HarmonyMom: I had to laugh because I thought that if I wait until I am ready to exercise, it ain't EVER gonna happen. Even thin, I HATED exercise...still do. Ahhh...but these joints are gettin' old..so alas...i must move. I also have fibromalygia (anyone else have this??), so there is the "devil and the angel" on my shoulder....Move? devil: "You gotta be kidding. You hurt too much! "Move? angel:" You will feel better if you move that ol' body." Guess it depends on the day...and who I am listening to!!

Wow...forgot about baked asparagus and sauteed zuchinni (which I love sour cream on...mmmmm). Thanks for spiking my interest....

Since I live alone, I do use those Steam bags by Ziploc a lot...even if I am gonna stirfry. Makes it go faster.

Yup, I like all my dressings sweet...not toooo sweet. Mom's fault. Mom always made her own dressings. I couldn't wait to leave home so I could eat bottled dressings!! In less than 3 months, I was calling Mom from college asking how to make her dressings! But...I am SO sick of salads. I get about 3 bites in at lunch. I did buy alphalfa sprouts..gonna pretend they are cheese (mouldy cheese). SandraB...I am with you. I eat tomatoes all year round on my salad. Doc said I could have up to 2 c. of restricted veggies a week...so tomatoes are my choice. I cut 2 of those little cherry tomatoes into the tiniest pieces I can...

Found out I like sea salt....who knew? I never liked salt that much before. Gave it up when I was pregnant, and never took it back. My hubby used to pour on the salt before he tasted anything i cooked....

Never was told about the coconut oil....Maybe Babygene or Sunkissed can help me out there. I have been sauteeing in olive oil, or nothing....

SandraB...I think there is a gal from Quebec on this forum, so I doubt if you are the only Canadian. I understand IP was in Canada before it ever came here. Hey, I live so far north, I am almost in Canada. I LOVE everywhere I have ever been in Canada and think the people are amazing! (eh??)

The fatigue finally seems to be over...probably cuz those detox pills doc gave me are working and "things" are moving. Gonna steam clean carpets today (wonder if THAT makes both the angel and devil happy??).

So -- what do you all say when someone tells you a)"You are losing too fast...you are going to gain it all back "(ok--I gained it back on Atkins, WW, and the Rice diet!!)......b)"It isn't healthy to discontinue grains, fruits and dairy.". (OK - i didn't eat grains and much fruit on Atkins...felt okay. Do miss those creamy creamcheese/whipped cream desserts I ate on Atkins, tho)....OR (my son)... c)"If you just gave up sweets, drank more water and exercised on your own, instead of paying a ton of money for this, you would have lost weight anyhow" (OK- I wasn't motivated....)....OR (big one)...d)"Your doctor is just making money off you" (OK--my logic here is that I KNOW my doctor. She IS my regular doctor...and I trust her! I know she researched this for months before she committed to it).....OK -- gotta admit here...I doubt if anyone will notice a 11.5# loss, but I have a red hat function to go to in 2 weeks (yup...I am old enough to be a redhatter and then some....)...and I know that - sooner or later - everyone is gonna be asking these questions. I wanna be prepared!!

I am procrastinating.....gotta go do those carpets.

Hello everyone

I am just starting the IP diet. My friend gave me the diet to go by and I am substituting (with her guidance) some of the packets for similar products (like the Jay Robb protein instead) as long as the nutrients are the same. She has lost 40+ lbs. in just over 5 weeks, and feels great.

So far I am on day 2 of the commando program. I am modifying it slightly, substituting the soup for protein shakes instead (some of the suppliments are too costly for my budget). I like veggies, so they won't be a problem.

The hardest thing for me is choking down the recommended vitamins. Can anyone recommend a multi that isn't the typical "hard" pills, like a soft-gel or a liquid? I am using the calcium-potassium supplements from IP, as I can't find anything comparable.

Torchlaker-don't you wish people would just keep their negative comments to themselves! What I've been telling people is that I know fruits and grains are healthy but they prevent me from losing weight. I will eventually be able to eat grains and fruits. I also tell them it's not healthy to be 90 lbs. overweight and I'm doing what I can to fix that.

I really like this diet because it is just temporary. I have tried to lose weight the "traditional" ways and I lose so slowly that I lose all my motivation. Since you lose weight so consistently with this plan you can stay motivated and then work on the bad habits (and develop good habits) that will help you to keep the weight off. Some of the bad habits I am working on are eating late at night and eating when I'm upset. Some of the good habits I've developed are eating veggies (I have figured out that I love them), exercising at least 3 times a week, and drinking lots of water.

I did Atkins, weight watchers, and South Beach diet (among many others) and I gained back every time. The diets didn't make me gain weight back, the fact that I didn't change my bad habits made me gain weight back. You will gain weight back after any diet if you don't eat right.

