Thanks y'all, I am going to try all of these ideas. Appreciate the assistance!

Good morning everyone!! Onto day 5 here, and I am feeling great. In some ways this seems a lot easier than my first week of IP in 2010 (no headache, no nausea, not feeling hungry) but at the same time it's harder (husband was in Afghanistan when I started last time so I'm struggling to come up with interesting dinners that we can both eat and enjoy).

I have decided to weigh daily this week to help keep the motivation going, but once I have my official weigh-in on Thursday, I will start weighing weekly. But I am thrilled to report that I am down exactly 5 lbs already as of this morning, and three inches off of my stomach and an inch of my waist.

My sister is here visiting this week, and this morning she said she really noticed that my stomach has gone down. I couldn't be happier.

Good morning all. From the sounds of it -we are all plugging along well enough with some ups and downs. I am FREEZING this morning in the SF "summer." Tahoe was gorgeous this weekend, warm and lovely. I did a bit of walking at Tough Mudder - pretty much down the face of the mountain, zig-zagging across it to the bottom. It was fun but y friends were worried about me in the heat. It was sweet, but I had RTD in my pocket so I knew I was fine. :-) I was hungry that evening though. So I will be interested in seeing what happens at my WI tomorrow.

Had a NSV this morning. I needed to wear a suit for a judges reception I am hosting this evening. Unfortunately, however, none of the suit pants for me. I actually started to cry. Not a good cry though - just frustrated. My clothes, suddenly, don't fit right at all and I don't know what to do. I know, I know. First world problem. But it has sort of creeped up suddenly and I need to figure it out ASAP. Alas.

fighterchick - congrats on the pregnancy!
spiritman - feel better soon, especially those ears!

Clubhouse has a parmesan seasoning spice that is 0-0-0 that I like to sprinkle on my chicken breast and it feels like a real treat.

sarita75----sorry to hear about your problem, but honestly, i can't wait to have the same situation occur for me...



week 3, almost 4...doing well..except i miss my morning coffee...tried mini moos and sugar free crap but its just all terrible bitter black coffee....coffee needs cream..i can live without the sugar....is it okay to use a bit of the vanilla pudding in it..might make it better...or....must i count that as a pack?! i dunno..i wish not to stall my progress...

Nice. Where do you find this?

I know. I am grateful for the loss but mourn the "waste" of having to get rid of so many clothes. Gr.

As for coffee - a lot of people will use RTD Vanilla in their coffee.

Use a little bit of RTD chocolate or vanilla. I used to hate black coffee, but even in maintenance I either use RTD or have it black.

I hate wasting calories on creamer or milk in my coffee. I'd rather have yogurt and cheese for my dairy in maintenance.

When I did IP in 2010 I remember people on here saying they used a bit of the RTD vanilla shake in their coffee every morning.

Fellow attorney here ... I feel your pain! I had to wear a suit for a deposition last week and NONE of them fit. I was super excited, but then went into OMG panic mode because I had to find something to wear. I paired a skirt (too big) with a jacket that fit and played it off like it was supposed to go together. I wear my suits so infrequently (probably about 2x/month) that there is no way I'm going to be able to keep up with my weight loss. I guess I'll wing it! Since it's summer, can you pull off a dress with a jacket?

I got it at my local grocery store. I have seen them in larger sizes at Costco as well. I use a lot of their spices as most are 0-0-0.

Great job on the weight loss. I am looking forward to throwing up some numbers like that! I am on IP, Phase 1, Alternative products. I am down 10.5 pounds and have weighed myself everyday since starting. Whoops. This morning I am up .5 on the scale and Im really bummed, so I am deciding to not weigh everyday now.

I have to remind myself...that I didnt gain it overnight...so I wont lose it overnight.

You are absolutely right!
As I've gotten closer to goal, I'm much more willing to have weight loss slowed than I would have been when I was over 200.
Don't be bummed about a slight gain. They happen and you KNOW if you stayed OP, the gain isn't fat. It is probably water weight, which fluctuates for a variety of reasons, some of which we have control and some of which we don't (hormones, stress, heat, sodium, other unknowns).

I've learned to look at the scale as a long-term progress tool, rather than as a micromanager. The trend line has a downward slope, and that is my goal!

Thanks for all of ideas about dealing with a headache!

Spirit man- grateful you are ok but do consider getting checked. A concussion is easy to get unfortunately.

As for the clothing issue, I found a good tailor and at first, could just get clothes tailored. After a while obviously there is only so much to take in, but it saved some money in the short term.

I am a huge coffee drinker so prior to starting IP I cut out half and half and honey ( yup, I used honey) and went to skim and Splenda. Now I let myself have one cup with skim and Splenda and one with just Splenda. It's not that bad as I use flavored coffee....

There is a great tablet on the market called Nuun. One tablet does have 6 calories but no sugar and less than 1 g of carbs. You put it in water and it fizzes and adds flavor. More importantly it adds electrolytes.

Another product is called Base Salt and the tiniest scoop has 290 mg sodium, 442 mg chloride, 3mg calcium, 12 mg magnesium and 2.6 mg potassium. Add it to anything and it just is a little salty. Athletes use this during training and racing. It does not say on the container, but pretty sure it is 0/0/0. Could help with headaches and dizziness.

My name is Deb and I love cheese! Thanks for the clubhouse idea!

That is what I ended up doing but both are WAY too big. I have made a plan to go home this evening and get through my closet - trying stuff on, tossing what doesn't fit (well, goodwill-ing it). When it is cleaned out, I am going to reassess to see what I have, what works together, and then go get crucial court pieces. It's a good problem to have but - man - it caught me totally by surprise, especially when I just want to feel *confident* in my clothing after so many years...

Thanks!!!

Consign the nice stuff! And I use consignment shops to find what I need while I'm headed downward. So much less expensive than new & usually just as nice.

In St Louis we also have several nicer stores, a step above the normal thrift shop. These are charitable organizations where the social elite donate their clothing. I head to these shops about once per month.

Once I'm at goal, I'll start buying new again. Right now it is expensive enough to keep up with new swimsuits and underthings. Of course, firing my IP clinic and going alt will help immensely!