[np2lose]

What packets do you wish you bought (real IP, not alternative products)? Also, do you wish you knew? Is there anything you would do differently? Thanks!

[DakotaClyde]

Originally Posted by np2lose

What packets do you wish you bought (real IP, not alternative products)? Also, do you wish you knew? Is there anything you would do differently? Thanks!

I think it's important to always have a quick stash of prepared foods. If you travel for work, it's easiest to have foods you don't have to mix. Also, know if you tend to crave sweet or salty. I think people lean in to one or the other. Buying the food should reflect that.

[MommaHen]

I know my taste buds or "taste" in generally has changed. I was a low carber before doing IP, but I still ate a lot of dairy and fat...getting that out of my system and getting my taste buds "clean" so to speak has created changes for me. I raise my own chickens and was used to eating a lot of fresh eggs...I tried the omelets the first week, thinking it would be more along the lines of what I was used to eating...I could hardly choke them down. I have not tried them since! It worried me to think that all the food was going to taste like them...but I was wrong. I think I am just spoiled by fresh eggs and forgot what powdered eggs are like. My advice is to just get a variety, keep track of what you like and don't in your journal so when you go back to shop next week you can look in your book and avoid what you didn't like. Not sure if that really answers your question...but it is my experience with week one.

[tobehealthy]

I wish I had known to try drinking the drinks through a straw. I don't know that I'll ever be able to like the drinks since I hated them so much at first!
I also wish I had trusted my guts and just picked up the pudding (which I knew I'd be able to eat). Instead my bf had to go and exchange 1/2 of my packets. Today I eat the same things everyday.

[benice]

I wish I had bought...more treats (strawberry wafters, chocolate balls, dill pickle zippers)...a bunch of pickles for munching on...drink packets instead of RTD (they taste a bit better)...a large Tervis tumbler with a straw for work and home to make drinking water fun...

I wish I had not bought...chicken a-la-king...

[Ticiabean]

Originally Posted by np2lose

What packets do you wish you bought (real IP, not alternative products)? Also, do you wish you knew? Is there anything you would do differently? Thanks!

If I could go back to my first week, I would've bought the ready made mango shakes.

What would I change????
No.1 - purchase more microwavable, Steamable veggies. 2 cups of veggies does not have to be Subway salad!
No.2 - begin workouts sooner in p1 (i waited until i'm almost out of P1 to exercise).
No. 3 - NOT CHEAT!!!!! I would be done now if i hadn't cheated!
No. 4 - get more sleep (the weeks when i get more sleep, i seem to lose more weight).

[Suchawittygal]

Originally Posted by benice

I wish I had bought...more treats (strawberry wafters, chocolate balls, dill pickle zippers)...a bunch of pickles for munching on...drink packets instead of RTD (they taste a bit better)...a large Tervis tumbler with a straw for work and home to make drinking water fun...

I wish I had not bought...chicken a-la-king...

OMG..Benice..I totally agree with you on the chicken a-la-king!

What does "RTD" mean? I'm sorry, I'm new
Now, with respect to the exercise, are we NOT supposed to exercise in P1? My coach said no exercising for at LEAST the first four weeks.

This is all GREAT information!!

[Blueskywyoming]

I would have drank 4 to 5 quarts of water daily to not only take away the hunger but also flush the impurities from my body. I think that I would have felt better without the headaches and body aches.

[healthyangie]

I wish I had tried the vanilla RTD (Ready To Drink) sooner ... I found so many good mixer recipes for the blender with ice and putting in CHai tea, etc.

Also the crunchy cereal to make pancakes

The potato puree for "omlettes" with veggies

I wish I had NOT bought the leek soup, ANY pudding or ANY WF dressings. Splitting the EVOO in 2 servings and making a vinagarette was far better.

I do love the WF maple syrup and WF caramel for mixing into Vanilla RTD.

[GlacierGirl3]

I would avoid all the soups, period. I'd buy lots of the chocolate drink mix (to make hot chocolate at night), and the vanilla drinks and pudding, because you can mix in extracts and make so many different wonderful treats. Definitely the caramel nut bars, and I like the caramel crunch, too. And at least a couple peach-mango drinks. Truthfully, though, I love having a variety, so I can eat whatever sounds good at the moment.

Oh, and I would buy a lot more toilet paper than you think you need . . . .I swear, half my weight loss comes from the exercise I get running to the bathroom every 15 minutes!

