[skherb]

I am comng on 2 weeks on Phase I. I am still having the cravings for the sugar so was thinking of trying to stay on it for another week or so. Has anyone had continued success staying at this Phase? What is the longest anyone has staye don I. Thank you

[aggie/1/ca]

Hey there, skherb......I had to be drug, kicking and screaming!, to phase 2! LOL! I think I did phase 1 for about 6 weeks....but let me tell you why. I started SBD last July 7. In the first 3-4 weeks I lost 20 lbs!!! But then.....I went on vacation.....and despite my best intentions, I gained 13 back! So......back to phase 1 for me when I got home! I stayed on that for another 2-3 weeks and lost those 13 lbs amazingly quickly (like in 10 days!). Then I went to phase 1.5--- the only real carb I ate was some cereal for breakfast. Once I got a little more comfortable and felt that the scales weren't going to suddenly start going back up, I added fruit and, on occasion, some rice or pasta (WW of course!) at night. Since then I've stopped eating all starchy carbs at night--- if I do eat something like that then I usually gain a little or don't lose anything.

You just have to see what works for you--- if you go to phase 2 (and you should-- there are soooooooo many more foods to choose from! You will be bored and tempted to cheat more if you stay on phase 1 toooo long) add just one new thing to your diet. See how your body reacts to it-- does it create cravings? Are you hungry again w/in an hour of eating it? Do you gain (or not lose) that week? If you have no problems with it, try something new the next week. If you do have problems, stop eating it for awhile, try something else and see how that goes. But-- it's kind of an individual thing-- what works for me might not for you, and vice-versa.

Good luck to you!

[chick_on_the_beach]

I stayed on phase one for one week then introduced f/f fruit yogurt (which is technically not legal until phase 2) but stayed on that for two more weeks. If you are craving sweet foods still it may be a good idea to look at what you are eating. I found that eating ww jelly/jello was enough to start giving me sweet cravings again that I lost in phase one when I basically stuck to the foods list in the faq section of this board.

[RNMOM]

I stayed on Phase 1 exactly 2 weeks. I don't think I could have stayed on it longer. I was so bored with the food and I think it did what I needed it to do. I was sicker than heck for 10 days of the 14 days. I came off 12 pepsis a day about 7 candy bars a day and eating whatever I wanted when I wanted. SO, doing phase 1 was very difficult for me. The only reason I was able to stick with it (cause I felt so horrible) was that the scales were really moving. I lost 9.5 the first week, 2 the second week. I never lost like that again, but apparently it was enought to keep me going. By the end of two weeks I felt good enough and scared enough of sweets that I wasn't going to go back.

There are times now that I know I overdo with fruit, and I'm sure that's why I can't lose these last few pounds. I also cheat with too many nuts and popcorn.

This week I'm determined to stay away from the fruit. I'll be doing a phase one to see if I can kickstart this last 4.5 pounds.

[Saartje]

I am on my very last day of Phase I and I agree with RNMOM, I am SO happy to be done with it! I am so bored with the food choices! I can't wait to mix it up a bit! I have a lot of weight left to lose though so if I see some weight gain or no loss at all I might mix in a few days in a row of phase I.
This is the first time I have tried SB so I'm just going to have to see, add a few carbs back at a time and see if they are ok for my body....GOD I hope they are!! I miss my popcorn!

[jenne1017]

I too have been back an fourth on Phases 1 & 2 since I started on May 3rd. There were holidays and events for which I went off the beach, but got back on. The longest I've been on Phase 2 is 1 week. Now, I am kind of combining the two phases so I don't get frustrated!