Ideal Protein Diet

ehmadore

Thinking of looking into it. Any advice, success stories, etc. would be great!

KateCon912

my mom is doing it. Think of it as anorexia. You can eat nothing and get less than about 500 calories a day. Have fun! ^_^

And by nothing.. i mean NOTHING.

Acg67

Principles Behind the Protocol

Learn to live off of the body's own fat reserves. The body employs energy from three reserves: glycogen (carbohydrate), protein and fats. First from it's simple and complex carbohydrate reserves and when depleted, turns simultaneously to its protein and fat reserves for energy.

Simple and complex carbohydrates can prevent weight loss. The body stores approximately three days worth of carbohydrates. Because of this, the Ideal Protein Weight Loss Method has a beginning and an end. Until 100% of the weight loss goal is achieved, we restrict sugars (simple and complex). Why? Because, as long as sugar is being consumed, the body is not burning fat.

The main principle is to deplete the glycogen (carbohydrate) reserves completely in order to compel the body to turn to its fat reserve to burn calories. How do we get the body to burn its fat reserves and not its muscle mass reserves, if both are depleted simultaneously? By providing the body with foods that have a high protein value, complete with 8 essential amino acids, 97% absorbable, which make them biologically-complete proteins. A dieter will feel energized, look vibrant and feel strong.

Sounds like a PSMF but you have to use their magic shakes?

taso42

yes, ideally protein is the cornerstone of any good diet.

ehmadore

What is PMSF?

ehmadore

i'll sell you some magic beans

I'm all set with snarky comments. Thanks.

valerie521

I did it last year. I actually was really stoked and did well. It actually taught me (if anything) to eat more
protein than carbs (like veggies) instead of bad carbs. I really had NO IDEA.

It lost about 25 pounds in a short time - maybe 2-3 months. I kept it off until Christmas. I even did good
at thanksgving. But the food got to be a lot of money and making food for me, then the family became a
pain in the butt. (P.S. No exercise at all ). I never felt hungry. I replaced hunger with veggies and ate
more than what they said for my veggie allowance to get used to it. Then I would eat like an entire bag
of Butter lettuce to curb my appetitite as needed.

I liked it, I still buy some of their products - the bars are good. But - unless you plan on staying on
it forever, you will probably struggle with keeping the weight off like me. It returned, but not all of
it. I totally get that MFP is the way for me. I do know that I need to get balanced nutrition and exercise
for me to maintain my lifestyle. That was soooooo hard to do for a long long time on Ideal.

stronglikebull

ok, i looked into the information on the website. the "omlete" they have is a packet of powdered mix that you add water to. this in no way looks satisfying or real.

if you're concerned about carbs and insulin regulation, look into one of several other things that actually teaches you how to eat real food:
1) primal/paleo
2) south beach
3) 4 hour body/slow carb
5) atkins

this seems like a total waste of money with a healthy side of misery.

littlewitch1973

I do a high protein, low carb diet, and have for over a year now. I have lost 135lbs, and now, if I do eat bread or pasta, I want to sleep.

Feel free to check out my diary - there are a few times a week I will allow carbs in (hamburger or hot dog rolls mostly) and usually only because I am out somewhere, and didnt plan ahead.

Yes, it is hard to follow at first, but honestly, if you allow yourself to know that having a slice of pizza once in a while wont kill you, it will work fine. I really like my current way of eating, and have no intentions of changing anything, as its working for me.

chrisb75

Ideal protien diet:

Breakfast:
Chicken, Sweet Potato, Broccoli

Snack 1:
Chicken, Sweet Potato, Broccoli

Lunch:
Chicken, Sweet Potato, Broccoli

Snack 2:
Chicken, Sweet Potato, Broccoli

Dinner:
Chicken, Sweet Potato, Broccoli

There I just saved you $400 a month in food. Enjoy

KateCon912

Oh and I was shocked by the TINY amount of food my mom got for $80 a week. She got two boxes which contained 7 small packets of powder you mix with water. I said "Where is the food?" ... she said "that's it!" .. for $80. It's freaking sad what companies do to people. Oh and the food tastes like **** but that's besides the point.

caiialily

I did it back in the day to lose a quick 15 pounds. After I pricey "introduction fee" to get you started, it's really expensive for their little protein packets and you still have to buy meat and veggies for your one daily meal. No dairy, no fruit and there's a whole list of veggies you're not allowed to eat because they're too "carby." I think I was only allowed to eat 1/2 a cup of onions a week or something else ridiculous. Oh, but you get unlimited iceberg lettuce. Thanks.

