Hi Sandra,

I just restarted on 8/20 and had a bunch of questions myself. Let's see what I can answer for you.

Salt - the Ideal salt is different than the "real salt" we used to use. It's salt with potassium and some minerals to help prevent the muscle cramping. 1/4 teaspoon a day like before. Personally if you are getting enough potassium I don't think you need it. I don't use it as I don't use salt. Plus buy your own supplements - I get potassium for $4 and they sell it for 10. same exact stuff.

Spinach - what used to be unlimited veggies didn't count to your veggie requirement for the day like spinach, lettuce and cucumbers. You can now use Those veggies toward your required for the day.

On the coconut oil - I don't know about that part. I started IP in Sept 2012 and at that time it was only grapeseed oil or olive oil.

I hope that helps and that someone else can chime in on the coconut oil.

Kat

Thank you very much Kat. :)

Ideal Salt - for those using alternatives, you can use "No Salt", available at Wal Mart / Target / grocers - which is basically potassium, and mix it with regular iodized salt. I personally didn't like the way it tasted on food, so I just added a 1/4 tsp of the No Salt to hot water and slugged it like a vodka shot...

Spinach - Unrestricted / unlimited if RAW / NOT cooked...RESTRICTED (part of 4C) if cooked (more sugars)

Started IP January 2015 - coconut oil was already removed - EVOO is much better to cook with anyway.

Thank you for your reply.

I will just use sea salt, as simple as that, this is what I used before and it totally worked, I guess they create those mixes and pretend they are better for us just as a selling strategy.

I also noticed that we can use regular milk with coffee, back when I did IP, it was skimmed 0% milk.

Is there any new sheet with the nutritional value of the new products on the market?

I am attaching the old one that I have, but I believe there are new products now. I use alternative products and I always compare the nutritional values.

If you are having a tough time staying on protocol just because of the cheese, why not try a modified version of Alternative Diabetic/Athletic Protocol. Just use your dairy choice and ditch the fruit and grain carbs choices. That way you will not be chastising yourself while having a measured portion of lower fat dairy which is included in your menu plan. And you still lose weight.

Liana

Hello everyone,

Hope you're doing well.

Any Canadian in here doing IP with alternative products? If so, care to share what you're using nowadays, where you buy the product form, which product do you like, etc?

Here I am again -sorry to say that I have managed to regain all but 6 of the 82 lbs I lost on IP between July 2014 and June 2015.

I have eaten my emotions since my husband's passing in April - and I have eaten them with a great deal of fast food and high sugar junk. So stupid.

I have bought the right foods to follow IP using leftover IP packets and various alternatives from Quest and Proti Diet, but the idea of preparing salads and cooking for just myself has been absurdly hateful. I stand in the kitchen and do NOT want to chop veggies and cook my real food evening meal. I have trouble believing that its worth the effort to cook for one.

Instead I am willing to make a run to McDonald's, and no matter what remotely high fat high carb little protein item I would get, I'd also get one, sometimes 2 McFlurries..... ridiculous. And stop by the grocery for cookies and popcorn on the way home.

Last week I decided enough is enough. I have hardly any clothing to wear as I got rid of my big clothes, especially the fall and winter items. I hate seeing myself in the mirror. So I decided to tackle the aversion to cooking head-on.

I went online and found I could use Diet to Go's Carb30 plan -- it is net 30 carbs per day. Does not include fruit but does have a little cheese in some of the recipes. I pick up food on Tuesday and Friday and it's all freshly prepared and ready to go into the microwave. The food tastes good, requires virtually no prep just a quick heat up.

This I can handle. I am 5 days into it and down 5 lbs. After the way off program eating I have been doing, my body is in shock over the change to veggies and protein, and dropping water weight pretty quickly. I feel like I can use this approach as a kickstart and to ease back into the straight and narrow.

Next week I am getting just 2 meals a day from DTG - I will make myself fill in with salad - even if it means going to the grocery salad bar. Bags of ready to go greens will be fine, for that 3rd meal along with a packet or a piece of steak or chicken or some eggs.

