[QUzOTE=LOSINGFORGOOD2010;5289349]thank you for that! well just watch how busy the boards get in the NEW YEAR haha! so how long have you been on plan?[/QUOTE]

I first started IP in Aug 2014. I lost 63 pounds in a little over 5 months. I was amazed at inches lost and size I was wearing - this all happening without working out. I have lost more than that on I diet before as I have lost 110 lbs at one point (dealing/coping with my Mom's cancer) just doing 1200 calorie diet with working out, but I didn't get to that size in clothes or inches. I didn't realize I was at my goal weight and kept doing P1 probably 4-8 weeks longer than I should have. I had a coach who I consulted about strange symptoms that started like excessive hunger that I did not succumb to and then dizziness and fatigue started and then migraine type headaches. I was on a golf trip when I almost passed out playing. When I got home, I went to dr and had blood work done, and I found all kinds of abnormalities - my platelet count was abnormally high, my thyroid levels were abnormal, my cholesterol was high and I had near rickets level Vitamin D3. I was told to stop the diet immediately and to go on an anti-inflammatory diet for 2 weeks to bring platelet count down and was prescribed thyroid medication. Well, you can imagine what happened to my weight not transitioning and going on an all carb diet as the only pure protein was fish and I don't eat fish. I switched to a new dr who told me to stop dieting altogether and that my body's natural defense would kick in. It was at this time I found my adrenals were way out of whack too for which I received IV administered Vitamin C as he said that was best way to treat D3 deficiency in the short term while taking D3 supplement would work in long run. He was quite confident that D3 deficiency was the root cause of everything, and he turned out to be right. Once D3 got to normal, I felt like myself again. It took a couple of months though to find this because first dr didn't test for it. Anyhow, at that point my weight had gone up so once I was feeling better I returned to P1 against his advice, but I did it because I had come to believe in a low carb diet and this is the one I knew. But, I was afraid of getting sick again as I feel all that crept up on me and then crashed down on me so I would cycle 3 weeks on and 3 weeks off but I wouldn't fully lose what I would gain in the 3 weeks off. After doing that for around 3-4 cycles, I committed again to P1 but with a mix of alternatives and IP foods and I scrapped the IP coach for a board certified obesity doctor who was great. I did that because I felt I needed to make blood testing an important part of this diet. I got back to where I was weight-wise. However, I then had life changing events - started my own company and I got active in politics that had me traveling every week. I fell back to old habits as the schedule did not allow me to be as organized as the plan takes.That brought me to March this year where I weighed what I did when I first started IP. But, I absolutely did not want to do IP as I was tired of it so I started doing a calorie counting ketogenic plan. I calculated the calorie deficit I wanted based on my BMR and did that for 12 weeks and lost 2 pounds total. I felt great but was so discouraged I gave up dieting for a month leading up to a family trip to Vegas. There are so many mirrors in Vegas - I was horrified by what I saw. The day after getting home from Vegas I went to the IP clinic that is like a grocery store and picked out my IP foods so did this for 5 months and lost same amount of weight as first time. However, the problem was I was 24 pounds more this time. I did not want to be on packaged foods for holidays and I had some dizziness and hunger pangs - symptoms I immediately recognized this time so instead of ignoring for almost 2 months, I transitioned to ketogenic diet immediately. I tried to lose for 3 weeks but only succeeded in maintaining but I was quite happy about that. I had 6 days of unrestricted calories during Thanksgiving week while staying ketogenic but I did gain and felt heavy so last Wednesday I started back on P1 and in a week, I am back to where I was. I feel so much better than I did a week ago and I feel great that I did not let myself go as is my yo yo pattern. I feel keto is key to maintenance and IP is key for weight loss. I still want to get the 20 pounds off but I am fine maintaining this month with having my keto splurges like I did Thanksgiving week and then doing P1. I will then commit to P1 in Jan to take the remaining weight off. Now, I am doing P1 with alternatives - using alternatives for no other reason than convenience as I just order from Nashua Nutrition. So, today starts my 2nd week back on P1. Depending upon what scale shows on Saturday, I may have a keto splurge then because it is our annual family Christmas baking event. I had my keto cookie/treat recipes picked out to make but then I did not feel like them after I had my indulgence over Thanksgiving, but because I feel good again, I may partake and then begin P1 again on Monday and do that up until Christmas and then do what I did Thanksgiving week for Christmas week and then back on P1 after New Year's. I am doing this all based on how I feel as I do not want to feel deprived because I believe that is a trigger for me for big swings. I tracked everything Thanksgiving week but had what I wanted following 2 simple rules - it had to be ketogenic and it had to be mostly homemade. I did not worry about calories and even though I had no sugar, I did not feel deprived at all. I really enjoyed myself with no guilt. So I am planning to leverage that for my Christmas plan.

