hi there!

well i had my 7 week weigh in today, and was pleased with a 4.6lb lost combined with 4.5". that made up from last weeks planned cheat for the wedding...i had accidentally posted a message on the recipes page - i was reading the recipes and forgot to jump back to this forum. i had offered to bring forth any questions to the info session i have been invited to on nov 16 this program has been pretty succesful in my area, and our coaches have invited existing IP users to attend, and invite guests if we like. not sure how to go about "inviting" guests without sounding suggestive, but am definitely going to attend myself to see if there is new info, or possibly info i missed the first time round. have a good week!

Just posting a hi!!!! I missed everyone and I have since like what mid Oct to catch up. I have internet now, even though the move isn't 100% we are in the new place with a few things (garage etc) back at the old place. I do have lots of boxes though...sigh. I will update the blog soon, I have been losing inches and lbs. I lost the most inches this past Friday though. But I am worried, everytime I go to the dr. office to do the measure I get sick (EVERYTIME), if I skip a week I don't get sick but if I go I get sick. I got sick with the same stuff I keep getting everytime I go.

Anyways I wanted to say hi and happy vet's day!

[QUOTE=Ogdog13;3008722]Everyone, I am used to grazing all day. Gaining isn't easy for me, but losing is hard. I'm on the diet now 7 days, have a weigh in tonight. I'm miserable at 10am and 2PM. I WANT TO GRAZE!! Does anyone have any tips to get me through these times, I don't want to cheat!![/QUOT

I have to get up early and to drive 1 hour to work, so I am up at 5:30 and leave the house by 6:15-6:30, so I have my breakfast before leaving home (usually a pudding as I cannot eat the omlette package due to the peppers) and to ensure that I eat every 4 hours (I have been told never to go beyond 5 hours) I usually eat some celery and/or cucumbers around 10 am and then my lunch (usually mushroom or chicken soup package) and a salad. As my hubby does not get home till 6:30, dinner is late so I usually eat 1/2 to the whole package of my snack in the afternoon or sometimes more celery, cucumbers or some other of the allowed veggies. If I only eat 1/2 of my snack I have the other 1/2 in the evening. As we have been told at lunch and supper we can have unlimited veggies from the list I consider the veggies I eat in between meals as part of the unlimited veggies allowed and a mechanism to keep my metabolism going.
From some of the posts I have seen it appears that others have been told to have 2 cups of allowed veggies? Is this the way the plan is for most of you?

hockyemom, you're an inspiration to me. I've been on the diet since 1 day before you, and have only lost 15#. I'm pleased I've lost that much, but see it could have been so much more if I didn't cheat so much! I justify my cheats by focusing on low carb counts, but I sometimes ignore calories and fat.

for others: It is perfectly acceptable to spread your veggies out over the afternoon, or even start late morning. I don't believe in forcing yourself to eat all of your food at once, if you're full, or just not hungry. That's a bad habit to start, because when you get to maintenance, you're going to want to listen to your body and not eat unless you're hungry.

Yes, Splenda is unrestricted as far as I know.
BTW, I made the choc. cake again this morning and along with the splenda, etc. that I added to the water before mixing, I added Molly McButter...a few shakes...even better!!

[QUOTE=ottawa;3009522]Do you have a desk at work? Is it possible for you to just have coffee or tea on your drive to work, and eat your breakfast when you get there or on your first break? Maybe if you pushed everything forward a couple of hours it would work better with your schedule.

What chocolate cake? You guys have the cakes? I thought they weren't here in the US yet?

I know I would lose faster if I didn't eat so many restricted...and have tried to think WHAT I could make from scratch (or buy) that would cut down my costs? (like the egg white omelet...good idea!). Any ideas?

I have tried to think of something I could use as "breading" on my chicken or pork? Yesterday I did succumb to "shake and bake" altho I shook most of it off. I threw some of those soycrisps into a blender (had a bag left over -- I didn't like them) and thought of blending those into crumbs. Will let you know if it works (they are still sitting "whole" in my blender). Would adding some grated parmesan (the one in the green can??) work since I don't use my 1oz of milk in coffee? I did buy reduced-fat feta cheese, and often put about a teaspoon on top of my salad to make it look more edible. (Can you tell I am getting bored with the diet? -- Don't know Valkyrie has done it for so many months!!). I have no intention of going off IP until I take a break from it around Dec.15th....I still think it is the best diet out there for quick weight loss. (I try not to focus on how MUCH each pound is costing me...lol!!)

