Some one please help!

[lisa2547]

Me and my friend Denise started this Diet more then a month ago. We started phase 1 and did it for 3 weeks and Denise lost 9 pounds. I am 5 10 age 29 and I went from like 210 to 203. I have successfully lost weight on this diet before but it seems like we are stuck at a standstill. We havent really been doing the exercizes but I wasnt doing them before and I still lost weight. Now we are back on phase 1 and yet we havent lost a pound! I sometimes succumb to temptation and have a little taste here and there but Denise has really been sticking to it and she hasnt dropped anymore weight. Im frustrated and tired. Another thing, It seems that all we do is cook cook cook! Its so annoying. I have 3 kids and my husband to cook for and these recipes can time consuming when you have to look for all this stuff that noone has. I really just want to lose like 30 more pounds. Does any women who have a full schedule with a family of five that go to school have any advice to make this easier and more successful for me and for my friend?

[Shrinking G]

I cook one meal for all of us (husband, son and my self). Everything is lean and SB friendly with the exception of an occasional side and for my 4 year old (snacks, cereal and whole milk). I want them to be healthy and I don’t want to cook two meals for the rest of my life. I cook a lean meat with dinner, salad and veg. I have been at this for a little over 4 weeks. I am slowly replacing items with their SB friendly versions, whole wheat, Brown rice, lf cheese......
When they want something that is not on my plan I adapt it. I mad a huge batch of spaghetti meat sauce, lean meat, olive oil, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, zucchini and assorted spices. They had it over ww pasta and since I am not doing ww pasta yet. I had it over red beans. Kind of like an Italian chili.
They had burritos/ tacos on WW tortillas made with lean ground beef and homemade taco seasoning; mine was a taco salad with lf cheese, refried beans, taco meat, salsa and lf sour cream.
I cook extra protein for dinner and that is my lunch. Chicken is eaten 3-4 times a week and when I plan out the weeks dinners if there is some thing I won’t want for lunch I make sure I cook extra chicken. I also try to cook in bulk when I can but most of the time I season the meat alternating season mixes and grill it on a stove top grill. It has been used more in the last 4 weeks then in the 10 years I have had it. While the grill is heating and the protein cooking I have time to cook up a veg. side and salad. 20 min tops. Since I make an omelet every morning I chop up a bunch of vegs on Sunday (peppers and onions) so I just throw a handful in the pan with the canadian bacon. I also cut up what ever fresh veggies I am going to need for the week. The only things that does not get cut up are my tomatoes. It cuts out a lot of prep time.

DH and son eat lunch at school/work so it is not so SB. DH eats cereal or instant oatmeal and my son usually has cereal and fruit for breakfast (need to change that) and some times he wants some of mommy veggie and cheese omelet. We also go out at least once over the weekend and they get what ever they want. I guess I am vary lucky as they don’t seem to mind since it is to make all of us healthier. It might be harder with older children.

Sorry I did not mean to be so lengthy.
I hope this helps!

[RedRox]

I wouldn't worry about not losing in P1. The goal of P1 is to even out your blood sugars during the day and break the food based cycle of hunger pangs/cravings and it is not rapid weight loss. Many who return to P1 for 2nd and multiple times find they don't lose much if anything. The program really starts with rebuilding healthy relationships with healthy foods in P2 anyway, so just look forward to incorporating fruits and healthy starches in P2 instead of worrying about whether you lose anything in P1 or not. This is a time based program. The longer you do it, the better it usually works. Worrying about where you are after a week or two or four is really often very counterproductive to a long term lifestyle change mentality.

And while neither a mom, nor someone with 5 kids, popular suggestions for time mgmt often include things like crockpot cooking and cooking larger meals on weekends and freezing for later in the week. I'm not sure what you mean by "these recipes" as you don't have to follow a single recipe in the book if you don't want to. Just use the food lists and the meal planning templates from the P1 FAQ sticky topic in the P1 forum and design your own. A grilled/broiled meat and some sauteed veggies for dinner can be put together in less than 30 mins with little thinking or planning. A pot of homemade chili you make on the weekend and freeze can be defrosted in a microwave and/or heated stove top in probably less than that and you can make a side salad or side veggie while it is coming up to temp. Crock pots require some time in the morning but can be ready when you are at night. (And there is a whole sticky topic devoted to crock pots in the Recipe and Food area here.) Good luck!

[DCourtney1017]

Lisa, Phase 1 is not a weight loss phase. It is a phase to detox your body of cravings. Staying on it indefinitely will only put you on the plateau that you are on. Open your book to Phase 2 and you will get ideas on how to move ahead. You don't have to eat exactly what is on the menu, it is a guide that tells you how often to eat and when to add in that slice of whole wheat bread and that piece of fruit.

If you think you can do it without the book, then I think you are travelling down the wrong road. Today your assignment is to get off Phase 1. Eat a good breakfast including a small can of V8. Post your food intake and let's see where we can help you.

Doris

[motherofmany]

I am losing faster in P2 than I did in P1 and I feel better too. I happen to believe that exercise is key for sustained fitness (i.e weight loss) especially muscle building work. You need to raise your BMR (basal metabolic rate) or when you stop "dieting" you will gain all the weight back and perhaps more. So I'm simply going to echo what all the experienced people are saying and suggest you move to P2 and start to work out. Although this is not a calorie counting WOE, I think it is important for people to know what they are consuming. Often we take in more calories than we think we do. A food journal will help get a handle on that. Once you get a feel for portion size you won't have to count the calories, but journaling is still a good idea because you can see where you fall short on nutrients/types of foods.

As for the cooking, I have yet to make even one recipe from the books. I just looked at the approved foods list and adapt my meals to it. It is easy to feed children and a DH while still staying on track yourself. For example, when they have tacos I skip the tortilla and make a taco salad with lettuce, beans, taco meat (usually we use chicken breasts) tomatoes, avocado and a smidgen of cheese. When we have pasta I measure out 1/2 cup of the pasta (I use the Barilla Plus brand) and always have a big salad with it.