I'm only 2.5 weeks into IP, but I see loads of "restart" and "failed" and "getting back on the bandwagon" threads. I mean ZERO disrespect to those who are in that situation--so many kudos to you for refusing to give up!!

Buuuut...the sneaky whisper that I, too, will fail because "look how many others have" is in my head. So, I would LOVE to hear some first time success stories. People who started, stuck with it, and are maintaining would be soooo encouraging to me! I'm doing pretty well with no cheats but the "when" I fail thought always nags at me. I don't have to listen but sone success stories sure would be encouraging!

Thank you!!

It is hard to shake those thoughts. Especially if you have tried other things and regained(me!). I am only 3 months into maintenance, so don't think I qualify for your survey but for me I have a mindset that everyday is a work in progress. Maintenance is not a time to let it all go and do whatever because that is how I got heavy. So I continue to track, and learn. I will say, I found IP one of the easiest diets to lose and it has given me some very good tools to maintain.

YOu should also ask all those who've failed or regained what went wrong and make it a point to not fall into any of those traps. There are a lot of traps for dieters - almost all of our own making.

From what I have read, most people that have to come back have stopped following the maintenance plan and gone back to how they used to eat. That won't work as it is what got us here in the first place. Many say maintenance is harder than losing the weight! On IP tv they mention having your buffer zone. That magic number above your ideal weight that makes you jump back on phase 1 for a week. This is not a restart, just a correction. And unlike during phase 1, in maintenance they say to weigh at the same time every day. On that video day, they had a download for a contract with yourself about what weight you will not go over, believing that if you write it down, you are more likely to commit to it. I have it waiting for me to fill in when I get there! I spent too many years avoiding the scale.

I think for many it will be hard to decide at what month of maintenance is permanent success. This is life long! Some are back after a year. Most of us will always have the fear that the pounds will creep back.

I also want to say, this is about you. Stop looking at other people's failures and get in the mindset that you will succeed. You will succeed in losing weight and you will succeed in learning maintenance and keeping it off. Lisa often posts quotes from Beck's diet solution. It might be a very worthwhile purchase for you because it works on the mind.

No disrespect taken as a re-starter I go to the 100% chat thread - most especially if I'm NOT 100% - to keep my head space positive. I also recently started looking at the maintainers thread, and see all kinds of people that are maintaining now that were with me first time around. While it makes me frustrated at myself for not being there with them at this time, it gives me so much hope to see success in action. I went down that journey with them, and see that it can be done.
The "why" I'm not there is easy: If you do what you always did, you get what you always got. You have to have an "after" plan.

This mindset is so important. I always say to my students "If you think you can, or think you can't, you're right"

I am one of those restarts. I lost the weight and got to maintenance, that is where I started experimenting with what would work for me and what would not. A year later I was up almost 30 lbs. I started a reboot and am getting back down to where I was. I don't see it as a failure, I use the pounds that I regained as a lesson learned. When I was following the protocol for maintenance, I maintained my weight, when I tried to do things my way, I gained. I now know what will and what won't work for me for the rest of my life. You have to use this experience as a personal journey to get healthy, don't try to pattern yourself after anyone else you see on these boards, stay the course and you will be successful. Everyone is different, if you follow the protocol you will succeed, if you cheat you will not. If you let people that stray off the program make you believe that you will too, you are not following your own path. Be true to yourself and before you know it you will be in the home stretch. Hang in there, we all come here to be uplifted when we are down, encouraged when we falter and sometimes being given some tough love. I believe it is all meant to help you succeed, no one here wants you to fail. Good luck to you.

Starting about 5 months-in on my 10 month p1 journey of losing 90 lbs, I started lurking in the maintainers thread. I didn't post there b/c I felt I hadn't earned the right but I wanted to start learning from them.

We all know that if we go back to what we were doing pre-IP, we're doomed to repeat history. I have history of significant WL with regain from another plan. I started IP with my sites on maintenance and wanted to start learning what it takes to be successful in maintenance.

What I've learned from watching others is it takes constant diligence and all four phases of the plan are important.

One of our maintainers recommends many books she has read while she has learned to maintain. I have kept a list and am gradually reading them. The biggest takeaway for me is how important it is to change our thought patterns with food and to develop a healthy relationship with the scale, viewing it as a tool, rather than the enemy.

