Quote:
Originally Posted by longdivision
I know how you feel on this. my coach never set a goal weight with me. I brought it up once and she asked if i had a size in mind that i'd like to be in. well, that size was a size 8, but i wear size 6 now. the next time i brought up changing phases, she told me to just let her know when i feel that i've had enough/ happy where i am. my original goal was 160, but i wasn't happy there so i changed it to 145 thinking it wouldn't be possible (5 lbs away now, but it still might not be possible!). here's the problem though... i'm not going to phase off as long as i am still losing at least 2 lbs a week. this could be a very bad thing for me. i don't want to get too skinny. since my coach isn't holding me to any goal, and she isn't bringing it up in the meetings, it is going to take at least 2 weeks in a row of losses less than 2 lbs before i decide to go to phase 2. i lost 3 lbs this week. technically i should be in phase 2 now because i am at more than 90% of my goal, but as long as i keep losing i'll stay in phase one. on the plus side (for me, at least), this means that it's possible that i could even get down to 135-130 as long as the weight keeps coming off each week. but i, like you, am getting very frustrated with still being on this diet, and i also want to work out to tone up all this gross, floppy skin that i have hanging off my arms and around my belly...
I wish I could give you some real feedback on this because it is weighing (pun) on my mind. I think IP does a great job of giving you the tools to get the weight off, but I really think they need to work on helping us figure out some of the other pieces of this self image puzzle. If you told me I'd be in size 4/6 clothes, I would have told you that was perfect-- exactly where I should be. (Who wants to be a size 2 with a big 'rack'?
) But now that I'm there I'm having trouble visualizing the success. My brain hasn't caught up, so I'm still hyper critical.
I think you need to take a breath and think about what will be sustainable for you. Are you happy with how you look? Just because you are continuing to lose weight doesn't mean you should continue losing. I really believe the IP coaches should insist that we pick a number or size or BMI or whatever and help us stick with it. We can always go back if needed... it is a HUGE adjustment going from phase 3 to maintenance and IP really doesn't have any 'tools' for managing the change. Two weeks on phase 3 flies by and then you are out there in the real world with no coach and no regular weigh ins, etc.
I think phase 1 becomes a comfort zone and a crutch after a while. We don't have to think about what we're eating because it is defined for us. I think getting off of phase 1 is really important. I think we get so focused on getting as small as we can so we have as much 'wiggle room' as possible that it becomes a mind game and unhealthy in itself.
Right now I'm wishing I had lost 5 pounds more because in my mind I wouldn't have to 'think' as much about food if I had that wiggle room. But the fact is (and it
IS a fact) I would be doing the same thing if I were 5 pounds lighter.
Just my two cents... Be careful. It is a slippery, slippery slope.
(And don't anyone think that this post is implying that it isn't worth it. I'd do it again in a heartbeat... I just I wish I had spent more time visualizing the endpoint while I was doing it.)