phase 2 and snacks question

[cathyhudson]

So, I am week 2 on phase 2. I am now including a bowl of oatmeal in the morning and a small piece of fruit later in the day. I want to lose 20 pounds. I weighed 150 and I want to get to 130. This is the second time on south beach. First time was a great success. This time around I lost 6 pounds on phase 1 and I have not lost really anything (possibly a pound) on phase two. I am not concerned with that. I know that phase two might go slower. I work out alot. I am hoping physical strength, endurance and aerobic activity will stop me from relapsing back into wieght gain.

Once I hit the phase two mark, I started making oatmeal with two egg whites, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter for breakfast. Along with two celery stalks and a cup of v8. I was also having yogurt mid morning but now I made the oatmeal with milk and skipped the yogurt. For lunch I have a pretty large salad with spinach leaves, romaine, tomato, green pepper and chicken or tuna. I use paul newmans oil and vinegar or red wine and vinegar or caesar's. All have under 3 grams of sugar. When I get home I might have celery with a little bit more peanut butter (I stick to the two tbs a day rule) and it's no sugar added. I tend to snack alot in the afternoon due to appetite, schedule, and exercise class. I also might have a cheese stick or cottage cheese (no more than two servings a day of cheese) or chick peas and cucumbers. I also might stick my banana (medium) or berries here. For dinner, it's lean meat and 2 cups of asparagus, string beans or both.

(Hold on, my question about snacks is coming) First of all, this is exactly what I had today, how does this look?

Breakfast, old fashioned oatmeal made with some milk, 1 tbs peanut butter and two egg whites. 2 pieces of celery. Cup of v8.

lunch-salad -with spinach leaves, romaine, tomato, green pepper and chicken and paul newmans red wine and vinegar. Then I had yogurt because i was still hungry. I was hungry before exercise class 3 hours later and I was worried I would not have strength to work out so I had a cheese stick and a handful of peanuts (and mentally said goodbye to more peanut butter later).

Dinner- ( ate about 7pm) about 4 ounces of pork and 2 cups of asparagus, string beans and celery and chick peas. Then a half cup of berries with non fat milk.

Now I'm hungry before bed and contemplating a small cup of cottage cheese.

Question (finally!) The meal plan for phase two seems to discourage snacking but allows it. What do you suggest? For example, the oatmeal made with milk seemed to eliminate the need for the yogurt and held me until lunch. But then something is making me hungry after my salad! I go to lunch not really hungry and then eat lunch and get hungry soon after! Is it better to eat oatmeal with milk or save my dairy for later in the mid morning? I had my dinner, which was kind of big and thought it would eliminate the need for snacks. But it didn't.

Should I be eating enough at meals so that I don't need snacks or does it not really matter?

How do you do snacks on phase 2? or should you?

And how does my day today look? Because it's kind of what I would like to stick to. (and I think I will have that cottage cheese)

Also of note, I had some issues choosing the right foods going out with friends to eat on friday but i think I did ok. The meat and veggie skewers I ordered probably did have a sweet sauce on them. Also, I had a 2 hour work out on saturday and then I was starved so I ordered a panini, but it was made with olive oil and I ate only a small bite or two of the actual bread. I just ate the roast beef inside. So, the weekend had some issues, but not too bad.

[bethy]

This is a complicated and interesting question. I'm not smart enough to answer it. But it's intriguing and I've read it 3x so here's my 2 cents about one angle. What I keep snagging on is "something is making me hungry after my salad". I wonder, have you been having a salad with meat for lunch the whole 4 weeks? The reason I ask is, I stuck with a P1 breakfast for months and months the last time I did SB. I tried adding things to my breakfast: oatmeal, wwtoast, fruit- got the munchies with all of them and decided to leave my breakfast alone (even though I was tired of it) and eat my grains and fruit later in the day. Then, out of the blue, my regular breakfast didn't last anymore. I was hungry an hour later. So, I thought, maybe that's happening with your lunch if you eat the same lunch every day. What I did about the breakfast was throw protein and cheese at it. I added a piece of leftover meat and another egg (making it 3! when I cooked them separately from the veggies) added cheese and really piled on the veggies. (I ate casserole-y egg dishes with huge amounts of veggies, cheese, meat and enough egg to hold it all together)
About the snacking. I did eventually pretty much stop the regular daily snacks. But, not on purpose. And not right away in p2. (I looked up my old food log on fitday to see) Man, I ate a lot of half ounces of dark chocolate. Maybe that's what replaced my snacks.
Thirdly FWIW I've heard a lot of beachers say bananas trigger them.
and Finally: if you're really worried you are eating too much, why not throw all your data into some nutrition software just to check if your calories are inline for what you're activity is? I did it when I was on SB and had some broken bones, to find out how I was doing regarding calcium and other bone healing nutrients. It was reassuring to know that I was eating an appropriate amount of calories without counting them or going around hungry. As Dr. A said "we don't count calories, but calories do count".

[ami]

Snacks in P2 are optional, meaning if you need them, have them. The same snacks you had in P1 work for P2, some pre-measured nuts, peanut butter, veggies with cheese, etc. Some people function better "grassing", meaning small meals several times a day, and it's OK.

Same thing before or after working out, eat some protein either in the form of a protein bar, or a smoothie, or eat your yogurt, or cottage cheese, cheese sticks, etc. I usually have a protein drink before going swimming and have some celery with peanut butter after I get back.

I also notice the days I have oatmeal or any other cereal and some cheese and milk for breakfast I;m hungry earlier for some morning snack, so I have some nuts.
Just play it by ear, and in a nut shell: "if you're hungry, eat." this is not a starving diet, or counting every thing we eat, just eat what's allowed in the list for P1 and P2 and you'll be OK.

I agree with the poster, maybe your body is tired of your daily salad, maybe you need to add more proteins to just the chicken breast, maybe you need to eat some leftover dinner, or an open face sandwich with some veggies on the side.

Good luck!

[shannypoo]

I would be hungry too. Add some protien to your salad. Maybe some tuna or chick salad with lite mayo. Have you tried Ezekial bread? It is made of sprouted grains. Has no flour in it. It is so healthy. It would be a good pre-workout snack, with some almond butter. You can find many varieties of it in healthy stores. It is kept in the frozen section as it has to be kept frozen due to the live sprout, and no artificial anything.

Another good snack maybe before dinner or as a heartier lunch, those progresso soups can be found in low carb versions now. Soup tends to fill me up more, and you can eat it along with a smaller salad. When I am burnt out on salads, soup gives me a more satisfied feeling.

The night time snack is a big one for me too. Even through P1 I ate those sugar free jello chocolate puddings.....I still lost weight, and I dont have them EVERY night, but they are a great 60 calorie snack with a few almonds tossed in!!

Good luck!