Hey Birman...you're back! :) How have you been fairing on your alternate diet?

Doin' pretty good! I utterly love the IP diet! I do the plan, without using the IP products, for about 3 weeks at a time. Then I take 3 - 7 days off. When I get back to it I feel refreshed and raring to go.

Though my friends and family tell me how great I look, and I do feel like I could stop now, I actually feel more motivated than ever to keep going.

Have I mentioned yet what an incredible diet this is?

Wuc, take a look at your potassium bottle. It will show that it's own 99 mg serving is a paltry 3% of Daily Value. A pittance! Doing the math, it's telling you that you that the RDA is 3300 mg, and it would take about 33 of these pills per day to give you 100% of the RDA. [33 x 100 mg = 3,300mg.] Seems ridiculous, doesn't it. The reason OTC (over the counter) potassium supplements are so low is because taking too much potassium can be dangerous. The National Academy of Sciences recommends a potassium intake of 3500mg - 4700mg per day. Aim for this daily amount, then.

I am not suggesting that you take 35 - 47 of these potassium supplements per day. Nor am I suggesting that you start drinking coffee. I am simply trying to provide 1) the recommended amount, 2) a context for why supplement tablets are so low, and 3) some low carb / low fat foods that provide high levels of potassium.

To simplify. Wuc, if I were you I would go ahead and take 10 -15 of these 99 mg potassium supplements per day to get about 1/3 or 1/2 of your daily requirements potassium requirement. Then I would try to eat lots of low carb, low fat, high potassium foods to get the rest. Try that for a couple of weeks, along with a LOT of water. (2 - 3 liters per day). See how it goes. Then adjust accordingly.

Regarding the constipation, I agree with the cat lady -- magnesium citrate. Plus lots of water, and perhaps a stool softener if needed.

Birman

Birman - good to hear from you!!
Question - when you go off for a week do you put much weight on?? I've been off for a week and put on 7 lbs!!! :?: So that is my yo-yo....up, down, up, down. now I know why my coach said to take off 5 or so more then you want in the end.

My Kitty Friend Birman, welcome back!

I don't know if I've asked before or not or if you have explained it and I missed it... but can you give me an example of an IP day with no IP products?

I'd love to just do normal food and save the $$$

Thanks everyone! You are great about helping out and answering questions :)
I am working on taking more potassium and went and got some magnesium last night. Also I am going to increase my water intake.

FYI: I do not use any IP products either. I use EAS protein powder for my two shakes and have ordered from Lindora and use one of their packets for my afternoon snack. Usually the yummy cheesecake pudding. I just got an email from Lindora and they are having a buy one get one 1/2 off. You do not have to sign up or anything to order from them.

Happy Day to all :D

Hey thanks for the welcomes back! I really feel a part of this community even when I'm not here. It makes me happy to know that you guys feel like I am part of this community too. :)

Oh yeah. I put on quite a few pounds every time. But I don't worry about it, because it falls off very fast --like within a few days. (By the way, I try to keep my time off to 2 - 3 days. Once it was a week, but that's rare for me.)

Sure! I will write something up later today. :)

Wuc, both caffinated coffee and decaffinated coffee have potassium. An 8 oz cup of caf has about 115 mg and an 8 oz cup of decaf has about 130 mg. I'm not suggesting that one start drinking coffee just to get potassium. Just mentioning it because I was shocked to find that there was actually something beneficial in my morning decaf. Hence I don't skimp on it. In general, meats and vegetables are good sources of potassium. Since I'm a vegetarian, I need to get mine from veggies.

I did a few calculations. Here are some high potassium non-meat foods and the approximate serving size to get about 100 mg:
Tomatoes - 1/4 cup
Spinach (raw) - 2/3 cup
Radishes (slices) - 1/2 cup
Mushrooms (slices) - 1/2 cup
Celery (stalk) - 9 inches long
Celery (chopped) - 1/2 cup
Romaine (shredded) - 1 cup
Broccoli - 1 - 5 inch long spear
Cucumber (peeled, sliced) - 2/3 cup
Egg whites - 2
Egg substitute - 2 Tablespoons

For those of you who eat meat here is the amount of potassium per oz for the following foods:

Tuna (canned in water) - 67 mg
Turkey (breast, meat only) - 82 mg
Chicken (breast, meat only) - 72 mg

As you can see, since we eat so little on this diet, it would be hard to get 3500 - 4700 mg of potassium per day without supplementation.

Okay. I just read through what I wrote, and it looks as clear as mud, doesn't it. Sorry 'bout that!

I will come back and post about it in a different way.

(See? This is why I take time off of the message board. Cause when I'm here, I don't get anything else done! lol )

Potassium
 

Here it is a different way. Hopefully it's clearer.

To get 3500 mg of potassium for each of the following foods, you would have to eat:

28 - 8 oz cups of decaffeinated coffee
30 - 8 oz cups of caffeinated coffee
36 - 5 inch spears of broccoli
13 cups of chopped broccoli
21 - 11 inch stalks of celery
14 cups of chopped celery
9 cups of cooked asparagus
30 cups of shredded romaine
13 cups of radish slices
21 cups of raw spinach
16 cups of sliced mushrooms
8 cups of tomatoes
22 cups of sliced, peeled cucumbers

4.25 cups of egg substitute
65 egg whites
65 large whole eggs

43 oz of turkey breast
49 oz of chicken breast
53 oz of canned tuna

By the way, Dr. Tran mentions the need for potassium supplementation several times in his book. He also said that the main hazard of protein diets is potassium deficiency (pg 112). So let's all take our potassium supplements!

Lindora is having a sale right now 25% off all products.

Are you also taking the liquid vitamins? As long as you take it no later than noon-ish it will REALLY give you a boost (too late and you'll never sleep)

Elizabeth, I basically do Phase II instead of phase I. I eat protein foods (low carb / low fat) or protein powders instead of IP packets. It's pretty simple.

For example:

Breakfast:
Decaf coffee with latte flavored protein isolate powder.

Lunch:
Stir fry veggies with quorn (or some other non-meat protein, since I'm a vegetarian), and tofu-shirataki noodles.

Dinner:
2 fried eggs
huge salad
asparagus

Late snack:
Protein powder shake

As you can see, it's still low carbs and low fat.

I have been on IP for 18 weeks and lost 53 lbs, but the cost of the diet is becoming two much. I have read that EAS Shakes are being used by some? It seems that the cost of those shakes are way less than IP. Is anyone currently replaced IP shakes with EAS, and how have the results been?

I drink one EAS Carb-Vantage shake a day. Just started a week or so ago--I lost 3.2 pounds this past week. The ingredients are almost identical to the IP premade shakes, except there's more cholesterol in the EAS drink. Plus...I get 11 oz. in the EAS versus 8 in the IP, for only 10 more calories. LOL It's always about the quantity for me. 4 EAS drinks cost me $5.

Are you having any other shakes or just the EAS shake once a day? What type of food plan are you following?