I just started smashing away yesterday. I think I had an okay day of it, I just felt hungry a lot of the time.. I realized how much I credit meat and chicken for making me full.

Anyone else in Phase I?

Hi! I just finished PI and I'm onto P2. Are you eating enough? You should not be hungry in P1. Are you eating at least 4-5 meals a day and drinking your water?

I remember the hard part about starting a new diet is figuring out what to eat. I made a meal plan for the first couple of days and made up a couple of dishes to start me out so I was prepared.

Make sure you have plenty of brown rice, red beans, chick peas, already prepared and stored in your fridge. That will get you through the first few days. Then go thru the recipe section and prepare a couple of recipes ahead of time that you can also store in your fridge. Then all you have to do is portion them out during dinner or lunch.

I made myself the veggie chili and lentil soup so I had them ready to eat. These got me thru the first week.

Also, make sure you have lots of fresh veggies and fruit to eat. Remember you can eat all the fruit and veggies you want so take advantage and snack away on these. Another trick is to get frozen fruit or freeze fresh fruit like grapes and eat them for a snack.

I also bought low fat milk and soy milk to drink with my meals and my favorite herbal tea to drink in the morning or in the evening.

If you need any help just ask. Good luck!!

I also did a lot with the brown rice, ie making the full 2 cups and mixing in vegetables and spices. Not exactly a stir fry but still alright. The first day was rough. It's important to learn how to season the food.

You will learn to experiment, and your tastes will change. Mine did. Just make sure you eat every few hours.

Yesterday was much better.. I think it was a matter of getting used to the diet and maybe part of it was psychological.. like you know you are on a diet, so it almost makes you want to eat more..

On the other side, I've been enjoying the cooking.. kind of forced me to think of new ideas for eating.. like yesterday I made vegetables that I usually like to BBQ and just tossed them in a wok for a bit so that they were soft and they were almost as good as if I had them on the grill.

So far I've made the following dishes:

brown rice (of course)
chickpeas with green peas
daal - lentils
curried brocolli with onions
BBQ style vegetables
chinese fried rice (see in recipe forum)

Hello - I would like to join you on Phase 1. I am starting Sunday - 2/15/09 and would love to have a buddy or buddies!

NewEnglander- If you need a buddy you found one! Feel free to pm me or post right here in the FS section.

Paperskin - Looks like you are really mixing up your meals. So many newcomers forget that you don't have to eat just brown rice and beans all the time! I don't think you'll have that problem!!

Try not to think of it as a diet so much but as a life style change. To lose weight you HAVE to eat. Its amazing how many people get that backwards. Focus on good eating, don't miss meals, exercise, and you'll sail thru P1.

Thanks so much AppleValleyGirl - I am all excited to get started!!!

paperSkin - those are some great meals!

I would like to try again on 2/15. I do great for about a week and start to cheat.....Maybe doing it with some others would motivate me!

Hi guys! Great to see there are so many of you here.. Hope you are all having some nice valentines days. We celebrated yesterday, and I took the day off.. I know I just started, but I cheated in a controlled way.. lots of veggies.. a little bit of meat.. and very limited dessert. I hope it doesn't make a big difference, but I'm back on board.. today was a great day!

Hello. I'm not on Fat Smash currently, but I did do it about a year ago and had great results!

Corn on the cob is great with just seasonings, I think you can have spaghetti sauce? If so have Vegetable Ragu.. You just brown broccoli, zucchini, onion & mushroom slices in a pan with water, then when they are done add your spaghetti sauce and Italian seasonings its realllly good and filling.

What made you decide to change plans?

I bought the book over the weekend and started yesterday! I've been on much harsher detox plans, so this Phase 1 is not so bad.

Fat Smash starting weight: 182
Current weight: 180

I'm no longer on Fat Smash because I'm now vegan, but I pretty much eat Fat Smash friendly minus dairy or meat

Welcome! I've been on the plan for 7 days now and I've lost about 6lbs. I found the first couple of days hard.. but it got better after the second day.

i just started today [well day 1 is pretty much almost over] and i felt good. i think it is going to be easy yet challenging..but i am definiteyl up for the challenge!