This is not closely aligned with the IP program right now, but it is high protein low carb, and I am headed in the right direction.

I miss the support from these boards - I hope I can check in here despite my deviation from P1 protocol.

I also want to share with you the best resource for working on the mind game - it is all about the mind and not the food - that little voice can be so self-sabotaging. And over the long haul, once at goal, the maintenance phase can be the most challenging of all. I found a website called www.primalprotein.com, and the owner of the site is a real coach named Elizabeth Benton. She spent years doing the yo you thing and finally figured out an approach that enabled her to lose 135 lbs, and that helps change your relationship with food and beat the mind game. She has free podcasts about 3 times a week and they are terrific, and her blog is very good too. I highly recommend her - she has a facebook page and info on her site that tells her story. The nutrition info seems very well backed up by science, and her perspective on the mind game is fantastic. Those who remember me from the past know that I don't push new stuff unless it is really resounding for me and seems valuable for others. Check it out!

Oneuh2 so sorry to hear of your husbands passing. It's perfectly understandable to me that you would eat away your pain. I've been happily married to my soulmate for 40 years and I feel sure I would do the same in your position. I'm happy that you've found a way to work your way back to healthy eating. I'm not much of a poster more of a lurker on these boards but I had to comment when I read your story. Kudos to you and keep us posted!

Do you mind me asking about your mommy makeover?
 

I so could have written your post. We are in the same boat, but I haven't had my surgery yet. I am scheduled for December. Just wondering if you're happy with the results? I vacillate between really wanting the surgery and not.
I've gotten lax about my eating too. Trying to reboot today to get back to the 130's for my surgery but am struggling.
Thanks for any advise you can offer.

Thanks so much for the kind remarks, CakeLady - losing a spouse is way more difficult than I ever expected. There is this big void, and even tho he was 20 years my senior and we always expected he would pass on before I did, I never really thought about the day by day experience of being alone. It has been tough, and somehow I have not felt that I deserved the same loving care that I had given my husband over the past decade. It has taken me all these months since April to make enough commitment to myself to do good things for myself.

I really found the PrimalPotential podcasts to be SO helpful in finding a way to be my own warrior, and to not only promise myself to do what makes me feel good about myself, but to actually keep my promises to myself. For anyone who is tending to slide back down the weight gain slope, Elizabeth Benton's messages and advice are terrific.

My Carb30 Diet to Go is working well - I had some ketostix and checked today - very purple so I know ketosis is underway. And I am down 6.2 lbs after 5 days of the food plan. Next week I use IP and IP alternates with salad to fill in one meal a day (breakfast or lunch). I am so encouraged!

Hi Oneuh. So sorry to hear about your husband's passing. I can understand your situation.

In June, my darling sister passed away from her year and a half battle with cancer. Although she did not live in my state, I visited her every few weeks to take care of her and was her primary caregiver for the last month of her life. But before that, throughout our lives, we spoke on the phone nearly every day. Both of us were divorced, and we were really "life partners." We have 5 children between us, and they (the cousins) are all very close. I spent 3 weeks after her death with her kids as we packed things up.

I guess what I really mean to say is that I understand emotional eating at those difficult-life-event times. I knew exactly what I was doing and even said "I'm trying the fill the hole" (which cannot be filled by food). But I knew I needed to do that.

I gained over half the weight back (45 pounds) during May-August - even though my sister told me that she didn't want me to. I understood what I was doing and it actually felt good and comforting while I was doing it. But I knew that once I got back home and back into my routine and teaching I would get the weight back off.

I started IP again - with alternatives - the week that I went back to work. That was about a 5 weeks ago. I'm down 15 pounds and going strong.

I, too, got rid of my large sized clothes and had to buy more, just so I'd have something to wear! Those clothes are finally getting loose, but I still don't have much to wear.

I'm sticking to this until I'll back down to where I want to be.

