Hey ya'll!!! I just started TODAY!!! And so far so good I'm a little worried for the next few days b/c I imagine they will be pretty bad once I start getting rid of all these toxins/sugar!! Just wanted to introduce myself

I have two visual aids, I use paper clips that hang from my refrigerator and then jars of colorful stones in my office, each clip or stone represents pounds lost.
Little games for my mind that help

I LIKE THIS STONE IDEA! I'm going to use it . I know I have marbles or something somewhere.

Welcome . You can do it! I didn't find the first few days too bad...just really missed the diet coke i used to drink constantly! As soon as you hit ketosis your hunger dies down dramatically .

I'm still waiting for a email back from the clinic here but I am determined to start this month I would like to lose 50 lbs and get back in my skinny jeans - I have been reading up on the diet and this forum is super helpful I love reading all you stories. I have my family eating paleo and they are all happy and have lost some lbs so far. I have already taken myself off caffine,sugar and wheat so I am hoping for no headaches when I start. Keep up the good work ladies and I'll keep you posted.

Thank you sologirl!!! I'm feeling more "out of it"/kind of in a dream like state!!! Is that normal??? I have had such a high carb/high sugar diet, so even day 1 of no carbs/sugars is kicking my butt I have a HUGE test on Friday (3rd year dental student) and I just hope I can concentrate enough to study!!!

Hey Lyndia, good luck on your dental exam, I am a dental hygienist, I imagine the stress alone is disolving your ip packets pretty fast lol

I did that before too, and my first week went pretty smooth, I was surprised. Just hungry, some tiredness, and i think im cutting veggies in my sleep lol

glad to have the weekend and the first few days on ideal protein behind me.
The second and third day I did get the "fluish" feeling and had a headache last night but took ibupropan and that took care of it. I think I may have made it worse by not drinking water the first few days (just tea) I see how important the water is now.
I woke up this morning feeling good and ready to move forward toward better health and getting this extra weight off! I can't weight until my one week weigh in on Friday and seeing a lower number on the scale,

Hi November starters! I'm on week 3 of the program and am so far a happy camper. I wish I had super high numbers like -9 a week but what can ya do? Second weigh in is tomorrow.

I am struggling with finding good ways to get my veggies in. This week I did a ton of food prep and I have zucchini curry soup and a turkey chili with no beans and tons of peppers in it, so I will get in two cups at lunch. I've been splitting my protein between lunch and dinner which is a huge help for me.

Last Friday was a bad day for me-- I strayed off plan a little (low fat balsalmic on a salad and a tiny bit of cheese), but stayed in ketosis. I think I was so hungry because I was salt deficient. Once I ate that salad I felt a TON better. Weird how salad has become a cheat.

[QUOTE=yespositively;4885479]This week I did a ton of food prep and I have zucchini curry soup and a turkey chili with no beans

What do you use for the turkey chili base? I love it and made some this weekend for the family but didn't eat it because I thought we couldn't have it because of the crushed tomatoes.

I used the canned petite diced tomatoes. I buy the organic ones at Costco that have no sugar added, and I didn't even question whether they were allowed to be honest. The can has a little salt in it and some natural sugar but I figure it's pretty close to plan old tomatoes. You could start with fresh tomatoes and simmer them down if you were concerned.

I used two 14oz cans plus some NF chicken stock for 20oz of turkey, four red/orange bell peppers, and two jalepenos. Plus compliant seasoning.

I split this into six portions by cooked weight, and DH will eat half. So I figure with three servings I'll be eating close to 2c tomatoes (somewhere around 14oz, right?), a nice serving of peppers, and 3oz of turkey.

Thank you yespositievely, that sounds good! By the way, I'm new to the site, how did you get your quote part to look so neat? I just clicked on the quote button and mine looks different.

I think when you took out some of my writing it "broke" your quote box. A quote needs to be surrounded by but with stars removed. The little slash means the quote is ending. If there is no quote end box, the beginning of the quote won't work either. It's good to check that both are present if you are just quoting part of someone's message (cause sometimes the quote language disappears when you delete other things).

We are huge chili / taco soup eaters in our house and honestly I can't imagine cutting this meal out of my diet. I'm not missing the beans too much though.

Scale has been lower lately than it has been in years-- so hopefully my canned tomato habit isn't holding me back. I looked it up and others have weighed in on this-- just make sure there's no added sugar and to eat the tomatoes in moderation.

Also welcome! I have only been here a coupe weeks but have found this forum to be a great place for support and reinforcement since DH doesn't like me to talk about this diet all the time.

my husband is the one who tells everyone about the ideal protein diet because he has seen me struggle our whole marriage with trying to lose weight and the most i ever could lose the past few years was .5lbs a week and with that slow weight loss I couldn't keep up with the occasional special occasion/holiday/ etc. so my weight was always going up a little at a time. Finally last November I got started and lost weight the first 3 months. Then I seemed to not be able to stay on it so strictly and for the next months until now went off and on low carbs but never could get rid of the cravings/hunger like the first time. So I restarted this past week with the strict Ideal Protein again. I want to do this so bad. After the first 36lbs off, I felt 10years younger and so much better...it seem to take care of all my aches and pains that I thought were just part of aging. I don't want to go back up for anything. I started now because I know the holidays can be an easy 10lb gain from now until January 1. then it takes Jan/Feb/Mar trying to lose it again.