Originally Posted by capricious:
I was reading a thread from the maintainers in the general 3fc from way back in the day. And it said that everyone is a maintainer from the moment they lose one pound. And maintain it's loss. That we need to treasure each pound rather than looking at it from an all or nothing mentality. Can't help but remember how frustrating it was being at 199 and trying so hard not to 'go over'. Leaves me feeling thankful that I'm fighting to stay at 140 rather than fighting not to go over 200. A huge thank you to IP and to all of you- who enabled me to enjoy the ride :grouphug:

This is a great way to look at it. It's very easy to throw everything out the window when you slip up a tiny bit. Another good analogy: if someone scratched your car in a parking lot, would you freak out and give it away? No. It's a tiny little scratch and can be fixed.

I remember reading (Novak I think?) that you have to EARN your cheat day by following the program 100% of the time on your way to goal and then PAY FOR your cheat day with the day after. That's the mindset I hope to keep.

Darn it! I ate some simple carbs on both saturday( a half cup of chocolate chips and a bag of microwave popcorn) and ice cream with marshmallow topping on Sunday and was up 5 pounds this am. Back to a strict phase 2 for me until weight is off. That weight gain messes with my mind too much...... The Saturday fun wasn't even worth it.

New ideal protein coach training advises coaches to not refer to a cheat day, but rather a fun day.

Originally Posted by Determinedat47:
New ideal protein coach training advises coaches to not refer to a cheat day, but rather a fun day.

Boy, do I ever prefer that language. I hate the idea that eating what I want is "cheating". I prefer to be of the belief that I can have "fun" and recalibrate so as to stay at the weight I want to be at.

Originally Posted by Pxlkitty4:

On the cheat day itself:
- grocery shopping can include 1-2 items only that are "cheat" foods
- everything must be in a single serve bag or a small portion (e.g., I bought a tiny chocolate bar so that I could eat the whole thing). I bought a club soda and baked tortilla chips, but then left the store because it was overwhelming to me to think about what i could eat that day.
- meals can be eaten out, delivery, or take out, but no keeping leftovers

Day after cheat day:
- get anything that was part of the cheat day out of the house

These are good rules! I try to get rid of the extra cheat/fun food before going to bed...if I have to handle leftover cinnamon rolls the next day they wind up in my belly. I've also had success with freezing extra cheat/fun foods, especially baked goods, fur future cheat/fun days.

Hi I am thinking about starting the Ideal Protein Diet soon. I am 19 years old and a vegetarian (still eat eggs and dairy), so I am hoping I can do this program without eating animal proteins. I think tofu would be a good substitute! Are there any of you that are vegetarians as well? I have a question for all you maintainers (congratulations, by the way!), has this program affected your health in a negative way? I've read that a long state of ketosis and a high protein diet can have damaging effects in the long run, like kidney or liver problems, but I haven't found anyone who can attest to it. The research is still inconclusive, and the diet is still pretty new in North America, but I am curious to see if there have been any ill-effects from this diet on the body.

I would really appreciate if anyone has some light to shed on my questions.
Thank you :)

Originally Posted by SourireLumineux:
Hi I am thinking about starting the Ideal Protein Diet soon. I am 19 years old and a vegetarian (still eat eggs and dairy), so I am hoping I can do this program without eating animal proteins. I think tofu would be a good substitute! Are there any of you that are vegetarians as well? I have a question for all you maintainers (congratulations, by the way!), has this program affected your health in a negative way? I've read that a long state of ketosis and a high protein diet can have damaging effects in the long run, like kidney or liver problems, but I haven't found anyone who can attest to it. The research is still inconclusive, and the diet is still pretty new in North America, but I am curious to see if there have been any ill-effects from this diet on the body.

I would really appreciate if anyone has some light to shed on my questions.
Thank you :)

Hi..I am not a vegetarian but I think there are people who do IP who are. I have been doing Ip for 8 months. I have been under a dr's care and have recently had blood tests. So my results were fine..no liver or kidney problems. I have not had any ill effects on my body.
I feel much much healthier, happier and more energetic in my life!

Originally Posted by SourireLumineux:
Hi I am thinking about starting the Ideal Protein Diet soon. I am 19 years old and a vegetarian (still eat eggs and dairy), so I am hoping I can do this program without eating animal proteins. I think tofu would be a good substitute! Are there any of you that are vegetarians as well? I have a question for all you maintainers (congratulations, by the way!), has this program affected your health in a negative way? I've read that a long state of ketosis and a high protein diet can have damaging effects in the long run, like kidney or liver problems, but I haven't found anyone who can attest to it. The research is still inconclusive, and the diet is still pretty new in North America, but I am curious to see if there have been any ill-effects from this diet on the body.

I would really appreciate if anyone has some light to shed on my questions.
Thank you :)

Check out posts by Longdivision. She's been very successful and is in maintenance now. She's also vegetarian, and did a lot of swaps, etc. to make the food more interesting for her.

re: Health... I had bloodwork before and after. The difference was amazing, in a good way. I started Feb 25th, then had been on the diet about 6 months when I got the second set of bloodwork done (August 12th or so). I am reposting my results from an earlier thread.

