I couldn't find an answer anywhere in the FAQ's so I'll ask here. Is there a limit on the ricotta cheese? I use lowfat. I've been using 1/4 C at bfast and 1/4-1/2 C during the rest of the day? Is this amount cool? How much do you ladies eat or are you tired of it already?

This is an awesome question! I don't know the answer, but it seems like a lot of the recipes use ricotta cheese as a sort of "thickener," like the mock french toast or mock danish (both of which I love). I didn't like the dessert recipes in the book that use ricotta, though, so really I just use it in egg recipes.

Pearshape, that's fine. I wouldn't have much more than that, though. Particularly if you're eating other dairy.
Check this out... it's a great guide to follow. http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56861

I always saw cheese referred to as protein, not dairy, in the SBD book, etc. I thought just yogurt and milk were considered the dairy, as long as you used RF or FF cheese.

No, cheese isn't included in the protein. It's a separate category.
Sorry, I shouldn't have lumped the cheese in with the dairy. I believe the limit for ricotta is 1/2 cup daily.

Hi. I know the answer to this only because I was reading some questions and answers with Dr. A yesterday about SBD. Here is what it said. HTH

Q: Is it necessary to limit the ricotta cheese to one serving per day (as in dessert in the evening), or is it also a suitable snack midmorning or midafternoon? I am in Phase 1.

Dr. Agatston: Ricotta cheese can be used for more than 1 snack--I have used this myself--but my only concern is that it could get boring.

Great! Thanks for the answer, Kimberly. It's always been an "iffy" question. The results of the search I did on this forum indicated that we should only have one serving a day, so it's good to know that we can have more if we want it.
Although remember that it's fairly high in calories. There was someone here who was eating a tub a day, and she couldn't figure out why she wasn't losing weight.

Yeah, I was thinking of that member too, Ellis. She was eating quite a lot of it and it definitely stalled her weight loss.

I spoke with a nutritionist about halfway in my SBD journey. She told me that cheeses, whether hard (cheddar, mozzerella, etc.) or soft (cottage cheese, cream cheese, laughing cow, etc.) are all proteins. Though other dairy has protein in it, milk, yogurt, sour cream etc. are processed as carbohydrates by the body. This was so good for me to know, because I realized that I need to eat something like cheese or soy nuts with my milk or yogurt to get the protein I need.

Thanks, ladies. I don't really eat anyother dairy, every once in a while I'll have some yogurt but I use soymilk instead of regular milk so I should be OK. Now that eggs turn my stomach at breakfast I haven't eaten regular cheese for a week. Glad to know I'm OK on the amounts of ricotta. I agree with ellis, though, that it should be limited due to its higher calorie content. Thanks again, glad we got this resolved.

No problem and I agree Ellis. I used it to make the mock french toast (which turned out like cinn. eggs instead). I havent used it for anything else yet. Used to love it in baked ziti though but I am having problems trying it with other things still!!

beachgal I was wondering about that so thanks for sharing that. So are cheese limited if they are considered protein??

aaaak! I didn't mean that cheese wasn't a protein! I just meant that it's in a separate category from the "proteins".
There isn't a "set limit" on the cheese, but just remember that it's calorie dense. If you want to eat more cheese, do think of it as a protein. ie Don't have a slab of meat for dinner with a slab of cheese.

Wow, this got confusing. But thanks for the info! I made the "belgian waffles" for breakfast this morning, and they were AWESOME. I bet it would work better than the "mock french toast" and it only used 1/4 c. ricotta for 3 big waffle squares! I highly recommend it.