Hi,

I am new to this plan and actually just ordered the book and have not read it. But I was just diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and after hours of reserach on the internet, this plan, originally devised for type 2 diabetics, sounds right for me. I need to know a few things if someone can help. I have cataracts and cannot drive - I am only 48 and a mom of two and this is HARD. I finally found a charity to cover the cost of surgery, but my BP is so high and they found other health problems, including diabetes, and they won't take the cataracts out until everything is under control. I can't just run to the grocery store when my book comes as I have no willing drivers! I will be going Friday to the store and probably won't get to again for a couple of weeks and I am anxious to get a start due to the crisis of needing a cataract out so I can drive again!

My questions -

From what I read, I will need whole milk and dairy?

Are carrots allowed? Cucumber? Celery?

I know the first phase is more strict - any veggies? I walk 1-2 miles daily. I think I read leafy greens if you exercise.

It sounds like meat, cheese, butter are allowed on the induction - anything else you could summarize briefly?

The person who posted last asked if anyone wanted to be a buddy! I would love to have a partner to help me get started!

Thanks so much if anyone can help!

Jan

Wow, don't you guys knock me over with all the support, now

I just joined this forum today. I went on TSP about 9 years ago and lost 15 pounds but then I went on a mission trip to Mexico where all there was to eat was chips, tortillas, beans, and rice and I didn't get back on it when I got home from the trip. Now I'm thinking of getting back on it again because it is satisfying and you don't feel deprived when you are on it. You can eat some of the carbs you want, just in smaller quantities and put some good fat with it and protein. I believe you can eat many vegetables on the plan and not worry about carbs. Get a glycemic index chart of common foods and look for vegetables that at below 20 and I believe you can eat as much as you want of these. I hope this is helpful.

Thanks Loren. I've gotten my book since that post and I feel it is a pretty sensible plan. I am a little confused that she doesn't mention cow's milk but I am assuming it is frowned upon. She gives values for sheep's milk and buffalo milk but not cow's milk! I am looking forward to seeing if it helps my diabetes an high BP by shedding a bit of weight if nothing else!

Jan

She does allow cow's milk. She only mentions the others for those who may have allergic reactions to cow's milk. I started to read the Program - her third book and it is pretty good. I made the mistake of reading a Suzanne Somers book and it made things confusing for me. I was thinking of doing her plan instead but realized the SP is much more healthy and balanced. I didn't feel good not eating any carbs with proteins and fats and it made my head feel funny and I just felt out of balance. I think the SP is a superior program and she is the medical doctor out of the two.

I did Suzanne Somers a while back but I found the food combining hard, and as you said Diana S. is a doctor and since I just found out I have diabetes and she is a diabetes doctor, all the better! I have already lost five pounds just doing it a couple of weeks and part of that was before I got the book and was not fully aware of all I should do, just started restricting carbs! I am fully satisfied and actually get too full to eat the snacks so am cutting back the meal sizes to very small meals. I am doing meat, veg and just a couple tablespoons of brown rice or a salad with meat or cheese, and I am feeling better and hoping to keep losing weight. My blood sugars were alarmingly high - 530 when I didn't even know I had diabetes, but suspected it. I am on two meds now, tablets, but hope to cut back and then off eventually. I am so motivated to stick to this diet!

I'm glad the milk is allowed - I still haven't found a reference to it at all in the first book, which is all I have. I have been drinking just one small glass a day. I'm feeling I can do this WOE without much cheating at all down the line! I am surprised it is not more popular!

Jan

Hi Jan,
I just registered here myself. It is my understanding that milk is not recommended, especially during the healing phase. Schwarzbein says it is very high in sugars. Cream is Ok, though.

Laura

On page 78 of The Program, her latest book, she says to avoid drinking milk, esp. on the Healing Plan, but if you are on the Maintenance Plan you can have whole organic milk because the fats in it slow the absorption of the sugars in the milk. She says not to drink more than one glass per day. I went on her website and she recommends that people following her program go by the information in The Program as it has the latest information and she changed a couple things since her first book.

