I've been reading through the weekly check-in post and I'm worried that maybe I'm eating too much. I'm only on day 4 of Phase 1, so I also fear that I'm following the plan to the T (this is all new to me!). I have lost 4 pounds already as of yesterday, so I'm happy about that. But looking at everyone else's menu's, I look like a pig!

I have a serving of tomatoes and beans from last night's dinner that I was going to eat with lunch, but I was satisfied with my salad so I didn't eat it.

Today's menu:
B: 2 egg muffins (mushrooms, green onions, and a smidge of RF cheddar); 1 regular coffee with FF coffeemate, 1 splenda
S: RF String cheese, 15 almonds
L: Arugula salad with red pepper, cucumber, 5 black olives, red onion, 4 thin slices of turkey lunchmeat, 2 tbs balsamic vinagrette (under 3g sugar).
S: 30 pistachios, RF cottage cheese single
S: celery with 2 tb natural crunchy peanut butter
D: Taco bake with RF cheese, romaine lettuce, serving of taco sauce, serving of RF sour cream, maybe some green onions & olives on top
Dessert: SF fudgesicle or SF jello

Am I getting enough servings of things to follow plan? TIA, again!

Hi!
I'm going to leave it to the pros, but your menu looks very much like mine. So I'm eager to hear what people say. Since I am losing, I'm happpy I am not very good about mayo, dressing, etc. (I know, bad). But this is such a HUGE change from my normal crappy eating and drinking, I don't feel super bad. BUT if the weight loss slows down, I will monitor it more closely. Welcome!!

Your menu looks great. The only thing I noticed is the 2 servings of nuts. That could slow down your loss. You could replace the pb with laughing cow.

Other than that this is a really good Phase 1 menu. If you find yourself getting hungry add a serving of beans to your salad or refried beans on the side of your breakfast.

How is this menu working for you so far?

I see the two servings of dairy missing. How about a skim milk and a ff yogurt?

I always miss the dairy

I count 3 servings of nuts (almonds, pistachios & PB) and FF Coffeemate is not allowed on SB - corn syrup solids and sugar are listed on the ingredients.

I find that I eat more compared to others even though I am losing weight.

Maybe change the PB and celery to carrots and hummus or something? Or take out another serving of nuts somewhere else Alternate the days with the almonds and pistachios maybe?

Everyone has provided great suggestions! In reference to how much food to eat on SBD, Dr Agaston says, he Sosuth Beach Diet doesn't require you to measure what you eat in ounces, calories, or anything else. The meals should be of normal size-enought to satisfy your hunger, but no more than that."

I was hungrier in the early days than I am now. I think it's because my blood sugar has really leveled out.

This is awesome, thank you so much!

cyndi, beerab, and murphmitch - I can totally adjust the nut intake, considering the almonds and pistachios don't really do anything for me but want more. I really love my natural peanut butter so whether it's on my celery or in my dessert (PB cup) I am addicted to that stuff I did do laughing cow on celery once this week and it was ok, but I will gladly switch that up (or hummus, which I love) to make sure I don't overdo it on the nuts. I just realized I made pesto last night for dinner that had pignoli nuts in it...so I REALLY overdid it yesterday!

murphmitch - Thanks for the info about the FF coffeemate. I remember looking at every label in the grocery store and that one looked the best, I could swear it had no sugar in it but I am probably wrong. I'll check tomorrow, since it's in my fridge at work. I'll switch to FF h&h. I think that's allowed. Or soy/almond.

Regarding my dairy intake, I don't do skim milk I only drink soy and I very sadly had to give up my silk soy vanilla light for Westsoy Unsweetened Vanilla. I did a lot research on SB and soy and this one should be legal. It has no added sugar and only has 1 gram sugar in the nutritional facts. I'm still trying to figure out a way to incorporate it since I'm not in love with it. But a glass here and there and in a smoothie would be fantastic. I also bought Unsweetened Almond milk and I could totally drink that in coffee.

Thanks again, this was hugely helpful for me!

Oh and about dairy, I love cheese, cottage cheese, and sour cream so I'm trying to do a cottage cheese a day + another cheese. I usually end up having more than 2 servings of cheese. Is that legal?

Cheese isn't counted as dairy, its counted as protein... on SB dairy is milk and yogurt.

Im not certain how many servings of cheese is considered the 'limit' but I know for me, I didn't concern myself with having too many servings on ph1, since I was relying on it to get past all the cravings and sugar.... however, since it is calorically dense, now that Im on ph2 i *try* and watch how much of it I am eating, as it can stall weightloss.

I don't know if that helps at all,
Good luck on you SB journey,
~River

jewels, I think I have some good news. If I were you, I would TOTALLY enjoy the Silk light Vanilla soymilk , especially in phase 2 (this due to the small amt of soy flour in ingredients)..

per Dr A's book...soymilk, lowfat plain, vanilla, OR sucralose containing (4g or less fat per 8oz). Make sure doen't contain HFCS.

Per silk's website, http://www.drinksilk.ca/silk-light-vanilla.php
I would personally feel comfortable drinking it. Yes the sugars are at 7g, but sugars in skim milk is 12g. You could always try it, and if you notice cravings then go with something else.

I always interpreted the .."or sucralose containing (ie splenda)" to be for the chocolate flavored ones, because their sugars would be higher.

That said though, I would do what makes you most comfy

PS I hate skim milk too, but 1% is okay, and also skim isn't bad when made into a skinny latte at starbucks. You can't even tell, I promise. And the espresso hides that gross blue tinge reminiscent of breast milk. ( Can u tell I buy 1% for home? LOL

Haha, thanks Natalia for the info. I guess I was so worried about screwing up phase 1. I read this one thing and I guess just assumed that silk vanilla light just had added sugar when I saw the sugar count. I made a smoothie for dessert tonight with a cup of the unsweetened stuff and it tasted gross! And I even have an opened thing of silk in the fridge from before I decided to begin, so even better!

And thanks Rivergirl for the reminder about the protein vs. dairy. I'm going to re-read the book this weekend.

At my store there's a skim milk made by Hood's that has extra milk solids added. It tastes much better than regular skim milk. If you're looking for a way to add in some milk products, you might give that a try.

And Greek yogurt with NSA fruit preserves or liquid vanilla stevia is my other go to milk serving. I like Fage. I've tried other brands, and they just don't compare imo.

Unless the flavored soy milk specifies unsweetened it does have added sugar. There is a brand of splenda sweetened soy milks and unsweetened vanilla or chocolate soy or almond that you can sweeten yourself. That said the vanilla is on the allowed list so it's up to you. Personally I would avoid as much added sugar as I could in Phase 1.

Remember that the sugars in milk are a natural part of milk and are allowed and that we don't count sugars on this plan. We read labels