I am only on day 3, I got up last night about 12:30am and I jsut felt soo hungry, so in my sleepy haze I munched down a Protien Bar.. I should have knwn better and jsut chugged some water or seomthing.. which would have done the trick until morning but instead I ate that bar like there was no tomorrow. I knw its bad to eat after 8 and that would have been my 4th protien of ther day??? or since it was after midnight and technically the next day can I count it as my snack for today?? This will never happen again.. I felt way way to guilt as soon as I swallowed that last bite..

First of all, a disclaimer; I'm no expert, I'm not medically trained, I'm not an IP coach or anything like that. I have been on IP since June 5, so I do have some limited experience with the program.

A few observations:
1. The world has not stopped turning has it? No. You didn't explode (I was kind of worried about that the first few weeks). So that is a good thing.

2. You didn't "totally" cheat. You just cheated and with a protein bar at that. It could have been much worse, say a bag of chips or a fried egg sandwich.

3. Don't blame it on the "sleepy haze" - it was you and you have to get past it and not do it again - next time it may be the chips. You can't cheat on this program - not at all; at least if you want it to work to its maximum effectiveness.

4. Having four proteins a day isn't the end of the world at all. Some coaches recommend it - mine did. I was told I could have up to five shakes a day if I needed them. Perhaps that was a ploy to sell more shakes but I doubt it. I found that four was all I ever needed, even if I was engaged in some serious yard work in the heat or something like that.

5. Get over it, don't worry about it, and move along. You will be fine. Just stay away from the chips. And drink more water.

Stay Strong.

I understand... the first week I was so stinking hungry I never thought I'd make it. I did though, and so can you!

I don't even think you need to beat yourself up about this so-called cheat. Having a 4th when you really really need it is ok (just make sure its not your second restricted in a day). Especially this early, some people use a 4th the whole week. I think trying to pretend it is your snack today would set yourself up for failure - you may end up being too hungry without it. I would just have your 3 non restricted items today and eat normally. Training our body is half the battle so I would feed it regularly!

You are allowed to have that extra packet in your first weeks, you did not cheat to the extent you're thinking... maybe just grab a non restrictive...

Yeah..I'd do your normal amount today...making sure not to have another restricted.
Don't beat yourself up over it.
Some ppl have to have 4 packs a day when they first start the diet.

..."so in my sleepy haze"... I think you must decide to never do that again. Habits are hard to break. Lifestyle changes are hard. Dieting is hard. Being fat is hard. You're not waking up in the mddle of the night, hungry. Get your mind wrapped around some different thinking on that one and stop doing it. Getting over that first hurddle 3/7/10 days, you'll find an easier road. Then you'll find some fun in it too. Hang tight, stick with it. You might learn to love pickles, is you don't already. Poor little pickles, there's nothing to them!