Anyway, I usually find 8oz is WAY to much protein and I can rarely eat all of that and my 2 cups of veggies....I use it as a guideline and try to eat between 5 and 8oz.
(Cinnamon: They recently increased the limit to 8 oz instead of 7)
Most of your questions are answered, but for the protein, it depends on what the meat is. You can have closer to 8 oz for the lower-fat protein sources, and closer to 5 for the higher-fat proteins. Because everyone's needs are different, you may find that having 5 or 6 oz of chicken leaves you feeling a little weak and still hungry in the long run, so having closer to 7oz can make a big difference.
This, at least, is how I've been measuring for myself. I'm still losing weight, but I know that the weightloss is only part of the equation. We're trying to re-train ourselves how to efficiently utilize the energy we consume, so measuring our foods, vitamins, minerals, etc. is very important. Hopefully I'm not throwing anything off for myself!
Thanks for the updated info on the increase to 8 ounces! Wow that would make life so much easier- exactly half a pound. Does anyone have a digital version of the updated Phase 1, 2, 3 and 4 sheets? Mine are now OLD!
It's also good to know that the 5 ounces for chicken can be more of a "guideline" and tweaked depending on how hungry you are later.
I'm so glad stepping on the scale more than once for an accurate reading was mentioned. This morning it said I'd gained 2lbs! I've been OP all week and just couldn't figure out what happened. I read that, went back and weighed myself and it was back to yesterdays weight. Thank goodness! I just couldn't figure it out! I always expect some variation on the weight but that was a lot!
Congrats Couts on both meeting your goal and a new baby! So many exciting events in your life!
Height: 5'9 current size 8 and some 6's --never ever been a 6 (not even in highschool)
Quote:
Originally Posted by JoAnne9597
Morning,
Well this is my second post, so very new to this, started yesterday. Alot of great information on these posts. It's very overwhelming. This is week 3 with a WI tomorrow evening. I'm thinking I had a better week this week than my second one. First week was down 9.6 and last week only 2.2 but it's a loss and I'm happy with it.
A few questions this morning. Is it true that you shouldn't eat raw bell peppers and cooked onions? And is it really necessary to eat the lettuce at dinner time. I do eat it for lunch but I usually make myself a a stir fry for dinner with my protein. When they say you should eat 5-8 oz of protein for dinner, is it better to eat 5 or closer to 8? Is coffee mate really allowed, my coach did say yes, but I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't. Is gum allowed, again coach said yes but I read somewhere that you shouldn't. As for the olive oil, is there a preferred one and is it 2 tsp or 2 tbsp?
Any info would be greatly appreciated. Hope everybody has a great day.
Thanks,
Jo-Anne
Hi Jo-Anne -- welcome to IP!!!! This diet has been a huge life changer for me and I know it can do the same for anyone who is willing to stick it out. (those first few days are ROUGH --with a capital ROUGH) Weigh in 2 is always significantly less then week 1 -- some don't loose anything in week 2. So 2 pounds is FANTASTIC.
To answer your questions:
Peppers: The new Phase 1 protocol sheet allows us to have all colors of bell peppers - you can eat them cooked or raw (this is new per the updated phase 1 - it used to be you could only eat green peppers cooked - but that has changed)
Onions should be eaten raw or thrown in at the last minute to prevent them from carmalizing and releasing sugars
Salad in both lunch and dinner is optimal - I find that if I miss salads I don't loose as much - the benefits of salad help with nutrients and the big C -- so if you can, give it a go with the salads for both lunch and dinner
Meat: As for the meat allowance the new Phase 1 protocol allows for us to have between 5-8oz of meat. The new Phase 1 states at least 5 oz no more then 8. This modification has to do with the fact that there has been much research regarding the protein needs of women and that women need more protein then what has been historically touted in the medical and dietary community. IP has reviewed the studies and has modified the program based on the findings. You will have to try this out for yourself. I am one of those that needs the extra protein so I always eat at least 7 oz of protein. If I eat less I don't loose just that simple. I lost great until week 5 and then needed to up the protein to keep loosing which is what I mean by trying things out for yourself.
