I will listen to all advice with an open mind in a way that I haven't before, and I'm prepared now for really straight-up advice.

Also I apologize in advance for posting stupid questions like some of the following may be.

Okay, first off, I am going to start Phase 1 again on July 13th, (that's when I have my monthly food budget and we cut corners so we've got more $$ to work with this time.) I would be doing it right now, but I ran out of all my phase 1 foods and although I've got a freezer full of meat, for lunches and breakfasts I am having to incorporate some of the no-no's of Phase 1. So I'm gonna start again on the 13th, and before then I plan on getting as informed as possible, and making lists based upon the great advice I got under my thread about budgeting, and this time plan on being truly prepared. I am looking forward to it and HONESTLY want to do this right this time.

Until then, I'm eating as Phase 1'ish as possible, like I made tuna salad for dinner last night and ate it on cucumber coins rather than crackers. But I did eat leftover Chinese rice for breakfast as was necessary. I am just counting calories for now until the 13th when I start up with phase 1 again.

So, I was just wondering if anybody has any suggestions as to what sort of things I should do to prepare, if anything.

Also my 2nd question refers to exercise. I plan on doing at least 30 mins a day, maybe more. And I plan on doing strengthening exercises as well. This sort of stuff I'm starting today.

I've got an exercise DVD that is an hour long, it's pretty much cardio. What sort of strengthening exercises do you guys recommend? There's so many of them and I got some really good tips from a chick on one of the other 3FC forums, but there's no such thing as too many tips!

Also one of my main problems is laziness. How do I get up and get motivated, especially when it seems every few minutes I'm having to tend to my son? (Not that I mind that, but sometimes I think, my god, does he ever nap?) He is 5 months now and really doesn't nap throughout the day. He sleeps all through the night, wakes for a morning feeding, then naps another few hours, and then that's basically it for the day. How can I exercise and still manage to keep up with him?

Also everyday I HAVE to watch my Days of Our Lives, that is like, non-negotiable. Does anybody have any reccomendations as to what I can do during the program, like any sort of 'sit down' exercises or 'stand up' exercises I can do while still watching my beloved soap?

Hi there Fat Melanie......I don't have children so I am not able to give advice about caring for a 5 month old and excersie etc......BUT I have discovered an excellent work out dvd from Jillian Micheals (the tough trainer from the biggest loser)...it is called the 30 day shred and I used in june for about 3 weeks to fit into a bridesmaid dress (couldn't get the zipper up) and after the 3 weeks the zipper went right up (I was watching what I ate but was not on SBC)....and the best thing is it is only 30 min and there are 3 levels...i have made it to level 2 now.....the dvd is a short one but you have to give 100% and push yourself for the opportunity to get a "kick your butt" workout in 30 min instead of an hour or more... as for food it is hard to say what your likes and dislikes are....what i did the week before was right down a menu for my first week and refered to the book throughout that......I had to find a structured day that I could live with and not seem deprived of food or flavor.....so it took a couple of drafts to get a menu i was happy with but in the end I am not a person that can wing it on SBC....I need to know what to take out of the freezer and what veggies to make etc.....so for me that is best way to keep me on plan.......and in response to your days of our lives question if you have a treadmill then that would be a great option to do during the show but if you don't Jillian Micheals also has a great book out that has excersises you can do by looking at the pictures so you could do that during your show.......anyways I hope there was some useable info there .......

Jillian guest-appeared on Days of Our Lives a month or so ago, and she looks so buff and fabulous. It was because the host of Biggest Loser, Alison Sweeney, has played a character named Sami on Days of our Lives for years, and she had started gaining weight and lost it with the help of Jillian I believe, and being that Jillian’s on the Biggest Loser as well, she made a cameo playing herself in a scene on Days when Sami was at the gym, and her trainer was no other than Jillian. Thought that was pretty cool, though a not so subtle advertisement of the Biggest Loser show, lol. So yeah, I would really love to find that Jillian Michaels DVD, I can definitely fit in 30 minutes, I should have no excuses to not fit it into my schedule. Thanks for that tip! I’ll check out Walmart and see if they have it. I love your idea of drafting a menu I can live with before the week starts, then I would have no excuse to go off plan. That was part of my problem, I wouldn’t take out food for the next day or put stuff in the crockpot or defrost stuff, or really have a good idea of what I was gonna cook, so I would wing it, and then sometimes when I got lazy and didn’t know what I was gonna cook, I would turn to the evil foods out of hunger and that was a large part of my screw ups. Excellent advice, thank you. Definitely am gonna do exactly what you said.

Try exercising WITH you baby...great for both of you:

http://infant-toddler-health.suite10...with_your_baby
http://www.fun-baby-games-online.com...-and-baby.html

#1 channel some of your eating out budget to more in house food and be used to eating at home.

the best thing i can tell you to prepare is to read the book and also all the faq and stickies for the forum

throw out all the food you will no longer eat. if the bf balks, well you have a much bigger problem then dealing with sbd and how to learn to love this plan for the rest of your life.... when we got ready we ate all the bad stuff and what we did not eat we gave to friends... or threw out. if it's not i the house you can't eat it.

I did NOT eat out i phase 1 or early phase 2

i cooked in advance
i planned my meals for the week in advance
i did not plan but should have planned to spend about 1/3 more on my food budget than I did and that was buying JUST beachy food to replace the other stuff it was not IN ADDITION to other foods.... i am going to assume your baby is bottle fed and maybe even started on solids.... if i'm wrong more power to you... better for you and the baby.

