What Is In These Packets? Aweful!
 

I hate for this to be my first thread, but how are you guys doing this? I really really want and need to lose weight, and haven't cheated. I'm not even hungry. But seriously - whatever is in these food packets for the majority are disgusting so far. I had the chicken noodle soup today - I almost barfed getting that down. Yesterday I made the rotini w/steamed broccoli and whatever that rotini is made with I could not eat - and this was with oil, salt, pepper etc.

The drink/snack packets are completely artificial tasting to me which I find gross.

The omelet was ok, the bars are ok. I haven't been through everything yet. I'm hoping I can find something in the variety that I can eat and stick with.

Kimmie - try looking at the recipe threads and the fun with packets thread up in the stickies. There are some great ideas for playing around with the packets.

And, honestly, your tastes will change. Most people are so used to their food being full of fat, salt, etc. that it can be a hard adjustment while your body adjusts. But it will adjust.

You aren't going to love all the food, but you'll find your favorites and some of the things you hate in the beginning you'll like later. The only one I found I just cannot like is the omelets. Everything else I can doctor up - I add pureed veggies and spices to the soups, make the puddings into drinks, all kinds of ways to make them work for you.

I can't do most of the soups and can't stand the Rotini but I HAVE found my favorites (premade chocolate drinks in coffee) keep trying... you'll find what works for you.

I knew I wouldn't like the soups by themselves but adding cooked/puréed veggies makes them taste totally different.

I also really like mashed cauliflower with a potato purée packet added.

I make a LOT of zucchini/packet muffins, too

I add veggies to the omelet mix, as well.

I wanted to cry on my first day after eating the herb and cheese omelette for breakfast and chicken a la king for lunch. I didn't know how I was going to eat such disgusting food. The next day I think I had a drink and a bar which was much better. Hopefully your coach gave you a large variety of packets to try for your first week and you find some things you like. I still try new things and find I don't really like some of them. I bought some ready to drink chocolate drinks for a short trip I'm going on this week. Most people on this forum say they are better than the packets - which I like. Tried one tonight and I think it tastes like soap! But now I'm stuck with them.

Everything tasted better after the first weigh-in.

ha! good point! :smug:

I have been doing mostly alternatives because I can't seem to find any packets that I like. Personally I have been enjoying my protein powder shakes during the day and various stir frys for lunch/dinner. I'm sure I will experiment after awhile but it feels good to be eating new and fresh ingredients!

I lost 76 pounds by drinking just the IP Chocolate Drink 3 times a day

All you need to find is one IP food that you love.

Then you can really savor your regular meat and vegetable meals.

This was my Daily plan from late July through Christmas:

6am: Large Mug Decaf Coffee + Stevia + heaping tsp of IP Choc Drink + Fat Free Milk + Cayenne Pepper + Saigon Cinnomon
9am: IP Chocolate Drink
noon: 4 oz turkey patty + 2 cups of select vegetables + 1 tsp olive oil
3pm: IP Chocolate Drink
6pm: 4 oz turkey patty + 2 cups of select vegetables + 1 tsp olive oil
9pm: IP Chocolate Drink

Honestly, it was pretty damn easy ... I NEVER felt deprived.

Plus I was eating lots of chocolate (3 times a day OMG, heaven) ...
and eating every 3 hours, so I rarely felt hungry.

Right now I am on Phase 2/3, giving my body a break from the severe Phase 1 calorie restriction I was on for 5 months. So far it's working great as I have been able to maintain my losses and keep my weight steady. This is giving me a lot of confidence that I will be able to maintain my losses down the line, which is a great feeling. At some point in the next month, I will dive back into Phase 1 -- and make another drive downward. But I could feel that my body wanted a break from P1 after 5 no cheat months and 76 pounds of fat melted.

I can guarantee, that most of the IP foods you wont like. You have to just pick and choose a few. Fine tune this to fit your taste buds. I think that IP should sell a "variety pack" so people can try just 1 packet of a bunch of different things before buying a whole box.

The other issue for me is I have a Soy Allergy and few IP Foods are soy free. So my choices were more limited.

By the way "Awful" is spelled Awful and not Aweful. Though that might have been a "Freudian slip"! As IP is Awe-some. So maybe your AWEFUL spelling in your thread title was telling everyone how AWE-SOME the IP diet is !!!! ; )

I got used to them and I love, love,love my veggies and regular proteins.

Keeptrying! Use the recipes and changes people list here. I am about to finish my first week only but I am surprised how much to you can change these things to taste good! I love the soups with my 2 cups of seasoned cooked veggies put right in! Going to be my lunch for a long time and it actually makes me smile : )

Hi Avolon- First I want to congratulate on your 76 pd. weight loss! I've been on since Sept. 2013 and have lost 55 lbs. I have been sticking to choc. drinks mostly, and trying many different recipes with choc. in them. I am a chocoholi. I didn't know we could go to phase 2, if we haven't got to our goal yet. I see you are giving your body a break after 5 months. My be I need to check with my coach and see if I should do this. I'd love to keep up with you as you lose each pound!
Carrol

I agree with the rest of the posters. I only eat three packets. the RTD choc drink mix, the peanut butter bars, and the occasional crispy cereal pancake. That is it. I have lost 39 lbs since sept like that. No biggy.

