[WakeMeForSummer]

Anyone have anxiety about moving from PI to P2?? I finally got used to P1 and Im afraid of gaining back.

[booklover]

Not terrified as much as frustrated. I'm having a lot of difficulty with Phase II, mostly because even the smallest amount of carbs or fruit tends to stall my weightloss completely or lead to binges. So, I've been staying on Phase I a little bit longer, and SLOWLY trying to do Phase II one or two days a week. I basically do 4-5 days on Phase I, 1-2 days on Phase II and someones 1 cheat day, where I allow myself to go off program, but not insanely.

On my days off (or cheat days), I still eat veggies, drink lots of water and even exercise. However, I give myself permission to have a donut, some pizza, or maybe potato chips. That's about it. The point is not to go crazy, but to give me some breathing room in my program so that I don't freak out and really binge.

Phase II is really hard. I hope you have better success with it than I am currently experiencing.

[WakeMeForSummer]

Thanks- looks like you're making excellent progress either way! I'm just afraid it's going to start at whole grains and end up back at pizza.

[booklover]

I hear ya. But don't worry, you'll do fine. This is the most successful diet I've ever tried, and honey, I've been on almost ALL of them! The results are very quick. I lost 16 lbs the first two weeks. The best part, though, is that you can move back and forth between Phase I and II as needed. If you gain some weight on Phase II, you can go back on Phase I for a while. It says it right in the book. I don't know any other diets that are that flexible.

Don't get me wrong, I am not an avid fan of Phase I. I don't like giving up fruit at all. So, on the days I try to ease back to Phase II, I usually have 1 fruit and try the grains for another Phase II day. It's not easy, but it's better than nothing.

Good luck to you. I have every confidence you will handle it fine.

[SwimGirl]

Uhm yah, count me in on this! I tried to slowly work my way into phase 2, and once I had a smoothie with strawberries for breakfast - it was on, I was craving crazy bad things. Basically I make it thru 2 meals a day on plan, and the last meal is just not pretty.

I plan to return to phase 1 for a little bit - just to get my body used to this again. I talked to this gal at work who has been doing South Beach for a year - and has lose 70 pounds - and she suggested every 2nd day having a phase 2 item, either whole grains OR fruit, but not both. Thats what really worked for her, and I'm thinking it might be the same for me.

Phew that was longer than I intended - hope it helped in some way.

-Aimee

[beachgal]

It's a bit scary at first, but you really, really have to learn to trust yourself and your ability to pay attention to what your body does. Just because you had a reaction to strawberries today doesn't mean you'll have a reaction to all fruit or even to strawberries ever again. That's why it makes sense to try something for several days to make sure it's either okay or a problem.

If you're scared, start out with the lower gylcemic index foods, like berries, so that it's not as much of a shock to your system. Yes, you will feel your blood sugar lift when you eat them. MAKE SURE that you combine your good carbs with protein, fats, or acids, to help them be released more slowly into your bloodstream, as Dr. A recommends. Never have just a cup of berries...have them with cheese, or put them in lowfat yogurt with a little SF vanilla syrup, or eat a piece of WW toast with cheese, natural PB, or dip it in olive oil. But don't eat it plain! That's going to make it harder for your blood sugar to cope and lead to cravings.

That said, though some people do well with having a cheat day, I have to admit that I don't see the point if you're doing SBD. I don't want this to sound like a condemnation of anyone...if it's working for you, go for it! But the whole point of going through P1 is to reduce cravings by getting that sugar out of your body. If you cheat even a tiny bit with something that is a bad carb or has sugar, you're going to need to detox again. That doesn't mean you can't EVER cheat. Planning a cheat time can be a really healthy thing! But if you have to do P1 for most of every week to work off what you ate over the weekend or on your cheat day, you might lose weight, but you won't gain health. P1 is just not meant to be an everyday thing. You need the nutrients, fiber, and other essential parts of fruits and good carbs in your regular diet. If you miss donuts or pizza or anything else, figure out how to make it SBD safe and go for it! Fry WW donuts in Canola oil and make them a once-in-a-while snack. Make a frozen SBD pizza, or even better, make your own with premade WW pizza dough (Wegman's carries a wonderful brand they make themselves...frozen dough that's easy to use!), the WW Boboli shell, or a WW pita. The only thing you can't do on SBD is make things that call for carmelizing sugar yourself (i.e the top of creme brulees). Other than that, you can do it! Even make marshmallows!

