Ideal Protien

GThibz
GThibz Posts: 25 Member
edited November 20 in Health and Weight Loss
I went to my doctor last week and he wants me to go on the IP (ideal Protien diet). I would like some feed back/thoughts from people that have tried it, or know someone who has. please give me the good or bad!

Replies

  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    If memory serves, it's a low carb, low calorie diet.
    If you want to use a low carb approach, you don't have to pay for a program like IP.
    I personally don't like plans that require you to eat specific packaged food, as I don't think they are as educational as other approaches (where you learn about what and how much you're eating and how to prepare it yourself).
  • This content has been removed.
  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
    http://www.idealprotein.com/

    Vibes from the website are making me say it seems like a BS plan.

    OP get a second opinion... doctors aren't experts in diet and nutrition.
  • bpetrosky
    bpetrosky Posts: 3,911 Member
    I haven't tried this particular diet. Taking a look at the website there's a few things that would concern me and make me want to ask more questions:
    1. It seems quite complex, 4 phases are mentioned but no details on the phases
    2. There's a lot of "product", foods that you are expected to buy from the company promoting the diet
    3. The website has as more marketing material than diet information
    4. The bio of the doctor fronting the diet is very thin
    5. To get the skinny (pun intended) on this plan, you have to go into a center (where you can get signed to a contract presumably)

    If the diet puts you into a calorie deficit, you will lose weight, regardless of the extra foods & supplements you might be pushed to buy. The center you have to go to will hold you accountable, but they will also press you to buy those products. I'm guessing the cost will be in the several hundreds of dollars for the service (plan contract and products).

    If you feel you need more active help in staying on a weight loss plan, you may want to compare to Weight Watchers, which has it's own issues but is relatively sound.

    The best case is for you to set your profile appropriately in MFP and eat to the deficit it gives you, being as accurate as possible weighing your food. It will work, and is free.

    Last (or actually the first) thing I might as is if my doctor is getting some spiff for steering patients to this particular program.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    bpetrosky wrote: »
    I haven't tried this particular diet. Taking a look at the website there's a few things that would concern me and make me want to ask more questions:
    1. It seems quite complex, 4 phases are mentioned but no details on the phases
    2. There's a lot of "product", foods that you are expected to buy from the company promoting the diet
    3. The website has as more marketing material than diet information
    4. The bio of the doctor fronting the diet is very thin
    5. To get the skinny (pun intended) on this plan, you have to go into a center (where you can get signed to a contract presumably)

    If the diet puts you into a calorie deficit, you will lose weight, regardless of the extra foods & supplements you might be pushed to buy. The center you have to go to will hold you accountable, but they will also press you to buy those products. I'm guessing the cost will be in the several hundreds of dollars for the service (plan contract and products).

    If you feel you need more active help in staying on a weight loss plan, you may want to compare to Weight Watchers, which has it's own issues but is relatively sound.

    The best case is for you to set your profile appropriately in MFP and eat to the deficit it gives you, being as accurate as possible weighing your food. It will work, and is free.

    Last (or actually the first) thing I might as is if my doctor is getting some spiff for steering patients to this particular program.

    And I would ask: WHY does the doctor want her on a low carb diet. Perhaps she's insulin resistant? Diabetic? PCOS?
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Another vote for if you need to go low carb for a medical reason, you can learn to do this for free.

    There may be some people in the low carb group that have done Ideal Protein: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    GThibz wrote: »
    I went to my doctor last week and he wants me to go on the IP (ideal Protien diet). I would like some feed back/thoughts from people that have tried it, or know someone who has. please give me the good or bad!

    why is your doctor telling you to go on this diet?
  • cindyangotti
    cindyangotti Posts: 294 Member
    I find it very strange for a doctor to recommend that diet. Most doctors would recommend something like Weight Watchers. Like the poster above I'd like to know why did he told you to go on this diet?
  • GThibz
    GThibz Posts: 25 Member
    The doctor that I went to is for my sleep apnea, I have tried WW and actually gained weight. I have also tried sticking to calorie count and I exercise 5 days a week. He is telling me that by doing this diet it will reset my keystones and will burn the fat while leaving lean mussel by taking the carbs, dairy and sugars away for a bit that I will stop storing? He also states that there is an end to the program with great results.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    edited June 2015
    GThibz wrote: »
    The doctor that I went to is for my sleep apnea, I have tried WW and actually gained weight. I have also tried sticking to calorie count and I exercise 5 days a week. He is telling me that by doing this diet it will reset my keystones and will burn the fat while leaving lean mussel by taking the carbs, dairy and sugars away for a bit that I will stop storing? He also states that there is an end to the program with great results.

    that is so much woo woo, that I would really suggest getting a second opinion.

