Hello everyone! It's so nice to see all the enthusiasm in here!

I'm still hanging in, and it's been pretty easy so far! I'm rarely ever hungry at all. Just a little bored with the food choices, but Phase 2 is just around the corner! I'm going to loan my book to sister Jennifer this week, and hope she'll follow it with us. She just got back from the "real" beach, so she may feel inspired to jump in!

Good luck to everyone this week!

Good morning!

The book has been read and I will be making my grocery list this morning. Wednesday is start day. DH has read the book too and is very supportive. He has promised not to ask me "red or white" before dinner.

LindaBC and I are going to be email Fluffy Buds for Phase I. Wish us luck but we will rely on skill and planning.

Hi Suzanne and Ruth. I know this diet is a good one and I'm happy to be back on it. Being out of control around food is like being in a constant panic attack. I have a lot of sympathy for anyone who can't control their alcohol. I feel the same way around food. It's very humbling.

Hi Suzanne, Ruth & Nora,

Starting week 2 of Phase 1. I'm feeling really good BUT the scale's not showing a loss (yet). I haven't had a drop of wine either but I'm thinking maybe I'm not drinking enough water and having too much FF yogurt.... I'll try increasing the former and decreasing the latter this week.

Good Luck and stay on he Beach Chicks! I'm putting on my socks and sneaks and hitting the gym. See you later and have a great day on the Beach!

Blessings + cheers,
ANNA

Yesterday's Ottawa Citizen had a full page on this "diet". it probably ran in other papers too as it was syndicated.
It may start to get crowded on The Beach. The more the merrier!

Morning Everyone!
Today is my day 1 of Phase One on the beach. Did the grocery shopping on Saturday. I think I have my menus planned pretty well for the day and that should help. Also we will be gone for part of the evening and that will help, cuz evening is my WORST time for falling off the wagon so to speak. Hopefully we can keep each other OP and enjoy our successes together.
Off to do my Body Flex before DS can come home and roll his eyes at me again.

I started the SB Diet yesterday. Hope you don't mind me popping in. The first day went very well. I was surprised that I hardly felt hungry. I am looking forward to getting to know all of you.

Have a good day.
Aleka

Today is my day 1 too!!! Glad to see I'm in GOOD company!

Good Morning Beach Babes

Welcome to all of the new ladies on the beach. It's so nice to see new people joining in.

Good luck to all tose who just started and a big to all those who have been doing well.

ANNA~~You're right about needing the water. This is important in any type of diet. Be very careful about the yogurt, though. It is not allowed on Phase 1 ( Page 127~"avoid all dairy in Phase 1" ) except the tiny amounts that are in Phase 1 recipies. You can choose to incorporate it as one of your new carbs in Phase 2. Be careful becasue FF does not mean Sugar Free~lots of carbs in a yogurt.

Ruth and LindaBC~~I know you can do it!!!!!!!!

Today starts my 4th week and my official weigh-in this morning shows another pound down, for a total lose of 8 pounds so far. I'm still taking Phase 2 slowly.
Last weekend at work they had our annual Ice Cream Social where you can make your own banana split with all the fixings including mini candies. I saw all the staff coming back and eating theirs at the nurses station and I did not even want any. I also turned down the chocolate candy boxes that were on the counters I was so proud because it didn't bother me at all.

Today is day one for me. I have one quick question.
What about sugar-free gum....is it allowed and if so, how much?
Thanks!

Ramona-I think the book said up to 75 calories a day of sugar free candy and gum. Can anyone verify that?

2BFIT1-Wow! Great going on passing up all those sugary treats!!

Anna-Yup! 2B is right, yogurt isn't allowed in Phase 1. I want some too!!

Nora-I understand what you mean completely. Been there myself too.

Suzanne-It HAS been pretty easy, hasn't it?! The only time I have had problems is when I don't stay on top of my meals and snacks and I get too hungry.

Ruth, Susanje, LindaBC, Aleka, AdoAnnie-You will love this WOE! It really is GREAT!!

Thanks for the tip Sil!

I hadn't looked at that page yet! The yogurt I've been having is 0% fat and has 8g of carbs per cup so I'd thought it was comparable to having the ricotta. again!

Sooooo now I've opened the book to page 127 and there it is, indeed. Sheesh, I feel pretty silly but re-invigorated as I had suspected it might be the yogurt that was holding me back. Thanks again!

Blessings + cheers,
ANNA

Good morning ladies! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I had an opportunity to really enjoy Summer this weekend by going on a sunset picnic with DH and Dog, taking a 10 mile hike and a baseball game yesterday. Stayed pretty much OP except a couple of light beers at the ballpark. We walked 2 milles each way to the game so I didn't feel too badly about the beers.

We had a couple of great meals/dishes that are worth passing on to fellow Phase Oners:

Edmame Salad - from the book is really good and I think a good base for a lot of potential variety. I also love it added to a tossed salad. Consider it for your Fourth of July plans.

King Crab and Grilled Asparagus - Great hot weather "eat it with your hands' meal. Costco had a great deal on the crab.

"Quiche" - I ran out of eggs (imagine that) and blended the few that I had with what little egg beaters I had, cottage cheese, laughing cow light - then poured it in a oiled pie plate with some diced canadian bacon and minced onion for a crustless quiche. It turned out very well and was nice and puffy like a quiche should be.

Blue Bunny swirl ice cream on a stick. Sorry I don't know what they are really called but they come in a box with orange and rasberry swirl bars on the front, are sweetened with splenda and are 70 calories. Very good.

Really great to hear that you all are finding this plan easy to follow. For the new folks - I can't believe how great I feel now that Day 4 and 5 are past. Lots more energy, better sleep, clearer skin, and down 4 pounds in the first week.

Ramona - Den is right, pn page 127 - you're allowed 75 cals of SF treats per day - I'm guessing that's an awful lots of SFGum!

Stay on the Beach Chickies!

Blessings + cheers,
ANNA

Well, I couldn't get the book from the Amazon seller who had it the cheapest - so I got it at WalMart so I wouldn't have to wait for shipping. Guess I really didn't follow the plan too well, but I lost 6+ pounds last week. I'm sure it was mostly water weight plus the fact that I was just eating less than usual. Did my shopping this morning and stocked up on lowfat cheeses, veggies, etc., so this week should be more "by the book".

I made the cheesecake recipe last week and had a couple of questions. I thought the texture was too spongy and am wondering if it was because I used FF ricotta. Anyone else have this happen? I got some farmers cheese at the store today as a substitute for cream cheese. Now that I think about it, that's probably not "legal" in P1. It will keep until I move into P2 and then I might try it in the cheesecake recipe. Another mistake I made was to freeze the mini cheesecakes I made. Too much water in them and they had frozen crystals inside. Eeeeuuuu!!!
I love those storebought cheesecake bites and thought I would try to get that effect - won't do that again!!!!!

Thanks for all the great tips and the encouragement that everyone on the board shares. It really helps!

Karen