Ideal Protein - follow up

So...it's been a while since I "graduated" from Ideal protein. I started at 131 pounds and I am currently 115 pounds.

I wanted to update these posts because I know that for myself I have tried so many diets that were quick results but they didn't last. This is the thinnest I have been since I was about 20 and I am no longer dieting, but I am maintaining the weight loss.



Ideal protein works under the premise of resetting your metabolism and teaching your body to only make as much insulin as it needs to breakdown what you bring in. I truly feel like I am living in a new body. Not only in shape, but in reaction to foods. When I was hungry before this diet, I used to get jittery and sweaty and I needed to eat the first thing that I saw, which was usually something horrible for me, a muffin, cookie, etc. Now don't get me wrong, I still get hungry, and I still love cookies...but now I don't get that horrible weak feeling when I am hungry, I just feel hungry, which I can normally appease with a glass of water until I can make myself a nutritious snack. Overall the word I would use to describe myself now is: healthy.



I still monitor what I eat and I am logging it all into Livestrong (http://www.Livestrong.com) so that I can see what it is that I am putting in my body. Livestrong gives a great breakdown of each food and it's calories, protein, carbs, fats etc. I can't ever decide to live a life with no junk food, or no carbs. Here are the general rules I now live by:

• I only have carbs twice a day (if that) and I try not to have them after lunch.
• I eat a large meal at breakfast, a regular meal at lunch and a small dinner
• Dinner is usually meat and veggies ONLY
• I don't snack after dinner
• snacks are usually fruit, veggies or low fat yogurt

and most importantly: I CHEAT ON ALL THESE RULES ONCE IN A WHILE ...and I don't feel bad about it. You can be disciplined 90% of the time, but you still have to enjoy those foods that you know are not good for you. The key? knowing that they aren't good for you, it means you will have smaller portions and you won't eat them every day.

For me, Ideal Protein has been the best diet and lifestyle change that I have discovered, but I look forward to hearing about your experiences and successes as well.



For Ideal Protein and me...I think this is my last Blog, we will check this off as a success!

September 30th, Ideal Protein graduation day

Friday was my last day of dieting! I went to my Ideal Protein location to get final wieght and measurement. I had moved into phase three 2 weeks before and I was curious to see what that would mean in my results.  In phase three you eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and have 1 Ideal Protein snack a day. 

Breakfast includes a carb, a fat and a protein. I have been having shredded wheat with 1% milk and a fruit. Lunch and dinner is still a protein and an approved veggie.

When you start phase three you are done losing weight and in fact you should be prepared to put on 3 pounds of glycogen reserve from eating carbs again. knowing that, I wanted to be at 117 before  I started phase three so I could end up at my goal wight of 120 when the diet was complete.

Shoes off, sweater off, I step on the machine to view my results.......It turned out I had no put on three pounds, in fact I WAS DOWN ANOTHER POUND! ...and as my measurements went on, it turned out I had lost another .75 inches. YAY!

So, for 48 days of dieting the total was 15 pounds and 17 inches lost. I am eating normally and maintaining my weight. I could not be happier.

In phase four, the maintain, (or life) phase - you should maintain a healthy eating style and keep fit and active. Carbs are allowed twice a day, but should not be combined with a fat (so don't put sour cream on that baked potato) and cheat days are MANDATORY.  Cheat days are days where you eat what you want and you don't feel guilty, I am definitely on board with that!

So I will keep you posted on any big changes or exciting news, but in the mean time I welcome your questions and comments, AND ...I guess I need to think of a new blog topic while I enjoy my yummy pasta for lunch!.

Ideal Protein - Day 33 - Sept 15 2011

I am now in week 2 of Phase 2, which means that I am eating lunch, which is super awesome! The meal plan in Phase 2 is:

• Breakfast : Ideal Protein Food
• Lunch: lean protein + 2 cups of veggies
• Snack: Ideal Protein Food
• Dinner: Lean protein + 2 cups of veggies

EASY! 

