marshacup, that's amazing! Congrats!!!

First - that funky taste means you're probably in ketosis. I have never had anyone comment on my keto-breath, but I notice it. That fruity acetone smell that diabetics can get in ketoacidosis requires much, much higher amounts of ketones in the blood than you can get from nutritional ketosis.

Secondly, your muscle aches are probably related to ketosis flushing out all of your electrolytes (specifically, magnesium). You pee a lot on IP and other ketogenic diets, partly because you consume a lot of water, but also because carbs make you retain fluid and now you aren't eating any.

IP protocol does recommend supplementation, and they have their own brands you can buy, but IMO they are not magical and you can get the same benefit with any version of the same thing. If you would like to know more, check out this FAQ. It is more geared toward a high-fat and mod-protein diet but the science is the same. For me, supplementation of calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium are non-negotiable, otherwise I feel like crap, no matter how long I've been in ketosis.

Good luck and it sounds like you're doing great!

Hi RAS! I started yesterday as well and also have 40 to lose (maybe 50 if I my body can get back that low). Good Luck! We can do this!!

Day 1 complete and rocking day 2!

Day one was fine - I love EAS French Vanilla (I an using alternatives) and can tolerate the Strawberry - which I thought I would love. I had a dull headache all day but nothing that bad. I actually feel better today than yesterday. I have cut soda before and the headaches were horrendous - I think the added protein is helping....IDK just speculating!

I ran errands yesterday and was gone longer than expected and all the sudden I was starving and felt like I was going to throw up - water made it worse. Lesson learned always have a shake on me!.

And my scale died - the kids killed it! So my weight may change a bit and be incorrect this week.

Off to conquer day 2! Have a great one!

Everyone always suggested EAS chocolate to me, but for some reason it tastes like creamed corn to me.

Let me know if you've had the chocolate and if you know what I mean, and how the vanilla compares. I don't want to buy the vanilla if I'm just going to end up tossing the whole thing.

15 pounds in two weeks is incredible!! WAY TO GO!!

Just started today!!!!!! Sort of late for March, but better late than never!!!

I love the EAS Vanilla, but sometimes I don't feel as full after drinking them, and I just want to eat something else!!

Morning everyone! I'm still here, but had a bad weekend. I was 100% all last week, hardly any cravings! On my home scale it said I was down almost 4 lbs, but when I went to my WI after work on Friday my coach had me down only 1.8 lbs. I was pretty bummed out and lost focus and ate crummy Friday night and even a bit on Saturday. I got back on plan yesterday and weighed this morning and am up 3 lbs from Friday! Argh! I need to stop doing this - every weekend I lose track of why I am doing this. I bought a journal and need to start writing in it daily so when the weekend comes I can go back and remind myself why I want to lose weight! Sorry for the pity post, just needed to get it out!

Anyways, I'm already making plans for next weekend to keep me busy so I don't have time to crave anything off plan!

Welcome to the newbies and congrats to all of you on your fabulous losses and willpower!!

Hi Everyone! I am on my first week of IP. I have tried every diet under the sun, WW, Atkins, Southbeach, counting calories, etc. I have had successes but have never been able to maintain for long. I'm hoping that IP will work and I know that I have to maintain good habits and work just as hard to keep the weight off once it's gone!

I've stayed on track all week but have been soooooooooooooo hungry. The hunger pains are killing me but I'm pressing through because I see so many other people on here saying that the hunger pains will go away eventually and I don't want to cheat myself out of a chance to finally reach my goal weight. I just imagine that it's my body's cue to start burning off my fat reserves (which there is plenty of, ha!)

Also, me and my friends just planned a trip to Vegas for Labor Day weekend so here's hoping I'll be bikini-ready in 6 months :-)

Ketosis
 

I am taking the IP supplements religiously, haven't missed one yet. The muscle aches were way better yesterday and today. I still have the "whang" to my breath. But I still don't feel as though clothes are fitting any better and I don't feel lighter. Tomorrow is weigh-in.

As an aside, I had the doc draw labs as part of a physical before starting this diet and I got my numbers back today. My cholesterol is atrocious and will probably require medication. I am severely Vitamin D deficient - :?: and show signs of arterial inflammation. Yikes. I am only 43 and have small children. Sounds like doing IP might be really smart right about now!

Good luck at weigh-in! If it's any comfort, I was literally standing on the scale at my IP weigh-in this morning thinking, "I don't FEEL any lighter....my stomach still looks huge..." and it turned out that I was down over 6 lbs.

