HopefulTricia -

I have also been concerned about the wisdom of so few calories for a long period of time, or ketosis for a long period of time. Please let us know what you find out, since you apparently are working with a doctor. Many of us are not. Just knowing my doctor, though, my guess is that she would say "moderation is better in everything". I have not read Dr. Chanh's book, but I am so glad you brought up this point. I think it needs investigating. As most of you, I am just so eager to lose pounds, that I am ready to try anything!

I am not dissing this diet at all, my first weigh in was great, and made the week worth it. Just trying to be careful of my health.

I have not heard any other concerns about this at all on this chat, so maybe I'm concerned over nothing.

Good for you for your weight loss!!!

I've never had eczema in my life, and I already use all natural and organic soaps and shampoos, laundry detergent, etc, I also try to eat as much organic produce (local farms) as possible, I freeze and can in the summer for the winter. I'll check with him to see what he says though, thanks!

Hello Birman

Oh my goodness, you have the most beautiful hair color!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i started monday, and have lost 5 lbs :) i promised i wouldn't look at the scale but i was starving so i needed some motivation!!

Congragulations ! That is great .

I realy dont know whats going on . It seems since I hit the 50 lb mark I have not hardly lost anything . I am doing everything excactly the same and no cheats since I started . I m so discoraged . I dont remember who it ws but they were saying they were not eating their vegetables and just the packets and are still loosing weight . Im tempted to try it and see what happens . I know this diet works and Ive lost so fast . But now its like nothing . I dont understand and its making it hard for me not to want to cheat . Help !

My discouragement needs some encouragement!

I guess I am just a slow loser and that's just that...I still have about 25lbs to go and things are just SLOW. I am trying to be patient but I am wondering with if only 10lbs lost in just 4-5 weeks if I shouldn't try something else...Does anyone else ever feel this way??

I am following the plan, eat only non-restricteds, drink average 100oz H2O daily, take the supplements, am in ketosis and hike steep mountain roads and trails for a min. of an hour a day.

The plan says women will lose 3-4 lbs a week, I guess I am an exception.
Week 1- 3lbs
Week 2- 3lbs
Week 3- 2lbs
Week 4- 2lbs

People on the board are often saying what great results they are getting, and "what kind of other diet would you see these results??"....well for me,
I am wondering. For the cost I've spent on all this Ideal Protein I could have afforded a personal trainer for a number of sessions and a gym membership.:(

I have a question into my doctor about this...she is very big on telling me not to stress about anything (easier said than done). I am starting to stress about this...among other issues.

I did Atkins years ago and had good results, maybe I should try doing that again with keeping it clean (organic, free range) and maybe have one IP pudding a day?

PeginNH- I too had questions and fears that this might not be good for me and how could it really work well and be a way to live healthy going forward. It was out of my normal knowledge base from past diet plans, and so the learning began. I am starting my 4th week and I feel great with energy, so my insecurities have resolved. I also have seen and talked to several people who are done losing their weight and on maintanence and are doing great and feel even better.

Scott- I am glad to see your progress and to hearing what you think of phase 2. It helps us all to see others succeed.

HockyMom- Isn't it funny how our tastes change. I have gone to mostly olive oil and vinegar on my salads, which I would never had done earlier.

Babs181- I was so excited to get the carmel sauce and then I tried it and thought it was bad. Afraid to try it again, but maybe I will.

WyoSun- I have been losing fairly well, but think I can do better if I start writing down what I eat to make sure I am not eating too many of the veggies that are once a week. Also I am cutting down on my coffee and Splenda items and eating fish more often instead of beef or pork. I think mixing things up can only help. I hope you can get going again. Also those who exercise hard seem to lose slower than the more moderate exercisers, so I have cut back on that for the time being anyway.

Hi there, I think 54 pounds is wonderful--please don't get discouraged. I do not know when in Janurary you started IP--I started it in the middle of Janurary on the same day as Jordanna and we have both lost 42 pounds---I would take your 54 on any day. Hang in there!!

Hi Wyo Sky, please do not be discouraged. I just mentioned in a previous post--how many other diets are there that you consistently lose 2.5 pounds a week (10 pounds in 4 weeks =2.5). My last two weigh ins have been exactly 2.5 and at first I to was discouraged---but I have been lurking around this site and watching everybody's numbers and I see where we all seem to go in to slow loss modes for a while. I have also tried many other diets including joining a gym and I have never tried anything that I was able to stick to this long and lose 2.5 a week. When I first started this I was so overcome with cravings for carb rich foods--I am totally convinced that this was the only diet that would have got that under control. I also had recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and the minute I started this my blood sugar went to normal range and has stayed there for the last 9 weeks. Smile and hang in there!! Remember the closer you get to your goal the slower it is going to be.

Hi all! Wow it has been a long time since I posted! I've been drinking my morning coffee, eating my IP omelet bake, and catching up on posts this morning. Congratulations to everyone on the losses and NSVs - amazing results so far!!!

So far I've lost 13lbs in 4 weeks with basically taking last week off the plan. My best friend came to visit (she lives in OR - I'm living in CO) and our thing is usually going to lunch, splitting dessert, having margaritas, etc. This time around I stuck on the plan from Mon-Wed and then decided to go off the plan Thurs-Sun of last week - we traveled a lot and it just became a pain. It was really nice to have a couple of margs with my bestie while on spring break!

But this week I am back on track and feeling great! Back in ketosis :) I lost the 1lb that I gained back last week already and am looking forward to meeting my next goal.

