I am going to start on Sunday and if anyone else is starting that day too, well please join me in this thread and we can give eachother moral support.

If there are no takers, well I will still post my progress under this thread and appreciate all the support and advice I can get from anyone doing phase one, or who has done phase one, or just anybody! I am an insecure, unsure person who needs lots of validation to make sure I'm doing things right, lol. I am winging this thing as of right now because I haven't ordered a copy of the book yet, but will do so ASAP.

My Sunday dinner is gonna be stuffed bell peppers, topped with a bit of mexican cheese and salsa and low fat sour cream. Is it okay to eat two of those bad boys?? Hope so.

Melanie! I'm glad you are getting the book. Make sure you read it thoroughly before starting on Phase 1 so you'll understand the concepts of this diet. And, yes, you may have two stuffed peppers. Enjoy them, that recipe is scrumptious! Now you've made me hungry for them.

Please post Phase I questions (and complaints) in this thread. There is strength in numbers and it's good to have all questions and ideas in one thread. We'll start a new one when this gets too long.

Melanie already has the answer to her pepper question in another thread.

Started this today because I'll not be able to fit this in early tomorrow morning!

Hi, total newbie here My husband and I started Phase I today, after researching a ton here. I think it was the recipes that sold us, they look so yummy, and the fact that we can have things that we enjoy will help alot. I made a huge pot of White Chili with turkey breast overnight, for lunches this week, and of course we had it today. So delicious, and doesn't taste like "diet food".

I think we took twice as long grocery shopping yesterday, reading labels and making sure we bought the right products, but I'm proud of us for trying to change our eating habits and get healthy. He was diagnosed with really high cholesterol recently, mine is pretty high, too, so hoping this will help with that as well as weight loss.

Anyway, just wanted to say hi! Awesome forum, y'all! Good luck to everyone with their goals

Hi First Phasers,
I decided to try the SB diet. I've been on my journey for about a year now and I've lost about 69 lbs by counting calories. But lately, I've been yo-yoing with the same 10 lbs for the last couple of months, so I decided to change things up and give this a try.
I'm also insulin resistant, and this diet seems to help that out too. I was a full fledged diabetic, but I've gotten that down to where I don't need meds anymore, and can keep it in check by dieting and exercise.

So, long story short, lol, although it was a bit long, I'm here to give this a try. I've read the book and understand how it works. It was pretty interesting. Tomorrow we're going to go grocery shopping and get all the stuff we need for the yummy recipes. Today I'm just trying to stay away from the carbs that are not allowed for Phase 1.

Anyhow, good luck to all of us and may we meet our goals in a healthy way!
Debbie

I got the stuff to make the taco stuffed bell peppers, which I'm making today. They will be topped with reduced fat cheddar cheese, salsa, and reduced fat sour cream. Served with a salad and light dressing, and the extra fat free refried beans maybe mixed with salsa and heated.

I got up late today, because we were up nearly all night last night. So I ate breakfast and lunch combined. Apparently I didn't eat enough, though, because I'm still hungry. I think I'm going to eat some more hummus and veggie sticks to kill the craving.

I am excited about dinner. The bad thing is, after purchasing the stuff yesterday to make the bell peppers, and a few other things to eat for lunches, I now have $52 to buy groceries for the month. Is anyone really, really good at budgeting and can help me figure out what to buy for the rest of the month to store in the freezer? My friend offered to help me and I'm gonna see what she has to says, but the sort of cheap stuff she buys is frozen white bread pizzas and dark meat chickens and stuff like that. That's not stuff I can have on the SBD.

Right now I'm trying to lose 15 lbs, and eventually lose 55lbs in all. Already lost 40-some lbs of pregnancy weight by cutting back on calories and trying to eat more whole wheat stuff.

Good luck to you guys, I am glad I am not alone in starting phase one.

Aurelai, how do you make that turkey chili??? It sounds delicious. I agree with you, this stuff doesn't taste like diet food. Someone on one of my other threads recommended trying lunch meat roll ups spread with lowfat cream cheese and pickles, and it is so good ( I used oven roasted turkey deli meat), plus hummus and veggies. Never had hummus before but am glad I tried it, it is a delicious dip. Good luck to you and your husband and good luck on the road to better health.

Good luck Debbie54, that is awesome how you managed to get off your meds by healthier eating.

