lol yeah it's better to practice good habits even before maintenance. My new veggie is mushrooms! When raw and put in salads, they absorb all the dressing flavor and are yum! :hun:

I like steaming shitake mushrooms with my veggies, and have been putting the baby portabellos on my salads. Love mushrooms!

Tried the ProtiDiet Wildberry Liquid Concentrate... yum! It kind of reminds me of fruit punch. It CAN be made in just a glass of water.. no shaker needed since it's a concentrate and can just be stirred into water. Easy!

FYI- I bought some protidiet from Amazon to try before i put in a order at Nashua nutrtition.

Thanks for the review in protidiet concentrate.

How do you determine which aternative products are restrictive or not? What are the basis?

I should look at Amazon. On the canadian amazon site we can only order books and movies etc. Now they have added tools. But no food items.

I am trying to keep this thread bumped up. Last week there was an issue because there were so many alternative threads all over. I noticed today that an a lot of quite old ones had been pulled up again.
Often the info on old threads is no longer current.
The thread on the alternative products which are the SAME as IP products is quite active and current too. But I'm not concerned about totally duplicating the IP products as many of the alternatives are good too.

So if we could try to keep the alternative discussions to these two threads it would reduce clutter and be easier to find info.
But off course everyone is free to post whatever wherever.

Pat

Hi,
I have been researching for alternatives coz IP food is getting too expensive for me. So the food from Nashua website is it comparable to IP food? I just dont have the time to go through each products and compare it to the IP products. Thanks

I like to use this spreadsheet to determine and compare restricted products. There is a column for whether or not it's a restricted item.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...CMr939oK#gid=0

After a week on the Alternative Alternative plan, I am down 5.4!

And tonight - BIG MAC BOWL. Thank you for whomever came up with this!!

Congrats!

Wow...am I ever glad I found this thread! I browsed the 3fc for about a month before going with the alternative ideal protein. I was just taking everything that was said and translating it to protidiet, protithin, etc.
Noticed that the sucralose causes cravings-that might just be my issue. I'm going to try cutting down. This is the best eating program I have found in a long time--thanks so much for moving this thread up!

I'm with you on the big mac bowl- I kept seeing references, but couldn't find the recipe/made with what I thought should be in it, and awesome!:D

Thank you for sharing this spreadsheet. How do you deternine if an item is restricted or not? What are the basis?

There is a column for whether or not the item is restricted. Most people say around 7 or more net carbs means it's restricted but it really depends. For me, I cannot have a lot of sugars or I will have mad cravings. Just be careful!

Here you go!
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/idea...-mac-bowl.html

When you say "same as IP" are you refering to the taste or nutritional value?

Hi you mentioned about "restricted item". I saw somewhere here a spreadsheet for comparing alternative products and whether its its restricted or not. I have found different opinions as well. I was wondering if you know the basis to determine to know if an item is restricted or not? Thanks.

How do you determine if an item is restricted or not?

I love deyour bars too!! But when I checked the carbs its a little bit high. Is this considered a restricted item?

It seems to be if it is 8 carbs or over it is restricted.
I like the alternative products because some of them have lower carbs than the similiar IP product and so are not restricted. (the oatmeals for example).
The detour bars are over 8 carbs so are restricted as are all the bars.

When Yates said "same as IP", it meant the identical product in identical packaging just in a different box.
Pat

Wow thank so much for these informations! It's a surprise to me that you can get the same products in a different box :)

Looking at the attached spreadsheet, there are items that has more that 8g of carbs but are not restricted? If carbs are not the basis, then what is?

Thanks so much!

And as a side note, I had written down that 6 or less carbs was unrestricted, but I do believe fat and calories come in to play also.

I tried them this weekend... HORRIBLE! lol but then again I hated the chicken soup too so at this point i refuse to eat any of their savory packets lol. I tasted the potatoes after I made them and then into the garbage it went!

