South Beach Diet

KittyO8

Is anyone doing this and also counting calories?

My doctor just put me on this today (I am just now starting to read the book) and I wasn't sure if it's something I can do along with counting my calories.

Caper88

I thought the idea of South Beach is that you could eat as much as you wanted of the items they tell you that you can have. It should explain it in the book. I personally think you should just count calories since South Beach is not teaching you how to eat properly in the long run so you are going to gain it back but your dr would know your health better then me. Go a head and ask him the question and he should tell you.

aflane

Personally, I found the South Beach diet to be a torturous nightmare. I too was instructed to follow SB by my doctor (even though I was begging him to just prescribe a dietician for me - insurance would cover with the Rx). I found that I had lost more weight on my own without the drastic mood swings that SB put me through. You shouldn't be on a diet where you have dreams about being 'allowed' to eat an orange. It teaches you nothing.

grouch201

MFP is generally more about changing the way you eat rather than just about dieting. The thing about South Beach is that it is a temporary solution to a long term problem. If you're going to be eating that way for the rest of your life, then fine. But if you're not, I'd think you'd be better off learning how to eat the right kinds of food in the right portions.

marianna0056

Wow! You actually have a doctor who told you what to do about losing weight. Mine just said to exercise and eat less calories. No referral to a nutritionist. Those are for personal coaches, which is big bucks. Every diet approach tells a person to check with your doctor before embarking on it. They don't know...they just know how to treat you once you get a disease. And even then they are hoping you get better somehow. I changed doctors after he patted me on the head and said, "you'll be fine".

KittyO8

I guess I should have put that they have me on a low carb diet (and recommend south beach since I"ve never done a low carb diet) because I'm insilin restitant which is in turn affecting my fertility not because of my weight.

No matter what I do I'm going to have to do a low carb diet. I'm hoping that I can keep a lower carb lifestyle so not to gain back the weight which is why I was wondering if I could also do the calorie counting with it.

I'm not thrilled with the idea because I've always been about lifestyle changes and doing what is healthy for my body and may just use south beach as a way to teach me the difference between good carbs and bad carbs. But we do want to have a baby so I'm willing to try what the doctor has told me to do.

Like I said I'm just now getting into the book as it was just prescribed to me this afternoon. I'd much rather count calories and use SB as a way to guide me to good carbs vs bad carbs. I'm hoping I'll be able to do that and still become healthy.

KittyO8

and this probably isn't the only thing affecting my fertility but we are still in the stage of all the testing. This is just one thing we now know about and can try and fix.

osblara

Yes I am... Surprisingly the calories are not going over my daily allotment (but I usually get more than that from exercise).

Good luck!

KittyO8

osblara - Thanks! I'm happy to hear it's not going over the calories MFP has set for you. I for the past 2 1/2 years have been focused on calories so not focusing on them would probably stress me out!! I try to exercise a min of 3-5 times a week for 30-60 mins each session so I get a decent amount of exercise calories each week usually.

E_von

Hi, I am new to this site, and have been using it 3 weeks. I changed my Eat Clean routine, which did not work for me at all, and went back to low carb, which has been very successful before. I am borderline diabetic and find I do not have the headaches and dizziness experienced when I consume large amounts of carbs, also to your question, I changed my profile to monitor carbs, fat, protein and calories, and just as the other poster stated, I hardly go over the total 1200 calorie limit I set for myself.
Good Luck!! with SB and baby making! :happy:

MSQUEEN52

I am on the South Beach Diet (SBD) and am doing very well with it. I merely prepare some of the daily recipes posted for phases one and two, which lists the calories and other nutrients. I still count some of my calories in this community because I do not always prepare the ones available from the SBD website and I do not care to fix the desserts. In exchange of cooking theirs, I eat the Smart Ones by Weight Watchers (e.g., Low Fat Strawberry Shortcake). I am not disciplined when it comes to dieting, but I am actually comfortable with this one because most of the meals are prepared with ingredients that I like such as olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sesame seed oil, red onions, tomatoes, garlic, and a mixture of red, green, yellow and orange peppers. So, just give it a chance and speak with your doctor about any concerns you have. Your buddies are here for you and will help you along!