You only get the shakes and soups in the first phase. So I hope you like chocolate shakes with your two cups of zucchini.....The bars and snacks come later. Oh, and your exercise is restricted.

They claim that because their packets are so protein-packed, you will be sparing muscle mass. A nice idea, but I don't know why you couldn't do the same with a protein powder from the grocery store and those all say "not to be used as a meal replacement."

To the poster that called it anorexia....kinda not too far off. You're really just on a severe calorically-restricted diet that also specifically restricts carbs. You'll lose weight, but it is really, really tough to stick to and at least for me, the carb craving never went away.

Oooh.....And they require you take take a really huge number of vitamin supplements each day. They say it's for metabolism, but really it's because you're not eating anything.

The ONLY thing I liked about it was that I had to go into the office each week to buy my products and weigh in. Well, and you have to keep a manual food diary. So the accountability aspect was nice. Otherwise....if you want to do a weight loss system, please, please, I urge you to look into other options.

amoffatt

I haven't personally tried it but those I know who have struggled to stay on it and for some it was spendy. Another person said she wanted to be able to exercise again so she went off it since you are not "allowd" to and another friend said she gained weight back, and fast, after she got off it and incorporating the diet into everyday living as she was taught. I then decided to stay away from it.

ehmadore

Thanks for the honest and informative posts! I need not spend any more money on another program...

surfteam1689

A buddy of mine with whom I played High School football started the Ideal Protein diet on May 1st. As of June 15th, last week, his weigh in shows he dropped 35 pounds - in about 45 days!!!
It works, but appears to be a little costly. I don't think you are allowed to exercise a whole lot, which means your skin will turn to flab. If *I* did that diet, I would probably at least do my Nordic Trak workouts to tighten up the skin and build a little bit of muscle. The flab seems to be the biggest problem for very large people who lose weight really fast.

onikonor

I tried this program after it was recommended to it by my aunt. It is indeed very restrictive and I would not recommend doing it for a long period of time.

I did it for about 1.5 months from phase 1 and ended up losing 15 lb. I went off it because I wanted to exercise.

You have to join it for the right reasons and not a quick fix. My reason was to get over carb cravings, learn portion control, and understand how to make healthier choices with more veggies.

Takeaways (personal experiences):
- the packets do get expensive at about $5 per packet but you spend so it ended up costing me about extra $50 a week on food.
- I significantly reduced my carb intake and now eat a lot more vegetables than in the past
- I only felt hungry on the diet for the first 3 days and after that the protein packets were sufficient, although I did not have energy do to any heavy exercising other than walking
- you will be eating about 900~ on p1 plus vitamin supplements since you will not be eating cheese or dairy (this is why I would not recommend doing it for extended periods of time)
- the introduction fee was $150 which includes $100 for next week's meals + vitamins so it was affordable
- my aunt who was morbidly obese has lost 78 lb since March 1st (I think she has been on this diet too long though)

Here is the meal plan:

P1 meal plan
Breakfast - 1 protein snack (~150 cal)
Lunch - 1 protein packet (soup) + 2 cups of non starchy veggies (~200 cal)
Snack - 1 protein snack (~150 cal)
Dinner - 8 oz lean meat + 2 cups of non-starchy veggies + olive oil (~350-500 cal)

P2 meal plan
Breakfast - 1 protein snack (~150 cal)
Lunch - 8 oz lean meat + 2 cups of non-starchy veggies +olive oil (~350-500 cal)
Snack - 1 protein snack (~150 cal)
Dinner - 8 oz lean meat + 2 cups of non-starchy veggies +olive oil (~350-500 cal)

Hope this helps you.

curlymess624

I am on Ideal Protein right now and I am actually doing it with my mom. The diet is definitely tough because we cut so much out of our diet and the restrictions make it impossible to cheat and get away with it. I have only been on it for a week but I have already lost 9lbs. I can exercise on it, but after I exercise I am absolutely starving and because the meals are so structured there is no way I could really eat after exercising. It is definitely a bit of a crash diet but it also works! I think my plan is to lose a decent amount of weight and then go on weight watchers to help me phase out of it.

winerygirl

I have been on the IP diet for 6 weeks and have lost almost 30 lbs. I am afraid however that I have hit a dreaded plateau! I weigh and measure on Thursday so even if the pounds aren't down the inches will be. Anyone else experience a plateau on this diet?