So, that is my long IP story!

I first started IP in Aug 2014. I lost 63 pounds in a little over 5 months. I was amazed at inches lost and size I was wearing - this all happening without working out. I have lost more than that on I diet before as I have lost 110 lbs at one point (dealing/coping with my Mom's cancer) just doing 1200 calorie diet with working out, but I didn't get to that size in clothes or inches. I didn't realize I was at my goal weight and kept doing P1 probably 4-8 weeks longer than I should have. I had a coach who I consulted about strange symptoms that started like excessive hunger that I did not succumb to and then dizziness and fatigue started and then migraine type headaches. I was on a golf trip when I almost passed out playing. When I got home, I went to dr and had blood work done, and I found all kinds of abnormalities - my platelet count was abnormally high, my thyroid levels were abnormal, my cholesterol was high and I had near rickets level Vitamin D3. I was told to stop the diet immediately and to go on an anti-inflammatory diet for 2 weeks to bring platelet count down and was prescribed thyroid medication. Well, you can imagine what happened to my weight not transitioning and going on an all carb diet as the only pure protein was fish and I don't eat fish. I switched to a new dr who told me to stop dieting altogether and that my body's natural defense would kick in. It was at this time I found my adrenals were way out of whack too for which I received IV administered Vitamin C as he said that was best way to treat D3 deficiency in the short term while taking D3 supplement would work in long run. He was quite confident that D3 deficiency was the root cause of everything, and he turned out to be right. Once D3 got to normal, I felt like myself again. It took a couple of months though to find this because first dr didn't test for it. Anyhow, at that point my weight had gone up so once I was feeling better I returned to P1 against his advice, but I did it because I had come to believe in a low carb diet and this is the one I knew. But, I was afraid of getting sick again as I feel all that crept up on me and then crashed down on me so I would cycle 3 weeks on and 3 weeks off but I wouldn't fully lose what I would gain in the 3 weeks off. After doing that for around 3-4 cycles, I committed again to P1 but with a mix of alternatives and IP foods and I scrapped the IP coach for a board certified obesity doctor who was great. I did that because I felt I needed to make blood testing an important part of this diet. I got back to where I was weight-wise. However, I then had life changing events - started my own company and I got active in politics that had me traveling every week. I fell back to old habits as the schedule did not allow me to be as organized as the plan takes.That brought me to March this year where I weighed what I did when I first started IP. But, I absolutely did not want to do IP as I was tired of it so I started doing a calorie counting ketogenic plan. I calculated the calorie deficit I wanted based on my BMR and did that for 12 weeks and lost 2 pounds total. I felt great but was so discouraged I gave up dieting for a month leading up to a family trip to Vegas. There are so many mirrors in Vegas - I was horrified by what I saw. The day after getting home from Vegas I went to the IP clinic that is like a grocery store and picked out my IP foods so did this for 5 months and lost same amount of weight as first time. However, the problem was I was 24 pounds more this time. I did not want to be on packaged foods for holidays and I had some dizziness and hunger pangs - symptoms I immediately recognized this time so instead of ignoring for almost 2 months, I transitioned to ketogenic diet immediately. I tried to lose for 3 weeks but only succeeded in maintaining but I was quite happy about that. I had 6 days of unrestricted calories during Thanksgiving week while staying ketogenic but I did gain and felt heavy so last Wednesday I started back on P1 and in a week, I am back to where I was. I feel so much better than I did a week ago and I feel great that I did not let myself go as is my yo yo pattern. I feel keto is key to maintenance and IP is key for weight loss. I still want to get the 20 pounds off but I am fine maintaining this month with having my keto splurges like I did Thanksgiving week and then doing P1. I will then commit to P1 in Jan to take the remaining weight off. Now, I am doing P1 with alternatives - using alternatives for no other reason than convenience as I just order from Nashua Nutrition. So, today starts my 2nd week back on P1. Depending upon what scale shows on Saturday, I may have a keto splurge then because it is our annual family Christmas baking event. I had my keto cookie/treat recipes picked out to make but then I did not feel like them after I had my indulgence over Thanksgiving, but because I feel good again, I may partake and then begin P1 again on Monday and do that up until Christmas and then do what I did Thanksgiving week for Christmas week and then back on P1 after New Year's. I am doing this all based on how I feel as I do not want to feel deprived because I believe that is a trigger for me for big swings. I tracked everything Thanksgiving week but had what I wanted following 2 simple rules - it had to be ketogenic and it had to be mostly homemade. I did not worry about calories and even though I had no sugar, I did not feel deprived at all. I really enjoyed myself with no guilt. So I am planning to leverage that for my Christmas plan.

