Hi everyone. I'm really stuck and could use any bit of help that you can give me. I'm going to post my meals/snacks and see where I am going wrong bc I am just not losing any weight. (Though I'm not gaining ) I'm trying to use Phase 1 until I lose a few more lbs. I'm going to try and be detailed so bear with me...

So far today: 1. Ricotta "french toast". Make with 1 cup ff ricotta, 2 eggs, imatation maple, vanilla, and cinn. Used a little more than half the mix. 2. Slice of baked ham, slice of ff cheese, and one egg all baked in oven 3. Romaine with lf blue cheese dressing w/ two big slices of cracker barrel sharp cheddar make w/ 2% milk and sf jello

Yesterday: 1. Quiche made of vegetable egg beaters, 2% sharp cheddar cheese, 93% lean hamburger, and broccoli. 2. 3slices of cracker barrel sharp cheddar made with 2% milk. 3. Lots of romain, ranch dressing w/ 2g sugar/serving (may have had two servings) w/ a chicken breast in buffalo sauce. 4. Fat free Ricotta with imatation maple, splenda, vanilla, and cinn. and about 5 peanuts 5. 93% lean hamburger with a bit of tomato sauce (4g of sugar/serving) with full fat cheese (7g fat/serving. bad, I know) and broccoli and onion w/ some broccoli on the side. 6. Ricotta again and cheated with 1/2 of a choc. chip cookie.

Day before yesterday: 1. 2 eggs with fat free american cheese 2. slice of ham and turkey lunch meat wrapped in lettuce with low fat mayo and about 15 peanuts 3. Same salad as above but with blue cheese dressing (2g sugar/serving) and sf jello 4. Maple ricotta 5. Same quiche as above 6. Sf jello Then around 8:30 I had a spoonful of full fat peanut butter

That is a pretty typical day. I will say that when I make jello, I tend to eat the whole box in one to two days. But I do not eat any other sweets besides sf gum. I will often have two helpings of ff ricotta a day. I may grab 1/2 a pita bread (Joseph's low carb high protein pita) I may also grab a two or three Sun Chips off my Dad's plate.

So let me have it. Do your worst. I really do appreciate it. Thanks so much.

Alli

Only thing I would say is to be careful of the use of full fat cheese/dairy and be careful of the ingredients in your sauces/salad dressings/mayo. Lowfat mayo usually has sugar added to it so full fat mayo is usually preferred I believe. Check your dressings and see if their ingredients have added sugars and such, it sounds like your dressings may.

Also, I'm not positive about this but I think if you have a serving of nuts in a day then you might want to not have a serving of peanut butter in the same day. Of course I'd also watch the cheats.

Nelie, you are right about the peanut butter. It is either 2 TBSP of natural peanut butter or 1/4 cup of nuts per day. Make sure you are not using the full fat peanut butter.

I'm wondering if you might be eating too much cheese but I'm not sure. Ricotta has a fair amount of calories and it seems to me that two servings a day may be too much.

Keep your sweets to 75 calories - even the Jello.

Allie, can you tell us how much you are looking to lose and how much you weight? It makes a huge difference in the appropriate portion size.

It also looks like you need more vegetables. I have read we should get 1/2 cup for breakfast and 2 cups for lunch and another two for dinner. I also try for a variety of vegetables. For instance, yesterday I had raw cauliflower for my morning snack, brussel sprouts with my lunch, raw red peppers and hummus for afternoon snack and broccoli cheese soup for dinner. I've always had the impression that lettuce is not considered a highly nutritional vegetable but maybe someone else can answer that. Romain would certainly be healthier than iceburg so you are doing well there.

Barb,
Could you clarify what you mean by "Make sure you are not using the full fat peanut butter" please?

Did you, perhaps, mean, use the natural, no sugar added peanut butter with no hydrogenated oils added?

So far, I've not seen a low fat version of peanut butter that did not include a healthy shot of sugars and hydrogenated oils.

Sarah

That's exactly what I meant. Thanks for describing it better. I took her comment about full fat peanut butter to mean that she was using regular peanut butter rather than the natural, no sugar added peanut butter with no hydrogenated oils added.

You may also want to try to use fitday (fitday.com) for a few days to see how many calories/carbs/protein you are eating. Definitely try to add some more veggies as well.

