Supplements have always been a bit of a sticking point for those of us that use alternatives, particularly knowing the right dosing/formulation to get as close to what IP supplements provide as possible. And the website that used to sell IP products has now gone the way of Nashua Nutrition and sells alternatives (but at near-IP prices!)

In my reboot, I did some searching and found this website, which breaks down the formulation of the 3 main supplements (calcium, magnesium and potassium), as well as the nutritional components of each of the Big 3 - Multi-Vita, K-Cal and Cal-Mag.

http://www.ihpweightloss.com/Notes/P...t_Overview.pdf

It definitely helped me track down vitamins at my local store that get as close as possible to the IP brand!

Inquiring minds want to know -- which alternative supplement products did you choose at your local store?

The IP system is definitely SIMPLER - I had to cobble together several different supplements to get the right % RDA of the nutrients as compared with IP's supplements. I found a multi (actually a multi for women over 50) at Wal-Mart that had a fairly comparable formula....a cal-mag from CVS that if I take 2 instead of 4 gives me the balance of my calcium and magnesium for the day...a potassium supplement from the health food store...and Nature Made fish oil (Omega 3). It's not exact to IP but I just compared the RDA % for each nutrient and matched it up as best I could.

Thanks for sharing! Do you think the overall cost for supplements is notably less when you go the alternative route?

I use alternative products so alternative supplements are really the only option But yes you pay a premium for IP products, because you are also paying for coaching. Alternatives are cheaper across the board, using alternatives just also requires independent accountability

Scorbett - I'm so glad you're back on the board, I read through all of the alternative threads (took 3 days) and your advice and wisdom were priceless to me. I'm also in MA and went to school in Dartmouth so I've thought about taking a trip down there (I'm over an hour away now) to check ot Balanced Protein in Fauce Corner.

For alt vitamins, I got mine on Swansons.com. I had to add biotin because their multi + minerals didn't have it. I also got their potassium citrate. I think it was $12 plus a few bucks in shipping. I also get my cal mag from CVS and take less. I can't take fish oil or omegas, but I can take krill oil. I was doing the Nature Made Krill Oil, but I found Mega Red Krill Oil at Costco for a much better quantity/price point. Plus it has that special seal on it - responsible fisheries or something? They do contain ethel vanillin though, which is an allergy for me, so I'm taking things with caution.

I get my supplements from Vitacost.com (all except my Omapure fish oil, which doesn't smell fishy!). Prices were better than my local store (I'm not a Walmart shopper so I don't have a comparison there).

Aw thanks!! I live an hour away now too, but we still have family in the area so it's not to far out of the way from them to go to FCN. I just stocked up for the month today!


I love that there are options, for me the struggle in using alternative supplements was not knowing how to match the IP formulation. When I found the document in my first post I had to share it - at least I don't have to hunt down someone using IP supplements to figure out how to match everything up!