Day 1
 

I started yesterday. A tad disorganized. I didn't realize how large and how many diet supplements I had to take. To make it worse I didn't have a pill box large enough to put them in. I lounged most of the day and didn't drink enough water (I have a hard time drinking water). I had gone to the Farmers Market on Saturday and bought vegetables that I like (did I mention I don't like many, :dizzy:. Didn't do anything with them until 7:30pm last night. Made a huge salad, steamed cauliflower, cut cucumber.

Breakfast, IP herb omlette in the morning. It was okay. Not the 9 egg omelette I'm use to at Family House :D, but it will do. Had a 16oz glass of water

Lunch, IP Bar, 2 cups of cucumber.

Dinner, This was interesting. I steamed cauliflower and sauted a turkey patty. Cut up the pattie and added the cauliflower to the pan. Added the leek soup and mixed together. It was pretty tasty.

Today I packed my stuff up and brought it to work. Hope the water drinking gets better.

My gripe for the diet today is - They put 8 puddings in my variety pack! WTH! Gonna make a call and see if I can change some.

Until tomorrow ALOHA

i am not a fan of water either. i actually have an old cranberry juice 64oz bottle that i use and am sure to drink at least that in the day. i add 1 of the crystal light to go packets into it and it gives it just enough flavor and sweetness that i am able to drink it! it gets easier to do FOR SURE!!! plus i tell myself the more i drink, the more i pee, and the quicker the fat leaves my body. CONGRATULATIONS on starting!!!!

Thanks for the encouragement. I probably need to post this on one of the IB posts. I'm new to this. Have a great!

Hi Amber2beme and Hwntula - I know this sounds ridiculous but water does have a flavor - I will admit I am a water snob and if I don't get the water I like I cannot drink my allocated water. Have you ever tried different kinds of water - instead of tap water or spring water (I personally dislike both - even where the tap water is super clean) I only like reverse osmosis water (a process in which water is filtered through a reverse osmosis membrane) which is what Dasani and Aquafina use - I also believe Culligan water (the kind you can fill yourself at Walmart and other places) is reverse osmosis. There are several water delivery services that use this method as well. Sadly, I cannot even do water filtered from a brita pitcher. I actually had my husband install a reverse osmosis filter in our house and now I haul around a refillable gallon jug so that I will always have the water I can drink. Honestly if I had not found a water that had a taste/smell (or lack thereof) I liked this would be a very difficult requirement for me. This is just a thought/suggestion - certainly I am no expert at any of this, if I were I wouldn't be here :-) . I am on day 3 so I feel silly even suggesting anything but I do know this is what helped me learn to be a water drinker.

Thank you for the tips, I'm going to try different waters.

a bar on day one? we have different coaches. dinner....... a cooked protein and an IP packet? I am curious if your coach recommended that? I know all the coaches are different.

I am also just officially getting started. I used to think I drank alot of water, but whew!! I am glad my office is just a few steps from the ladies restroom! I did low carb last week to get any extra sugar out of my system. I think that helped and I lost three pounds. Will just have to see how today goes. I am really glad for this site!

I am also surprised you had a omlete, bar AND the leak soup?? I thought those were considered "restricted"? I think you will see beter results if you just stick to the drinks and puddings for the first few weeks? IMO. I also notice you had no salad?? You should try, it helps with BM.

Hi-I just started Monday so after reading all the stuff phew..i am pretty good. My dr is the one that issues the diet and I got a "starter" pack. It had Leek soup, cream of chicken soup, bars etc. The first week us Newbies are allowed to have a bar if we need it. But leek Soup is not restricted. The chili is-i have not tried it yet.

My days are a shake in the morning and egg white hard boiled egg. I don't like the yolk. Lunch I have salad, 2 cups of veggies in leek soup. Dinner I have lean meat, 2 cups veggies and salad. I get the oil in by mixing the dressing.

