Day 3-My experience so far
 

I am posting this for anyone that may be thinking about this diet and is wondering what the start up can be like. I am sure that everyone's experience is a little different, but I wish there was a post like this before I started so I knew more of what to expect. :^:

A little about me: I have about +/- 35 pounds to lose. I had a baby 18 months ago and have lost about 15 pounds on my own in the past several months, but this plan really interested me because the results I have seen in others have been rapid! My plan is to stay in Phase I for about 6 weeks and assess my situation then to phase out or stay on a little longer. I felt mentally ready to start this and commit to six weeks without cheats or setbacks, even during travel.

I started IP Monday. I have been pleasantly surprised that I generally like the morning shakes and the soups are tolerable. The chili has been my favorite "meal" so far. Not a fan of the puddings, but I'll talk a little more about that later. By mid-day a nasty headache started on one side of my head and hung around quite strong until I went to bed early Monday evening. I certainly felt tired most of the day and went to bed early due to the headache and fatigue.

Tuesday I followed the plan. I had slight bouts of nausea on and off during the day and a slight headache as well. Both issues were intermitent. I am finding that the supplements tend to upset my stomach, at least I think that is what it is. Perhaps there just isn't enough food to offset them in the tummy? Not sure what I can do about it. i also experienced fatigue in the afternoon of the second day. I took a small nap in my car at lunch while at work. I also awoke several times in the middle of the night with some nausea, but not too severe. :?:

So today is day three. I'm battling a little nausea this morning and slight dizziness :dizzy: None of my symptoms have been fun, but they have not been enough to get me off plan either. I'm hoping that ketosis is in full swing by later today (or already is) and that I will get the "sense of well being and vitality" that I have heard others speak of on this plan.

The food has been fine, except I hate pudding. It's a texture issue for me. So my coach suggested making it a shake, but the two times I have done it so far have been disappointing. I did read that you can freeze the pudding and maybe it would be more like ice cream? That sounds better, but it is a bit hard to do at work when I would normally be eating my "snack." Any suggestions from experienced IP'ers would be appreciated here.

And just in case anyone is wondering I have been drinking 10 8 oz glasses of water and taking my sea salt...but it still hasn't helped with the symptoms very much. I just think my body is fighting this a bit, and I have accepted that there will be symptoms.

Overall, I haven't felt great the past few days. But, it is doable. The one thing that sticks in my mind; if getting into ketosis makes me feel like this after a cheat, there is NO WAY I will do anything to risk going out of the big "K" by cheating in the next 6 weeks. No thanks!

My first weigh in is Friday. I can tell by my home scale that I am already down about 3 pounds, which I know is just water. I'll keep you posted on my results!
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UPDATE TO DAY 5

I am now in day 5 and feeling pretty good. I have my first WI today. It has only been 5 days, but decided to keep my WI days to Friday. My headaches have been pretty much gone since day 3, and my energy has stabilized. I feel very, very hungry by dinner time when I can have the real food (protein and veggies) but feel very full once I am done. My only other concern is that I am not sleeping great. I keep waking up super hot, and I am wondering if it is one of the supplements. I will check with my coach today. Also tried a few more foods...hated the chicken soup (SO thick!) and I still can't stand any of the puddings. Also tried the raspberry jelly and enjoyed the flavor ok, but texture not so much. Will try the boiled water next time as indicated here. Like the chocolate shake and LOVE the omlette wtih sauted mushrooms and a little garlic. Very tasty!

Thanks to all that have replied to my questions here so far. Hoping I can keep up my good work on IP this weekend while I am traveling. I have my cooler packed.

At my first WI was on Friday, and I had lost 6.8 pounds and 1% body fat in 5 days. These numbers are huge to me. I certainly feel different. I realize that the first week is a lot of water loss, but it was a big encouragement to see the scale move like that. By day 3 or so I lost any of the symptoms that I had experienced getting into ketosis. By the 5th day I would say I felt 100% me and had full energy and that blessed sense of "well being" that many talk about. I had some minor doubts in the first 2 1/2 days about whether I could continue on this diet considering how lousy I felt at times.

