Just started back on Phase 1. I checked all the lists and of course they mention low fat or ff cheese. Does this include cream cheese. I like to put it on celery as a snack.

Here is what is said in the faq sticky with p1 foods

Thanks rdw1. I didn't see that. Two TBS are not very much so I guess I will only be eating one piece of celery a day. I did notice that the cheesecake recipe calls for lots of cream cheese. It's hard to imagine that one piece of the cheesecake has only 2 TBS of creamcheese in it. I really wanted to make that cheesecake so I could eat something other than eggs for breakfast.

RealtorRose, I apparently missed all the descriptions of how much dairy we could have when I started SBD, so I ate unlimited dairy (though I was more careful with lowfat cheese) items like fat free yogurt, fat free cottage cheese, skim milk, etc. and I still lost.

Check the ingredients on your cream cheese. If the fat free cream cheese is free from any scary non-SBD-safe ingredients, I don't see why you couldn't have more of it.

Remember, nonetheless, that even though we don't officially count calories as part of SBD, the fact remains that how many calories we eat is really the key to losing weight (along with how many calories we burn, aka exercise). SBD works for some because it removes the cravings that lead to eating too many calories. If we overeat on the things that are allowed on plan (for emotional eating reasons or otherwise), we'll stall our weightloss, even if we don't have cravings. So watch how your weight does with the extra cream cheese. If you don't have any problems with it, go for it!

BTW, another tasty alternative with celery is Laughing Cow Light cheese. It even comes in flavors, and it comes in these little pre-wrapped portions so you aren't tempted to eat too much.

Is there anywhere on the site that tells us how much we can eat of the different food groups: dairy, vegetables, meat. I'm a firm believer that in order to maintain weight calories in should equial calories out. However, I do find that eating vegetables are not as filling so larger quantities certainly would take the edge off. I'm trying not to go overborad on the dairy.

I use Smart Balance cream cheese and I use about 2 to 3 tablespoons like twice a week.


I hope this is what you were asking for. I'm trying to help out. Ha!


Meal Plans for P2:

Breakfast
Protein: Quantity is not limited. See choices
Vegetables: Minimum 1/2 cup. See choices
Fruit: None
Starch: None
Milk: None
Fat: 1 tsp mayonnaise or oil (optional) See choices

Lunch
Protein: Quantity is not limited. See choices
Vegetables: Minimum 2 cups. See choices
Fruit: 1 fruit serving allowed daily (with this meal or other). Gradually increase to 3 total servings for the day. See choices
Starch: 1 starch serving allowed daily (with this meal or other). Gradually increase to 2 or 3 total servings for the day. See choices
Milk: 1 - 1 1/2 cups allowed daily (including yogurt) See choices
Fat: 1 Tbsp mayonnaise or oil See choices

Dinner
Protein: Quantity is not limited. See choices
Vegetables: Minimum 2 cups. See choices
Fruit: 1 fruit serving allowed daily (with this meal or other). Gradually increase to 3 total servings for the day. See choices
Starch: 1 starch serving allowed daily (with this meal or other). Gradually increase to 2 or 3 total servings for the day. See choices
Milk: 1 - 1 1/2 cups allowed daily (including yogurt) See choices
Fat: 1 Tbsp mayonnaise or oil See choices

Snack
Snacks are optional: Choose from the Protein, Vegetable, or Fruits list, or eat nuts from the Fats list. Plain, low-fat or fat-free yogurt is also allowed.


Meal Plans for P1:

Breakfast
Protein: Quantity is not limited. See choices
Vegetables: Minimum 1/2 cup. See choices
Fruit: None
Starch: None
Milk: None
Fat: 1 tsp mayonnaise or oil (optional) See choices

Lunch
Protein: Quantity is not limited. See choices
Vegetables: Minimum 2 cups. See choices
Fruit: None
Starch: None
Milk: None
Fat: 1 Tbsp mayonnaise or oil. See choices

Dinner
Protein: Quantity is not limited. See choices
Vegetables: Minimum 2 cups. See choices
Fruit: None
Starch: None
Milk: None
Fat: 1 Tbsp mayonnaise or oil. See choices

Snack
Snacks are required. Choose from the Protein or Vegetable list, or eat nuts from the Fats list.

Sass- According to the stickies in the FAQ section:
Up to 2 cups of milk/plain yogurt in Phase I guidelines and in Phase II 2-3 cups allowed daily, including yogurt.

Oh OK now I'm confused because in the book the measurements are different. Eeek. I don't consume dairy but once in the blue so I'm not even going to worry about it. Thanks for the heads up!

The amount of dairy you can have a day has been changed between the old book and the newer version, which is shown in our revised food lists.

Thanks Sass, that's exactly what I was looking for and I'm happy to read that I can have 2 cups of LF milk as well. I was most concerned about the quantity of vegetables. Do I need to have a vegetable for breakfast. I usually eat one egg and 2 pieces of turkey bacon although I am going to try to make the breakfast cheescake...sounds yummy.

I would recommend you do eat at least 1/2 cup of veggies and include veggies in all of your meals...I would say that veggies and protein are the base of SBD. You can over indulge in veggies if you want to (I do - min. cups of veggies for me per day would be about 7 cups). I tend not to go over 3.5oz of protein at each meal though. I'm not a hard to please type of person and I don't get bored with eating the same thing over and over so I always have peanut butter, triscuits, nuts and beans with me for snacking. Also, I experiment with different types of veggies and mix them all together to make new dishes. I don't eat corn, sweet peas, carrots or root veggies...

Laughing cow makes some great cheese wedges that are easily spread and delicious on celery.

Sass - 7 cups of veggies? Do you eat a lot of lettuce?

No not a lot of lettuce...I load up my salads with scallions, cucumbers, tomatoes, mushrooms, purple cabbage, spring lettuces, peppers, diced apples, onions and beans...spices. Anything I can put into a salad I will. I eat a salad with every meal and I also eat cooked veggies with my dinner and I can eat between a cup and 2 cups of steamed veggies depending on what it is. Mixed veggies I eat a cup of that with dinner. So it comes out to about 7 cups of veggies a day. To keep costs down I buy veggies in bulk at Costco, seperate them, bag'em and freeze 'em.