I am on day 2 and my tummy hurts but the doctor said this is normal. :dizzy: I want to eat a pb and J sandwhich...lol

I started on Jan 10 this is day two for me...soooo i am with you (although you are a couple days ahead). I need to get some ideas about how to cook veggies....good luck..hang in there:carrot:

Try mixing the puddings in with 10-12 oz coffee or tea, then heating. So amazing! I also have done 5oz coffee, mixed with sf hazelnut syrup, stevia, and frozen all day for kick-butt coffee ice cream. Welcome, and good luck!

congrats on starting your ip diet. i have been doing it for 2 months and love it. good luck

As far as I know the IP omelettes are not restricted

Where is your 3rd packet? You should be having a snack in there somewhere - most of us have it an hour or so before bed. That way you are not so "starved" in the morning. If you did eat the yolk, that egg would count as half your lean protein. Without it is fine. Sounds like your doing well-keep going! :hug:

I actually started Monday, but have lost nearly 10lbs in 48 hours, that is if the Dr. scale and mine at home are reading the same. I am following the protocol to a "T". Is this normal in the first few days?

I find myself drinking over a gallon of water a day. Is this ok?

Leek soup is terrible by itself, trying cream of chicken soup today..

I am excited to be part of this program, my father-in-law has lost over 110lbs and mother-in-law I think over 60lbs and they started in June 2010. They look and feel amazing!

Its a bit rough being on this diet as I am married and have children at home with tons of snack food. All family members are supportive and we eat dinner together and always did before. My wife will most likely start once she is done breastfeeding.

I have a question the I find different answers too on here and from my in-laws. Can I use sweetners while on Phase 1? My Dr. said yes any 0 cal 0 carb sweetner is ok, my inlaws say only use a stevia or spleda type sweetner. I am only asking for use in my coffee in the morning.

Sorry for the long post, I will keep it shorter in the future.

Hi -- I was told we could only have stevia and splenda. Some people use a splash or two of the Vanilla drink as a substitute for cream and sugar in their coffee. You might consider trying that. I kind of like heating the entire vanilla drink, adding a bit of cinnamon frothing it and adding it to a few shots of espresso - makes it taste like a vanilla latte. I use this as my breakfast a few times a week - it is a nice change from the herb omelette which I love. I also like to blend the cappuccino drink with ice and a few shots of espresso (notice a pattern -- I blame it on my Seattle barista days :)).

I too wonder about the gallon of water thing - that is how much I normally drink even when I am not on this eating plan - thankfully that is something very manageable for me on this diet.

I just started this program so I am certainly not an expert - but this is what I have been told by my coach. Also as an FYI to your wife I just finished breast feeding and decided it was time to kick it into gear since breastfeeding did not help me one bit with losing the pregnancy weight - as a matter of fact I gained weight breastfeeding --ugggggg

Also I forgot to mention this but it might help -- I never eat the soups by themselves I always add steamed or sauteed veggies -- the leek soup tastes better with a bit more water mushrooms (I use ****ake and crimini) asparagus tips and broccoli - kind of tastes like cream of broccoli soup that way. Same with the mushroom soup - add 1 cup of your lunch veggies to the soup it helps - I find adding mushrooms, green onions, cabbage and zucchini and cauliflower to this soup makes it taste like a veggie stew -- I also top it with kale chips (I found the recipe for kale chips on the recipe thread - which is very helpful) - anyway I serve it up proud and think I am eating something very fancy (I should add I used to be a chef so I am taking this diet as a culinary challenge to see if I can re-engineer my thoughts on food and ingredients) I am willing to try anything and everything to make these meals as restaurant worthy as possible :)

The omelette and leek soup are not restricted. just FYI

cooked protein twice a day? Interesting. What is the reason your coach has you doing that? Just curious.

My coach allows restricteds right off the bat, but I chose to stay away from them, and still do for the most part.