We have a local dairy that delivers milk and I have been getting the Royal Rich milk. It is in between half and half and whole milk. I'm sure the extra fat in it is even better for slow absorption of sugars. I have been drinking about a 1/2 cup per day. I am on the Maintenance Plan because I do not have the issues listed on p.183 and just have weight to lose -- about 40-60 pounds.

Thanks for the further info about the milk! I'm not going to be able to get the second book for a while. I've been busy all evening looking up recipes. I went to Recipezaar.com and put Low-Carb in the search engine and found several great recipes to try. It's a lot of work getting started back on this, especially with kids who are terrified I am going to put them on my diet LOL! I AM cutting their carbs a good bit too but still fix rice nad noodles for them, whole grain, and give them less than I used to. I don't want them to end up a type 2 diabetic like me! I thought I was eating pretty well with whole-grain pastas and lots of veggies but I did sneak in a lot of sugar in my tea and ate just too much pasta. Probably it is mostly growing up on a steady diet of white stuff, especially sugar! That southern sweet tea that is more like syrup and we lived near a day-old bakery. Sigh. If only you could turn back the clock and try again! Oh well, it feels good to be doing something now and so far sticking to it really well wiht seven pounds lost in a relatively short time!

Yes, getting used to no sugar in your tea will be an adjustment. The only artificial sugars the SP allows is stevia and xylitol - found in health stores. It does have a slightly off tastes but it's better than nothing if you really want something sweet. I don't mind no sugar in my tea if I make the tea weaker. I've switched to green tea and due to the antioxidents and benefits I may not give it up. It is the mildest on "toxic chemicals" she descibed in the Program book. Plus if you drink the tea with or after meals the caffeine is not absorbed as well into the body. I haven't fully started the program as I am easing into it. I have a bit of no-no food in the house like white pasta and such and I want my family to eat it up and not waste the food. I'm just eating much less of it and letting them eat it up and then I will buy the good stuff to replace it.

Buy the way try Amazon.com for books and buy used. I got my book for 5 or 6 dollars including shipping. The book was not in perfect shape but I don't care. It's cheaper and you get the info you need.

A good substitute for sweetened iced tea is to brew half regular tea and half fruity herbal tea -- like 4 bags of regular and 4 bags of lemom zinger or something else you like. I let these steep in boiling water in a pitcher, add lots of ice, and sweeten each glass with half a packet of stevia, or just put in a tiny bit of regular sugar if I'm out and can't get to the stevia. I make this regularly and it's a great sub for water if I'm tired of drinking so much!

Hi Jan, I am very very happy for you, that you are losing It is great! I also know a little bit how hard is to have kids and can't drive for a reason... I have 3 girls, thanks to the Lord my husband drive, and we have him on the weekends. I wish you the best, for me is very exciting to see that someone in this plan is losing. Healing, because as you said it seems easy to stay for life in it.
Before I was in the Zone, for about 4 years, it work great for me, but it is a bit lower in carbs, In the Zone I was able to lose and stayed on a good weight 118-119 for all that time.
This is my second time on Schwarzbein. And I feel good but the first time I gained weight and even that it stop at a point I felt so bad for the gain that I quit. In the other hand my Mom came to visit that same time, immediately she started losing, felt great and eat good food So I am not quitting yet, but there are not many people in the plan.. So thank you for sharing and the best for you!
I really like stevia now.
For me it helped to copy and put the pages with the quantities of food on my fridge. So I could have them at hand always.
Also having great snacks helps a lot too.
Sincerely,
M.

That's a good idea to put copies of the pages with food quantities (those with carbs) on the fridge. It's hard to always try to do it from memory and sometimes I'm off. Thanks for the great idea!

You're welcome Loren, it really does help I've done it for years, and if you high lite every other paragraph it helps even more to see it fast.
By the way I love green tea with a little tiny bit of goat's milk. And I used to hate it.. Specially I like the Kirkland brand.
With the stevia I think it depends also on the brand. You can buy it in liquid or in powder. I also buy the green powder.. but I only use that one to cook my oat groats. I use the liquid for tea, yogurt, cofee.. like SweetLeaf brand,- they also have that one with flavors grape, orange, chocolate, etc..- (my daughters like that one on water, and it tastes great on goat's milk yogurt).With time and effort you can get to love some things you use to dislike before.