So how much is too much citric acid? All the fruity drinks have it in them. I've been having 2 of the pink lemonades and a pudding everyday. The drinks give me a break from all the water.

My coach told me to have the pudding as my last package of the day b/c they are lower in carbs. I eat mine around 9 so I blow that no eating after 8 thing too.

Are the only two things with collagen in them the blueberry drink and the rasberry jelly? I understand consuming collagen will help with the baggy skin and cellulite.

Novak, CinnamonSparkles - We must go to different places b/c mine tracks everything in my file there at the office. I thought we might go to the same place since we are all so geographically close.

Hi!

Congrats to everyone on their great losses!!

To the others - hang in there. We are still constantly losing, but the pace just seems to change from week to week. I think being a woman has to do with that also. Hormones, stress and all.

What are some suggestions for getting your olive oil in for the day. I really don't like the taste of it, and am having a hard time remembering to take it every day.

Have a good one - take care!!

You obviously go elsewhere. That's the way it SHOULD be, but that's not how it is for us...

There's no real IP Bootcamp - it's a protocal that one of our initial dieters MeghanO was using and what she/we nick-named it. It's just a protocal to restrict carb intake to try to take off some pounds a little quicker - it means counting carbs in veggies, etc. which usually we don't do on this diet - you just eat the 2 cups and so you don't usually count carbs.

Had the beef stew today for lunch. Not bad....pretty good, but no where close to the chilli!

I find these restricted Lunches are harder as sometimes that bar is my saving grace during the day when I just need a little bit (I do 1/2 bar at a time) but according to plan I can have both the restricted lunch and the bar (right?)....not sure which way to go at the moment.

Well, I'm no expert but 1st if you lost inches that means you still lost, right!!! and you did not gain! So even though you had a set back you still lost something so I think you should focus on that and get right back up on that horse and keep riding toward your goal!!! In answer to your question, again no expert but...since you fed your system carbs your body maybe didn't burn as much from your "fat" tank this week but rather from your "carb" tank or maybe even your "protein" tank. When they have us on this program it empties our "carb" tank, preserves our "protein" tank to preserve muscle and forces our body to burn out of the fat tank. If we cheat we throw a wrench in our "tank burning" process... That's my take on it. Hang in there!!!!!!!!!!!

I cook my dinner protein in it to get it in. I don't like the taste either and this way the meat just absorbs it, my coach said that doing it that way I should be getting what I need.

[QUOTE=jordanna;3212477]As a reward to myself for losing 40 lbs I went out and bought myself a sweet new bike I can't wait to ride it, but first I need a basket and a bell and maybe some streamers.

You go girl!!! That is awesome!!! I think a bike is a great way to reward yourself...keep on peddling!

Yes to my knowledge those 2 are only ones with the collagen and my coach has me do the collagen every 3rd day. She said they changed it from an everyday thing. I sooo blow the after 8m thing. But I try to have dinner by then and then do the bedtime snack thing a couple of hours after. I too either have a pudding or a drink for my BT snack. It's my understanding that in Phase 1 we get 1 green and 2 whites a day. I'm aware that you can have up to 3 whites a day but was told to try and only have that 3rd white if I feel like I'm going to cheat. For the break with the water...add some lemon, which is on the sheet as legal and some Splenda for some "lemonade". They also have a brand of crystle lite that is 0 cal, 0 fat, 0 carb that you can use as well. Not sure where you get. I get it at my Dr. office where I get the rest of my foods. And although it's not really good for you, has BHA, if you really need something different every so often you can maybe make some KoolAid with Splenda for the water thing...

Sometimes the taste of the olive oil is a bit much for me and so I opted to "light flavor" olive oil - it isn't as strong. The only difference is how many presses it took to get the oil - for example EVOO is the first press of the olive and has a lot of flavor whereas the "light flavor" OO come from latter presses. When I have days that I am eating mostly steamed veggies, I get it in by cooking my meat in it and by making salad dressing with it. Yesterday I posted my usual salad dressing recipe which is mostly lemon or lime juice and olive oil.

I wanted to thank Jen1125, Cinnamon Sparkles & BevS for your comments and for welcoming me to the site! I appreciate your encouragement! You are all so inspiring...
Hoping everyone is having a good week!
When I went Monday I've lost another 4 lbs.
That makes a total of 21.7 lbs. Close enough that I want to call it 22 in 3 weeks! hee hee :-) I'm still on the Alternative Plan again this week so come Monday 29th I'll have my 4wk/1 month totals... One day at a time!!!
I got a little hungry the other day but I think it's because I didn't eat my veggies at lunch. I had some hot blueberry tea and was fine until dinner. I can drink those with out any thing added to them they are soooo good!

To Julie & Livybugs...welcome! I just joined this site and everyone is great! I too have only begun and I'm in my 4th week. I just am trying to stay busy, not think to much about it and take it one day at a time... My coach said if I really felt like I had to cheat to have one of their "white foods". BTW the Choc drink is AWESOME if after you make it you put it in a mug and heat it in the wave...HOT CHOC!

I think Bootcamp is a term the coaches were taught- or mine was when she was trained by the president of the company. Bootcamp implies that you are on all non-restricted items, to get the fastest weight loss possible, and from what MY coach told me and is instructing me, I am supposted to stay on it until I am 80% at my weight loss goal. Different clinics and coaches might do it differently but this is just what my coach was taught and how she is implementing the program with me. I don't have any of the restricted items (bars etc) as they have like 15 carbs a piece and makes it harder to keep your carbs lower. But I guess if you're having a harder time- and the restricted items are saving you and you don't mind losing more slowly, I guess there isn't anything wrong with it. Each person is an individual case. I just think if I were allowed to have the restricted items from the beginning I would definately want one everyday and now I find I don't crave sweets really at all. Well not for the time being! LOL!

If you cook chicken o fish for your protein you can always cook it in olive oil I did that sometimes and as always use it in salad dressing. Also you can look in the Ideal Protein recipes thread for some good ideas.

If you really don't like the taste of olive oil, you can have grape seed oil or coconut oil instead. Of course, I like all three. That's the cause of my weight problem--I like just about everything. When I make crepes, I mix in 1 tsp. of grape seed oil or 1 tsp. of melted coconut oil. I make salad dressings using 1 tsp. of olive oil or grape seed oil mixed with 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp. water, a sprinkle of sweet basil, and a sprinkle of Stevia. If all else fails, you can hold your nose and take a teaspoon of oil like medicine and wash it down with water or an IP drink.