Who is doing South Beach diet?

L

lorihart

Cathlete
Hi Everyone,
I was just wondering who is doing this program? I know that there are a couple of people doing it but I was wondering how you were doing on it.
I was wondering b/c I bought the book yesterday to read b/c I was travelling.It seems like an o.k diet but I don't know if I could do it.I am a MAJOR bread and sweets fan.It says in the book that in phase 3 you can start eating those things again but when I read phase 3 I was under a different impression.It seems like you can only eat bread 3 times a week,do you have to go the rest of your life never tasting a sandwich again?
I am not quit finished the book yet but I have to say that I enjoyed reading BFL more.The diet itself made more sense b/c you got that cheat day once a week.You weren't restricted from anything that you enjoyed eating. I also found that the stories in the book were all the same(as far as Ive read).Am I in this alone or did anyone else think that?
I am sure that the diet is good.But when I lost weight before I was on a low fat diet.Not the actually low fat diet but I just didn't eat any take-out or egg yolks, bacon,hamburgers...you get my drift.Maybe part of that is still in my memory and I can not imagine eating high fat foods and it being better for you then a piece of whole wheat bread.
I seriously think that this is why my husband is so slim.He is a meat eater.I can make him eggs,bacon, and toast for his breakfast and he ALWAYS leaves the bread.
What about people who are active like us? Can we eat this way and still run 14 kms?
Sorry for all the questions but I was just wondering the ins and outs of it all.Maybe I should have kept on reading instead of asking questions...but do tell:)
Lori
 
My husband was needing/wanting to drop a few pounds and he asked me to find a diet for him; after reading a few I decided that South Beach was the most like the way we normally eat and that it would be the easiest to fit into our lifestyle. That being said....I have encountered a few problems sticking to the diet in it's outlined form. I simply cannot restrict my carbs as much as you are supposed to in Phase One (trying Atkins was a complete failure for me!) I seem to be able to do it for 3 days, and then I have a completely uncontrollable carb breakdown where I scarf down everything in sight. I am much better at Phase Two and Three which allows more carbs. I simply have to start my day with Kashi Go Lean cereal.
I think the main thing about South Beach that is different from Atkins is that he encourages you to only eat lean proteins, so my impression was that following this diet did not mean I got to eat lots of bacon or steak. I have been sticking to chicken, fish and cottage cheese as my main protein sources. I still log my foods over at Fit Day just to keep tabs on my fat intake, because I find that it really tends to creep up when I take in a lot of protein. I am also finding that my daily breakdown is like 30% fat, 30% carbs and 40% protein (how very Zone like of me) and this ratio seems to be working for me, albeit very slowly. However, I really only want to lose about 5-8 lbs. My husband dropped about 8 lbs. in the first two weeks, when we were in Phase One and he has kept it off for about 6 additional weeks (during phase two). I have also found that for me, if my carbs go any lower than 30% of my daily intake, I don't have the stamina or energy to "play" with Cathe.
When I read the book I didn't get the impression that he was forbidding certain foods forever (once you were in Phase Three), just that he wanted you to be aware of the repercussions.
Sorry this is so long, but I hope it helps.
Tracy
 
Thanks for your answers. Did you do phase 1 at all or did you just skip right into phase2-3? I was wondering what that would be like.I could see me having a major break down as well.I can only take something away for so long.Thats the impression I have gotten from the book thus far...but like I said, I still have some to read.
Lori
 
Hey Tracey and Lori! I just switched to South Beach after doing the Atkins thing all summer. I skipped phase one, since I have not been eating a whole lot of any carbs all summer. I started on Monday, but after the super restriction of Atkins, the SB diet seems a little to "liberal" for me.....I am an all or nothing kind of person. But I do think it a much healthier way of eating. Now, I lost 8 pounds doing Atkins, but what Tracey mentioned about "playing" power was so true! I really, really struggled all summer to keep up my workouts, so I finally decided that I would rather be a few pounds heavier and be able to workout with my old level of intensity. So I am really hoping the extra carbs in SB will give me the extra power with out the extra pounds creeping back on! Bsesides, I have that dratted operation coming up and I want to go in the BEST shape and hopefully the muscles won't forget it! Take care and good luck, Donna.
 
