I have been on my journey with IP for 12 weeks
I have been a slower loser and had a "stall" that lasted three weeks with very small weight drops.
While in my stall... my coach injured himself... and I found myself with a new coach. She is not very well informed and brought in her coach to give me some advice.
The end result was that I wasn't eating enough....
We kicked up my protein intake to the full 8 oz.... and flipped a few ounces of protein over to my lunch.
We also experiemented and exercise is doing me wonders, especially yoga to combat my stress levels with work and with dieting

So I have had some nice losses ( I did have a gain, but I got back my period after not having it for 2 years (IUD), so had some major bloating)

My new coach is now giving me a hard time about my meal timing... saying that I need to go longer without eating and space out my meals eliminating my morning snack. ( I track my meal intake on a spread sheet that indicates time)

I am having problems with this for two reasons.... 1 - I need to have lettuce to keep me regular ( sorry for TMI) 2 - I space them out because I find that now with the heat and being on IP, can not physically most days eat everything that is being asked for lunch and supper meals at one sitting.

Here is a sample week day

6:00 am Morning IP Packet ( peach mango, pina colda, pineapple banana)
Combined with 1 scoop Greens

10:30 - 11:00 am 1 cup veggies ( pickles or cucumbers usually)
or 1 - 2 cups salad

12:30 - 1:30 pm 1 - 2 egg whites or 2 oz protein
IP Food ( pudding or soup)
Whatever veggie or salad that I didn't eat at above snack

4:00 pm RTD Shake

6:00 - 7:00 , sometimes as late as 7:30
Supper - 6 oz protein and veggies
Lately I have been doing another shake and 2 cups of veggies as between the heat and no appetite I just can't be bothered


I drink 100 oz of water a day, and have no caffine, but do have an iced decaf coffee in the evenings

I am in bed at 9:30 - 10:00 .... So I don't do a night time snack and do not want my after supper snacking habit back ( part of the reason I put on weight in the first place)

Can someone provide any comments or insights with your meal timing experiences?
Any tips or tricks to get everything in?

I don't want to force myself to eat... and to contuine losing need to eat my required amount.

I feel so frustrated that I am losing again, but my coach is NOT happy with my eating.....

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Okay, so I really don't count as experienced, since you have been on the program longer than me... but for what it is worth, my advice would be: If it is working for you, and you are comfortable with how you are doing the program, then the coach needs to respect that.
I tend to space my meals out a little more than you, but that is what works for me. It fits my schedule and when my body is hungry.
Besides, your new coach hasn't been working with you for very long, so she/he can't know what works for you as well as your old coach.
If you are happy with what you are losing, stick with it. If you aren't then maybe try what your new coach is suggesting to mix things up again. But do it because YOU think you needs to, not because you were bullied into it by some new coach.
You will do great!!!

I agree. My schedule is Breakfast at about 10, then my last meal is at 5. I don't space thinfgs out at all. I find that the sooner I eat my last meal, the more I lose, because it's not good to eat late anyways. Although, I do go to bed at like 10. I was told once that eating your last meal should be at least 4 hours before you go to bed. I also start work at 9:30 so That's just the way my schedule works. My coach doesn't give me grief about When I eat, as long as I'm following protocol, so it's kinda sad that yours feels the need to give you grief

I also agree that if it is working for you right now, stick to it. If you find yourself in another stall, maybe then try to mix it up a little bit.

I do want to mention that I thought I read on here somewhere that someone's coach said that one of the reasons for spacing out your meals a little bit more is so that your body has a chance to burn fat for fuel instead of always having food to burn. If anyone remembers this or knows more, I would love to hear more about that.

But you eat breakfast SO EARLY that I can't imagine not having something in between bfast & lunch. But maybe try going 3-3.5 hours inbetween?
6:00 breakfast
9:30 snack / veggies
12:30 lunch
4:00 snack
7:00-7:30 dinner
Just a thought.

I've read that the reason they stress the Night time snack with IP..is so that your body has that protein to process while in down time, so that it does not start going after your muscle.

On normal diets, you have carbs in your system which is a slower burn, and your body processes them at night, which is why you should stop eating so early before bed.

This was my schedule on phase 1
6:30 am IP Packet
9:30 am pickle
11:30 am lunch - veggies and 3 oz protein
2:30 pm- IP rtd with chi tea
5:30 pm- veggies and 4-5 oz protein
8:30 pm - IP restricted

Sorry but I was a wimp and had to have protein 2 times daily. It just worked better for me to be able to break it into 2 servings instead of just one large serving.

Yes I agree w/Minewgoal its important to have the last night time Ip because it is the longest rest for you body w/o food (fuel) while you sleep, and you don't want to start loosing muscle because of it.

8am 10 oz. cold coffee blended w/Ip chocolat drink poured over ice

11-12 Lg salad w/veggies, and IP restricted (favirites are white cheddar and southwest cheese curls) its like having croutons for your salad.

3 pm IP shake/drink/pudding

6 pm Protein and veggies

9 pm IP shake/soup or egg whites

i 100% agree with the night time snack. i've lost 90 lbs in under 7 months on IP, and the entire time i ate my 3rd packet around 10-11 at night. eating in the morning makes me sick, so i eat breakfast around 10:30, lunch around 1:30, dinner around 6:30 and my snack before bed. this diet has worked wonders.

There has been plenty of research done on this particular topic and here is the verdict.

Meal timing, in this context, doesn't matter at all.

With all due respect to those who have posted in this thread about what does and doesn't work - meal timing doesn't matter. The end.

So you're suggesting I could;
8-am Ip
9-am lunch/Ip
10-am snack
11-am dinner
Noon-Ip
Well that's just silly John and is no respect whatsoever to anyones sensibilities.

You would probably also consider it silly that I haven't eaten breakfast in over 18 months.

Others would consider the ultra restrictive nature and very low calorie intake of the IP diet as silly.

Silly or not you could most certainly follow your suggest meal timing plan and it would make no difference at all to your weight loss because meal timing doesn't matter.

Do you do the IP diet? It is important for the IP diet to have a protein sometime before bed so you don't put your body into a starvation mode while you sleep.
Maybe in real life it does not matter but on this diet it does. Sorry if you think this is a ridiculous diet but it works for 1000's of people.

On IP you need to have a protein every 3-4 hours. Timing does matter! Not only that on such a low calorie diet you would probably very hungry if you didn't eat something every few hours, ie.protein or veggies.

I don't think the IP diet is rediculous. I've never said this, suggested this, or even thought this. I do think that IP does a horrendous job of educating it's dieters.

A few facts to consider.

A) Starvation mode is a myth - your body's metabolic rate slows down but not much.

B) You do not need protein every 3-4 hours - how in the world would we have survived as a species if this was true? Even the fastest digesting protein (whey) takes 3-4 hours to fully digest. Egg protein takes 8-9 hours to fully digest.

C) Timing doesn't matter - protein intake matters but the timing of it does not.

Hunger is another issue entirely and will vary with the individual. Some will be more hungry eating more frequent smaller meals while others will be more satiated this way.

I have to agree that timing is not an issue with me. I don't eat breakfast until sometimes after 8:30-9:00 at work just so I cans space my meals out. I sometimes come home late from work and don't have diner until 8:30 and sometimes I don't even bother with snacks at night if I'm not hungry and still am losing weight. And if I'm not losing that much its just because I've cheated a bit during the week.

I don't claim to know-it-all like some people, but I believe what you eat and when you eat it influences insulin and therefore is idiosyncratic.