Difference between P2 and P3?

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2003
Difference between P2 and P3?
4
Wed, 03-29-2006 - 12:16am

I realize that there's no food list for P3, but at the same time you still have to watch what you're eating. What I don't get is the difference between P2 and P3 in most cases.

I have the 30 minute cookbook, and there are a ton of recipes in it that don't seem to be any different from the P2 stuff, yet they're marked as P3. Is it a difference in the amount of calories or fat or something? Because the ingredients all looked to be P2 legal to me...

I guess my biggest concern is that I'm going to start P2 in a few days, yet end up eating lots of stuff that would really be marked for P3 because I don't know any better. Most of the stuff I cook is inspired by SBD recipes, but I usually put my own twists in, so I don't want to screw up all of my hard work!

Karen

Karen
Mom to Kristen (17) Chloe (7) & Connor (6)

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2005
Wed, 03-29-2006 - 6:06am

If you follow the Phase 2 food list there should be no reason why you will eat foods that aren't allowed. You are using the same concepts you learned while on Phase 1 but are now adding whole fruits and grains.


Here is an explanation of Phase 3 from Dr. A:


Phase 3:

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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-26-2005
Wed, 03-29-2006 - 8:32am

I went through the 30 min cookbook and looked at some of the phase 3 recipes. Most do contain an item not allowed on phase 2 - such as a small amount of real sugar, fruit juice, applesauce. A couple, I agree could be phase 2 - like the macaroni and cheese on page 249. But South Beach also approves/not approves things for other reasons than ingredients. For example they discourage "snack" foods like chips - so even if there totally legal chips, they wouldn't approve them for phase 2 because its a TYPE of food people tend to go overboard and crazy with. And sometimes even healthy foods can be diet busters if you go overboard. So I could see the mac and cheese being the same way. They may think since it is a "comfort food" that people newer to the diet will not be able to restrict themselves to a small portion. That is why I think a lot of the deserts are phase 3, because its assumed people on phase 3 have better control and a better understanding of portions.

As far as the differences between phase 2 and 3 - that can really depend for different people. For me it has meant two things: 1) no more counting portions - I will eat 4 or even 5 grains a day if I want to, I don't count out nuts, measure peanut butter, keep track of sweet treats, worry about how many T of sour cream I am allowed, etc. I've also allowed myself a few things that are not allowed on phase 2, but not really "unhealthy" foods - like corn or watermelon. Not a lot of it, but I will now throw a tablespoon of corn kernels in my salad or add a few pieces of watermelon to a fruit salad and not really worry about it.
2) "treating" a little more often - during phase 2 I treated about 1x a month, now it is more like 1x per week. But the treats aren't the VERY bad things like donuts, candy bars, fast food - that is stuff I will never go near again by choice, it just turns my stomach now. They are things like a regular tortilla at a Mexican restaurant (but I wait til we go to a place that has REALLY good homemade ones - and only have 1), an occasional slice of regular pizza (but instead of having 4 pieces of pizza for a meal, I have a big salad and 1-2 pieces)
This is what I have been doing since about November 2005 - almost 5 months. In that time I have easily maintained (actually still continued to lose a few pounds here and there)

Here are some recent threads about phase 3:

A phase 3 report from one of our members:
http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-fbsouthbeach/?msg=19321.1

http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=iv-fbsouthbeach&msg=19372.1



















spring06sig2
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-19-2002
Wed, 03-29-2006 - 10:25am

Hi Karen,


You already lot lots of great tips!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2003
Wed, 03-29-2006 - 9:03pm

Thanks everyone! I hadn't realized corn would still be a no-no in phase 2, which is a bummer though.

We think we're going to switch to Phase 2 in a couple of days, 2 days before the two weeks of P1 are up, since that's when we do our shopping, and our cravings have been doing well. I'm sure I'll have more questions then!

Karen
Mom to Kristen (17) Chloe (7) & Connor (6)