I am on day 11 now, and never been this fatigued before. Day3-5 was brutal with massive hunger, headaches and fatigue. Then by Day 7, it seemed I had a burst of energy actually where I couldnt sleep even. Day 8 was my first WI, and I felt great. Now super fatigued again. Is this just my body adjusting? Could the TOM thats nearing have anything to do with it maybe? This is no fun, I never fall asleep as my desk! HA!
Also, it seemed in the beginning week I was actually a little short on my carbs (like 22-24, not always 25) and then I spoke with my coach on weigh in day and was going to try to up them more with veggies (as I know its important not to go too low). The last 2 days, I have increased my veggies (allowed ones, mostly smalls salads or cabbage) and now I am going over by 10 or so. I am not sure how to get the balance here.
Any tips?

How many carbs are you supposed to have a day? I asked my coach the other day and she didn't know. I had mentioned the restricted items being high in carbs and wasn't going to eat them to keep my carbs down.

25 a day.

Now I see why you wouldn't want to eat the restricted IP food, the bars have 16 carbs. Thanks!

The sodium content on some of the items is incorrect. The herb omelet is one of them. It has 600 + mg not 150. I am one that has to watch my sodium intake.

If you follow the protocol it is carefully balanced and you don't have to count all these things yourself. It is no longer recoomended that people don't have the restricted. The loss is not more for people who cut out the 1 restricted a day and people who have them tend to stay with the program longer.

Thanks Pat, I have been logging all of my food in on myfitnesspal.com site and with following the protocol, my carbs are around 40. Cauliflower has a big number of carbs and I was surprised that lettuce has 4 carbs for 2 cups of lettuce.

Can anyone tell me how many carbs, protein and fat grams we are supposed to have in a day?

I was told that I could have bars, but now 4 weeks into the program, I'm finding them too sugary. I think they're really helpful in the beginning to wean off carbs though. I've been having halves at a time.

Hi

Can I drink gengiber te in the diet?

I think that would be the normal amount of carbs.
The reason I hate to see people cutting that down to nothing is because I have been on many low carb diets which are all extremely low carb for the first phase. I usually lost a lot the first week. But the minute I added some carbs back in the next phase all the weight was back immediately.

I think this is a far superior approach because it is giving the body a small but controlled amount of carbs right from the beginning and it is not a shock to the body like with other programs when just the small amount of carbs from the veggies are added back.

The very worst plan for that sharp carb regain was the Dukan but South Beach was bad too. On this plan I am learning the carb control I will need to follow for the rest of my life.

After doing the Dukan diet and going to IP I really followed my coach's advice not to get hung up on amounts of carbs in the veggies on the protocol sheet and to really fill up on a huge salad at at least one meal a day. Again a habit I will carry on after I have lost the weight.

The thing I wasn't monitoring closely was the allowed fats and that really slowed my losses until I realized with MFP that I had gotten down to zilch fat.

So I have learned on my slow but steady journey it is not about cutting things out as outlined on the protocol sheet but making sure I am getting it all in.

Pat

I have a question about salad dressings. I have lots of WF dressings at home, but was out and forgot a packet to take with me. My husband had a side salad and they gave him a packet of his favorite, bleu cheese. I looked at the nutritional information and it only had 1 carb. I was wondering if I could have had that, just this once. I did not, as I have been on IP for only 18 days and have lost 13 pounds. I don't want to mess it up, but was just curious for another forgetful time. Thanks for all the help everyone on this forum provides.

Wow this is exactly my experience. On Day 6 for me I was euphoric. It was great...but it didn't last. Still felt good on Day 8 (also my first WI). Now on Day 13, I'm exhausted. Heck, on Sunday (Day 12) I slept for 18 hours and woke up just in time to see the Super Bowl. Need this to balance out.

hi all, I have been OP for 6 weeks and have been tracking my food intake on myfitnesspal.com. I have noticed that even though I am following all the rules and not cheating, my total carb content daily is easily over 40. People have mentioned 25 as the upper limit- does that only include sugars?
I have lost 18lbs so far, so I am wondering how I have been successful with so many carbs?!?!