I thank you for your advice. But I have to disagree with you on at least one point. It may be great for where you live that you have restaurants that have an abundance of fresh vegetables on their menu. When I am asked out for dinner by a friend, it's not always at a major chain steakhouse or something. As a matter of fact, a major, well known, rib/chicken/steak place here in my area, has no vegetables that I am allowed to eat, on their menu. Their sides are rice (Can't eat), Corn (Can't eat), Beans (Can't eat), Coleslaw which is loaded with carrot (Can't eat), Sweet Potato Fries (Can't eat) Mashed Potato (Can't eat) ... get the picture! lol! It might be fine if you are in middle America, where vegetables are available, many locally. I live on an island in Canada and fresh produce, of any great variety, is hard to come by. As a matter of fact, due to severe ice conditions in the gulf, many major grocery stores in my area, have been nearly out of fresh produce because, the produce was stuck on the other side of the gulf. The ferries were stuck in the ice between provinces, and the semi trucks brings fresh produce and meats, etc, have been backed up for nearly a week or more. There is always more than meets the eye when someone post a comment. I am going to do my best to stay on plan, but when times arise, I will make the best option, even if it means going off plan, for a day or two. If I variate from the plan, and get out of ketosis for a day or two, it will only be a couple days or so to get back in ketosis, once I start back on plan, the same as when I started. And from my readings, some people take a lot to get them out of ketosis in the first place. I am going to do what my coach told me when I asked...sometimes you have to make the best out of a bad situation and try to choose the best option.

Yep, sometimes you just have to fake it.

Hang in there, the ice has to melt someday...

KD - just to clarify... You CAN eat part of your meat at lunch and part at dinner if you like, but you STILL need the three packets per day. The menu you listed showed no packet or meat at lunch and showed both meat and a packet at dinner. Review the actual protocol, and use that but go ahead and have 2-4 oz of your meat protein with lunch along with a packet... Or do that at dinner. Bottom line is you need three packets, 2 cup plus 2 cup veg and 8 oz meat/protein (divided is ok)!

Hope that clarifies!

I think that this is the secret to success in the long run. I'm in awe that you are coming out of a long, dark, & cold winter with your impressive success... let alone the issues with produce. Far to the south of you, near latitude 38, I get very moody in the winter and really struggle to keep from self-medicating with carbs.

Thanks JLUS its clear now. I was not having my packet in the afternoon because I was taking meat with my salad. But I now understand I have to take in that extra packet even if I add meat to my salad.

Correct... Thought it is not an "extra" packet... You still do two unrestricted and one restricted. You can have your full 8ox of meat at lunch w/veggies and THEN have packet and veggies at dinner. If you decide to split the meat between two meals, you still would have the packet at one of the meals (your choice which one, though most have it at lunch when splitting the meat serving.)

I think you got it now!

really after reading all this, the bottom line is you are losing an average of
5 lbs/week. how awesome is that?

I think the problem is that people post on this board and say they are not losing, they do not understand. When they show what they are eating, and it is not IP protocol(for whatever reason good or not) and people point that out, they get defensive.

I say own it. If you are not following the protocol because you don't want to or cannot because of your life situation at least own the fact that at times your weight loss will not be as good as when you follow it as it is laid out. But don't complain when it does not work as well as you think it should if you as an adult made the decision to not follow it. I am not sure I would pick this diet if fresh veggies were not available to me. I live on them and look forward to my two big salads everyday.

Speaking for myself, I am on protocol, 100%, since I started. When I spoke about the vegetables being scarce, I never said I had no access to vegetables. I spoke about the variety. I have eaten Brocolli, Turnip, Spinach, Peppers, and mushrooms, every day since I started. I have followed this protocol to the letter. I did say, that eating out is not always as easy as it might be in some other areas. I gave an example of a big famous name eating establishment (which I am not going to name, but let's say it's nation wide.) None of the vege on the menu are on the IP plan. I am now ever so sorry, I even mentioned about going away for the weekend and having to eat out. I am learning that there are times you should just keep things to yourself instead of finding someone to talk to. I am thankful for the people that have offered support and advice, but there are some people who have lost weight, who are like reformed smokers. They forget where they come from and that they used to smoke and enjoy it, and had their struggles kicking the habit, and now they look down on a smoker who is having trouble quitting. If you have lost weight successfully and followed your weight loss plan to the letter, good for you. But try to help and encourage others that may be struggling or having difficulties along the way, instead of having the attitude 'follow protocol, or what do you expect'! That's not really helpful. This is not geared to anyone in particular, but after reading through many posts there are those people who seem to think, if I could do it, why can't you!

I'm done!

I said if you do not follow protocol and for instance go to a restaurant that you cannot follow plan then own it. It is a choice you make, and it may be the right choice for you. But then you cannot come back and say the plan does not work. That said, there is indeed stalls that happen when a person is fully compliant and it is difficult to work through. Weight loss most certainly is not an exact science.