“… in this together!”

oceanrose78

I love the SBD, because it is a lifestyle, and a very healthy one. Since I restarted (a bad job, and stress made me drop it completely and regain - not a diet failure, a lifestyle failure) I have been using this site.

SBD is naturally low calorie if you are following it correctly and eating your fresh veggies. I struggled the first week when I was still working to eat my calories every day. I am typically still under the goal calories on here, but over the 1200 calorie threshold, which is what I aim for.

I'm amazed at how much misinformation there is around this diet. You can eat fruit, you can eat carbs, you can even eat dessert. What it teaches you to do is look at how you pair foods up and to not eat white sugar, flour etc. You eat healthy lean meats, beans, and plenty of veggies.

A typical day for me, is a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast with splenda. I flavor this however I'd like, I love a little vanilla and 1/4 cup of blueberries.

Snack of yogurt and turkey with swiss cheese and mustard.

Lunch is generally a big salad with some type of protein, I vary on the day.

Another snack, celery stick with almond butter, or a 1/2 cup of fruit, or raw veggies with a little bit of dip.

Dinner - protein and veggies.

I try to keep potatoes and rice out of my diet, because those are huge triggers for me to eat badly. I eat a slice of bread when I want, and if I eat out, I balance what I'd like to eat with what's healthy. Like tonight, I ate at California Pizza Kitchen. I had a salad and 2 slices of garlic chicken pizza. I even had a couple bites of Red Velvet cake for dessert. I follow the 3 bite rule for that, the first 3 bites are the best anyway .

Phase 1, is very restrictive, but it does get you over your cravings if you can work it out. During Ph 1 this time, I felt horrible and was irritable for 2 days. Then all my cravings went away and I knew I'd gotten all the sugar and junk out of my system. Then you get lots of energy and feel great. AFter all, you're feeding your body non-processed food and keeping your blood sugar stable.

Since restarting the SBD Jan 1st, I've lost 15#, 11# since starting this site as a food diary.

vzepol

I have never been on a diet before. I am in phase 2 of sbd it is easy, makes sense, and am losing about one pound a week. BTW I don't want lose more than that, I really want to get used to eating a proper diet. South Beach rocks.

llkilgore

I'm also in phase 2 - sort of. I'm on a free lance low carb diet loosely based on a somewhat relaxed version of SBD. Like vzepol, I'm losing about a pound a week and am perfectly content to do so. There's no hurry and the diet isn't a hardship. I began counting calories near the end of phase 1, but only because I wanted to closely monitor my diet as I very carefully moved into phase 2. I wanted records I could study if I ran into any problems.

A typical day for me starts with the recommended portion of steel cut oatmeal. Time was when I would have doubled the recipe. I like it with a cap-full of sugar free Da Vinci Amaretto syrup and 2 or 3 slices of frozen peach, thawed and diced. During the two weeks of phase1 I typically made a single egg spinach and mushroom omelet, and still like to do that occasionally. Fresh spinach has become a staple around here because it's so much more versatile than the other common salad greens - it's good cooked - and it lasts a lot longer than lettuce in the fridge..

I'm usually on my own for lunch and usually opt for something quick to cook. That might be a grilled chicken breast tenderloin or 2, or a 4 oz salmon filet, plus generous servings of at least 2 different non-starch vegetables, and a slice of whole grain bread. Sometimes I'll make a salad as well, but I'm kind of burned out on salads.

Dinner is usually similar to lunch except that I prepare larger volumes and often put a baking potato or rolls in the oven for he-who-isn't-on-a-diet. I do go for at least 4 or 5 different vegetables a day, not counting salads.