    Here would be advice:

    Enter your stats into MFP and set it for one pound per week loss.
    eat to the number MFP gives you
    log everything
    get a food scale and weigh all your foods
    make sure that you use correct MFP database entries
    make sure that you are hitting your micro and macro goals
    realize that you can eat the foods that you like,like ice cream bread, etc; however, make sure that the majority of your foods are coming from nutrient dense sources.
    repeat until you get desired results…

  • This content has been removed.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    Snoring is caused sometimes by weight gain. Low carb diets are usually "recommended" because they don't have as many calorie dense foods for you to over eat on, but unless youre counting calories even going the low carb route won't help you lose weight any faster then any other route. Keystones isn't even anything in the body lol i just googled it cause i had a "what the hell is that?" moment. sounds like just a word he used to help convince you that is what you needed to do.

    I think op meant ketones or ketosis and that s a typo …

    however if a dr really told her that I wonder if his last name is Oz….
  • This content has been removed.
  • NextPage
    NextPage Posts: 609 Member
    In one of my weaker moments, I signed up for this diet and did it for 3 months. I did lose weight but agree with other posters that you can lose weight just as well by putting together your own diet. The food, for the most part, tasted awful and was quite expensive. I can't imagine why a doctor would recommend only one specific diet that involves considerable money and mostly processed food.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited June 2015
    If she failed on WW the doctor may be thinking that changing up what she eats will be more successful, as it is for some, and this just may be some version of the low carb plan that he/she knows. I also think that doctors sometimes don't trust patients, especially overweight or obese patients who have been unsuccessful in losing weight in the past, to cut calories, and so like to focus on things like removing foods or even plans that involve preset or purchased meals, to take the discretion out of the patient's hands.

    I don't like this, on a personal level I'd find it insulting and want to prove that I am, of course, competent enough to cut calories and change my diet on my own. (However, it would be different if there was some medical issue that required a specific diet.)

    If I felt like I needed help understanding what a good diet is or coming up with strategies that would work for me, I would want to be referred to a registered dietician for some advice more tailored to me and that did not focus around a commercial plan or pre-packaged food. (For me it was instead extremely important to come up with the strategies myself and learn as much as I could for myself, but I understand that for some working with a professional can feel easier or more interesting, I guess.)

    I wouldn't assume that because WW didn't take one time that cutting calories couldn't work, personally, but I also see no harm in experimenting with food choice/macro levels. The doctor's reasoning, at least as understood by the patient here, is goofy, though.
  • GThibz
    GThibz Posts: 25 Member
    No my doctor is not Dr. Oz, I'm not an idiot thanks smart *kitten*! Yes ketosis/ketones it was a auto correct typo.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    I read the theory the site has on on weight gain/loss/fat storage. Their science is wrong.

    I'd be hesitant to give them money.

    It's possible, if you've had issues with dropping weight on a program like Weight Watchers in the past, that you have some kind of issues with insulin resistance. These would improve, along with your sleep apnea, with weight loss.

    People with IR can and do lose weight by simply restricting their calories, though some find it easier to also restrict their carbohydrate intake.

    Frankly, if I were you, I'd find another doctor.

    I agree with your doctor's main idea to encourage weight loss to handle your sleep apnea, but disagree that it's necessary for you to use a program like this to do it.

    Losing weight is simple if you apply yourself to it, just follow the instructions in ndj1979's post above, and if you think you'd like to try a low carb way of eating, join the low carb group linked above. You'll still need to watch your calories eating that way.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Frankly, if I were you, I'd find another doctor.

    The doctor may be fine for doctor stuff. I'd ask for a referral to a registered dietician. Doctors usually aren't great with diet advise and if he/she is just sending her off to some (dreadful sounding) commercial plan, that's not helpful. If the doctor resists the referral, then I'd shop around for a new one, personally.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Frankly, if I were you, I'd find another doctor.

    The doctor may be fine for doctor stuff. I'd ask for a referral to a registered dietician. Doctors usually aren't great with diet advise and if he/she is just sending her off to some (dreadful sounding) commercial plan, that's not helpful. If the doctor resists the referral, then I'd shop around for a new one, personally.

