How much cheese?
 

Just wondering how much cheese you should have on PH I. I know you can have the l/f types, but just not sure on the exact servings.

Thanks!!:)

Welcome, slimmindown! :)
Cheese is considered a protein, which are not limited on SBD. Keep in mind, though, that cheese is rather high in calories and should contain no more than 6 grams of fat.

Thats for the information and the welcome! This is my time!!!

I like to get the lowfat cheese trays from Costco. There's a bit of cheddar, gouda, swiss and havarti, and they're pre-sliced of course.

I usually limited myself to one serving per meal (check the serving size on pkg) but I usually combined the cheese with meat or another protein at mealtime.

South beach does not impose a specific limit on cheese, but keep in mind that oz per oz, it is much higher in calories than any other protein. Cheese and nuts are the biggest diet busters on the program. If you overdo the cheese, it will stall weight loss simply because you'll end up taking in too many calories.

The whole "protein is unlimited" concept on south beach is sometimes taken too far. Unlimited does not mean infinity. Unlimited means there is no set limit, you can eat what you need to feel satisfied - but that's all. You need to stop when satisfied. If we ate unlimited protein, we would be taking in unlimited calories and it would result in unlimited weight gain.

The nutritionists on the southbeachdiet.com site suggest that cheese be limited to 1 serving per day. A serving is 1 oz of hard cheese or 1/2 cup of soft cheese which is ricotta or cottage.

I have noticed that I do not lose as much if I get carried away with the cheese and nuts but I eat a lot more than one ounce a day of cheese. For my afternoon snack today I had an ounce of laughing cow light and celery sticks but I'm sure I will have a little more with dinner. - I will either have cottage cheese or yogurt for dessert tonight. I think the idea of eating as much cheese as you want in phase one helps out a lot since your body is craving the sugar and flour you just removed and the cheese and nuts can do a lot to make you feel satiated. Just try to make sure that the bulk of your food comes from the approved veggies and that you are eating enough lean protein.

I myself eat at least 2 servings of cheese a day, some days more. It has never impeded my weight loss, but I can see how overdoing it would certainly be a factor in stalled loss. In addition, I usually get the 2 servings of dairy in. I've heard so many theories about dairy helping weight loss and it's also important for women to get adequate calcium. I like the products with the added probiotics, as it seems to help with constipation.