Originally Posted by :
You tell me what is more dangerous, having my blood results BEFORE and AFTER? My HDL (good cholesterol) is down slightly because we limit ourselves to 2 tsp olive oil each day. Everything else is stellar! The rest of my complete blood workup showed no adverse effects. IF my organs were "eating themselves", I think something would have shown up as a red flag.

Cholesterol is AFTER:159 BEFORE: 211
Triglycerides AFTER: 53 BEFORE: 104
HDL AFTER: 62 BEFORE: 70
LDL AFTER: 86 BEFORE: 129

I suggest watching a documentary called "Fat Head" if you'd like to learn more about carbs. It's a guy who decided to eat only fast food for 30 days, but limits his carb intake. It's kinda like the rebuttal to "Super Size Me". He interviews lots of doctors re: low carb... It's eye opening. Although, after watching the movie, you'll wonder why I posted my cholesterol numbers, since cholesterol is apparently not causally linked to heart disease (it's about imflammation, not cholesterol). The lesson here is that, even though we read things and want to change our view of the world, our view of the world is very much dictated by the propaganda we are fed daily by the popular press and the politicians.

It wasn't until everyone started eating low fat diets that everyone got fat. Also, think about this. We feed our children skim milk and then medicate them for ADD. Brains need fat! My kid gets plenty of real nutrition and I am not afraid to feed him fat. He's on a relatively low sugar diet for a 4-yr old, and lectures people that "sugar is bad for you, it makes your teeth fall out" when we are discussing things in public. He just turned 4.

Oh, and after 60lbs lost, I'm now a size 4/6/sometimes 8 and a S/M in tops. IP gave me my life back!

Well. My WI was down 2.4. I told my coach that one more week is it..and then on to Phase 3.

Capricious: I love that concept...everyone is a maintainer from the day that they lose one pound. Being thankful and appreciative of the weight we have achieved keeps a positive focus.

Darby and others:I am so glad that we have tools here such as Phase 1/2 to return to for maintenance.
I also learn so much from the tips here. I like the idea of getting rid of the foods the day after a cheat.

I have an odd question. Are you folks in true mainenance still hungry? I was wondering if you were less hungry than in Phase 1/2 or even 3?

pixlekitty..I am going to try to be a buddy also...Look for kanoesunset.

Originally Posted by Maile:
Well. My WI was down 2.4. I told my coach that one more week is it..and then on to Phase 3.

Congratulations!!! I will look for your buddy request on fatsecret.

Originally Posted by Pxlkitty4:
Congratulations!!! I will look for your buddy request on fatsecret.

I just sent it and found your thread. I love your recipes. The Cilantro lime dressing looks great..and so the soup looks perfect for the fall.

Originally Posted by Maile:
I just sent it and found your thread. I love your recipes. The Cilantro lime dressing looks great..and so the soup looks perfect for the fall.

Ah, now I get what everyone is talking about. I found recipes that looked good and saved them as favorites. I didn't create them... Yes, they do look good, don't they? Haven't tried any of them yet. Let me know if you can now see my Phase 3 Breakfast ideas.

Originally Posted by SourireLumineux:
Hi I am thinking about starting the Ideal Protein Diet soon. I am 19 years old and a vegetarian (still eat eggs and dairy), so I am hoping I can do this program without eating animal proteins. I think tofu would be a good substitute! Are there any of you that are vegetarians as well? I have a question for all you maintainers (congratulations, by the way!), has this program affected your health in a negative way? I've read that a long state of ketosis and a high protein diet can have damaging effects in the long run, like kidney or liver problems, but I haven't found anyone who can attest to it. The research is still inconclusive, and the diet is still pretty new in North America, but I am curious to see if there have been any ill-effects from this diet on the body.

I would really appreciate if anyone has some light to shed on my questions.
Thank you :)

Information for vegetarians is scattered all over the place. But you can search for Novak, Ogdog (pescatarian) and Birman. Here's a place to start: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/idea...-february.html Also info in the first Alternative IP thread.

Originally Posted by Linden:
Information for vegetarians is scattered all over the place. But you can search for Novak, Ogdog (pescatarian) and Birman. Here's a place to start: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/idea...-february.html Also info in the first Alternative IP thread.

Pescatarian. :rofl:

Originally Posted by Determinedat47:
Darn it! I ate some simple carbs on both saturday( a half cup of chocolate chips and a bag of microwave popcorn) and ice cream with marshmallow topping on Sunday and was up 5 pounds this am. Back to a strict phase 2 for me until weight is off. That weight gain messes with my mind too much...... The Saturday fun wasn't even worth it.

Don't worry. It will come right off. One of the other things we need to learn is to quit kicking ourselves. I mean, what you ate really wasn't that bad. There is no way you gained 5 lbs of fat. And now you've done exactly the right thing and gone back to phase II for a couple of days. You should be patting yourself on the back! Not sure if there is an emoticon for that but here's a :hug:.

Lynn