I'm trying to get ready to leave on Friday so I'm way scattered. I generally have fruit either as a morning or afternoon snack and then again after dinner. I forgot to take something for today and the little shop near us only had "mushy" apples and huge bananas (and I'm not that fond of bananas anyway). So I skipped it. I suppose I could have 2 servings after dinner but I not that hungry and I don't want to start eating food because I'm allowed to eat it, darnit. Doesn't seem like a very good reason to eat. So what do others do? Eat more at another meal? Wing it based on hunger? What? BTW, I had more cut veggies and a cheese stick instead of my fruit and a cheese stick for snack and I was fine. Georgia

Apparently, they are one of the difficult ones to get stuff out of. There's conflicting stuff out there on www.thedailyplate.com, www.calorielab.com, www.myfitnesspal.com, etc. Lots of saturated fat in all of them (probably butter, yum, OH I mean Yuck! :-) Georgia

Another thing--the secret of not causing your metabolism to wigout, is not NOT go really low calorie and to always exercise. Yes, extreme low calorie diets for long periods of time can mess you up but that's not what this is about. Georgia

Depends on why you are doing South Beach. If controlling your carbs (either by doing straight low carb like Atkins, timing things like Carb Addicts, or eating only good carbs like South Beach) is the only way you can lose weight, then a cheat day could be the worst idea in the world. It means that every week, you mess with the balance. But, if South Beach is just one way you can lose weight, if you don't have an out of control insulin system going, then it could be no problem. As a matter of fact, the Rotation diet is built around that idea. And long ago in a galaxy far far away, I could do the Rotation diet. Not any more! Georgia

As I understand the nike+ acts like a pedometer itself as long as you have the sensor on. Since I don't have one, I'm almost as clueless as you are. I use a omron hj-720it pedometer for my tracking and it is pretty cool in and of itself. I always thought the nike+ was just for runners so I'm getting educated today, too. I care about both aerobic and non-aerobic steps so I wear my pedometer constantly and I'm always trying to get those 10,000 steps a day. I have days were I hit those without aerobic steps. I wonder how the nike+ handles that? Georgia

Unfortunately, I no longer can wear nike shoes or run but it looks way cool. I can see how cool this would be. I'm a pedometer wearer (even when I not being a good girl) and I load my info up to the walkingspree website. I know this has helped my motivation. Georgia

I ended up finding a no sugar added sauce -- only 2 g natural sugar. I made shrimp with veggies, a little chicken broth, and marinara sauce for dinner. Yummy.

It's amazing how many canned items have processed starches hidden in them (so even if you are looking for sugar, you won't see it). I learned that back when I was doing carb addicts. Really sensitive people will react to even small amounts of this stuff. Yes, it is always better to go back to basics. My husband is trying to do as little as possible that's processed so that's why he wants me to make sauce. He usually does steamed or lightly sauted veggies on his pasta but he's in a sauce mood, too. He's been really supportive of me, too, so maybe 30 minutes of prep time isn't too much to give him. I used to make it once a month and freeze bunches. Hey, maybe we can cook it up together. Georgia

Cool advice guys. I was doing a quick walk through yesterday only looking for added sugar not how much per serving. Do others find both to be important to triggering cravings? Of course, a meat sauce or a sauce with veggies other than tomato would have less natural sugar. I can only watch so many things at once. My husband told me he wants me to make the homemade if I can (he's in a garlic mood and mine is a garlic lovers wonder). Georgia

I'm going to phase 2 next Tuesday and I'm planning my menus. I'm doing whole wheat pasta with sauce one day and I was wondering if anyone had found a commercial sauce with no sugar. Yeah, I could make my own (I've been doing it for years) but I'm too busy cutting veggies and making 3 bean salad. As other Mom's in the group know, anything you do for yourself gets eaten by others and with 3 other adults (one pregnant), a teenager, and a 6 year old in the house, my veggies keep getting snagged. Plus my daughter wants me to make homemade split pea soup this weekend so jarred sauce is going to have to do. Assuming I can find one without sugar without going to Whole Foods! Georgia

Only certain low carb eating plans rely on ketosis. SB doesn't, although some people (not all) experience it during Phase 1. SB relies on eating satisfying foods that contain good carbs and good fats. The good carbs digest slowly and don't provoke those nasty insulin peaks which result in carb cravings and the endless cycle of carb eating. I did carb addicts--no long term ketosis for me but I did lose weight. I know I wasn't experiencing it because I tested for it (I was losing weight to donate my kidney to my brother). I won't get into the ketosis good/ ketosis bad debate but I did need to keep the transplant people happy. I doubt I'm in ketosis now based on how many carbs I'm eating (my nutritionist wants me to eat 1 cup legumes a day). I would say if quicker weight loss is required, then Atkins would be a better fit. I know a few people who did Atkins for lose the bulk of their weight and transitioned into SB or Carb Addicts because they found it way to restrictive for long term eating. I also know a lot of people on Atkins for years who are totally healthy. Georgia

Yes, definitely. Georgia

It's an average. I've only been doing this 8 days and it includes all 8 days. I'm not sure how back it averages--maybe since you started. Georgia

Bindy, You are so right about the music device. I've got so many people in my house that my walking time is sometimes the only time I get by myself. I tune out and listen and time just speeds by. I do walk with youngest (16) at times but mostly it's just me!

I can only tell you what worked for me--get a pedometer and work towards 10,000 steps per day. The more you do, the easier it is to do more. I have a bunch of chronic illneses that impact my pain level so I split my aerobic up into 2-3 sessions of walking 15-25 minutes at a time but I didn't add that until I was doing 6000 non aerobic steps per day (parking further away, taking the long way to the bathroom, etc.) Good luck.