla pudding is better. So, I will make the orange drink and vanilla pudding (with about 16-20 oz water) at night, refrigerate (which helps with the lumps overnight). Then split it over my next 2 breakfasts. Or the same with vanilla and lemon pudding (turn it into a drink, add LOTS of water), same with banana, the mango drink etc. I think they over-sweeten AND over "flavor" in a monochromatic way. I also pretty much add something to almost every drink...cinnamon, nutmeg, cardomom, a couple drops of hot sauce in chocolate, etc.

I think I was just feeling last night like I was frustrated with the program and the failure feeling came from the feeling overfull. I haven't felt "overfull" since I started this and last night was the first time I felt like that. Even though I know that 85% of what I ate last night was lettuce!

For me, feeling overfull was almost like me feeling like I had just eaten that piece of pizza. Clearly I still have food issues to work through!

Thank you ladies. I'm glad that you're here to listen.

Jess

My issue with the fruity drinks is that to me, they seem SOOOOO salty. I tried the pineapple-banana yesterday and gagged my way through the last few ounces. I DO add more water, and sometimes I add another 8 oz of crystal lite on top of it to make it more palatable...

Good thing my favorite drinks are the chocolate drink and the cappucino!