Darn! Ah well, it was worth a try. Thanks for your insight SCorbett :-)

Wow- I would love to meet a person who would eat a whole cup of garlic!doubt that anyone does that so no problem.

I had dinner once in a town outside of Frankfurt, Germany, that was considered the garlic capital of the world. Everything they served had garlic in it and on it. They even served garlic schnapps!

Hey everyone...I am getting back at it with alternative products. I am a shake and bar only girl, so I do 2 shakes using 1 scoop of body fortress advanced whey protein and then 1 bar-pure protein...either choc/choc or choc/peanut butter. I had great success with this! I have a question though, I can't find my original paperwork from IP where my coach told me the amount (mg) of vitamins to get. I know a multivitamin, but not sure the amounts of the others (it's been a while). Any help would be appreciated or if you could list the exact ones you take so I can just get those, I would appreciate it!
Thank you!

Good morning everyone!

So on day 6 of using alternatives this time around. My plan had always been to come back to the diet in January and lose a few more - this time DH has joined me! He wants to lose about 50 and after a week and dropping 10 lbs already - he's on his way!

I'm mixing regular IP products with alternatives this time and I'm not sure if my slow to lose on the first week is me messing up with the alternatives or because it's the "last 10" issue. I've only lost 2 lbs in 6 days - have a sinus infection and on antibiotics - maybe that's it?????

I'm using mostly the proti-diet and proti-thin from nashua. Oh and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the syntrax shakes! I did notice the smoothies had aspartame (after already making 2 of them!) so they're out the door but I thought I did good on other foods.

I'm surprised I can have the oatmeal (only 5 grams ...) they're really good!

Anyone else really slow to lose that first week? Either because of being sick or the alternatives?

Just got my email from Nashua and ProtiDiet is on special this week. Enter PD10 at checkout for 10% off.

*Restrictions Apply - no quantity discount
Cannot be combined with any other offer
Offer valid until Sunday, January 13th at 11:59 PM EST.

You can get the actual IP vitamins on plainprotein.com. I never found an alternative that was as good as the IP one's.

Welcome back to phase 1...I've seen other people post that the first week of a restart isn't as big of a loss as when they IP the first time. That sinus infection probably isnt helping either. 2 lbs is fantastic considering you only want to lose 10.

FYI...You have to be careful with supplements and antibiotics. Some of them have a reaction with it, so you aren't getting the full effects of the antibiotics. Make sure you read the warnings that came with the antibiotics. I can't remember if it was the pottasium or magnesium. There is a thread on 3FC's about antibiotics and IP vitamins/supplements with the details.

Thank you Ragdoll!

The antibiotic they put me doesn't allow for magnesium within 4 hours of dosing so I'm being careful with that. I'll have to dig up that thread and read more.
And I would be happy with those 2 lbs if they weren't part of the 3 I gained over the holidays

Bought some new bars from Sam's club yesterday. New from Pure Protein, soft baked protein bar and they come in two flavors, double chocolate vanilla crunch and dbl chocolate peanut butter crunch. I had the pb one and my DH had the other and they were very good. 190 cals, 8g fat, 14g carbs, 1 g fiber and 4g sugar alcohol. Restricted but good!

I have done a LOT of research on the vitamins. You really are better off sticking with the IP vitamins (I have used alternative products for the last 13 weeks, but have never found TRULY comparable supplements to the 3 main IP versions). The thing is, you can't just look at the dosing (mg) - you also have to pay close attention to the FORM of the nutrient. 100mg of potassium gluconate is NOT the same thing as 100mg of potassium carbonate, for example. The IP supplements use forms of the nutrients that are extremely easy for the body to absorb and gentle on your system to process, which IS important especially when you're putting your body through a very restrictive diet regimen. I have been ordering the IP supplements from www.plainprotein.com - they ship free and fast.

You answered your own question

When the body is sick, it is inflamed. Inflammation causes water retention, which shows up on the scale. Patience, grasshopper, it will come off. Feel better and drink PLENTY of water!!!

Yes Master

I did just research some other threads and I guess I also screwed up by taking my cal-mags! No wonder the other antibiotics didn't work. I took a multi this morning with my new antibiotics (Avelox) but I'm going to stop the cal-mags and potassium until I'm done with these. I'm worried about stopping the potassium ... maybe I'll take those at night.

Haven't been on in awhile - love the new pic!!!!!

Thanks! It's from the night of my 20th high school reunion over Thanksgiving

And yes, calcium, magnesium and potassium can all interfere with the absorption of antibiotics - you are usually safe if you leave a 2-4 hour window between the antibiotic and the supplement, but if it's a short course there's nothing wrong with holding off on those supplements for a few days while you let the meds do their magic

How cool to go to a reunion looking so great !

I'm on the Avelox for 10 days, so I'll just skip the cal-mags for all 10 days and the potassium for the next 3 and then take that only at night since I'm taking the Avelox in the AM. I had no idea the interaction! No wonder the other antibiotics didn't work ...

Now I just have to stay OP while the scale in NOT going down, knowing it's just inflammation and I will catch up.

Thanks so much for the info! You're a god-send!