I have to have my water ICE cold to drink it, and then chug it fast. I recently bought a 32 oz bottle at walmart with a straw, and the straw seems to make it easier to get my water in. I've always hated water. I would also agree that different waters have different tastes. Never quite believed it until we bought a Brita, and the water has "no" flavor!

I didn't have a pill box to begin with either, just crossed the boxes off in my book as I took them.

Sweeteners
 

It sounds like coaches vary on the sweeteners they allow.

I've been told that stevia and Splenda are on the IP protocol.

Aspartame is O carb, 0 calories, but has gotten bad press for being an appetite stimulant. (!) Do some research online, lots of info available.

Xylitol and Erythritol are not allowed because they are sugar alcohols and have carbs. This seems to be under controversy as of late.

Read all your packages faithfully... some sweeteners are blends of allowed and not allowed sweeteners, like Truvia.

Hope this helps!

Thank you. I will just stick with Splenda or Stevia. So is there no chewing gums available that are acceptable to protocol?

There is a chewing gum my coach allows called "Spry" chewing gum -- typically we are not supposed to have gum but since I am in front of people all day she lets me chew 1 piece a day -- I take little tiny nibbles of the gum. Ask your coach I think each coach is different regarding this issue - but this is what mine allows -- I keep reminding myself that my goal is to reset the pancreas and if chewing gum does something biologically to hinder that then it is better to just hang tight and stick to one piece of gum if I need it.

Have any of you all had your coach tell you that you can use Ken's salad dressing? My coach told me that, but I can't find anything else that supports that. She even wrote it on my diet plan. I know it is low in carbs, but has a good bit of fat. I haven't used it, have used Walden farms, she said that was okay too.

Have been having a mother of a headache the last few days... any suggestions on how to help alleviate that or does it eventually go away?

Aletoid Smalls may be a better choice for you, especially if you get the dry mouth syndrome that affects some people for a short while.

I thought for sure no questions asked i would get headaches with how my diet consisted of all carbs and all sugar. but i didn't. the ONLY thing i can think that helped was the fact that i was sure to have sea salt on everything. I have heard people say take 1/2tsp or maybe a bit more of sea salt and put it in warm water and slam it and within 30 min the headache is gone. Like i said i just have been putting sea salt on all my veggies and in the omelette or soups that i eat too. good luck!

Thanks! I had such a bad headache and nausea this evening that I couldn't eat dinner and went to bed. I read your post when I got up and did put the salt in some water and salted my salad and forced it down. I actually feel better now! I haven't been using the salt very well. I am a cardiac nurse educator for patients and it goes against everything I teach to add salt to my food!! But it did make a difference, thanks!

I am so glad to hear that. I'm the same way as far as salt goes. i NEVER used it before. I just didn't feel the need or desire to put it on my food. and now i'm like ok sprinkle here...sprinkle there. I hope this easy change will keep the headaches away ;)

a great alternative to chewing gum is tea tree oil chewing sticks. you can get these at most health food stores. they freshen your breath and give you something to chew on. i started using these after i quit smoking as an urge suppressant, but my coach said they are fine to use on IP to kill the ketosis breath.

Thanks! I too quit smoking and used sunflower seeds as my crutch, but can no longer eat sunflower seeds as they are not on protocol. I will see if I can find these in my area. My ink pens are taking a beating or chewing I should say. Thanks again.

According to our coach, you can have up to 2 pieces of Trident (the one that contains Xylitol). Also you can have Spry which contains Xylitol and can be found at Whole Foods by New Market Square in Wichita.

I have a friend who smoked menthol cigarettes and diabetic menthol cough drops worked for him. Maybe you, too?

:welcome: and congratulations on your start!

I know water can be hard to get in. You can flavor it if that helps. Some people use: a little lemon or lime juice, cucumber slices, fresh mint, a few sprinkles of crystal light, a little mint extract or other extract you enjoy, some flavored liquid stevia (berry, root beer, apricot, mint, grape, lemon, orange, etc. there are 14). Others on here have used a little of an IP protein drink packet to lightly flavor a pitcher of water and then drink on in during the day. The orange, lemonade, pineapple, and blueberry seem to work best for that last tip. You don't need much flavor but, sometimes a little bit of something makes a big difference to how much you are willing to drink.

