Hello,
I am retrying Schwartzbein Principle after having deserted it a few months ago.
I have the two books and the (reg) cookbook. But I am wondering about some products.

I have been using Stevia for sweetener, is that OK, or is there something better? I have given up colas, and I have herbal tea for the most part, but occasonally I do have some coffee or regular tea.

Where might one find non-nitrate bacon, ham, etc? Is it also non sugar cured?

Are there any powdered shake, protein powders that are approved?

Is milk OK?

I was going to be tested, but see from her website that it is temporarily unavailable.

I have been guilty of over-exercising and over-dieting in the past. But I am well rested now, and basically a couch potato, so I believe it is a good time to try and turn around my hormones into a healthier pattern. I'm starting slow with a really really short stroll in the evenings with my dog, who needs even more exercise. My neighbors can be absolutely horrible toward people with dogs, though. Not exactly the non-stress activity you might want. I'm responsible, but some people aren't and since my dog is big, they automatically blame me w/o giving me a chance to explain.

However, I already know that evenings will be a major problem for me. I crave sweets at night. Does anyone have something that helps with this?
I'm sorry but those so-called "reward" things like massage or baths just don't do it for me. I don't enjoy massage. If I'm absorbed in a creative prusuit, I'll forget the sweets, but it is hit and miss. Sometimes the project sparks the magic, and sometimes it doesn't.

Well I'm looking forward to hearing from the rest of you. Even though this is a cliche, starting a new program in the first week of the new year, I still hope it works long term. I'm so sick of yo-yo diets. And furthermore, I don't even lose much on them anymore. Maybe 12 lbs or so and then I stall out and get discouraged.

Cheers
Donna

My advice is to go ahead and get the Program, her latest book. I think it's the simplest and most direct so far.

To get no-nitrate, sugar-free bacon & ham, you probably should go to a health food store, on-line, or a local specialty butcher who makes his/her own.

I have the same problem you do with the evenings and the substitute "rewards" that just leave everything to be desired. For the last few months I've been working on a disconnect between my feelings and food. It isn't easy but I'm seeing some progress so that I don't need a reward quite as much.

I've adapted a work sheet from Feeling Good by Burns. I've added food cravings and behavior to his form. It's tedious to keep up with, but I've learned a lot about my overeating. After using it for six months or so I can see a real difference in my pattern of eating, and the feelings that I need a food reward or that enough of the right food will make me feel better have lessened dramatically.

Hi Donna,
I found nitrate/nitrite-free bacon at Whole Foods (a health-food store). I also found a brand at Super Wal-Mart - I think it was Morell. They all have sugar in them, so I learned to soak them in water overnight, then dry them off and cook.

I've been using Stevia for years in my morning tea. Stevia is OK.

For evening cravings, I like a piece of fruit, some peanuts, or an apple with a little peanut butter (natural kind -- be careful of added sugar. I get freshly-ground peanut butter at the health food store). If you can eat chocolate, high-cacao chocolate can be used to self-medicate. Lindt makes chocolates with 70% and 85% cacao that I find to be medicinal!

Hope this helps.

Dee, Have you found any brand of Stevia that doesn't have that bitter after taste? I've tried a couple of different kinds and my tea ends up nasty tasting. Susan

Hello everyone and thanks a bunch

What is the "Burns" thing? A book?
What is the title? I have been doing OK
these last few days, but I certainly can't count
on that, going by past experience.

The good thing is that I immediately started
sleeping much better. All through the night,
and I'm sleeping later than normal. I usually
get up around 5 AM, and I almost slept til 9
this morning.

Chocolate!? You mean I can have a certain
brand of chocolate??? That would be heaven!
What kind of sugar count is in the Lindt? How much
can you have? What about the caffeine?

As for Stevia, it is an aquired taste kind of thing.
I started out with Stevia Plus, which seemed
less offensive than others to me. I put it
in lemon water and "almost" had something
resembling lemonaid - although not as lemony
and not as sweet. Then I started putting
it in green tea. Finally I accepted it in herbal
tea. It taste normal to me now. And I've
gone to the regular stuff too. Even so, I
try not to automatically use it. Some
of my herbals taste fine without any sweetener.

