Does anyone follow the plan that they give you on phase 1 and 2 of the south beach diet?

I looked at it and it seems to be wayy too much food for me to have to keep buying with my part time job so I'm doing it with the same variety of meals over and over again.

I was just wondering if anyone had any luck with them

Most of us just pick and choose balanced meals from the Phase I list. Remember to get 4.5 cups of healthy veggies (see sticky in FAQ), 1.5 to 2 cups of dairy and a serving of legumes plus lots of good protein and some good fats. This is a lifestyle change, not a diet.

I think the first time I tried SB, I stuck to the food plan (this was several years ago), at least through Ph1. But I prefer to eat the stuff I choose, as long as it complies with the plan. Following the plan exactly can get kind of expensive too.
Also a warning, don't follow the Phase 2 plan right off the bat, it adds all the servings of fruit and grains back in all at once, and you may have your cravings come back. Be sure to ease into Ph2 slowly, adding things back one at a time. But some people prefer to have a menu to follow, so it's whatever works best for you.

I did not... just used the permitted food lists.

Funny you should ask, because right now I am doing my best to stick to the plan in the book. The last time I did SB I stuck to it and did really well. This time around I'm still doing really good, but I didn't stick to it so stringently over the weekend. In fact I'm planning on staying on p1 for one more week since I wasn't the best last weekend. However, I plan to eat what I choose.

Schmoodle - thanks for the warning about P2 in the book. You advice souonds very smart. I'll definately watch my grains in the next couple of weeks!

I haven't followed the menu plan, but I noticed that the plan in the summer SBD cookbook looks very enticing.

It's really hard for me to find the time to eat all the time. I just don't have the time to stop what I'm doing and make some food. I need to cut up more veggies just to have around.

I followed the meal plans for Phase 1 fairly closely for the lunches and dinners. I made a batch of the breakfast quiches and it didn't make sense to keep switching around breakfasts when those were at hand. Partly we stuck to the plan was because we started this mid-week before I had a chance to read and understand the plan. By sticking to the menus, I knew we were staying on plan.

I made up my own plan according to the food lists too. I agree with WebRover. What would you do with all the other servings that you made? Some of their menus just didn't appeal to me.

The mini quiches were a life saver. I would make a large batch of them, and then freeze them in baggies (2 quiches = a serving). The night before I would take out a baggie and throw it in the fridge with the rest of my food for the day. They'd microwave up in about 1min. & 45 sec. Really yummy!

I do not follow the food plan. I make my own. I do however cook for the week, on sundays and it is working well for me. I pre cut all my veggies, and have all of my snack and such ready so if I get hungry then I don't find myself snacking on something I should not have. I am doing a ph 1.5 right know. Which is the same as one, but I have only added back fruit as my good carbs.

I do not use the meal plan. I make some of the means, but pretty much stick to the food lists and pack in all the veggies I can. I do not eat red meat there was WAY too much on the actual plan. You have to make it work for you while you work it. Your diet/eating should not control your life, just make it better. Like Ruthxxx said it is a lifestyle change not a diet.

I followed the book just for phase 1 except when I really couldn't stomach eggs for breakfast. I didn't follow any of phase 2. I actually don't look at my book for recipes or ideas anymore because I think the best recipes are right here!

it kept me broke the first six weeks while I was on the diet. Then, around week ten or so, it dawned on me that I was spending about $25 more per week for my "diet" food and some of it I never ate before I started SBD!! And, I am not talking about the veggies either. I mean, the sf Cool Whip (I hadn't regular Cool Whip in years and now I am eating it to lose weight?) I also never really like pudding and yet here I was eating pudding. The same with Jello.

So, I decided that I would "customize" the food plan so it made sense to me and still followed his core principles outlined in the book and food list. This is how I will eat the rest of my life. I still eat eggs and turkey bacon every morning for breakfast. I think I hold a record now. My lunch changes depending on what is leftover from the day before. My evening meal is always lean meat and vegetables. On a rare occasion, I will have a starch. That's it.

What I continue to do from the Phase 1 food plan is I eat the midmorning and midafternoon snacks (especially the midafternoon one!). That has remained. I seem to get an energy slump around 3 pm. I either have a nf yogurt based smoothie with fruit in it (which works great) or a small glass of V-8 and a piece of red fat cheese (also works great). Those are two of my favorite snacks.

As I have mentioned before I aim for no sugar whatsoever. I have experimented with some recipes but basically I have modified some of my own so they are SBD. For example, I make my own pasta sauce (no sugar) and then freeze it in smaller containers.

I have found that, for me, it is added sugar that triggers cravings. Period. Keep that out of the way and I can have as much grains or fruits as I want. The only difference is if I eat more grains, I noticed that I don't lose as much weight that particular week. For weight-lose purposes, I try to keep the grains under 4 servings.

Now, that I am no longer buying all of those "bells and whistles" (like the pudding, Jello and Cool Whip---to name a few), my grocery bill has returned to its former leaner self as I hope that I will too.!

When I first started I followed phase 1 & the first 2 weeks of phase 2 meal plan - I lost 13lbs on phase 1 (I also exercised) and yes it is a bit expensive