[dawn again]

I am sorry I ever tried the chicken-a-la-king too. LOL The girls at my clinic told me it was wonderful. I don't get any of the snacks, because it makes me feel 'snacky'. I agree about the chocolate drink. It is perhaps my favorite, and I could have it for hot chocolate every night for my snack. I wish I would have known about broccoli and cheese soup, because that is certainly a staple for me now.
I also agree about frozen steamed veggies. Very easy and very quick to microwave. Makes things a lot easier for me. Also cutting up veggies to saute? in the skillet...I do several bags so I can just grab one out of the fridge to throw in there when I get home. Very convenient

[lisa32989]

Well, we all have such different tastes, if you get 25 responses, you'll get 25 opinions about the food, what to get & what to not have.

The biggest thing I wish I would have known is how much extra time I'd be spending in the kitchen and how much planning this program really takes to stay on it 100%.

I eat the soups every work day. They are SO EASY mixed with pureed braised or roasted veggies (I take them in a thermos so I don't have to re-heat). I wouldn't like these soups alone but with the veggie puree, they take on a whole new flavor. My favorites are the cream of chicken and the mushroom. For some reason, I want to like the broccoli cheese but just don't. A lot of other people do!

I've really try to limit my intake of all the sweet stuff. I know after we're done with P1, we'll have to learn to live without so much sweet stuff all the time so I'm really trying to start now. My morning smoothie is made with the dark chocolate pudding b/c it is less sweet than the other chocolates (pudding, drink, or cappuccino). I add raw spinach to that. I wish I would have known from the beginning to make it with coffee instead of water and to use coffee ice cubes.

I also wish I would have known that sometimes I'm truly hungry and sometimes I just "want to eat." I learned an easy way to tell the difference: if I'm hungry, a salad will satisfy for a while. If I just "want to eat", I don't want a salad.

I knew from the get-go to use the recipe threads (either in the sticky threads or in the first post of the daily thread). I had lurked on the forum for a month before starting IP. This was incredibly beneficial because I knew how to find most of the answers to most of the questions I might have. I highly recommend all the recipes for any newbie. The first week it is easy to get bored on raw veggies REALLY fast!

I also wish I would have gotten my 2 big Tervis Tumblers ahead-of-time. I sip on water so much easier through the straw all day long.

I wish I would have thought about shredding and freezing my zucchini, cauliflower and pre-chopping my bell peppers (I freeze them in ice cube trays before putting them in a ziploc). Also, at first, it seemed like I was making veggie puree all the time. Now I make a MUCH bigger pot and freeze some. When I first started, some of the produce I bought went bad. This doesn't happen anymore.

I also wish I knew how versatile cauliflower was. I had been low carb before so I knew about mashed cauli. But "tater tots"? Cauli "rice"? Even Cauliflower pancakes! All of these things are available on the threads, just by spending some time searching.

I'm glad I already knew I could put zucchini in the pudding muffins (something else you can find by searching) or in the crispy cereal or pudding pancakes. I'm also glad I learned that I could buy maple oatmeal pancake packets from Nashua that are NOT restricted. I like my oatmeal/zucchini pancakes.

I knew about Walden Farms stuff but didn't trust it. I wish I would have tried it earlier. I like the coleslaw dressing, the strawberry and raspberry spreads, apple butter, and pancake syrup. I'm slowly trying some of the other salad dressings. I wish they had a Mixture box of single serving packets.

Wow! this got long. Time to stop.

PS: Oh yeah, I like the chicken ala king. It is good over cauli rice

[rcrochet]

I would have taken more before & during pictures.. I never thought this would work and didn't take a before picture. Dang it. It did work! I'm loving this thread, seems like we've all learned a lot. Foods.. don't love any of the food items or soups. I do love the drinks and the shakes made with pudding, every flavor.

[Minch]

I was skeptical trying the chicken patty but for breakfast with WF syrup, it's quite delicious! But with that said, the soy patty was really bad! I love the puddings and cappuccino shake as well! For lunch everyday, I bring my shaker and a soup to work and make it there, heating it in the microwave. My favourite soup is Chicken.

I try to keep my restricted item for my evening snack. Dill Pickle Zippers are my absolute favourite but the bars are great too! The lemon soy puffs are ridiculously good as well!

I also love the spinach/coffee and either pudding or drink blended into a shake for breakfast. The spinach is so neutral tasting it's a really good breakfast. You can sweeten it with WF syrup as well if you like it sweet.

Things I'd rather not have are the spaghetti, chili and chicken a la king. OH, and the fruity drinks are way too sweet for my liking.

Anyway, my advice is to try everything once and make notes in your journal (I use happy/sad faces) so I'll know what to stock up on next time.

Good luck!

[benice]

Originally Posted by Suchawittygal

What does "RTD" mean? I'm sorry, I'm new

RTD means "Ready to Drink". Personally, I think the powdered chocolate drink tastes like Carnation hot cocoa. Which is totally fine by me

I have a hard time with all of these acronyms, too...I still cannot figure out what DH stands for (Dear Husband? Domestic Hairstylist? Dirty Harry? No clue....)