For the sake of my health, I'll go check out the
Super WallMart. I HATE walmart and don't go
near it most of the time, but if they sell what I
need, I guess I'll do it. We have a super
healthfood store here in town, but it is all
the way across town. So I'd rather go to
SWM if they have something.

BTW, I found Rooibos tea at Meier yesterday.
I actually like it. I also found Bocca sausage,
but no soy bacon.

Thanks again,
Donna

Burns - Doh

I just caught the name of the book. I'll go and get it plus the latest Dr. S one too. I am grateful for all the background knowledge - such as a non medical expert can understand. But I would appreciate the "program for dummies" version too. Sifting through all the info in the other books was just one more excuse I could use not to do the program right.
Donna

Hi Susan,
I use NOW brand purified Steviosides, a white powder. It's around $7 or $8 a bottle, but I use it daily, and one bottle lasts me around 6 months. The bitterness can be from 2 factors: 1) impurities in the stevia. I use the purified form, and I don't get bitterness unless I hit factor 2) using too much stevia! Stevia will go from sweet to bitter-tasting if too much is used. The line is extremely fine! You'll need to experiment for yourself, even from batch to batch.

I use about 1/16 to 1/8 teaspoon for an entire pot of tea! Diluting it in water first is another way to avoid bitterness.

Good luck!

Thanks. I'll give it another try.

Hi Donna,
Are you from Michigan? Michigan has Meier's stores (but they might spell it differently).

Very high cacao-content chocolate is used in self-medicating on SP-II. For info on Lindt, you can go to www.lindt.com.

For some basic nutritional info:
Lindt Excellence 70% cacao:
Serving size = 2/5 bar (40g/4 blocks)
Servings per bar 2.5
calories 220
total fat 17 g
>sat fat 10 g
cholesterol 0 mg
sodium 20 mg
total carb 13 g
>fiber 2 g
>sugars 11 g
protein 3 g

Lindt Excellence 85% cacao:
same serving size and # per bar
calories 210
total fat 18g
>sat fat 11g
cholesterol 0 mg
sodium 20 mg
total carbohydrate 8 g
>dietary fiber 3 g
>sugars 5 g
protein 4 g

I don't know about the caffeine content. I do know that, for self-medicating, you should only eat 1 or 2 squares. Period! So, you shouldn't overdo. In SP-II, the Self-Medicating Phase is described as a part of the Healing Phase, and is described on page 181. There are more details under your specific type in the How To section of the book, as well as a part on how to taper off or eliminate refined sugars, pp. 370-372.

HTH.

Thank you, Dee.
I will get the smallest bar I can find to see if I can "handle" all that
freedom. I'm not especially reliable in the evening.

Today I am tryiing to tell myself that all is well, no cause for high stress,
it will soon be a memory. But my basement has water. It has done it before, but not after getting it fixed in 1999. Of course my very expensive commercial embroidery equipment as well as the 3 computers that feed it are all down there.
I will NOT stress out (repeat indefinitely).

But I have missed both snacks because I'm down there running the ShopVac continuously.
Donna (In Indianapolis BTW, I think the spelling is right on Meiers, but I wouldn't swear to it.).

Donna, sorry about the basement. That would put me into a new stress orbit. Do you have a repair person coming?

Try a handful of walnuts for snacks. They are even high in omega 3 in addition to everything else.

I don't dare have any amount of chocolate more in the house than I could eat at one time - because I would (eat it all at one time).

Well the water subsided in a couple of days. The water table had reached
unprecedented highs and the water was coming through cracks in the floor, so there was/is no repair that can be made. I only hope it doesn't do it agaiin. Thanks for the tip about walnuts. I like them but don't go crazy with them like I would pecans or cashews. (Dont cashews have much higher carbs?)

Can I have caffeine? I've been having green tea, not caffeine free, but maybe a better choice than I could have made?

Donna
dehardt15~hotmail.com (the big webmail server)

Hi Donna

There are TWO Trader Joe's grocery stores in Indianapolis. You can get your ENTIRE grocery list there, and other stuff at Costco and save a ton of money skipping the health food stores. At Trader Joes, I get uncured bacon (preservative free no nitrate or nitrite) and 100% pure Stevia.