Coffee Mate - my coach says NO to coffee mate based on the ingredient list - she suggests using the RTD or skim milk -- honestly I use 1/2 TBS of 1/2 and 1/2 occasionally but again I did not make these tweaks until I was well into the program
Gum - we are allowed SPRY which you can get a whole foods and health food stores it is sweetened with xylitol. I am a huge gum chewer but had to cut back in order to follow the plan - I occasionally have gum but probably only have 1 piece 2-3 times a week
Olive Oil - Extra Virgin Olive oil is preferred -- it is 2 teaspoons per day. Again this is dependent on how you loose. I did 2 teaspoons a day until week 5 and 6 which is when I stalled the first time -- I added an additional teaspoon --and then dropped back to two after I broke my slump -but my weight does not move with 2 tsps --I am now back to 3 tsps a day and am loosing again. I am one of those bodies that needs the extra fat to loose but this is something you will need to try once you have a good solid month under your belt.
You will occasionally need to make tweaks to this diet to keep dropping inches and weight - but please don't make the tweaks until you have gone through at least 3 weeks following the plan exactly - you need to really understand your body and diet before you can make effective and well thought out tweaks
Hope this helps -- and please keep asking your questions. There are lots of people here to help and who have "been there"
WI #4 yesterday was miserable...weighed myself at home 5 minutes before going, then step on Coach's scale and it was 2 1/2 pounds heavier! I almost cried...usually her scale is about .4 to .6 over my scale at home....not sure what was with her scale yesterday but I told her point blank I will follow my scale at home as I KNOW I lost over 3lbs last week, not .8 So, I guess it's a good thing I am a SW or I would have been relying entirely on her scale. She uses a digital scale, as do I, but I know from experience with mine, when you move them they may weigh heavy the first couple times you step on....IMO she should be using a scale like a doctor has...no question that they are accurate.
So....WI #3 is only 0.8lbs but I know I lost 3, so hopefully next weigh in her scale will work properly and I will have a huge loss on her scale so she doesn't look at me like I'm crazy!
Your weight will naturally fluctuate throughout the day, on any given day so it doesn't necessarily mean that either of the scales you're using is wrong or right. My suggestion would be however would be to use only one scale, whether it be your home one or your coach's one, in order to keep your sanity. If you continue to try to figure out why they're different, you could set yourself up for getting upset at the differing results you're getting, which sounds like what has just happened. I know it's tough, I too was a scale whore but have learned to trust myself and the program and go more by the inches and how my clothes feel rather than focus so much on the numbers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by couts71
Good Morning all you IP Champions,
I have been on the Ideal Protein program for a little over 6 months and have finally reached my goal weight of 250 lbs and have moved on to Phase 4 maintenance. Since starting the program I have lost a total of 96.2 lbs and 63 inches in total and I feel great. If I can do this so can the rest of you. This program is an awesome gift we all have been given and will transform all of our lives forever.
My life has become very busy right now and I have not been able to come on the website and post as much as I would like. I have made many friends on the website and hope I have inspired many of you to accomplish your goals as well. I plan on staying in maintenance until my wife and I have our new child in November and then coming back to lose another 30 lbs and get to 220 lbs after Christmas. I will be checking in on all of you from time to time to see how you all are doing. Keep up the great job all of you are doing. I believe in all of you and wish you all success on your weight loss journey.
Bye for now my friends and thank you all for your support and information.
Couts
You are a HUGE inspiration to us all...please check in as often as you can to let us know how you are doing!
Quote:
Originally Posted by AprilH3
I'm so glad stepping on the scale more than once for an accurate reading was mentioned. This morning it said I'd gained 2lbs! I've been OP all week and just couldn't figure out what happened. I read that, went back and weighed myself and it was back to yesterdays weight. Thank goodness! I just couldn't figure it out! I always expect some variation on the weight but that was a lot!
Congrats Couts on both meeting your goal and a new baby! So many exciting events in your life!
It's entirely possible that your weight was simply fluctuating, not that your scale was "wrong" per say, see my above post for more about that
I have a few packets of IP soups. I made the chicken one yesterday and it didnt seem like a lot of soup, barely covered the bottom of a small bowl. Did I make it wrong? I added 230mls of water like the directions said. How do you all make your soups? Is it okay to add more water?
No worries, I figured it out. This time I made it in a pot instead of the shaker. I think I lost some in the transfer between shaker,pot and bowl
Congrats couts71! Good luck with the rest of your journey.
I had a bad day yesterday or at least what I thought. I woke up this morning and was down a pound. I think it's because I chose an extra bar instead of other carbs. I also see my stomach going down which is heaven.
