Hi! I tend to lurk here, but decided to post out of frustration, hoping someone can give some good advice.
I started IP through a doctor's office on May 1,2013. As pricey as it is, I decided to do it because I have virtually no metabolism (nothing wrong with my thyroid or anything- I just have always had a terrible metabolism), and my friend who did this a year ago dropped 35 lbs really quickly. I know a few people who do or have done IP, and they all have lost 4-7 lbs per week. I've been averaging 1-2lbs/week, the same sort of weight loss that Weight Watchers would give, and on WW, you're not restricted from eating anything. I can't think of what i'm doing wrong- other than not really eating lettuce, as I follow the plan to the letter. Has anyone else gone through a rather slow loss? When my friend assured me this diet takes pounds off really quickly, it convinced me, as I had about 90-100lbs total that I needed to lose, and i'm a very 'instant gratification' type person, so I figured I could bear with such a restrictive diet if it meant losing alot each week- it would motivate me to stick with it, but so far, i'm losing that motivation from losing so slowly.
I don't think i know enough about IP to give you amazing advice. But I know for me every diet i was on that failed failed because of artificial sweeteners.. or chemicals in the food. Like i really wanted to do Medifast but i know it wouldn't work as all the chemicals slow or kill my wieght loss. I ended up doin medifast on my own from the grocery store. it has been awesome! diymydiet it may help you to check the food your eating and cut chemicals. Good luck!!
Typical day for me is:
Breakfast: Chocolate drink mix
Lunch: One of the IP soups, 2 cups of diced red peppers, zucchini, broccoli, mushrooms. I can't stomach the WF dressings, so I generally squeeze a lemon over the veggies and add 1 tsp of olive oil.
Snack: one of the restricteds- either a cookie, strawberry wafers or chocolate puffs
Dinner: Here's where I sometimes fail- it's very difficult for me to get in 8oz of protein, so I usually have around 6oz of either salmon, chicken, pork, etc; have 2c of stir fried veggies with the protein (stir fried in soy sauce, ginger, 1 tsp olive oil, salt pepper and seasonings)
I always input what I eat into myfitnesspal.com, and I had showed my coach- my typical day winds up around 650ish calories, 25ish grams of fat; 35-40ish carbs before the fiber is subtracted. She suggested eating an extra non-restricted protein, so i've been doing the Jello or a pudding cup as an extra.
Haven't cheated at all.... scared to throw my body out of ketosis and have to go through the 3 day torture of getting back into it. Any advice?
Looking at your stats you averaged 3.4 lbs over the 5 weeks you've been on IP. That is really good.
Weight loss is going to vary week to week. Try not to focus on the individual weekly WI's, try to keep in mind the big picture. You weigh 17 lbs less now than you did on May 1st!
Very true, and I am trying to hold onto that. My first week I had a huge loss...since then it's been 1-2lbs/week, and very little on the measurements...sometimes no change on measurements. I have a wedding tomorrow and completely dreading it, since in the moment, I can totally see myself falling off the IP wagon since i'm already in a frustrated state of mind.
Why would it slow losses? My coach keeps telling me to start exercising to maybe kick up the loss. I only do it 2-3x a week, and not cardio- I do Barre3 (sort of like a ballet/pilates fusion class)
I think you need to be diligent about the water. I also think that you should really get the full amount of protein - I agree that 8 oz is a ton to eat - so I split it between lunch and dinner and it's more managable.
I am bad about the salt as well, but I did find that it my losses slowed during week if I didn't get all the salt. So, I put it in my water thorughout the day. and sprinkle some on my food, but mostly in my water. It's the only way I can get that much salt in.
Hope this helps - I'm no expert, by any stretch of the imagination.
I wanted to split the protein btwn lunch and dinner, but my coach said not to. According to her, IP products are very easily digestible forms of protein, and they don't want you to mix those with regular, which is why the 1 meal has all 8oz's- supposedly it would slow the loss down. Not sure if this is true or not, but I find it difficult to eat that much in one meal, especially at 7pm when I get home from work and am going to sleep 2 hrs later.
The coaches all give different advice. The first time I was on IP, I split the protein - at my coaches advice - and I had not issues with slowed weightloss. Maybe try that and see how it works?
I would stop exercising for a week, so you can see if it makes any difference in your losses (I tried exercise and ended up stopping in favor of better weekly drops. It's very common and most coaches will tell you to not to exercise or to expect slower losses if you do. Also if you do exercise to have an additional non restricted packet with in a half an hour of doing so.)
Also up you water intake a bit more, I get between 12 and 15 cups a day. 8 is the minimum you want to get every day and then I think its an extra cup for every ten pounds extra you have that you want to lose. The extra just really helps flush out the stuff we don't want in our bodies.
Then the last thing I see, beside making sure you get all you salt. You are cooking with your oil at dinner and that doesn't count. I am not sure I can explain it, but cooking with the oil changes something in it so that its not the same as what we need. So you can still stir fry in it, lots of folks here stir fry with coconut oil, but then use the teaspoon of olive oil over the top of either the protein or vegetables.
I think you should be proud of how far you have come in a month, YOU have done GREAT! Also give yourself more time and be patient with your body. If your anything like me you have been feeding your body terribly for years and your body like mine just needs a little more time to prove she can do this!
There is a huge mental proponent to dieting and I think this is where you are getting the fear of it stopping, but be strong of mind and just know if you can do the mental work, you can make this a great success for you! (Also, I think if you just threw in the towel right now and went to Weight Watchers, you would still struggle with similar fears)
(edit: As for your protein, there was a conversation on yesterdays daily thread I think, splitting seems to work for most, I don't though. If your getting 6 oz at dinner you should be fine as well. I wouldn't worry too much about it, perhaps add hard boiled egg somewhere as a little quick snack to your day by itself. Like to repeat something Lisa says that I think is huge. Stress causes inflammation, which in turn causes water retention.)
Also, please remember that they say "lose 4-7 pounds per week" but women generally lose in the 3-5 range and men 4-7 range. We just store more fat, generally have less muscle.
Your diet looks good. I have found that I save restricted packets for special treats or emergency use only, or when I exercise. I have a slow metabolism as well and I find when I keep my total carbs under 32, I have better success. That's just me though.
A little frustrated
