65X65- I'm sorry that you dont feel a connection with your coach. That's why I wanted to do this. I wanted to connect with people trying to lose weight & help them get healthy. It's such a great feeling to see people transform their bodies, and their feelings about themselves!
My coach was a male Chiropractor, younger than me, lost about 30 lbs, not married no kids. Nice enough. He did squeeze the IP in between his patients. Now, for the first time in my life I was hyper focused on losing this weight & it didn't bother me that our visits were 10 - 15 min. When I needed to talk, vent or share, I stumbled on these boards and they really helped. Ultimately (and Im sure you know this) we are on our own in our heads with our weight loss journey. Keep using these boards for support as your alternative coach/mentor & focus on that.
MMMC- I agree with you. Your coach's method are not my style. I've heard about IP coaches who are that extreme in training. It's definitely a different "tough love" approach. I'm proud that I've only had 2 people leave IP (after the 1st week) because it was "too hard" and "I only did it because my friend wanted me to do it with her". I've learned to really listen to potential dieters and find out their expectations and their lifestyles. As a coach, you have to help your clients navigate Phase 1 when lifestyles are tricky.
Again, these boards will be a great help to you. Please don't give up. The results are so worth it. I'd be happy to help you with some suggestions if you want to send me a msg.
lookinfor170 - I chuckled when I read your post. I don't know your story with your coach but I will say when I went to the 2 night FREE training seminars Ideal Protein offers throughout the year, every coach I met ther was sincerely focused on getting clients healthy & to their goal. We spent hours asking specific questions about our clients who were struggling. Not one mention in 3 days about profit, money, or bottom line. I was amazed. Now, not all coaches take advantage of this. It's possible your coach just got carried away??? Anyway, you definitely got your point acoss!
Have a great day to all of you! Take it one day at a time!
I think the thing that frustrates me the most is that I am bought into the program. No drinking? No cheating? AMEN, Awesome. Totally down with that. I want that. If I could just do that by saying or hearing that, I would. What I was hoping from the coach was practical help to achieve that*. Just saying don't do that - doesn't help me, because I know that I shouldn't. HOW do I not do that. What habit can I start that will replace me grabbing food when I'm stressed/ depressed.
(Have you read the Power of Habit? AWESOME Book). I was hoping to find someone who could help me see patterns that I wasn't seeing. I was hoping for someone that I could be totally honest with. I was hoping for a partner in this. It's an expensive program... I should have that.
*Example - I was having problems with a cheat in the afternoon - Bad days, I would grab a couple of nuts. When I really explored that, it wasn't the nuts, or the carbs or the fat that I was missing. It was the days that I hadn't eaten vegetables earlier in the day. I was cheating because I needed something to crunch. Eating celery at 11 removed the urge for a handful of nuts at 2. It wasn't hungry, it wasn't being weak, it was a pattern that needed to change. Yes, I got there on my own, but I was hoping that I would have a coach to help me find those patterns.
But, you're right, I can do this myself. Today, my goal is to be 100% on plan, and this forum has a tremendous amount of information and help.
Unless they are emotional eaters, it's really hard for people to understand how out of control you feel. Your coach may not be able to relate to this and offer any advice.
I know it is extremely difficult, may feel impossible to you sometimes, but you have to get 100% OP and stay that way. Take it one day at a time, and when you want to eat something off plan you have to tell yourself it will not make you feel better. You cannot continue to make excuses about the cheats, you need to own them and take control.
If you can't do it on your own, you should talk to a therapist about it. Someone who has the expertise to deal with emotional eating.
I feel bad that so many of you have had bad experiences with coaches. My coach is great and I really look forward to seeing her every week and getting any questions I have answered.
My wife and I didn't care for our first coach, nor did we like the facility. Yes we must drive further now, but my new coach is great and inspiring. The right coach, the right diet, have come together.
I think having a Good Coach and working the program is a key to reaching goals in the time frame that is doable.
I want to be able to exit this plan once I go through the maintenance phase in the least amount of time and be sucessful
I do not want to prolong it anymore then necessary.
So I will deny gratification until I have completed the program.
This is a small sacrifice I am willing to make to getting myself back on track.
I'm an all or nothing girl...I realize if I let myself off the hook I will not reach my Goal!