Make sure you remember to get in your lunch and dinner salad. I couldn't tell from what you wrote. I got the feeling you made a big salad and split it out during the day so, that would work well.

It is best if you separate your meal protein and your packet protein if you will be eating the entire thing in one sitting. In effect you had 2 proteins and that is much more than your body can use at one time. Try to save the last protein pack for a snack and have some of that pudding as a dessert. :)

The puddings can be made into shakes and because you really dilute them, you get a nice large volume to drink. They are wonderful for add on to coffee, tea, or, down the road, making an icing of sorts for the chocolate pancake/muffins. I had a pudding nearly every night the first 10 weeks I did this plan and I lost 42 pounds. I also had that pudding within 1 hour of going to bed so, don't worry about how late or how close to sleep you are eating it, you will still lose.

Nope! The soups, omelete, drinks, ready to drink shakes, ready to eat pudding (canada only), jello, crisp cereal, yogurt and puddings are ALL non restricted.
The restricted items are: soy puffs, soy nuts, ridges, bars, chili, spaghetti, stew, pancakes, plain crepes, orange crepes, chocolate muffin/pancakes, oatmeal, and soy puff cheese curlz.

Restricted items are allowed from day one and often help someone trying to wean off of high carb lifestyles to transition smoothly on to IP that first week. It does seem that for some people a slight improvement in loss is noticed of the restricted items are held to a minimum use.

Have you seen the links for the vegetables thread and the recipes thread yet? If not, I can link them for you. We have lots of suggestions! :) You can do so much with veggies from dehydrating, boil, broil, bake, sautee, roast, steam, stir fry, to grill.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/idea...cipes-2-a.html


http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/idea...tables-ip.html



Congratulations!! That is really a remarkable start!

yes, if you are spacing the water out over a 12 to 16 hour day, it is perfectly fine to have more than a gallon. The heavier we are the more water we needed.

Sweeteners are suppose to be stevia, splenda, truvia, purevia, xylitol, mannitol (another sugar alcohol). Avoid erythritol and maltitol as they do have carb which, for some people are useable and do effect insulin production.

Truvia is questionable for me because it uses other sweeteners which can be a problem. Purevia is also not a favorite of mine but is accepted.

You also can not use too much splenda (each packet has .5g carb) and you can't use the cooking splenda as it is a blended product and will impact insulin.

Aspartame is an iffy one. Some coaches allow it. Originally all of these products were made with it. Then "better" sweeteners were available and the use was discontinued. It can stimulate appetite, it can cause insulin to be produced which means you are not keeping your pancreas at the ideal resting place, it can prevent the body from retraining its need and taste for sweet. That last one was an interesting study that showed the use of some sweeteners can actually make it more challenging dieters to maintain their loses. It found that people using aspartame became sensitized to the increased level of sweetness over that of the same quantity of natural sweeteners and after losing weight and returning to normal diets tended to still over use sugars, carbs, and over produced insulin relative to the amount of sugars taken.

Those are the tidbits I have, maybe you will find some logic that works for you. :)





Spry or any gum that is made with xylitol or mannitol or splenda or stevia. If it has other stuff avoid it. Read the package, it will say if and how many carbs you are getting.

I have taken to using a breath tonic spray that I bought at the health food store. It works and tastes great! It is a blend of mint, cinnamon and clove oils.

I know of some people who have been given permission to use ken's and, for that matter, other dressings. The real guidelines of the diet allow for any zero carb, zero cal, zero fat product. If it is outside of that, you may have to use your own judgement.

I personally can't use the ken's because it is made with MSG which, I was allergic to and have become even more sensitive to since doing the program.

Below is some information my coach shared with me when I started the diet. It is fairly common to find online too.

