I restarted on Monday as well, after a year of mostly maintaining while getting my health in order. I'm going to the doctor this afternoon so I'll finally get a "beginning" weigh in. Since I'm weighing after 5 days of being OP (scale at home is broken), next week my wi will be more typical, rather than the "big" first week WI. I can tell I've already lost the water bloat but I'll never know what that registered on the scale.

Welcome to the July 2014 gang - Glad to have you with us! Pls stay tuned in on this thread with your progress -- the support from the forum has been great, and bot that we have gotten started we want to keep the good energy flowing.

Welcome to the July group, Lisa! I feel so honored to have you resuming your journey just in time to be a part of this group. Your IP expertise is invaluable!

So far so good. I had a couple of days of headaches, but not a lot of hunger or cravings. The week was quite busy, which helped immensely. I'm keeping busy over the long weekend with some consulting work and some new car test driving ( - I drive an 18 year old car, it's time). Visiting my parents tomorrow evening which may be a challenge, but I told them I'm bringing my own dinner.

Being at home and having access to the kitchen has made for some tastier food today. Made a pasta (rotini) salad for lunch and kale chips with dinner.

I had a quick check in with my coach yesterday to grab a few more supplies for the long weekend and she gave me some recipes which I'm going to try out this weekend. I did a brief foray onto Pinterest today for other recipes, but I think I'm going to take it slow. I'm a good cook and I enjoy it, but I don't want to overwhelm myself with the options. I do better when it's fairly structured. I'm going to start with the muffins and cookies and that kind of thing, good snacks for work.

Anyhow, hopefully I'll be around a bit more next week. Enjoy the long weekend for those that have it!

Hi everyone,

I successfully completed Ideal Protein in 2012 and maintained my weight; however, I experienced some medical problems and gained a lot of my weight back.. Even though it wasn't entirely my fault, I do feel guilty and am looking forward to getting this weight off for good.

Welcome back -- it's great that IP worked well for you before, and now you can pick up the plan again and know that it can be successful if you follow it.
3FC sure seems to be a great support mechanism for all of us, so I am looking forward to all our July starters being regular participants.

Thanks for the warm welcome oneuh2.

I am curious to know if anyone here has tried using alternatives or have supplemented some of their packets with alternatives? This plan is expensive, and I love the protocol and fully believe in it. I have seen various reviews where some people say as long as it matches nutritionally AND matches in regards to ingredients, there is no difference. Whereas others say they do notice a difference.

Anyone here have any feedback?

Thanks and I hope you guys are having an OP weekend

I am a restarter. I don't have that much to lose, but none of my clothes fit and I need to get back on track. When I have been in maintenance, I have used EAS carb control pre-made shakes. I also liked the Pure Protein bars (I think they are EAS.) I compared labels. The store bought food is not as "clean" as IP, but what a $$$ saver. I am on Phase 1 right now and am using all IP products because I think I will lose the weight faster.

Lots of people use alternative products. There are whole threads about it...
Here is the most recent one
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/idea...-part-4-a.html

I'm sure I'm late to this party and it's been discussed before, but I had the most amazing "breakfast".

I love ice coffee. The McD's stuff is okay, but not like the strong but sweet stuff you get at a real cafe. I bought a French press a couple of weeks ago with the intention of making cold brew ice coffee at home so I could control what goes into it. I was reaching for some sweeteners when I looked at the premade drink I was having for breakfast. Instead I dumped it in with the coffee and gave it a stir.

This iced coffee I'm drinking right now rivals many I've had at fancy cafes. It's nice and thick because of the shake (so like the ones they pour half a glass of cream into), still has a very bold coffee taste (I used dark beans freshly roasted beans from a local roastery*) and has a nice "real" tasting sweetness (i.e. not sweetener). I think this will be "breakfast" for the rest of the summer!

*For anyone in the Ottawa area - Engine House Coffee. I get them at the Carp Farmer's Market, but you can also buy online. Some of the best coffee I've had and a really nice guy running it. It's strongly flavoured without being bitter. I'm slowly inching towards drinking it black because of this coffee.

Sounds great! I love doing something similar - I take brewed coffee, let it cool down, then I take a cappuccino packet and add about 5oz of water. Blend with coffee and ice and voila!

That's essentially what I do too - I like the cappuccino added to the coffee, except I add more like 8 oz of water so that I can have half in the morning, and the other half as a mid morning or mid afternoon snack -- then I still have my 3rd IP shake or bar or drink for a snack in the evening.

It's really yummy even as I use brewed Folgers Special Roast or even a Starbucks VIA (Columbian or Pike Place) -- if I were using a specialty coffee house grind, it would be even better I am sure. But even with the more mundane, I wake up in the morning looking forward to it!

Ladies - anyone else having issues with your TOM? I've gone from clockwork to cuckoo (and I'm on the pill).

IP can play heck with your hormones and screw up your time of month big-time (has to do with hormones being released from rapid weight loss).

I hope that your coach warned you that you should use back up birth control while on P1 - there have been a few "oops" babies.

Haha she did and I also read it in the material.