[Rayze]

Lynn Margaret - Thank you! I will check it out!

[jelliehel]

The lemon cream pie Quest bars are also ok but restricted. I made them into cookies and they were decent.

[Ro22]

Originally Posted by Lynn Margaret

Ro - I'm curious what you ordered and what you thought of it? I plan on using mostly alternatives during maintenance (after splurge days and occasionally as snacks). I've tried the peanut caramel crunch bar, the lemon cranberry cookie and the honey nut cereal and like them all. I bought the blueberry pancake too, but haven't tried it yet.

I ordered Health Smart Hot Chocolate (Aspartame Free) - I love that stuff!
I also ordered Health Smart Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal, Proti-Thin RTD Chocolate Drinks, and Proti-Diet Cinnamon Spice Oatmeal.
Btw, someone had mentioned the Proti Think RTD Chocolate Drink was identical to IP. I had one today and found the taste the same but the macros are not - there are fewer net carbs in PT vs IP (net carbs of 2 vs 4 not that it makes much difference - same calories and protein though).

I don't eat restricted items so I can't comment on the bars. I have had the Health Smart pancakes that I really like but I am keeping to lowest carb items. I have tried soups from all 3 of the brands mentioned above, and I have not liked any of them. This is one item that if I want protein soup, I need to get it from IP. I love IP's chicken soup! But, I don't want to go to the clinic so I am doing this all with alternatives so no soup for me now! I will have chicken stock/broth though as a replacement.

I also use the Proti Thin Parisian Bread as bread crumbs for chicken tenders, meatloaf, meatballs, etc. And, I really like the Proti Thin Fusilli Pasta but it seems like they have now changed that to Fettucini with a better net carb count (both are very low) so I'll have to order that as I just noticed that.

I also have many flavors of Quest Protein powder that I found to be quite versatile and really needed to up my protein intake when doing alternatives because the items I use do not contain the same grams of protein that the IP ones do. I make bread/buns from the multi-purpose and cookies, cakes and puddings from the flavored ones (I prefer baked items to shakes when using Quest although the shakes are good - I just find baked items more filling).

I get my Quest powder from GNC or Vitamin Shoppe. I like GNC's Lean Shakes (RTD) too. Be careful though if you were to get this because the packets are much different than the RTD shakes even though they are labeled the same - the packets are not IP P1 compliant but it may not matter as you are looking to do this for maintenance. I just don't get them often because as I mentioned, I found cooked/baked items more filling than shakes. I did get the RTD drinks from Proti Thin simply because I wanted to see if they truly were the same taste as IP and right now I am being totally lazy starting back on IP so I am sacrificing fulfillment for convenience.

[LOSINGFORGOOD2010]

Originally Posted by Ro22

Congrats on getting started! Lots of people have had success with alternatives.

exactly! I lost near 60 my first time around, without buying product.

[Rayze]

Day 11 and still on track! Drinking a ton of water. Need to get a broader variety of alternatives, really leveraging the EAS shake. Hope all is well!

[3FCer392743]

Hi everyone,

not sure if this is the place for it but just wanted to check in and say hello. I had my fourth weigh in the other day and was a tad dissapointed. I'm down 1.2 pounds from my last weigh in, which was 10 days ago. So that's 24 pounds even in 28 days. I guess I shouldn't be that bummed out about it, considering its about .6 pounds/day. I just had a milestone in mind I thought for sure I would hit. But that's the nature of the game! All the more motivation to keep going.

Is anyone else here on the Twinbody app? Its like Instagram but for weightloss/fitness/weight journey. I've only ever seen one other IP'er on there!

[happy_weight]

Hi! I'm brand new to this forum but have been maintaining on Ideal Protein for well over a year. I had been doing well until the last month or so and have started putting on weight. I'm away from my regular support network, which makes getting back into phase 1 more difficult but not impossible. I don't want to wait until the new year to rediscover my discipline so I thought I'd join here to give and get some cheerleading!

[Ro22]

Originally Posted by happy_weight

Hi! I'm brand new to this forum but have been maintaining on Ideal Protein for well over a year. I had been doing well until the last month or so and have started putting on weight. I'm away from my regular support network, which makes getting back into phase 1 more difficult but not impossible. I don't want to wait until the new year to rediscover my discipline so I thought I'd join here to give and get some cheerleading!

Welcome! And, congrats on recognizing and acting so quickly. Are you going to do IP products or alternatives? How much do you want to lose on your reboot?

