Day One... As with most new things, I was excited to get started. My start date had been bumped a week due to a cold, so I was more than ready as far as food and supplies.
The Ideal Protein diet is simple:
Breakfast - 1 Ideal Protein (herein abbreviated to IP) pouch. I opted for a pineapple banana drink. Supplements and water.
Lunch - 1 IP pouch and 2 cups of veggies. The options are pretty wide. The only veg that are a no-no are high sugar content. (Carrots, beets, snap peas, etc) Supplements and more water
Dinner - an 8 oz protein of your choice (and the choices are practically endless) with 2 cups of veggies, more water.
Before bed snack - 1 IP pouch and supplements.
One cup of coffee is ok per day (with no sugar or heavy dairy).
Now, I was pretty skeptical when I was told the pouch food tasted good. I'm a foodie. Flavour is extremely important to me. So when I had my first round with the pouches, I was very surprised - they DO taste good. the shakes are very sweet, so I just added more water (more water is always good). The chicken patty I had for lunch was a wee bit dry, but that could have been my preparation of it versus the product itself - we'll see. You're allowed one "restricted" pouch per day - these are chip-like or dessert-ish treats. I had the salt and vinegar ridges, and no, they aren't Lays Potato Chips, but they were salty crunchy and that was fiiiine with me.
The other pouches are soup mixes, omelettes, chili, all sorts things. I'm working my way through them as we go - for those of you who may be VB or IP clients, I hope to add some hints and things I discover as I go through Phases 1-4.
For dinner I had this:
Swiss chard, zucchini and red peppers, with garlic. (2 cups)
Dijon and chili oil vinaigrette. (1 tbsp Dijon mustard, 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp chili oil)
If you don't like heat, use less or no chili oil - use a fresh herb. I use a very hot Chinese chili oil made with olive oil. You can use your favourite hot sauce, providing it has zero sugar or fat.
Needless to say, I was thrilled with the ease and tastiness of my day. I was full - I never once felt hungry. I had some Dill Ridges IP snacks before bed and hit the hay early.
Day two was as easy - shake for breakfast, lots of water, shake and raw veggie salad for lunch, pork and shrimp stir fry, dill ridges for snack, I noticed that I was peeing a lot. A lot. I was always a water drinker, but 64 oz a day is more than I normally took in.
Tip: when I made my salad to take to work, I put all the raw veg in my dish, topped it with olive oil, apple cider vinegar and some herbs. Put the lid on, shook it, then placed raw spinach in a ziplock bag, and tucked it inside the bowl and reclosed it. When it was lunch time, I had un-soggy spinach - tossed it in the bowl, lidded it, shook it up to dress the spinach, and voila. Yummers and not wilted. (Personal per peeve)
Day three was much the same for breakfast and lunch, but I decided to risk going out for dinner. This wasn't a terribly big risk, as I work in the industry and know most of the people who are preparing my food and am perfectly comfortable asking for off-menu preparations. These days, with gluten and allergy issues, i think most civilized restaurants can accommodate this style of diet.
I went to Jules Bistro and ordered the 8 oz strip loin, asparagus and salad, all prepared without butter or dairy. After my meal, a nice pot of tea and some lively conversation at the bar. Another tea with some friends at another favourite spot (with all staff and management asking if I was ill, seeing the tea pot), then home to a hot chocolate (yep - IP again) and bed.
I slept soundly - the low calorie intake was starting to be noticeable in my general energy levels, so the pillow was a welcome friend.
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