Snacks - usually a piece of fruit, often with cheese or peanut butter on the side. Sometimes I like a quarter cup of ricotta cheese with berries or peaches. The Da Vinci syrup is really good in that too - tastes like marzipan. Those are good snacks for early in the day, but if I want something after dinner I usually try to avoid carbs. A reduced fat cheese stick wrapped in a slice of Canadian bacon is good then.

Getting in the vegetables was difficult at first - especially at lunch - until I learned how quick and easy it is to prepare them in the microwave. It takes me like 3 minutes to steam 100 grams of broccoli spears or maybe 5 minutes to prepare and bake a mini summer squash and parmesan cheese casserole. I don't limit my consumption of non-starchy vegetables at all, and didn't even on phase 1.

I personally think you should just count calories since South Beach is not teaching you how to eat properly in the long run so you are going to gain it back...

What's improper about a diet based on high quality protein, healthy fats in moderation, lots and LOTS of all sorts of vegetables, and complex carbohydrates chosen for their relative lack of adulteration? I don't know that I can go the rest of my life without a brownie, or butter cream icing, but I don't know of a diet that would make it any easier. At least I don't crave sugar these days. This doesn't seem to be true of everyone, but a lot of people lose their sweet tooth completely when they go low carb.

vzepol

Well said Laura. I was on my phone last night so I gave the short answer.

The key point I wanted to make, and I think you did, I am never hungry. I have been following the 6 meals a day outline. I also cheat a little I will have the occasional glass of wine or scotch and a piece of chocolate every few days. Yesterday I ate most of my calories 1600 of the suggested 2200 which is unusual for me. This was my day:

Bfeast: 1 egg, 2 slices of Canadian bacon, 1 slice of Flatout grain flax bread, 1/2 a glass of low sodium V8 juice
Snack 1 low 1% Trader Joe's cheese stick
Lunch Salad with broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, tomatoes, avocado and 1/2 can of white tuna
Snack 20 almonds
Dinner 2 servings of lentil and cauliflower soup, Hunts sugar free chocolate pudding (I need dessert), a glass of red wine
Snack 1/2 cup of ricotta with a splash of vanilla and a packet of Spenda.

Once you get the maintenance section of the SB book it is mostly a normal diet. If you need it the author gives you permission to fall off the plan and offers a solution for getting back on track.

But honestly, for me SB makes a lot of sense chemically. Using MFP keeps me honest as to what I am eating during the day which also makes sense. It is harder to eat bad stuff if you have to write it down, then have to look at it all day. Lastly, I know when I get to my goal I will overindulge, like at our progressive dinner parties, but I know how to get back to the plan.

Good Luck,

Victor

HawkeyeGuy

You might not like what your Dr. prescribed, but his prescription for weight loss was right on...exercise and eat less calories. If you follow that simple advice on a daily basis for the rest of your life, you will get fit and in shape. Following the South Beach diet for a a month until you can't take it anymore, will not.

Wow! You actually have a doctor who told you what to do about losing weight. Mine just said to exercise and eat less calories. No referral to a nutritionist. Those are for personal coaches, which is big bucks. Every diet approach tells a person to check with your doctor before embarking on it. They don't know...they just know how to treat you once you get a disease. And even then they are hoping you get better somehow. I changed doctors after he patted me on the head and said, "you'll be fine".

llkilgore

Following the South Beach diet for a a month until you can't take it anymore, will not.

Just out of curiosity, how do you, personally, define "South Beach diet?"

noneya2010

I've done SB in the past with great results. The main thing to remember is to not just do "SB diet" but to make the lifestyle changes. Ahhhh......seems so simple doesn't it!! SB is only initially restrictive and yes, I do think it would be a great idea to count calories in addition to doing SB. I also do low-carb -- that seems to work very well for my body type and i have good success wtih low carb eating. My problem is I haven't made it a life style change so I get off, gain weight, get back on, lose, get off, ........ well you get the point!

SB is a good program if you follow it.

