Hi, I started the SBD on jan 12 and I noticed that I was gaining weight (2 kilos, to be exact ).

I'm going to go out on a limb (not) here, and say it is because I eat too many nuts. Honestly, I eat several servings of nuts a day, but I am just so bored sometimes (I don't eat meat or animal products) of eating chickpeas and tofu and veggies, veggies, veggies...

...well not bored actually, more like "I don't want to cook anything! I want something nice and salty and crunchy to much on!"

Also, I think the whole nuts business is getting way out of hand, because my stomach has been in knots all day and I have started (don't read anyfurther... TMI?) burping a lot. The funny thing is though, the burps taste and smell like eggs or sulfur. I don't eat eggs, though?!

Is this like the bad breath thing that occurs on the atkins diet, or is it something weird?

Hi DCA!

I did the Atkin's Induction a long time ago, and the sulphurous burping sounds quite familiar!

It's possible you are putting your body into a ketonic state with your diet, though the gaining weight part I'm not sure about?

I imagine trying to do phase 1 without any animal products would be very difficult, just due to trying to really get enough protein without getting completely sick of what's available to eat.

A very simple recipe that I can offer for a little variation:
1 bag baby spinach
1 can cannelini or great northern beans, drained.
1 can Muir's Organic Fire Roasted Tomatoes

saute the spinach in some olive oil with a few cloves chopped garlic til wilted, add beans and tomatoes, heat through, add a little salt and pepper to taste.
Really really yummy and filling!

Try cooking ahead so you don't have to cook so often. Instead of making a single batch of soup or chili or cooking one meal's worth of chicken breasts, cook a double or triple batch or several chicken breasts. Then refrigerate some of the leftovers and freeze the rest in meal or serving size portions. Dump chicken, for example, is about as easy as it gets! For veggies, buy bags of washed and trimmed veggies ready for munching on, or if money is too tight, buy them and clean them all up on one day and store them in baggies in the fridge. Then they are ready to go. Try varying your veggie dip: low fat ranch (I use Uncle Dan's mix, which has no sugar in it, and low fat mayo and fat free sour cream), hummus (plain or flavored - depending on the flavor and ingredients), and baba ghanouj are all good dips for phase 1. Laughing Cow lite is nice spread on some veggies, too. String cheese also makes a nice, easy, fast snack. If you have to have something salty and crunchy, try slices of radish or turnip lightly sprinkled with salt. Or you may like edamame - a Japanese "beer" snack. You can buy edamame (aka green soybeans) at many stores in the frozen veggies. Just pop them into boiling salted water for a few minutes, drain, cool a bit, then slip them out of the pod and right into your mouth. My DH loves to snack on edamame.

When done properly, you should not get ketosis on the SBD. If that's what's happening, you are definitely not getting enough veggies in (should be at least 4 1/2 cups each day). It sounds like your cravings for salty, crunchy snacks are your Achilles' heel (mine is ice cream!). I hope phase 1 helps kick the cravings! The nuts will definitely sabotage your weight loss efforts - too much fat.

It doesnt sound like you are getting enough carbs or protein either... Nuts are very high in Fat..Good Fats , but you know what they say about too much of a Good thing !
You can definitely gain weight by frequently overindulging in nuts..I know I did.. as I use to eat at 5lb bag of pistachios every week..

The halitosis you describe could be due to not enough carbs. Cut the nuts, add some form of protein..like Tofu, and legumes.

You might want to take some time to make a big batch of Chili
Check out the Vegetarian recipes under the alterna Chicks/ Veggie Chick forum.
Try roasting the chickpeas with spices. They can definitely help with a Nut fix!

You might want to watch what you eat over the course of a day---run it through Fitday.com to see how many calories you're consuming and what % of your calories are Fat/Carb/protein.

Good luck!!!!

Thanks for the advice! I added veggies and bought a bunch of tofu and beans so I'm all set. After a major peanut butter binge, i'm back on track.. halitosis gone and I don't really have anymore cravings

Yay!

Smart chickie!