Welcome back to the Daily Chat thread - post your plans for today, share what's been happening, ask questions!

Some forum lingo:
NSV = Non-scale victory
TOM = time of the month
WI = Weigh-in
WF = Walden Farms
OP = on program

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Ideal Protein Sub-forum Home page
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Information for newbies:
Check the sticky page (top of forum, above all the topics) for lots of good information and please read here before asking what might be a frequently asked question: Information on Ideal Protein phases (1-4), IP Ultimate List Recipes, FAQ, Newbie Guide, Exercise, and other Important Threads,
and here are the most recent Ideal Protein Protocol sheets

And before you cheat, read this thread:
The Real Cost of Cheating on Ideal Protein

Before starting new threads: spend some time reading the forum. Most new threads are duplicates, triplicates, quadruplicates. Folks who are the most successful, make time for research/reading.

More Recipes Here Mix'n in the kitchen...Recipes from the Rainbow
MiX'N' iN THE KiTCH'N.... Recipes from the Rainbow Volume 2
Fun with Ideal Protein Packets
Fun with Veggie Purees!
Ideal Protein Diet Recipes #4
Tips and Recipes from the Incredible Weight Loss Center

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Progress photos
Mini-Goal Photo Album.

Other helpful links related to the Ideal Protein Dr. Chanh Tran Tien's website

Good morning all. :-)

dont you mean good night?
i go for a wi later today..im kinda scared! lol
why am i so hungry sometimes and then other times i feel like im force feeding myself.
what happens if i miss a packet or whatever?

I am in the middle of three extraordinarily busy, hard, long days at work ... Yesterday evening after of a full day of work plus 8 hours of driving was tough. Couldn't eat my meals at the regular times or in the routine kind of way.

I am reminded that fatigue is not my friend. Staying on track with eating was difficult.

Morning! Art3mis I sometimes feel the same way! Yesterday I couldn't wait to eat my butterscotch pudding. I pre- made it so it would be nice and cold. I had about 3 bites and felt full....I had to force myself to finish it. Is that what I should do? Also, today I was up 0.4 lbs after my first official day on IP and honestly I certainly did not cheat. I started packets on Saturday and Sunday and had lost 2 lbs....why would I now gain? Any ideas? Final question- if I use a splash of vanilla RTD in coffee can I still have a snack later? Sooo grateful for this forum.

B- pancakes with WF syrup, coffee w/ splash vanilla RTD
L- broccoli cheddar soup with 2 cups broccoli
S- wild berry yogurt drink
D- scallops with zuccini, yellow squash, mushroom, garlic EVOO and scallions

Balanced Life you shouldn't weigh yourself every day if the number will bother you. The scale will go up and down all week, but it's the once weekly number that is the better indicator.

Just make sure you get all your water, oil, packets, veggies and protein and you will lose. Since you are only 20 lbs from your goal weight your losses will probably be slow. Don't expect 3 lb losses every week.

Balanced life:

Yes if you have a splash in RTD in your coffee you can still have your snack.

I agree with Ragdoll - don't weigh daily if it will bother you - my weight goes up and down day to day but on weekly weigh in for 9 months straight now I have been down every single time except once when I stayed the same. Often on weigh in day I am higher than the day before but as I said always lower than the week before. The body works in mysterious ways.....

Unusually hot here in Nova Scotia. However, the beach with cool ocean water is only ten minutes from my house. What a relief after work. Lots of water these days.

Good morning, day 6 for me.

Quick question: Two days a week I work until 7pm (get home around 730). I know we are supposed to not eat anything after 7pm but that is impossible. Yesterday I brought my snack to work and had that at dinner time and then just ate as soon as I got home. Usually my husband (if I get it all ready) always has dinner ready by the time I get home, or close to it. Is it ok to eat after this time two days a week or am I better to have my meat protein at lunch on these days and then bring two packets to work?

Edit: I should also mention that the packets seem to make me have to run to the bathroom more frequently and I am a massage therapist so my job doesn't allow me to just run off whenever I need to. Sometimes I am stuck in that room for 90 minutes.

@flub I'm jealous, Nova Scotia is beautiful! except during jelliefish season lol stay cool!

shrinkingsusie, you can eat your meals as you need. Not everyone has the same schedule, so the key is finding what works best for you. If you find having your protein meal at lunch is easier on those days you work late, do that. If you find having dinner at 8 pm works best, do that. I find though that I can't fall asleep too soon after my main meal, so if I were to work your schedule, I would have my main meal when I got home and making sure I didn't go to bed for at least 3 hours, or have it at lunch time.

As far as your comment about packets making you need restroom breaks more often, you may want to check to see if you are soy or whey sensitive.

Good luck!

Artificial sweeteners can cause gastric upset, too.

Oops, should have been more specific... just didn't want to give TMI. It's frequent urination that is my issue. All good from the other end.

I usually am in bed about 10:30 but then browse through Pinterest for about half an hour until my eyes are tired, so I will just stick with eating my dinner as soon as I get home from work, and have my snack at dinner time and see how I do for a couple of weeks. Trial and error! Thanks for the advice.

Good morning everyone!!

Hoping this weeks' weigh will be better. My muscle mass has been going down instead of my fat mass I did buy a good scale last week though and have been using it religiously. Before I was probably having under 6oz of meat at the end of the day and now with my food scale I'm getting 4oz at lunch and 4oz in the evening, I know for a fact now Hoping my muscle mass goes back up, or at least doesn't come further down. We'll see.

This weeks' lost was a 1.4, but about 5" so I'm trying to keep myself positive. I know we'd rather see the scale go down and I'm working on hard not letting that 1.4 bother me, it is a lost after all. This Saturday will be an entire month I've been on IP!!! Longest I've ever stuck to anything... other than raising LO I can't wait to crack open a new journal!

Just wanted to say this site has been PRICELESS!!!! Still haven't figured out exactly how to navigate but still finding lots of info!!! Can't wait to figure out how to put up a goal scale!!!

Started IP on 7-11-13... Very motivated by a friend who lost 47lbs since February!!!

I decided after the first day that eating all my protein with my evening meal wasn't going to work. I was hungry all day and stuffed after dinner. I've split it up since and have felt great!!!

I tried to resist jumping on the scale every morning because I know it'll be depressing when I go "up", but so far haven't been able to resist - kind of funny that it's harder to resist the scale than to resist the chocolate cake According to my scale I'm down to 193.2 this morning!!!!

Hope everyone has a great day!!!