HawkeyeGuy

Cluster it with any other diet that can't be followed the rest of your life...such as the people on this thread are testament to.

Following the South Beach diet for a a month until you can't take it anymore, will not.

Just out of curiosity, how do you, personally, define "South Beach diet?"

scagneti

I guess I should have put that they have me on a low carb diet (and recommend south beach since I"ve never done a low carb diet) because I'm insilin restitant which is in turn affecting my fertility not because of my weight.

No matter what I do I'm going to have to do a low carb diet. I'm hoping that I can keep a lower carb lifestyle so not to gain back the weight which is why I was wondering if I could also do the calorie counting with it.

I'm not thrilled with the idea because I've always been about lifestyle changes and doing what is healthy for my body and may just use south beach as a way to teach me the difference between good carbs and bad carbs. But we do want to have a baby so I'm willing to try what the doctor has told me to do.

Like I said I'm just now getting into the book as it was just prescribed to me this afternoon. I'd much rather count calories and use SB as a way to guide me to good carbs vs bad carbs. I'm hoping I'll be able to do that and still become healthy.

I remember ages ago, I read a book called the Carb Addicts cook (or something like that). Their theory was that you should consume the brunt of your daily carbs within one hour. So you could eat carbs, but the start and end of the meal had to occur within 60 minutes. You could also pick whichever meal you wanted to be your "carb" meal (so if you were going out for lunch one day, you could do that and then lower your carb intake at dinner) but you could switch it up the following day if you wanted to. It had to do with the insulin production (I haven't heard much about the diet since, but I remember it was fascinating to my 18 year old self who didn't need to lose weight!) I wonder if that would be something that would help in your situation since your body isn't reacting to carbs all day long, just in a 60 minute cycle.

Newfiedan

Both my wife and I tried the SB diet, the biggest problem I had was nausea and light headedness in the mornings almost to the point of vomitting. I had wicked blood sugar dips that would make me dizzy and we both found this on the diet and we followed it to the letter. If you really want to lose weight cut out all the processed crap we eat and I mean all of it. Start eating natural foods, veggies (the fresher the better) organic if budget allows, fresh fruits (same deal as veggies) and unprocesed meats and fish. Get to love fish especially salmon and cod they are great for you. I eat less red meat now than before but I still love my steaks just with a lot less bbq sauce. I also eat lots of eggs they are one of my fav things I get them from our local egg farmer fresh from the farm every 2 weeks, its cheaper than any supermarket and the hens are not force fed steriods and crap.

llkilgore

Cluster it with any other diet that can't be followed the rest of your life...such as the people on this thread are testament to.

Following the South Beach diet for a a month until you can't take it anymore, will not.

Just out of curiosity, how do you, personally, define "South Beach diet?"

Yeah, that's what I figured.

I couldn't follow phase 1 for the rest of my life, but fortunately, no one ever asked me to. It was more boring than difficult, and was only for two weeks. The South Beach I'm on now - the phase 2 as outlined in the book - is not so different from the so called balanced, restricted calorie diets I tried to follow in the past, only with much clearer guidelines. I do eat carbs, I've just learned to differentiate between instant oatmeal and the real thing, and between whole wheat bread and whole grain bread. Do it right and South Beach teaches you to eat real food. That's a bad thing?

A lot of folks seem to use phase 1 as a short term crash diet, and are even more restrictive on carbs than the book calls for. The man tells you to eat a minimum of 4.5 cups of vegetables every day. He tells you to never let yourself get hungry. People who ignore that advice and abuse the diet deserve what they get.

Can I follow it for the rest of my life? Well, I fully expect to slip up from time to time and eat something I know isn't good for me. But I can certainly make it the backbone of my diet for the rest of my life.

oceanrose78

Exactly right Laura, I think that most people think that phase 1 is where it ends. Phase 1, can even be skipped, it's simply getting your blood sugar under control.

