Anyone starting (or re-starting) P1 May26?

[MaxBerlin]

Hi Jude and welcome.Buttbegone I love the sound of your smoothy recipe, will try tomorrow.thelawone haha no I am not vegetarian, just havent been eating meat for the last few days. How did your gym session go?

Was a wee bit bad as there was an afternoon tea at work.

Day 4
Breakfast
ff greek yoghurt
earl grey tea

Lunch
lettuce, egg, carrots (bad),tomatoes, cheese, olives, avacado, corn (bad), olives, capsicums and cucumbers
V8

Snacks
mixed nuts
5 jelly beans, a red frog, 1 chocolate biscuit
2 skinny cappacinos

Dinner
veal

Went for an hour walk this evening to make up for my indescretions today
How have you all been going? My biggest problem at the moment is drinking water.

[atlmom1155]

Max, really try to stay away from the carbs if you can. Here is how our bodies work, they will use carbs as an energy source 1st. If none are available then they will use protein next, and then if that isn't avilable then our bodies use stored fat. To more easily lose the fat, this diet is designed to starve the body of carbs so that the body will burn the fat. That's why people lose belly fat 1st in this diet.

[Magna]

Just to be clear, SBD is not a low-carb diet. You should be eating plenty of good carbs in all phases, including phase 1. SBD is a "good carb" eating plan, emphasizing carbs that are nutritious and don't quickly raise blood sugar. Beans, vegetables, milk, and yogurt are all good sources of healthy carbs in phase 1.

Sometimes when people say "carbs" they mean processed carb-rich foods with ingredients like white flour, sugar, etc. We do avoid those in SBD.

See the "sticky" called "THIS IS NOT A LOW CARB OR CARB COUNTING WOE" for more information.

[Kimboroni]

Yeah, we definitely shouldn't be starving the body of carbs. It sounds like you might be talking about ketosis, which we try to avoid on SB.

[atlmom1155]

Phase 1 is a low carb diet. Not no-carb, but low carb. And as you were saying the carbs are slower digested, the low carb content of phase 1 are complex carbs, rather than simple, thus slowing the process of conversion to glucose. There is a multi-step process your body goes through to convert food or body fat to glucose (which is the source our bodies use for energy). But the more simple or direct to the glucose source then the faster the conversion to glucose. The body will use the simplest means to supply energy and so if it has simple carbs it will use those first. It will only start the more complex break down of body fats when their isn't enough glucose. So if your body has a relatively low carb intake (which Phase 1 is relatively low) and is still in the process of breaking down the complex carbs it will be forced to start breaking down the fat into glucose because your body needs the glucose. So my point is if one wants to see the SB diet perform as it should then it's best to avoid those simple carbs in Phase1 for the "Wow" factor... Big losses in a short amount of time.

[Magna]

Phase 1 (and SBD in general) may be low-carb compared with the average American diet, but that's mainly because a lot of people overeat carbs. If you used to eat cookies, donuts, pizza, french fries, etc. and have now cut them out, your carb intake is bound to go down. Phase 1 (and SBD in general) aren't supposed to be low-carb in general, though. Also, simple carbs (aka heavily refined carbs) are avoided in phase 2 as well.

If you mean that we should avoid refined carbs in phase 1, that's true. They're also very limited in phase 2, and still pretty limited in phase 3. The reason, as explained in the book, has to more do with blood sugar and insulin response.

Here's a link to that discussion I mentioned (not all of the links still work, though):
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=26722

[atlmom1155]

Why does this feel like it's turning into a debate? Blood sugar is glucose. Phase 1 is low carb when compared to a regular recommended daily allowance. I don't know why this seems so offensive to people. I assure everyone that after extensive study of anatomy and physiology in college that what I am saying is absolutely true. I am not saying that phase 2 or 3 are low carb. People don't even have to do phase 1 and can just skip to phase 2. Weightloss will happen, but not rapid like Phase 1. But the wow factor of the fast loss in phase one is due partially to the lowered carbs and the use of complex carbohydrates to encourage fat burning. Personally, I have no problem with that at all. It works and I still consider it a healthy diet. But I will not stop at Phase 1 because fruits do offer many nutritional benefits. I'll do my two weeks and move on.

[Magna]

Well, there's no standard definition of "low carb" so I suppose if someone ate 125g of carbs daily (which is realistic in phase 1) instead of the DRI of 130g, someone might consider it a "low carb" menu. But usually that is not what people mean when they say "low carb." Usually they're talking about diets that are strictly limit carbs, which is not what SBD does. For example, the American Academy of Family Physicians defines a low-carb diet as one that restricts daily carbs to between 20 and 60g: http://www.aafp.org/afp/2006/0601/p1942.html

SBD, even in phase 1, is far above that. So calling it "low carb" might be confusing to people who are thinking of some other meaning.

