Hello All,

I am very new to the Ideal Protein Diet (Today is day 3) and after paying the $580 initiation fee, I realized that this is going to be very expensive and as a broke college student it will be a struggle. SO i was wondering have any made purchases from the Protein Store? The items look very identical and it is way cheaper.
I considered alternatives but it can be very tricky and i don't want to alter any possible weight loss.

I am really excited to start this journey and hopefully reach my weight loss goal of 95lbs!


Kendall

Say what??

Man, my clinic charged $250 for the startup fee, and I was able to claim that back on my health insurance. Just not the food. My clinic also did not charge for visits, she made all her money on food.

Kendall, lots of us (including myself) have been successful on alternative foods. You have to prioritize for yourself of course, but for me it was worth it in the beginning to eat only real IP foods - to get an idea for how the plan worked and convince myself that it really truly works. I told myself that after the first 15 lbs came off, I would then start looking for alternatives.

Of course that was my own experience, and lots of people have been successful on alternatives from the get-go, but if you can afford it, I'd give your success the best possible chance by sticking to IP food and coaching for at least a couple of months.

That said I'm not sure about your protein store but I just use any old whey protein, so long as it has 0-1 carbs per serving. Check the alternative food thread for more ideas.

Wow, that is insane. Sounds like one very greedy clinic.

You CAN do it with alternatives, trust me. There are a very large number of us using all sorts of alternatives - from the same manufacturer but differently branded (HealthSmart, Weight Loss Systems, ProtiThin/ProtiDiet/ various protein powders/real food alternatives) - and we are still losing weight steadily. Many purchase from NashuaNutrition.com at half the price (and considerably cheaper when they have discount codes going on - which seems to be every other weekend). Check the food macros against the IP packets and you will see which are comparable nutritionally.

I agree with Lucky - doing IP for the first couple of months (and logging your food onto something like MyFitnessPal) will give you an idea of the macro values that work for you, so when you leap out into Alts you have a good understanding of what you need to do to keep losing.

Sorry to hear about your financial charge thus far, but do check out the Alternatives thread for ideas on what you can incorporate into your diet to reduce costs. Welcome to the IP journey.

YIKES!! Very Thankful it is free for us to go, you just have to buy the food.
That's a crazy amount.

Kendall, I only do alternatives and purchase mine from Nashua Nutrition. I also use EAS RTD shakes and some Quest Products which I buy at GNC.

Many people also use a combination of IP and Alternative Products.

You'll just need to follow the IP protocol, but it can be done.