[Ratherfly]

Hi happy_weight, I'm relatively new to IP. I started 11/1 and have lost almost 15 pounds. This week was a low weight loss week for me, only .8. I was a little discouraged, but not enough to give up. I love how the cravings and hunger are kept at bay on this plan. I can actually watch The Food Network on t.v. and now want to cry.

I made it through Thanksgiving and that week with a nice weight loss. 2.8 pounds down that week. Not an easy task on a holiday that is so focused on food! Christmas will be a little more difficult but not impossible. I keep telling myself that next year I will be able to enjoy with treats easier than this year. I do not want to go through the rough first days of starting this plan again!! Surprised my husband made it out of it alive. LOL

[LOSINGFORGOOD2010]

Originally Posted by happy_weight

Hi! I'm brand new to this forum but have been maintaining on Ideal Protein for well over a year. I had been doing well until the last month or so and have started putting on weight. I'm away from my regular support network, which makes getting back into phase 1 more difficult but not impossible. I don't want to wait until the new year to rediscover my discipline so I thought I'd join here to give and get some cheerleading!

welcome back ! its true! its so much easier with online support that you can go to at anytime! I have restarted as well, into week two now. Its amazing...all these holiday SWEETS floating around the offices and I don't want ANY OF IT woooooooooooooo

[LOSINGFORGOOD2010]

Originally Posted by Ratherfly

Hi happy_weight, I'm relatively new to IP. I started 11/1 and have lost almost 15 pounds. This week was a low weight loss week for me, only .8. I was a little discouraged, but not enough to give up. I love how the cravings and hunger are kept at bay on this plan. I can actually watch The Food Network on t.v. and now want to cry.

I made it through Thanksgiving and that week with a nice weight loss. 2.8 pounds down that week. Not an easy task on a holiday that is so focused on food! Christmas will be a little more difficult but not impossible. I keep telling myself that next year I will be able to enjoy with treats easier than this year. I do not want to go through the rough first days of starting this plan again!! Surprised my husband made it out of it alive. LOL

you know? you are right. When the losses are a bit smaller some days/ weeks, that seems to be OK because we realize there are no more cravings that control us. At least for ME that makes it so much easier!

[Ro22]

Don't get discouraged by a week that you didn't have a big loss because if you stick with it, you will see other weeks with big losses. My pattern with IP has been 2 big week losses followed by 2 smaller week losses with an average of 3.2 pounds lost per week. These are stats over a 5 month period on 3 separate occasions so I know to expect this. I focus on the average weekly weight loss and that is very motivating to me because I know over the course of a month I will lose a good amount and doing so simply through diet. If you have been to a clinic with their 5 pound fat models you will know what I am referring to... anytime I get discouraged with a slight loss, I think of the cumulative effect and picture that 5 pound picture of fat and think how many of those have I lost by considering my total loss vs a single week and then I keep pushing through and shortly thereafter, I have another 5 pounds loss and think I just lost another one of those

[LOSINGFORGOOD2010]

Originally Posted by Ro22

Don't get discouraged by a week that you didn't have a big loss because if you stick with it, you will see other weeks with big losses. My pattern with IP has been 2 big week losses followed by 2 smaller week losses with an average of 3.2 pounds lost per week. These are stats over a 5 month period on 3 separate occasions so I know to expect this. I focus on the average weekly weight loss and that is very motivating to me because I know over the course of a month I will lose a good amount and doing so simply through diet. If you have been to a clinic with their 5 pound fat models you will know what I am referring to... anytime I get discouraged with a slight loss, I think of the cumulative effect and picture that 5 pound picture of fat and think how many of those have I lost by considering my total loss vs a single week and then I keep pushing through and shortly thereafter, I have another 5 pounds loss and think I just lost another one of those

Congrats on your success! I did the math on your stats that you have posted and if you started this in Aug, you have almost the exact same stats / results as I did when I did this in 2010. Isnt it amazing???

[Robocat]

To hldr if you are disappointed in 1 pound loss don't be! Look up what 1 pound of fat looks like. The little losses add up. That's what I am doing to remind myself of my gials

[Ro22]

Originally Posted by Robocat

To hldr if you are disappointed in 1 pound loss don't be! Look up what 1 pound of fat looks like. The little losses add up. That's what I am doing to remind myself of my gials

Little by little we go a long way.

Congrats on joining this month - best Christmas present to yourself!