Do whatever plan works for you. I support you taking back control. And I send you blessings of comfort. Nothing more to say. Stay strong, dear one!

Oh Joysh!!! I am terribly sorry about your sister's passing - I am sure your feeling of loss is just as strong as mine, if not more so. I am glad you were able to spend time with her before she died. Having my husband at home and being with him at the end meant so much to me.

I am so glad you are back on a good track after the height of emotional chaos- I tried to get OP and then fell off the wagon, several times this summer, but now I feel like I am pretty steady and heading in the right direction.

I am also noticing how much better my joints feel now that I am off sugar for a week. 7 days and I am down almost 7 lbs. I am breathing sighs of relief to be heading downward on the scale again, instead of watching the numbers get bigger and bigger.

Glad to find you here and I hope to be posting pretty regularly. Something about coming here to share and to contribute to the IP conversation is very beneficial to my program.

Hey there! It's been a few years. I suffer from the ease of this plan.

What I mean, is I've found it easy to go on the plan every few years and drop 20-30 then I eat "normally" (meaning non restrictive and gradually gain) and then get to a point where I just reset again. Other than getting a little chubby towards the end of my "cycle" it works pretty well to be extreme fro 7-8 weeks (phasing off properly) but not to worry too much in between.

I'm curious this time to see if my plan is flawed now that I'm 50 - wondering if the weight will be harder to knock off.

Anyways, back at it for the next few months :)

So happy that you commented on my post I have been lurking for two weeks now and haven't mustered up the nerve to start posting again. Since that post I lost what I had gained and then recently derailed again. A serious case of head in the sand until I saw a pic of myself and my weight gain was so visible i couldn't deny it anymore. So I started back 2 weeks ago 100% OP.
The results from the surgery was everything I had hoped for. Do your research be prepared and give yourself time to heal. If you have any specific questions about the surgery you can pm me

I kid you not - the primalpotential.com podcasts, daily motivations, and blog posts would really help you fight the mind game and hang in with your reboot and build good habits to deal with maintaining (which we know is SO much harder than losing).

I have yo-yo'd up and down all my life and after losing 82lbs on IP, I put all but 6 lbs back on. SO depressing to have done it and then thrown it away. I was so sure this time would be different. I let emotional upset derail me completely - that little voice in my head just gave me every excuse you can imagine.

Let's face it - we know what to eat to achieve results, and what to stay away from. But we talk ourselves into going off the program. We convince ourselves its ok, that we deserve a treat, or 'just this once'.... While we lose the excess pounds we need to build the habits that will help us keep them off for the rest of our lives. And those habits are not about the food - they are about the gremlins in our heads.

Okay, I was so gung-ho for the first two weeks, and then it happened... cereal in my house.

Things have been tough at home lately I fully admit that I am an emotional eater - and then the presence of cereal just sent me over the edge.

So I'm off plan for a week now and ashamed and can't seem to find the will to get back on plan.

ZERO SHAME, saralee ZERO SHAME! Coming here and coming clean shows you still care and still want to DO IT! What if you had waited a month, until next year, a full year to come here and come clean?!?! Two weeks is a nice solid chunk of "time in", and now you can get right back in.

This this will sound like a very "cornball" suggestion, but do you use/like the IP crispy cereal? I find that if the water is REEEAAAALY COLD, like, let it sit in the freezer a few minutes, it was a go to for me. Also, I know you have kids, but not sure of their ages - is keeping the cereal somewhere an option? They might think its fun?! I literally had to have my husband keep potato chips in the garage.

So, these suggestions don't help with the root - the emotional eating - but, I hope you won't quit! Hang in there!

Back on
 

I'm back on - thank you for the encouragement doled out here. I'm sorry I can't name you - darn mobile platform isn't that friendly.

I was at a really low spot when I posted about feeling ashamed. BUT I got back on after a week of kicking myself and now I'm back to my pre-cheat weight.

