Thoughts? Fruit and Breadstick a Must?
 

I start day 1 of P2 tomorrow. I worry about the Fruit and Breadstick part. I guess it's because I know that carbs are not my friend. I had to eliminate all carbs when doing atkins to keep any dismal weight loss going.

After reading the book and several other texts, I can't see any scientific reasoning for these more carby items to be included in the 500 calories.

Do you think it's OK if I just eat the protein and veggies? or do you think I need to have the fruit and breadstick?

You don't have to include them, per Simeon's plan. I did my first round with fruit, but without the bread; this round I'm including both (and I, too, had to keep carbs really low on regular LC to get any weight loss). My reasoning behind including them is that I don't want my body to be as carb sensitive after doing this, and I have read many success stories on here of people who were able to greatly increase their maintenance carbs IF they included those items during P2. If you don't include them, you'll never know if you can, kwim?

Genius
 

This makes a lot of sense. Ultimately I would sure like to be able to include moderate carbs in my eating long-term. Maybe I will add the fruit and bread in after the first couple of days. As I'm reading, it sounds like the first 3 days or so, folks are struggling with hunger. It would be great if I find that I can lose and not be hungry eating a fruit and a small bread carb. Thanks for the insight! :notwrthy:

Prior to hcg, fruit--especially apples--would trigger my hunger. It was ridiculous! I could eat an entire meal, and if I ate an apple, I was almost immediately hungry. Same with bread. I. LOVE. BREAD. (But it hates me!)

WITH hcg, I do not experience that at all. In fact, I cut my apple in half and split it up into two separate servings, and the melba toast does NOT trigger any appetite at all. In fact, Hcg controls my cravings unlike anything else I have EVER tried.

It is the only weight loss supplement that I have ever tried that ACTUALLY did what it said it would.

With that said, Simeon DOES say that you may eliminate the bread and fruit IF YOU FIND THAT YOU ARE NOT HUNGRY AND DON'T NEED IT. Me, I was happy for every bit of food that I was allowed to have. I wasn't starving, but I needed to eat the allowed calories in order to stay that way. PLUS, there ARE nutrients and vitamins in the fruit that are great for you.

I would try it. If you find that you are still sensitive, then eliminate them. (That was the short answer...I should have just said that to begin with! :laugh:)

Great News
 

I'm so glad you went with the long version. What you're describing is me to a T! I can't tell you how many people/plans say to have an "apple" for breakfast or a snack to keep cravings away. I'm like...are you kidding me? The apple will make me literally Starved out of my Mind in about 1/2 hour or so.

I'm so glad to hear your experiences. This makes it seem so much more possible.
Thank you!
Kris

I hate the bread stick tease. For me, I had one on my first round of P2, but this round, no.

I hate having just that one, and really, what purpose does it serve for my hunger? Absolutely none. I find it unsatisfying, and I don't feel I will become carb-sensitive at all by eliminating that bread stick for this round.

I say you don't need it. Now for fruits, they really REALLY save my days. I wouldn't make it without them. The two apples/strawberries really fulfill my snack craving and help with hunger.

I am going a bit rogue this round, so when I say I added in grains, I don't mean the grissini, which I could totally see as being a tease, lol Millenia. Instead, I added in Ak-Mak, which is my favorite cracker; it is 100% organic, and I get four of them as a serving (they are large crackers, so I have 2 as a snack earlier in the day, and 2 later in the day) and they are delish, so for me I'm ecstatic to have them. So far my losses this round are excellent, so I'm going with them, but if I have any problems, I'll definitely cut them out.

I completely left out the melba/grissini/grain for my first round, but did have the fruit (apple) occasionally. The fruit wasn't an everyday thing, and I don't think there was a rhyme or reason as to when I ate it. I lost 18 pounds in a 23 day round, and have stabilized about 3 pounds above that. I will follow the same this round, no grain and only occasional fruit.

I'm doing the same. Foregoing the grains, which don't appeal to me at all, and sticking with a serving of strawberries & an apple everyday, which i'm loving. :)

I remember doing "0" carbs and absolutely craving a bit of a crunch. If I can find a cracker or something that will work to satisfy that need and it won't trigger carb cravings, I'm excited to try it. Yeha!

Being diabetic, I eliminated the melba toast after my first week with better blood sugar readings. I was able to have an extra cup of strawberries each day, which not only helped with hunger, but my blood sugar as well since they are low on the glycemic index. I have an apple only rarely as they spike my blood sugar as well. But I have strawberries EVERY day!

One again, this thread demonstrates how each person has something that works just right for them. Personally, I lived for my 9am and 4pm apple with wasa crisp bread. I liked the wasa bread because there was zero fat and to me it seemed larger in quantity.

Closing out Day 1 of P2
 

I did really well today. I was very surprised at how the HCG controlled my appetite. I know my body well and after eating as many sugar carbs as I did last night on my load day - I should have woken up STARVING.

I didn't eat anything for breakfast except Tea and water and I didn't notice any hunger twinges until 10:30AM...not bad since I had been up since 5.

Now, from 10:30 - 11:30 when I could grab a bite....that was a really long hour.

I did decide to have an apple tonight just after dinner. I was still hungry, so I went for it. I'm currently having apple regret. The apple isn't sitting well in my tummy. My stomach feels like it's eating itself. Maybe the fruit juices don't do well with me. :sick:

The toughest part of today was no Diet Coke....that would've been my go- to to make it during my hungry points of the day.

All is well though and I think I'll be ending tonight with a successful 1st day.
Thanks for everyone's help!

Boosya,

Can you tell me how long your first round was? I would LOVE to drop 30 pounds!

Did you follow the protocol, or go rogue?

Ellen

Ellen,

My first stats are from 2006, and I was doing low carb when I lost the 30 pounds. I wish I lost that much on hhcg :-)...

I lost 18 pounds on my first round, and that lasted 23 days. I'm currently in my second round, and only on VLC2, and my only "rogueness" is omitting the grain and only occassional fruit.

I actually look forward to and enjoy my melba toast. For example, this morning while drinking my tea and counting down until lunch time, I slowly crunched a melba toast. My stomach felt empty and having that small piece of toast in there really seems to have helped.