(1) What do the numbers mean?
Some members choose to list the statistics, for example, Wendy 303/257/115 = beginning weight/current weight/goal weight. (Also, members who desire to, are listing their Food Log each day. This helps us to determine how we're doing and helps give us ideas on what to eat.)

(2) Is it common to have diarrhea or constipation and headaches?
Yes, all are common complaints. If you experience diarrhea, you can try eating less lettuce. After a couple of weeks your body will start to adjust to all the water and fiber and should be back to normal. If you experience constipation, try eating more lettuce and eat the half grapefruit rather than drinking the juice. Increasing your water intake will also help. Many members report having good results with an herbal tea called "Smooth Move" Many list members experience headaches for the first few days. They don't seem to last more than 3 or 4 days and most find after that, they have less headaches than ever before.

(3) What do all the abbreviations mean?
You will often see, WOE = way of eating, WOL = way of life, WLP = weight loss plan, WLS = weight loss stoppers, 12dd = 12 day diet, 2do = 2 days off, AS = artificial sweetener, GF = grapefruit, GFJ = grapefruit juice, LC = low carb, LF = low fat

(4) Will my cholesterol go up?
It has been reported that some peoples tests do go up initially. When re-tested a few months later, tests not only went down but results were lower than prior to starting the WLP.

(5) Do I have to exercise?
Exercise does not appear to be necessary to lose weight on the 12dd. If you are exercising a lot, you may notice more of a loss in inches than in pounds. Don't be discouraged by your scale. Judge your progress by inches lost and they way your clothes fit.

(6) Should I be taking vitamins?
This is a personal decision. My feeling is that it's a good idea to take a multi-vitamin, extra calcium (especially for women), and extra potassium if you experience leg cramps. (Be sure to research carefully or check with your doctor).

(7) What about cheese, diet sodas and diet jello? they are all low carb/no sugar right?
Yes, they are low carb/no sugar but fall under the category of known WLS (weight loss stoppers). Cheese if used at all should be used as a condiment, such as sprinkled on a salad occasionally. Artificially sweetened products like diet sodas and sugar free jello can also cause slow weight loss in many people and often that sweet taste will set off cravings for real sugar.

(8) Can I drink grapefruit juice instead of eating the grapefruit? If so, how much? Does it matter WHEN I drink/eat it?
While Grapefruit is preferable because (a) it provides bulk necessary for elimination, (b) it fills you up more, (c) it helps you to feel full longer, (d) has less sugars than in juice, (e) stimulates gastric juices by the chewing proceess,(f) doesn't interfere with some medications like juice can, you can substitute FOUR (4)ounces of unsweetened juice per meal. (The carb. gram of 4-oz. of juice is equivelant to that of half a grapefruit). (g) It doesn't seem to matter if you drink/eat if before, during, or after your meal. Just don't use it as a snack between meals, as it can cause cravings.

(9) Can we have carrots and cheese on the 12-Day-diet? If not, why not?
No. Carrots are too high in sugar and cheese is reputed as being a weight loss stopper. However, some people use them as condiments, like salt and pepper, with no problem.

(10)How about onions, you know the purple ones?
Red onions are not allowed on this diet, in fact NO onions are allowed, other than Scallions (otherwise known as "green onions").
They are too high in carbs.

(11)What about bacon bits on a salad? what about the processed ones on the salad bar?
It is preferable, if one MUST have these, to use *real* bacon, as they have no carbs.

(12)Is all sausage legal??
Sausage is permitted, however, as we are allowed to eat all the protein we want/need, you need to make sure you are not eating processed meats with more than 3-5 grams of carbs. per serving. Non-processed meats do not have carbohydrates nor added sodium, which can also cause a weight gain.

(13) Can you just keep on the diet and not take 2do or does that stop your weight loss?
Long-time 12DD advocates state that you cannot skip your 2do. They were at a standstill for a long time because they didn't take a break and when they started taking them, the weight started coming off again. I would just try to not over do it on your 2do. Just have a few things you really like.

(14)Does drinking the bulk of your water early in the day, help with the all night trips to the toilet?
Try to get all your water in 3 hours before you go to bed. This way you shouldn't have to get up at night.

(15) It is normal to feel tired and sluggish the first several days?
You may feel miserable the first five days, but after that your energy will probably increase., if you are getting tired, you may not be eating ENOUGH. Increase the size of your meals, but keep them balanced for carbs. and protein. Lots protein and fat will keep you from getting hungry between meals and an amount of carbs equal to your protein may help keep your energy level up.

(16) Do I need to count grams of carbohydrate?
Absolutely not. If one follows the diet as written, allowable food has already been calculated for you. However, you can go HERE

for a Carbohydrate Gram Counter Search and see the amounts in various foods.

(17) Is there a limit to fats , oils or mayonnaise?
No, there is no limit. The rationale for this is that consuming fat does not lead to creating fat, and that actually fat is needed to help burn the fat already in your body. In fact, many "Reduced Fat" or "Fat-free" products are worse for this diet because they usually add a bunch of carbs. One example is Ranch Dressing. The regular dressing has 1 gram carb. per 2 Tbl. serving, while the same brand in "Fat-Free" has 11 gram for the same size serving.

(18) Are salad bars (with unlimited precut veggies.., ranch dressings... shrimp or some kind of seafood, chicken, etc,) "legal"?
Yes. While there are many things in a restaurant we must avoid, there are also many yummy things we can enjoy guilt-free. There are some pitfalls at the salad bar, most notably sweet dressings, croutons, "bad" veggies, but much more that we can have. That is what is so great about this way of eating (WOE). There is so much we can have, and the things we are not supposed to have, are, at the most, just twelve days away.

(19) How do you keep from getting sick of eggs every morning?
Sometimes you don't. It is a matter of finding different ways of preparing them, looking forward to the two days off, and most of all, wanting to be a "normal" weight more than not wanting to eat eggs. 10 different ways of preparing eggs that come to mind are, fried, scrambled, deviled, poached, hard boiled, soft boiled, basted, sunny side up, over-easy, You can add butter, picante sauce, mustard, mayonnaise, hot sauce, etc.(no ketchup), and as an omelet are some of the ways to prepare eggs that come to mind.

(20) Where do I find the maintainance diet? At this time, the maintenance program is identical to the weight loss program. But instead of taking every other weekend off, we take EVERY weekend off. To the best of my knowledge, we have only one person on this list who has reach goal. They are maintaining just as described. It may be that once at goal, we will be able to maintain our loss by determining for ourselves how many carbs we can eat without gaining.

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