I feel silly planning how to do P2
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| Sun, 08-26-2007 - 11:32pm |
I'm sitting here with my loaf of 100% whole wheat bread, making sure it met the label requirements for P2 breads, which it does! Yeah! and I'm thinking... hmm do I want it as a piece of toast in the morning with a fried egg? or do I want to use my 1 slice to make a half a sandwich with brown mustard? hmmm, how to use the one silly slice of bread! it's almost amusing. or go with cereal? but the WW cereal I bought is barely legal in the fiber dept with only 4 grams of fiber, but it does have 10gr of sugar.. so I blew that, so should I just throw the box out? guess so...
and then I have to decide if I want to be cautious and only add a grain one day and fruit the next, or jump right in and add one grain and one fruit each day? and then what is the fruit going to be? a banana sounds yummy for snack, wait use the banana on the whole grain bread with 2tbs of sb friendly Peanut butter and make a little peanut butter and banana sandwich!!! there we go!!LOL!!!
since I'll probably be doing 1 grain and 1 fruit a day do I go a full week before I make it 2 grains and 2 fruits? or make it 2 weeks and go longer? how will I know when to move up? and how long are you in P2? do you stay in P2 until your goal weight and P3 is maintenance?
OK I need sleep.....



Don't feel silly doing all the planning! First of all, that first fruit and grain can feel like such a *reward* after P1!
However, IMHO the first weeks of P2 are crucial. If you start slowly it will allow you to see if you have any issues with certain P2 foods. For example, I have to be very careful eating fruits or certain grains without an added carb competitor like a piece of cheese. If I'd jumped into P2 with both feet I wouldn't have realized why my blood sugar was spiking and I would have probably given up.
You can do this! Once you have been on P2 for a couple of months, it will seem easy --- it'll just be the way you eat.
Deb
You're on the right track. Check out this Phase 2 information on carb competitors:
When re-introducing carbs, you'll want to add a "Carb Competitor" with it. Here's the scoop:
(Published 8/6/03) On the South Beach Diet™, anything you eat that slows the digestion of sugars in carbs is, by definition, good. Slowing down digestion of carbs results in your body producing less insulin. Less insulin means a less dramatic drop in blood sugar. A diminished rise and fall of sugar means less hunger later. Here are three important food components that will slow down digestion.
1. Fiber. Fiber is the major factor that slows the absorption of sugar. That's why highly processed oatmeal, for example, is worse, diet-wise, than the steel-cut variety. The latter has all the fiber still intact, and before the stomach can get to the sugars in the oatmeal, it has to separate them from the fiber. Once isolated, the fiber passes undigested through your system; its dietary importance comes from its ability to slow digestion down. It is an obstacle to digestion--a good one.
2. Fat. Fat, too, slows the speed at which your small intestine accesses the sugars you've eaten. That's why it's better to have a little olive oil or some low-fat cheese on your bread than it is to eat the bread alone. For the same reason, having a baked potato topped with low-fat sour cream is better than eating it plain. The calorie count might be higher, but the fat contained in the sour cream will slow down the digestive process, thereby lessening the amount of insulin that the potato prompts your body to make.
3. Acid. Acidic foods, such as lemon and vinegar, also slow the digestive process, therefore cutting back on the rise in blood sugar. You can dress salads or vegetables in both and enjoy the benefit. Even sourdough bread will slow digestion because, although it is not high in fiber, it is acidic.
(Carb Competitors - how do they work? Why is slowing digestion important to losing weight? http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-fbsouthbeach/?msg=14117.1
Please don't feel silly planning. i do it every week w/o fail. I use this link to a 7 day menu planner that I find very helpful.