Hi Sandra!

Welcome to Montignac and welcome to the board!

To answer your questions in as organized a fashion as possible for me (I tend to rant on!).

I do find Montignac a little contradictory as you noted. However - I never really got into the whole protein carb vs. protein lipid meals, or whatever he suggests. I based my whole approach on the following simple points taken from the book you have, and the Montignac cook book:-

Never eat the following:-
white / refined bread / flour
white pasta
white rice
anything with refined sugar in it - especially high fructose corn syrup
drink nothing but water or tea - no sugar!
no cooked carrots
no potatoes

That was my 1st huge leap when I started the eating plan about 8 or 9 months ago. I lost about 30 lbs in about 5 months - and have been at a plateau since then, give or take a lb or 2. If I'm honest with myself (and lets face it - I need to be when talking about weight lose!) I've plateaued because I shifted to Phase 2 of the diet too soon. Depending where you are in Spain - I bet you can get some great sea food - yum! At the same time I started Montignacing, I started excercising for the 1st time in years with any regualrity. I started a yoga practice that I have continued today. I find it way more exciting and fullfulling to running on the spot for hours or lifting heavy bits of metal over and over again - but that is just me. I strongly suggest kicking up your excerise if you don't do much right now. in tangent with the new eating plan. Not only will you be healthier, you'll help tone yourself

If you are hungry between meals - I suggest the following snacks:-
nuts (preferably raw / unsalted)
fruit - certain ones with low gi or glycemic load
celery
raw carrots
some cheese
some dark / plain chocolate - over 70% cocoa solids

A site you might want to check out is http://www.mendosa.com/gidigest.htm

It clarifies the GI index and some of the contradictions in the Montignac book, it also has a great list of GI and glycemic load (the really important figure) foods - and some "free" foods which can be eaten as snacks.

I don't want to talk badly about the other plans represented on this site too - but if you start reading their message boards and the advice they give, you could find yourself slipping out of Montignac and into something else I find the plans differ quite a lot, and something that is perfectly acceptable on, for example, the Atkins plan, would be awful for Montignac. The reverse is true, of course.

Trust me, I live in America, and I'm sure that the American diet is just as high in the "bad for Montigancers" foods as in Spain. Just remember - get fresh veg as much as possible, and avoid processed foods like the plague!

For what it is worth, I've just got a new book that my favorite mendosa site mentioned - I'm hoping it helps to clarify some Montignac contradictions!

Good luck, and I hope this helped!