With P2, just ease your way into in and take the time to see what happens. One day is not enough time to know...so take the time to test each thing and really watch the results in your eating habits and the scale. Be aware that you might gain a couple pounds while you figure this out. It's WORTH it!!! Really!!! I gained a couple pounds figuring mine out, but I lost almost 100 after that...SO worth the work!!!

For lots of ideas and tons of inspiration, check out the What's Your P2 Combo thread. Hope it helps!

I know you can all do this...just trust yourself and all the support you have here!

[cottagebythesea]

Well said, Beachgal!

[WakeMeForSummer]

Swim girl-- I like that idea!

Beachgal-- You are wonderful!! Thank you SO MUCH for your support..you gave me the advice and inspiration I needed. :-)

[Sunnybunny]

Beachgal is so right. I did SB back in 2005 and I really had success. I was worried to death about going from phase 1 to phase 2 and I actually stayed on phase 1 for three weeks. I had to find my combo and once I did I was good. For me I could have ww bread once a day and a fruit two times a day without having a problem. Everyone is different so you have to figure it out.

You may ask...why did you ever stop the diet? Well...two words CHEAT DAYS!

One CHEAT DAY turned into a CHEAT MONTH and when I fell of the wagon I waited until it was 15 miles down the road and I couldn't possibly catch up. I started weight watchers and that was to easy to cheat for me. When I do weight watchers I eat all bad foods...on points but not healthy at all.

The one thing that I look forward to on phase 2 (I am on day 4 of phase 1) is making my ww pizza. I make my own crust and it is delicious. I could eat this and I still lost weight.

Back in 2005 I lost 40 pounds on SB and I felt great! I can't wait to feel that way again.

[booklover]

I agree 100% of what beach gal says here. (Congrats on the huge weightloss by the way!) The whole point of Phase I is to break the body of bad sugar addiction and the insulin cycle that follows. If you go off program and fall back into binge mode with sugars, candy, etc, you will just experience the same yo yo dieting phenomenon that plagues every dieter.

However, when I first started Phase II, I found that even eating a little bit of fruit, would make me crave more fruit (which I LOVED by the way, anyway) and then turn me on to other sweet things. Same thing for bread, which led to whole wheat pasta, which lead to whole wheat crackers, which led to pizza, etc. and then good bye weightloss.

So, I decided to EASE my way into Phase II, and see how my body reacted. So far, I've been successful doing Phase I for 4-5 days a week, Phase II for 2-3 days week. I hope to get to a point where I am comfortable doing Phase II every day AND still losing weight. Regarding the cheat day, the truth is, I am still experimenting with it. I don't intend to go overboard or make it a way of life. I just know that I need to have flexibility. That's one of the great things about the SBD -- it's very flexible.

I've tried the SBD Pizza and, sorry, but it tastes like cardboard to me. I prefer to make my own with either whole wheat pitas or whole wheat wraps baked in a cake pan with cheese and tomatoes. On days when I don't have those ingredients or I just really, really crave some pizza, I don't make myself crazy over it.

But everyone is different. Hopefully, you'll find your comfort level and continue to succeed. Good luck.

[LitChick]

This may be a silly question, but beachgal, how can you tell that your blood sugar is elevated after eating certain foods? I'm trying to get more in tune with my body's signals but I swear half the time I don't know what's going on!

If you're scared, start out with the lower gylcemic index foods, like berries, so that it's not as much of a shock to your system. Yes, you will feel your blood sugar lift when you eat them.