I remember the first time I tried IP I wondered the same thing (although I used alternatives). I had the omelette (bleh) some weird mocha drink (double bleh) and I wanted to scale the walls! Luckily, like most, I found the 5-6 that I actually like and stuck with them. If you're open to alternatives there are even more options.

To me, anything that was supposed to resemble a substitute to a 'meal' (the omelette, etc) was a huge bomb. Just stick with it.

There have been times in the past that I tried a diet and convinced myself that the food was disgusting, inedible, and nasty simply because I really wasn't ready to diet. When I found IP I believe I was ready, I've eaten WAY more than my fair share of delicious food and the taste wasn't really that important to me if I was getting the results that I wanted.

There are products I didn't like, sure but I don't think I've gagged on any yet. If your palate is that sensitive I would also suggest that you try a variety of different packets until you find something that you do like or maybe even alternative products.
Good Luck!

I'm enjoying this thread because I'm relieved to see I'm not the only one doing the program using a limited list of the available IP foods! My go-tos are the chocolate drink, the wildberry yogurt drink, vanilla drink, caramel nut bars and chicken noodle soup. Occasionally I'll go a bit wild and have the Dill Pickle Zippers. Keep at it, you'll find your groove.

A lot of the packets weren't appealing to me at first since I still had the taste of unhealthy food on my tongue, but a few weeks in with a cleansed palate, everything tastes good now, as well as vegetables and other stuff I didn't like before, such as mustard. It's amazing what you can grow to love when you are eating healthy and don't have recent poor diet choices affecting the way things taste.

It takes a little while to get your taste buds adjusted to the IP meals. Hopefully you got a bunch of samples when you signed up. Try all of them, some may surprise you and actually be tasty.

These were my exact favorites to. I do alternatives this time around, but can get basically the same things from Nashua Nutrition.

Every morning is cold pressed coffee (some yummy flavor) in a chocolate drink, over ice....Yum ;)

Not to sound like a echo of the other replies but this diet offers enough variety so that you aren't bored with the food options. You'll need to find the best thing for you but keep with it and you'll find something that works. I personally can't live without Primer Protein RTD shakes and Quest Bars.

Once you figure it out you'll fly on this diet.

PS- the soups are nasty... Leek soup is by for the worst thing I've ever eaten and what I imagine Soylent Green to taste like. So proteiny... soo goopy... bleh

Kimmie - keep on trying different products - dont give up. Everyone has their own tastes and find what they can work with. For me, the ultimate goal of finally losing this weight helped me to tolerate some of the food choices. Just pick the ones that work for you and stick with them - the results will be your biggest motivator! Good Luck and keep us posted!

For me I used a very limited amount of IP foods. Trying to doctor the foods to make them more pleasing to the palate did not work either.

What worked for me was being very honest .... And I told myself ,this is how I became fat ..,eating everything that tasted good!


Reined in my inner child , and reached goal doing IP, like some others have posted with very limited selections.
Everyone is different some of us are more adventurous and creative when using IP products. I like simplicity , and that's how I approached losing the weight on IP and it worked for me just like my Coach said it would.
I did not fight the process or try to bargain or complain and I found myself surprised how fast I got to goal.
I am presently doing a reboot cuz I let my inner child run amuck!
Just like when running a home if the child runs the house havoc will happen!
My inner child went bat crap crazy! now retaking control and putting myself in check and owning and changing behavior.
Sometimes changing inner dialogue with ourself helps put things into prospective...at least that is what worked for me.
Hope this helps and I totally agree with after the 1 st weigh in the food tastes better, nothing tastes better then successful weigh ins!
Good luck on your journey,
Roo2

Kimmie,
This is also my first week on IP. It took me about 3 days to decide what I thought would work for me. I decided on shakes for breakfast and went with the chocolate, vanilla, and wildberry yogurt. For lunch I chose soups and went with the chicken, mushroom, and tomato basil. For the snack I chose three different bars and also the vinegar sea salt ridges. I add an oz. or two extra water to the soups and leftover cooked veggies from a previous dinner. This is my first week so I can't say if I won't change things later. I knew I had to keep things simple and so far I'm glad I did. I helps me to keep all restricted foods in the snack time slot. Good luck in finding what works for you.

Roo
I love this. I had a friend one time who said "never let the inner child be in charge of the food!, that is a job for the adult"

All you need to find is one IP food that you love.

Totally agree with Avalon.
I'm rotating puddings, chocolate RTD, cappuccino drink mix. that's all. Using Vanilla RTD for my morning coffee in lieu of milk.
You don't need variety to succeed. they all have same content, just a different flavor. I never tried omelets, cereals, soups and have no desire. I stick to what I like. Just had my chocolate RTD and it so delish.

Wildberry yougurt is awesome with ice cubes and a little water in the blender. OMG - what a treat!!