I would never ever look down on someone who is struggling but I do get frustrated when someone asks for help and then turns around and rejects everything(not saying this is you, this is in general). So looking at it from that end, can you see that people get frustrated just as you may get frustrated with the all or nothing attitude.

You know, all of us have faced struggles while losing weight, you are not the only one who has issues. You got solid advice and suggestions, and you can take whatever you want from that.

Part way through my weight loss it was discovered that I had a major hernia that had to be repaired. In preparation I was put on a very strict diet - there were about 4 IP approved veggies I could eat and only if they were peeled and cooked to death. No raw veggies at all. It sucked and was hard to do, but I did it. Because my health is my priority right now and that includes getting the weight off and keeping it off. I stayed 100% through 2 surgeries and hospital stays.

You may have life circumstances that make it more difficult to follow IP 100% but you can do it if you set your mind to it. All of us here want everyone to succeed. You may not like the advice and suggestions but stick around awhile and you'll see that this is an incredibly supportive community and people are genuinely concerned for the members.

Best of luck to you.

From the beginning I never said once that the plan was not working for me. As of today, I am down 58 pounds since January of this year. I am extremely pleased with my progress so far. I started this thread because I was consistently losing weight and for a week or so, I seemed to slow down to a standstill. I mentioned that I was a little discouraged. Someone gave me some good advice which helped me feel better about it. Somewhere during the conversation I made a comment that I was going away for a weekend, to visit family, and mentioned that I would be making it a cheat weekend. I am intelligent enough to know there is no cheat weekend on Ideal protein plan. That was the choice "I" was going to make, not anyone else. My coach told me in those situations when you are eating out, to make the best choices you can, but sometimes, you don't have a choice. It then snowballed, so to speak.
I am aware, as an adult, that the choices I make, are my own. Of course! Kind of ridiculous to think otherwise. I never asked for help in the beginning. I asked for information basically. As I am new to this, I didn't know if the fluctuation in weight loss was common or not. When one is consistently losing weight, and then slows or stops with no change to protocol what so ever,for the first time, I didn't know if it was normal. And from the postings, I seen that a couple other people were having the same questions. I was thought in school, that no question is stupid if you don't know the answer. That's why I posted, hoping for info, and not to be belittled (not saying that you or anyone did this), as if someone doesn't know anything. I don't think anyone who is on a weightloss journey, is living in a world where they think they are not responsible for their actions. If they are, the issues go deeper than a weight problem. I had hoped, and still do, that a site like this would be there to encourage everyone and answer questions. This is not directed at anyone, and no offense is intended. At least that's not my intention. The frustration is not a one sided thing!

First, congratulations on amazing losses everyone! Beardude: 58 lbs is something to be very proud of! Kudos to you!! I think you can be completely OP and still see minimal results on the scale. I've been doing IP for 6 weeks and lost 16 lbs as of this AM, but last week I only lost .5 and the week before .8 with no deviation at all. I kept with it (through a week of grumpiness that had my family wishing I'd eat a bag of chips, have a glass or 2 of wine and get back to normal cheerful me!!) and lost almost 3 lbs this week. Spring is VERY slow arriving here and I think my body was reluctant to get rid of winter insulation LOL! It is really hard not to be discouraged when the scales don't reflect the "sacrifices" we think we are making, but I'm determined to stick with it. We can do this!!! Happy Friday everyone!

I truly regret that you did not experience the 3FC support experience. Your results speak for themselves. I hope you'll try again sometime, and keep reading, at least. And maybe use the constructive caution as an angel on your shoulder as you venture forth to the restaurant Some of the advice probably stems from the concern that an off program choice is a potential slippery slope. Many of us have dieted in the past and been there done that!

As for eating out, my 2 cents is to really enjoy that slice of bread & prepare your mind ahead of time to set a limit, then go back to OP as soon as you can. It's more important to get back in the game mentally. Enjoy observing the bread affects you--it's information! Weight-loss-wise, the worst that could happen is that your weight loss might slow down, or you could get out of ketosis, and have to go through re-entry. Behaviorally, it's whether you might be triggered to stray further from IP than just the one-time item--that's what to prepare for. You coach can be a big help--is it possible to check in by phone or text before the meal?

On the other hand, eating off program in a limited way has sometimes resulted in bumping up the metabolism for a good weight loss, for some people. If you track your food, you can see that the slice of bread will be significantly higher-than usual in carbs. So how your body reacts will react is unknown. You might experience some of the carb-insulin roller coaster. It's more important, imho to make sure your head stays focused--you have an impressive record of success against which this is one blip.

I had a few times when I went off program and as long as I went right back, the weight loss hummed along. The tricky part is whether that slice of bread will trigger you to want more more more. In P3 & P4, you might also face this, so it's a preview (lol) from which to learn about yourself. One other suggestion: if you have a choice about the bread, go for something that's a 5-6/10 on a scale of appeal rather than something absolutely delicious that will be harder to limit. Good luck!