And it is a diet that is achievable for the rest of your life. I lost 75 pounds on the SBD and kept it off for 5 years until I started eating burgers and fries for lunch every day. Not because of the diet, but because I CHOSE to eat unhealthy food. Any diet plan, or way of eating would be destroyed by doing that .

Healthy eating is just that, healthy eating. There doesn't need to be a label, but what works for one won't work for another. The SBD principles work for me, I love veggies, I enjoy eating fresh foods, and I can generally use it's guidelines to make a good choice in a restaurant situation. And it even allows me to eat dessert when I want. It's helped me figure out why I can't eat just one donut (white sugar and white flour are a really bad combination for me) and make the choice to not eat them so I don't crave food later. It's not a cure-all, it's a tool, and just like any other tool, is only as good as the person using it.

lkm111

I've read the book twice, once when it first came out, once just last week. Here are the main points I got out of it - eat lean protein, vegetables, whole grain carbs and good fats. Oh, and eat until your body tells you that you are full. The part I'm not sure about is Phase I. I am really thinking about starting at Phase II. I don't have that many cravings for carbs any more anyway.

I hope you are able to find success in whatever you decide to do!

delraybuzz

And it is a diet that is achievable for the rest of your life. I lost 75 pounds on the SBD and kept it off for 5 years until I started eating burgers and fries for lunch every day. Not because of the diet, but because I CHOSE to eat unhealthy food. Any diet plan, or way of eating would be destroyed by doing that .

Oceanrose, you are right on the button! I lived on SBD for years, and still follow what I learned religeously! Nothing WHITE (except cauliflower!!!), GOOD oils, protein at every meal, fill up with as much fiber as possible, and try to have 3 moderate meals plus 2 or 3 healthy snack every day! And this way of life came about because Dr Agatston was working on a healthy way for his heart patients to live and be active. While developing this, his staff discovered those who were trying his plan were losing weight! It was NOT initially developed as a weight loss diet! If properly followed, one should feel healthy and alive!

My departure happened when, after years of overdoing my daily exercise routine (race walking, aerobics, weight lifting, zumba, plus almost any new discovery), I wore out my hip and required a replacement. The hospital food was not a problem: it was simply inedible! But 2 weeks in rehab...typical institutional "comfort" food...and my weight and tastes started to backfire, plus no more 5-7 miles of speedwalking daily, and no more gym, and over 3 years, I gained around 40 pounds. At 40, one has time to get back in shape. At 80, it becomes crucial for one's health. My Dr said to cut calories. I did! I gained more weight. I was really feeling desperate when one of the staff in my Dr's office said "You need our nutritionist. You are in starvation mode" and she set up an appointment.

I am now on approximately 1200 calories a day, and here My Fitness Plan is like a miracle, because it tells me exactly WHERE I'm messing up! I journal evry single day. And basically, I am eating South Beach Diet rules, and there are things I simply cannot get myself to eat---especially WHITE ANYTHING! Nuts are great snacks, 1200 calories keeps me very full, but I force myself when I'm able. Once we are in our 80's, doctors are a frequent occurence, and on days I have "procedures, I often don't eat enough,, and the scale will NOT budge down!

So do not eat less than 1200 calories a day. In SBD, it's OK to skip the 2st 2 weeks. They often cause constipation, and they are merely a kick-start for the impatient! Just read the rules, understand the what and why of SBD, and think of it as a truly healthy lifestyle.

It took me 3 years to recover my strength after the hip surgery, and I ended up with the new hip being higher than the other, so my entire walking gait has changed. I now prefer walking to a Jane Fonda or Leslie Sansone DVD, under a fan in my air-conditioned comfort. Sometimes that's necessary anyway, in Florida. But I find I cannot consider eating stuff unacceptable on South Beach Diet, and ;though at my age, it's much more difficult to lose pounds, I gladly settle for the ounces going down!
Buzz

pentafive

Check out the videos in here, they talk about a low carb diet and why/how it helps.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/172105-blood-sugar-why-you-can-t-lose-the-weight