Help: Vegetables on Ideal Protien
 

Hi, I'm new on here and new to ideal Protien. I've seen the results of the diet through my brother and sister in law.

My problem, and I knew it would be from the start, is I don't like a lot of vegetables. And the ones I do like aren't allowed. :-( I'm a single working mom of 3 boys; one is 7 mths old. I was in the best shape of my life before the baby and now am trying to get the 30+ Pds back off. I don't really have the time to cook a lot and I really enjoy the grab and eat option. Oh and it would probably help to tell you I'm doing it on my own with alternative choices. Today was my first day and I ended up eating approximately 65 carbs which is significantly less than I have been eating but I feel it's still too much. I just don't know what to grab and eat throughout the day & find myself grabbing the bars.....

I would appreciate any help with veggie ideas or anything else you feel may help.

Thank you!

Sticking to the Low GI Veggies are extremely Important
 

Hi Busy Momma-
Congratulations o your decision to take the bull by the horns with IP!!

As many have found...they have developed new and healthier tastes after sticking to the plan. The decision was to make this change to only the restricted vegetables be one of mind over matter until I saw if it was worth it...(at three months I'd lost over 25 lbs...that was worth it to me!) Sticking to the plan to the letter and recognizing that eating did not have to be "fun" or the highlight of my day until I got this weight off. In spite of liking most veggies esp things like asparagus and green peppers and mushrooms...initially there were things I still missed..but now I miss ... my crunchy celery and cucumbers if I run out! By starting now, the summer the veggies are at their peak and the best they will be unless you live where the grow well all year..and if you are to be successful you'll need to make some new favorites. My guess is you actually will.:D All of on this journey are making different choices and acquiring new habits that will be with us for the rest of our lives if we want to remain thinner....

If you simply can't adjust...then you will be better off counting calories or doing another type of diet. The fiber is important here for your overall health...but keeping the Glycemic Index low is really important for the way the diet controls insulin and it's effect on metabolism.
Good luck on your journey!.

I find to be successful, I needed to change habits...esp my attitude toward food and simple options. I had to spend more time in the kitchen and these new habits will help me greatly in maintenance.

I found several recipes that helped me "hide" veggies at first: raw spinach is tasteless in smoothies. Zucchini cooks into muffins made from pudding mixes. Cauliflower becomes mashed potatoes and rice. I ALWAYS make big quantities when I cook. It is a timesaver and provides grab-and - go options.

There are many existing threads that would have helped you with this question. Look for the recipe links in the first post of the daily thread. All the info is there. Making long lasting changes requires work on our part.

I second Lisa's suggestion... I have problems getting in my 4 cups of veggies, so I take 3 cups of spinach, blend it into a smoothie with the IP shake, and if you add cinnamon, you do not taste the spinach at all.

My husband also makes stuffed peppers- one red pepper stuffed with ground turkey sauteed in some olive oil w spices, then baked inside the pepper, will give another serving or 2 of veggies, depending on the size of the pepper, and eating it with the turkey makes it easier than just eating raw veggies.

Thank you for ur suggestions. I know I can do it. I just need to get organized and manage my time.

I don't mind raw spinach and could put it in a salad with chicken but I do need to work on some of the other veggie options. I'll look through the recipe threads today.

Is it ok to use a low calorie, fat dressing? Maybe one of the spray kind to enforce minimal use?

Only dressings with 0 fat, 0 carb, and 0 sugar are allowed. Walden Farms makes condiments, salad dressings, sauces, and dips that are acceptable. If your grocery store doesn't carry the line, you can order directly from the Walden Farms website.

Good luck!

Or spray on some olive oil and apple cider vinegar ( added herbs are fine)
Or oil & lemon juice
I sometimes just use a veggie purée like the mockamole

Don't forget...you can make your own dressing...!!{not a fan of the WF stuff for the most part.}

You are allowed two tsp oil/day...and can mix it with other 0/0/0 ingredients. There are some tasty mustards (esp spicy ones and a few hot varieties inxtead of plain yellow mustard...look for GOLDs (not goulds) or Bookbinders with horseradish )that meet that criteria...and vinegar...cider or white...plus some (read labels) asian rice vinegars..) Also...try squeezing 1/2 lemon on your salad then tossing with the oil and adding fresh ground pepper. Just another new flavor combination.

