so, apparently there is a lady in my town who I *think* is a coach for IP... I don't know for sure but I do know she is using the protocol herself and has seen results. I messaged her on FB and she said she is out of town until the 10th or 11th and she will phone me then.

here is my question... do you think I should meet with her and potentially sign up for IP

or

take a leap and use cheaper alternatives from the get go... I would use ProtiDiet products as I can get them in Canada easily.

I would love to have a 'coach' but I don't want to pay a bunch of money to a lady who just started the program herself and doesn't have any experience.

thoughts?

I personally like having a coach it keeps me accountable. I "try" to only weigh in once a week and with my coach... this helps you stay on program as well. Now if she is new, how new? Ask lots of questions. How long have you been a coach, How long have you been on protocol? How much have you lost? How much have your other clients lost? Where did you get trained (my coach said they had a 1 hour session alone for just taking measurements.) what Fee am I paying and what is it for. My start up fee was 235.00, it got me 9 days of product, a shaker, a salt, cal-mag, potassium, mulit vitamins, a journal book and a bag. Find out exactly what you are paying for.

Yes you can do the program cheaper, but I see it seems that the ones on the alternates it seems easier to cheat, I don't know why. I don't think I would have done as well as I had if I was on my own... It is an acccountability thing... even now I find I need to talk to my coach even if it is only once a week... Don't get me wrong it is a big expense but I had a lot to lose and as you can see I am still here.

I wouldn't do it with someone who is also starting. Ask her what type of training she went through to become a coach.

I'm new to the program as well. I just finished my first week. I'm sure there are some people out there(and maybe you're one of them) that can do the program on their own. i wasn't one of them. I agree with the accountability. I have to see my coach for WI once a week and knowing that she"s going to see everything that I ate in my journal, holds me to my commitment of doing this program 100%. It is a little higher priced but I've tried other diets and nothing or not much loss and with this, after my first WI after only 5 days OP I lost 7.5 lbs and 6.5 inches. I highly recommend it.
Good luck!

thanks everyone!

I am not 100% certain but I think she is very new to IP... I would be surprised if she even has coached anyone to tell you the truth.

I live in a very small, remote town so there isn't anyone else I could go to but I don't really want to hand my $$ over to someone who has just started when I could do it on my own.

I guess I could meet with her to see what she has to say instead of assuming... then I can make a more educated decision after.

Personally I would be very cautious. It is much more expensive to do it with a coach and this person may not know much more about the program than you do.
In answer to your question what I would do is send for some alternatives, see how you do for the first few weeks and if you find you need to be accountable to someone else then go with the coach.
I started with an excellent coach but as you can tell from reading posts on here there is a difference in advice from different coaches.
If you start with the coach and then decide you don't want to continue that way it would be difficult to get out of the situation especially in a small town.
But if you start on your own and then realize you need help it would to easy to sign up then. As she can't get back to you for a while I'd start with a week on your own. But be aware the biggest losses are at the beginning of the program, they slow down some as time goes on and your body adjusts.
Pat

thank you Pat.... this is exactly what I was thinking of doing. I am going to order some products today and then start as soon as they get to me. I am naturally a disciplined person so I feel like I have enough motivation/determination to do it on my own... plus, with the wealth of information in this forum, I feel a bit prepared already!

Have you gone to the ideal protein website? There is a number you can call for information. They can tell you who is a certified coach nearest to you. Also on another thread wuv mentioned something about ideal protein to go. I would gather as much information as possible before making my decision. As one poster said in an earlier post, ask lots of questions. I live in Canada also. When I started, there were no start up costs, just the cost of food and supplements. The first week was $140.00 for 3 boxes of food, shaker, salt, all the supplements, bag and food diary. Every week after that it is about $80.00. No charge for WI or to see the coach, just buy the ideal protein food.

I hope this helps and good luck on your journey

"Mom"'s situation is unique in that she lives in a remote area. The IP to go site does not deliver to Canada. My start up in Alberta was $235, it was $90 to $100 per week after that. My coach was excellent so I didn't begrudge that. But I would be very careful of getting tied in with someone who was not experienced for that amount of money.
On the other hand the person available said she was going out of town. It could be that she was going away for training, and time will tell if "Mom" needs the support and she can go that route then.

Thanks Pat.

Yes, living in the north does have it's disadvantages for sure and this being one of them. I cannot run out to a store and buy a shake or bar that fits the guidelines like most of you can.

That is why I am trying my hardest to find some alternative products that I can get online (in Canada preferably).

The lady told me she was going home for Thanksgiving so I'm not sure if any training would be happening. I guess it won't hurt to meet with her when she gets back BUT I don't want to feel obligated to starting up if you know what I mean.

Hello,

I live in Canada as well and I recently started using alternatives to cut the cost as IP was getting extremely expensive to me.

The easiest way to buy your products is using www.proteinwell.ca which is local so you would not get any extra charges for duty and they do free shipping for any order over $99.

You can sure use nashuanutrition.com as they have a big selection of food you can choose from. In order to calculate the final cost you can use this site: http://www.thefinalcost.com/ which calculates for you what you have to pay extra, this way you'll see if it is worth for you ordering or not.

I ordered from both of the mentioned sites and I had a good experience with both of them. The local one shipped within 2 days, the US one shipped withing 2 weeks.

Actually, you can run to a store and buy a shake or a bar, keep a copy of the attached sheet in your purse (this is what I do) and take your time comparing. There is a good variety of bars at Costco, the best ones I found are the Detour ones which sell for $15 a box of 15 (so $1 a bar, you cannot find lower than this I think), also Costco sometimes has a good variety of protein powders. At Walmart, I found the bars ''slimdown'' which are pretty close to the IP ones.

I downloaded for you the IP nutritional fact sheet, which is what I use in order to compare the alternative products I buy.

But again... about deciding to have a coach or not, that is a personal decision, it depends on how you feel, if you see you can do it alone or not.

Best of luck,

Thanks for the sheet Sandra, very good idea to carry it in your purse. I had just posted on another thread that I had excellent results with proteinwell, best deal i could find in Canada but I will check out things at nashua.
I think a problem the starter of this thread is that she can't do things we take for granted like dash out to Walmart or Costco, so Proteinwell is a great solution.

I agree with patns,

Try out using the alternatives, if it doesn't work out, you can go to a coach. I did the opposite, I started with a coach and using IP (which I liked both very much) and after 3 months switched to alternatives to save money. It is very expensive. Good Luck

Thank you very much, Sandra!

I have printed off the nutrition sheet you provided for quick reference.... very great resource for sure.

Like Pat mentioned, I don't have a Walmart or Costco or much of anything where I live.... my town is only 6000 people and the closest larger center is 4 hours drive away.

I will be placing an order at proteinwell.ca later today.... I think I will just order enough for a couple weeks so that I can try some of the products before I order tons. I am sure there are things I will love and hate as personal preference plays through.

I understand that senior members like yourself must get frustrated with newbies like myself asking the same questions over and over... hence the stickies... so I thank you once again for taking the time to offer your opinion.

I can't wait to get started!

thank you! that is what I intend to do....