I definitely feel that weight loss is a journey. The destination is ultimately what I am looking forward to the most, but it's a very long journey. I have so much to lose. It's pretty daunting. I never had the expectation that I would make it through the whole process without any problems or backtracking.
My husband and I have had a couple of planned "cheats" and overall I think we handled it well. We chose a single meal each time to splurge on. We went in with a plan and tried our best to have no regrets. I think that worked for us for the most part. Sure, we lost a little less those weeks, but we had the satisfaction of a yummy, satisfying meal that we wanted. I also think it helped us stay on track.
Well my husband started a new job a couple of weeks ago, and he is working crazy hours. He was having a lot of trouble figuring out how to space out his meals. And then the Thanksgiving holiday week was upon us. We chose to take a full break from Ideal Protein--a week of eating whatever we wanted. It wasn't as fun as it sounds. We both had some major stomach issues for most of the week. Some of our old favorites were very dissatisfying. And of course, we gained back a little weight. Hopefully, most of it will be water weight.
I was very eager to get back on track. This weight won't lose itself, so I have to move forward if I ever want to see this through. Of course, starting back was difficult, even though it is what I wanted. I started fresh yesterday. I planned and made sure I had everything I needed. I found myself craving foods I couldn't eat. I felt pretty miserable emotionally. The good news is that I survived! I had an extra IP meal to help keep me on track. I also boiled up a couple of eggs to have in between meals to help tide me over.
Today I don't feel as hungry. I'm worried about headaches because they were a major issue on day two for the beginning of the diet. I went ahead and took some preemptive Excedrin! Let's hope that helps. I'm drinking lots of water too.
I haven't officially weighed in yet. I may just skip this week entirely and see what everything looks like next Monday. When I weighed myself at home, it looked like I had gained back 4 pounds. I'm trying to adjust. It isn't easy, but this is so important to me.
The experience has also really made me terrified of the maintenance phase of Ideal Protein. How will I be able to control myself? Because last week I wasn't in control of my eating. It was way too easy to overeat. It was way too easy to give in to my emotional impulses. I am really going to have to figure out what I need to do...
