[Tinasblue]

Hi all!

My husband and I started SB and we are officially on day 2. After browsing through the recipes we had to go to the grocery store and spent $120.00 and still didn't get all the stuff. Some of it is just too expensive. The diet calls for sesame oil, but I'm too cheap to spend 6 dollars for a small bottle of sesame oil. The recipes sound good, but I'm also spending an incredible amount of time in the kitchen getting it prepared.

The reason we went on it was because my husband's cholesterol was very high and my own had soared up significantly. It used to be very, very low at around 77, and now it was 186!!! My husband's was 246 with very bad ratios. The first time we did Atkins we were very successful and faithful to the diet which yielded great results including lower cholesterol, but this time hubby and I couldn't keep the carbs out of our traps and those mixed with high fat didn't give the results were we lamely trying to obtain.

Anywho, Even despite the expense and extra work, the food is pretty good on SB. I have noticed though, that it is almost identical to Atkins after the induction phase is over. The only difference I can see is that SB is low fat /low carb from the start whereas Atkins has a much higher fat induction phase. I am still an Atkins devotee at heart!

[CIAFreeAgent]

I totally agree with the above posts.

I've found that I've been adding more carbs back in, staying within a certain range, but having lc bread, tortillas, bagels, cereal *btw special K has a new lc cereal and it's pretty good*,,, and then I've also added some fruit back.

I've started snacking on melon of all types and even a banana here and there, but I do keep track of my fat intake as well... after regaining all that weight when I was sick,, and then having such a hard time losing it again and getting stuck over and over again, this mentality and tweaking things allowed me to start dropping again. I haven't had time to read the book yet, but I know from "word of mouth" that I'm actually doing a premaintanance/OWL/Southbeach kind of thing.

Needless to say, I've been able to come down to 127 just in the past two months after fighting to get back under 140.

Good luck and I swear I'll start reading that book today so I can help!!
hugs
Lisa

[MeeveStesia]

Im thinking of trying South Beach. Im having a tuff time sticking strict with atkins, even though I know the book by heart. But lately my blood pressure has gone up and has my cholestral. Doc told me I should lean towards South Beach since I can grains and more fruit into my deit. I do kinda miss fruits and goof healty grains like wheat bread and such.

I do remember a freind of mine in my freshman yr of college was on it and he lost 40 lbs in 2 1/2 months. Plus i feel if i try a new deit, ill be able to stick to it more strickly than if I keep re trying to do atkins.

Any thoughts or helpful info that I could use? In a few days I'm going to make up my mind on what I want to do...deit wise.


Thanks,

-Chris

[ButKnillinoi]

I hate to be harsh Chris...but at this point I don't think it will matter if your doing South Beach or Atkins...your excursions off diet are not driven by limitiations of the diets, they are driven by your emotional eating and the inability to control your eating when out with friends....combined with the challenges of dieting (and this woudl be so regardless of diet) when eating commercial/cafeteria food plans as your only option...

If by following South Beach you don't feel deprived and that makes a difference, then it may well be the right plan for you! But my observation would be that any diet is going to make you feel deprived until you adopt it as your way of eating for life....until then, you will feel like it is a diet that restricts what you can eat, and you will resent it...and go off it when tempted.

I do wish you luck and success. Your blood preasure and cholesterol are warning signs you need to get your body under control. And you will feel so much better and be treated so much better by others if you can get down to a more "normal" size...

[gfkasjhfg]

Thanks Tonya. Im going to go out and buy the book tomarrow, read it from cover to cover, and start all over agian. I think a new mix up and fresh start should do the trick for me.

-Chris

[agrismhig]

SOuth Beach is the second diet I would reccomend after Atkins. Maily because they are so similar.
Sara Lee has a new LC bread that is wonderful. It is 9 grams per 2 slices, so you should try that even on S.B.
I think it is great to have a fresh new start Chris.
Good luck!

Hugs,
Tonya

[Quick$bux]

Chris, I think that sounds like a good idea. In many ways South Beach is just a more advanced version of Atkins (think OWL).

It is good because it allows you to add back in some grains and fruit (I miss that as well, especially in the summer). The penalty is that you will have to cut back on the fat - so eat leaner meats, go back to lighter mayo, salad dressings, cut back on butter and cream, that kind of thing. It's all stuff you would have to do anyway as you moved through Atkins toward Maintenance.

I am doing something similar. I have been using fitday and I would encourage you to do that as it helps you to see your percentages of fats and carbs and protein really easily and also lets you keep an eye on how many calories you are eating a day vs how many your body needs just to stay the weight you are. Since I have been using it and keeping my calories under what it says to keep my weight the same, I have been losing weight and I had been gaining and then stalled for a long time!

Let us know what you think and how you are doing. Good luck.