On day 23 I went for my weigh in and measurements. I was down 10 pounds and 15.75 inches. Incredible, but I was still worried about going on to phase 2. Although 10 pounds had been my original weight loss goal, I had heard that when you start eating carbs again you can put back on up to three pounds.  I was wondering if 13 pounds would be a better weight loss goal? After going over all my numbers, including my percent of fat vs muscle, my visceral fat number and my "body age"  which was now 38 instead of the original 44, I decided to move on to phase 2.  I went home and ate lunch!

Day 24 I was down another .6 pounds and every day after that I was either down or maintaining despite the fact that now I was eating a great meal at lunch every day. I had more energy and was really happy to spend more of each day feeling full!

Day 28 something exciting happened!  The kids and I were out and about and we ran into Sprartycat and Feligno from the Ottawa Senators. Without hesitation the kids and I jumped in for a picture. Now usually, I would have grabbed a photo of them, but this time I hopped right in! I actually liked the way I looked in a full body picture!! I definitely cant remember the last time that happened! I was so excited I sent it to all my friends and posted it on Facebook. Definitely the best thing about this diet is that it gives you back your self confidence.

On Monday - day 30 - I started a cardio kickboxing class. It's 45 minutes of extreme cardio, it was so hard but so amazing. I was happy not only that I was able to get through it, but that when I put on my sports bra...I actually liked the way I looked!

So, here I am at day 33 and I am at 116.8 pounds. I have not been that weight since high school.

This week I ran out of multivitamins so I purchased a generic multivitamin at the grocery store. It did not have every mineral in it that the Ideal Protein vitamins do, but it had 90% of what theirs did.  I figured that since I was a week away from starting phase three (where I get to eat fruit) I was ok to do that.  This week I am going to do the same with the calcium-Magnesium pills. I am sure they are cheaper at the grocery store and in phase three you start to eat on dairy products as well.

Overall - I am super happy at where I am at. I didn't really think I would reach a weight where I felt like I had lost enough. I am exercising with the kickboxing class once a week and then doing some exercise ball and elliptical at home twice a week as well. I am so excited to keep the body I have now!

As always, I welcome questions or comments!

Ideal Protein – Day 20 – September 2 2011

Current weight 119.8 - I thought I would lead with the good stuff!!
So by this point I thought I would be on phase two, but stupid me cheated! So here I am still on phase two. I only lost 2.5 pounds last week, and here is why! On Saturday I took part in an Aerial Adventure at Lafleche, it was a grueling workout. That morning when I got on the scale I had officially lost 10 pounds. Those two things combined made me believe that a small fry from a chip wagon in Quebec was a good idea. :(
What actually happened is that I lost three days of weight loss! My body stored those deep-fried carbs in my Glycogen reserve and it was like starting the diet all over again! It took 3 days for my body to then deplete that reserve and start losing fat again. I am such an idiot! I went through the whole first week all over again. I was tired, hungry, low energy levels. The moral here is DON'T CHEAT! omg so not worth it!
I have my next weigh in and measuring on Monday at noon. I can't wait! I have been really good this week and have been following these tips that seem to be helping:
1- Eat my salad and restricted food at lunch, then have my lunch shake as my afternoon snack. This means I am eating less as the day goes on and eating more in the beginning of the day. As you move through this program and back to regular food the motto is: At breakfast eat like a king, at lunch eat like a prince and at dinner eat like a poor man. I figure if I start applying that now it is going to prepare me for the next phases.
2- don't get the restricted food! I thought that you had to, but you don't! In phase 1 have 3 shakes, in phase 2 have 2 shakes, phase 1 have 1 shake. They are lower in calories and will make the weight come off faster!
Last Monday I was down a total of 13.75 inches, can't wait to see what this monday brings!!! Monday I also start phase 2 as I have actually surpassed my weight goal (which was 120)

Ideal Protein - Day 13 - August 26 2011

Here I am at day thirteen! On day nine I went for my official mesurements. I have lost 11.5 inches! I could not beleive it! I have lost 2 inches in my chest, 2 in my torso, 4 (YES I SAID 4) on my waist 2, on my hips and 1 on my thighs! I see a huge difference! All my clothes are loose and comfortable again, some ever now even too big!! But, where I can really see the difference in is my face. I will post 2 pics below, see if you can choose the before and after!

