Is there such a thing? I know we are only allowed 4 cups per day but what if I am really hungry? What do you think? Thanks!

Lettuce is unlimited

You can have all the lettuce you want and my coordinator told me to have an extra IP packet if I was still hungry.

If you're very hungry and have been drinking plenty of water (because hunger is sometimes actually thirst in disguise):

- lettuce is unlimited as others have mentioned. Toss some romaine with your olive oil and chow away!

- you can have 2 egg whites per day as a "freebie" - they add 0 carbs, 0 fat and 0 sugar and only about 35 calories.

- an extra IP packet or a hard boiled egg is ok to have if necessary, but it's better to do the above first and see how you feel.

I bought some of those mini cucumbers from Costco and I will munch on one if I am hungry. I am a newbie but hopefully this is OK to do. I don't think eating a few more cucumbers per day is going to affect me!

I'm a "follow the sheet" kind of person, I've found that there is SO much more to the science behind this diet than just the calories (body pH, for example). So if the sheet says a veggie should be measured, I measure. But some clinics do allow cukes as an unlimited veg, it's just not actually part of the protocol.

Thanks, ladies! The thing is, it's not that I am that hungry. It's just that I don't really measure my veggies. Maybe I should.

i got told that lettuce cucumber and celery are unlimited! But i count them as my 4 cups

Lettuce does not have to be counted in the 4 cups, it is the only "unlimited" veggie out there. Nutritionally there's very little to it so it works as "filler"! You will actually miss out on nutrients if you are counting your lettuce and not using more veggies from the approved list.

I don't and never have measured veggies (except a few times to see how much I eat) and they measure out to about 1 to 1 1/2 cups so I am never at the max. Once you are 2-3 weeks in hunger is very very low. I have to choke them down.

I pretty much just "eyeball" my veggies rather than try to measure. I figure I did not gain all this weight by eating an extra ounce or two of cauliflower, LOL!

I have a hard time measuring my cooked veggies because I make them for the whole family. If I measured them first I'd have to make them seperately and I already have issues with making more than one meal for one meal!

Like Scorbett1103, I am a follow the sheet kind of person. With the veggies, its not as much about the volume, but about the carb counts. I've been really surprised at how many carbs are in veggies, and it makes a difference. But after 4+ months OP, I've learned what the portion sizes look like so I don't measure as much as I used to. Water is what I've found to be the ticket to curbing the hunger. I drink a gallon a day at a minimum and it makes a huge difference. I also use the "my fitness pal" app on my phone and am OCD about logging in my food and water. It helps me track my water and carbs so that I stay under 40 net carbs a day. Very very helpful!!!! For example, if you eat your once/week allowance of green beans and have a restricted bar and crispy cereal on the same day, you are already over 30 grams of carbs that day, so you have to be careful. My fav snack - 4 sugar free sweet pickles from Mt. Olive- maybe 8 calories and 2 carbs. Awesomeness!!!!! Hope this helps!
Ken

I usually measure veggies by putting chopped up veggies into a measuring cup (I have the set of 3 measuring cups that come in 1, 2, and 4-cup ones, and I use them all depending on how much I make at one time).

However, I found that grabbing chopped veggies with my both hands is approximately 1 cup. So that is handy sometimes when there is no cup around (although it doesn't work for already cooked veggies ).

I make vegetable soups often, and my compromise for not measuring before hand how many cups go into it, is to use 2/3 or 3/4 cup of cooked veggies in place of 1 cup raw.

I usually eyeball it too... But one of the reasons that I'm overweight is portion control. I don't need all those veggies. But I always justify it by saying that more veggies won't make THAT much of a difference. Just something I need to work on!