My very first day I wanted to throw up also. I had been eating horrible over the holidays and I was used to sweets and carbs. There at still quite a few things that I don't like. But the most important thing is after the first week I've been having to force myself to eat. I love the puddings and most of the soups. I discovered rutabaga fries and am excited to try jicama ones. Seems like everyday I find something I want to try. The wafers are really good. I had the orange ones. The vanilla drink I will add a little vanilla stevia to and add pumpkin spice. I finally tried Big Mac in a bowl and absolutely loved it. You're just going to have to try different things. I don't have soups everyday for lunch I try to mix it up a little. After the first week like everyone else is saying it gets so much easier. I am on week three and am totally content.

I need to try this! This is one of my favorite drinks. Thanks!

wow. thanks for all the replies. my coach let me swap out some packets today which was really nice. and I discovered that I really like the ready made mango. I also got nutritional facts on each item which is interesting. at least now I know I will fare a bit better for the rest of the week.

So glad to hear it Kimmie. That mango drink is really good.

A while back there was a thread called "what's your favorite packet." I remember being so amazed that people had such varied experiences with IP food.

What one person loves, another can't stand. You'll need to keep trying foods until you find what works for you.

I stayed on IP 100% for 9 months and lost 83 pounds. I reached goal last March. I always had a fruit drink in the morning (piña colada, mango peach, or pineapple banana - that's it). For lunch I had broc-cheese soup, chicken soup, or a la king, each with sautéed garlic, veggies, and lots of spices. I always put curry in the chicken soup. Yum! - to me!

Snacks were always rotated between chocolate crunch bars, choc soy puffs, sw cheese puffs, white cheddar curls (I called them cheddar cardboard curls, but they served the purpose of cheesy and salty) and that's it! Chocolate ready made drinks were always on hand for travel lunches. Not too much variety for 9 months, but just enough. I still enjoy those foods. Right now I'm on my annual 2 week January reboot to lose the 6 pounds that came on in the last 4 months and I'm enjoying the foods again. I've got 3 more pounds to lose, then I'll phase off. Meanwhile, I'm really thankful for IP. It changed my life. But you have to decide to find something that tastes good to you.

Kimmie, Glad to hear you were able to switch out some packets. You will find your own groove in this diet and what works best for you. As other people have said, what one person likes, another person might not be able to (pardon the punn) stomach. I do mostly drinks and puddings, and wafers as my restricted.

Congrats.

It's funny to say, but even though I'm over-weight, I'm a very picky eater! I'm on my first week, so I'm trying the pouches with an open-mind. ... I know when I find a few ones I like, I'll probably stick with them!

I only use the ore made drinks...chocolate, vanilla and cappuccino. Tried all of the others at least once and sometimes twice but couldn't stand them. The one exception was a great recipe using one packet of chocolate and two cups of zucchini and I don't remember the other couple if items but it made delicious muffins when I needed 'bread'.

I know what you mean. The first time I tried the chocolate pudding I almost had to choke it down. Now I've become adjusted to it and it's one of my favorite snacks. I had the same reaction to the chicken noodle soup. I even added some extra herbs and flavor to it but it was still horrid. Luckily my coach exchanged it for me.

The rotini wasn't one of my favorites until I drenched it in my homemade marinara sauce. The recipes here and ones I've searched for online have been a lifesaver otherwise I would have already failed.

Keeping trying new things and stick to the ones you like. After the first couple weeks you'll get the hang if it!

Best of luck to you!!!

I had the same feelings towards most of the packets. I use only the pre made drinks, brownies, peanut butter vanilla bars and peanut butter bars.
I've learned that there are lots of veggies that I would've never tried that I really like. The diet gets much easier week 3. Good luck !

I actually find most of what I've tried pretty tasty, but I will say that the flavours grow on you!! The first time I tried the ready made chocolate pudding I thought it was grainy. The next time, it tasted not too bad! LOL. Same with the caramel nut bars - the first time I was so disappointed because it tasted like diabetic chocolate and not the Oh Henry I was expecting (ha ha). But the next time I had a chocolate craving and had a bar, it sure tasted good!! Keep trying, and as others have said, experiment with adding veggies to some packets... and spend some time browsing recipes online. Good luck!

I'm on day 6 and have been able to tolerate most of the packets in my sample pack but yesterday I had the lemon pudding! Ugh, it was the first thing that I couldn't even eat, and I was hungry. Unfortunately I didn't have a back up packet at work so I had to wait until I got home.

The lemon pudding makes great lemon/zucchini muffins.
Recipe in Recipes #4 thread

Tee hee :)... Just stick to the drinks & bars. If you think the packets are bad, DON't even try Walden Farms products. When I did IP the first time, I went all gung-ho and ordered a ton of WF, I put them all in the trash, tasted like chemicals ( and I am a chemist. lol) My coach said, "oh, I would have taken them & used them" really? They can't be good for you at all. I would rather go without. I stick to chocolate protein shakes, bars and sometime dill zippers :) Good Luck