My Coach didnt' go through training that I know of and i'm in Canada. I also dont do weigh in's with her at her office, as I live about 12 hours away from her so she ships me my food every 2 weeks and I just weigh in on my own at my house.

She has been a great motivator as she is on IP herself.

See below I got much of my alternative product suggestions from the threads that are floating about - tons of good information on them! I've been on alternatives for 3 weeks, and haven't noticed a difference in losses OR my satisfaction with the diet. I still follow the sheet to a T, but just with the alt products.

I'm in Canada and I have shopped around to know which coach I would go to before I started and none of them were associated to any MD's. The Coach I decided to go with has done IP to lose weight and has been in maintenance for quite some time. She also told me that she has gone to seminar's (not sure this qualifies as training) but in any case I find her easy to talk to and very understanding and she gives me good avice based on her own personnal experience which I grately appreciate

My coach is a chiropractor and she has her receptionist weigh IP clients in. I don't think the receptionist knows very much about IP...for multiple reasons. I would have never made it 2 weeks without this board. And when I found myself in a different city with no packet, I located an amazing center!!!! If I could see my coach here I would but the coach that found me when I was lost has soooo much valuable info it is worth the drive!!

My sister is my coach! And really I couldn't asked for a better coach.

She lost around 70lbs on the diet and then decided to open her own clinic. And yes, here in Canada you do have to take training to be a coach as well as many other protocols that they have to do.

Is there not another clinic that you could sign your hubby up at in January? It just seams to me that if your frustrated now it will just be worse when your both OP. If that's the only clinic in your area with an MD maybe you can order yourself food you like through plainprotein (I'd tell your coach, then maybe they would order more)

I have been extremely happy with my coach. She has been informative and always has suggestions for alternatives. As an example, I am a fairly muscular guy and was losing some muscle in the 3rd week. My coach suggested adding egg whites to my packets to supplement the protein as an alternative to "buying" more packets. She also suggested an amino acid supplement with gelatin. The clinic has a pretty cool "scale" that measures BMI, fat %, water, lean protein in all body parts along with weight. This really fine tunes the process IMHO.

I really like my coach. He has been doing this for years, and has been able to troubleshoot any issues I have had. His advice differs a little bit from the sheet (he recommends I only eat green peppers, I don't snack, or split up my protein between two or more meals). So far, I have been losing on average 3 pounds a week, for the past 10 weeks, so I am happily following his suggestions.

However, my friend had a HORRIBLE coach, and I think she would have been so much better just using this site and alternatives and saved herself the $$ and heartache of "failing".

I hate to hear that someone is having issues with their coach. DW and I have a great coach here in Austin (Amy). She takes time to talk about the week and what’s going on with us and the diet. She knows I am on here and if she doesn’t know the answer to something she’s not afraid to ask me to see what I can find. She has also been on IP so I think that makes a big difference as well. I always refer her to anyone who ask about IP.

My coach is responsive to text messages and emails. I haven't met with her in person since my initial meeting -- the staff at her clinic conducts all the measurements/WIs. Their tape measurements are erratic, and their nutritional knowledge is sharply limited. Basically, I stop in for the scale and to buy food, and am out the door. I like that the coach has a hands-off approach. If I need her, I know she's there (a friend consults and meets with her frequently), but she's not riding me or pushing products. That would totally drive me away!

This forum has been my "coach". I have never had one, but have tons of info on IP. For some time, I have phase out of IP, but keeping the same plan of lean meats, 2 cups of veggies and salad. Its been working fine for me.

You all are my Cyber coaches and I love it!

I have learned everything about IP on this board. My coach is very obviously in this for just the money. She can't explain the "why" of things, she just repeats a script if asked a question. She doesn't even go over the weekly lesson, just hands me a sheet.

She is also a little mean. Whe I told her what I wanted as a goal weight - which is totally reasonable per my doctor- she said that there would be no way I could achieve and maintain that. That was a bit disheartening on my first visit. Plus I hate the game they play with the measurements. The first week she left the tape measure real loose and the second week she nearly cut off my circulation. I know that with a 6pound loss there was no way I lost 10 inches in my waist! Especially since I did my own measurements.

It is a fast weight in, pick my foods and leave when I go in.

can anyone tell me if they found a reasonably priced source on the web for the real IP foods? You all are a wealth of info..thank you