I am still finding this a really easy diet and my energy and hunger levels are now what I would consider to be normal. This week the weight loss has slowed somewhat, I have only lost one pound since Sunday, but I am still seeing small incremental changes. From 122.8 to 122.6 to 122.4 so at least I am going in the right direction.

My next weigh in is on Monday and I can't wait! Seing the tally of what I had lost on inches alone was great! But also my viceral fat has decreased from a 6 to a 5 - "Visceral fat is different from other body fat. Visceral fat, also called intra-abdominal fat, refers to the fat that surrounds the internal organs" "Visceral fat is harder to lose than subcutaneous fat because it is more deeply embedded in the body's tissues." - and as I had noted on my home scale my overall body fat had decreased by 2%.

This week I have to decide if I am staying on phase one or moving on to phase two. Originally I had a numeric weight in mind as my goal, but now, I am changing my view as I see the inches melt away...I beleive I will wait until Monday, see what the weigh in says and go from there. At this energy level I beleive that I could start working out again and do phase one for one more week. I can see how this could get addictive!

Anway, check out the pics an see what you think!

Ideal Protein - Day 6 - Aug 19 2011

BOOM! 124 Baby! I am so excited! Last night I had a steak stir fry for dinner. The Diet says don’t fry...but I tend to think that means don’t deep fry? Or don’t fry in oil? I fried the steak in a bit of water, then drained off all the drippings and then added garlic, broccoli, green pepper and zucchini. It was delicious! The great part about it was that everyone ate it and I just served theirs over noodles! I think that the best part about this diet for me is that I can have the same meal that my family is having. In a family of four, I couldn't make myself a different meal every night, that would just be annoying!
Tonight everyone is having pizza, except me. I will have chicken and zucchini! With the weight loss I am seeing, I really don’t think that I will mind not eating pizza. I know that once I am done this diet, I will be able to have it from time to time, so I am ok with not having it one time! I really see this diet as something that is worth doing, so why not do it 100%? I know that cheating will set me back and I just not interested in doing that. When I make something for the kids that I am not allowed to have, I don’t even lick my fingers! Of course this is also easier because I am a rule follower, not a rule breaker! I drive the speed limit, I don't download pirated copies of movies and I don’t cheat on my diet. It's just who I am.
I'm also excited to lose this weight because part of the weigh in process included calculating my metabolic age...it was 44 - not cool. So I really feel like I am doing something not only for my outward appearance but for my health in general. Why carry around 10-15 extra pounds that my body doesn’t need? It's just healthier to be a better weight...and I am well on my way!

Ideal Protein - day 5 - aug 18 2011

Last night's dinner turned out to be amazing! Thanks to a suggestion from a friend and my list of approved foods. I combined the ground beef with green peppers, hot sauce, garlic and salt and pepper and baked it like a meatloaf. It was super delicious and it is how I will probably continue to make meatloaf in the future! My son tried it and loved it! I know it is much healthier for him than how I usually make it.
When I went to bed last night I had a bit of a stomach ache, I think it may be indigestion issues but I woke up this morning feeling great! I
got on the scale and I was down another half a pound, and my body fat was down 2%. YAY!!!
Today I had the cappuccino drink for breakfast and I really love that, it is such a great start to the day and feels like a treat and not a diet. I had cucumbers as my snack today and then at lunch I had broccoli and cabbage as my veggies.
It is now 3pm and I have not even had my lunch shake yet! I am going to have it on my way home which will help keep me full until dinner. I
may not even have my snack today! Wow, I didn’t think that I would say that! I was pretty hungry my first couple of days.
Tonight dinner may be late because I have to run to the store  first, but I think I will be ok, and then home to have steak and veggies. Today was the first day that my body should be burning fat instead
of carbs, and I feel like I have the bad breath that was warned in the  "side effect" as my body changes into that mode. I am curious to see  what will happen from now until my weigh-in since I have already had a good  loss for this week.