Confused beginner

[somesaymisty]

I'm on Day 2 of Phase I, and I'm already confusing myself. I'm not sure if I'm overthinking things, or if this plan is as hard as I think it is! I have a few questions:

1) Is sugar free jello ok in Phase I? My husband and I are used to eating a freeze pop in the evening for "dessert", so it was hard for us last night since we're so used to having something sweet. I have some boxes of sugar free jello in my pantry and am wondering if those are acceptable.

2) I've noticed people saying they eat eggs without the yolk. These past two days, I've planned a hard boiled egg for a snack. Is it ok to eat the yolk? (That may seem like a dumb question because I'm assuming people make that choice because of the cholesterol.)

3) I've read the suggested meal structures, and I have to say that I don't think I can eat that many servings of fat. Is that alright? I usually only use olive oil to cook with at dinner, and I hate olives.

4) Last one, I promise! Does anyone have a simple formula for reading food labels? I know what I'm supposed to stay away from, but the labels still seem so cryptic to me!

Thanks!

[RedRox]

1. SF (sugar free) jello is fine as are SF freeze pops. Count any calories towards your sweet treat limit of 75-100 calories. No sugar added (NSA) fudgesicles are fine in all phases as well.

2. Whole egges with the yolk are fine as long as you don't have any doctor's orders to avoid them. The linkages between consuming cholesterol and increasing cholesterol in the blood are in reality fairly weak. If people avoid them it is likely either by personal choice or doctor's recommendations.

3. Not sure how many servings you are looking at but, the meal models suggest a teaspoon at breakfast and a tablespoon each at lunch and dinner. Salad dressings are 2 tblsp for a serving since it's a mix of oils, vinegar and water usually. Olive oil is a good choice. No need to consume olives if you don't want to. The good, healthy oils are indeed good for our heart health, help promote feelings of fullness and in the case of oil based salad dressings with raw vegetables, actually help promote the absorption of many of the nutrients and vitamins in the veggies. How many servings are you eating?

4. Sadly no really simple rules as it depends on the food. It just takes some experience, trial and error and getting used to things. Ingredients lists are probably more important than the nutritional label itself, but both matter in making some choices. I have a personal rule that simpler, shorter ingredients lists with ingredients I can pronounce are better than longer, complex lists with ingredients I can't pronouce! Watch for added sugars to most foods, although the nutritional panel with sugars for allowed foods is fine. For instance, milk, yogurt, tomato based products all have fair amounts of naturally occurring sugars in them to begin with and are fine. So 16 gms of sugar in a cup of milk is fine, but if there were 16 gms in a serving salad dressing that would be way overboard. (Salad dressings should have 3 gms of sugar or less on the nutritional panel.) The best thing is to stick the foods on the food list and ask questions about those you aren't sure of. Here are a few that come to mind:

tomato sauce, paste, spagetti sauces, salsas: All OK. look for no added sugars and ingredients that are on approved list of veggies.

beans/legumes: Better if no added sugars, but sometimes they add small amounts as a preservative. Just rinse them well before using if using a canned bean. (This also cuts down on gassiness.)

salad dressings: 10-16 gms of fat per serving is good. Less than 3 gms of sugar per serving is recommended. Look for more heart healthy oils like olive or canola oil.

grains/breads in P2: Look for the word "whole" preceeding each type of grain listed in the ingredients. Or for 100% whole grain or 100% whole wheat on the label. Things like "multi-grain", "hearty grains", and so forth are just marketing terms and give no actual indication of whether they are actually ALL whole grains.

[somesaymisty]

Thanks for the reply! You cleared some things up for me. I guess it's just best for me to stick with raw foods as much as possible. As far as my intake of fats, right now I'm only using a little bit of olive oil to cook with, and that's dependent on my cooking method. I typically just use vinegar for a dressing on salad, but I guess using some olive oil is an easy way to consume more healthy fats. Anyway, this is definitely going to be a journey and I'm suprised at how much I've learned about food already!