Thank goodness 3fatchicks keeps going. There's no way I could have reached out on Facebook. It seems like 90% of the posts about personal experiences are "look how great I've done!!" - Great for them but it's nice to know that we can fall dramatically and still pick ourselves up.

I suffer from dysthymic depression (low grade depression my whole life), so when I disappoint myself, I really kick myself in the gut.

Anyway, thank you!

saralee101, Good on ya!! Some of us are still around here, keep posting, we will keep reading and responding when we can! I find the FB threads difficult to follow too. If you aren't on them every day and reading everything, you miss out on a lot of comments. Much easier to find things here.
:mag:
Liana

Absolutely hang in, Saralee101!
I have no formal diagnosis of depression but longterm lowgrade sounds a lot like my life, too. I am dealing with a big regain, so that just feeds depression and feelings of guilt.
But the thing is, you CAN find some consistent behavior to follow the protocol and it WILL work for you, and in a few weeks you might be feeling like bragging a bit too.
We all enjoy celebrating wins, and we are all ready to lend a hand when there is a stumble or fall.
Hang in - and keep checking in so we know how you are doing!

Liana and Onehu2 - thank you for your kind words.

I'm weighing in about 30 minutes, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that my renewed dedication will show some progress on the coach's scale.

On another note --- I'm thinking about going on the athletic protocol for a for the next 6 weeks. We've decided to head to Ireland for Thanksgiving! So, I'm going to need to start working out.

Has anyone had any experience with the athletic protocol? Any stalls to expect?

So glad you guys are here!
 

I'm back -- needing encouragement. I'm so glad you guys are here.

I was on IP for about a year. Lost almost 60 pounds. Husband lost 82. We decided to "take the summer off." We had camping, trips planned, went to San Francisco with a girlfriend, etc. I was conscious of what I was doing - and I still don't regret it ---- but I put on 20 pounds and hubby put on about 30. We needed a break -- but we slowly went back to our old habits.

Here I am . . . again. I know what I need to do, I know how to do it. I am just having trouble getting seriously started. I start for a day or two, then fall off. I have a big scrapbooking retreat next weekend so I need to get past that -- and then really give it ****!! Gotta get going - big time.

I'll be checking in here for your updates, ideas, recipes, and encouragement. So glad there is a place for us to get together. I have IP on FB too, but it's not like it used to be. And now that I'm a "rebooter" I need encouragement from people like me!!

Welcome back Becky - getting started is the first major hurdle - pick a time, do it, and don't look back. I was in that space 2 weeks ago - now I go to bed each night without guilt, knowing I just need to stay on program and results wil follow.

You can do this!

Hi All!

I haven't posted in a week or so...been really busy.

But I'm still here and still going strong. It's a slow go, but I'm sticking to it. It's been about 6 weeks and I've lost 17 pounds. I hope to take the remaining 3 off in the next 2 weeks and I'll be down 20! Then onward.

The good news is that my clothes are fitting better and I can get into (almost, anyhow) some of the nice "median" clothes that I bought when I was losing last time. It'll be a little while before I can wear by XS sizes, but it's all going well and on the right track.

I started a new business (Teaching Music Together Classes for very young children ages birth-4 years) and that took a lot of energy to get it off the ground. It also gave me a focus of my energy. Once the classes began (the demos were this week and classes start next week) I realized how much exercise I get teaching this! Up and down and up and down from the floor! That alone should bring the scale down!

Anyway, there were several days that I forgot to eat my meals or didn't have time to think about food. I stayed OP, but sometimes just had a couple of eggs for my protein. The point here is: if we can keep busy and focused on things in our life other than food, we can enjoy life! For me, ayway.

Love to you all! Welcome back Becky! You can do this!

Hi to saralee, oneuh and Liana! :wave:

Hi rebooting friends!
 

I lost 30 pounds in 2011 and found the program very easy to follow. I phased off and followed the program for a while but in the five years have crept up. It didn't bother me much but I'm wanting to get back on track. At that time I went to 133 but I have set a different goal of 143 now that I'm in my 50s.