Fitday is great to help you figure out how you are eating. I tend to keep track a couple days a month or so just to check how I'm doing.

I've had to modify a couple times because if I'm not paying attention, I'll drop off my veggies and increase my dairy/cheese/nut consumption and wind up with a diet that's something like 50% fat or 50% protein.... oops! I try to keep it about 40% carbs-I'm in phase 2, it's hard to do that in phase 1, 30% protein, 30% good fat.

Fitday also helps let you know if you are getting the proper number of calories. I know we don't count calories, but everyone once in awhile it's helpful to have a general idea.

Thanks so much for your help. Ok...so I will try to cut back on the PB and nuts. I will also invest in some no sugar added/all natural PB as well. I am a HUGE fan of PB! Also, I will try to add more vegies to my plan. I thought that having a salad for lunch was enough, but I will def. do more to get those vegies in there. I do like them, it's just a matter of cooking them for myself. Um...lets see, oh! What should I be looking for in my dressings? I thought that 2g of sugar or less was the idea. No? I will def. get some reg. mayo too bc, though I only put a little on my lettuce wraps, I eat these almost daily.

So I was thinking of running to Boston Market after I go to Curves. Does that sound ok? I would get 1/4 of white chicken breast, green beans, and maybe the mixed vegies w/o eating the carrots or maybe some broccoli. Good or no? I always wonder about the butter and spices that they put on their sides. Does anyone know any more about those?

Thanks again. You guys are fabulous. Also, I tried to add my goals to my signature at the suggestion of many. I hope that helps. Talk to you later.

Alli -- It's looking very good to me as well. I am in an expirementing phase as well, and it's hard to know what your body can or can't have while still losing every week. I tend to get discouraged, but you are coming right along!

We don't have Boston Market here, but we do get the Rotisserie Chicken from the grocery store, so I would think that would be fine. Sometimes it's nice to have a break from the cooking, isn't it?

Lauren

Boston Market has a wonderful web site that lists a lot of information. The steamed vegetables are the only side that I saw was totally On Plan. The green beans are okay probably too but they are seasoned. I love their Sesame Broccoli but it is really not allowed since it is too high in sugar. Make sure that if you get the Quarter Chicken White that you remove the skin. I got the turkey last time I was there. You can also talk to the store manager for information about what is added to the food.

I think full fat salad dressings are allowed, but they can really pack on the calories quickly so watch your servings.

No more full fat cheese either, and maybe cut back on the cheeses a bit.

Alli, as for dressings, it would depend on the dressing. I would check the ingredients on the dressings you are using. If they add such things as sugar, honey, corn syrup, etc, I'd stay away from them. I actually make my own dressing of flavored olive oil, balsamic vinegar (optional), cayenne pepper, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Sometimes I may mix it up with some other spices like rosemary, dill or mustard powder. Also for a creamier dressing, I mix nonfat yogurt with spicy mustard and various spices.

Amur, I'm glad you are paying attention to how what you are eating is affecting your loss...that's the first step in working any plan!

On Phase 1 you cannot cheat. Not even a tiny morsel. It just doesn't work unless you go the whole two weeks with absolutely no cheating. If you cheat, you need to start over.

It looks like you are getting very little veggies and a lot of dairy. Try to increase your veggies to at least 2.5 cups a day and be aware that romaine (and most lettuces) do not have a lot of nutritional value. When you have a salad, add some cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, etc. You get the point. I'm not a huge veggie lover, by far, but I'm learning what I like more than other things and learning new ways to prepare it so I can eat it. Sometimes I just pinch my nose and chew! But veggies really seem to be the key to success in SBD. For all that cheese you are eating, combine it with veggies! How about celery with laughing cow light? Cheese on a cucumber slice or a tomato slice? Red pepper strips with cheese? Or my favorite, red pepper strips dipped in hummus? Expand your options and keep eating veggies...you can do this!

Nellie -- Is that dressing pretty tasty? What types of flavored oils have you gotten? Where do you find them? I would like to give that a try possibly.

Thanks for the great idea!

lauren

Lauren, I get my flavored olive oil from Costco because it was cheap and good! There is a garlic, basil (which is what I usually use for my salad), and red pepper. You can find flavored olive oils in most grocery stores. I find it tasty and it is simple and I know the ingredients. I kind of experiment to see what I like.