Let's be Real who would put themselves through this if it wasn't necessary..this is not an easy program...Unless you don't like the taste of Food!
Lack of Self Control got me into being Fat and Self Control will help be become
Healthy and reach Goals that I have set for myself!
Roo2
I too am an all or nothing kind of girl and have had no issues following this diet 100% OP. I don't honestly feel restricted in what I'm eating and seeing the changes so quickly is helping to keep me going strong.
Found the 100% thread this morning...did not know it was here...or more accurately did not know what it meant. Being OP for me has not been too bad either. Being resourceful...the "coach" I have is a means to an end. I give her my list of what I need for the week...and check what she wrote down.
Getting to the end of my first month on this and she has not asked me ONCE if I am taking my vitamins!! Where do you all get yours? At the center or on your own on line? I saw I could get them on Amazon.
With a Prime membership...we don't get charged for 2 day shipping on a lot of things...and the vitamins we use are offered as a Prime item ...are these discounted at the center?
Thx...
Found the 100% thread this morning...did not know it was here...or more accurately did not know what it meant. Being OP for me has not been too bad either. Being resourceful...the "coach" I have is a means to an end. I give her my list of what I need for the week...and check what she wrote down.
Getting to the end of my first month on this and she has not asked me ONCE if I am taking my vitamins!! Where do you all get yours? At the center or on your own on line? I saw I could get them on Amazon.
With a Prime membership...we don't get charged for 2 day shipping on a lot of things...and the vitamins we use are offered as a Prime item ...are these discounted at the center?
Thx...
100% thread is for people on IP (or alternatives) who follow the program 100%. No talk of cheating on there.
I buy my supplements on plainprotein.com, since I don't use a coach anymore. I never checked Amazon, but will now. thanks!
I have only been on less than three weeks, but I don't use a coach. I find this forum unbelievably helpful in terms of giving me an overall understanding of how to manage this program in a way I can easily live with it, while staying on it. The standard protocol, recipes, so many threads...are so, so invaluable. a friend and co-worker turned me onto this diet, and now several others at work are on it , too. That's helped me a lot. We check in with each other, none of us have a coach, and we buy our products on Ebay. The diet works. It's not easy, but it absolutely works .
Good luck to you. I'm sure you'll figure out the right thing for you.
Just a quick update.... I called to cancel, and they were able to find me another coach who doesn't usually take clients (It sounds like she only takes on clients who were in my situation?).
Her advice is very similar to the first coaches (sparkling water instead of wine, prepack salads). The rules are obviously the same (no cheating!). However, the tone is very, very different, and I'm really excited to be working with her. She seems a lot more frank, less perky, more willing to listen, and way more understanding of my work schedule (which puts me on the road, a lot). She likes to cook, and has recipes (talk about a reward if I've ever heard one). She's even willing to meet me later in the evening, which is way less stressful. We've agreed that I'll be 100% truthful with her on any cheats, and she won't threaten to kick me off the system if I do. Guess who has had no impulses to cheat I feel like I have a partner in this now.
So - moral of the story. Even if your clinic officially has one coach, they may have another one that they don't really advertise. I was doing it on my own with my own products, but I like the simplicity of not having to think about what is and isn't allowed. I like having someone that I can work with too.
My "coach" is going out on maternity by mid March. I will have the Chiropracter who did my initial eval while she is out. YEA!! She was much more professional as you would expect... and I feel like the opportunity will probably present ...and I intend to take advantage of it...to talk to her about my concerns in the way this site handles things.
The inaccuracies in answering basic questions the record keeping are my biggest beef etc...The system they are using is non existent...it's all manual and all hand written. As a result, I've actually done my own spread sheet which I update after weigh in and input formulas for each column calculating total losses, AND weekly averages. When doing this, I found this numbskull also "rounded" most of the accumulated totals ...inconsistently... rounding both UP and DOWN...again...NO THANK-YOU! NOthing should be rounded off on this program. The cost of each ounce is too dear, financially and morally, not to be charted.
Has any one else had their progress tracked manually instead of on a spreadsheet? Also...the cost of packets just went up at my center...not a lot...but it ends up being $5-7 more each week now. Was this across the board?
