Hi all,

I've been on the program for about 2 months now. I went on holidays for 3 weeks in there somewhere but managed to only gain 3 pounds. Anyway I'm back at work and back on program, but I'm struggling to get my 4 cups of veg and my unlimited each day. How important is the 4 cups of veg? Can I get away with only 2 if I have heaps of unlimited?

Thanks in advance

4 cups of veg ...Wow thats alot

My coach said that veggies add carbs also and I was eating too many. I wasn't eating 4C of them though!

I don't know much about Ideal Protein, but I did google and read about it. What I read said that you should have 2 cups of vegetables at both lunch and dinner, and the unlimited veggies were optional. 2 C at a meal is not really a lot, to me. And if you are still hungry, include some of the unlimited.

Some of the unlimited veggies are on both lists, so you can count those as limited if you want.

Ive found you have to be really creative with how you put together your meals. Kind of 'hide' the veggies in with the main protein. Sometimes, yah you're stuck with 8 - 9 mini bell peppers (my favorite veggie snack - crunchy and sweet!) and celery for lunch but theres a bunch of unique ways to integrate the veggies into your meals.

I LOVE the site www.lowfatlowcarb.com because it offers a variety of recipes for all types of diets. My counselor pointed me in the direction of this site and told me to take a look at the 'paleo' recipes - they are all phase one compliant! Plus they are all single portions.

Cauliflower rice is my new best friend as well. You can flavor it just like you would regular rice. It goes great with ANY protein and the IP chili mix is delightful when you pour it over it.

Get yourself a wok, grab some snow peas (I think snow peas...its the type of peas that are allowed), some broccoli and mushroom, some soy sauce and a splash of lemon juice - voila! A great veggie medley thats tasty too! I just got a spiralizer to make zucchini into spaghetti and am going to try zucchini spaghetti and meatballs tonight. I really swear by the soy sauce and lemon juice - I use it a lot to flavor my veggies.

Last night I made stuffed green peppers - it called for chopped mushrooms, red peppers, and celery - I made some homemade salsa as well to throw in there. I used the IP salt for flavoring and it was really good! By mashing up the veggies in the meat, I basically got my 2 cups without having to actually sit there and force veggies down.

I like to stuff blanched peppers with stirfried cauliflower florets, tuna with curry powder, and top with bits of green onion, then bake for a bit.

I am not on IP but on a diet that has you eating 20 oz of veggies a day. It was an adjustment but you do adjust over time and get used to eating that many. I do a lot of stir fries. Riced Cauliflower is one way to knock down a good bit. It honestly is a good rice substitute.

I find the only way I can get all of my veggies in is to blend spinach with a shake in the morning.

I dunno.... I find it pretty easy to stir fry 3 cups of fresh spinach and a cup of sliced mushrooms and eat it at one meal as 1 serving of 4c veggies. Also if you stirfry a couple cups of cabbage in a bit of soy sauce and evoo it shrinks down pretty good.

Liana

I just signed up too. Looks good and it's free.

is Walden Farms still good to use on IP?

Yes

I use Walden Farms with the approval of my coach. I'm not a huge fan of all the products, but I do use a few of them with regularity.

Omg... thanks for the link!! All the paleo recipes are phase 1 compliant? That's great. Thanks! Ali

I LOVE the site www.lowfatlowcarb.com because it offers a variety of recipes for all types of diets. My counselor pointed me in the direction of this site and told me to take a look at the 'paleo' recipes - they are all phase one compliant! Plus they are all single portions.