Asharee011

It's hard but my sister used it and it worked great for her! It's just expensive to keep up with.

mrse462005

I started on IP June 1st and my weigh in today shows I have lost 16lbs. I have found many of the protein foods that I either actually like or don't mind, and a few I tried and will never try again. I also have had no problem with eating the number of veggies that are required and have found main meal recipes that satisfy the diet restrictions and can feed my family for dinner. For example I can make an "american chop suey" with lots of veggies and I eat it wrapped in lettuce leaves and my family has it on rice. We do a similar meal with turkey tacos, they have them in normal taco shells I use lettuce. I won't say that this has been easy but it has been convenient and simple which I really like. We have also made a number of changes to utilize Walden Farms foods where we can to eliminate useless calories. I also am utilising MFP to help make sure that I understand what I am consuming and how it breaks out between protein, carbs, and fat which is really key to how this diet works. Now, while it isn't recomended in phase 1 to do weight training, the Chiropractor who coaches me for this has said that he sees no reason I can't do light to moderate cardio as long as I am comfortable with it. I know this diet isn't for everyone, but I just wanted to let those of you out there thinking about it know that it has its pluses. One last but important item I want to mention is that this diet has actually provided very dramatic health benefits to me. I lost a large segment of my intestines 4 years ago to colon cancer. Since then I have experienced continuous intestinal issues related to IBD. Since being on this diet my symptoms have all but disappeared. This was huge for me since over the past few years I have tried every diet change out there trying to get this resolved and have had no relief until now.

gregpack

What is PMSF?

Protein Sparing Modified Fast

wackyfunster

Man, I need to start a diet company.

No need to do any fad diet to lose weight, just a caloric deficit with adequate protein intake. Resistance training highly recommended. 1.5g protein/pound lean body mass/day if resistance training, 1g if not. That is all you need to lose weight. People like to make things over-complicated so that they can excuse their failure more easily in their minds. Eat less, move more/calories in minus calories out is 90% weight loss. The other stuff (protein/resistance training) is to help ensure that the weight lost is primarily fat (pure cardio and/or inadequate protein intake means you will lose a lot of muscle as well, which results in slower metabolism and poor aesthetic outcome).

Hope this helps.

audreyyoga

This is a great diet. It is 800 cal. a day, not 500. You are not hungry (truly). It is a very strict high protein diet. Sugar is the culprit and carbs convert to sugar. I highly recommend this diet.

audreyyoga

Incorrect, no sweet potatoes in Phase 1 and you are given protein foods, shakes, drinks, bars, soups, pudding. This is a great diet.

atgoalsoon

hi all
i am also on a protein diet at the moment after being on a healthy diet for 18 months i lost 48kg's, the moment /instant i went of the kg's piled back on, the amazing thing about the protein diet is that it is absolutely true that carbs is the main reason for all the cravings and hunger whilst on a normal healthy eating plan.
when only consuming protein after about a week the hunger subsides so much so that you go a day without eating and normally all i could think of is food , food , food. now its definately not in my mind, i eat when i am hungry.
i have lost 6.9kg's for this month alone so far (with 3 "off" days in between)

Furbzzz

I think people who are not on the diet or have never done the diet should stop doling out their facts on what the program is. Sarcastic bull is not what people come here to read.

First of all, it is not a high protein diet. It is based on an ideal amount of protein to maintain lean muscle mass, and the packets exist because they are low calorie, highly absorbable protein. Someone here has already said that 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of mean body mass is optimal. THAT IS WHAT THIS DIET PROVIDES. It is a low calorie diet but you are not told that you have to stay within a particular range, and it CERTAINLY is not 500 calories per day. In fact, after tracking, I found it was more along the lines of 1000 calories a day. None of these calories are empty calories. It is pretty low fat, and low carb enough to keep you in ketosis. This state of ketosis is where your body gets the fuel to function. On top of the food you eat, you are using the calories released as you are burning fat. Not a foreign concept to the diet world. Not gimmicky. And for those of you claiming it is SOOOOOO EXPENSIVE WHAT A RIP OFF.... Total BS. if you look at the total amount of money you spend on food in a week, which includes what you buy at your clinic in ideal protein products, you would find that you are, in fact, spending less money on food than you did before the diet. Vegetables are cheap. You eat a lot of them. Chicken is cheap. A staple of mine - low in fat and a nice amount of protein. You can also select from a variety of other meats or eat eggs. Phase one is strict. Phases two through four are designed to gradually add more fats and carbohydrates back into your diet and aid in resetting or retraining your pancreas' response to what you eat.

