Overstayed Phase One? Wisdom Please?

[tattle]

Hello,

Since being on SBD since March 26th, I am happy that I have lost 16 pounds - from 209lbs to 193lbs; but I have been on Phase One the entire time and since wheat, starches and fruits add weigh and bloat, I am fearful of adding them back.

I run 5 - 6 days a week, but would like to lose at least 5 more pounds between now and May 24th....any suggestions??

Daily Diet:

One gallon of water
cashews or almonds
chicken or fish
broccoli, cabbage or collard greens
green salad with tuna - Paul Newman's dressing with cayenne pepper added.

I am willing to give up the cashews and almonds and admit sometimes I will have 20 pieces in one day.

THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY WISDOM!

[HollyRF]

Wow, you've done great in such a short period of time! And good job on the running 5-6 days a week! That's amazing. I know you must feel so great.

I know I was a little scared to move on to Phase II, too, but honestly, I didn't see any weight gain. The only time I've seen any weight gain is when I do extremely stupid things like eat half a Papa John's pizza with my boyfriend :p !

Regardless, I think you definitely need to add some Phase II foods to your diet. But, start SLOWLY. I started with berries, like strawberries. I'll cut up about four our five good size strawberries and mix them with a little nonfat whipcream and have it for dessert. It's delicious. I never saw a weight gain, but everyone is different so if you see a dramatic gain, you may want to cut back some. Since you're exercising, I'm willing to bet a few strawberries will be more than fine. Then after a week or two add another fruit... I'd wait a while before I started adding whole grain breads, though. I still avoid them most of the time and I've been on South Beach since mid-January. I use them as a treat most of the time.

I know there's a great thread that Judy posted about how to add foods in Phase II. It's very thorough. I'll see if I can find it, and post a link here.

Hope this helps! And whatever you do, don't be afraid of Phase II. You need variety in your diet or you'll get bored and be tempted to cheat.

[HollyRF]

Here's Judy's posted that I was talking about... I'm about to post another...

Foods you can reintroduce to your diet

BEEF
All hot dogs (beef, pork, poultry, soy) can be enjoyed occasionally (once/week) if they are at least 97% fat free (contain 3-6 grams of fat/serving).


FRUIT (Start with one daily serving, gradually increase to 3 total servings daily)
Apples - 1 small or 5 dried rings
Apricots - 4 fresh or 7 dried
Banana, medium-sized (4 oz.)
Berries, all - 3/4 cup
Cactus Pear Fruit (Prickly Pear)
Cantaloupe - 1/4, or 1 cup diced
Cherries - 12
Grapefruit - 1/2
Grapes - 15
Kiwi - 1
Mangoes - 1/2 medium (4 oz.)
Oranges - 1 medium
Papaya - 1 small (4 oz.)
Peaches - 1 medium
Pears - 1 medium
Plantain
Plums - 2
Prunes - 4
Tangerines


MILK/DAIRY
(2-3 cups allowed daily, including yogurt)
Yogurt
artificially sweetened non-fat flavored yogurt (limit to 4 ounces daily and avoid varieties that contain high fructose corn syrup)


STARCHES (Start with one daily serving, gradually increase to 3 total servings daily.) Unless otherwise stated, choose whole grain products that have 3 grams of fiber or more per ounce.

