Have any IP folks gone on vacation. I am planning a trip of a lifetime in August and want to experience all the tastes and cultures that I will be visiting. Did you phase off for the trip and start back up? Did you just go and and "try to be good"? Any suggestions?

Hi there! You will find a lot of great old threads about vacationing on IP if you use the search feature or google "Vacationing on Ideal Protein, Three Fat Chicks". If you have a coach, I would definitely recommend discussing with her what your options are. Some choose to phase off for their trip and some choose to stay compliant. Even if you choose to phase off onto P4, it is STILL an exercise in restraint and balance (as any maintainer will tell you). From what your post says, it sounds like phasing off properly is your best choice.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO PHASE OFF PROPERLY SO YOU DON'T HAVE EXTRA GAINS ON YOUR TRIP!!!!

The reason you need to phase of the right way is that your body will have to get used to processing a higher amount of carbs again. If you just go from P1 to 'vacation eating' cold turkey, you could very easily gain a very large amount of weight very quickly (and feel awful).

I went to Disney Wold/Florida on P1 a few years ago and stayed compliant the whole time (it can be done!). However, that was not a 'trip of a lifetime' either! In fact, I am very much looking forward to going back to Disney this year and getting to enjoy some of the things I passed up the last time.

Good luck!

Bean-
If you do a post / thread search of my name (jennydoodle), you will find a post I did the first time I was on IP about taking a vacation of a lifetime and straying off of IP. I think the thread is called "Vacation Report - Long Post" or something like that.

The long and short of it is that I did 1 week at P2 and 1 week at P3 prior to my departure to help transition my body back to carbs since I knew that they would make up the majority of my food group on vacation.

Just came back from a week in Disney and though I ate very few IP meals, based on my coach's advice I stayed true to the basics of the diet. I stayed away from sugar, fat and carbs and ate lots of protein. I had I IP non-restricted packet daily and ate eggs and salad for brunch and salmon or steak for dinner. I made sure to bring a yummy IP snack with me to the parks so I wouldn't crave the bad stuff there (especially at Epcot!)
Had my weigh-in today and lost 1.5lbs this week, so I'm happy.
Not sure where you're going, but my thought is that even if you can't stay true to the diet, you can most likely stay true to the spirit of the diet!
And maybe this is the wrong thing to say, but seriously, if you take a break from the diet and go back on when you get home, it's not the end of the world!

Vacation time is here, and this year, I've decided to try something new and experience unforgettable emotions. The perfect choice for me this summer is a kite trip and motor yacht rides from kitetrip I'm confident that this vacation will leave me with unforgettable memories and add color to my life.