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 the WONDERSLIM products?

I have seen other people post about Wonderslim...I would do a search on the forum and see what you find.

You really want to avoid artificial sweeteners as much as possible...they have been found to increase cravings, slow down metabolism, and contribute to insulin resistance and Metabolic Syndrome/Syndrome X. Aspartame is one of the worst.

Thank you Bethnym. I still use sweetener in a morning coffee. I should probably kick the coffee too!

I think the latest research is showing that a moderate amount of coffee is good for you. One thing I read somewhere that Dr Oz recommended was if you are drinking decaf to replace it with regular; about three cups a day.

I stopped putting sweetner in about 1000 diets ago. Now if I taste hubby's coffee by mistake it seems sickening to me and he just put 2 teaspoons in.

Now with IP I have learned to drink it without milk too. I will always drink coffee because it helps with my migraine control.

I had asked this question, too, a few days ago but then I looked up Wonderslim on line but didn't like their ingredients lists. The beginning ingredients are all artificial things and sweeteners (at least for the products I looked at, don't remember which ones).

Sorry, my post was inresponse to leelhyn's question.

I think giving up caffeine may make this diet unbearable for some people, lol (including me). If you can drink it without the sweetener (or add some unsweetened almond milk), you will be better off. :)

I dont' think I can give up coffee. I'm up at 4am and at work by 5am. Coffee gets me started in the morning! I prefered adding falvored creamer to my coffee prior to being OP, but started drinking it black when I started the program. My BFF drank hers doctored with more cream than me, so the transition for her was tough. She found she likes the WF caramel in her coffee and still drinks even though she's phased off.

Good evening everyone.. Hi Patns!! Nice to see you here and to see a thread going for alternatives.

Well, the wedding is over, the honeymoon is done and im back here to lose weight. I havent weighed myself yet but will be doing that tommorow..i got my stuff ready to go...bring it on!!!

I would like to point out that my personal fave alternative is the atkins shakes...i like them way better than any of the nashua or proti diet stuff.. i dont know why..they just dont taste as fake..

Speaking of which....can a person live off of eating fish every night??? Talapia perhaps? Its only got 90 cals! but the point is: i cant eat meat, it makes me sick..ever since december, ive had stomach issues and meat is out of the question so ive been eating fish like its going out of style...any thoughts? is it bad to eat every night for a dinner protein? or am i going to have to find something else? I cant help it.. i love fish! with a little squeeze of lime and a hint of salt...and a little garlic powder..mmm good.

I would say eat what you like, but some fat is good for you, so make sure to get all your ol in as most fish is pretty lean. Or eat salmon some days!

Congratulations!!! I didn't realize that your wedding was scheduled so soon. I hope you had a wonderful day.
If meat gives you issues I think it is great that you like fish. I wish I liked more types of fish. In your location you can excellent fresh fish of different kinds.
Make sure you get your olive oil in. Put it on veggies.

Pat

Just wanted to pop in to say I found a bar I just love, it is the HealthSmart Carmel Crunch bar. I am really sensitive to chemical tasting things and seem to have aftertastes from many bars that other people really like. But this one is like gourmet chocolate.
I also really like the Oh Yeah Grab and Go sized bars. No aftertaste with those either.
Pat

They are from Nashua. I think it is their own product.

But now you have me thinking about the sugar. I don't like the taste of many of the bars other people like. I just looked at the ingredients of the two bars I liked, the Oh Yeah and the Health Smart ones. They are quite high in sugars I think, 8 grams. But there is no sugar alcohols. All the sugars are natural, no artificial sweeteners. So I think it is the sugar alcohols I am sensitive to.
I think it is momof2 who posts about Simply Bars which she really likes because they have all natural ingredients. I looked them up online and they were more expensive but likely worth it.
Anyone have thoughts about what is an acceptable amount of sugar grams in restricted items?

Pat

I copied this from another thread which was moving down on the board.


alternative question

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I know so many of you people have and still are having success doing

alternatives, my question is can one have to much protein

i see on some of the drink they have 30 grams of protein...so how much

is too much..

Thanks all in advance. have a great ideal weekend.



I read somewhere on this board that a person should have the number of grams of protein which is the number which is half of your weight.
In my case that is 65 grams.

