Jordanna, I notice the explanation page is much better than the old one we have in the IP Phases sticky... they've taken out all the lengthy explanations so it's not nearly so intimidating! Would it be a good idea to put copies of the protocol and explanation up there, as well? Can the ones currently posted be replaced? :shrug: I'm not sure what the best approach is...

Hey Novak - I'll go do that right now :)

10 lbs heavier than last week over the weekend - help!! :mad:

(WI at 142,4 this morning... even with a full day of phase 1 yesterday!)

Hi, Sylvie, Do you really think the scale is accurate? If so, time to nip the weight gain in the bud. If it's bowel blockage, take some magnesium citrate. If not, back to Phase 1, weighing every day until you reach goal, then immediately to Phase 3 for 2 weeks or until you feel comfortable with maintenance.

Hey Sylvia - there is no way you could have gained 10 actual lbs over the weekend...that would be like 35,000 calories you ate at the birthdays? I'm betting it will come off over the course of the week!

I started phase 3 this morning, man, it's hard to eat that much food in one sitting after only drinking pudding for 5 months...but I must say I loved loved loved my glass of skim milk and my strawberries...I had been waiting for that.

Thanks!

Well, you can't possibly have eaten enough over the weekend to gain 10 pounds of fat, so something else must be going on. I'd try Bev's suggestion...

You took a break from the diet before, didn't you? Anything like this happen then?

Sadly, it is! Got to see that this will be a lifelong battle... Made poor choices over the weekend as I was stuck in festivities and somehow chose to indulge myself (wedding anniversary & my son's 10th birthday friends and family partys). Leaving tomorrow for a weekend trip to southern Ontario and decided to go with phase 4 principles for those few days and will decide on the 28th if I am back to phase 1 to loose this excess weight...

Gained 4-5 lbs in the breaks I took on the plan and took 3-4 days of phase 1 to get rid of it... Just tired of phase 1 - I almost panicked last night at snack time as I "saw" the yo-yo pattern installing itself. Barely managed to stay strong at the thought of having a phase 3-4 breakfast this morning.

Good timing, Jordanna... I'm just about to post some Phase 3 info. BTW, if it makes you uncomfortable to eat that much food in one sitting, just cover all the bases in smaller portions.

And I obviously agree re: Sylvie's gain!

Phase 3 Info
 

Last week at the Phase 4 workshop when Dr. Z asked people in the room what phase they were currently in, the woman next to me said she guessed she was sort of in Phase 3. She was going to stop the diet for awhile, had finished Phase 2, but wasn’t yet in maintenance. Hmmm. At that point, the discussion turned to Phase 3 for a time. The subject was worth addressing, because Phase 3 is arguably the most crucial of the program, and one that is absent from most other diets.

Recall that, assuming you’ve followed the protocol and remained in ketosis throughout the diet, your pancreas has taken a nice, long break. During Phase 3, it’s time for it to get back to work. At this point, your body is no longer resistant to the insulin your pancreas secretes, so it doesn’t take as much to get your blood sugar under control. But you want to train your body to behave like that of a naturally slim person who burns rather than stores fat. So it doesn’t make sense to revert back to your normal diet just yet.

Instead, you will change only the breakfast portion of Phase 2; everything else remains the same. By carbo-loading your first meal of the day, you will cause insulin to spike in response, then allow your body to move back to the burning stage of metabolism. The goal here is to ramp up your body’s fat-burning capacity by establishing a new cycle for your pancreas. As a Type II diabetic, Dr. Z believes a longer period of time in Phase 3 would have been beneficial, but for most, the length of this phase must be two full weeks. Do NOT skimp on this phase. And if you should happen to repeat Phase 1 for a short period in the future to manage your weight during maintenance, you needn’t follow it with Phase 2, but you should include Phase 3.

So here is the protocol: at breakfast, you need to eat a protein (not IP), a carb, a fat and a fruit. You MUST eat them all at one sitting; do not eat some and save the rest for later. The remainder of the day, you are back on Phase 2, with all the usual restrictions. That’s it.

The Phase 3 sheet s posted in the “sticky” section will help you do this, so print out what you need ahead of time. It would be worth your while to plan a few breakfasts ahead of time to make sure you have all the necessary food combinations on hand. The guidance provides serving sizes, carb, calorie, protein and fat counts so you can plan “do it yourself” breakfast combinations, consistent with the nutritional targets provided. Alternatively, they offer prepared menu choices to make life a little easier. And in a pinch, Dr. Z said just make sure you get the “protein, carb, fat and fruit” covered, regardless of the nutritional guidelines.

