It seems like a lot of new SBDers, especially those transitioning from P1 to P2, find it hard to figure out how they'll eat in P2. I know that we always remind people to take it slowly, add one thing a week and see how it goes, and remember to try eating things at different times during the day because they can affect you differently.
That said, I know I've heard of people who find they can't eat fruit, people who can't eat grains (or specific grains), or who can eat tons of both and still lose. Tell us what your combo is for Phase 2! How many servings of fruit can you eat a day and still lose? When can you eat them without causing cravings? How many servings of starch (good carbs) can you have a day? When can you eat them? What do you feel you need to eat everyday to really see good health and weight loss? What do you have to avoid to keep from triggers and off plan eating? How often do you go off plan (in a planned way) and have something non-beachy?
Fill us in...I know we can all learn from each other!
Here's mine:
Fruit: I can have one serving of fruit a day...I can usually add a second serving once in a while without messing things up, but if I have two servings every day, my weight stays the same or rises. I cannot have fruit in the morning or I crave all day. As long as I have it at lunch or after and eat protein with it, I'm fine.
Starches (good carbs): I can have one serving of these a day, though like fruit, I can sneak in an extra serving now and then without too much problem. I often have two servings on Sundays as a treat. I've also found that I can ignore (not count) the small bits of starches in things like wheat germ coating on chicken or a little bit of wheat germ in my yogurt, etc. as long as they aren't a full serving. I can have these for breakfast, but it does make it a little harder to not crave during the day. I have to have protein or fat with starches to keep from craving.
I feel healthier and lose more weight when I drink my water every day, eat beans every day (they fill me up and are a comfort food for me), eat a lot of veggies, and eat every three hours. I also strive to get three servings of milk or yogurt a day and get at least one serving by making hot cocoa at night with cocoa powder, SF syrup, and milk.
I have to avoid: anything made with malitol (sets off huge cravings!), the biscuits at Red Lobster, egg nog (can't have it in the house or I'll drink it!), and tortilla chips.
I rarely go off the beach...it's too hard for me to get back on and I have a really hard time dealing with how bad it makes me feel physically. However, I've gone off when I'm on vacation in another country--I tried sticking to plan in Europe the first time we visited, and I was light-headed from hunger. It was just too difficult. So I try to stick to the tenets of the plan (whole grains, lots of veggies, etc) and have a firm "if there are stairs, take them, if you can walk there, do it" requirement. As long as I do lots of exercising, I don't seem to gain too much. I usually am dying to get back to P1 when I get home after feeling totally out of kilter with all the bad carbs. It's a nice change, though...and I'm glad I've been able to eat regional foods. BTW, Germany is very SBD friendly! They serve meat and cheese at breakfast and have tons of whole grain breads and crackers. Yum!