I find adding chopped hot peppers and dill pickle and pickles sweetened with splenda that are 0/0/0 a good addition to a salad. The peppers and pickles count as part of your veggies...but really add flavor to a salad.

Use egg whites to make an omlette...but first chop zuchinni, muchrooms and toss in a 1/4 C frozen spinach and saute with garlic powder salt and pepper or tobasco sauce for the filling. Finding the spicy tastes appeal more to my palate than ever before since so many other things are off limits.

Thank you everyone. I'm going to go to the store tonight and buy some of the condiments and veggies I CAN use.

I cut and clean all my veggies on grocery day, put them in containers so that I can just grab when I need them. It's lots of work on the day I shop but saves me so much time during the week. It also doesn't allow for the excuse of not eating the veggies because they aren't cleaned.

I do this as well... although I take it a step further because I don't like veggies :D I make my purees all on the same day and then have them for the entire week. That way in the am I just grab two cups, grab my soup packet and I have lunch, then come supper time I grab 1, since I have 1 cup of spinach in my breakfast smoothie.

This weekend I have to take it a step even further!!! I finally got a food weight scale and well, apparantly all my great meats, they're only about 6oz... so I'm constantly down 2oz, plus I have a hard time eating all 6oz... never been a real big fan of meat. So starting this weekend once I get all my meats for the week, before freezing I'm going to cut them to 4oz and then have 4oz at lunch and 4oz at dinner time, it's the only way I can think of getting those 8oz ins.

I definitely intend to get better prepared this weekend. I figured why not start, but it's been hard not having the foods cause I'm using alternative foods too.

I made the best chicken for dinner. Baked in salsa and Honey Dijon plus some of my own spices. Had a salad mixed with spinach and added some radishes. I definitely need to to find some alternative sweet stuff like the pudding!

I like to see what others are doing but we all have different tastes so I never know if ill like them too. I don't like the gritty, unnatural texture of many of the bars so far :-(

I appreciate the comments/feedback!

Thanks!

So by breakfast smoothie do you mean you mix it in your morning shake? I'm hoping to find some soup I can use. I did find some broths. I suppose I could just add my meat and veggies to that. I suppose some of these questions are better directed to the alternative thread.

Its nice to feel full right now :-)

Yes. I usually put 1 cup to 1.5 cups of spinach and then add either the chocolate drink or the milk chocolate pudding. Since they're both chocolate, my drink never turns to an unsightly shade, which works for me.

For the soup I use the chicken flavored soup and just add purees to thicken it up. Purees i've used so far is pureed cauliflower, turnip, rutabaga, broccoli and red peppers. They're pretty easy to eat when mixed in with the soup.

The veggies I used to pure in soups have always been the super low carb ones. I've cooked up celery, mushrooms, leeks, bok choy & purée. I took the soup with purée to work in a thermos almost daily for about 5 months, before I excluded soy, which restricted true soup packets for me.

I'm definitely going to get to pureeing over the weekend. Sounds like a great way to get my veggies in. Especially cause I think on some vegetables its the texture not the taste that gets me.

Thc everyone!

Stuffed Pepper Recipe
 

Ok...after months now of the same old same old for dinner...tried to modify a family fav last night...and my husband gave it a thumbs up!

Makes 4 decent sized stuffed peppers:

*4 green peppers with only the VERY tippy-top sliced off and cleaned out
Blanch for 4-8 minutes in boiling water - drain well and set aside

*1 lb ground meat browned and set aside

*Chop small & saute all together with PAM and a few drops H2O as needed then set aside:
1- small zuchinni
1- small yellow summer squash
1 - firm small fresh tomato
4-Oz of mushooms
1/2 - C frozen spinach
Add to above veg medley during the sauteing - Garlic powder-salt -pepper-minced dry onion or fresh scallion- dash of red pepper flakes

Mix the browned ground meat and the sauteed veggies ...(**gauge how many veggies you want to add rather than just adding all at once...I ended up with more than needed for this recipe and they are wonderful in egg white omlettes for today.)

