Going by what Josh says it would work....

My niece is a vegetarian and has used soy cheese all along with IP. She puts it on stuffed peppers (chili rellenos.) She has lost about 60 pounds since last September.

This is a young woman that ate kraft cheese with mayo on white bread sandwiches with a bag of Fritos every day for her brown bag lunch, proudly calling herself a vegetarian for doing that.

I am so proud of her now for changing her diet to IP. Her meals are so much healthier. Her skin just glows!

She also raves about Quorn brand meatless patties but I haven't really looked for them.

[QUOTE=Birman;3168733]Ah, Mom22, I should have known you're still taking the other supplements. I've noticed that you're a pretty smart cookie. :)
QUOTE]

thanks - you are so nice!

Heads up though - not all the IP products are that loaded with Calcium so check if you're also thinking of elminating your ca supplements. This works for me only because I always have pudding (chocolate or vanilla) as my evening snack. they are both well over 100% of the daily ca requirement. If however you are having different IP products - check them out - the eggs have very little and the cereal only has 30%.

My coworker adds Crystal Light lemonade to the IP jello and puts it in the freezer to make a slushie. I haven't tried that yet.


It bears repeating that you can also add orange flavor to a vanilla protein shake and it tastes like a Dreamsicle or Orange Julius.

I checked out the fake rum flavoring thinking I could add it to the IP Pina Colada drink but it has sugar or corn syrup or something really bad like that.

I also like to add raspberry to my chocolate shakes and puddings.

(These flavorings are found next to the vanilla and almond flavorings in your regular supermarkets)

Thanks so much! - I have to admit this week while I felt good, I did have some planned "cheats" (I hate that word). As I shared before, it was Trapper's Festival here and I love bannock (like a big baking powder biscuit that is flavoured with cheese, raisons, etc., etc) and so I had some with my supper - I also ate a big piece of that chocolate marshmallow dessert that is so good. My saving grace may have been that i did this all on the same day and i got back at it the next day - i also made myself get back on the Wii fit and while i didn't sweat, it was a good stretch and exercise.

Thanks for all the support - you guys are so wonderful!!!

Ottawa - you have been an inspiration to me - you've reached goal weight and you're staying there. I especially like when you talked about how you went through periods of time when you reached your goal where you ate everything you couldn't eat on IP, ate this and then ate that - encourages me that while we might change things up a bit, we still know how to keep on track and keep the weight off.

Mom22, You are soooo close to goal! You have learned one of the "secrets" that Dr. Tran Tien teaches in his maintenance chapter.

That is that when you "slip" (not cheat) you get right back on IP the following day.

The road to success is bumpy. Some of us trip, fall and never get up. Some of us trip, roll and get back up. You have learned to get back up, just like the Olympic athletes.

Yay! We can do this.

Good luck to us all as we trip, skip, roll and laugh our way into maintenance.

I don't stress about cheese as much as others apparently. It's the calories in cheese that will get ya as most are very low in carbs. If i'm out somewhere and there are no other snacks, i will have some pieces of hard cheese - in fact now that i think about it, i ate some this week while out at a friends and it didn't affect my weight loss.

I did buy some veggie cheese - it's a sliced cheese product that's 1 carb/slice. I mentioned it to my coach and she said it was ok and to consider it a vegetable. I described exactly where in the store it was and she was making notes - she misses her cheese too. to be honest i don't know what it's made of and i don't really care - it's cheese and while it's not my favorite, it tastes good when melted.

Bwahahahaha, absolutly loving the mayo and cheese sandwich and vegetarian thing!!! Technically she was!! Mmmmm, mayo and cheese.

Quorn rocks! Don't overcook it. If you get the meat log thing (I can't remember what it is called), mixed 2/3 parts OJ with 1/3 part soy sauce, cover and cook at whatever they tell you to...it comes out super yummy!!!

I get the sugar thing totally - my son made fudge for a business course - i saved two pieces and put them in the freezer - just knowing they are there for sometime later seems to be good enough. I also think that if you are going to slip - do it after you weigh in and do it all on one day - then, get right back on track and by next weigh in you will have lost again. not the very best strategy maybe, but it will keep you sane.

What does soy cheese taste like?

I bought some EAS AdVANTAGE carb control shakes from CVS. 4 premade vanilla for $11.00. I had one at 7 when I first got to work this morning and I'm still full. They are 11 oz. as opposed to the IP and LIndora 8 oz., so maybe that's why. They weren't bad.

"But seriously, just don't buy it! Or if you have to buy it for your kids or someone, then buy something you don't like (a tip from someone during Halloween.)"

i am buying my kids crappy black licorice and hard yucky candy kisses for easter. absolutely despise both of those!! my children will thank you Lilita! lol

Oh man, I just got home from swimming with one of my classmates... 10 laps, and it is naptime! We're planning on going again tomorrow, but I don't know if I'll even be able to lift my arms!

As far as the EAS AdvantEdge shakes go, I'm going to pick some more of those up with some diet root beer. I'm not a big fan of sodas sans alcohol, but that does sound really good. The Target by me carries them for $5/pack of four, so you might want to look for a better price.

I still have my little "care package" of X-mas candy in the back of my pantry that I squirreled away for once I've moved on to maintenance. I don't need to eat them now, because they're not going anywhere.

Mom22, that rocks that you're almost there! Does your coach say that you can add dairy to your diet in Phase II?

think of how great your arms will look after all those laps - no dairy on Phase 11. i think that's phase 3 when you reintroduce foods. phase two is everything the same except replace your lunch ip packet with an actual protein. OgDog13 you asked how i was feeling moving into phase 2. to be honest while i'm excited to have lost the weight, i'm kind of scared. i know i shouldn't be but...

Lilita...good idea to stick to decorations. If only I could!! lol

I do like Birman's idea...I hate to reward myself with food but the pull is so darn strong for this candy, that maybe a reward will work. Like hitting 199lbs, then I get a small bag of the candy. Something like that may work for me and quit the obsession. I can have other candy in the freezer and I leave it alone. This stuff, not so much. I'm sure since it is only available for 2 months a year, I think I am missing something if I do not eat it every chance I get. And especially since I bought another bag late this afternoon. I think I am going to write up a reward program right now!! Thanks for the ideas.