I will be going on a trip at the end of the month. I am hoping to staying OP for that time. We are doing the Cheesecake Factory everyday. I am going to try to go to a store before we have our meeting to try to get some shakes.
We're back from Florida and unfortunately, back to this nasty, cold weather here in Ontario....oh how I long to be back by the pool and the 95 degree temps
Anyhow, I promised to report back about my experience with phasing down to phase 4 for the trip to Disney.
Simply put, after the first 3 days, that plan went pretty much out the window. I decided that I didn't want to do a lot of thinking and preparation on this trip so I slowly began to eat and drink off program....I want to mention that I was still being "mindful" of what was going in my mouth but I was also allowing myself to "enjoy" some of the forbidden things that the program doesn't allow. What I can tell you now is a few things that surprised me and might surprise you too:
1- all those forbidden foods I thought I was being "deprived" of? they ended up not being as good as I remembered...there was no "omg, this is SO good"...it was more like, yep, was kinda nice to have again but definitely didn't do for me what I thought it might...
2- i ended up with a mild to moderate headache EVERY SINGLE DAY of the trip which I can only attribute to putting sugar and other "crap" back into my system again
3- i pretty much immediately started to feel bloated and just "yuck" again
4- i felt the need to nap again in the afternoons which had all but gone away once i started the program
5- in general, i just didn't feel as "happy" as i had these last 10 weeks while on program
What I'm trying to get across is, while I don't necessarily regret completely the decision to go off program as I believe that every decision we make is a learning experience, I can honestly say that given the opportunity again, I would definitely choose to forgo the "cheating on vacation" thing and just stick with it. I know I would have felt better in general on this trip and now that I know that the foods I used to think were so AMAZING really aren't all they're cracked up to be, I don't believe I would feel the need to even bother with putting all that processed stuff into my body again. It's not to say that I will never eat forbidden things in the future, I just know now it's not worth "cheating", at least before I'm at my goal. And by then, I know I will know how to keep things in check and in moderation.
I went to see my coach today for an unscheduled WI and the scale showed a gain of 7.4 lbs. I expected it, and can live with it, especially because I know the majority of that is my glycogen stores returning as well as water weight and everything considered, I'm just happy it wasn't more It's definitely made me realize though and should make others as well that we cannot do this program and then simply go back to eating the way we were. This experience of mine is PROOF of that, and I truly believe that this whole thing was necessary for me to go through in order for me to be truly successful with this in the future. I can't tell you how excited I am to be back at it today and how much I'm looking forward to my veggies and protein I know first hand how good I felt in comparison to the way I have been feeling these last 2 weeks and I can't wait to be back where I was a couple weeks ago.
My final opinion? We live one life, deserve to be happy and with this program, it teaches you that the right foods can make a world of difference in our overall well-being. More than ever, I am looking forward to a life-time of eating well, feeling well and treating myself with things that don't centre around foods that will do nothing ultimately but make me fat and unhappy and unhealthy. I hope at least one person can take something from this experience of mine and have it help them. We can only decide for ourselves what is best for us, with a little help along the way from friends
Hope everyone has a great, OP day! I know I'm going to and it already feels great
Your weight will naturally fluctuate throughout the day, on any given day so it doesn't necessarily mean that either of the scales you're using is wrong or right. My suggestion would be however would be to use only one scale, whether it be your home one or your coach's one, in order to keep your sanity. If you continue to try to figure out why they're different, you could set yourself up for getting upset at the differing results you're getting, which sounds like what has just happened. I know it's tough, I too was a scale whore but have learned to trust myself and the program and go more by the inches and how my clothes feel rather than focus so much on the numbers.
I do rely on my scale at home, I trust it and I weigh same time everyday without the clothes and know it is accurate, and I use that weight for my ticker and stats on here My weight does fluctuate through the day but not as much as most people...generally between 2-3 pounds, sometimes less. But that is not the reason for the difference between my scale and the coach's yesterday, I weighed myself at home, with my clothes on, got in my car and drove the 5 minutes to the clinic...I did not gain 2 1/2 pounds in the 5 minute drive Since I rely on my scale, I don't care as much what her's says but I don't want her thinking I am not losing when I am....
Is it possible my weight fluctuated 2lbs in an hour and half? That seems like an awful lot in such a short time to me.
I got my food from Nashua today. Very exciting! I'm slightly concerned about the aspertame in the gelatin I bought. Nothing else has it thankfully. I know for som people it's fine and I'm hoping it will be for me as well. If not, I just won't buy them again.