Actually I think I found the white chili recipe right here, will look for the link in a bit. I used turkey breast cut up into bite sized pieces, great northern beans, diced green chilies, onions, cumin, garlic, pepper, crushed red pepper, FF low sodium chicken broth and some water, stuck it all in the huge crockpot overnight. Hubby woke up this morning and wanted to try it right away, it smelled so good At lunch we put some ff cheese and a little ff sour cream on it, and it was wonderful, filled us up nicely along with some raw veggies.

Tonight is going to be the meatball dish I saw in the recipe links, he loves Italian food and I thought it would be nice for Father's Day I absolutely love the recipe section here, addicted to it already *grin*

We ran to the store to buy more fresh veggies, and Kroger had a bunch of summer fruit on sale. They just couldn't wait two weeks until we're done with Phase I, could they? :P I have to laugh about it, fruit, bread and potatoes are major weaknesses with us, but the trade-off with the cheese, nuts, etc... is just fine. We're determined to make this work

Hope everyone has a great day, and thanks for the support!

MMM, I just love crockpot cooking, that recipe sounds so delicious. Seems like it's a great recipe on a budget, too, and could freeze for later as well. I love the recipe section too, we're making the stuffed green peppers tonight for Father's Day, boyfriend is excited, he has no idea that he's eating 'diet' food. I bought reduced fat cheese and sour cream, I will not tell him, so he will eat it, and probably can't tell a difference.

Oh that meatball recipe, I can't WAIT to try it, I'm going to make it with a side of noodles for my bf, and then myself, just eat the meatballs. Fruit, bread, and potatoes are a major weakness for me as well, I keep going to the fridge and rooting around, and am so tempted to make a full-out sandwich or crackers with my hummus, but so far so good, I've stayed resolute. (Although it's only been half a day and I've only been up a few hours so I hope my will doesn't crack. I can't wait to make those peppers so I am filled up. I hope you guys make it work, good luck!

I'll for sure let you know how the meatballs turn out. We're having them with the "surprise mashed potatoes" and probably a spinach salad. Those stuffed peppers sound wonderful, I'll have to try those next week.

You're right about the chili being great for the budget. I'm actually amazed that our grocery bill wasn't sky-high with the lean meats, veggies, dairy, but it was about the same or less than what I would have spent before the diet. And it seems like we bought more actual food, if that makes sense, nothing in prepackaged boxes. And anything I can make in my crockpot is perfect for our family. It's a huge one I got for Christmas one year, and makes a ton of soup, stew, chili, and with us two plus 18 year-old twin sons, the more food the better lol. BTW I gave them the old snacks to hide in their bedrooms, the microwave popcorn, chips, etc... don't want to be tempted *grin*.

Back to my cooking, getting egg muffins ready for the week, yet another great recipe. Hopefully once I get the hang of this I can contribute to that forum, meanwhile I'm copy/pasting everything in sight :P

Oh, roasted red pepper hummus and celery = divine. Take care!

Count me in. I'm starting phase one tomorrow. Meal plan:

Breakfast: Plain yogurt, with mixed in sugar free jello powder
Snack: Reduced fat cheddar cheese stick
Lunch: Turkey roll ups with Cilantro lime mayo, sugar free jello
Snack: Hummus with celery
Dinner: Baked chicken with roasted eggplant and a salad with italian dressing
Dessert: Mocha ricotta creme

Exercise - 20 minutes weight training, 40 minutes cardio

I'm actually excited about starting phase I and kicking the weight loss into high gear!

Grneyedmustang, will you let me know how the ricotta cremes are? I've seen mixed reviews so haven't bought the ingredients yet. We're doing the yogurt with sugar free jello mix added in for now, though some of those peanut butter desserts sound awesome. Good luck, fellow Georgian

Good luck to you also! I will definitely keep you posted on how the ricotta creme desserts fare out. They don't sound too bad...but we'll have to see....

Does anyone know if Jello sugar free pudding is allowed on phase I? They have a really good dark chocolate one that works when you need a sugar free, low calorie dessert. I didn't see anything about it in the book...

Sorry but SF puddings don't happen until Phase II.

I found the ricotta desserts sort of grainy but learned to add a bit of skim milk to smooth them out. Remember to keep an eye on serving size. Ricotta - even low fat - is fairly high calorie. You'd be better with sf vanilla yogurt - cheaper too!