Just my random two cents from another person who has concerns over the diet . . . I would highly suggest reconciling them first. You know, make sure you are ok with it. I found myself wanting to tweak the diet to fit the parameters of what I considered to be "good health" because I really struggled to get on board with the unbalanced diet approach. Now, I respect it but I am a long-time calorie counter and paid attention to lots of aspects of my nutrition beforehand so to turn that on its head with this diet (and my lifestyle, habits etc.) posed a great challenge for me.
I just offer it up to say that there will be some shifting of your mind, approach and attitude to do this diet and if you are not fully on board it may difficult to see it through, so perhaps picking something middle of the road like a primal or paleo diet (or any other kind of diet for that matter) might be a reasonable middle ground.
That said, there are clearly a lot of people getting healthy on this diet and seeing fast results can often be the key to success on a diet and this seems to offer that for most! best of luck whichever you choose!
Height: 5'-2" - 41 years old - 2015 Reboot: 165.4/136.0/135
It is good of you to inquire about IP and not trust everything you read on the internet. I never got the impression that you were asking these questions to bash IP and be hostile, just very curious about it and those on it.
I don't have the knowledge as some of our lovely ladies, but I can tell you my experience and my success with IP. I lost a big chunk of my weight doing the old fashioned calorie counting and exercising 2x per day method. I lost 30# in about 1 year doing this. However, this was not a schedule I could maintain. I was getting up and doing an hour of cardio in the morning, then heading back to the gym and doing another hour of cardio and then an hour of weights.
After that, I tried many, many other plans to try and finish the job and get to goal, without much success. Until I found IP, or rather, IP found me. I have never, ever, ever been able to lose like I am on IP and with the consistancy at which I am losing. IP has been a savior for me. I feel so good and the results are definitely motivational. You can see my losses in my signature, but I am averagering about 2# per week. For me, that is incredible! I couldn't be happier with IP.
I also think it is a great diet. I have been on it for 4 months and just had my blood work done. All of the test were excellent..a huge huge improvement over last summer.
I h ave not experienced that flash anger and irritability. I am am more energetic and happier.
There are some minor menstrual and bruising side effects. That said, I have been on OP for about 6 months and have had new blood work done recently. 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.
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". There are lots of experts on there that he interviews. It's eye opening.
Oh, and it's not an evolution of Atkins. If you look at the beginning of the daily chat thread, there is a link to a PDF written by the doctor who created the diet. I found it interesting and suggest you read it. The "unbalanced approach" resonated with me... That, and the fact that nothing else had really ever worked for me.
A neighbor of mine lost 40lbs from Oct last year to Feb this year. Another friend then did the diet and dropped 30lbs. It's strict, but easy. Don't confuse the two terms. In the beginning, I decided to "give it a week" to try it out. I did a lot of reading, as I too thought it was dangerous.
Now I realize that it's sugar and refined grains that are killing everyone, not fat. Fat doesn't make us fat. Sugar is the reason for high cholesterol and heart disease. The medical community has a vested interest in "searching for the answer" without really ever finding the answer. If they found the answer and the world was full of thin, healthy people, there would be no research money to be had. Nutrition is the answer, but the nutritionists don't get it either. Again, if everyone know to "eat vegetables, meat, and protein to lose weight", then add back fruit, some whole grains but not too many", they would all be out of jobs too.
I've found the answer. If you find something else that works for you, that's great. I'm not judging. But, I suspect if tried IP, it would work for you too. I don't know a single person who has done the program and NOT found success.
I just checked online for the FATHEAD documentary you mentioned. Very funny, and also very interesting...... worth to watch the whole thing I think. Here is the link, unless they remove it: http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/about/
IP has done wonders for DH. Not only has he lost weight -- losing the belly -- which we all know causes health issues, he has also lost his acid reflux, lost the athletes foot and the skin yeast (tinnea versa color -- I just know I botched up the spelling on that) and now sleeps well at night. He lost 30 pounds.
We haven't had blood work done yet, but I'm betting his cholesterol numbers went down -- he has been border-line for some time.
My blood pressure has not gone down -- but I really think it is the high salt content that has to be taken with this diet. I fully expect that once I go to phase 4 and can ease off of the salt, that will go down too. I don't have high cholesterol and never have had. I don't have the knee pain, the hip pain, the neck and back pain that I had with that extra 40+ lbs.
I plan to go on a colon, kidney and liver cleanse (and gallbladder cleanse) after I get onto Phase 4 also -- maybe after a few weeks -- as I do think that needs doing too.
