Newbie Questions
 

I have a few questions I was hoping you guys could answer.

1. I am really fussy, tried homeade dressings, walden don't like any. Have any of you used store bought dressings and succeeded. (not looking for recipes). Ie: ff kraft italian.

2. I am not a big fan of lettuce, could I eat 2 cups of cucumber for lunch and 2 cups of mushroom for supper?

3. Can I eat eggs everyday?

Thanks

I'm a newbie too! But I do know you can eat 2 cups of any acceptable veggies listed on your blue sheet. if mushrooms are acceptable then you can have 2 cups of them, I know cucumbers are because I am eating about 2 whole cucumbers a day ontop of pickles (snacks) and broccoli and zuccini, and I do have green beans twice a week. I am not sure about the eggs, havent had them yet! :)

1) Most, if not all of the ff dressings that you can get at the store are not 0/0/0 like WF is, so they're not IP-compatible. Many of us here have tweaked WF dressings by adding things to them, which makes a world of a difference. The thousand island dressing is great in "big mac in a bowl." The honey dijon dressing is great to use for marinating chicken. The thick and spicy bbq sauce is good for that too. I use the peanut butter to make thai peanut chicken. Get creative!!

2) Lettuce is an unlimited veggie and doesn't count towards your 4 cups of vegetables a day. It's more like, have 4 cups of acceptable veggies, and however much lettuce you want if you're hungry. There's been numerous times I've had 2 cups of cucumber for lunch and 2 cups of mushrooms for dinner, so enjoy! Just make sure that you're not eating the unallowable vegetables, and only eating up to twice a week from the list of occasional veggies.

3) 2 whole eggs a day on Phase 1 is one of the acceptable protein foods listed with meats and fish. However, that means that you can have meat, if you wanted. Sometimes, I also use tofu.

Veggies
 

Can those mushrooms be cooked in olive oil or some type of flavoring? I don't eat raw ones. Any suggestions?

Pickles are awesome too!

I hear you on the WF dressing -yuck -- I have made a personal choice and it has probably stalled my weight loss some (but i am still loosing) to use Newmans Light Italian (it has low fat, very low carbs and no sugar). I knew that since this wasn't 100% IP it would probably affect me some, but I am willing to accept that rather then eat WF. (and since I have been doing this for almost 4 months - I needed to find ways to make this diet work) I also really like plain olive oil and lemon juice over my salads - very light and refreshing.

As for the lettuce - it is unlimited and you really need to eat it - I don't necessarily eat 2 a day but the micro nutrients and the ruffage of salad will help with the big C and will help you get additional vitamins. On the weeks where I skip salads for more then 2 days in a row I don't loose. Feel free to eat cucumbers and mushrooms - those are both IP approved veggies

You can eat eggs every day in place of your meat meal

In the beginning I think it is critical that you follow the plan as close as possible. Once you understand how your body will react and what works then I think you can make some minor modifications -(for instance I eat a hard boiled egg almost everyday around 3 in addition to my 3 packets and my meat meal -- I need the extra protein and fat otherwise I don't loose)

I use a bit of spray olive oil in a non stick skillet and saute my mushrooms that way -- if you add a bit of salt half way through cooking you will "sweat" the mushrooms forcing them to release liquid which helps them cook the rest of the way. I am always experimenting with spices and mushrooms -- so feel free to try different spices to add excitement - I also roast mushrooms in the oven and put the on the BBQ grill for a change.

Yes....I buy a big container of mushrooms from Sams. I slice them up and cook them in a nonstick pan with a little olive oil. I season them with Ms Dash orginal or just garlic powder and sea salt. Mushrooms put out a lot of liquid so I cook them down some, drain the liquid off then add my seasonings so I don't dump the good stuff down the drain. I put in fridge and pull out when needed. Once cooked I use them for my salads, the omelet packet but I make into scrambled eggs with the mushrooms and cooked bell pepper (which I cook a bunch of and have on hand). When I cook a steak or chicken breast I add the cooked mushrooms toward the end of the cooking time just to warm and marry with the flavors from the meat....yum. When I do the chicken this way I also add fresh spinich leaves into the pan..put lid on to wilt spinich down..then will mix with the mushrooms...again yum. The spinich cooks waaaaay down so if you don't like a lot veggies but need your 2 cups this is the way to go...you can put in 2 cups of spinich and come out with 1/2 cup by the time it cooks down. I also peel garlic, put in a jar and add olive oil...first it gives the olive oil flavor and second I have clean garlic at hand for cooking.

Walmart sells a brand GRYO they are almost all 0/0/0 and they are good, I love the mango one.

The lettuce helps keep you full and since it is a freebie I make sure to have it twice a day, sometimes more.

I've seen a lot of people talking about this WFs food.. I was wondering if anyone knew if it was available in Ontario, Canada?

Thx

Walden farms.

Where in Toronto are you? Do you know Thornhill at all?(just north of North York-Vaughan area) there is a Sobey's in Thornhill that I have gone to to buy WF. They have a whole isle of their products. If you drive north and you can get to yonge and steeles. Keep driving north on Yonge until you get to Clark ave. Turn left on Clark and drive until you see the Sobeys (a few blocks)-in between yonge and bathurst.