I am so impressed by your stories of events and travels, particularly to China and stay OP. Inspirational dedication. Way to go!

I would say my system is sluggish. I take a probiotic (before program) daily in the evening and Smooth Move tea is wonderful! Good luck.

I have never heard of adding a frozen roast to a crock pot. How does that turn out and how long does it take?

OMG! Thank you for posting this!! I have had so much anxiety lately and have no patience.
The surges in estrogen must be the cause.

Does anyone else not ever feel hungry? I have to 'force' myself to remember to eat. Does that get better? I am on day 5 today!

I usually just put the roast in crockpot around 8am with a few different seasonings(thyme, bayleaves, garlic and cracked pepper) add 1/4" of water or broth and put it on low (10 hr button) and it's ready for dinner. The roast just falls apart it is so tender. I have done pork roasts before also with just a jar of saurkraut dumped on top and some caraway seeds, very good.

I hope you all had a great weekend. I'm just starting ip again after being sick last week with a upset stomach. I was off of ip for about 2days. It's been hard because of my TOM is coming up soon and the urges are soo strong to cheat! How do you resist the urges? lol must be strong!


also I bought asparagus for the first time and I was wondering how you prepare it?

Every time you resist a craving you flex your willpower muscle which will help you be successful in maintenance. You'll enjoy the taste of whatever you're craving for two minutes then be racked with guilt. You'll also read over and over again how hard it is for people to stop at one bite...it leads to two, to three, etc.

It's not worth the setback!

I am obsessed with roasted asparagus. I line a cookie sheet with foil, mist with olive oil, sprinkle on sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder and cayenne pepper and roast at 350* for 15 minutes. Sooo good!

Also, I sometimes make an asparagus omelet for dinner.

ETA: That is how I prepare 95% of my veggies (okra, zucchini, cabbage, turnips, rutagaba, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, etc.)

Never thought of willpower as muscle! Makes a ton of sense and I need to reread that sentence a couple of time to make sure it sticks!

I'm gunna try that recipe because it seems simple enough for my first time!

Thanks!!!!

My husband and I are heading to a fancy gala. Here's my question: if I end up thinking I've eaten more than my usual dinner portion of protein (I know they will have sliced london broil), do I still have my snack before bed or skip it?

This is my third week on IP, and I have been so up and down! Plus, I started a new bc @ the same time, so thats probably not helping!

Definitely still eat your snack! A little extra animal protein once in a blue moon won't harm you...it only will if you do it all the time.

Have fun!

Nope, no need to skip your snack. Having a little extra meat once in a while isn't a huge deal, and "compensation" is too inexact a science in the context of this diet to really be effective. Just have a great (OP) time!

It's totally normal - women store estrogen in their fat cells so when we lose weight fast it floods our system. Makes us PMS all the time, messes up our cycles. Also it makes BC less effective, so make sure you are using extra protection while on IP or you may end up with an IP baby!

Congrats on the loss!

NO WHY!? LOL No I don't think so, I will have to ask Husband if I have been extra irritable. I did notice I had an early cycle though.