How did YOU do Phase 1.5/2?

[FurnaceOfAchievement]

Hi everyone! I'm curious to know exactly how you approached Phase 1.5/2.

I've read back through lots of the old threads and I see that some people discovered that they can't have allowed foods at certain times of day and some responded well to fruit but not starches, or visa versa. How did you decide what to add back? Did you add back the same exact food for the first week, same time every day? Or the same *type* of food? When did you start mixing it up? Did you have a specific plan for what you'd be adding back at what times? What was your personal approach? How did your body tell you what was working and what wasn't? Also, did anyone hit a plateau as soon as you started 1.5? I don't know why but I'm worried about that.

Phase 2 is where I struggled a lot last time, so I really want to make sure I have a game plan. I'm trying to view this phase as the experiment phase, where I have to figure out what works for me and what doesn't.

Thank you so much!

[beerab]

My personal phase 1.5 was having 1 meal a day where I ate higher carb, usually breakfast or lunch. Usually a multigrain bagel with breakfast or a sandwich on wheat bread for lunch, that sort of thing.

[Lexxiss]

I think that to identify just what it is that works or doesn't you need to add slowly and keep the new foods to one at a meal. I added an apple a day to start out and I'm fine with apples but Matilda(Mmckellen) finds they are a trigger for her. Many will add berries to start off. Lots of beachers have steel cut oats in the morning but when I tried to add it as a lunch option I would go on a carb craze. I love oatmeal so we have it once a week as a dinner choice and I snazz it up by mixing pumpkin, spices, dried fruit and nuts. It doesn't seem to affect me the same at dinner...plus I go to bed early. I still don't eat much whole wheat bread but instead go for the sprouted varieties at the HFS (Ezekial-Food For Life).

We're all different for sure.

[WaistingTime]

I've done SB PH1 more than once. The first time I added back steel cut oats for breakfast first because I really, really wanted them. The second time, a year later, I took a different approach because what always seems to be my downfall is some form of a grain, like cereal or bread. So I figured it was best not to add those early in or early in the day. I added blueberries after dinner.

I have found that I do best when I keep PH2 foods to the latter part of the day. Seems when I eat fruit or grains early I crave more and eat more. Right now I rarely have grains of any kind before dinner. I rarely have fruit before late afternoon.

So for me, it is trial and error. Better IMO to be slow about it. My sign as to what is/isn't working is about cravings and what leads to overeating. And, yes, sorry to say that my weight loss slows after PH1. But I think that is a very normal response of our bodies.

Good luck.

[SBD Sass]

Sorry for this being so long...

OK so I went back into my food journal (I'm currently on week 149 yay!) and it looks like I started with a slice of 100% whole wheat bread. I would eat that slice with my lunch (M3) for the first week (P2W1) and if I didn't have that slice with lunch it looks like I ate 7 triscuits for my snack (M4).

For P2W2, I added in a grapefruit, but I didn't have one everyday because I know that I retain water from fruit so I took that slow.

P2W8 I had gotten brave and added some low-fat cream cheese to my triscuits, ate grapes and watermelon too. I didn't eat these things everyday, I spread them out throughout the week.

P2W9 I had eaten a lot of grapes from what I see. I also had some pineapple this week, again, not every day.

P2, W11 I ate plums on one day...

I don't think I was so brave in P2. Ha! I'm glad I did it this way though because I lost on average 1lb a week between P2W1 and P2W10. I had gained 1.6lbs and felt bloated on P2W11, but lost a total of 3.6lbs at P2W12.

In conclusion, that is how I ate through P2 (or call it P1.5). I kept the same P1 menu, but added in additional foods from the P2 list here and there. At P2W26 I reached my 50lb weight loss goal. I had gotten used to eating this way and it worked for me. I still eat this way, but I eat more (in portion size) since I don't need to lose any weight. I cut the portions down when I want to drop weight.

[FurnaceOfAchievement]

Wow, thank you so much everyone for the details! This is exactly the kind of info I was looking for to figure out a game plan and manage my own expectations properly, since so much of dieting is mental.