Does anyone know how much protien we're supposed to be getting perday?
Hi everyone!! What great inspiration you all are!!
I had so many questions answered just by reading the daily chat! I too had the bell pepper question, my sheet says red and orange only once a week. I misread this and had been buying the bag of 6 at Costco and was eating them alot!!!! Woops, but I was still losing so didn't think much of it! My coach said 8oz of meat was ok, but I just had a baby two months ago (not breastfeeding, but sleep and energy deprived!) After a couple of weeks I really didn't need that much!
Also I have similar expieriences with my digital scale as opposed to my coach's regular doctor scale! Her scale is consistantly 1 lb more than mine, and I also weigh myself a good three times on my digital to make sure I get the same weight. I try and wear the same outfit to my WI!
Once again I'm so glad I found this website, still learning I wish there was a tutorial! Not super clear on how to respond to an individual post or how to get the smileys, they just show up as text form when I try!!! But loving the inpiration and awesome resources, Thank You everyone!!!
Post Script: Dumb question but what is OP, I've been using IDP for Ideal Protein Diet, Am I writing it wrong???
Height: 5'9 current size 8 and some 6's --never ever been a 6 (not even in highschool)
Quote:
Originally Posted by ontariophotogal
Hello my IP friends
1- all those forbidden foods I thought I was being "deprived" of? they ended up not being as good as I remembered...there was no "omg, this is SO good"...it was more like, yep, was kinda nice to have again but definitely didn't do for me what I thought it might...
2- i ended up with a mild to moderate headache EVERY SINGLE DAY of the trip which I can only attribute to putting sugar and other "crap" back into my system again
3- i pretty much immediately started to feel bloated and just "yuck" again
4- i felt the need to nap again in the afternoons which had all but gone away once i started the program
5- in general, i just didn't feel as "happy" as i had these last 10 weeks while on program
My final opinion? We live one life, deserve to be happy and with this program, it teaches you that the right foods can make a world of difference in our overall well-being. More than ever, I am looking forward to a life-time of eating well, feeling well and treating myself with things that don't centre around foods that will do nothing ultimately but make me fat and unhappy and unhealthy. I hope at least one person can take something from this experience of mine and have it help them. We can only decide for ourselves what is best for us, with a little help along the way from friends
Hope everyone has a great, OP day! I know I'm going to and it already feels great
Thank you Stacy for taking the time to put into words this experience. It is always appreciated when others share what they have learned and experienced. It might be a bit of a sting - but all and all a good lesson and a great attitude - you will have the weight off in no time (now talk about an exciting prospect - if I gained 5 pounds it would take me 12 months to loose it -no matter what)
I 100% agree with you. Although I have no scientific basis for this -I have long suspected that if this diet works for us then it means we probably have, are developing, or will have insulin resistant issues. Because our bodies have the propensity to gain weight -- which is why most of us are here- then no matter what if we don't diligently manage it from here on out we will be back exactly where we were when we started no matter what phase we are working. I had a bit of a mourning when this epiphany hit me - but I have made peace with the fact that even in maintenance I must carefully monitor myself and going "hog wild" for weeks on end is never going to be an option for me again -those days are over. Honestly I find this freeing and liberating - to know what works and what doesn't. I feel like I have some control over this and some understanding as to why I am the one who could smell a chocolate cake and gain 5 pounds while members of my family could inhale the entire cake and not gain an ounce. My doctor's spent years trying to figure out why I could exercise like mad (I am a competitive swimmer who swims 1.5-3 miles every day prior to IP) - eat a diet the nutritionist put me on and NEVER loose more then 5 pounds in a year. It wasn't until IP that it all clicked - and that is worth more to my mental sanity then anything or any food. I finally for the first time in my life have answers which feels really good. According to my Doctor there are very few tests that can be run to determine the level of insulin resistance - usually those tests are run after the fact when a body is in full on insulin resistance - which is why no matter how many blood tests I had none of them showed this - I am convinced and so are my doctors that insulin resistance has everything to do with my weight management. So IP for me is more then weight loss - it is lessons gained - and those are the things that really make my life and outlook different.
Thanks again for taking the time to share your insights and experiences with all of us...No doubt you will succeed because you are making this an experience and journey of not just weight-loss but of self realization which I believe is the bigger predictor of success then the actual loss of weight.
