Some Questions and Answers...

So, with the start of any diet/exercise plan, there are naturally going to be lots of questions (many from myself) and I always say it's better to ask too many questions than too few! :)

These are all questions that either I asked or other Chasers have asked regarding the Meal Plan. If you have any additional questions than what is listed here, either email or post the comments, because odds are, if you're wondering about something, at least one other person in the group is! So, I forwarded some of my questions to Elizabeth, who provided me with the answers.

Question: This morning, with my cold cereal, I only used 1/2 cup of milk, plus it was 1% as I am not a huge fan of Skim. Is this bad/good?

Elizabeth: I only use 1/2 cup of milk in my cereal too - 1 cup is just too much - actually this is one of my cheats, because I use my "extra 1/2 cup" for my daily Skim cappuccino with one packet of Sugar in the Raw (90 Calories total for the cappuccino plus you don't lose the extra calcium from that other 1/2 cup of milk).

Also, have you tried any of the "Skim but does not taste like Skim" milks that are on the market? Simply Smart, Smart Balance, and Skim Plus are three examples. They aren't watery at all and it definitely spoils you for really skim milk. Another alternative is almond milk, rice milk, or the other "milk" alternatives. We'll try to post another blog with other alternative examples a little bit later. But in the meantime, below are some of our milk suggestions:

Question: For salads, is it alright to substitute a light balsamic vinaigrette dressing for the oil & vinegar?

E: I think this is fine as long as you are having approximately 1-2 TBSP ONLY! If you are getting a salad out, please ask for the dressing on the side and check the calorie content of the light salad dressing. My concern is that even the light salad dressings have calories, fat and large amounts of sodium. I picked up a habit recently from one of my friends who is a visiting doctor studying Pediatric Obesity - she puts a good quality olive oil on her salad and a pinch of salt. This has become my salad dressing of choice and I was a balsamic vinaigrette devotee for a long time. Just something you might want to try to mix it up a bit.

Question: Now, I know from past experience, that if I cut out, let's say, chocolate, completely from my diet, I run a HUGE risk of binge eating on a later day. I was wondering if it was "okay" to occasionally have, let's say, a piece or two of dark chocolate, or maybe those 100 calorie packs of cookies or something?

E: I'm the last person who would ever suggest depriving yourself of anything, especially to the point where you might be at risk for binge eating. I highly recommend those small dark chocolate squares from Dove - so rich, so chocolately, so satisfying!!! (or milk chocolate - although dark chocolate is much better for you - less sugar, antioxidants - if you like milk chocolate, try introducing dark chocolate into your diet slowly and you'll find that you slowly reduce your desire for the sugary milk chocolate and start to prefer the dark). I use one little square as my "dessert" if I need something after lunch or after dinner. If I don't feel like it, I don't eat it. Sometimes you just need a little chocolate in your life - this week, sometimes = almost every day! As for those little 100 calorie packs, I think those are okay occasionally - but especially at the beginning stages of this meal plan, we probably want to stick to what is written because we want to maximize results so that we don't get discouraged. My other favorite "cheating" food is Edy's Slow Churned Ice Cream - there is also a Sugar Free Variety - I'm currently obsessed with the French Silk Flavor!! I save this for a treat on Sunday nights and I try to eat well during the week to indulge a little bit on Sundays. I also feel like I am getting some calcium and eating a "dessert" that is "good for me." I measure 1/2 cup of the ice cream though so that I stick to the serving size and keep those calories under control!

**Jillian's Note: Could you all tell that this was my question? Haha! I seriously may need to join a Chocoholics Anonymous meeting...do those exist? They really should. "Hi, my name is Jillian (Hi, Jillian) and I am a Chocoholic."

Question: For those with tight schedules, keeping a timely regimen can be difficult. I'm going to try to make dinner at 5pm, but is it harmful if it happens to be late? Sometimes it could be 9 before I get a break.

E: That's an awesome question - I've had this same problem with working weird hours. I think the main thing to worry about is getting hungry before you have a chance to eat and making sure you don't snack away on a full meal's worth of calories before have a chance to eat dinner. What might be the challenge is findig time to have snacks and maybe you'll have to add protein to your snack (instead of the fruit) so that you stay full and last until 9pm to have dinner.

So those were just a few questions that were brought up that we wanted to definitely share in case they were also ones you had! Any others, definitely let us know and we'll make sure we all know the answers!

Lots of Love,

Jillian