Has anyone ordered proti thin salt and vinegar ridges in Europe?

http://www.3fatchicks.net/img/bar-re...1/140/204/.png

Sweeteners. I cannot get splenda here in Holland. What should I be looking for in sweeteners? I'm using Candarel. Do I avoid sucralose? Asparatame? I can order some Stevia on line, but store bought sweeteners can someone give me some tips. Thanks Carol

I use net carbs, taking fiber from the carbohydrates since fiber isnt absorbed and won't spike up our blood glucose.

In other words, say the Total Carbohydrates count is 6g and the Dietary Fiber is 1g, the net carbs would be 5g making it a non-restricted item.

Keep in mind those items should still have low calories and if it has a lot of sugars or sucralose in it, they can cause cravings if using them often.

I am still confused. So if anything less dan 6g if carbs how mucb fats & sugar shoult it have to be unrestricted? I got a lot of diff answers to tjis
Some said carbs has to be below 8g,some 7g to be unrestricted. But then there are other factors to cobsider as well such as fats & sugar. Can someone pls enlighten as as to how to determine if an item is restricted or not? How many calories, carbs, fats, & sugardoes it have to be unrestricted??????

You are making this far more complicated than it needs to be. When I switched from IP foods to alternatives I just went to the spreadsheets. The one Cassie attached on post #88 on this thread gives you all the information you need. I just looked at an IP product I liked then looked at an alternative of the same type. I compared the numbers for calories, fat, carbs and protein. If those numbers were close ordered that alternative.

On the IP foods there are items at 9 carbs which are not restricted so I took that as the cut off number for non restricted.
My weight loss continued the same as it was on IP so the comparisons must have been accurate.

Whoops, just realized WUV is right about some of the oatmeal. I had been using the Proti-thin maple oatmeal which I think is 7 carbs so not restricted. But I just realized the latest ones I got are maple brown sugar oatmeal and are 10 carbs and so are restricted.

Also a question. On that spreedsheet it shows the IP wildberry yogurt is restricted but only has 5 carbs and the rest of the numbers are quite low. It it really a restricted?

Pat

Thanks, I thought that must have been an error on the spreadsheet. It had really low numbers all round except for good protein.

I've only been doing the Alternatives and weighed in another 5.6 lighter today.:D

One of the things that I've noticed over the years is that it doesn't matter what the sweetener is, whether it's sugar or a sugar substitute is that my cravings for sweet things increase the more I have. So I make an effort to limit any sweet tasting item on a regular basis. Just like I've learned to take my coffee or tea without sweetener.

I've also had a problem with stevia and splenda in that it gives me nasty gas, so I've had a few coke zero's and it hasn't affected my weight loss. I only drink a 1 or 2 a week so I feel it's not such a big deal for me.

Plus, I've ordered a bunch of Proti-diet items for the first time and I'm looking forward to trying them.

Congratulations! I also noticed that my cravings increase with artificial sweetners. I was using Mio a lot and found it increased my cravings. I eliminated it and the cravings stopped for the most part. They revisit during TOM, but that's it.

I definitely agree! I have been using the compare sheet I downloaded when you posted it on another thread, and am averaging about 5 pounds a week-not going to question:D

Proti-Diet Maple Brown Sugar oatmeal has 6 carbs, 100 cal. Nice!

Some items don't give the amount of sugar alcohol they contain. That scares me a little and I have avoided ordering those items. What is the cut off for sugar alcohol in bars or other items?

If you go onto the Nashua Nutrition website, you can look at any of the foods, get the nutritional info inc ingredients list. I'm also being careful about sugars.

Alternatives are not only about finding ways to save money, but also to have a variety of food that IP offers while getting the same results. Knowing the logic behind identifying restrictive or not will not only give you an array of food option but also gives you the knowledge for a long term success by being able to determine what you can have .The spreadsheet is in no doubt a wonderful tool, that is not a question at all. With this, has anyone tried these?

http://www.dietdirect.com/weight-los...-meals-18.html