[Y Guy]

Some things your coach is suggesting don't sound right and don't appear to be part of the diet. Can't imagine my coach suggesting having 3 restricted items, though I could see her suggesting avoiding all restricted items. Also, 8oz of meat is usually for men, not for women so that doesn't sound right either.

Do you have another clinic that offers the program in your area? I guess one thing I'm thankful for is that mine is part of a doctors office so they have medical advice at hand if needed.

I think I'd be looking for some medial advice and/or another coach that knows the program better. How long has your coach been part of IP?

[redhead14]

Originally Posted by thin4me

So for the second week in a row I had a dissapointing loss of 1lb. Yes, I understand it is a loss, however considering I haven't cheated, I'm not close to my goal weight and I'm doing everything by the book I'm stumped??

My coach told me once again she would understand if I phased off and stopped, I told her I've invested too much into the program and need to succeed.

She suggested I do 3 full days of ONLY restricted foods - breakfast, lunch and snack in order to kick start my body, or I could have 3 cheat days and then go to phase 1 as it wouldn't be any different. I mentioned that 3 restrictives would at least be controlled proteins and carbs which to me sounds very different from 3 cheat days.

Then in a different breath she said perhaps I'm insulin resistant and should give up on restrictives and see how that works.

Another thing she mentioned was perhaps I'm starving myself..... she said I should be having 8oz of uncooked meat for dinner. I told her I weigh it after it is cooked and ensure I get just over 4 oz, I was sure I read it had to be between 5-8oz of uncooked meat. No way in **** can I eat more than that and I'm not a super large person to start with so it really doesn't make sense.

She also stated that inches lost should be similar to weight lost. I have lost 30 inches to date but only 19lbs and she is hung up on that (this is week 8)....

I follow the diet to a T. The only things I have that may be an issue are:
2 cups coffee - 2 packs of splenda (max per day) - no milk
Red Rose tea (black - perhaps 2 per day) - however I drink plenty of water
Mint tea and other teas (some herbal)
Gum (2 pieces/day) - Dentyne Fire or Stride

I left the office with a week of food containing no restrictives. I'm dissapointed and confused and could use any advice or suggestions you may have. I really need to succeed on this diet but paying $90/lb is killing me!

WOW! Not what this program is about, makes me want to smack your coach in the head!! OK, you are losing inches every week? In two weeks you dropped over 7lbs, that is a lot for a body to adjust too, plus I would guess you dropped inches also those two weeks. A body can only do so much at one time, do you have a body comp done?
Hang in there, do the program as written and let your body do what it does even if it is slower than what you think.
OH, try dropping the gum, sugar-free gum has alcohol in it that can for some people cause problems.

[ItsAboutTime]

She sounds nuts yes. But for what it's worth, when I upped my meat from 4 to 6 ounces I started losing better.

[Wayward]

My wife has been bumped up to 8-10oz of protein for dinner now and I am up to 12-14 on nights I work out, each person is different.
But I will say the 3 restricted in a day is a waste of time and money.
You will not see good results with eating extra carbs etc.
You may try making sure you are eating every 3-4 hours though, that was one of my problems, going 10 hours between lunch and dinner.

[bandsmartin]

I think your coach is nuts!!! I also have a coach that doesn't seem to know what she is doing. I feel that she is not informed enough to give me the information I crave!! I created a binder with all the info I could find on every aspect of IP...it sure helps me when I am stumped. I think you should cut out all the restricted for for a week and up your water intake, I don't eat a lot of lettuce so I drink at least 12 - 15 glasses a day. It seems to do the trick for me, I don't eat the restricted because I am trying to go gluten free, I have on occasion tried a restricted and have found that those are the weeks when I don't seem to lose as much as the weeks when I eat a restricted. Be proud of your 19lbs and don't stress you can do it!!

[FinnSteven]

Um... actually I DONT think your coach is nuts. Sometimes your body gets stuck and it does think its starving. Upping the protein to an extra packet reassures the body that it is getting plenty of food and allows it to process.

It sounds like she is looking at many different reasons for why your loss isnt as big as expected and the suggestions are things which I have heard before.

(Also note that you may just be retaining and a controlled "cheat" might be the thing to help your body flush the system. Its not a common suggestion, but its one which might make sense in your situation.)

I wouldnt just discount this one, but look into one of the suggestions which you feel you can most easily implement.

