[Short version - if you want to be 100% on plan, no you can't have anything but lettuce outside of your 4 measured cups per day.

HOWEVER....remember there are other tools in your arsenal to combat hunger in the beginning:

-2 egg whites per day - in that amount they meet the 0/0/0 rule at the bottom of your sheet. Maybe make up a little omelet ahead of time and keep it handy in case you need it

-also, one Hard boiled egg can be used to combat difficult hunger. Also very easy to carry with you if you need it.

-hot drinks can be more filling than cold drinks - if you plan ahead to bring some herbal tea bags you should be able to track down some hot water wherever you are.

The biggest challenge in Phase 1 is PLANNING. I actually planned my entire week at once for the first few months. Sat down with my calendar, my packets and a bunch of ziploc bags. Set up every day of my packets in a separate bag so I could just grab & go. Planned every meal so I never felt "stuck" even on my busiest days. It made ALL the difference!

Good luck on your first week! If you can handle a bunch of high schoolers, this should be a cake walk :)

I agree with everybody's comments. I just started on Saturday, and today has hit me hard! Nauseated, headache, and absolutely no energy. I purposely started on Saturday, so that I would hopefully be feeling better by the time I had to go back to work on Wednesday. I'm a nurse and work 12 hr shifts.

I'm confused about the lettuce, my coach said its only unlimited during meals, and that I can only eat veggies with meals, nothing in between to help you out, except water, or an extra packet if needed. This seemed crazy to me! At least the lettuce part. Any comments?

Trinket - you are right sounds crazy. You may want to post this on tomorrow's daily thread as well. Youwill get lots of answers there. Lettuce should be fine whenever you need it. It is a freebie and you can use that. Many people spread out veggies and even protein to make it through the day. Sounds like your coach is making it harder than it needs to be.

Ladylunk, thanks for the advice. I won't stress so much no about the fact that I had lettuce and jicama for snacks:) I haven't actually met her, I just called to set up my weigh in, and she was the one who answered the phone. I was having a rough day, so was asking some clarifying questions.

According to the sheet - lettuce is unlimited. Meaning, you can have as much of it as you want, whenever you want. Lettuce (Romaine, iceberg, butter lettuces) are pretty much just fiber and water and don't add much nutritionally to your diet.

Also, the eating plan on the Phase 1 sheet is a suggestion - helpful in scheduling things out so that you get your food in over the course of the day. But you can break things up however works best for you - as long as you get ALL your food in (3 packets, 8oz protein, 4 cups veggies) every day.

The program is restrictive enough on its own, coaches don't need to make it harder than it is!!!

If you stick to this plan, at least you'll be busy and won't have a lot of time to think about how awful you feel ;) LOL! Just kidding!
Bring extra packets, my coach said that you can have up to 5 packets a day during the first week. Don't forget to bring a big salad (with extra free lettuce) & your sea salt. I have never asked anyone, but my guess would be that you shouldn't have other extra veggies because of the carbs ~ might affect your ketosis???
I was tired during my first 3 days but was able to work no problem. My hubby is in his first week & the only problem he has had was a couple of headaches which were relieved with sea salt.
Good luck ~ keep us posted :D

You have gotten lots of good advice here. I think it would be best to be able to sleep as much as you need during the first 3 days. I'm hypoglycemic too and its hereditary/genetic, didn't straighten out with IP as it does for some (many) folks. If you feel you must start anyway, here are some of my suggestions...eat all 5 packets to get through the first 3 days if you need. I found as a hypoglycemic, dividing my packets and nibbling on them throughout the day worked better than eating a whole packet at a time. I also find that eating more of my daily food allowance in the first half of the day helped me get through the last half better. Either eat your egg whites in the morning or make them as hard boiled and take them with you, you can have 2 for "free" on IP. I found the "real" protein from food helped my sugar/energy stay up better than packet protein. Don't underestimate lettuce, it IS food and helps, some days I ate 2 bags of it. Eat a restricted or higher carb packets. The one thing I learned from IP is my body prefers higher carbs, I lose better when eating a restricted packet each day and higher carb veggies like rutabaga Bring chewing gum, it helped me with the hungries. Don't forget your full amount of olive oil. Don't forget your sea salt, it helps with the headaches. Bring whatever OTC medicine you would normally take for headaches and take it if you still have a bad heachache after the salt. It helped me get through headache days. Eventually I did switch to the Alternative protocol, it felt much better for my body, but it's an individual journey so you might do better on the regular IP protocol. I am glad I started on it because I do feel it reset my metabolism (pancreas reset?) which is what I needed the most. Best of luck!

I started on a Thursday and it wasn't that bad for me. The worst day was actually Sunday, and I was home then and just pushed through.

Day two was worse for me..I think if I were in your shoes I would start on Sat. You'll be so busy that the day will fly..then sunday you can rest and deal with the headache..Mon might be tough but by Tuesday you'll be great!

The first week you can use an extra pack if needed. I would use an oatmeal pack and make some mini muffins to take with you to snack on if you need something in between meals, they are very filling and you get quite a few ;)

I was fine for a week, other than a bit hungry, then had 2 days of extreme nausea - but I might have come down with something those days. I was tired,so going to be early helped avoid nighttime eating and gave me more rest.

I struggled through the first week. I got headaches, and got dizzy if I stood up too fast (I still do). After the first few days- It's ALL mental for me. I would crave things so much... but I had to tell myself that it's really my mind that wants it- not my body needing it.

Thanks for the info! It makes sense to me that lettuce should be whenever you need it, but they said the reason was to keep you from grazing through out the day. Whatever, if I need to graze to stay on plan then I will!