It's funny to me to see people who say "hey the program doesn't work, you gained weight" - if I hadn't lost that weight in 2011 I'd be 50 or 60 pounds overweight instead of 20 :)

I'm looking forward to sharing this journey with you all!

Welcome back BCGirl!
Good for you for coming back to the program that helped you succeed in the first place! No question that it gets the weight off, and there is no question that keeping it off is no small challenge. It's a lifetime issue that each person has to find their own approach to deal with successfully.

The boards here on 3FC are not as booming today as they were a couple years ago, but there are some regulars who continue to check in, and there is no shortage of good info on the program itself, recipes, and tips.

I'll be looking for you as I come by while on my own reboot journey, and I'll be looking for fellow rebooters!
cheryl

Hi saralee: I did the athletic/diabetic protocol and was very pleased with the results. I actually needed more food to feel well and to lose properly.

How's it going for the rebooters? I am down just over 11 lbs after 3 weeks on my alternative low carb regimen (diet to go). I am feeling much better than I did 3 weeks ago, with less joint pain and stiffness, and cravings seem to be abated.

It is such a relief to see the numbers heading down instead of continuing to go up as they did all summer when I was on non stop binge.

How's everyone else doing?

Hi Cheryl and Joy and Becky and the rest of the crew! Doing OK here.... doing a bit of Keto investigation mainly to help my parents who are on low dose diabetes meds and battling weight gain and dementia. I'm sharing my MCT oil with them (just bought some this week) as it has had some pretty amazing results in feeding brain cells when the glucose pathways are broken. I'm also hoping to maybe get them onto intermittent fasting a la Dr. Jason Fung to reverse early diabetes https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/ but one thing at a time. I certainly know we will not be able to change Mom's diet over completely as she is at that stage where her food tastes are swinging from one thing to another and of course the last flavour to be lost is sweets. I'm trying to up my fats and lower my protein and do a little intermittent fasting myself. I'm finding it not too bad but it is difficult for me to up my fats without upping my protein because all the stuff I really like has both in it (cheese, bacon, etc). I will just have to bite the bullet and buy more avocado at outrageous prices and really good nuts. I just put in our fresh raw wholesale nut order last week and even with the bulk buy discount I spent just over $500 for 45lbs of nuts. Of course the stuff I want aren't the cheapies.... macadamias, pecans, brazil nuts, walnuts, cashews, almonds. But it is always worth it to me. The shipment will be coming in at the beginning of Nov.

Saralee: another easy way to do IP on a trip is to move to P2 while you are away and just take shake packets or bars for your breakfast and do the two other meals with real food. This works well in a place like Ireland where meals are not much different from N. American food. Doing diabetic/athletic protocol works especially well in places like Asia or Africa where the available food choices are quite different from what you might call the Euro/N. American norm.

How's rebooting going for you guys this week?

Liana

Thanks Cheryl, yes it is slower here. I know there are lots of facebook groups but it is generally beginners. :)

I'm still sitting right around 10-12 pounds lost but looking at this as a longer process.

Any way that I can change my signature? It still has my old stuff and I can't see how to change it :)

Hi All!

Checking in. I'm still holding my own although the loss is very, very slow now. I'm always happy to see the scale go down, and today it went down one more pound.

But I'm going to just stick with it.

All is well with me. Fall is finally coming and the heat is breaking here.

Yes, sometimes when I'm on trips I'll do P2 for the trip and that works just fine. Or I'll take enough bars and RTDs and do that with a salad for lunch. It really depends on my activity level on the trip.

BDGirl, just go into the "User CP" on the top left of the purple menu and then on the left you'll see "Edit Signature" if you want to change that. You can also edit the profile details. I like to keep my weight up to date. Even a loss of one pound helps to motivate me. I change it here and change it on MFP and then I feel like I'm making progress.

Have a great day and a great week, everyone! :dizzy::):carrot:

Hi everyone,

Hope you are all well. I am going to restart tomorrow and looking forward to getting on track and hoping more people will join in.