(I have also heard reports that cutting out your 1 restricted food per day really doesnt have an impact. Thats why IP headquarters changed the rules for now allowing restricted from the beginning of the diet and why I dont understand some clinics who refuse to offer restricteds for Phase 1. But thats just me)

Other things I have heard is to look closely at your oil intake.

[Linden]

Originally Posted by thin4me

So for the second week in a row I had a dissapointing loss of 1lb. Yes, I understand it is a loss, however considering I haven't cheated, I'm not close to my goal weight and I'm doing everything by the book I'm stumped??

My coach told me once again she would understand if I phased off and stopped, I told her I've invested too much into the program and need to succeed.

She suggested I do 3 full days of ONLY restricted foods - breakfast, lunch and snack in order to kick start my body, or I could have 3 cheat days and then go to phase 1 as it wouldn't be any different. I mentioned that 3 restrictives would at least be controlled proteins and carbs which to me sounds very different from 3 cheat days.

Then in a different breath she said perhaps I'm insulin resistant and should give up on restrictives and see how that works.

Another thing she mentioned was perhaps I'm starving myself..... she said I should be having 8oz of uncooked meat for dinner. I told her I weigh it after it is cooked and ensure I get just over 4 oz, I was sure I read it had to be between 5-8oz of uncooked meat. No way in **** can I eat more than that and I'm not a super large person to start with so it really doesn't make sense.

She also stated that inches lost should be similar to weight lost. I have lost 30 inches to date but only 19lbs and she is hung up on that (this is week 8)....

I follow the diet to a T. The only things I have that may be an issue are:
2 cups coffee - 2 packs of splenda (max per day) - no milk
Red Rose tea (black - perhaps 2 per day) - however I drink plenty of water
Mint tea and other teas (some herbal)
Gum (2 pieces/day) - Dentyne Fire or Stride

I left the office with a week of food containing no restrictives. I'm dissapointed and confused and could use any advice or suggestions you may have. I really need to succeed on this diet but paying $90/lb is killing me!

First of all, 19 pounds in 8 weeks is very good; 30 inches is phenomenal. If you didn't experience the 5th-6th week stall, then you're experiencing it now. All part of the program. Your body can only do so much so fast.

8 ounces of meat is for BOTH men and women who are not doing strenuous work (or exercise). And it doesn't have to be meat; try fish, shrimp, scallops, salmon, tuna. If you can't eat it all at once, split it up.
But all at once is best.

Suggesting doing a week of all restricteds is irresponsible. As is suggesting you leave the program when you're doing well. If you're eating all your vegetables and meat with salad, getting your oil in, and 100 g of water
you can't go wrong. Insulin resistance can only be diagnosed by a physician but I don't see any sign of it in what you've said.

And I agree, the gum can be harmful and chewing it causes people to salivate (sometimes causing hunger) and to swallow air which can cause bloating. If you're not experiencing any of this, that's good. But the gum isn't. Hope this helps.

[Determinedat47]

I do not think your coach is a very good one because of the mere fact that she was all over with her advice which is confusing. My vote is do not eat more than one restricted a day (although I never had any restricted's), drink a gallon of water a day-it REALLY makes a difference, and eat the 8 ounces of protein. Hope you figure it out-it is a very expensive plan.

[jennydoodle]

My suggestion falls in line with what most are saying here. I also do not agree with the (3) restricteds per day.

But here is what I would do:

1). Up your protein. All of my paperwork from IP says 8 oz for EVERYONE. I would up your 4 oz. to 6-7 oz. If you think you won't be able to eat it all, do it with a "lighter" protein. Eggs, fish, chicken or turkey. They are a lot less filling than steak or beef (and the like)

2). Up your water intake. Just keep sucking down the water.

3). Maybe add in an extra packet. You could add in a pudding for minimal calories and additional carbs, but it just might be enough to kick you out of "starvation" mode and give your body just a little bit more of what it needs. I will stress that this extra packet should completely be NON-restricted. But it just might shake things up a bit.

BTW- are you exercising at all? If so, you should add an extra packet anyway. If not, maybe try to bring some light walking into your routine and see if it helps shake things up a bit.