Also, there was concern about the chili because it has a "higher" carb content at 13g. My coach allows one restricted item ever other day at the start, so she thought it would still be okay to have that item every other day as long as my weight loss continues. And BTW, this is the only restricted item I can have at the moment. No bars or other items.

For the newer people wondering about splitting up your evening protein, veggies, or eating these items throughout the day - that is okay and there are no issues with doing it. (I do this and the coach said it was fine.)


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UPDATE TO DAY 8 (Start of week 2 - Monday)

I travelled out of town for two days this weekend on the road. I was very surprised at how relatively easy it was to stay on track with the little cooler of veggies and water. The hardest part was drinking and eating enough when you get busy. I also have far less hunger overall, so it is easy to almost forget to eat. I dined out on Saturday with my family at a seafood restaurant and had crab, shrimp and clams for my main meal of the day. On Sunday when everyone else was hungry and wanted pizza we found a place with a salad bar and I had two huge plates of greens, mushrooms, onions, broccoli and allowed items. I was happy and relieved to be able to be full and stay on plan. I easily drank my shakes in the car and came home about 2 pounds lighter than when I left. Week one is down and only 5 more to GO! :carrot:

Hi and welcome to the IP club ;-)

Are you taking Omega 3? And the Olive Oil? I found that helped me TONS! I actually took more Omega 3's than suggested to balance it off a bit and it really did help... but you see I was MOODY! and needed the "fats" I guess.

Good luck! and more water always too... if you can that is...

deinekatze - I have been doing 1 Tbsp of EVOO on my salad and I am taking an Omega 3/6/9 supplement. Maybe I will up them next week after I talk to my coach. I don't really feel moody, just lousy physically.

Hey Flourish!

I love that you are doing a "getting going journal"! Like you say, it is a little different for each person depending on what their diet and body are like before starting program. On the other hand your experience is a close match to what many experience. I didn't get a headache til day 3 and it only lasted 1/2 a day. Overall I felt good to start until half way through day 3. THEN the nausea came. I was told the nausea is a sign you are entering ketosis. :broc: The ketones are a little "toxic" and cause that feeling. Drinking more water dilutes the ketones. I still get nauseous if I let my water drop. For me, I feel best if I drink 1 to 1-1/2 gallons of water a day. Anything less makes me feel odd.

The fatigue you feel is probably due to the change in your glycogen, blood glucose, (caused by reduction of the carbs stored in your body), and the change in your mineral salt/electrolyte levels. When we rapidly lose water and build ketones our bodies begin to lose potassium/magnesium/sodium do to the frequent urination. It is not dangerous when we are taking the supplements but it is essential that we do take them. You should have made the adjustment between days 5 and 8. Keep track of this and talk to you coach/Dr if it persists. You might be one of the people who need additional of these supplements. For instance, my symptoms indicated I need to take extra magnesium. I have read others take extra salt or potassium. You may be able to eliminate some of the fatigue sooner by increasing your water level a little.

Pudding! I didn't like it much at first. It was ok but I only liked vanilla and butterscotch. Definately play with the water to powder ratio. Less water makes it more creamy/fatty like a whipping cream or ice cream thickness. More water makes it thin and, with ice in a blender, becomes a "sort of" shake. The jelly is just like sugar free jello to me. I use it 3 or 4 x a week. Some people only like it with whipping cream. My way to deal with that is to make 2 small jellos from one packet. Then make 1 vanilla pudding into 2 portions of "whipping cream". Top the jello with the whipped vanilla and you have a multi flavored dessert that is still only a 1 packet value.