Fill Peppers with the mixture and put in oven dish sprayed with PAM...cover with foil and reheat all in oven at 350-375 for 30-45 min depending on temperature of the mixture when you fill the peppers. My husband got to top his with grated romano, (could use parmesan or grated mozzarella) cheese and some homemade tomato sauce ...mine was quite tasty with out that. He never missed the rice or the tomato sauce I used to use in the filling mixture. 1 of these and a small salad was also PLENTY filling for me, which meant I could have had some animal protein on my salad at lunch...Next time!

That sounds delicious!

Thanks...next time I'm going to make extra and see how it freezes...I used to freeze my old recipe all the time...and wrap individually in foil. It was a GREAT dinner for my husband when I was off to visit the grandkids and husband was alone! He would reheat in microwave...he loves them best when the green pepper is completely soft and falling apart! Let me know how they work if you try them or modify this in any way!

I think I will definitely try it too. Not a huge fan of peppers but, hey, gotta experiment.

I tried making cauliflower mashed potatoes last night and the consistency was great but I couldn't get the vegetable/cauliflowery taste out of it :-( Maybe my eyes are overriding my taste buds and telling me "it may look like potatoes but its still cauliflower" haha

Thea posts are great, thx!

Not on IP so apologies in advance if it isn't OP but can you use chicken broth/stock? I always cook my cauliflowers in low sodium/FF stock along with some garlic salt/powder and I notice that takes away a LOT of the cauliflower taste. Some roasted garlic will help with that too. Oh and, some dried chives might help with the flavor as well.

I did use some ff, 0 carb chicken broth and se seasonings but I think I'm gonna have to experiment. It's just hard in the evenings when I'm right in the middle of dinner and my infant is grumpy and hungry and crying too and I have to rush or stop my dinner. As I mentioned in my initial post. I know I can do this. I just wish all my dinners were made and packaged for me. Lol

Gonna try doing some of that on my own this weekend (cook ahead) what's the best way to store your good for the week? Freezer ziplock bags??

Thx everyone

I'm just getting started (yesterday)!!! Can I use deli meats? If not, I'd love some input on how you guys prepare the meat.

Deli meats are discouraged b/c they often contain sugar and are also high sodium. Hot dogs and sausages will contain more fat than is recommended.

Meats can be roasted, grilled, smoked, slow-cookered, broiled.
We usually make extra when grilling so we can just re-heat (example: steaks tonite & burgers, chicken for other days)

DH is smoking chicken and a roast today.

BusyMamma-
I can relate..It's tough when you have to balance the family resp with your own needs. Remember they are a big reason you are doing this. It will help if you can take part of an evening and prepare some things ahead and freeze them for yourself when it's chaotic and you need to feed the troops something that is NOT for you....Pizza, spaghetti etc.

I package my stuffed peppers by wrapping tight in foil sheets (Costco sells big boxes that we keep handy) then seal in a qt Ziploc bag. Portion out and freeze browned seasoned ground meat that can be used in a "taco" salad for yourself and always roast an extra chicken breast or two when the oven's already on. I do the same freezer prep chicken breast chunks use tight foil wrap first then ziploc bags. Frozen precooked shrimp from Costco is also economical but importantly FAST to thaw and perfect on a salad. No extra kitchen mess if husband is having something off plan for me. (Fresh fish is probably the only thing we have never tried to fix ahead.) Pork tenderloins can be roasted in the oven or done on the grill on Sunday..and sliced and frozen ahead for another meal for me...get the idea?! Lisa says she does her chickens whole and still frozen in the crockpot overnight! BRILLIANT! I haven't tried that yet but do plan to give that a try. When making salad for dinner ALWAYS clean enough lettuce and add chopped veggies to a lunch salad for the next day. Put it in a bowl tuck in a small plastic container of dressing before covering with saran wrap. Just like a drive-through salad! Make pudding or mix-up your drink for lunch and even snack when you make your breakfast IP food. Who says you can't have fast food on this diet? It's all a matter of RE-defining fast food.
I try to keep my time in the kitchen to a minimum for different reasons than someone who is juggling a family...but none the less...saving time and mess is important to me as well.

Thank everyone. I bought some peppers today to try the stuffed peppers. And I'm going to Costo tomorrow. I think ive hit ketosis so that's exciting. :-)

New to Ideal Protein too
 

Hi...I am new to this diet as well...I am having trouble with the weighing/measuring of some of my veggies...is there a way or a trick to weigh the veggies instead of trying to cram them in a 1cup measuring cup?