How can you find out if something is okay for this diet? I'm familiar with counting carbs, calories, fiber and fat but I don't know what to look for with this, and yes, I have the book.
In particular, at the moment, I'm wondering about flax meal.
I think what may be confusing to you is the fact that on SBD we aren't counting anything. For that reason the food lists appear less stringent, but they are there.
True, flax meal is not mentioned in the book. However, if you are on phase 1 you should stick to the list of allowed foods, and flax meal is not on it. There are no cereals or grains allowed during phase 1.
In phase 2 you can try to adding some of those things back in and see how they effect you. I can have All Bran cereal for breakfast now and still lose weight, as long as I dont eat certain other high carb foods. On phase 2 your food list is given as a guideline, and it's all about learning to make the right choices for you.
This is a great plan. It's simple and it does work.
Good luck!
Thanks, you guys! Another thing: as far as salad dressings, do you look for those that are low in sugar and not worry about the rest? Any suggestions on dressings?
I see you're in St. Cloud....I'm only about 4 hours from you...I'm in Grand Forks! Howdy Neighbor!!
In reply to your question about salad dressing....anything with less than 3 grams of sugar per serving is fine. You'll generally want to stay away from the low-fat and fat-free versions, since the fat is usually replaced with sugar. For the most health benefits, try using vinegar and olive oil, or lemon juice and olive oil...just by themselves or experiment and add different seasonings. That way you'll have the health benefits of the olive oil (heart healthy omega 3s), and also the acidity of the vinegar or lemon juice (which the book describes as "sugar stoppers"...they slow down the digestion/absorption of the carbs).
Thanks again. I'm getting myself geared up and intend to start the diet on Monday. I'm kind of sick of lettuce - unless it has some sweet poppyseed dressing. So, I'm planning on starting out with cucumbers and bell peppers. And egg salad and tuna salad and salmon salad. Does that sound okay? The mayonnaise is the stuff that's approved for Atkins so I'm thinking it's okay for this also.
Oh, and maybe cottage cheese if I can find the right stuff.
Welcome mschent If you are sick of lettuce try baby spinach and red peppers. I love to put water chestnuts in my salads. Mayo is allowed, the full fat kind. I have a question about Cool Whip. Aye or Nay???Cool Whip free only has 3 carbs and 1 gram of sugar. Julie
Glinda, I'm not sure (and I don't have any here to check), but I think CoolWhip contains trans (partially hydrogenated) fats, which is something that you want to avoid. You might want to check for that before you use it.
How do you know???
