It would be foolish of me to even think about cutting carbs before Christmas. I'm positive I would fail. I had been doing IP for about 6 weeks and lost some weight. I had also lost my job, making it impossible to aford the IP meals. I eventually fell off plan and gained the weight back with a vengence. I am now at 182 lbs. I am now going back to work in Jan. and I also need to get back on track. For now, I can't afford the IP products. Do you have any suggestions? just enough to get me through a few weeks until I begin to get a paycheck again.

Mary Ann

Good morning Mary Ann ~ I know there is a forum relating to alternatives to IP, you should check those out. I totally agree the price can be very much overwhelming. I have a hard time affording the packets myself. I believe there was a post regarding shakes and bars that can be purchased at Walmart. If you are ready to commit after the holidays I would suggest already having your veggies and lettuce purchased for the day you start. Stick with it, you are worth it!

Thank you. I'll look around and see if I can find the thread.

Found it. Thank you.
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/idea...s-tips-32.html

Mary Ann, here's ideas that have helped me. I tried Atkins diet twice, once in my early 20s and a year ago. Both times failed. After a few weeks on Atkins my parents came to town and took me out to dinner. I thought it wouldn't hurt to cheat and eat a baked potato then get back on program the next day. Before I left the restaurant I began swelling up and getting very uncomfortable feeling. It was, I guessed, a reaction to carbs and coming out of ketosis too fast. Plus, I think I was further into ketosis than the IP program has you get. It scared me and I decided NOT to get back on program but to quit the diet altogether even though I had been successful losing weight.

I DO NOT CHEAT with carbs or alcohols. If I'm going to eat more than the prescribed amount of food, I make sure it's IP approved. The diet is working very well for me so I don't want to mess it up. Plus, I don't go off program by eating more than prescribed very often because I figure, why drag this thing out longer than I have to? I want to lose the weight, go through maintenance, and get back to a normal life.

This Christmas my boss brought homemade cookies into work and left them in the cubicle next to mine. I listened to people going for one cookie after the next and describing how perfectly moist and delicious they were. It was maddening at the time but, today I can barely remember it. Had I given in, I would also barely remember the joy of the cookies but, my weight loss would be less. That very night I went to a study group and again, there was a table full of cookies sitting on the coffee table in the living room. I sat through an hour and a half of people eating those cookies non-stop, one right after the other, like they were downing vitamins. That was even worse than the office scene earlier in the day. But, I began to think of it as desensitizing myself like the way I do horses when I'm training them. You can't stop a horse from spooking by avoiding the spooks. You have to help them stand by and get desensitized to where things can go on and it doesn't have an effect.

I realized that most of my life, I had never not participated in eating sweets. I had always given into the overwhelming desire to indulge. But, in ketosis the desire for sweets is not as overwhelming as while I'm taking in carbs. I also thought about how sickly the mental feeling I get when I've eaten too many carbs, I literally feel a little depressed and anxious afterwards from the effects of too many cookies, sweets, or whatever.

So, I've realized that after I'm through with losing, I still should not eat carbs the way I did before. I'm going to miss the IP diet when I'm off because it gives me the extra strength to avoid indulging.

sekc14.... You are so RIGHT! In reference to your quote above, this is EXACTLY how I feel. Thanks for putting my thoughts in to words!