What is the IP diet?

Since I've been posting meals recently for the ideal protein diet, I'd thought I'd explain what it is and how it works.

The ideal protein diet is a doctor assisted diet program that, over four stages, helps you loose weight. Because you basically drop all carbs and sugar from your diet you shouldn't do this diet by yourself!

All the information I'm about to share with you is also available at the Ideal Protein website.

we eat a lot of this

Right now my husband and I are in phase one. On phase one you can eat 8 oz of chicken a day and four cups of vegetables of your choice, as well as a protein shake for breakfast and one snack between meals. However, the only things you can eat are:

• Asparagus
• Arugula
• Bell Peppers
• Broccoli
• Bean Sprouts
• Collards
• Cauliflower
• Cabbage
• Bok Choy
• Celery
• Green Onions
• Pickles
• Cucumber
• Kale
• Mushrooms
• Okra
• Onion (only uncooked)
• Spicy Peppers
• Radish
• Rhubarb
• Rutabaga
• Spinach
• Chard
• Turnip
• Zucchini 

If eating a salad, you can use some types of Italian dressing or any other no sugar, no carb dressing. You can also only cook with garlic, soya sauce, ginger, apple cider vinegar, lemon, coconut oil, olive oil or hot sauce.

To put it mildly this is a very intense diet! Every food not on this list must be zero carbs, zero fat and zero sugar if my husband wants to deviate. I have not found much that we can substitute.

Oh, and twice a week my husband can have with one of these: tomatoes, green beans, eggplant, palm hearts.

This is just phase one, and lasts for about six weeks. (Everyone's phases last different amounts of time depending on what their doctor says) Anyway, I'm really excited for phase two because it adds fruit and dairy and exercise!

I'm excited to see my husband become a overall healthier person!