I am so excited to find this forum. Today is Day 3 for me using alternatives. I am having a hard time wanting to finish my proteins. Is this normal for Day 3? Suggestions?

Hi Serlinr WELCOME, I am 3 weeks into the IP diet and still find it hard to eat all my protein but it is very important to eat the exact amounts for the diet to work. At least that is what I hear from my coach and from reading on this forum.

if 8 oz of protein is too much in one sitting for you ( it was for me in the beginning) try breaking it up into two meals.

For example I would have :
Breakfast- IP packet, usually a chocolate drink blended with one cup of spinach (smoothie style)
Lunch: 4 oz protein, salad with another cup of veggies
snack: IP packet (a pudding or another drink)
Dinner : 4oz protein with 2 cups of veggies
late evening snack: IP restricted.

It's the drinks I can't finish right now. Have no taste for them.

ahhh yea. I didn't have that problem. LOL I love the chocolate drink. are you a coffee drinker? I mix up a chocolate drink with some coffee and microwave it. Tastes like a starbucks mocha to me.

Have you tried other things like puddings or bars/wafers. I have the wildberry yogurt 2 times per day (I put 2 cups of lettuce in each one - that is how I get my salad in)

Have you tried any of the ready to drink shakes?

It is important to get all your "packets" in each day.

Best of luck

Welcome serlinr! If you're talking about any of the fruity drinks, I find them better if I add an extra ounce of water and then pour them in a frozen glass - you might try that, they go down pretty fast that way.

And, like the other said, it's very important to get all your packets, protein, veggies, salt and oil in every day. It takes some getting used to, but hang in there and you'll do great!

So last night I poured my RTD shake in a big coffee thermos and poured decaf coffee over it. It was so yummy. Did the same thing for breakfast this morning but I used regular coffee. Is there a limit to how much decaf or regular coffee you can have?

You can have "one cup" of regular coffee (per the P1 sheet). If you have more, you have to drink more water. My clinic says 2 more glasses per each additional caffeine drink (although others on this forum have mentioned one glass more).

No limit to decaf

Carol

Now I'm day 5 and feel great but have a question. At lunch I have been having my salad, vegetables, egg whites, couple ounces of protein because can't eat so much at dinner. Is it okay to have my IP protein a couple hours later instead of with lunch?

Yup. You can split the 8 oz protein and have half with lunch and half with dinner and then you would have 2 IP snacks/day, instead of 1. This works for many folks if 8 oz at once is too much.