Although I see there are a lot of you that clearly think you know everything, and feel the need to criticize something that is actually helping a great number of people retrain their brains and bodies to make better choices when it comes to eating, not everyone is as perfect as you may be in their food choices. If it was so easy to eat chicken broccoli and sweet potato all day every day its as simple as that crap, everyone would be walking around fit and healthy. The reality is, not everyone has the education on nutrition, or the willpower to not hit that drivethru etc.... this plan gives you someone to be accountable to. That, and having that person point out where you have been going wrong is half the battle. Not depending on refined carbohydrates to get through your day is a real eye opening experience. You start not only reading food labels, but actually understanding what they mean. There are many things you will choose not to put into your body anymore. You are satisfied with less fat, less sugar, less salt. Your body, your brain, your tastebuds begin to actually taste real food and appreciate that it doesnt need that giant glob of butter to taste good, you dont need to pour salt and dressings or sauces on food to enjoy it.

Now, as I get ready to post this, I hope those of you that are critical, sarcastic, snobby, mean, perfect, etc.... Will just go start their own negative thread somewhere to behave like that. When someone asks for advice or information they arent asking for your negative mean opinion. Maybe, just maybe these people are trying to make a positive change for their health, and have no idea where to start. Maybe this quest for information is a good thing so they can make their own informed decision and not be made to feel like an idiot for asking. You should never talk down on someone who is seeking help.

Furbzzz

Do you ever drink protein shakes as a snack or as part of a meal?

If so you are buying someones magic shake too if you think that this company claims their shakes to be magic. They do not claim anything outlandish about them, just that they provide you with X amount of protein if you should chose to have one. They are not mandatory, they are one of the many options you can choose. Many people choose to use protein shakes.

macwhorter

My family (three of us ... male, female, teenager) has lost 49 pounds (some of it water weight which they told us to fully expect). Yes .. the body starts to burn fat stores. We have had three weigh ins and they also measure chest, waist, hips thigh, arm. All of us lose multiple inches each week. All of us have lost an inch at the waist each week. We are taught how to consume food .... the American diet is a carbohydrate bomb and if you are going to carb up your body you are going to get fat. Once one loses the weight ... the only way you'll put it back on is if you go back to overeating in general .. especially carbs (carbs are re-introduced at end of diet. Don't listen to naysayers ... I know many successes on this diet. About the expense .... it's about $90 plus some meat and veggies at the grocery store. You are not buying junk at the store so there is some offset. For us we are not buying chips, crackers, cheese, juice, or alcoholic beverages. We are also not bothering to eat out while we get this done so we are ahead financially ... no stops for breakfast ... not stops for lunch ... dinner home.. We just want to get this done and stop talking about being fat. In four more weeks we won't be ... end of story. Best part is that we were able to help our teenager realize her dream of a normal weight....totally our responsibility to do so.

macwhorter

No .. there are no "magic shakes". Just good science.

xoneketa

I've done this diet twice and both time had amazing success. I did NOT feel hungry (except the first 1-2 days of course, as normal) and I definitely did NOT feel that I was being deprived of food. I actually enjoyed this diet the most out of anything I've ever done (I did Dr. Bernstein and on that I did feel starved). Personally to me, the food tastes amazing, their snacks are VERY satisfying whether you have a sweet tooth or salty, and honestly the snacks/desserts are what make it easier to cope with. It is a bit pricey, not sure how the price varies from place to place, but I paid about 200$ for 2 weeks worth of food (this included 14 snacks/desserts, 24 packs of drinks/whatever to have in the AM and either lunch/dinner). I'm not 100% sure if the weight would've stayed off with it, as unfortunately after the 2nd time around, I developed very bad eating habits post-weight loss, which is 110% why I gained my weight back.

The only Con I would have about this diet is that yes - you cannot exercise. My doctor told me I can do any exercise, as long as I am able to keep a moderate conversation (so basically nothing intense). I also do weight lifting, so it was a bummer to see some of my progress go away (not all of it though, as you are getting lots of protein ! ) But yes, and of course the price. I didn't mind the price, because the results were AMAZING for me.