I know I cannot use regular bacon on phase 1 but does anyone know if we can use turkey bacon. Dying for a blt!!

I was also wondering about canadian bacon?

I just bought turkey bacon from coscto for phase 1but man, its high in sodium!!! Which may affect the rate at which you lose. (i dont really know, i am only guessing, since salt is so restricted).

Asked my coach and she said turkey bacon is out

Oh no! Say it isn't so. Since when is salt "so restricted?" It isn't mentioned on any of my sheets and my coach has never mentioned it. In fact, a container of pink salt was included in my initial welcome packet when I signed up.

I'm not sure about the turkey bacon, but I am positive I have read where some people on the boards use it. Different coaches say different things, often bringing their own personal opinion into their answer and not totally going with IP protocol.

Does anyone know anything about salt now being restricted? I'm losing just fine using it on my food. Heck - with all of the water we drink, I don't see why there would be an issue. Unless, of course, someones doctor has them on a salt-restricted diet. Last I checked, there were no calories, carbs or fat in salt. Anyone?

My coach has never said anything whatsoever about restricting salt or sodium. In fact, he has encouraged me to be generous with the sea salt due to the mineral content and the volume of water I consume (well above the recommended). I don't know whether I would use the turkey bacon unless it was just a strip to season a soup or meal as it still have a considerable amount of fat per strip, albeit a lot less than the real deal, but my coach has encouraged me to be very tight with fats, carbs and sugars, so I probably wouldn't make a meal from the bacon. IMHO.

Too much salt will result in water retention. My mom has congenital heart failure and is severely refracted on salt be ause of the water your body retains. It makes your heart work harder.

Well, of course. But I am asking about how it applies to those of us on the Ideal Protein protocol. As my post mentioned, there are people who are on medically prescribed low sodium diets. That's a given. But someone above posted that salt was very restricted on this diet and I have never seen this on my sheets nor heard it from a coach.

I agree we need to watch our salt intake, the levels of salt used in the food production process is way to high. This can lead to high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, hypertention and more.

I think the entire point of my question and post is being completely overlooked. Certainly we need to watch our salt intake. We need to do a lot of things in life: Look both ways before crossing the street. Don't text while driving. Turn the stove off before leaving the house.

My point is being missed, in that someone stated that on IDEAL PROTEIN, that salt is "so restricted." I am getting a lot of personal opinions on whether it should or should not be, but that is not what I was asking.

According to the documentation I have received, and direct questioning of my coach, this is NOT the case and this diet does not restrict salt intake. I was simply asking whether or not this is something new, as we all know that the program is constantly changing and coaches do not all get the new info at the same time.

I'm not trying to be rude at all. Of course, everyone's opinion matters. But when personal preferences and opinions are taken as fact, then we are no longer doing the Ideal Protein protocol, but rather something else entirely. We have too many coaches out there adding their personal opinion into the program and that is why so many of us are getting conflicting information.

I will just continue doing what I am doing until I hear, officially, otherwise, about how this applies to the Ideal Protein protocol.

They take a lot of the sodium out of the foods. That is why they have us use so much sea salt. We need it and it is a good at giving our body nutrients. Also helps with the headaches and things. Most foods we ate before IP already had a lot of sodium added.

I don't like salt and I remember my coach encouraging me to salt my food and I was disgusted by that but then she explained that we need it and it is taken out of a lot of IP products. Now the soups and some other items are pretty high in sodium. Those who experience water retention issues might do well to cut back on the soups and items like that.

Turkey bacon also sometimes has sugar or maple syrup.

Turkey bacon is a higher fat meat. The only meat allowed is low fat types...leaner types...Don't worry you'll have it soon enough!!!

I remember reading that someone (IPDivaJen, maybe) had found a turkey bacon at Costco that fit within the protocol. I have eaten 2 slices of bacon before (and counted it as part of my protein of course) with no ill effects. To be quite honest, I have found that my losses are better during the weeks that I eat higher fat content meat (red meat, salmon, etc.) vs. the leaner meat (chicken, turkey, lean fish, etc.). Of course, always consult with your coach and read the labels carefully.

Some do better with higher fat meats. DH ate red meat most of the time. His losses seemed to slow when he switched to chicken. I did better with chicken but had to switch it out a few days with red meat and my losses were better.

Well I didn't know turkey bacon was restricted, so I've learned something today. Now I feel guilty. I was really light headed at the store and didn't want to buy chocolate so I bought beef jerky. I figured it was low fat, low carb and had lots of protein. I thought I made a smart choice but if bacon is out, I imagine beef jerky is a no no too! Oh well... try again tomorrow -- with a protein bar in my purse for emergencies