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Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Central Illinois
Posts: 980
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Height: 5 ft 5.525 inches
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Phase 4 Meal/Snack Ideas
Since Phase 4 is so wide open in terms of choices, I guess on purpose..., I found it confusing and scary to start it. So, I thought a thread with just ideas on foods, what the experienced people have used that worked, would be helpful for those of us just starting it, or planning to start soon. I really want to understand this stuff to where I don't screw up my body again, never again.
The IP info is not real specific on some quantities, calorie limits, etc. You can have unlimited vegees, so I guess you could just use some as snacks. You can have those forbidden potatoes, carrots, etc., and IP doesn't limit the amount or frequency, but it seems to me that I want to use caution or I'll end up with a pancreas in overdrive again.
What a 'serving' is...you have to read the labels on the foods you get. There must be an industry standard of calories or some limit that defines what a serving is, and it will vary with each product.
Snacks:
You can have a snack and a dessert now. I am finding I need something late morning and afternoon, so maybe I'll be splitting a serving of a snack into two. I still really want my evening dessert. I see now why everybody likes the packaged bars, as the calories really are low for the protein you get. I like them too, but am also trying to have simple things I can make.
I thought maybe snacks before lunch should be more like lunch, i.e., low carb but some fat, and the same goes with the afternoon snack, that it should look more like dinner. The IP guy tonight said it didn't matter. A coach there suggested I focus on snacks with a good protein content more than how many carbs or fats they have, as long as the carbs were slow carbs. She suggested milk, almond milk, yogurt or string cheese. I really like hummus, but since it has olive oil in it, I thought it had to wait until splurge day. This coach said she thinks that when it is a combo of healthy carb/oil, it is okay to have together, and the amount of oil in it is not much. I don't know.
Breakfasts are pretty well laid out by the Phase 3 chart, grains, dairy, protein, fats...with limits on your grams of each as well as calories. You just keep doing that for Phase 4.
Late Morning Snack
Lunches are low/no carb but some fat. So, basically, you can take your lunches that you were making since Phase 2, i.e., not an IP packet, but some animal protein with the vegees, and are allowed more fat than before, like some cheese or nuts, yogurt or 1 tbsp olive oil (they say at least 1 tbsp).
Late Afternoon Snack
Dinners are complex carbs but low/no fat. I was told that I could still use my 2 tsp olive oil to do my stir-fry of vegees, just not stuff like Alfredo sauce. So, it is the same as Phase 1, but now with a serving of a complex carb added, like a good whole grain pasta, or brown rice or black beans. If I use any cheese, it is a fat-free version.
Dessert You are allowed a serving of fruit at dinner, and so far I have taken that fruit and had 1/2 serving of that with 1/2 serving of Fat-Free Greek Yogurt for an evening dessert. I plan to have IP snacks or drinks, and will try some of the cheaper alternatives too. It sounds like an evening snack with low fat is better than one with lots of fat, because your body is now processing the complex carbs.
Sorry, this post went longer than I thought it would. As I get more meals under my belt, I will post the specifics. I'd really appreciate it if experienced Phase 4'rs or newbees who understand this stuff would do the same.
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