My doctor told me that when you're obese, the Vitamin D just hangs out in your fat being useless, instead of circulating like it should. So, many of us who are too heavy have this problem. If he's correct, it's one of a billion reasons to lose the weight already, right?! :)

I saved my signature ticker, finally got to see it, but it does not show here...not sure how long it takes

Duh, here it is :)

--
You can buy Ketostix at any pharmacy. When you pee on the stick, the darker the color, the ketones you are producing. Hope this helps :smug:

Hi Jennifer, yes, we can do this!! I weighed myself this morning after I posted my intro, so it is a little more than 40 now to get to my goal :mad:. That makes me even more determined to be OP, even though it is just the 2nd day. So, far I have not tasted anything on plan I did not like, so all is good so far. And I love this forum, which will be the key to get me through.

First Post!
 

Hello all you love ladies!! Can I just tell you how incredibly inspiring you all are!! Thank you SO much for sharing your lives to give others hope :-) I just love this site! I've been reading forums after forums for the past week, and was thrilled to find one I actually related to enough to post!

I'm Kendra. I did IP for the first go around May-Aug of 2012 and lost 50 lbs! I had been over weight my entire life, and I woke up one morning and decided I was done feeling so tired and like crap all the time! I did it with alternatives (EAS Shakes) and all by myself. I have no idea how lol!

Now almost two years later I've gained back 25 lbs :-( I've been yo-yoing the last two years with counting calories, Weight Watchers and Atkins. I've learned that less is so much more for me! Restriction is definitely my delight when it comes to dieting lol.

I'm at 189 right now and am truly hoping to stay true and be down to around 165 for my cruise at the end of April! I started yesterday, and MAN did I feel crappy! Headache all day and fatigue. Guess that's what I get lol. Now that I've found this site, I'm so excited to go on this journey with some one this time around.

Also, I can't wait to get to 20 posts so I can get an awesome ticker tracker! Yours is awesome Annie :-)

4th day!
 

Hello ladies,

This is my 4th day, I just felt hungry a little bit yesterday night but other than that I am normally quite satisfied. I haven't experienced constipation or bad breath... Can I be in Ketosis if I dont have the bad breath? How is it like?
My husband is quite surprised at the size of my dinner plate! Its huge! (tons of cucumbers, greens etc) and the required veggies. I've had a few restricted snacks but not many and all included in the program. My first weight in is Friday. Hopefully everything is going alright but it has been quite painless to me.

Good morning! Day three here. I am doing well-ish. I crashed hard at 6pm yesterday. And it didn't help that I had my daughters play and was out until 9 pm I was dragging to say the least. And today I woke up sick with a cough and head cold and the headache is the worst. But I will suck it up and keep going. Ugh not a fun day!
I am going to try and make chicken soup I'd I get the energy. Have a great day.

Good Morning
 

Good Morning everyone, Day 3 here.
Yesterday I had the broccoli cheese soup for the 1st time, and I put additional broccoli in it and then my grilled beef Pattie it was delish!
I think I will try that again today. I am trying to get all of the veggies in which I love veggies, but just have to find different ways to cook them, so I have been on the recipe boards lurking. This morning I put 2 cups of spinach in 1/2 pack of V. Pudding and 1/2 of the Mango premade with ice and water. It is really good and filling. Did you guys know that Truvia has 3gm of Carbs? I am glad I am finished with those packs, I will make sure I purchase another stevia product.

I am so Psyched about this program, I am hoping I will keep up the enthusiasm as the weeks go on, I think once I see the scale going down it will keep me Psyched. Oh, and I only had a slight headache the 1st day otherwise it has been smooth sailing. :-)

Everyone have a Good Day!

Hi travelingras, the first few days are the hardest. With your attitude you are sure to succeed.
I found stevia in Walmart's brand with 2gm per packet. One packet = 2 tsp., which is much too sweet for me so I use 1/2 packet.

Morning everyone! So nice having a thread with so many participants!

Day 3 for the billionth time for me! Haha. I haven't had my big whoosh yet, but hoping by Friday I get it so I'm at least back to where I was last Friday. I guess I need to re-read the thread - The Real Cost of Cheating. So not worth it!
I'm typically a daily weigher - man when you have those good days it's the best thing ever and really puts a spring in your step... but the days the scale doesn't move at all or even jumps up... argh, the worst! I think I'm going to stay off my home scale until Monday, I don't want a bad number to put me in a funk and go off plan again!

Good morning, everyone! Day 25 for me. I woke up absolutely starving today, after having agonizing cravings yesterday (didn't cave, but yeesh!) so I sorta started in on the turkey that was going to be my dinner tonight... and finished it. Not sure what I'm going to eat for the rest of the day. Haha.

I weighed in at 219 during my "official" weigh in on Sunday, but the scale hasn't been that low since.

I'm being a good girl, I promise!

