Hi! Wanted to start a new thread for everyone that is starting in February 2015! Would love to keep up weekly with everyone's progress! Good luck!!

I am rebooting (again) after a challenging holiday season and then January. I am fully committed to seeing this through. Just humbly updated my real numbers and am ready!
Day 2 at 100% OP for me.

Hi all! Was suppose to meet with a counselor tonight. Unfortunately $1,200 in unexpected car problems has side tracked me from getting on the official plan / food until Valentines Day. I've been a proponent of low carb / Atkins since 2003 and do best on that type of eating plan (ie, lots of veggies and whole foods) and that is why IP appeals to me. I've obviously been somewhat unsuccessful sticking to LC alone and keep letting life derail any progress I make.
I began "detoxing" last Friday and have been sticking to LC foods, but not 100% on protocol - I had a bag of avacados to finish over the last couple days (those I will miss - I love avocados). I have aleady made 2 recipes from the boards - cauliflower mash and celery puree - mixed them together tonight and was in heaven!!! I am looking forward to incorporating the knowledge of IP with years of LC education and maybe finally finding the balance that will get me to goal weight.
Start weight - 234
Goal weight - 150

This week has been tough and I will be glad to get OP. I've done enough research of alt products to have been fairly successful, but the cravings / hunger has been tough. It IS getting better - and I continue to take my multi-vit and Rx Vit D & Slo-Fe (iron).
I also went and bought a case of EAS french vanilla - unfortunately, it seems to be creating cravings and may need to be a mid-morning / mid afternoon snack.

Also having an issue with gas - ugh. 1 weeks to pay day / initial coach meeting

Welcome February folks. Good luck on your weight loss journeys. Remember to hop into the Daily chat thread and say hi.

Whoot Whoot! I'm super excited to get started tomorrow. I had an ip dinner tonight to get the ball rolling.

I am on my first week and have doing well. I was hoping to lose a pound a day but have lost about .5 each day. My goal is to lose 60 pounds. I would like some help with recipes. I am making the egg and cheese omelet and would like to modify it for taste. Any suggestions?

How do you join the daily chat thread?

Hello February 2015 starters! I just wanted to check in here to say hi I was you a year ago! I can tell you the year went incredibly fast. I lost 90 pounds before phasing off in October. 7 months is a very short time! 3FC was what got me through. I learned so much and had great support. All the reading kept my mind off eating too!

Good Luck to everyone!

The first 2 weeks will be your best, losing water weight and depleting your glycogen stores, after that things will taper off to 1-3 pounds. 10 pounds a month is common but everyone's experience can be different.

In terms of recipe suggestions, you will get better answers on the daily as many of the people there have been on IP longer.

No joining required, just open the thread and start reading and posting.

You may want to bookmark/favourite this page so you come in on the IP forum itself. That way you'll see all the new threads and new posts to existing threads straight away.

Lisa creates a new thread called Daily chat every day (one for weekends) and that is where you'll get most help with any questions.

Could you please PM me with some of your research regarding OP? I need to restart, but can only do so this time by going off plan.

If you like hot sauce, Franks Hot Sauce is good for jazzing up soups. I never tried it on the omelets because I liked them right out of the packet.

Everything you need you will find here. http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/idea...-part-5-a.html

It is a lot of reading. Lisa gave a link to the previous threads that go back quite a while. There are ways to shop in stores or order online. I have enjoyed a lot of the protidiet products. Many are similar to IP and some are better. IP probably has the most choices.

I thought I would post this since new members can't PM right away.

hi
Sometimes the abbreviations can cause confusion.
OP on these boards stands for ON PLAN
There are many definitions of "off plan".
If you're talking about using alternative products while following the plan, that is considered ON plan on this board.

is this what you meant? If so, somebody else already gave the link for info on alternative products that match IP packets.

The plan works whether you use IP brand or another brand. Dr Tein's first book (link in the daily chat) doesn't list a brand of protein powder at all!

I have posted in January that I went into maintenance after losing almost 50 pounds and reaching my goal weight of 155. Since I have been off program I have gained about 10 or 12 pounds, some of it is water weight for sure but it all can't be. I have been keeping a food journal for the past week and on average I have been consuming about 1700/day. some days it is around 200 and others it is about 1400. I am careful about staying away from refined sugar and alcohol and baked goods like bread and pastries, muffins, etc. Not sure why the weight keeps creeping up so steadily? I feel bloated in my stomach and starting to feel a little uncomfortable in my clothes so I have decided to re-start phase one next week and work to get down to 150 (at least) and phase off again. Fingers crossed that it is as easy as the first time. I know it is mostly mental work. Once I get on track I will be fine. Would love to hear from others who experienced something similar and learn how you did second time around.