.8 is what I lost this week. I'm a little disappointed as I've been working my tail off on the treadmill but I know it has to slow down at some point.
I will persevere
Yall have a great weekend.. keep posting! It's the little victories that keep us going!

About the oils - here is what we were told were mandatory each day outside of the food we can eat

1-2 TSP extra virgin olive oil per day
1/2 TSP sea salt
3 different kinds of vitamins - sure we all know the name of those!~

But- what they said was that olive oil goes rancid when heated to cooking temperatures. They recommended if we are sauteeing, frying, etc to use cocunut oil. Our IP reps sell the cocunut oil right on the same shelf as their products. I had never used this oil before this program, but will say it sure tastes good!

THE negative comments- just make me want to do better. PROVE them wrong. i also am on this diet because i believe in it, researched it, and figure at this point in my life this is what will work for me. AND I FEEL GOOD! Those same people were probably talking about my weight gain too when it was happening! I do have support at home, because they actually see what i am eating, and know that i am not on a starvation diet. even comment once and a while that my meal looks pretty good...they see me more energetic, not grumpy like past diets! and they are happy for my efforts and successes. Enuf for me!

At least it's still a loss. How many more lbs. do you have to go?

Sandrab, as far as oils, I was told olive &/or grapeseed oil.
Alwe74, Thanks for the asparagus suggestion. Zucchini is one of the few veggies allowed that I love. I'm just afraid I'll get sick of them.

I find it very interesting to see the differences in the rules given by different consultants/coaches/doctors or whoever is administering the plan. I wonder if the training sent out by the Ideal Protein people is comprehensive, or if the people are influenced by their own backgrounds? It would be nice to hear from the coach or two that have posted on this issue.

added: Just read the rest of the posts. Olive oil is used all the time for cooking. Pretty sure it doesn't go rancid. That would be flaxseed oil. I have tried cooking with coconut oil, and although I LOVE coconut, it was just a little weird tasting for me.

scooter2367: You "may" find that the Jay Robb proteins don't keep you from getting hungry as well as the IP ones do. I've used his mixed with yogurt in the past, and have tried to just mix with water and use it alone. As a supplement it's great, but I got very hungry when I tried to do just the Jay Robb alone. Hope you have better luck.

Once again I will address the cost. It may be that the provider I found is less expensive than the rest of yours, but I think it is fairly reasonable. I've done Nutrisystem (back in 1999 when it was new and only in center) and Quick Weight Loss centers (thinkgthey're regional to Texas, or maybe the south). They were more expensive. Just remember that they're pretty much a meal. You'd probably pay a similar amount for food.

Hey guys!

I am officially down 10lbs today I think it's just what I needed in the motivation department. I came home from work today ready to make a "safe" dinner and I was ready to stick to it. So far so good although I was very hungry all night last night and all day today.

Here are a couple of recipies that I used tonight:

First, I tried the asparagus on a cookie sheet, sprayed with Pam olive oil spray and sea salt, bake @ 350 for 20 mins.... Can't remember who's recipie that was but my whole family loved it!!!

Found this online for salad dressing:
1) Mince 1 or 2 cloves of fresh garlic as fine as you can get it, add a pinch of salt. (I used my Pampered Chef garlic press....garlic still could have been a tad finer but it still worked okay.)
2) Put garlic in a small bowl and add 2T red wine vinegar and wisk together. (Supposedly Maille brand is the best - I used what I had on hand - a generic.)
3) Add 1t dijon mustard and 1t salt - wisk together.
4) Slowly add 8T EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and wisk together until creamy.

I doubled that recipie and put it in the Italian dressing cruet.....it was AWESOME and near as I could tell it was ZERO carbs!!!! Lots of flavor - especially if you like garlic

Lastly, I tried the "buffalo sauce" I posted upthread. Using Smart Balance in the tub (couldn't find the squeeze bottle at my grocer's) I used 3T and microwaved it for about 10 seconds so it was soft and mixable. Then I added Frank's Original Red Hot Sauce to taste. I don't like it too spicy but it still had a lot of flavor. Then I drizzled that over grilled chicken tenders. Yummy!!!! Once again, near as I can tell, ZERO carbs and there was plenty left over for another meal!!!! My kids even ate the buffalo sauce on their chicken nuggets - amazing.

My favorite IP product so far is the Cappuccino drink. I use cold water with like, one ice cube and then I add some ground cinnamon. So good - I could live off it! I was thinking I would try the cappuccino drink w/ cinnamon, maybe some instant coffee and ice in a blender - just like Starbucks - right???

I'm not a huge fan of the puddings. Yesterday my rep told me to add 12oz of water (instead of the 5 it recommends) and you end up with more of a "shake" than pudding. I tried that today and it was much better! I added a bit of the WF chocolate syrup to the choc pudding and it was delish!