The only experience I really have is raising my son. When he was 5 months, he was taking a lot of naps (at least two a day)...but, all babies are different, so...if you can't exercise in the couple hours that you have during the morning...exercise with him! Take him out for a walk in the stroller - it is great for him and you.

Not eating out or cutting way back as Nessa suggested is a great way to stretch your budget. Until you actually have that money that you spend on eating out in your pocket, you will never believe how much you actually spend!

Planning ahead is the best thing you can do on this diet. Seriously. It is very important.

Thanks Femmecreole, what a fabulous website!!! My baby weighs 15 lbs so I ought to see some muscle tone after awhile, eh? Awesome!

Ladybugnessa,

My BF always wants to eat out, or grab something from BK or Hardees (he is obsessed with burgers.) But I can always make myself something and let him go eat whatever. Matter of fact, I could freeze some stuff that I can just toss in the microwave. I will take your advice and not eat out anymore, because it always poses a problem for me in that I find it hard to say no to certain foods that would be detrimental to any healthy eating habits. If, on phase 2, if we do go out to eat at a restaurant, I can always order a salad, luckily for me, I do love salads. And I’ll tell BF that if he wants to go eat crappy food at a fast food restaurant rather than eat a home cooked meal, than he will have to take that out of his own pocket money, rather than our food budget. Maybe that will help me. I like the idea of planning my meals in advance, I could get to work one weekend and cook up a bunch of SBD friendly food, then freeze, and then I would have absolutely no excuse to not eat right. What sort of meals are good to freeze?

Yep my little boy has started on solids as of last week. He was breast fed but then for some reason, my milk production started decreasing and I had to start supplementing with formula which really disheartened me because I am a breastfeeding supporter. I am convinced that when I was producing a lot of milk, that’s mainly the reason why I shed my pregnancy weight besides the fact that 80% of the time, I ate pretty healthfully (with some binges and bad stuff here and there which are the bane of my existence.). Cause they say you burn calories by producing milk… and my doctor said it burns 500 cals a day or something or the other. but right now, I am giving him bottles of formula and trying to pump as much as possible to up my milk production (am I giving waaaay too much info right now? Lol. Sorry, I ramble on too much.)
________________________________________

Zeffryn, can we switch kids? No, just kidding, I love my son but he isn’t much of a napper. He’s napping right now, though, but he doesn’t nap for long, and then he demands so much attention. But god, he’s adorable. Wish I could get him on some sort of nap schedule, though.

Definitely will start taking him out in the stroller for walks, we’ve got a 2ndhand Graco that has those sort of wheels that will roll through ANYTHING, gravel, anything, yet it’s light to lug up and down stairs, so that works in my favor.

At everyone’s suggestion I’m very much done with eating out (unless BF absolutely insists, and then I’ll have salad), and also very much so gonna plan ahead. Since I’ve got about 2 weeks before I start phase 1 again, I have no excuse to not plan everything down to a T. I’m really excited that I can do it this time. Last time, I had done some pretty poor planning, skipping meals and getting hungry then eating the wrong stuff, and had already spent most of my food budget before asking for budget advice on the forum. I think those aforementioned reasons, and plus my tendency to binge had a lot to do with my previous failures in phase 1. If I plan ahead, I won't be able to make any excuse at all for not eating right. I just want to do this so badly. I’m gonna make sure to go back and read over all of you chicks’ suggestions under the budget thread so that when I do shop again, I am really prepared.

You guys, I really appreciate your help and for bearing with my non stop questions.

Have you tried grilled bison burgers? I love burgers too...and the bison burgers are permitted on phase I (no bun of course). I make them with cheese (RF provolone or cheddar) and sauteed onions and mushrooms. I wish I would have taken some out today, because they sound good right now!

And I echo what others said about planning your meals. I plan mine a week in advance, and make sure I put the meat in the fridge to defrost while I'm cooking the current night's dinner. Sometimes, I make multiple servings of the meals that I cook for dinner (such as your stuffed pepper recipe) so on those nights where I'm too tired to "cook", I can just pop them in the stove to warm up for a few minutes.

For me, the way to do a completely clean Phase 1 was to plan my meals, as others have suggested, at least 4 days in advance. I usually planned a week in advance and did one big shopping trip to cover it.
I also made sure to eat my snacks, and took care to never feel too hungry.
I stayed completely clean the second time I did Phase 1 and I lost 11lbs. My starting weight was similar to yours.

My advice for exercise in P1 is to go easy on yourself. Don't have too high expectations. The withdrawal from the bad carbs can leave you feeling a little weak and tired. (But there are ways to avoid this). So dont set yourself too high of a challenge for your workouts. Walking should be fine.

And my last piece of advice for P1? To reiterate - keep it clean. Don't cheat. Dont tweak the plan. Read the book and understand the theory of body chemistry behind this plan. If you follow it strictly, your cravings will go away and you will lose weight.

Melanie,

My DH eats out now without me if it's fast food or finds a place I can get a salad and chicken or salmon if its not....

it CAN be done!

how much did ds weigh when he was born?

I sometimes wish I had a smaller kid. People think he is a ******ed 4 year old...when he is only 2. Poor baby.

I don't have advice for you, i just wanted to say that eating tuna salad on cucumber coins is SUCH A GREAT IDEA! We planted six seedlings, three survived and they are taking over our garden! I have so many cukes I dont know what to do with them. I think I will take your suggestion and start using them like chips and crackers. Thanks!

Some other good ideas are here: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...=1#post2250834