Ideal Protein

KJ14

Has any one been on the Ideal Protein program? I noticed a sign for the program at a health food store on my way home from work the other day and was just wondering if its worth looking into? Is it affordable? Any successes?

bajoyba

I have not done the program myself, but I've been to an Ideal Protein introduction and know people who have done it.

It's not cheap. I believe you have to buy their packaged food in order to successfully adhere to the first stage of the program, which I'm told is about $400 a month. It also involves eating very low carb and only consuming around 800 calories a day. You drop weight very quickly and are not allowed to exercise for the first part of the program because you're not consuming enough energy to support any extra activity. Eventually you transition into the maintenance stage, but most people end up gaining some weight back, and the program recommends that people do the program starting back at stage 1 once a year every year in order to maintain their weight loss.

Personally, I'm not at all in favor of any program that requires you to spend lots of money and eat very little or eliminate macronutrients or food groups from your diet. If you want long term success and sustainable results, you have to find a way of eating and exercising that you are happy maintaining for the rest of your life. You can meet your weight and fitness goals by eating regular food at a moderate calorie deficit.

Here are some helpful links:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here

HappyLilThang

If you search in groups there is an ideal protein one. Not too many active posters but you might find friends who can answer questions you have. If cost is an issue, many alternative products exist. It works, its just really hard. good luck

AJ_G

Any diet program that you have to pay a single cent for is a waste of money in my opinion

SLLRunner

Any diet program that you have to pay a single cent for is a waste of money in my opinion

This.

Create calorie deficit to eat less and you will lose weight. Moving more helps too.

dsjsmom23

Has any one been on the Ideal Protein program? I noticed a sign for the program at a health food store on my way home from work the other day and was just wondering if its worth looking into? Is it affordable? Any successes?

I did ideal protein. It was very expensive. I lost 55 pounds in my first 5 months, then I started to struggle. I had a hard time staying on the plan. It's VERY restrictive. You cannot cheat at all, not even one bite.
I kept gaining and losing the same 5 pounds. I finally stopped doing it, mainly because I was paying $100/week and I wasn't losing.
In the past year, I have managed to keep off 29 pounds of the 55 I lost, and that has been HARD. The weight is slowly creeping back on.

It's a good diet if you want to drop weight fast, but you won't likely keep it off.

sme2325

I started Ideal Protein March 2013. I lost 80lbs in 9 months. It's a huge commitment and unless you're 100% dedicated it won't work. You have to be ready to lose the weight and I'd only suggest it if you have 50 or more pounds to lose.

It's expensive but I found that I roughly spent the same amount as I would (maybe a little more) if I weren't on it - you're only buying protein and veggies from the grocery store - I don't have a family though so I was really only buying for myself and my boyfriend.

There are different phases of it - so essentially they want you to get the fat off as fast as possible and then they teach you food combinations that will allow you to keep the weight off. It really all depends on your coach and the center you go to. Myself, my mom, her best friends, my cousin, my aunt and one of my best friends have all done the diet or are currently doing it and everyone has a different opinion and experience of/with their coach. If you want to look into it more - definitely go to a few different centers to meet the coaches and see who you click with - their your best friend throughout it so you need to like and get along with them.

I ran during the 9 months - some centers strongly suggest doing nothing - I trained for and ran my first half marathon while on it. It may have slowed my weight loss down but I was always active and couldn't do nothing. My mom did nothing and lost 65 lbs in 7 months.

I've been off of it since December - I've gained some back (which I expected) but I also run and do CrossFit so a lot of it is muscle.

Feel free to private message me if you have any questions!

KJ14

Thanks for all the input. I thought maybe it would be expensive. I've started losing weight recently after hitting a very long plateau so I'm thinking I'll go with most of you on this one...do what I am doing right now..eat less, eat healthy and be active...sometime in the future I might look into the Ideal Protein.

skinnyotto

I am on it too now, I am hoping to drop 30-40 in 4-5 months!

GuyIncognito123

I'm following it. It's LCLF and it works. Add me if you sign up and are looking for ideas/support.
Everyone I know that's been on it loses weight.

You can substitute their products for other products do don't let people who haven't been on it tell you things 'they hear'.

chubbynow

I just stumbled across this post this evening, so I thought I would respond.

I had 30 pounds to lose and I tried every way imaginable to lose it, and couldn't. I weighed 115 pounds for most of my adult life and I'm 5'4". It seemed like all of a sudden, my size 4 pants were tight, then my size 6, then my size 8 on so on. I bought books and books, bought healthy food and exercised. Didn't lose a pound. Skipped pills because if pills worked, there would be no fat people. I saw my family doctor, whose only suggestion was to try Ideal Protein.

I did the program back in 2012. Back then, it cost $400. to "join" and I spent anywhere from $15-$25 per day on their food, plus what I had to spend on fresh vegetables (it is very specific about what veggies you can eat) and the very specific protein for the week.

In phase 1, you eat their food 3x a day along with 2 cups of very specific veggies at lunch, with a specific size protein and do the same for dinner. If you need a snack, you can have one of their products, but nothing else. You go to the office once a week to get weighed and measured. They will tell you the average weight loss is, I believe, 3-4 lbs per week. The first week I lost a whopping 2 lbs and I was so excited. The next week, I lost 1 ounce, which was discouraging, but I stuck with it. Some weeks I gained, some weeks I lost a tiny bit and it was always a single ounce number. I was accused of cheating because NO ONE gains weight on the plan. I stuck with it anyway. It took 9 months to lose 30 pounds. You also have to sign a paper that says you will not drink any alcohol period.

I finished the program one week and left for vacation the next. At the end of vacation, I came home 5 pounds heavier. Over the coarse of several months, I gained all the weight back. My neighbor, who also did the program, gained all of her weight back, as did another friend.

Here I am 2 years later. I had an appointment with a NEW doctor and took her a log of everything I ate over the course of several months. She encouraged me to try MFP, logging my food and to eat only 1200 calories per day. I started logging all my food and soon discovered I wasn't eating nearly enough calories in a day. Since I've upped what I eat, I have lost 6 pounds - hopefully it'll be more when I weigh in tomorrow.

Save your money. Stick with MFP.

sestrange

The difference in ideal protein diet and others is it resets your pancreas and allows your body to get back to normal. You really need to read about it on their website or better still go in to an ideal protein office and talk to them, it's free. It's just much, much more than weight loss, it's a real change in lifestyle. I've done WW, Nutrisystem and any other diet you can think of just about and this one has truly taught me how we are supposed to eat and has gotten me off the boxed foods and prepared frozen types of food and I love "real" food now!

mactaffy84

The difference in ideal protein diet and others is it resets your pancreas and allows your body to get back to normal. You really need to read about it on their website or better still go in to an ideal protein office and talk to them, it's free. It's just much, much more than weight loss, it's a real change in lifestyle. I've done WW, Nutrisystem and any other diet you can think of just about and this one has truly taught me how we are supposed to eat and has gotten me off the boxed foods and prepared frozen types of food and I love "real" food now!

What the heck is "resetting your pancreas"? Your pancreas doesn't need to be "reset"! What a bunch of gullible people we have become, willing to believe stuff like this! Non wonder the weight loss industry is a multi-billion dollar one.