    I'd be leery of a tie to a commercial enterprise. That was my thinking.

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Yeah, true.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    GThibz wrote: »
    No my doctor is not Dr. Oz, I'm not an idiot thanks smart *kitten*! Yes ketosis/ketones it was a auto correct typo.

    OP .

    again, do this:
    Enter your stats into MFP and set it for one pound per week loss.
    eat to the number MFP gives you
    log everything
    get a food scale and weigh all your foods
    make sure that you use correct MFP database entries
    make sure that you are hitting your micro and macro goals
    realize that you can eat the foods that you like,like ice cream bread, etc; however, make sure that the majority of your foods are coming from nutrient dense sources.
    repeat until you get desired results…

    OR

    get a second opinion from a registered dietician ...
  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
    GThibz wrote: »
    I went to my doctor last week and he wants me to go on the IP (ideal Protien diet). I would like some feed back/thoughts from people that have tried it, or know someone who has. please give me the good or bad!

    Would you be purchasing a copy of the plan through your doctor? Does your doctor receive a cut or payback for you signing up for this plan?
  • bpetrosky
    bpetrosky Posts: 3,911 Member
    OP,
    I would hope you do not take the advice given here defensively. We really do hate to see people taken advantage of by bad diet or fitness programs.

    This program is very likely going to be significantly more expensive than Weight Watchers, so you really do need to take a little time and ask yourself why WW didn't work for you before. Was it compliance? Was the plan too complex? Some other factor? If you go into this Ideal Protein plan without addressing that, you will probably not succeed and spend a lot of money doing so.

    Sleep apnea is a serious thing and weight loss is recommended for anyone suffering with it. If you feel you need a structured plan, ask your doctor (or better get a second opinion from another doctor or RD) about a weight loss plan.

    But optimally, if you can do it for FREE with MFP or a similar tool, you end up far ahead of the game because you can make this work for you well past weight loss.

    For a doctor to recommend this particular plan that is heavily marketing driven, I'd have to suspect there is a referral program in place.

    But whatever you do, question everything!
  • daniwilford
    daniwilford Posts: 1,030 Member
    I worked for a market research firm, I learned a secret about Doctor's recommendations. The last thing Doctors are concerned about is cost. It rarely enters into their decision making. There may be many options that work as well as IP that cost much less. If money is a concern, then ask, be specific with what you would like to do. Your Doctor may have no idea how much it costs and has just recently read data that says it works.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    Ask for a plan that you don't have to pay for.

    People buy so much fitness stuff, but you really don't have to pay anyone to lose weight. And no matter how much money you spend, you can't buy your way into thin, either. So, if your money means anything to you, think twice before giving it to someone else so that you can use their plan.
  • Lynnmi07
    Lynnmi07 Posts: 131 Member
    It seems like your dr should refer you to a dietician rather than a specific diet.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited June 2015
    I believe Ideal Protein is basically a PSMF. As such, and if done absolutely right, it will work extremely well and is conceptually super easy to get. PSMF is the real deal, and about as fast as you can "legally" lose weight without trashing your body.

    But it's brutal to execute, and most people cannot stick to it long enough to make a meaningful difference. You need an iron will to make it work.

    The good news is that since it's a PSMF, you can just pop on over to Lyle McDonalds site and grab the book for $10 or whatever and spare yourself the cost of the program and special foods etc. Because, basically, you're going to be living on cans of tuna and skinless chicken breast. :drinker: Even most protein powders have too many carbs for this path.
  • katemckenna5
    katemckenna5 Posts: 36 Member
    My sister lost 90 pounds in 6 months. She gained 120 the year after.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    edited July 2015
    My sister lost 90 pounds in 6 months. She gained 120 the year after.

    Using IP or any of the many other diets (including MFP) where folks lost and then re-gained?
  • tashigolean34
    tashigolean34 Posts: 12 Member
    You may want to look into low carb or ketogenic diets. Ruled.me is a good site to get info. He may have recommended low carb since you failed at weight watchers. It could be suspects insulin resistance. It could be that he's just heard good things. Low carb/high fat/moderate protein is not necessarily any better than just basic calorie in/calorie out diet plans, but lots of people find that it helps them control cravings much better and prevents binge eating. And, if you are insulin resistant, some find low carb much easier to manage and much more successful for them in the long run. Plus it's free.
This discussion has been closed.