Here's a sample of a partial phase 1 daily menu, with carb counts:
2 servings of pinto beans for 45g of carbs
2 cups of nonfat milk for 25g of carbs
1 cup of chopped onions for 10g of carbs
1 cup of tomatoes for 8g of carbs
1/2 cup of sugar snap peas for 6g of carbs
1/2 cup of red bell peppers for 5g of carbs
2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter for 6g of carbs
1 tablespoon of agave nectar (for sweetening), 16g of carbs

Not counting any carbs that might be added from cheese or other protein foods, condiments, etc. this is right at 130g of carbs. It's possible for people to eat fewer carbs, and some people mistakenly do (by skipping the recommended legumes and dairy, not eating enough vegetables, etc.) But if you follow the recommendations given in the meal-planning template and FAQ, you'd probably be eating a pretty good amount of carbs, quite a bit more than on the diets that are billed as low-carb.

The reason I am taking the trouble to point this out is that people may see "low carb" and assume SBD is one of the high-protein, low-carb diets that have been popular in recent years (like Atkins) - which it's not.

[atlmom1155]

130g of carbs is what adults and children need to keep their brain functioning. It's the minimum amount to function normally. The recommended amount of carbs for a person maintaining weight is double that amount.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-diet/NU00200

That's what I mean by low carbs.

I would never recommend anyone getting on the type of "low carb" you describe. That would be crazy. Those diets aren't healthy. But this diet maintains an adequate amount of carbs, but it is definitely low in comparison with the rec. amounts of a person on a diet designed to maintain their weight.

[MaxBerlin]

How have you all been?

Thanks everyone for all that information, very interesting reading indeed.atlmom1155 yes you are absolutely correct. No more junk for me for at least not the next month or so. I am proud of myself however that I stopped where I did, other times once I have fallen off the wagon I would continue stuffing my face for the rest of the day if not days after that.

DAY 5
Breakfast
ff greek yoghurt with cinnamon and flaxseeds
skinny cappacino

Lunch
lamb
lettuce tomato, spanish onions
skinny cappacino

Snacks
mixed nuts

[atlmom1155]

Good for you Max! If you stick to the diet of Phase 1 (eating the right foods, water, sustaining intake through out the day) the results are amazing! It's a good amount of food and eating so frequently you shouldn't feel hungry. That's one of the things I really like about this diet. That and my belly fat goes away so fast!! Since Phase 1 is only rec. for two weeks, remember that if you feel like you are getting burned out to give yourself permission to move on to Phase 2 (or even Phase 3 if really burned out!). A month is a long time on Phase 1. And you can go back to Phase 1 at anytime once the burn out has passed. Strict adherence to Phase 1 though will give amazing results.

But do remember to eat all that you are supposed to. For example, don't skip meals or reduce the fat intake even more, it really won't help you.

[thelawwon]

Ok y'all-Day 3 done and on to 4!! Wowzers though, I eat A LOT of food. I always ate like a trucker, but wow. I'm not recording it yet because I'm not at the 1 week mark, but (secretly)I may have stepped on the scale this am and was down 2 lbs I know my cravings aren't gone yet though, because even though I'm "full" I'm still hungry for something...

Yesterday (Day3)

Breakfast:
Spinach omelet w/low fat cheese and salsa

Snack:
cheese stick, grape tomatoes

Lunch:
chili
green salad

Snack:
fudgesicle
celery with light laughing cow

Dinner:
chicken souvlaki
green salad

Snack:
1/2 cup pinto beans with low fat cheese and salsa

Snack:
turkey, lettuce, and mustard roll ups

How's everyone else trucking along? I like this accountability!

[atlmom1155]

thelawwon, I like your bean and cc+ salsa snack. Sounds yummy!!

[atlmom1155]

awesome salad today!

green leaf lettuce
garbonzo beans
broccoli sprouts
rotel
feta
smoked turkey (deli slices, chopped up)
o+v and mrs dash

yum!

[Magna]

130g of carbs is what adults and children need to keep their brain functioning. It's the minimum amount to function normally. The recommended amount of carbs for a person maintaining weight is double that amount.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-diet/NU00200

I'm not trying to give nutritional advice - just tell you what the book and the USDA say. The USDA says the DRI/RDA (that's "recommended") for carbohydrates is 130g (first link):
http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/dietary-guidan ... dri-tables

I didn't find anything on the site you linked to saying 130g is the minimum needed to keep our brains functioning, and recommending that people eat 260g of carbohydrates daily. After clicking a couple of times on the Mayo clinic cite you linked to, I see this is what it says:

Get 45 to 65 percent of your daily calories from carbohydrates. Carbohydrates have 4 calories a gram. Based on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, this amounts to 900 to 1,300 calories a day, or about 225 to 325 grams.

Just trying to interpret the Mayo Clinic's advice, but I think if someone is eating less than 2000 calories per day, the overall carbohydrate intake would be lower. (I think that's what they mean when they are using a percentage.)

Again, I'm just trying to read and make sense of the sources (the book, the USDA, and the Mayo Clinic site you linked to).