Restrictive? I had a chalupa for lunch, chili with Dorados for dinner and just made coconut chocolate cupcakes for desert. And my 'snack' when I had a little hunger was roasted brussel sprouts. ALL within protocol. The game changer is the cookbook. I didn't want to pay the money for it because I'm paying so much in food but I couldn't be happier with this thing, tons and tons or recipes, so much variety and it has everything you need to keep you within protocol.