Bagels, small, whole grain - 1/2, or 1 oz.
Barley - 1/2 cup
Bread - 1 slice (1 oz.)
homemade breads using whole grains (buckwheat, whole wheat, spelt, whole oats, bran, rye)
multigrain
oat and bran
rye
sourdough (may be used, but whole grain is the best choice)
sprouted grain
whole wheat
Buckwheat - 1/2 cup cooked
Calabaza - 3/4 cup (considered a starchy vegetable; count as a starch/grain serving)
Cassava - 1/4 cup (considered a starchy vegetable; count as a starch/grain serving)
Cereal:
]Hot - 1/3 -1/2 cup, uncooked. Choose whole grain and slow-cooking varieties (no instant types).
Cold - 30 grams/1 ounce/3/4 cup. Varieties with 3.0 - 4.9 grams are “good” sources of fiber. “High” fiber cereals have 5.0 grams of fiber or more per serving. Choose a cereal with enough fiber to be at least on the upper end of “good,” and make sure it has less than 8 grams of sugar per serving.
Couscous, whole-wheat or Israeli - 1/2 cup cooked
Crackers, whole grain with 3 grams of fiber or more per ounce and no trans fats
English muffins, whole grain - 1/2, or 1 oz. (most contain 2.5 grams of fiber per half a muffin—varieties varieties with 3 grams of fiber are the best choice.)
Green Peas - 1/2 cup (considered a starchy vegetable; count as a starch/grain serving)
Muffins, bran - 1 small, homemade
Muffin, sugar-free (no raisins)
Pasta:
Whole wheat is best choice - 1/2 cup cooked (3 grams of fiber or more per 1/2 cup)
Soy is second best choice - 1/2 cup cooked (3 grams of fiber or more per 1/2 cup)
Pita - 1/2, or 1 oz. stone-ground whole wheat (most contain 2.5 grams of fiber—varieties with 3 grams of fiber are the best choice.)
Popcorn, 3 cups popped:
Air popped
Microwave, plain, no trans fats
Cooked stove-top with canola oil
Potato, sweet, small (considered a starchy vegetable; count as a starch/grain serving)
Pumpkin - 3/4 cup (considered a starchy vegetable; count as a starch/grain serving)
Quinoa, 1/2 cup cooked
Rice - 1/2 cup cooked:
basmati
brown
converted or parboiled
wild
Rice noodles - 1/2 cup cooked
Soba noodles - 3/4 cup cooked
Taro - 1/3 cup (considered a starchy vegetable; count as a starch/grain serving)
Tortillas, 100% whole grain, 3 grams of fiber or more per ounce, no trans fats - 1 small
Winter squash - 3/4 cup (considered a starchy vegetable; count as a starch/grain serving)
Yams, small (considered a starchy vegetable; count as a starch/grain serving)

VEGETABLES
Carrots

OCCASIONAL TREATS
Chocolate (sparingly) bittersweet or semisweet

SWEET TREATS
Pudding, fat-free and sugar-free (1 serving per day)

BEVERAGES
Wine (1 - 2 glasses daily with or after meals)


Foods to avoid or eat rarely

STARCHES AND BREADS
Bagel, refined wheat
Bread
refined wheat
white
Cookies
Cornflakes
Matzo (exception: whole wheat varieties, which are allowed)
Pasta, white flour
Potatoes
baked, white
instant
Rice cakes
Rice
white
jasmine
sticky
Rolls, dinner


VEGETABLES
Beets
Corn
Potatoes, white


FRUIT
Canned fruit, juice packed
Fruit juice
Pineapple
Raisins
Watermelon


MISCELLANEOUS
Honey
Ice cream
Jam

[HollyRF]

Here's another post by Judy that takes the Atkins approach and makes it a little easier to understand what your adding back and when:

I want to talk about adding carbs back in when you begin phase II.

I think that the directions that the book gives, and the meal plan chart, are not specific enough, and that this alone can derail people from this plan. They add in too many things too fast, they stop losing and get discouraged and quit.

Think of it like this, you are on an elimiation diet..... to find out which carbs your body has trouble with. If you add too many in at the same time, you will never know which ones cause your cravings!!! which is the whole point of doing phase I in the first place.

So if you are dreaming about eating bread right away in phase II, you are doing yourself a great disservice!!

There is a list of foods that atkins users use to add their carbs back in ...in order. Its very interesting to see and I'm going to get it and bring it here. I think that if we use this list to add our carbs back in, we will see better results!!

Quote:
Heres the atkins list:
Quote:
Atkins advises to add the extra carbs in the following order:
1-more salad and other vegetables on the acceptable foods list
2-fresh cheeses (as well as more aged cheese)
3-seeds and nuts
4-berries
5-wine and other spirits low in carbs
6-legumes
7-fruits other than berries and melons
8-starchy vegetables
9-whole grains

The first 6 are already in our phase I except for the berries and wine. Note the placement of fruits, starchy veggies and whole grains. They are the very last carbs to add back into your plans. While this is much more strict than the way Agatson tells us to do it, based on my experience with SBD, which is now quite extensive....this is the right way to do this WOE/phase II!!!