I have used the Premier Nutrition protein drinks. They have 30 grams of protein. My weight loss has stopped for the last month. That may be because this is what my body decides is my goal. But a big change I made was that I bought a case of muscle milk lite instead of the Premier drinks because it was lower in calories but also lower in protein. I think that switching to the lower protein drink first thing in the morning contributed to that stop in weight loss.

Well Patns,

I really wish i could have liked all the packets from nashua and other places but i dont ??? It tastes very....chemically?? I dont know if its just me or what..i feel like i can taste splenda in the tiniest amount of stuff..People told me that my taste buds would change, but it never did..In fact, when someone told me that the caramal nut bars and caramal crunch bars and lemon bars and all the chocolate caramal bars were good...i went bananas and i bought three packs of different bars...and i hated them all..there wasnt one good tasting bar..especially the caramal nut bar by nashua...blah!!! The walnuts in them tasted so bitter to me, it left a horrible after taste in my mouth...I was like "this has to go". I have wasted so much money on packets..trying to find good ones.. At first i was all about the pudding packets from nashua..i died and went to heaven with the chocolate one...and would even add a little sea salt to it to make it salty sweet...but time went by and less than a month passed and i couldnt take a bite without gagging...so i tried the blueberry pancakes..tasted dry and rubbery and fake...then i tried the bars...same thing...tasted chemically...in fact..it was the chicken noodle soup that was the only one i actually liked...I mean.. i tried some of the shakes and the fruit concentrate liquid and nothing..the omlette was one of the only one's besides the soup...Maybe i just cant deal with the taste of sucralose anymore? I cant even drink diet pop cause of the sucralose..I used to love diet coke...


You are right about the fish...90 calories per fillet...im addicted to fish!! it tastes so good with a squirt of lime and paprika and sea salt..and mm.. i love my broccoli..one thing im wary about..kale chips... I pass the kale in the grocery store and im always looking at it thinking i will try it..but i cant seem to convince myself to take it home..the idea of putting a lettuce looking thing in an oven to cook and go crispy?? i dont know....

If you had 3 of those drinks/day instead of the IP drinks, based on the increase of protein alone you would be consuming an extra 120 calories. That is not including more for any fat or added carbs. This is because 1 gm of protein carries 3 cals. So while that might not sound too bad, over a week it may slow your wt loss by 0.3 lb or so. At the end of the day, it is the calorie restriction that creates weight loss, so any product w/more pro/cho/fat then the IP product will "slow" your wt loss. Hope this makes sense :p

If the protein drinks you are getting don't have enough protein, you could add plain soy powder. I found some that has no carbs, and 22 g protein in a scoop.

I tried making the kale chips in the oven and you really have to watch that the don't burn. They also had that cruciferous aftertaste that I hated, but am going to try them in the microwave with some spices on it, so maybe that will be better. I really want to like them, as they have lots of good health benefits.

No I only have a drink once a day. I never thought about people who use them for every meal. It would be unlikely anyone would have these more than once a day because the cal count is high.
Actualy I think other factors than calorie count really kick in. I am one who gains on WW and I was on very low points on that which comes out to low calories also.

I was excited to see at a health store that they had bags of kale chips in individual sizes. Then I read the ingredients, over 200 calories for a handful of chips. They were all different flavours so I don't know what all they had put on them.

Port you must have a sensitivity to something in the packaged stuff. I have discovered I get a really bad chemical taste from the ones with sugar alcohol in them. The stuff that doesn't have sugar alcohol in it tastes fine to me even though they have other artificial ingredients in them.

If I lived where you do and if I liked fish as much as you do I'd really go with that as my first choice too.


Pat

I seen them at our local Whole Foods and they had a whole end cap full of different brands and flavors. Some spicy, some with cheese, and some plain. They looked good but wow they were expensive!

wow...the kale itself wouldn't have that kind of calorie count. must be the oil or some other coating like corn starch or cheese? if you make them yourself, you can use that spray olive oil stuff and minimize the calories.

Thanks so much for answering my question Serendipityberry, this will

help me lots, right now i`m drinking 2 of the high protein drinks a day,

so far it hasn`t affected my weigh lose, actually , i lost 3.5 pounds this

week, since i switched to alternatives.



have a great week-end all, keep the loses going..

