Started IP 7/24/11, down 17lbs/18in as of yesterday :-)

I've searched several ways and not found what I was looking for, either no one knows or it's a taboo question but I'd like to know:

How many grams of protein should we be having?
(I know 8oz at dinner but I mean grams for the day)

How many grams of carbs are allowed daily?
(I know someone said it should be net carbs but how many is too many)

I'm a vegetarian and need to know about the prepackaged "meatless" foods. I've heard/read/been told that outside of the IP foods it has to be 0 carb/sugar/fat but these aren't. I have seen people say they have been successful and have eaten them but what do I need to do to maintain weightloss and use these products.

Thanks so much for your help!!! Really need it, still have 33lbs more to go to goal.

Here's a previous post from Showgirl regarding the protein:

"With IP we get on average 18 for each packet so 54 to 72 depending on if you are using 3 or 4 packets a day. Plus we get 5 to 8 ounces of meat or fish which averages 9g per ounce of chicken breast, 6g per ounce of beef, 6g per ounce of fish. That said, we get between 30g and 72g of protein for our dinner meals.

So, we are getting about 80 to 140g (roughly) of protein each day before considering the protein we get from some veggies and any added milk".

As far as the carb amount goes, what i know is what is available in the packages and the added veggies are enough to keep you in ketosis. Where we all differ is how many additional carbs on top of that will kick us each out of ketosis....some of us are more carb sensitive then others.

I'm hoping someone who is vegetarian will chime in and help with your last question. Actually, perhaps someone can give you a better answer for the carb question too! mine is pretty lame!

meatless foods are fine for your own protein that you have to eat every day. i did IP as a vegetarian for 8 months and just recently began maintenance. basically, try to stay under 5 net carbs, and watch out for sugars in the ingredients. be sure to follow the serving sizes on the box, not the 5-8 oz that you would be allowed if you ate meat.

i basically survived on the following:
2 eggs
tofu
smart dogs
seitan
non-breaded soy chicken
boca burgers
morning star soy grounds

i found that i lost weight more quickly than most because even though meatless foods have more carbs than meat, they are much lower in calories and fats. i lost 93 lbs in just under 8 months.

good luck!

Thanks for replying!! Appreciate all the info. I entered what I WA eating into a calorie counter to see how much protein n carbs and all that. Just using today as an example. 104 g of protein and 53 net carbs...that seems super high
So nervous about messing up becauseim excited from change!!!


Will add the soy grounds and pray for great results this week!

Something you wrote had me try my search a different way and I found what I was looking for. I find it quite intereseting that different centers give out different information but bottom line is everybody still WINS...well LOSES LOL!

Anyway:
We target between 700 and 800 Kcals. per day on Phase 1. The latitude is due to
the choices they make for the "non-Ideal meal" (filet mignon, zucchini and yellow
squash may have more calories than a filet of cod and broccoli).

If a person is doing 3 envelopes plus a "whole protein”, this would be approximately
100 grams of protein (4 cal/gm = 400 Kcals from protein).
2 teaspoons of olive oil are approximately 90 Kcal or 10 gms of fat.
Taking fish oil capsules (the Omega-3) and estimating the fat in the whole protein
we can probably add another 15 gms. of fat (or 135 Kcals).

So thus far we have 400 calories from protein and 225 Kcal from fat.
Add the 4 cups of veggies and salad and the carbohydrates in the Ideal foods, we get
approximately 120 calories or about 30 grams of carbohydrates.

This would be about 54% Protein, 30% Fat and 16% Carbohydrates (3 packs + 1
whole protein per day).

I would include the link but I think that's frowned upon :-)

Thanks again!

please do include the link or the website reference. Things like this seem to have latitude from the monitors as they are informative and not selling references.

That is great information!