Hi all,

I just started IP last Tuesday, and found these forums soon after. As I've read through a bunch of the threads, I notice different comments regarding IP, and wanted to know if each IP clinic has different rules.

A few people had suggested splitting the 8oz of lean protein between lunch and dinner, but my coach had said not to- to just eat it at that one meal.
Another poster had said 50g of carbs are too high, but when I input my daily foods into myfitnesspal, i'm consistently at the 50g carb mark.

Luckily i've lost 8 pounds this first week, but i'm concerned it's only first week shake-up....just want to see what the actual 'rules' are for staying in ketosis and OP. Thanks for any advice!

Jodi

Don't worry about your carbs, if you are following the sheet you are ok. Just make sure you aren't eating some of those occasional veggies everyday.

Lots of clinics have their own little rules that are not according to the official IP phase 1 sheet. Some don't let people eat restricted items until after the first 2-4 weeks.

Congrats on that great first week loss!

Lots of people split their protein and still have consistent losses. If you are struggling with hunger and feel like you need to split protein to keep from cheating then do it.

Go for as long as you can by "obeying" your coach's rules, especially if they are reasonable as you obviously had a great first week.
Follow the sheet as you have been.
Some people can't handle all the protein at one meal, so they make that tweak that helps them stay 100%. If you are able to handle the protein at one meal, then keep doing so. There are varying opinions on if how you split up the nutrients matters; it really depends on your body's reaction to your food choices and timing.
As long as you are making your selections from the vegetables on the sheet, varying those selections and are losing, the carbs take care of themselves. Also, sometimes people are talking "net carbs" which is the total carbs minus the fiber. You will likely be fine at 50 carbs.
A good coach will remind you of the rules, then help you adjust things based on your bodies "reaction" to the diet or some need -- less soy or must have sweetener in coffee or gotta chew gum or must limit Walden Farms products -- whatever you might eventually need to not only stay on the diet but develop habits that will help maintain you at goal weight.
Congratulations on a great first week and first week loss. It sounds like you are mentally preparing yourself for the weeks that follow where the losses might be a little less dramatic. Stick with what it says on the sheet and you'll reach your goal.

Thanks for the advice. It's funny...I dropped 5 pounds the first 2 days (yes, i've been weighing every day!), then had no loss for 3 straight days. This weekend was very hard for me to follow the sheet, as I am a photographer on weekends, and had been booked solid, so yesterday I had to skip lunch, and when I got home at 3pm, devoured grilled salmon, but also had a lean protein at night...then this morning dropped 3 more. I haven't been able to get in 8oz of protein in one meal...I generally do not get home until 7pm, and I can't eat that much so close to bed, so i'm wondering if the pseudo-split I did yesterday helped.

I haven't been varying my selections much, since i'm a picky eater...hopefully that won't turn into a problem. Thankfully 2 of the soups I like (although the tomato basil was inedible to me)...i've been doing a shake for breakfast, and then chicken, fish or meat for dinner. It's definitely been a struggle t consume the amount of veggies the plan requires, especially since I can't stand the taste of the WF dressings.

Again, thanks for the advice!

Jodi

Weight loss is not linier, and you won't have a set loss day by day. If you are someone who freaks out if the scale doesn't move, or if it moves upward (water retention, TOM, etc) then don't weigh each day.

I think the norm is to lose some pounds, then the body takes time to catch up. I myself...the scale hasn't moved for me in 2 weeks, but I've gone down a whole size.... You have to remember there's more to losing than just the scale.

Try not to skip any meals, because there's more of a chance of overeating because of hunger. Always keep some snacks with you. I carry several different things in my purse so I'm never without something if I'm stuck away from home and can't get to healthy dining.

I've been on the diet since December, and have found that it does not matter how I consume my food... Sometimes I even have some meat with breakfast, lunch and dinner... It is that I stay true to the diet. The big deal is eating everything you must in a day, not how you eat it.

If you are good with your coach's rules, stick with them. If not, I wouldn't worry about it. I left my coach after a couple of months because we didn't mesh, and I'm doing it on my own, as a lot of us are on this diet.

The carb issue is most likely talking NET carbs, which is the total carbs minus the fiber grams. I think 40-50 is what the diet comes out to for NET carbs per day. If you are following the sheet, it all comes out in the wash.

Welcome!

Thanks I do freak from weight gain, so I need to put my scale away.

If you are no longer with a coach, how do you get the IP meals? I've been looking online, but cannot find any site that sells them.

Most of us who are doing the IP program without a coach are using "alternative", or off-brand protein products. There are some who have gotten IP products on eBay but most of us use other brands that are nutritionally very close to the IP products.

You can "flip" lunch and dinner, where you have the 8oz of protein/vegetable at lunch (even if "lunch" is at 3pm) and then have the IP/vegetable meal for dinner. I admit to doing that pretty consistently during P1. You can have the "bedtime snack" at bedtime or during the day at whenever you are trying to "buy time" until your next meal.

Having the same thing all the time works for a while. When it stops, you find new things to like. As you get used to the diet and what you will need to prepare, how hungry or not hungry you are, the next step would be to occasionally try new foods ; ) You do still eat vegetables in phase 4 and you are welcome to eat only broccoli and cauliflower for the rest of your life, but..

It can be helpful to record not only what you eat but when you eat it. It gives you something to look over if you/your coach think tweaking something will help with weight loss.

What everyone is kind of saying is, you don't have to make it real complicated. Just get all the stuff in during the course of a day.

I have found some limited research that supports the way the diet is set up as written. But those studies are short term.

Your long term goal is to make the diet livable both during the diet phase and for setting up your tastebuds, cooking skills and food selection mindset for maintenance.

My personal opinion is if you are using a coach (and paying the IP product cost premium), you should try to get the most out of the coach (support, information, how to tweak the program that has worked for his/her clients, etc) as you can. Lots and lots of people ARE losing lots and lots of weight by following the protocol without a coach and with similar (but not IP-branded) products, sometimes tweaking it very slightly to meet their lifestyles and bodies, which is a good solution, too. Nearly everyone gets amazing labs, go off of medications, etc which are all signs of improved health regardless of exactly how they got there.

This board is usually very helpful (there is only a tiny, tiny percent of the time it is confusing) in providing the group support piece that most IP clinics do not provide, but having a support network is actually proven to be one of the pieces of successful dieting.

An easy way to sneak in some veggies is to add spinach to your morning shake. In a blender, mix a drink mix or pudding mix with 1C water, some ice, and 1-2 C spinach. The spinach gets chopped very fine and you cannot taste it at all.

The online places that were selling IP products have sold out and started carrying cheaper stuff...

The main sites used by me, and I think a LOT of 3FC members is:
http://www.nashuanutrition.com/store/
http://www.dietdirect.com/
http://netrition.com/

I do agree with those that say use your coach if you're doing well, get along with him or her and can afford the IP products.

I wound up with both financial issues and I have special medical issues so I had to stop using IP products, which my coach did not like...so I branched off on my own.

Just be sure if you begin using alternative products, read through the alternative threads to make sure you're getting products that are equivalent to the IP products. Also a ton of helpful info on what tastes good and what doesn't.

I use SparkPeople to keep a food log, weight and measurements. You can set up additional "meals" to track when you eat. I use Snack1 (mid afternoon) and Snack2 (evening) to keep track of when I have the third packet, split my veggies, etc.