I decided to try a diet. And by try, I mean actually commit, because food plans and I usually have commitment issues.

For me, the most difficult part of a diet is the social aspect of it. Quality time spent with close friends usually comes with delicious eats, whether I’m at home, a restaurant, a café, at work, a gas station, a drive-thru, a golf course, etc. I can still go to all these places and enjoy my time with people, but it can be exhausting and frustrating to constantly be answering questions, or refusing the fries that someone kindly scrapes onto my plate.

“Are you sure you don’t want a shake?”

“It’s our treat! Pick something bigger.”

“Can’t today be your cheat day?”

“Just have a few drinks tonight - it'll be fun! Please?"

“One cookie won’t destroy you’re diet!”

See--friends just want to keep me happy. Sometimes it’s hard when I don’t have time to explain why I can’t have certain things, and I get a bit troubled because I feel like I’m rudely declining offers. However, I see every good diet choice as a success, so my friends actually are helping me in the end!

Now it’s time to give some explanations. But just a heads up--I am in no way a health expert, and the following information is from my best understanding of the information from the diet paperwork, articles, and my friends and their experience on the diet (including that of my Mom). Maybe this diet is something you'd like to try!

“What are you even doing?”

For the past two months, I have been following the Ideal Protein diet. This is usually mistaken as a high-protien diet, but you actually consume a normal amount of protein on it and decrease your carbohydrate intake. With a minimal level of sugars and carbs, your body goes into “ketosis”, which means it is producing ketones to help burn fat and protein for energy, rather than it’s usual process of using glycogen (carbs) for energy. It takes a few days of fatigue to enter this zone, but once you’re in it, you actually don’t get as hungry as often since your body is less reliant on carbs. The diet was originally designed for pre-Olympic athletes, that wanted to burn fat while keeping muscle before they started training. It also helps you regulate your blood sugar, and can help you prevent cancer (cancer cells need glucose). Pretty cool, huh?

“So why did you decide to go on a diet?”

My overall goal is to be healthy. My unhealthy habits of freshman year and Florence (not regretted, but not to be repeated), have put me at an unhealthy BMI. Overall, I was feeling lazy, undisciplined and uncomfortable in my ill-fitting clothes. Running is one of my favorite activities and stress-relievers, but I got to a point where my sports bra would give me painful rashes, and even cut into my shoulders, if I ran any more than a mile. This had to stop.

Sometimes you need a jump start, and that’s exactly what I needed.

"What do you eat?"

I eat a mixture of “IP” products, and my own food. I drink lots and lots of water, too.

Breakfast: one unrestricted product*, two c coffee (with a splash of nonfat milk)

Lunch: two c vegetables, one restricted product*

Dinner: two c vegetables, eight oz protein**

Snack: one unrestricted product*

Free foods: pickles, celery, cucumbers, lettuce, mushrooms, salsa, tea

*Unrestricted Products include high-protein, low-carb snacks:

• whey pretzel twists
• chocolate soy balls
• protein shake
• white cheddar soy crisps
• chips (soy crisps, come in salt and vinegar and BBQ flavors)

Restricted Products have more protein and calories than a restricted snack:

• protein bar (salted toffee pretzel is my favorite!)
• protein wafer bar
• soup

**Eight ounce of protein can be basically any high-protein food of your choosing:

• steak
• pork
• chicken
• salmon
• prawns
• eggs
• sausages

“Won’t you gain all of the weight back?”

Technically, yes, I could. However, Ideal Protein phases you out of ketosis. There are four phases total. Phase one is the most extreme, and I’ll follow it until I have reached at least 90 percent of your weight loss goal. Phase two and three allow me to replace IP products with “real” protein, and in phase four, you will be eating grains and fruits again. I am already so used to cooking protein-filled recipes that I can easily add carbs into my diet a little bit at a time, and start exercising to burn them off, as well. For example, I can add brown rice with my usual stir-fry dinner, rather than riced cauliflower. So, even though this diet is temporary, a lot of the recipes and cooking/eating habits are healthy lifestyle changes.

“Wait - why can’t you have fruit? Aren't they packed with good vitamins?”

Fruit has too much sugar in it for this diet. Yes, fruit is healthy, but for the time being, it is to be avoided in order to keep my body in ketosis (and to keep my body burning fat in order to lose weight and reach a healthy BMI).

I take vitamins everyday to make up for this lack of fruit. Everyday, I take multi-vitamins, Omega-3, Cal-Mag and Potassium. As I phase out, I will depend less on these vitamins and more on those naturally found in fruits, whole grains and dairy.

“Did you say you can’t exercise…?”

When your body is relying on burning fat and protein for energy, it’s dangerous to exercise as vigorously as you normally would. So, if I don’t eat enough fat and protein, my body could start to break down muscle. This puts me at risk for heart damage. I think that exercise is highly important, but I’m willing to temporarily take a break from long hikes and runs in order to drop my body’s reliance on sugar and get my body in a place that can exercise with less pain. I’m not exercising so that I can exercise even more in the long run, if that makes sense.

"So, does this whole diet thing work?"

Yes - so far, so good! I really like the products, and I love that I can still eat lots of meat for dinner! Instead of getting tired of vegetables, I definitely love them and eat a lot more of them. It is very difficult at times, but my previous success makes me motivated to keep going. I constantly feel better and better. Once I hit my healthy BMI weight goal, I will phase out and maintain. I’m enjoying the journey as much as possible, and am so thankful for the support I have received! I would definitely recommend this to anyone that needs to jump start their health journey, and would offer support and guidance! Ideal Protein is definitely doable, and it is motivating to get quick results. Of course, do the thing that is best for you and your body. Any more questions?