I agree with the comment that this is about you. Comparing ourselves to others can be frustrating during the weight loss process and scary in maintenance. We are only responsible for ourselves. So it's very important to learn from those who are succeeding. When I first started IP and came to this forum I learned very quickly that the majority of the long-term success that I saw was with people who stick to the plan and don't create their own plan by making small adjustments. The plan works as written. Since I chose this plan I chose to follow it the way it was written. I decided that if I allowed myself small variations that I would never learn to stick with something. I stuck with my clinic for much longer than I really need to, knowledge-wise. A lot of that was out of fear of failure. But then I developed a health condition and they weren't really helping to support reversal so I had to seek outside help.

What has happened is that I have been put on maintenance. So I get to work on that. It is quite a learning experience and truly takes diligence. I have told people many times on this forum that I feel like I have the disease of morbid obesity that is in remission and only I have the power to stay in remission. No outside forces can cure it or cause it to come back. It resides in me and how I choose to behave. The biggest thing that needs to change is my relationship with food. It took a long time to build the unhealthy relationship and a few (or more) months of dieting alone will not cure it.

Absolutely beautifully said!

If we use the time on P1 to learn more about our relationship with food and how we got to the weight we started at I think we have a much better chance at maintaining or being able to correct if we go up after reaching goal.

So hang in there tamila - you're doing great!

Hi All! I have been maintaining for almost 10 months now. I can't believe it! IP has been the first program that has truly worked for me. I found Phase 1 very easy but I was ready for it. When I started IP I was so fed up with being heavy I really needed a structured program. This has truly been a mental journey for me. I have been overweight my entire life and have been on numerous programs. I have never maintained my weight loss for this long. Maintenance is hard but doable. I follow the IP guidelines of separating fats and carbs and track everyday. Exercise has become routine and I do treat myself to some fun meals. Sometimes my fun meals become more than just once a week but the difference this time is that I know when to scale it back. Like many others have said and I think you just said this recently Lisa, being overweight is hard, dieting is hard, maintaining is hard-PICK YOUR HARD!!!! I LOVE this!! Good luck!

This is a great thread. I have been wondering the same things as you Tamila.

I agree with Lisa and even though I have just begun my journey, I am already checking out the P4 threads from time to time to see what they are eating and how it differs daily from P1.

I have already learned in P1 that weighing yourself weekly is something that I will need to do forever. I used to avoid the scale and everyone would say dont pay attention to the number, it is about how your clothes feel and what you see in the mirror...well, clothes stretch A LOT and my vision of myself in the mirror has allowed me to get to the starting point I was at.

I would love to hear more about what has gone wrong for those who reach P4.

No way can I rely on a mirror. I truly do not see myself as I am. I sometimes get caught by a reflection and cannot believe it is me. I still think I should reach for the 12's not the 6's.

tamila,
Your post made me realize that I AM an IP success story. I started IP in August of 2012 with a goal of losing 30 lbs and by November I had accomplished that goal. Today I am still at my goal weight.

Sometimes I don't think of this as success because I actually lost a total of 40 lbs by January 2013. I maintained the 40 lb loss for about a year. Around the holidays this past year I slowly started to put on a few lbs. Once I hit my goal weight (from the opposite direction!) I am rebooting. I just know I feel better when I'm in the 140 to 145 range. Today I am back on Phase 1 to lose 8 to 10 lbs.

Maintenance is not magic. And in some ways it is harder than losing. In maintenance you don't "follow the sheet" and you don't get the constant weight loss to keep you motivated. And (I affirm the comments others have made) I still see myself as fat sometimes. Phase 1 is "homework" or "training" for maintenance. You need to learn to like veggies and find some new recipes because these are skills you will need in maintenance. If you make lifestyle changes, maintenance is possible.

Good Luck! You CAN do it.

Hi Tamila,

This is a very structured protocol, but it is also a very personal journey. What is the definition of success on IP? I think you would get very different answers. For me, success was dropping enough weight to get off blood pressure medicine, after that success was 10 pound increments, and 8 months later, it is that I am at my goal weight. Every single pound lost is a success. I am looking forward to working just as hard at keeping it off.

It is funny that when I started IP, people definitely told me of people that gained the weight back. Being overweight is a many layered issue. If I change the way that I use food emotionally, I am bound to be a first time success. Why? Because following IP for 8 months pretty much 100% (a couple of extra restricteds as my slip)has shown me that the protocol works when I work it. Even as I enter maintenance, I know that failing to plan will really be planning to fail. It is about continuous planning for your own first time success. It is not about the IP program, it works. It will be about my choices.