A few more points about Phase 3.

The literature says you should expect to regain 3-5 pounds during Phases 3-4, due to restoration of glycogen stores in your body. This is not stored fat, and at the same time, you may still lose inches. In anticipation of this, some coaches will suggest that you allow for the gain when setting your goal weight. I continued to lose both pounds and inches after the weight loss phases, as have others on these boards, but it would be great if people could share their experiences so we can get a little “data set” established.

If you had issues with constipation during Phases 1 and 2, you will probably lose weight during Phase 3 (possibly offsetting the glycogen gain?) When you add more normal food, your body will become more regular, and more efficient processing what’s moving through your system.

I cut Phase 2 short and started Phase 3 over a weekend so I would have plenty of time to get into a new morning routine… and enjoy that first, decadent breakfast! So much wonderful food! I devised a home breakfast with eggs (similar to the “All American”), and a “Nature Valley” style that would travel well on my commute during the week. It worked out great.

I was out shopping after my first Phase 3 breakfast, and did feel a little funky—probably the insulin spike—but it passed. The remainder of that phase was no problem, and in fact, I quite enjoyed it. My problem came in Phase 4, when I was trying to find rules to follow, and the little information I could find seemed to be contradictory. My frustration subsided when Dr. Z shared the Phase 4 approach I posted earlier.

I’m now a very happy camper, poised to coach my sister through the rest of her program. (She began the first week in May, has lost over 23 pounds, and is back in the 120’s for the first time since the ‘80’s!) Phase 2 will start when she comes to visit next week, and I’ll help her plan her Phase 3 breakfasts. When we’re not doing that, we’ll be out buying new clothes to fit her new, sleeker body.

Thanks Novak that's great!!

So is a dairy basically considered a fat then? Or should we be having that also?

My coach asked that question to Dr Tran and never got answered on it... This morning, ate greek style yogourt (0% fat, 6g carbs and 20g proteins) and still don't know if I should count it as a fat, a glucid or a protein! (Had 60g of fiber 1 cereals (1g sugar) and 200g of strawberries with it - mmmm....)

Oh and also - if sometimes at lunch I'd rather just have an IP pack instead of chicken or eggs or tuna (AGAIN!) can I do that? That won't effect phase 3 will it? Because a measure of protein is still a measure of protein?

The following are listed as fats on the protocol sheet: Butter, Cheese, Margarine, Milk, Oils, Yogurt. So yes, dairy is basically classified as fat... though if you actually do the calculations when you plan your breakfast, you get to add them toward your total goal of 25 grams of protein.

To all the ladies here specially Novak: this is a great thread! I am glad I started busing my booty at the GYM, I have a feeling that it will help during the maintance phase (rest of my life) to have a work out routine all set up.

I really want to pose this question here since most of you have a lot of experience. I will be away for almost all of the first week of july; ie from july 3rd to 11th. I weigh 135.5 now and my goal weight is 130. What I am thinking of doing is to be in phase II for that week as far as food consumption is concerend; have a salad with grilled meat during lunch. My main problem is not food consumption though but drinking per usually. I know that from July8th to july 11th the possibility of me drinking some red wine is rather high. I can say that I wont now but I know myself better than that. Is there a consensus as how being on phase II for a week & having couple of glasses wine for 3 nights will effect me?

I am obsessing about this currently.

Hi, pita, I don't drink alcohol at all, so I can't give you any experience with this other than what I've read from others. You can still lose weight while having an occasional glass of wine or other alcohol (not beer, too high in carbs), but it might slow down. Just read the labels and watch your overall carb numbers. You will burn the alcohol before you will the fat or carbs you take in. As far as being in Phase 2 that week, I think that is a good idea. I did Phase 2 days every now and then while I was really in Phase 1 so that I could eat in restaurants at lunch time without too much concern.

Thank you Bev; bottom line is that I will watch the carb and sugar intake very closely; stay away from junk food AND lastley try to enjoy my week off.

Unlike Bev, I CAN speak on this subject with some authority. :)

First, I don't think being on Phase 2 will have much effect; the difference compared with Phase 1 is too slight to throw you off.

