Frustrated in my second week
 

I had my first WI and that went well. But I am very frustrated because my clinic will sell me only three boxes of IP a week. I feel trapped. I spent alot of money on the start up kit with half of it going toward "administration fees", at the time the fees did not bother me at all. But now I am sitting here with Oatmeal, Chicken Noodle soup and Chocolate Pudding. This is all I have to eat til next week. So It's gonna be the same thing every day. Do they want me to fail?
This feels very wrong.
I know I can order from a few places online, I just didn't want to have to do that.

Ugh! That is awful! I can't understand the thought process on this, I would think that many clients would be opposed to this! Is there another clinic you could use instead?

Where are you located? I've been OP since 10/05/12, and I cannot imagine eating the same thing every day. My clinic has a trade box, where you can bring back something you did not like and trade for something someone else didn't like. And this week, they actually started letting us open boxes and take a few, with the rest going into the trade box. My coach said the company doesn't advocate that, so I guess that may be why yours isn't letting you (I guess we're rule breakers!) but I don't think I could stay OP if I didn't have a variety. Do you know someone else going to the same clinic that would be willing to swap packets with you? That way you can both have variety!

I am sure there is, but would I have to start over? I don't want to fork out another huge admin fee.

It sounds very wrong to me. Have you voiced your concern to them?

No I don't know anyone else on IP. And besides I have to log everything on a sheet, so my coach would find out I am eating food I did not buy from her.

I had no idea it was going to be like this. I would have not enrolled there.
Why tell someone there are over 60 different foods and then limit their choices.

Yes. When I ordered my food last week I asked for 5 boxes and they said ok. But when I went in they said I could only have 3.

What's their reason for only selling you 3 boxes?

Variety is how I stay on plan.
Remember that you are the customer and if you don't like the way they are running their business, you have the right to look for another clinic. I've heard of others who switched who were not charged the startup costs by the clinic they switched to.
Make some calls. Find out your options and then call your clinic and tell them you need to buy some more boxes so you have variety or you will be switching.

They said that I only need 21 packets for the week. When I enrolled they sold me 30 packets so I could sample the variety. Have no idea why they teased me like that.

I did all this. I was just wondering if this was normal. Now I know it isn't.

I'd talk to your coach about the problem you have with this, and if they're not willing to help you out, try calling other clinics in your town. I wouldn't be able to handle that, your frustrations are founded and understood!

Totally agree! Wish there was a "like" button! You need to do what you have to so you can be successful:)

I found three other clinics in my area. I'll give them a call tomorrow.
Thanks for letting me vent here. Better than eating a tub of ice cream.

You can order from plainprotein.com.

Coupon code OCTOBER, to save 10%. You can save money on supplements as well.

Personally, I buy private label IP food. I couldn't afford it any other way but I don't do other alternatives. I plan to be on the plan for 6 months and I've already purchased everything that I need for that long (so I have no reason to quit.)

Good luck with the calls tomorrow. I switched clinics after my first few weeks because she wasn't very supportive or knowledgeable and never had the packet options that I wanted. My new coach is awesome, very flexible and has lots of variety. I am able to buy single packets but also some weeks I over buy and some weeks I under buy, it all depends on what variety I need to have. You also need a few extra because if you are having a bad or hungry day, or doing excess exercise then you need the occassional extra packet.

IMO, I would run from this clinic! I had the same thing happen to me where I live and then a friend told me about another clinic where you can go in and basically go grocery shopping for as much as you want of all IP foods and Walden Farms products.
They also did not charge me any fees saying they understood I already paid fees to another clinic. The new clinic also informed me in their opinion the other clinic was operating using an old protocol from long ago.
They told me if I can't be responsible enough to limit my IP foods as required by the program I would have a problem staying OP anyway. They said it is better to have extra IP food on hand to be able to have an extra packet when needed than not and resorting to eating something worse. I lost 46 lbs with the help of this clinic and still going. So happy I left the other one. Would never have made it this far if I stayed with them.

REALLY?? How does that clinic stay in business? I couldn't eat the same exact thing every. single. day. Unless I wanted to of course! I would try to resolve the issue and if not, I would certainly call the main IP office. When you do get the food of your choice, I hope you start to love IP, trust me when you get the food you actually WANT you will start to enjoy the program...good luck to you!

Oh definitely! check out other clinics. AND BTW...we have an IP rep who comes in and sells individual packets all of the time. Even when she is not there, the clinic opens boxes for us to try a variety. I would run from that clinic as fast as possible! Order online if you cant find another one. and dont worry about the coach

And seriously, your current coach can't (with a straight face, anyway) complain that you're buying food elsewhere WHEN SHE WON'T SELL IT TO YOU. In addition to clients' need for dietary variety, the profit margin off of the IP packets has to be huge -- you'd think she'd encourage all purchases. Anyway, I'm really sorry you're having to deal with this, and I hope that you find a workable solution.

Wow. So they expect you to eat the same things every day for a week? I would definately fail if my clinic told me I could only buy 3 boxes for the week. I bought 5 on Monday when I was there. They also told me I could stop in any time if I need to pick anything up. I would find out if you can switch to another clinic. Call around if there are other clinics in your area. I switched after my 4th week because my coach was a nutjob and kept forgetting my appointments. The new place I go to now didn't charge me to switch over when I explained my situation. Maybe you can find another place that will do that for you?

Alittlelessme - I hope you have an encouraging update for us today, like a new clinic to team up with that is much more accommodating!

I had my check-in today and discussed this with my coach, and she said some clinics place a limit of 21 packets because if people overbuy, they blow off their next appointment. Thankfully, my clinic doesn't, but if I were limited, I think I'd stock up online to have a good variety on hand, and just buy from the clinic what you really, really like and want to have extras of.

And if your coach questions you, just tell her that variety is ESSENTIAL to your success, and you're more committed to your own success than you are the clinic's unnecessary rules!

That's a really bad way to keep people motivated. I agree with you it sucks! I bought 7 boxes of food after my first weigh-in so that I would have variety and the last time I went I only bought 2 boxes. I wanted to make sure that I would always have a little variety and maybe not always have to pay more every week if I didn't have to. My clinic had no issues with selling me 7 boxes.

I want to thank all of you for listening to my rants and offering advice. I must sound like a whining brat.
I was able to find three other clinics. One said I must be a patient in their office. :( One said I could transfer to their clinic for a $200 fee and written permission from my first clinic. :( And the third said I can just stop in and buy anything I want and I don't have to enroll, join, pay fees or anything. They sell to bodybuilders and triathletes etc. ...but I have to show them my gym membership card :(

Three strikes.

But there's a bright side. My coach called me and said she can sell me up to 1 months supply.

So my whining paid off after all. Someone upstairs was listening and I guess He/She thinks I need this program too.:angel:

Well, that's a little good news, anyway! I think you'll enjoy it so much more when you have a lot to choose from and can start playing with some of the recipes!

Glad she changed her mind, that is just odd.... I thought it was bad I had to buy whole boxes (vs other people who could buy packets) but I could (and did) buy 3-4 weeks at a time to get variety.

She said their policy is to sell three boxes at atime until the client has shown progress and a commitment. They want to cut down on the amount of IP sold on Ebay and Craig's List.

Was the 10% for plainprotein.com only for OCTOBER?