It sounds to me like you are just experiencing a normal stall that we have all experienced on IP at one point or another. And when it comes to a stall, the best thing you can do is just keep sticking to the program. And I would also like to add, this this isn't truly a stall, as you are still losing each week. Take a look at my signature. You will see big weeks followed by small weeks and so forth. In the end, it all adds up. There are even weeks where I lost nothing at all. The body will release when it is ready to. Just keep sticking to the program, try not to stress out about it and the rest will fall into place.

[SVermonter]

I can only speak of my experience, not sure how it works for everyone. But I have had to have times of adding more protein either through more lean meat or an additional protein pack for a few days. I dont agree with going all restricted, but who knows? Good luck and dont give up. Your still doing great.

[BCGirl]

You've had excellent results and I don't know if your coach is a good or bad one, or was merely brainstorming the options that could be tried. I would suggest you try the ones that keep you with low carbs first (instead of all restricteds).

When I added more protein I lost more - I always had the 8oz. When I "skimped" on any of the protein, veggies or oil I did NOT do as well. The plan is already very low calorie, and for me (very personal experience) there were days when I was traveling and had two restricted and those weeks the loss was strong.

I'm the same height as you and was at almost the same weight you're at.

Celebrate your loss so far, and keep a really good log of how the changes you try affect you - just don't change too many things at once or you might not know what worked

[auntdee]

I feel she's crazy only on the number of restricteds... that adds way to many Carbs into your daily total. She correct on eatting more protein. Drink lots of water. Make sure your taking the vitamins.

WI #1: -6, WI #2: -4, WI #3: -4.2, WI #4: -2.6,

[TchMnky]

Even though your weigh loss was low are you losing inches?

[thin4me]

I appreciate all the feedback - this type of brainstorming is giving me different views.

I just don't have too much confidence in her as she originally told me lettuce & celery were unlimited - found out 2 weeks later that she was incorrect. Mentioned I need 1-2 tsp of oil/day but never told me that was "on top" of what you use to cook until last week, therefore I have only started to ensure I get that in. Originally stated that I could have "unlimited" WF dressings and has recently changed it to two tablespoons.

I have lost inches (30 so far), I take all the supplements that are mandatory and drink over 120 ounces of water a day - I'm a waterholic! I measure all my veggies and eat lettuce at lunch and supper. And as mentioned earlier I weigh my meat after it is cooked and make sure I have over 4oz

I use to work out 4 times/week, 1/2 hour treadmill or stairmaster with althernate days using weights. Since I've started IP I haven't done the above as my coach mentioned it could put the body into starvation mode. So basically I'm on my *** 12 hr/day (4 days/week) and doubt very much I'm burning more than I'm eating. I am really itching to get to the gym, but the week I went a couple times (only walked on the treadmill ) I gained .8lbs and have been leary to try it again.

[wuv2bloved]

Originally Posted by thin4me

I appreciate all the feedback - this type of brainstorming is giving me different views.

I just don't have too much confidence in her as she originally told me lettuce & celery were unlimited - found out 2 weeks later that she was incorrect. Mentioned I need 1-2 tsp of oil/day but never told me that was "on top" of what you use to cook until last week, therefore I have only started to ensure I get that in. Originally stated that I could have "unlimited" WF dressings and has recently changed it to two tablespoons.

I have lost inches (30 so far), I take all the supplements that are mandatory and drink over 120 ounces of water a day - I'm a waterholic! I measure all my veggies and eat lettuce at lunch and supper. And as mentioned earlier I weigh my meat after it is cooked and make sure I have over 4oz

I use to work out 4 times/week, 1/2 hour treadmill or stairmaster with althernate days using weights. Since I've started IP I haven't done the above as my coach mentioned it could put the body into starvation mode. So basically I'm on my *** 12 hr/day (4 days/week) and doubt very much I'm burning more than I'm eating. I am really itching to get to the gym, but the week I went a couple times (only walked on the treadmill ) I gained .8lbs and have been leary to try it again.

My coach still says the WF stuff is unlimited just use moderation. You could of gained when you did go to the gym because you didn't have enough protein. IF you decided to go back to the gym I would maybe add a packet eating 1/2 before your workout and the other 1/2 after. That seems to be what the others who work out do. If at all possible I would eat more than 4 ozs of meat try to get at least 6 because if you are not getting enough that could be causing you to lose slow as well. Remember we need to fuel our body so that it can lose the fat...sounds weird but that is what we do.