I certainly do not recommend drinking alcohol on the diet, but that being said, I did have white wine during my tenth week on IP. I had lost 35+ pounds by that time, had passed up many opportunities to wine and dine, and decided to have a nice dinner out after a successful shuttle launch. I stayed on plan food-wise, but my sister and I shared a good bottle of white wine three nights in a row, until she headed home, at which time I consumed no more alcohol until Phase 4.

My experience was that the wine did not affect my average weight loss, which was running a pretty steady 3 pounds a week. Some other factors: my body had probably gained some efficiency by that time in the diet, and I was doing a great deal of walking each day on vacation, often pushing a wheelchair. I was consuming white wine, and stopped when we finished the bottle. I did not go off protocol due to any lack of willpower caused by the effects of the alcohol.

Bottom line, like any cheat, the wine will slow you down; your body will go after the alcohol before it goes for the fat you want to get rid of. So you need to decide what is more important to you. It does not appear from your stats that you are on a course of quick weight loss, so perhaps that is not a critical factor. (I'm gauging against my sister, who has similar goals for total weight loss, and has dropped 23+ pounds since May 1.) You will be able to recover relatively quickly if you DO gain... it will just take you longer.

If you want to minimize the damage at the time of consumption, make a wine cooler with seltzer. Limit the amount you drink; decide ahead of time how much you are going to have, then stop. Don't drink enough to cloud your judgment regarding the food choices you make, or the damage will be considerably worse.

But again, my best advice is to pass up the drinks until you are off the program. When you plow through like I did, it doesn't take forever. :D

thank you so very much!

from 8th to 11th we are going to oregon coast, I have rented a very nice house by the beach with a fireplace, jaccuzi on the deck over looking the ocean. I know food wise I will be just fine as the place has a big cook's kitchen and also a gas grill outside. BUT based on my description of the location, I have a feeling that having that glass of wine by the fire at night will be heavenly. Also, based on location, I know we will not be just lounging by the ocean but will be doing a lot of walking, hiking along the beach.

I think I have all my answers here ;) I will go with quality and NOT quantity when choosing and drinking the wine ;)

Sounds like an awesome place... enjoy your time there. :)

sorry to be ignorant but what is it that you do? from your avatar picture and also a reference in your last post, I assume it has to do with the shuttle?

Hey girls! I have not posted in awhile, but am still following the program. I am so glad to see all your insights into the following phases. So many that have been on the program long enough to get here, stop posting. The wisdom is so important to all of us.

I have lost a little over 30#, and would like to lose another 20#, but don't know if I will be able to. I have had a couple times when I was traveling for a vacation, and couldn't eat exclusively phase 1. I tried to stay with proteins mostly and veggies and it did not hurt my progress. I am looking forward to getting on phase 2, 3, and finally 4!!

Do most of you keep IP foods at home that you buy from your counselor or one of the other sites? After I don't weigh with my counselor each week, I may try one of the online sites for the product.

It does give me some peace of mind that if I go up a little at times, there is a plan to get back to goal and maintain the weight loss.

Wow. I'm so glad I read this post even though I'm far off of phase 4. Novak, thank you so much for your thoughts. I haven't been able to really get my head around 4 yet either -- this helped a lot. And I think you are right about this being a tool for managing your weight for the rest of your life. I let so many of my clothes get too small without taking action, and I feel a little ... I know this sounds corny, but 'awakened' about not letting that happen again.

Pitakitten: have fun on the Oregon coast. I'm from Portland, so get to hop over there occasionally.

Thanks for the wise words, ladies. I'm going to make sure and re-read this when I get to phase 4 (and I WILL get to phase 4).

Really enjoyed my strawberries and skim milk this morning, it was absolutely my favorite part which was weird because I thought I was going to be so excited about the bread but it was all about the fruit and milk :)

I'm confused about the "nature valley" breakfast as I can't seem to add it up so that there is at least 25g of protein? Novak or Sylvia - am I missing something here?

I work for NASA.

I purchase the premades from New Lifestyle; I have not bought any products from my chiropractor for quite some time, though I still have a box of mixed packets on hand in case I need them.