I have made the kale chips but thought it would be great to get them ready made. But the premade ones are filled with artificial stuff. It's surprising they were selling them as a healthy option but with everything they put on them they don't seem much healthier than potato chips. And yes they were ridiculously expensive.

I drink 1 Premier Protein drink a day, along with other alternative items. The only IP products I still buy is the dark chocolate pudding and the snacks. And, I can say I lost 3 lbs this past week. So, I am enjoying this new plan of eating for myself and saving money! :)

I concur...the kale chips store bought must have additives and other junk to make it high cal...

See im not a huge fan of the green leafy stuff...i dont mind spinich if its cooked..but with those mixed green salads.. i cant tolerate them..in fact my mouth actually hurts from eating them..so i wonder if i would react the same to the kale? I heard some people put viniger and sea salt on top of their kale..i thought the acid would have done something to it..but i guess not.

Alternative products
 

Will the coaches get upset if you do not purchase all of your food from them? Do they work on a commission?

This is what I thought as well but I slowly weaned myself from caffeine. When I feel extremely tired I drink green tea.

My clinic lets you buy as much as you want and since I pay the receptionist for my biweekly orders, I don't think they have ever questioned whether or not I was actually buying enough product. I never actually told them I was using alternative products also. I mostly use IP but I do have an occasional EAS shake and I order my chocolate soy puffs, pancakes and oatmeal from Nashua.

ok, i think im finally on the "right" thread. started my alternative IP program only 4 days ago but I'm down 3.2 lbs already so I must be doing something right!!
Thanks so much to all of u for your plethora of knowledge!! A big girl could go bankrupt trying to lose weight in this day and age...lol...so it was divine intervention that I stumbled onto this site!!

Welcome! There's a lot of information on this site and there is ALWAYS someone lurking to answer any questions! The first week is tough, but after that, it's pretty easy and goes by fast!

Hello all!

Has anyone tried the Health Smart (nashua brand) protein bars? They are on sale this week for $10.00 per box. Thanks!

Many thanks to mamacita & others on this thread! This was my first week using alternate products mentioned on this thread (i ordered from nashua & also grabbed some eas shakes).

Not only did my loss continue but I had the biggest WI loss ever since WI 1!! 7.6 lbs on alternates--it works, yay!!! :cb:

WTG!!!! I had a good loss when I first switched to alternatives. I think in my case it was because there was so much less stress not having to be down at a particular hour once a week.
What a great boost a loss of 7+ pounds down is when it is not your first week on program!

The health smart bars are good, But I think the ones on sale this week are the "crispy" type. They have a sort of cereal texture. All of those type no matter what the brand seem to have a slightly stale taste to me. But lots of people really like that kind of bar.

Hi all!

I just received my first order from Nashua Nutrition.
I always like it when i see peoples order lists so that i can see their feedback and choose accordingly. Here is mine.

I ordered :
Proti thin Caramel nut bars (these looked/packaged/tastes exactly the same as IP caramel nut bar)

proti thin choco covered soy snacks(these looked/packaged/tasted exactly the same as IP)

proti thin sea salt and vinegar soy snacks - not the same as IP. These are small round, more like a corn puff texture. They are ok, takes a little getting used to...but i need the saltiness after the sweet...so i think i'll live with it.Might switch back and forth with the IP version.

proti diet hot drink - cocoa - not the same as IP. seems ok nutritionally. I usually like the smell and comfort of a hot chocolate drink...Mmmm. I thought it might have tasted as good as Ip's choco drink mix. Not the same, but good.

Proti diet vanilla pudding - not tried this yet. A vanilla pudding with ice and splash of coffee is a morning staple.

Hope this helps someone.

As for the discussion on coffee...this might not be the best for you..but i do drink plain black coffee with a splash(10z) of milk , no sugars or sweeteners in the morning. Helps relieve any constipation and makes me go. Try it if you are battling the Big C.

Nashua had 33% off on all products last week...this week it seems to be 23-28% on most of our IP alternative items. If anyone sees a sale/higher discount, do post here so that we can stock up!

I add caramel syrup to vanilla pudding- awesome!!!