Have a great day! :)

Welcome back cactusblossom!!
Best of luck with your restart - you can come here to the Rebooters thread for your daily posts, or I think you can see a long daily thread that invites newcomers - either way is good.

The traffic on 3FC seems to have shifted to various FB pages, so there is not as much activity here, but this is still the greatest compendium of good info and advice on making IP work well. And it's easier to search and find that info here.

I began a reboot just over 3 weeks ago- not using IP per se, but largely following the protocol with Diet to Go meals that are net 30 carbs daily. The basic concept is the same, and I add in some items that are considered good alternatives to IP products. So far ok.

I'll be on the lookout for you...
cheryl

That was my last post here, made back on 2-13-2016, & it goes a long way to explaining what happened to me... at that time, I really was getting bored with veggies & decided I needed to change things up a bit... sooooo, I dropped veggies altogether & went to zero carb/high fat... I had been reading about it & thought it might work... well, I guess it did work a little, but not as well as IP protocol... I managed to lose 10 lbs. in 2 months, which isn't anything to sneeze at, but it just wasn't good enough for me... so I'm back again, ready to jump in with both feet... no more wading around in the shallows for me... in my entire life, 67 years, nothing has worked so well for weight loss as IP...

I see I have quite a bit of reading this thread since I left in February, so I'd better get to it... I'm so glad to be back amongst old friends & new ones...

Have a MAHVELOUS Monday...

Hugs... :hug:

I did the same as you for 3 months and only lost 2 pounds. IP works the best for me too which is why I am back on it to lose but will follow keto for maintenance because I believe is truly a lifestyle change vs a diet. Good luck!

I'm ready for a reboot! Holidays are fast approaching and I don't want things to get to out of hand. I would like to lose 15 pounds. I do very well during the week but the weekend seem to be a big challenge for me, does anyone else have this problem? What do you do to combat the struggle?

Stay busy!

1 - Going to get a massage (I find this completely takes any desire to not stay OP away)
2 - going to a movie (vs sitting in front of your tv)
3 - doing chores around the house (mostly including things I never get around to doing like cleaning out closets and things - such a great sense of accomplishment when done)
4 - hobbies like golf but also strangely enough, spending time to research recipes and doing menu planners because then I look forward to executing my plan and it eliminates any desire to go off OP as I have my plan

:bravo: Great list, Ro22!.. I especially like the massage & movie ideas...

This was my first post on this thread, back in January 2016... I wanted to remind myself of what I was thinking & feeling then, as well as reintroduce myself to everybody... since that post, I've bought scales & my estimate was off by about 5 lbs... yesterday was Day1 of my re-reboot... I did well, the number of the scales was even down a lb. this morning... it'd be great to see that kind of movement every day, but I'm gonna try to be realistic & not panic if I don't see it every day...

Y'all have a WONDERFUL Wednesday...

hugs... :hug:

HI Everyone! Welcome back aunt Sheshi, Ro22, Cactus, and toothgirl!

I just changed my ticker down one more pound! Clothes are starting to fit better. I'm still a few sizes away from the favorite ones I bought at the end of my previous weightloss journey, but I'm definitely on the way! One more pound and it'll be 20 pounds since August 17. Three more pounds and I'm into the next "decade."

It feels good. I know that as addicted as I am to food (sweets, carb-y stuff) I'm more addicted to getting on my scale in the mornings and trying on my clothes to see if "it's a little bit looser." I love to do that and waste much morning time just seeing how many more pounds it will take to be able to wear something to work.

Just thought I'd say hi and get a word in!

Have a great day, everyone. Stick with this. It works. It's slow for me this time around, but I'm ok with that, as long as it comes off.

:carrot::carrot:

Congrats, Joy! I have always found months 3 and 4 are the ones were most inches are lost so in 2 weeks' time during that perioid, I can go down 2 sizes when in first 2 months, I don't drop a size so you should be getting into those clothes in no time!