The bacon may contain sugar, but I'm not eating it often enough to worry about it, plus I'm only eating a few pieces at a time. And for a cheaper price than Whole Foods. But Whole foods does carry a wonderful THICK cut bacon there in package, can't think of the brand. I love the thick stuff.

Here's a great bacon tip.... Cook it slowly and it will get crispier and have a more crispy/tender texture. If you cook bacon too fast, it will get tough. Just something I wanted to share in case there are others who love to savor a nice piece of the piggy now and then!

The Trader Joe's Stevia is 100 percent pure and only $9 for 1100 servings! Comes in a nice size jar with tiny scoop (green label jar). They also sell a large Stevia that has lactose in it (big pink label jar), but I don't use that one. Make sure you get the small jar. It's very good and the only brand I can stad of stevia for some reason. It's not bitter to me at all.

Hope this helps. Don't forget you can get NUTS dirt cheap at TJs and a ton of wonderful whole foods for a fraction of the health food store price. They have cage free organic antibiotic-free eggs for super low prices. It's important to eat GOOD EGGS if you are eating them daily. I realize not everyone eats them daily like me, but if you do it's important to eat the good ones.

Hope this helps. Best wishes for you journey into a healthy life!

--Betty

[FONT=Georgia]Stevita brand stevia has ZERO "green" or "licorice" taste/aftertaste. It is an herb that reputedly has no negative effects on the body. . . though individual response must always be our guide! Stevita brand comes in an easily-dissolved white powder, or bottled liquid. Being intensely sweet, very little is needed. The flavor of stevia is NOT compatible with coffee, and works with chocolate only rarely, in combination with other sweeteners.

For tea, fruit, yogurt, etc., it is superb. I plan to do lots of experimenting with it in recipes, when I start cooking more.

Late-day, "out-of-control" hunger & cravings...mine start as early as 2pm, and more and more I realize they come from being tired. TIRED messes with virtually ALL of our chemicals that regulate hunger and not-hungry sensations. Cortisol is affected; leptin and ghrelin (major hunger & satiation hormones) are affected; serotonin is affected. Some research indicates that the thyroid gland, adrenal glands, and pancreas are affected--all in ways that directly cry out "eat! eat!" in our bodies.

These chemical cravings nearly always demand sweets. [A tired body denied rest demands foods that represent energy as a desperate, if ineffective, substitute.] Tired hunger usually feels like emotional hunger. And this makes sense: After all, the emotions created by fatigue include helplessness, depression, burdenedness, and loneliness. Yes, tiredness is an extremely lonely state: We feel like we need to be picked up, held, soothed, and restored before life is worth continuing to live.

Try it out!--More sleep, naps for those who can, earlier bedtimes (I mean really early--8 or 9pm lights-out!), even resting periods just lying on the floor for those of us who have other interference (mine is fibromyalgia) with getting enough true sleep.

When I force myself to rest as soon as I feel overtired--everytime--a remarkable improvement in food & hunger issues begins within 2 or 3 days!

Hot baths with Epsom salts may help with sleep issues, as the magnesium in the Epsom salts soaks in through the skin. This is immediately tranquilizing, and also contributes to the health of muscles and nerves.

Recent reading I've found exceptionally helpful in terms of insights, information about how food, hunger, and energy work in our bodies, and useful tools or strategies helpful in sticking to any eating/exercise/healthy-life plan: Outwit Your Weight [Cathy Nonas, RD] and Fire Up Your Metabolism [Lyssie Lakatos RD and Tammy Lakatos Shames RD].

I always read books through interlibrary loan before deciding whether I want to buy them.

Best wishes, everyone, and try to refrain from self-blame!!!

Blessings[/FONT]

Thanks for all your insight, Blessings. I have been looking for Stevita, but can't seem to find it locally. You are absolutely right about being tired affecting our eating. One thing I have noticed since starting the program is less sweet craving in the evening. I don't know if that is from getting more rest or what. I had some sleeplessnes for a few days, but TG it didn't last.

I believe I am going to try the Fat Flush diet now. I've ordered the book and can't wait to try it. But I feel Dr. Schwartzbein's principles are important enough that they should not be compromised, even on another program. I believe that the 2 programs should be similar - but that remains to be seen.
Thanks
Donna