Bad news! Talk to your coach. The chili is a restricted item. It is only supposed to be eaten 2x a week at most. ALSO, it is only supposed to be eaten after the first 2-3 weeks even on the most relaxed protocols. On the new guidelines, I have heard, it will only be offered after a person is nearing 80 to 90 % of their desired weight loss. The reason is it is a high carb food that actually uses sugars, starches, and beans all of which can effect achieving introductory ketosis. I say talk to your coach because, you may have some reason in her mind that she is ok offering it to you.

http://www.idealprotein.com/ipcl_use...=295&c=15&p=90

Has 13carbs, 3 sugars

Ingredients:

Textured soy protein, dehydrated vegetables (red beans, tomatoes, onions, red bell peppers and garlic), modified corn starch, hydrolyzed vegetable proteins (wheat, corn and soy) sunflower oil, sugar, spices, guar gum, citric acid, silicon dioxide, salt, autolyzed yeast extract, caramel color.


Good luck as you continue the process! Sounds like you are doing great and if not already starting ketosis, you'll be there by tomorrow! :congrat: The best part is in the next couple of days you will be feeling really good again!

Carla

Carla:

Thanks for the insight to starting out. I can see you have had great success so far and it is inspirational.

Crap! Why is my coach giving me chili on my second day if it can put you off ketosis? :mad: This isn't special to me or my plan. She just had a sheet with the general suggested menu for the first week. Other ladies on the plan that I know have the same one. Boo because it may be slowing my "K" process and boo because I really liked it! I'll talk to her more about it on Frdiay during my WI.

Since water seems to be an issue everyone brings up I will try to drink more. I certainly can. Drinking the water is the easy part...visiting the bathroom is the harder part. I feel like I am always there.

I haven't tried the jello yet, but I think I will like it. I like SF Jello anyway, but the split pack idea is smart and possibly a good way for me to get the pudding down. I may try that too.

Does anyone know if there are any issues with splitting up my two cups of veggies (from lunch) throughout the day? Do I have to eat just 3 meals and the snack? I have found that it settles my tummy a bit more if I eat a breakfast shake at 7:30, then 1 cup of veggies at 10:30 then lunch and the rest of the veggies at 12:30.

I always split my veggies. I have a 1/2 cup or so with my breakfast eggs on the days I have eggs. I have a mid day snack of sliced cucumber or celery or broccoli or raw asparagus. I have my salad with any extra veggies I have left. If I am hungry in the afternoon I have some of my dinner veggies, if really hungry I add 1 to 2 oz of protein from my dinner portion. For dinner, I have whatever is left for my dinner allotment. My SNACK is supposed to be in the evening, the last thing I eat and no more than 1 hour before I go to bed. It is always a pudding, jello, or drink. It is supposed to keep my metabolism up while I sleep and prevent me from having a sugar low overnight. This is the same process my coach used when he did the program and, he lost 65 pounds in 67 days!


Hey Jax! :) Do you have access to a fridge at work or when you are away from home? I don't but I keep a cooler with ice in my car. I keep a vanilla drink and water and some cooked meat or hard boiled egg, and cut up veggies, salad and prepared dressing with me (all depends on how long I am going to be gone from home). Then I can have what I need. Some days, I only need a drink. I often poor it into a clean mason or ball canning jar then I can use just half when I need a boost or to flavor a coffee, put the lid back and keep it on ice til I need it again. Maybe something like that will work for you?

I also didn't like the pudding. I liked the flavor but had to CHOKE it down becuase of the texture. I added more water and one packet of splenda and I was amazed at how much better it was.

Day 3 for me was by far the hardest. I had cravings for everything and anything that crossed my mind. I am happy to reports that the cravings are pretty much gone. I find that the success I have had motivates me to keep going.

Good Luck and keep reporting!

Thanks for the details...
 

Your description and all the replies have given me great insight as to what to expect. Thank you for taking the time to record and share. And thank you all for tips on splitting veggies, etc.

Can somebody tell me if phase one alows only protein food at dinner only or where to find the plan?

Again, thanks for the help.

Day 12 Update
 

Just wanted to update this for my second weigh in. I have lost a total of 10 pounds in 12 days and I'm still going :)

stayingalive, go to the sticky called "Phases" under the "Other Reduced Carb Diets" page and you can get the info you need :)

thanks Cassie...
 

thanks for that tip on the stickies...will do.

Pam