Is anyone doing this who is already very fit, eats healthy and only needs to lose 10 or so lbs? I'm in that group, and contemplating it. But I am just curious as to whether it works for someone who is not obese, eats lots of refined carbs, doesn't exercise. Seems like all the profiles in the book are like that. So I'm wondering if it only works really well if you have a long way to go in terms of fixing your lifestyle (I don't). Please share your results before I dive into this thing...TIA.
Meredith
 
I am in the 10 lbs category. I have been trying to loose it for the past 8 months. I wasn't on a specific diet, just cut out all sugar and white flour. Exercising 6xweek (cathe), I did notice a lot more definition but the flab just stuck to my middle and the scale wouldn't budge an ounce.

Because I was recently diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome I was put on the SC-diet and I basically cut out all carbs and upped my protein a week ago. Sofar I lost 1 lbs (in a six days). It's not much, but something is finally happening. The SC-diet is a lot like the SB-diet. I am supposed to stick to this diet for 4 weeks, and when all the symptoms have gone I can very very gradually add good carbs again. Which is again similar to the SB-diet. So I guess the SB-diet could work for you. But then again, everyone is different.

Dutchie
 
I wanted to lose about 10-15 lbs. I read Protein Power which gives much more info than SB and seemed more healthy than Atkins. However the newer Atkins book now advocates less fat and nitrates than the original. I bought South Beach for the low-carb recipes. They all say the same thing: no sugar or refined carbs. If you find yourself lacking energy, it's probably cuz you need more protein. I know I wasn't eating nearly enough protein. So, I lost 8 pounds in about a month and it was easy. But I couldn't figure out why I was stuck at a plateau and not losing any more. Turns out you really have to watch your carbs. I was drinking 2 big glasses of milk a day and that's @40g carbs all by itself. That's 10g more than your total intake should be for a day! Once I stopped the milk, I lost 6 more pounds in a few weeks. I get my calcium from different sources now. Now, it's a lifestyle change. If I eat a sandwich, I take off one piece of bread and eat it open-faced. Protein Power does say that you don't have to be careful counting calories UNLESS you only have 10 or so pounds to lose. Then you have to be more watchful of calories. IMO, it's worth a try. Cheryl
 
Hi!

I just started this last Tuesday. I want to lose about 10 pounds. I lost 4 pounds in 1st 5 days. Yesterday I started Phase 2 because I only have 5-6 more pounds to lose and I was too tired to do my cathe workouts on Phase 1. Yesterday I was able to do a Cathe wo again (I added ezekial bread to my breakfast). I have tried WW, Zone, BFL, Atkins, and so far this is my favorite. I noticed results fast. My stomach is flatter already.(I gain in tummy) I like the recipes in the book. They are easy and low prep. They even allow a little dessert every day(dark choc). My cravings have decreased and I have a lot of energy. You eat a lot of veggies and protein. I even cheated last night and had some wine and scale didn't budge. Red wine is allowed on phase 3.
 
Hi Meredith,
I was in the 10 pound category. I started the South Beach Diet during the end of June and have lost about 12 pounds. I was not officially overweight - just towards the high end of the chart for my height. Now, after this diet, I am at the low end of the chart. I lost 8 pounds during phase 1 (two weeks). I'm now on Phase 3 and have kept the weight off for several weeks. . . and it's easy! :)

Honest confession - phase 1 was challenging. The first few days are the worst - I was tired and hungry. But, I quickly learned that this was my own fault - I was not eating enough. I have the book and used the website (http://www.southBeachDiet.com). Once the second week of Phase One rolled around, I started to get use to the diet and how much food was enough, etc. I don't really think staying on Phase 1 for an extended amount of time is particularly healthy. When I was finishing up Phase 1, my PH balance must have been way off - I started getting cankersores and was on the verge of getting a yeast infection - this is not normal for me. Coincidence? Not sure. Once I got on Phase 2, this cleared right up.

As far as workouts go during Phase 1 -
Dr. Agatston mentions repeatedly on the website that if you workout, then, you are allowed to have some other foods not offered in Phase 1 to supply your body with extra energy for these workouts - I chose to eat a low fat/sugar yogurt about 1/2 hour before a workout and found that very helpful.

My Mother-In-Law went on the diet at about the same time and lost 15 pounds - she was over 30% body fat when she started and has decreased about 2-3%. She does not exercise at all and had great results so far with the diet.

HTH! If you have any questions, let me know.

Christy
 
Thanks all, that helps. I am on day 3 and it's going well. My abs are flatter already. Kind of unbelievable. I am craving bread, but it's bearable. I can't believe how much (whole grain) bread I was eating - about 6 - 9 serv. a day - I guess just cutting that out has made an enormous difference. I ate steak yesterday which felt weird. But I am giving it a real try. I have noticed that I feel tired, especially right before my snacks. I swam laps for an hour last night, though so must not be too tired, huh?
Meredith
 
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