Do we really need to have the two cups of veggies with our lunch and dinner.. I've been content or full with doing one cup of broccoli and salad for lunch and just salad with my dinner without having to eat the veggies. Is there a reason other than extra carbs for energy to have to eat the two cups of veggies all the time.. Thanks.

Yes. we need to have both cups at both meals. Part of the reason is, this is where we get our necessary carbs from and part of the reason is, what nutrition we get for minerals and vitamins is coming from the vegetables. The multi vitamin is designed to complement the diet based on our eating those veggies. ALSO, it is a significant portion of the fiber in the diet. You NEED that fiber!

hi bikiniboy! were you able to find an IP place in the bay area? congratulations on starting! this diet really really works. even for people like me where nothing works.

Veggies=yummy :-)

Try getting creative with your veggies so you want to eat them. The recipe threads here have some great ideas! I find it hard to eat ALL of them too, so i've been struggling with the same thing. Trying new things is helping. I also split it up some by having raw broc/cauli/celery in the afternoon with some WF dip.

I have the same problem - veggies are boring! What type of dip do you guys like? I tried the bacon ranch and gagged lol!

Hello,

I know this is kind of an older post, but I've been going through them trying to gain even more useful tips since I've just recently began IP.

I also have difficulty eating all of the veggies sometimes. One thing that's really helped me is spinach...you can add a bit of water to a saucepan (just to cover the bottom) and 1 or 2 cups of of spinach is suddenly quite manageable (my coach said all veggies should be measured raw).

Today I did this with one cup of spinach and one cup of mushrooms and added it to the mushroom soup...all the veggies and IP in one little bowl.

I've also added it to egg "salad" lettuce wraps; tuna; or alone with lemon, garlic, sea salt & pepper.

If you don't get all the veggies that are needed in one day, can you take some fiber supplements to keep your system going?

here is the tough love answer and I hope everyone takes it as a piece of advice and not in a judgmental way.

There is another important reason for eating your veggies, and that is 'because eating differently is for the rest of your life, not just in Phase 1-3".

Right now you need them for all the reasons pointed out above. But as you move into Phase 4, if you want to keep from gaining all your fat back again, you need to be committed to eating differently for the rest of your life. (if you aren't committed to that change, then you should not waste your money losing the weight in the first place.)

If you are committed to that, then you have to recognize that you cannot ever go back to the way you were eating before IP....ok, so what does that mean you WILL be eating?

Answer: a lot of veggies, with reasonable amounts of protein and small amounts of slow carbs...at least for 6 days a week...for the rest of your life.

The good news is: if you do IP fully and take this time to re-think your relationship to food, to develop new recipes and tastes, to expand your thinking about what a "meal" looks like, and to develop new habits, when you get to Phase 4 it will be easy and enjoyable to make this vegetable-rich diet your new life.

But if you spend your time on IP trying to find a way to limbo under the wire, you will probably lose the weight, but you won't have the skills and habits to be successful in maintenance. Don't cheat yourself!

Amen!!!