On the topic of salad dressing - I ordered a bunch of the WF salad dressings and loathe them all! Man - I wish I hadn't spent that money! So I've been making my own salad dressing - I love citrus flavors so I've been digging on the following dressing on my salad as well as using it for a marinade for shrimp or chicken which I add to my salad:

2 tsp EVOO
3 tsp lime juice
1 clove fresh garlic
chopped cilantro (to taste)
lime zest
fresh cracked pepper & sea salt to taste
pinch of mrs. dash fiesta lime seasoning

I like more acid than normal salad dressing calls for because I love the citrus flavor and it makes the dressing go farther. My salad with this dressing usually consists of romaine, red onion, cilantro leaves, mixed greens, and cucumbers...yum!

MuayThaiGoddess - what is the effect of citric acid on this diet? Why is it bad or why did you notice that the Diet Rite Tangerine soda has it in the ingredients? Really I guess I'm asking because someone just dropped a sample packet of Nestea Stick Packs in my lap at work. I'm reading the ingredients and they do have Splenda. Which is fine, I haven't used any today. I'll count it as 1 carb. It has 5 calories on the nutrition facts. The ingredients of the tangerine tea packet are : Citric acid, dextrose, potassium, citrate, decaffenated tea, natural flavoer, sucralose, silicon dioxide, soy lecithin, and yellow 6. Heh, isn't it funny we both like tangerine flavor? :D

Do you think I'm safe in drinking this stuff or is it a cheat? I won't drink it until after my weigh in anyway which is after work at 5:30. Oh and gosh, wouldn't you know it as soon as I mentioned my time of the month to you - and yes it did last 5 weeks!! - um now it started again. I only had 12 days off! I might just stop using Nuvaring all together because this makes me think my whole system is royally screwed up. My OBGYN assured me that Nuvaring was causing the problem and that I should use the it normally (3 weeks on, 1 week off) for 3 months to get my cycle back on track. Sorry for the details everybody. But I feel like you all are my buddies! I just hate craving chocolate and red wine all the time! ACK!! Posting on here keeps me honest. I swear I was in CVS yesterday looking at the sugar free chocolate section and they all had at least 26g of carbs PER SERVING! Each bag was a royal amount of servings too - 5+. Then I thought, "What I am doing? Have I gone mad? Put it back on the shelf and walk away." That's what I did. Oh but I'd really love some chocolate. I'm going to have a restricted bar after my weigh in for my evening snack. Maybe I'll take the Nestea packets in and ask my dr/coach if I can have them. What do you think? I keep thinking of you stocking the pastry display at SBUX and wow that must have been awful! You are a strong woman.

I am struggling in much the same way as you are. My loss has been much slower than others here. I am on my third week of the plan, and I haven't shown any lost inches yet. It is very discouraging to read about other losing vast amount of inches in the same amount of time that I've been on the plan. I'm wondering if maybe I'm just slower metabolically, and this is the reason that I am not losing as quickly. I haven't cheated once, so I definitely expected better results. I will be eager to hear what others have to say about slow losses. . . . it's good to know that I'm not alone, though!

Absolutely right. I've posted on this subject a number of times. This is not a competition... getting hung up on the losses others are achieving is a distraction. Your number one goal should be doing what is right for your body. Such results as normalized blood sugar and decreased blood pressure are so much more valuable than what your scale is telling you. I lost big up front, then have evened off to about 3 pounds a week... sometimes less. But I'm consistently losing, feeling better, sleeping better. Most diets in the past have not had those effects for me... nor have they produced the weight loss results over time.

I can't locate the source at the moment, but I read that 3 to 4 weeks into this diet, your body is still trying to figure out what's going on so it can make the adjustments needed for the long haul. Give yourself more time. If you just keep plugging away, I really believe you'll get there. :)

beyourbestinidaho, WyoSky, and Novak -
I agree wholeheartedly! It's not a competition and everyone's bodies are different. Comparing ourselves to others doesn't really help. It's all about you. The difference that IP makes to your blood sugar levels is a good sign! I also hope it will help my hypothyroid. I have to schedule a blood test for that soon so I can know for sure if it has helped. If not, hey, at least I tried! I've learned so much from the people on this forum too. I also am a "slow" loser. I've only lost between 2-3 pounds for the past 4 weeks, except last week which was just 1 pound. The first two weeks were the only times I saw losses that were larger than 3 pounds, and those "weeks" were actually 9 days long each due to changing my weigh in day. I think it skewed the statistics. :D My coach said I should be happy with the amounts lost, even under 3 pounds. Only you can evaluate what you should do with this diet though, considering the cost. I think you could do the same diet with some soy protein isolate powder instead of buying the IP packets. You might get bored of that protein powder pretty quickly though! Check out the Alternate Phase I thread (current and historic) to find out more about alternate products. There are several people on here who aren't using the IP packets. It works for them! When I need to go back on phase 1 in the future, I'll just use soy protein isolate or whey protein isolate powder. Not sure when that will happen as they don't like to tell you about the phases in advance. That being said, I have enjoyed the convenience fo the IP packets and the whole plan. I always know what to eat and how much and when. It's easy and it has been easy to follow!

HopefulTricia, please share with us if/when you find out the answer to how long it is healthy to be on IP from your Dr? When I read Dr. Tran's book I was surprised that he recommended this diet for the rather short term (4-6 weeks or less). You are not the only one wondering about this issue.