I don't think many people think of manufactured table salt as a chemical but it is and, partly because of that, our body doesn't use it well and it impacts blood pressure. I grew up avoiding salt. Now, I use it regularly and have very low blood pressure.

Table Salt Vs. Sea Salt

Besides the difference in the manufacturing process, sea salt and table salt differ in the following ways:

* While sodium and chlorine are the only minerals contained in table salt, sea salt has other minerals like iron, sulfur and magnesium naturally present in them. This increases the nutritive value of sea salt as compared to table salt. The various minerals present in sea salt helps us to maintain a healthy balance of the various electrolytes in the body.
* The refining process of table salt strips it of all of its minerals, other than sodium and chloride. This makes it an unnatural substance as compared to sea salt, and contributes to high blood pressure, heart and kidney diseases. On the other hand, health benefits of sea salt include, inducing proper sleep, promoting efficient working of the liver, kidneys and the adrenal glands. Sea salts also boost the immune system of the body and don't cause high blood pressure like refined table salt.
* Although, due to the higher mineral content, sea salt may be considered to be a healthier choice than table salt, it has its own drawbacks. One major disadvantage of sea salt is that it is a poor source of iodine. The iodine that is added during the refining process of table salt makes it a better source of iodine than sea salt. (redmond's real salt contains iodide as part of its mineral complements)
* Due to the presence of many minerals, sea salt is not as 'salty' as table salt. It may be slightly flavored.

Some retailers may sell sea salts that are fine-grained and white in color. If you want to enjoy the advantages of sea salt, be sure that it is the unrefined one and contains the minerals that gives it an edge over table salt.

Could you please explain to me what a sugar alcohol is and why it is okay to use? I thought it wasn't allowed, only splenda and stevia. There are A LOT of products out there (including things like ice-cream syrups) that are sweetened with sugar-alcohols.

I started today, Jan 15...
For breakfast I had 16 oz of water and a Pineapple/Banana Mix..
Lunch I had lots of lettuce with two cups mixed veggies (cucumber, brocolli, cauliflower, red cabbage, & green bell pepper) topped with a oil/vinegar dressing.. And some butterscotch pudding..
For dinner I plan to have 7 ounces of Tuna and the same type of salad I had with lunch.
My evening snack will be the Wildberry yogurt drink.
I too am very surprised that your Dr allowed you to have restricted foods for your first few weeks... That is just silly.. They didn't include ANY restricted foods in my starter pack, that way I am less tempted to even try them. personally I am VERY glad for this!!!
Good luck to you!!! =)

:welcome3: read read read IP is awesome and this forum is a great support! I'm hooked.
is your green bell pepper cooked? check your veggie sheet.

I am also on day 1...(was on the program previously and lost 15lbs but gained 7 back over December) So started fresh again...I am hoping this forum helps a bunch, as long as I keep reading on a daily basis and get some good ideas from everyone it should be just fine...Good luck to all! ;)

"a bar on day one? we have different coaches. dinner....... a cooked protein and an IP packet? I am curious if your coach recommended that? I know all the coaches are different. "

I don't think my couch is very educated on the IP Plan. I'm struggling with her.

:welcome: I hope your week is going well!

A bar on day one is allowed on the NEW IP protocols. It is determined by how much carbohydrate someone was eating before starting IP. For some people, their diet is quiet high in carbs and to go from 300g of carbs to 40g is very dramatic and can cause them to feel ill or not able to do this. It would be a way of stepping down, helping keep sugars more normal. It would delay ketosis a few days but, it helps transition a person.

If the person wants to try it without the restricted on week one they will have better results even if they add restricted items back during week 2 or 3.

Your coach is not necessarily uninformed, just using a more conservative approach. :)

LADYVROD:: read read read IP is awesome and this forum is a great support! I'm hooked.
is your green bell pepper cooked? check your veggie sheet.
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Sorry don't know how to do the actual quote..
My veggie sheet says I can have green bell peppers either way... Am I missing something??