This kinda made me laugh as we haven't been on it that long to be bored yet BUT this is the time in the diet to check out the recipe threads and see what you can do to "pack hack". All our space packs will turn into lots of different things by adding an egg white and some baking soda -- cookies, breads, buns, wraps, pizza crusts... All variations that may help with the boredom. New spices and different veggies...

Keep us posted on what you find! To get you started, here's an idea for "chocolate mug cake"

Chocolate Mug Cake (shared by Jordanna)
1 pkg Chocolate Drink (or any IP drink)
...1 egg white
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon splenda
Splash of vanilla

Put the drink mix in a big mug
Add enough water to bring it to a slightly watery pudding consistency, just enough to be able to mix easily
Add the other ingredients (egg white, baking powder, olive oil, splenda, vanilla )
Mix it like crazy with a big fork till it's silky smooth
Put it in the microwave for 3 minutes ON TOP OF A BIG PLATE
Watch as it expands like crazy
Let cool

Awesome change in attitude. Our whole society is geared around food and celebrations. But your kids are now learning too what is healthy and hopefully they will grow up with different attitudes to food. Mine are little "food police" these days..it makes me laugh but I appreciate their help

Jemma~ I am sure it is mostly water weight and you will be back to your pre weekend weight in a few days. Weekends are so hard for me too, going out to eat with friends and hubby. It's hard not to order my regulars that I love so much. We eat Mexican a lot, so I already have planned what I will order next time we go out... Fajitas are a great choice. Yummy grilled meat, grilled onions, peppers, tomatoes, salsa...and you can splurge and have a dollop of carb free sour cream and guacamole on top. Skip the chips and tortillas. I will ask for them not to even bring the tortillas to the table so I won't be tempted. I did this when I did low carb before and I was perfectly satisfied.

I just want to make sure newcomers know guacamole, grilled onions, and sour cream are not OP.

What each person decides to do (stay on plan or not) is up to them but I'm concerned when advise given is to go off plan.

Guacamole, sour cream and grilled onions??
Please, please, PLEASE people!! I love this thread, I really do, but this is just off the wall advise.
This is why so many people have come on here strongly suggesting that the newcomers read the daily thread. We were all newcomers at one time. Heck, I did IP over a year ago and lost a lot of weight.
But as sweet as some of you truly seem to be, newcomers should never EVER take the advise of another newcomer. I know that sounds heartless and cold, but there is no nice way to say it. I have read well meaning advise in this thread several times and have kept my mouth shut, but enough is enough.
No PB2. No Almond Milk. No Sour Cream. No Guacomole. No grilled onions.
Having this thread for moral support (especially being maintained by someone who seems to be a genuinly sweet and caring person) is a great thing. But moral support is a lot different from wrong advise. There is a protocol. Plain and simple. It is all spelled out on the sheet. Follow the sheet. And, although no one on here likes to hear it, when in doubt ASK SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN ON THE PROGRAM FOR A WHILE!
I hate to see so many people taking the answers given here as fact, because they are not fact.
There - I said it - really do not mean to offend, but if I had not followed the advise of the experienced IP'ers when I first did this program, I never would have lost the weight I did.
Sour cream? really?

I can't speak for others who follow this thread but, I am not a newcomer. Did this diet before. I don't take it as advice rather a discussion. When I do need advice I go to the daily chat to ask more experienced members. They usually don't answer the questions that I do have though. I would assume that the newbies have access to the protocol sheets and can see that the items mentioned are not allowed. I appreciate this thread because of all the support we get here. Sometimes it seems as though the senior members have an attitude with newbies and need to remind them regularly that they are newbies and don't have a clue what they are doing. Maybe I take it wrong I don't know. I'm sure that she meant no harm. This thread has lot's of cheerleaders and that's what we need sometimes.

I really hope people don't take it wrong because I don't see anything negative in the posting, and I don't think it was meant in a critical way. The advice is sound. The moral support is AWESOME on this thread, and so very positive. I think the advice was meant about the food recommendations only. For that we need to constantly keep referring to the protocol -- especially when starting out.

YOU are not new, Jemma. I am not new. Many people here are re-starting. But the thread is called a "Newbie" thread and many people on here really are just doing this for the first time, and they may not yet have all the ins and outs of the plan.

"Support" doesn't mean to always tell people what they want to hear. It means to give them the information that they need to be successful. Sometimes we refer to "tough love" -- but it really is meant as helpful advice.

AZLinda - you are always so encouraging and cheerful! I do want to point out though that what you did when on a different low carb diet is not always going to work on IP. Most low carb diets are high fat - IP is a moderate fat diet so even the low carb guac and sour cream can be a problem.

Don't want to dampen your enthusiasm but Lisa and mylastdiet have valid points - grilled onions, sour cream and guac are simply not part of the IP protocol and I'd hate for anyone to think they are and possibly slow down or stall their losses. This diet is hard enough!

I really think you need to repost this at the "Daily" thread as there are several members who have thyroid issues and experience, but they might not be reading this Newbie thread. I don't want to give you bad advice. BUT here is what I know from my experience:

-- "ketosis" is not the same as "ketoacidosis" (which is the dangerous one). I'm not sure if you're mixing those two things up
-- Surprisingly, once you get into ketosis (fat burning mode) many people don't feel as hungry as they think, and have good energy. HOWEVER, there are some people who experience symptoms and do feel hungry -- but we have "tips to help" if that happens. It's very "do-able" and not uncomfortable

If you have health concerns that you are worried about, I would make sure to use a clinic or doctor to help monitor your progress (especially a doctor). If your doctor gives the go ahead, give it a try! As I said, there are lots of people on here with thyroid issues and it's a challenge at times, but they are doing it and can offer you support along the way.