I also found this diet very enlightening, and have made the same "corny" vow you made! You will get to Phase 4 before you know it... hope you find the information useful when you really need it. :)

Funny... I get 30 using their tables, though it could be less depending on the type of fruit, brand of bread, etc. But my real message is this: enjoy your breakfast and don't overthink it. :D

Hi, Jordanna, Let's call the berries an average of 6 grams of protein, the yogurt 10 grams, the muesli 3 1/2 grams, the toast 5 grams, and the almond butter 2 grams. That totals 26 1/2. Plus the paperwork says to shoot for 25. It probably doesn't have to be exact since we have 3 more meals to make up for our protein needs.

maybe it's just the options I have at home that are making it not work properly...shrugs, I had an egg mcmuffin anyway :) I'm just trying to avoid eating eggs every morning...I'll keep hunting for higher protein options

I only eat eggs on the weekend. My version of the Nature Valley included peanut butter rather than almond butter, the Alpen Muesli, berries, high protein toast, yogurt... it came in at about 30 grams protein.

And since I don't eat meat, I used 3 strips of Morningstar veggie bacon on my egg days.

Like Bev said, I wouldn't worry about too much precision with hitting the numbers.

Sometimes I don't want to deal with eggs or meat protein at breakfast so I put half of a scoop of whey protein isolate in my low-fat yogurt and mix it with a cup of fruit, usually blueberries. The yogurt and fruit are my favorite part of breakfast anyway. Plus I have toast or oatmeal for my slow carbs.

I'm a huge fan of greek yogurt and used to have it for breakfast mixed with a bit of fruit and muesli or higher protein cereal. I can't wait to get back to it. I was using Fage 0% and it has 15g of protein, the 2% has 19!

I have been eating all the protein sources, but have family members who are vegetarian. I am slowly moving more toward that too, but wonder what I could/should eat to stay with this lifestyle. Can you give me an idea of what you eat for protein sources.

Breakfast isn't hard, but for lunch and dinner I do not have lots of options in mind. Thanks.

I don't eat meat, but I do eat fish now (gave up my hard-core veggie days when I lived in Alaska... love that halibut and salmon!)

Anyway, even with the seafood, I look for other sources. I use firm tofu, Worthington burger, other Morningstar Farms veggie product, and the premade shakes from New Lifestyle (same as IP). More options for me now in Phase 4, with peanut butter, nuts, cheese, etc.

I don't eat meat, and I used to be mostly vegan (occasional cheese pizza binges, whoops). Now, I'm pretty lax having to be on this diet, but always a strict vegetarian. There is an IP vegetarian sheet, but it isn't very handy honestly. I love:

Quorn naked cutlets (have egg white, my meat eating DH likes the patties)
LifeLight products (Italian sausages are great on the grill, gimme lean sausage is good too)
Match Meat (fake meat, like ground beef, chicken, pork, crab that is local to St. Louis but they carry it all around)
Vegan Boca Burgers (the original ones are still my fave, but I make Match ones now, so awesome)
Tofu (marinated, grilled, baked, fried (non stick pan, no oil), make into faux egg salad)
Tofurkey deli slices
Tempeh (I don't use this on plan, most are wheat based)
Seitan (still haven't found one I'm in love with, made with wheat though)
Eggs
Greek yogurt
TVP (texturized veg protein, great for chili)

I can't wait till I can add back beans, nuts, quinoa, and whole grains.

Thanks Xanthia and Novak for the protein ideas. I regularly (before IP) ate many of those, but there are some new ideas also.

Hi Novak-
I just went to the New Lifestyle website and see that there are puddings and bars etc that look like IP. Are the products as filling as IP and are the nutritional values similiar?

Did you use them to continue weight loss or just order them after you hit goal to keep on hand in case you needed them?

Thanks,
Elle

I only order the premade shakes, because they are the same as the IP premade drinks, but less expensive. And I continue to use them in Phase 4 as a protein source/weight management tool, because they are convenient. I have looked at the other New Lifestyle products, and they tend to be higher in carbs than IP, and several contain aspertame, which I try to avoid. I never used products other than IP during Phase 1--again, except the NL premades, which I believe are from the same supplier as IP, and nutritionally identical.

Thanks a lot for the information - I might try and order some of the shakes in a few weeks since they are comparable to IP. :flow1::flow1:

Elle

Bump! Just keeping this thread on the first page! :)

Thanks!:D

Bump again :)

UGH I can't wait until phase 4 - I was watching my husband eat a baked potato last night and couldn't help but think...5 more days, 5 more days!!

Novak have you had a cheat day yet? What's your theory on it being required or not?