Hello everyone! Something that I've noticed when reading a lot of threads on this board is that some folks are really hungry after eating their RM's or CM's. It is more common than you think, and very easy to fix if you are diligent.

One way to help reduce the hunger and later on, cravings for more carbs (this is VERY crucial for folks like myself who have over 100 or more pounds to lose) is to add protein to your RM salad.

Make it a bigger salad if you find yourself more hungry than usual during the day, and add things like 1/2 cup of low carb cottage cheese, 1/2 red or white kidney beans, and one meat roll (ham, turkey, bologna, salami, cheese, any type) cut into pieces after you roll them up together. Sometimes I have all three of those things in my salad.

Add a variety of veggies to your salads- a mix of low carb and higher carb veggies. I save my lettuce for the reward meal salad most days, and it really helps fill me before I start with the yummy dinner I have planned out. The bigger and more protein filled the salad, the less you have room for carbs later on. Chew your salads slowly, don't inhale. It usually takes me about 15-20 minutes to eat my salad, and I do this on purpose to help fill me up. The fiber will take care of the rest in a few minutes time after eating it.

I do not eat or drink anything with artificial sweeteners during my CM meals. That was something that I never knew about before was that it can trigger hunger and cravings- even a small amount of them will do it for some people. I know others don't have a problem with them and have a diet coke or sugar free jello with their CM's, but for me, I can't do it or I'll be hungry within an hour or two. Cutting these out or saving the Diet Coke or Diet Jello for the RM's is the best route, if you really want them. I sometimes miss my Diet Coke, so I have it with my RM, but AFTER my salad.

I've done this diet before, and I know first hand that it works. I lost 50 pounds in six months time back in the 90's. However, back then I was eating two CM's a day, along with the CM snack and RM. I didn't really portion out the RM's back then, but I did eat my small salad before the meal. Amazingly, I did lose that 50 lbs eating that way, but I find the CALP much better, as I only eat now one CM a day and one RM. By having a bigger salad at my RM filled with some protein foods, I find that I am literally stuffed for another 12-16 hours. I eat my reward meal later in the evening (around 8 PM) and have my CM around 12-1:30 pm, whenever I am hungry for it is when I eat it.

It is VERY important to balance out the protein, low carb veggies, and carbs. Please read the books and great threads on this website- lots of great information is on here from regulars like Enomarb and Hoppinnnn- they're a wealth of excellent information and are always very helpful. Post on here daily, let everyone know how you're doing. If you have a rough day and went off plan, hop right back on it again at the next meal and don't look back. You're human, and we all have moments of weakness here or there, or circumstances beyond our control cause us to eat more carbs than we should. Just forget about it, move on, get back on plan. This isn't a race to the finish line- you'll get there, when you get there, and hopefully, by the end of this journey you will feel and look great and know that it has been well worth it.

Audrey

What I found works great for the hunger you feel is to drink 1-2 tbls of cider vinegar mixed with water. You can mix the glass full and just take a few sips when the hunger hits and it goes away for a few hours.

What a great post, Steelslady! Full of lots of good info regarding how to make the plan work for you. I think most folk have to tweak the plan according to their personal food preferences, and how they feel throughout the day. Thanks for your input. It's very encouraging to someone like me who has been a chronic 'dieter' for nearly 50 years (yikes! That makes me sound as if I'm ancient! But I began the diet/binge thing before I was even a teen). I'm very sensitive to carbs, as well as wheat, so it's a constant struggle.