I've had more people complete the survey on the Ideal Protein Products. The updated results are posted in the FAQ (page 1)

ottawa - For quantity of vegetables, the Phase 1 information that I received states the following: "*2 Cups of Select Vegetables & Unlimited Lettuce". The * info is: *Serving size must be respected with no more/no less then indicated.* I've included a copy of this in the FAQ - it's in the page 1 materials.


My coach told me that the snack does not have to be in the evening. A lot of times I'll have half a bar mid-morning, and the other half mid-afternoon. Then I go without for the evening snack. My husband also does this, although he'll still have the evening snack many times. And he still loses more, *jerk*

A while ago I did a program called 6 week body makeover. Some similar concepts (and some differences). It was harder because you had to cook so much food. But it's premise was eating lean protein every 2 - 2 1/2 hours. Egg whites and diced chicken breast were typical.

Torchlaker - have you considered dipping the chicken into egg white, and then seasoning the plain crepe mix and using it as breading? I'd go with italian seasoning, salt, pepper and garlic powder as seasoning. I think that would probably work really well. You may want to reduce the amount of chicken since you'll have some additional protein from the crepe mix.

Hi, Torchlaker, congrats on blasting thru the 160 barrier(it is one of mine too, from previous diets). You don't have the pancake packets? Everyone here talks about having it, so I guess it is available here all over the US. Maybe you can go on the IPtogo or Matol websites and order them separate. There are plain and chocolate flavors and you can make them as a crepe/pancake, muffin, or cake, depending on how much water you use. The various directions are on the packet.
I've only had the chocolate, which requires some additions to taste good(I posted a recipe in this forum, maybe 2 days ago), but I hear the plain is unsweetened, so maybe you can use a bit of that for breading. Have you ever tried almond flour? Very few carbs. Also Atkins makes a baking mix you could use. They sell it online. Hope this helps.

Whooohooo...first weigh in and dropped 4 pounds in a week! An all time first for me with that much weight....and even cheating a bit on day because of a birthday. Now to stick with it totally until Thanksgiving.

PRINCASS: Thank you for the advice on grazing. I had my lunch shake at 10:30 and it did the trick!!

All: Thank you for for posting on here, reading everything is a wondeful help!

[QUOTE=torchlaker;3009869]

I know I would lose faster if I didn't eat so many restricted...and have tried to think WHAT I could make from scratch (or buy) that would cut down my costs? (like the egg white omelet...good idea!). Any ideas?

I have tried to think of something I could use as "breading" on my chicken or pork? QUOTE]

Several of my friends did IP for about 6 weeks, and they swear EAS makes shakes and bars very, very similar to IP for about $1-2 per bar. I think eggs are always a good choice. You can also make the IP chili by using hamburger replacement ( I think its soy protein, cant remember the name). When I priced actual low carb "meals" online, they were just as expensive as IP (mac and cheese, chili etc.).
On the breading, have you ever tried pork rinds? Dip the chicken in egg white, then roll in crushed pork rinds. Low carb and very few calories for what actually coats the chicken. Just a thought.

Today I had something weird happen. I lose 2lbs which I wasnt thrilled with, but then my nurse pointed out that I actually lost 4 lbs of fat, but gained 2 lbs of water. I guess I am heading toward PMS week but didnt know they could break it down like that. Anyone else had that happen?

TORCHLAKER QUOTE:
I did talk to my nurse today about going off IP for awhile in December when I go back to Cleveland. She said they would put me on the maintenance phase..

Are they going to phase you through the 2nd and 3rd phases before you go? Or just straight to maintenance?

[QUOTE=echobaby;3009827]
I was told not to skip any meals and that not eating within 1/2 hour (1 hour max) after waking up was skipping a meal
so I have been trying to stick to that and therefore ended up with the schedule that I have been following.

Has anybody else been told this?

[QUOTE=ottawa;3010018]No, I haven't ever heard that. I never eat until I get to work, which is about 1.5-2 hrs after I wake up. Come to think about it, I'd be starving too if I ate breakfast that early and had to do what you've been doing. I don't know that it's slowed me any, but I'm only on week two. It couldn't hurt to try it just one day and see if it helps. Maybe it'll just have to be a tradeoff you'll need to do in order to keep you from cheating later in the day.