I guess this is the part of the diet where I have to prove that I'm in it for real, even when it's not all rainbows and unicorns.

But YOU, my beautiful March friends, are awesome. Thanks for letting me whine a little bit. :D

Is there anyway you can get your coach to weigh you backwards and not tell you the numbers? Or if they're not willing to do that, I'd buy a non digital scale, and set it 2 pounds heavier so that your home scale and the weigh in scale are consistent with each other. It will stink to lose those 2 pounds, but if its affecting you like you say, it's better in the long run, IMO.

Good morning everyone. Day 7 here for me. I made it through the week feeling pretty good except for hunger pains at times. I wonder if it's because I'm not eating salads on top of my 2 cups of select veggies everyday. Anyway, WI is this evening and I'm excited! Have a good day!

First weigh-in today! Lost 3.8 lbs and 1% body fat. 3.5 inches, which wasn't too thrilling but whatever. And I exchanged that vile stroganoff soup and veggie chili for broccoli cheese soup (I could drink that stuff), chicken soup and chocolate drinks.

:broc::broc::broc::broc:

Finally ordered all my supplements. I'm taking the rest of my prenatals first (I have enough to get me through November!) before I order a women's multi, but I added Cal/Mag/D, Potassium, Biotin, Gelatin and Collagen to my daily prenatals and DHA. Can you tell hair, nails and skin are a big worry for me? LOL!

Way to go Idealannie, this diet is going to be a journey of ups and downs...I too have a bit of weight to loose...I try to just think of it one day at a time and it seems to help..you are down 11 pounds already...wohoo...keep up the good work girl :)

Thank you, kirag! And check you out with your snazzy ticker. Woohoo!

Congrats on your awesome weigh in! And yay for exchanging stuff. I've never had the stroganoff, but I do know that the veggie chili is frightening indeed!

Welcome, and thanks for the ticker-love! You'll get yours in no time--and you'll have lost a nice bit of weight by then too. Good luck with the headache and fatigue. Luckily that's only temporary. You've got this!

Hey, I actually always used to do that. My coach wouldnt tell me what the scale said, just would confirm I'd lost and was on the right track. Might have to start doing that again!

Oh my gosh guys! I made "quest cookies" (split into 8 balls and bake at 450 for 3-5 minutes) and they're soooooo good! So crispy on the outside, just like real cookies. I'm definitely going to make it to goal with these puppies in my arsenal!

Restarting
 

Hi Everyone!
I am back for your support once again!!
I am restarting this difficult path to weight loss once again. Hoping I can get 50 pounds down. Looking forward to this!
:carrot:

izzyboomama--those quest cookies sound delicious! I'm definitely going to do that tonight for my snack! What flavor of quest bar did you use? I have an assortment, but I'd love to know what you did that you loved so much!

tabletop1234--Welcome! Glad you joined us! And you've definitely got our support!

IdealAnnie- I used Apple Pie flavor. I only bought a couple bars individually because I was afraid they'd taste bad, but they're pretty good! I'm planning on buying an assortment from Amazon soon.

Day 4 has dawned and the fog is starting to lift! My daily weigh put me at +0.8 but I'm not fussed because I ate my meal at dinner time instead of lunch and, let's be honest, I'm already down about 6 pounds so even if that 0.8 were real gains, it's not a tragedy.

To help with my food obsession, I track everything in my planner and I keep a journal. My planner tracks my meals, my weight and I write weight loss affirmations in it everyday to help keep me on track. Today's affiation is "I am unstoppable. Not because I don't have failures or doubts, but because I continue despite them"(author unknown). I actually stole that from a birth affirmation site :-P

Let's be unstoppable today!

Good morning ladies! I am on my way to recovery! Day four and I am way better than yesterday. I spent the entire day In Bed yesterday. Today my body soreness is al pay completely gone only thing left is this headache. I took Advil today don't know of it is on plan but I couldn't take it anymore.
I am in ketosis I can tell by my disgusting mouth!!!! Are there any approved mints? My mouth is actually making me nauseous.

Thanks Annie! You're so inspiring! Hope you have a great day :)

@Tabletop1234 - Welcome back! You can do this and you've found a wonderful support system to help you!

@Jenniferk525 - I'm on day 4 also! It's so great to share this with someone! I'm glad you're finally feeling a bit better. The only thing I'm noticing is I'm still getting pretty bad hunger pains. Hopefully today won't be as bad!

I should get all my alternative products today! I'm so excited to try some variety lol.

I hope everyone has a lovely day! :-)

Hi lattiuss! Welcome! Glad to have another buddy! I am not feeling hungry I think because I usually lack protein. I am missing my snacks! Hope you find some items you like in your package!