Sam: I am not sure if restricted items will reduce the weight loss, but I can tell you that my only "cheat" has been adding a bit more meat or an extra protein packet and both of my two weeks I've lost 5lbs each. Given that, I am not willing to take the risk on the restricted items. I'd say satiate yourself with extra protein if you have to go outside the protocol at all. The ladies who have been doing it longer probably have a better perspective.

I don't go to a clinic so it is up for grabs!!! I'll gladly send it to you!!

Hi brenda1980, I'm considering giving up the restricted items myself but I know that it will be tough for me to eat just soups, puddings and drinks.

I've been on IP since Jan. 25 and at my last weigh-in I've lost 14 lbs (I weighed myself at home this morning & appear to be down another 4 lbs but weigh-in isn't until next Monday). I've lost 8.5 inches and I'm down one size in clothing. I'm eating one restricted food almost every day.

Can I ask a few questions of you Brenda if you don't mind (and also to anyone else whose not having restricted items) When did you start the IP diet? Do you find yourself hungry alot? Why are you not having a restricted item....to lose faster? What is a normal daily meal plan for you...i.e. breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacks? How many IP packs are you having a day.

I'd like to lose faster but then again I think 14 lbs in less than a month is not bad.

Thanks.

Hey skittles,

I don't eat any of the restricted items (except for 1 package of bbq soy puffs on Saturday night) and I've done fairly well losing so far (27.6 lbs in under 6 weeks).

This is what I eat pretty much every day:

Breakfast: Vanilla pudding or cappuccino drink
Lunch: Chocolate pudding & bok choy soup or cucumber salad
Dinner: 5 oz of meat/ 2 cups of select veggies
Snack: Either butterscotch pudding or Raspberry Jello

I also drink 112 oz of water a day and take all the prescribed vitamins plus the omegas and vitamin D

Okay so Dustin (my husband) came home and first he said hi to my little guy whom I was holding and then I passed him off to daddy and he looked at me and immediately was like...."wow, you look amazing".

The best parts of him coming home were that he was sitting on the floor playing with Hudson and he kept looking back at me in amazement and then when he hugged me after we put Hudson down for a nap he was like "I can't believe it, you feel so much smaller!"

Thanks for the compliments and support, everyone.

Jordanna, I'm so excited for you. My mother-in-law is 77 and still tells the story of when her husband came home from a long, overseas military tour. She had bleached her brown hair blond, and he didn't notice until after they had gotten reacquainted, if you know what I mean.

I actually like Stevia Plus. I buy the SweetLeaf powdered brand with inulin fiber. I don't care for the Stevia liquid. Some of you ladies must be "super-tasters." They can really taste when something is the least bit bitter or different. I think I'm a poor taster. I never notice when something is bitter.

Awwww! What a good husband!

I also am going to try the marinated tofu. I bought some tofu last night and have to admit that I've never even bought tofu before never mind cooked it or eaten it. At least I don't think i've ever eaten it... was going to try the recipe and then noticed i needed tamari - don't have that yet.

Awesome, and SOOOO cute. Thank you for making me smile.

I started the IP diet 15 days ago (I am on day #16). I get hungry sometimes, but I am by no means hungry all the time. I've only had one day where I did 4 packets instead of three because we were having a late dinner and I just could not hold out. I am not doing the restricted items because I don't want to fall off the wagon. I figure that they are restricted for a reason, and I just don't want to compromise my weight loss. It would be a waste of money, and I don't want to get off the scale any week and think "what if I had not eaten XXX?"

My normal day looks like this:

~8am Breakfast: Chocolate drink and coffee with 2TBS half and half
~10:30am: snack of 1 cup of veggies (none of the restricted ones- mostly been doing cucumber, spinach, mushrooms and fennel)
~12: Soup with sea salt and 1C raw spinach (steamed before putting in soup)
~ 3pm or when I get hungry: IP pudding made as a shake (a lot more water and ice- I find it adds more "volume" to my tummy for fullness)
~6pm: snack of 1C veggies
~7:30 or 8pm: Dinner of 5oz meat or 7oz fish and 1C veggies

Hope that helps. To each her own, but that is what is working for me.

Awwwwwww

This is what we call a Non-scale victory for sure. Reward for all your hard work.

Welcome Hockey Mom23. Do you have 23 children? Just kidding! LOL.

The first 3 days are the hardest with the headaches, weakness, hunger, etc.

Hang in there and don't watch the Food Network!

Hello everyone! It's been almost two weeks since I've been on to read (I posted Saturday night quickly when we returned from our trip, but on the Alternate board accidentally), and I haven't had a chance to catch up on all the posts. We ended up going off the diet for most of the week while we were there, which I don't regret. We were with a group of friends and it made our trip much more enjoyable and less stressful when we didn't have to worry about getting in packets and salt and not being able to eat at certain restaurants. Plus, Vegas has amazing restaurants and buffets that we didn't want to pass up on, and I'm really glad we didn't.

Today is our third official day back on the diet, and this beginning is just as hard as I remember it from the first time around. I've already lost the weight I put on over the break (only about 4 pounds), so I'm hoping that additional pounds will continue to melt off now that I'm getting back in ketosis. We got about 18 inches of snow here between yesterday and today, which meant a snow day for us (yay!), but our clinic was also closed (today is weigh in day). I was looking forward to getting back into the routine of weigh-ins, but I guess it's probably better to wait till next week since I know this weigh-in probably would have been a little discouraging (same weight as two weeks ago). I'll try to catch up on the posts and get back in the habit of posting myself. I hope things have been going well for everyone else!

If I do the marinated Tofu, do I count it as a veggie or a protein?