My rep also suggested adding flavored extracts to the puddings/drinks so I bought some orange extract to add to the vanilla "shake" but I haven't tried it yet. A couple of combinations I thought of that sounded good were: choc pudding w/ mint extract. choc pudding w/ orange extract. I even saw root beer and almond extract at the store that could be added to any of the drinks. Coconut, raspberry....the list goes on and on.

My local IP rep only sells the packets by the box. That sucks if you end up with something you don't like I think selling the packets individually so you can get exactly what you want is a great idea!

That's all I can think of for now....love reading what everyone is doing and hearing about everyone's successes. Keep up the good work friends!

I've put the capuccino with water and 2-3 ice cubes into my magic bullet mixer. It makes a delicious iced coffee! Congrats on the weight loss! The dressing recipe sounds good, I'll probably try that tomorrow.

Hello Hello everyone! I'm new here and wanted to say congrats to everyone who is having success on the IP diet! It truly can change lives! Like Sunkissed, I too am an IP coach. I've been coaching since the beginning of 2009. The doc that I work for tried the program himself before deciding to make it available for patients. He lost 73 lbs in just a few months. His family and staff at the office, including myself, have all lost weight and kept it off. If there is anything I can help with I would be happy to, you can message me. I'm usually online only a couple times a week but will try to visit this board when I can.

It's important to realize that there is no 1 SET WAY that each clinic operates. There will be small differences from clinic to clinic and even from different coaches at the SAME clinic. I suggest you follow what YOUR coach tells you to do, but I will tell you what I would tell my IP patients. If something doesn't seem right, or you aren't getting the answers you need, your coach can make a call and figure things out for you. So ask them questions!

Also this program is fairly new to the US, and just started to explode with popularity. Have you ever noticed the french writing on the pina colada packets They are still in the proces of updating a lot of information for us. Phases 1-3 have recently been revised and we will be getting a lot more information for phase 4 this month.

To answer the question about exercise: It is NOT necessary to work out and not highly recommended in the first 3 weeks of the program. I'm not a physiology major, but from what I understand, it is because of this: Your body first burns carbs, then fat. On IP, you aren't getting many carbs, so you are burning fat WITHOUT working out. Your body is already in ketosis and using fat as fuel. If you push yourself too hard with working out, your body could break down muscle to use as fuel, which is bad! We want to burn the fat and keep the muscle mass. You would most likely need more calories and protein if you were going to work out hard. There is a different IP protocol for athletes/ bodybuilders.

Well, this is getting too long so I will go now! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!

Anyone know the easiest way to find a provider in the Seattle area?

GREAT job I knew you could do it! You just have to get through those first couple of tough days then your a pro!!!

I'm so proud to say that I work for a company that helps people loss weight a heallthy way. You all are awesome - I have now been referring all my patients to this website, keep up the inspiration and give my newbies some great ideas!!! THANK YOU ALL!!

good morning,

that was good information from Epona! Very similar to what the IP rep told us in our infosession. That is exactly what he told us about exercise for phase one. However he did say that if exercise was already a component of your lifestyle, you should keep it up, but that phase one, initially, is not the time to "get started" . i am just finishing week 2 only, and wanted to see how i felt first before taking "extra" on. and i have decided that next week i am going to start using my stationary bike, at least 3 times a week for 20 minutes per time. i know it is not much, but it is more than what i had been doing. once if i see that does not alter my energy or hunger levels, then i will decide on expanding in the exercise dept. I do think that this is a very individual diet, and we each have to do what works for us.

i just remembered an idea our coach gave us with the jello packets. simply freeze them in those popcicle holders for frozen treats. i like the jellos, think they are fairly similar to the real thing.

we live in a fairly small area, where several people are venturing into the IP program at the same time. I also wish that we could split the boxes up for more variety without having to spend too much each time. I am sure several people would like to do this, so i left my name with the retailer if someone else is interested in splitting boxes. i would like to get a mixed pack of soups without having to buy all 3 flavors!! we do live in a small town, so requests like that are viewed as normal....
have a good weekend everyone!

There are some AMAZING ideas on here that I might have to steal, hehehe It is great to have a place where we can all share tips and ideas! The buffalo sauce sounds great, and Sandrab, I'm going to have to try those jelly-cicles

The only tip I have for eating things that are off your list (or not suggested by your coach) is to write EVERYTHING down that goes in your mouth. Even gum! That way if you start having some bad weeks, your coach can "tweak" things a little and get you losing more again.

Fedup- Here is the phone number for a store locator. They have funny hours so I'm not sure if they are around on the weekends. 1-866-314-1447

Have a great weekend! Stay strong, weekends are sometimes hard, so keep yourselves busy!