Hi flyshigh,
I started IP a couple of weeks ago with alternatives. It took a lot of research and reading these threads for me to figure out what to do at first! Luckily I have a friend who went through the program last year who has been helping me.
What you're asking is a difficult question to give a simple answer too as there are soooo many products out there that could potentially work as alternatives. What you order will really depend on your own preferences and tastes. It doesn't have to be just shakes - many people use bars as restricted items they eat once per day.
What I would recommend is for you to download the Phase 1 guidelines sheet. Lisa posts it in the very first post of the daily chat - that will tell you how many packets to eat per day, how much protein, veggies, etc.
As far as which alternatives to order, I came across this really helpful website:
http://www.lamberjules.com/my_makeov...r-weight-loss/
This person has put together a spreadsheet on that page that lists the nutritional guidelines for choosing alternatives as well as the nutritional info for many of the items you'll find on Nashua. It should give you an idea of how to choose shakes/bars, etc and what kinds of things are out there.
Hope this helps!
Lucy