Best wishes in your decision making! We're here if you decide to join us

Oh for CRYING OUT LOUD!! You "veterans" are totally taking my reply completely out of context here! This is rediculous and really not even worthy of a reply...but I am not going to sit here and let something so ludacris go.

Jemma had said that she goofed up and gained weight because she ate at a mexican restaurant. I was merely suggesting that If I were to have a planned meal that wasn't perfectly on plan in a mexican restaurant that is what I would order and might "spurge"....Now that is a very important word that I used in that sentence..so PAY ATTENTION... on a dollop of sour cream and guacamole. NEVER did I say that those items were perfectly on plan now did I????? Jemma knew exactly what I was referring to. I assumed she had chips, tortillas, maybe margaritas etc....things WAY worse than a few grilled onions, sour cream, and guac. So I was trying to suggest maybe better alternatives to her to replace those types of high carb items if she has a planned cheat.

And as far as the PB2 we ALL said in that discussion that it wasn't an op food item but we as Adults are able to decide if it was something that we would consume. Nobody suggested that the pb2 was a food item that everyone should eat. Pretty simple to figure that one out.

So RELAX! I honestly could care less if you agree with me or not. You all need to READ through the comments before jumping to conclusions here. And why are you all even on the Newbies thread anyway? So you can nit pick at everything us Newbies have to say? We really don't need or desire your "two cents" in or all of our discussions. Honestly, I have never seen a weight loss forum where the newbies could not have a thread of their own without being hassled. If we have a problem or a question we are all pretty clear where you all hang out on this forum and are smart enough (if you can belive it..yes we are!) to come to you if we feel that is something we desire to do. This plan is not rocket science however. It is spelled out all over the entire Internet and also on Dr Tran Tien Chanh, MD's website of course.

And that is all I'm going to say on this subject. Take it for what it is.

Edited to add.. None of what I said was directed toward IP43 nor most of the veterans on this forum... just the select few. Just sayin

Jemma! You got my back Sister and I love you for it! Yes! EXACTLY! Do people not know how to have a discussion as adults? I swear, I have been a member on a lot of different forums before and I have never been bombarded by the senior members like this before. It's like they are so upset that we actually have brains and can read all the information and make our own decisions and have our own discussions without having to be lead by them! I don't need a leader. I don't think any of us do. We are all intelligent Women perfectly capable of reading the material and protocols, reading the Man who developed the program's website, and then making decisions based on what we each decide is best for our own journey. We can have discussions about when we mess up and what a better alternative might have been. Maybe not the perfect alternative, but a better one. We are not all carbon copies of each other here. Geesh! So no, you are not taking it wrong. In addition to the two of us, many of the newbies feel exactly as we do, they just don't say anything. But believe me, they think it!

Yay Fairybell! Good job on your 2nd week WI!! You are rocking it girl!

buzymom you are on !! Whoohooooooo! 3.6 lbs squashed in the dirt! You go girly!!

for the awesome recipe IP43! I am gonna be making this one soon..yummy!

To begin with...do you see " 100 percent on plan" written in this thread's description? No, I didn't think so.

2nd... So you think someone deciding to eat a spoonful of PB2 that has only 50 calories, 3gms of fat with none being saturated, zero cholesterol, zero sodium, zero sugars, and zero carbs is so horrible? But you yourself are posting that you are eating the Pure protein chocolate peanut butter bars that each have 300 calories, 10 grams of fat... with almost half of that being saturated fat, 310 mg of processed sodium and 25 grams of carbs?? Come on, really?? JUDGE NOT LEST YE BE JUDGED!

There I said it- really don't mean to offend.

I was wrong above when I said you seemed like a genuinely sweet and caring person. I went out of my way to reinforce the fact that I thought you meant well and that your heart was in the right place. But apparently you want to deliberately mislead people who are coming to you for help. It's either your way or the highway, when it should be the IP way. This IS an IP message board. Your plan is not IP. I don't know why you are making the deliberate choice to mislead people, but I hope the newcomers can be rescued from your trap. You are obviously one of those people who take joy in sabotaging others. For some twisted reason, you don't want these people to succeed. I find that sad - and scary. You are a wolf in sheep's clothing and I can no longer stand by and watch you deliberately mislead people down the wrong path.
As far as the PB2 comment, you must be reminded that someone came on here and specifically asked "can we have PB2?" and your answer was an unequivocal "yes." Someone was coming to you for help, and you gave an answer that you knew was wrong. This is just one example of you deliberately misleading people who trust you.
Maybe you can get with 3FC and start your own message board for "AZLinda's Diet Protocol" because what you are advocating is not Ideal Protein. But - you already knew that. I now believe you take great joy in sabatoging people who are trusting you to help them.
It's wrong, and no amount of giant cute emoticons can cover it up.
Thank you for showing your true colors. The "mean" always does ooze out eventually - glad I, along with everyone else, got to see it.

I have to been on the daily thread and asked a question that was never answered so why tell us to go there??? I don't just want to read your post. If I was invited then include me. There seems to be a tug a war going on and it is ridiculous. I to love this thread and the people in it with a positive attitude which help in any weight loss program. I do not claim to have all the answers on the plan and in the learning phase but really enjoying the experience.Stay Positive Gals and we will reach the stars!!!!