So, that is my long IP story![/QUOTE]

wow what a journey. One day at a time, and everything in moderation

I thought of that too! Those New Year resolutions...Crazy how quiet the boards are these days. When I did IP initially in 2013 there were so so many posts. It really kept me motivated.

I know, I miss that activity.

Hi! Im in my second week of rebooting w alternatives. Doing pretty well and getting ready to start hacking my packets! I think oatmeal muffins were good. I need to do some research! Hope you all got your water in! ��

Glad to hear things are going well. I started week 2 of my reboot on Wed with alternatives. I am doing well too.

Regarding packet hacks, I really like the oatmeal muffins too.

I really learned a lot through Janeva's cookbook about packet hacks. I also scanned the internet for others. This recipe is one that came up on a remote site when I searched for recipes for IP Chocolate Drink Mix. It is the best recipe I have encountered...

This is to make a chocolate cake - daily count = 1 packet and 1 tsp olive oil (also note that I track my macros daily so I slightly adjust my dinner protein for the egg white - I don't treat it as a freebie).
I have made cookies and mug cakes and the like, but nothing has compared to this so I highly recommend it. I would bet you could switch up flavors, but I haven't done that yet with this particular recipe; although, I have with others with making banana, blueberry, etc.
One other thing to point out - I have not made this with alternatives either. I am actually doing it today for the first time with Quest chocolate milkshake protein powder (note: I have my blood glucose readings from IP's and I am going to compare after I make this with Quest to make sure no difference on blood sugar). I'll let you know how the Quest one comes out.

To make 1 chocolate cake:
Preheat oven to 350
Mix following ingredients:

- 1 IP chocolate drink mix packet (testing in progress of alternatives)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 tsp Swerve or other such granulated sweetener
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 egg white
- depending on batter consistency, may need a very little water

Pour into silicone mini loaf pan or spray non-stick spray in a mini spring load pan and bake for 15 minutes. If you make your batter a bit watery, you will need to bake it a few more minutes. It is done when a toothpick comes out clean.
If making more than one at once, simply multiply above ingredients by as many as you are making (recipe is linear) and distributed evenly in whatever baking pan(s) you are using.

A couple of tips...
- let this cool before eating. I have found them to be better the day after baking and found them to keep in the refrigerator just fine for 6 days and the 6th one just as good as the first.
- I have found making them in a mini silicone loaf pan vs mini spring load pan to taste slightly better. But, I have 6 mini spring load pans and only 2 mini silicone loaf pans so if I want to make a lot at once (like for the week), then I sacrifice slight taste for convenience.
- use pasteurized egg whites so you can lick the spoon and scrape the bowl. Delicious!
- all the ingredients are important to get a rich flavor. I have made a lot of baked goods using IP and alternatives and varying recipes - nothing compares to this.

