Hi ! brand new need some quick encouragement and soup packet mix ideas. I'm almost 38 (new years day!) a working mom, and starting out at 197. 5'3" and want to lose 30 to start.

For those of you with similar starting points, how long did it take you to get to -30? I know everyone's different. Just curious about potential timeline.

Also - for lunch ideas at work - easy add ins for soup mixes? Any ideas would be super appreciated. I added garlic, hot sauce and zucchini noodles (spiralized zuccihini raw) today at home, but a little nervous for work tomorrow.

THANK YOU!

Welcome! And I am rooting for you!!

If you stick with it to the letter with no cheats ... you might lose 10 to perhaps as much as 20 pounds the first month. Everyone is different though with various underlying issues -- so results vary. The first week you might lose 6 to 8 pounds. The trick is follow the protocol to the letter and don't cheat or stray -- as that will really impact results.

The first week is typically your best (rapid loss) week and the first month your best (rapid loss) month -- but only if you dont cheat and sabotage yourself. Thereafter the loss rate slows to 2 to 3 to (occasionally) 4 pounds a week (typically) -- but once again that can vary.

When I did IP the first time, I lost 26 pounds the first month (but I started off over 100 pounds overweight). After a year, I tried IP again and that second time I lost (only) 13 pounds the first month. Still even at that slower loss rate, 13 pounds in a month is pretty good!

Make sure you get your WATER in ... 80 oz a day ... Your body cannot release the fat without water.

The cravings are the worst on days 2 and 3 (for me at least) ... after you get to day 4 your body starts to forget about carbs and the diet becomes much easier.

One trick I use is to break up the meals into smaller chunks and eat more often. I would rather eat half portions every 2 hours -- that works better for me! But everyone is different.

I also find that coffee is great for when you have cravings (but I am a coffee drinker).

thank you! I am also a coffee drinker, will keep that in mind!

Just remember: past your first cup of the day, you need to add an extra glass of water for every cup of coffee as coffee is a diuretic and can dehydrate you.
Other than that - work on getting all your vitamins and salt and oil in - those seem to be the easiest to 'forget' but they are all very important.
Keep up with the latest goings on in the community on the Daily chat and ask questions there or share your experiences or concerns or just say Hi to connect.
As for ideas for packets there are a lot of great ones on the thread link on the first post of every daily chat. Just click and read, lol. LOTS to choose from!

Liana

Hot tea after dinner will help with those late cravings! I am on day 3 and the hot tea is saving me!

There was a study done last year that says coffee doesn't dehydrate. No wonder I was able to live on coffee as my only beverage for years. Those days are gone.

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%...l.pone.0084154

My all-time favorite tea now is Get Lost by Tea Republic. I completely forgot about it until you posted this. I think I'll find the tin and make one now. Starving.

I drink Market Spice orange tea when I am having a craving. It is very strong and so it seems to cut the desire to eat.

I have never heard of Get Lost! I will have to look for that one. I love licorice, orange spice and apple cinnamon. My husband found some Earl Grey decaffeinated that I am drinking tonight. The tea adds to my fluid intake, eases hunger and cravings so... win win for me.

Nolamamma, Congratulations on starting IP!!! It took me about 3 months to lose about 30 pounds. It has taken another 3 months to lose the next 20 pounds.

Recommendations--I've found that drinking at least 2/3 or more of my daily water by 1 or 2 pm helps keep everything moving through the body and feeling more full.
Staying 100% OP is the way to go for the best success. Getting creative with the packets helps maintain interest in them, and as others have said, there are some great suggestions in the threads. Also, I've tried so many more veggies from the approved list that I used to not eat--that helps keep it interesting too.

Wishing you lots of success!!!!!

Soup mixes ... you can heat it up and drop a single egg in and poach it (kinda like chinese egg drop soup with some spices), or you can add vegetables or a little of your protein allowance for chicken.

There are also recipes for flat bread made from the soup packets, or you can knock them up into muffins with some zucchini and egg white. Take a look at the recipes thread - you'll find a link to it from the Daily thread that Lisa puts up each day/weekend. Some absolutely brilliant ideas from all the IPers who have been before us!

Welcome to IP!

You can make the soup packets up with a little less water, heat & use as a sauce over your 2 cups of veggies.

Or cook your veggies, puree them & add to the soup. I always wanted the soup packets to be 'more' & 'thicker'!

Strong herbal tea, as already suggested, works for me too. Yay for Market Spice (my local tea shop has a decaffeinated version) & licorice/fennel. Both have the added benefit of being naturally sweetish.

Experiment with unfamiliar veggies on the approved list. I will be forever grateful for the discovery of fennel & its many incarnations - lol.

I never had huge weight drops by the week, & my weight loss graphs look like quite jagged lines, but the overall trend was downward. I found graphing my weekly weigh-ins (later, daily) was very helpful, but I guess I am a visual person. Whatever works to help you stay motivated.

Good luck. Post! Lurk! Ask!

I'd be a little leery of this study for two reasons:
- they only tested men.
- they only tested for 3 consecutive days at a time.

I'd like to see more conclusive studies done with men and women, over a longer period of time before I'd say there's "proof" that coffee doesn't dehydrate. In my personal (anecdotal) experience as a heavy coffee drinker, if I don't offset with water through my day I experience MANY markers of mild dehydration.

Scorbett, just out of curiosity, what are the mild markers of dehydration? Curious if I have those too.

Can you count the water in coffee towards ones 80 oz?

Also can you count the water in the IP Choc Drink mix drinks towards the 80 oz goal?

I have to admit that I am not precise on tracking my fluid intake, but I am guessing it's closer to 100 oz (IF, I am allowed to include the water in coffee and my 3 IP Choc Drinks).

I read once that you should drink 0.5 fl oz of water a day for every 1 lb of body weight. For me that would be 135 fl oz of water a day (at my weight) ... but I just can't do that much (feels like I am floating when I push over 100 oz). I seem to be losing weight fine on 100 oz. There certainly are a lot of degrees of freedom and moving wheels and levers when you are talking about dieting in general for a large population. One really has to fine tune things for their body (I do it mostly by trial and error).

For me...markers are dry/sticky tongue, drier than normal skin (I feel it particularly in my face, a tightness that isn't there when I'm well dehydrated), darker colored pee late in the day (the more light colored/clear it is as your day goes on, the better hydrated you are), and if I haven't been good about my water intake for a week or more and still had plenty of coffee, I tend to get headaches more easily and notice additional tightness of my skin on my hands.

The water in coffee is NOT supposed to count towards your daily intake if it is caffeinated. Decaf coffee and teas can be counted. Water added to shake mixes can also count, and soup (broth) counts!

As far as the "right" amount of water....I've read a few different approaches. I find that watching how my body eliminates (BM and urine) is really the best way to see if I'm getting enough water. If things are working correctly and towards the end of my day I'm eliminating very light colored pee, I'm doing good! (sorry if this is TMI - I worked in a hospital for 6 years so nothing is sacred anymore!!)