Hi Everyone! There needs to be a combination of simpathy and hard *** from a coach. For instance, if you hired a personal trainer would you be ok if you told him you just couldn't do 5 more sit ups and he said "ok" Or would you want him to tell you to bad do them anyway? Everyone has times in their life that will interfere with the IP diet. It's called "life" however as a coach we are here to help you understand that it is "life" that got you in the posistion you are in. Please don't quit the diet. I have had so many great success stories. Don't be afraid to ask for a different coach. I find that if a coach has not been on the diet themselves they are less simpathetic. Good luck all you dieters!!
Everyone is not cut out for it.
There needs to be a balance in how coaches relate to a client just as a manager needs to understand and deal with employees appropriately. The biggest commonality is it is ALL about motivating people and maintaining motivation when someone is struggling. There were 2 questions i used in coaching my staff to be the best...
No one was going to do the job "for me" or "because of me" when I was in that position...my skill lay in getting buy-in from my staff...and ensuring they got to the point they understood they had a bigger dog in the fight than I did. Mostly I found being QUIET is the best answer. Me being the quiet one. With us both sitting in my office, and me asking
#1...... "talk to me...what's going on here?" ....gave unbelievable results.
Getting an employee to do most of the talking and tell me why their performance was poor worked better than anything I could say. Once they said it...first. Then we could work for improvement....together. And yes...those conversations sometimes needed to be ongoing.
That was my job...to coach and get the best from them. At the end of the day......other mangers wanted MY staff...because they took ownership and recognized they couldn't hide from themselves. Our performance blew the rest of the department out of the water, and no one was doing it for me. I retired 4 years ago after almost 29 years and still get emails from people about our 1:1 sessions that impacted their career. When reading about coaches who act like this is their fight... and shut down a client's ownership...it's apparent this is not the right job for them.
In addition...the training and ability to handle questions and give consistent advice to someone who is asking...and WANTS to do this right.... is appalling. Shameful... in some cases.
I like the products. But the company does their product line a disservice in selling it like a franchise and letting someone else determine how and what to provide the client. They may as well market the product through GNC or another similar franchise....they'd probably be able to cut their cost and make even MORE $$!
There are good coaches to be sure, and they are to be commended. That is just not a standard with the program. If I was a coach for IP... I'd want there to be a general consensus that piece of the program is solid and consistent from market to market. My own integrity would be on the line if I supported a willy nilly "someone" to hand out packets and collect dollars. And make comments that may or may not be a helpful response or result in motivating the client's success. The coach doesn't own the success...but they do own harming someone's initiative to stay on track and efforts, even when there is backsliding. And yes..some will give up and go away. With my staff...the last ditch effort at getting someone on track was a final
Question: #2.
"Is this the right job for you?" ... Sometimes the answer was no...When it wasn't the right job...and someone left after that talk...I knew it wasn't because of me. Some of those folks felt that question helped as much as anything else that was done.
The real path to success lies with in each person. The coach is just a guide...just helps find the right path and smiles at our success. Even if a week's success is just a firmer resolve. Some of us have to find our way with out that help. It's our dog....just nice to have a friend along the way.
So what do you do when you are not a fan of your coach?? She is kind of mean and makes me uncomfortable. I went to someone else, but they want me to go back to her. I need someone I can talk to and tell them things I am struggling with. I am losing weight, but it's 1 to 2 pounds a week and they are concerned because I should be losing more...is what they say. This is my second time doing this, I am following the plan. Do you lose slower the second time?
In a perfect world all coaches would know just the right thing to say. We certainly all deserve it! Losing weight is hard enough without having to deal with someone difficult. You are the customer. If you prefer one coach, remind them who is the paying customer and tell the you'll only be able to continue if you can choose your coach.
I'm so sorry this is happening. I see it over & over on this site. Luckily we all have each other so we can learn from each other and learn we don't have to "take it" when we feel like we are being mistreated.
As far as losing slower, this is my first time on IP, however there is known evidence that there is a "golden opportunity" on Atkins and people who re-try lose slower. It seems you can't trick your body twice. I'm wondering if that is why my losses are slower than some other folks. I doesn't matter tho, I'll still "get there"
Im an IP Coach