Thanks Ro! I'll try it!

So, here's my report...

It was good, but IP's was better. I think the reason why is because IP's is a dark chocolate and Quest is Chocolate Milkshake. IP's cake was much darker so more chocolate flavor. Plus, you do not have to cook Quest as long as IP so I would say it probably should be like 12-13 minutes rather than 15.

Regarding blood sugar, there were no concerns. I didn't get to measure every hour like I wanted to because I was out Christmas shopping. I will next time. So, all I have are my readings before and after 2.5 hours.

I don't know why my BG was 100 at noon. I had breakfast around 9:30/10 which was ProtiThin Cinnamon Spice oatmeal. I had the cake at 12:30 and my BG at 4 pm is 83. I will measure on Sunday or Monday every hour and I will also take a fasting BG. I have wanted to measure against the alternatives for a while so I will do that in the next 2-3 days and compare that to IP. I'll share the results once finished.

It has been a long time since I have been on here and I don't know if I'm posting in the right forum so give me a bit to figure this out again I did Ideal Protein around 6 or 7 years ago. I have since gained it back with my sugar addiction. I started an alternative at home plan similar to Ideal Protein on Halloween. I was on a roll up until yesterday and today. I blew it and blew it big. I didn't order my food on time and I binged. I am rebooting tomorrow and I decided to get back on here to get some accountability. I need all the help I can get. I want to do this and I need you guys!!! My name is Sheila and I live in Eastern Colorado. I am married and have 5 kiddos and manage a local Subway. I look forward to reading your posts and joining in on your weight loss journey.
Thank you

Hey Sheila - Way to go on the reset commitment. I am doing the same tomorrow. I had a planned splurge this weekend with our annual Christmas baking party as I feel my yo yo dieting is partly/mostly driven by deprivation so I didn't want to deprive myself of fully participating in this annual event. I was doing P1 up to Saturday. I participated with the caveat that whatever I made or ate had to be low carb with the knowledge that I knew that I would be higher calorie than on weight loss phase. I had what I wanted - plus everyone really enjoyed and were impressed by what I made based on ingredients I was using - which made it feel even more inclusive. I gave away everything tonight and will get back to P1 tomorrow with alternatives. I will weigh myself next Monday and will look to be less than I was on Saturday before the splurge. This is such a change in behavior for me to have a little treat and get back to plan vs treating it as a ticket to go full binge mode. I feel strong! I have come to believe that high fat low carb is a key for me for treats to avoid bingeing - the high fat makes it filling due to its richness and low carb doesn't trigger cravings with blood sugar swings. My plan of maintaining/a little weight loss this month in preparation for P1 commitment in Jan to get off remaining 20 pounds is working so far.

congrats on getting back on! great to see more action here

welcome back! I too was on IP in 2010 and now back. Into week two. WE CAN DO THIS

thank GOD! as of today I am back in the 80's. My lowest back in 2010 was 163. Since 2011 I have creeped up slowly but surely. Thank fully did not gain back the full 220, but 194.9 SCARED ME
now that I have only one xmas lunch to go, I am more than sure I can do this. I am so NOT craving sugar as I am into week two, this lunch will be goat cheese salad and ice water with lemon woooooooooo

Hi all! Down 6.6lbs in Week 2! I feel better overall - less puffy, more energy. Looking forward to seeing the results next week!

Congrats LOSINGFORGOOD! These milestones make a difference.

Welcome Sweet Sheila!

Ro - thanks for the review. I appreciate you being the mad scientist! I've seen reference to a cookbook your put together. Any pointers?

Let's do this!!

Ooops . . . This thread has passed the magic limit of 500 posts.

Would some kind soul start the new thread?