My experience with the Ideal Protein Diet, Phase 1.
Hey friends!
Here we are in the middle- nearing the end of February. Not too far from the start of 2021. Last year, 2020, was hard for everyone. On multiple levels. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who gained a little extra weight… So at the start of 2021, the hubs and I started a diet. Ideal Protein. We’ve actually done this diet before. And it worked! We both lost weight. But so much good food out there, and a pandemic going on, we slipped into old habits and put the weight back on. Story of every dieter’s life, right? Well, of course, we hope to keep it off this time. But I also love food. So I need to make some changes to my lifestyle. It won’t be easy. I’m not going to pretend that it will be. There will be ups and downs. It’s a learning and growing process. It’s life, right?
Anyway, after 2020, I needed some help to get back to a healthy weight and size for me. I’m not one who just HAS to be a certain size. In fact, I bet lots of people would look at that picture above (taken right around the New Year) and say that I look fine- I don’t need to lose weight. However, I did not feel good. I did not feel like myself. So while I don’t NEED to be a certain size, I do want to feel good. Surprisingly, I found that lots of people out there had opinions about me wanting to lose weight and get back to feeling good. Most people have been great cheerleaders, but there have definitely been some saboteurs as well. Through it all, I have learned that I had to do this for myself. I had to learn some self-control and decide how motivated I was going to be. It’s not been easy. I’ve wanted to quit several times. But I haven’t! I’m still in phase 1. But I’m so close to reaching my goal. In 6 weeks I’ve lost over 16 lbs. I’m feeling much better about myself, and I can finally fit back into my pre-Covid jeans. Yay!
So, I am NOT a health coach. I will not be telling you how you should do this diet. I’m just sharing a little about my experience. If you have questions about my experiences feel free to ask. If you have questions about your own situations or how the diet works, I suggest you find a health coach near you to talk things over with.
In past attempts to lose weight, or maintain my weight, I have found myself restricting my calories. For my height, age, weight, etc. I was limiting myself to 1200 calories a day. LOTS of days I skipped breakfast. Not because I don’t like breakfast, trust me, I LOVE breakfast. But I tend to overeat if I start eating at breakfast time. At least, I would tend to go over my 1200 calories per day. One thing I have enjoyed about Ideal Protein is that I can have breakfast every day! There are several packet options for breakfast food on the diet, but my go-to is the Chocolate Chip Pancake. I have it every day. Every. Day. Some people might get bored with that, but to me, I know what I like and I stick with it. My husband might call that boring and non-adventurous. Oh well. Tip- add a sprinkle of cinnamon to the batter before cooking. Mmmmmmm….
I’m not a fan of eating diet packages of food. I’d much rather have homemade made from-scratch stuff. But desperate times call for desperate measures… lol.
In all honesty, when you first start the diet and have lots of sugar still in your system- the pancake doesn’t taste that great. But, as time goes on, and you aren’t used to having sugar anymore- this pancake tastes pretty delicious.
I look forward to it each day. I use sugar-free syrup from my local grocery store, or Walden Farms has a zero-calorie syrup that I have also used.
For lunch, I also have a couple of go-to favorites. In addition to my two cups of veggies (required on the diet), I like their Dorados chips. All the flavors are good (Sweet Chili, Nacho, Ranch), also their Jalapeno Crisps are tasty. To make them even better I eat them with a pico de gallo, or Organic Jacks Special Salsa. Organic Jacks Special Salsa only has 1g of sugars and 5 calories. Paired with the chips it really helps satisfy lots of cravings. 
This photo only shows half a serving of the chips- so don’t worry about that being too few. Sometimes I will only have half of the bag for lunch and save the rest to crush on top of a taco salad at dinner. Again, it satisfies that craving for texture with the salad. #gamechanger
Dinner doesn’t require any packets of food. It is lean meat (4-6 oz), with 2 cups of approved veggies. For that protein I do steak, lots of chicken, ground beef, my husband enjoys fish, and there are lots more options, but those are my favs. Salads are unlimited!! (Just watch the dressing!) So, I never really go hungry on this diet. If I’m not full/ satisfied after my 2 cups of veggies and the protein, I can just add more salad to my plate. Or I can eat a dill pickle. They definitely help me not feel hungry.
For dessert… Because I just don’t think I could, nor do I want to, live without something sweet in my life… Their chocolate brownie is pretty tasty. The Salted Caramel Chocolate Clusters are pretty good, too. My husband enjoys the Apple Puffs, and the Wafers as well.
So, this has been a brief introduction to the Ideal Protein diet, at least my experience with it. If you are interested in looking into the diet for yourself you can do a Google search to find a local clinic that offers this diet. Like I said, I am NOT a diet coach, and I haven’t been paid or asked to do this post. I’m just sharing my experience. For questions about what is best for you, I suggest you talk to a diet coach or physician.
Stay tuned for my progress!