I say start with fruit only first!! Then add in some starchy veggies like sweet potatoes....very slowly..one item per week and pay close attention to how your body reacts....if you add in fruit and grain and have cravings, how will you kow if its the fruit or the grain?

Grains and bread are the last thing to add back in...unless you have an illness (IBS)that requires you to eat very high fiber in grain, the fiber in all your veggies should be enough!!

[Judynyc]

Thanks for finding that Holly!! :thup:

Welcome Tattle!! :wave:

Yes, it will help your body a lot to begin to add in good carbs now as you are still losing. This is where we learn and teach our bodies, which good carbs we will be eating for the rest of our lives and not gain our weight back!!

Many people who lose their weight and never advance into phase II, end up reaching their goal weight and gaining it back when they first begin to eat those good (and bad)carbs again. When we eat the good carbs while we are still losing weight, our metabolism learns how to handle them without gaining.

I've been maintaining my weight loss now for 18 months and have not seen weight gain due to the fact that I still eat the same way I ate to lose the weight. I eat according to the Meal Plan Guide that you can find with the food lists. These come from the main SBD web site...I did not make them up.

I eat 2-3 fruits a day and 2-3 starches a day. Many days this is without any grains at all. When the plan calls for starch, this can also be from carrots, peas, sweet potato, pumpkin. I avoid wheat in general as it triggers my appetite and I also like to avoid gluten. Brown rice is a great grain/starch.

So yes, do begin to add some fruit to your day...any berries are wonderful, as are melons, just not watermelon.

Good Luck!! and Congrats on your success!! :thup:

[tattle]

Thank you all for the replies!

Today as a result, I increased the intensity of my cardio work-out and ate 5 pieces of watermelon:) :yum:

No cashews today -and I refused to buy any.

You know what? I checked the fiber and sugar content of the 'healthy - natural' cereal on my shelf...and it has 9 grams of sugar! And 4 grams of fiber. Since it has 1 gram more of sugar then what is allowed, I should toss it, huh? :q:

[tattle]

Oh Lawd, I just read Judy's: 'JUST NOT WATERMELON'

YIKES!!! Does weight loss affect your reading comprehension?? :lol:

[Judynyc]

Thank you all for the replies!

Today as a result, I increased the intensity of my cardio work-out and ate 5 pieces of watermelon:) :yum:

No cashews today -and I refused to buy any.

You know what? I checked the fiber and sugar content of the 'healthy - natural' cereal on my shelf...and it has 9 grams of sugar! And 4 grams of fiber. Since it has 1 gram more of sugar then what is allowed, I should toss it, huh? :q:

You really need to work with the "meal plan guide" and the food lists and pay attention to portion sizes. Not only is watermelon a fruit to be eaten in great moderation , we are told to avoid it in phase II as it is high in sugar.

I'd either toss that cereal or not eat it until you have gotten to your goal weight. :idea:

[Judynyc]

Oh Lawd, I just read Judy's: 'JUST NOT WATERMELON'

YIKES!!! Does weight loss affect your reading comprehension?? :lol:

I think we see what we want to see!! :lol:

[scorpio381]

Oh Lawd, I just read Judy's: 'JUST NOT WATERMELON'

YIKES!!! Does weight loss affect your reading comprehension?? :lol:

Hi Tattles,
I have problems reading sometimes too. :lol: For the last week, I've beening using what I thought was the Land 'O Lakes fat free half 'n half in my coffee. Well, I just realized yesterday that I had picked up the full fat version! :bash: No harm has been done but I'll definitely be checking things out a little closer next time!

I should be moving into Phase II also right now, but I'm a little apprehensive. Maybe I'll get some berries this week and see what happens.

Good luck!

[tattle]

I'm a little apprehensive too...but I did buy a cantalope yesterday...and will dice a half a cup to eat...I want to follow the successes of everyone else...I noticed that I am not retaining when I eliminated my beloved cashews :p Oh well, the pay off is more important.

Good luck and keep us posted!