Anyone have success with the South Beach Diet?

TranceGirl

Good morning!

I think I am addicted to carbs... chocolate, pizza, pasta, sandwiches, and the whole 9 yards. I am thinking of doing the South Beach diet because no one really needs those refined sugars in their diet anyway and 2 weeks without whole grains and fruits wont kill me if I have all the veggies I want.
Have any of you tried South Beach and if so, how are the results like? Any tips?

Thank you!

vetsnatural

My sister did the SB diet and she did very well on it. She was never hungry and she loss the weight.

jojoisastar79

Hi, I followed the South Beach Diet - it did work very well and I lost 15lbs on it.

The only problem was, my skin wasn't so good and when I came off it and ate reasonably healthy, I gained all of the weight back and more!

Juliane1986

Hi there,

I lost my first 10 lbs from just doing the south beach diet and that didn't include working out. When I started working out the next 12 came off but I wasn't necessarily following the SBD as much as using some of their healthy recipes now and then. I like the recipes, but I think just doing the SBD alone may help you lose some weight but combined with exercise would be much more effective. Their recipes are great, even the recipes during the 1st 2 weeks and I'd be happy to recommend some of my favorites if you are looking for suggestions. I still use them!

Julie

kittyloo123

i did the sbd about 5 years ago. with a little exercise i ended up losing around 50lbs. But remember with the sb, you are totally restricted from many foods, which IMO just makes you crave them. Yeah, i gained it all back, and then some.
For me, this is much better, by a mile. Who wants to totally give up the stuff you love?
My friend has been on the sb for years, but she constantly cheats..Looks just the same as she always did.

Juliane1986

I would have to agree with Kittyloo although I didn't gain my weight back the one thing I didn't like about the SBD is that you are restricted from some foods which made me crave them. I LOVE potatoes, and they don't allow these until your maintenance phase. I think the SBD is great to help you jump start you weight loss and get you started thinking about what you are eating and eating healthy, but I've switched my diet to more of a lifestyle change. I still indulge every once in a while (I like my Ben and Jerry's chocolate fudge brownie frozen yogurt!), I eat potatoes, not all the time but occasionally. I just overall try to make sure throughout the day I'm watching what I eat, trying to make healthy choices, trying to get my 5 fruits/veggies in (which is difficult), choosing lower fat dairy products, leaner meats and trying out different recipes from websites like cookinglight.com to try to keep my calorie counts lower but my taste buds happy!

So far it seems to be working for me. I don't beat myself up if I go home and visit my family for the weekend and end up indulging in pizza, beer and wings (and maybe some chinese too lol). I just make sure when I get home I jump right back on my healthy bandwagon, drink lots of water to flush the extra sodium out of my system and don't weigh myself for a few days!

Hope this helps!

dezedeze

I too have done the SBD with good results in the past, and I was never hungry, but like everything it's designed to ultimately be a lifestyle change. I stopped eating like that and ... guess what?? ... the weight is back. **shocker**

They key to South Beach is really just cutting out refined carbs, cutting back carbs in general, and eating lots of lean protein/fruits/veggies and heart-healthy fats. It's a lot of label-reading to make sure you're not eating anything that has refined flour, refined sugar, etc in it, and that any carbs you eat have plenty of fiber along with them. If you really think about it, it's just about eating really healthy! South Beach is great if you need some help eating a balanced diet and learning what "eating really healthy" really is (I am so much better about reading labels than I used to be), and it's also great if you do well following regimented plans, but if you already know how to do that, then you don't need it.

circusmom

I started out on SBD, it has worked great. As I started to increase my workout level I needed to increase my carb level, so I'm now at about 35% carbs.
It's a good starting point, it teaches you a healthier way to eat. And with all things if you go back to your old way of eating, of course your going to gain it all back.

carloP90X

A co-worker has been raving about Food Lovers Fat Loss System. Aside from protein, I believe carbs (both good and bad) are part of the solution not the problem. Best of Luck.

tfanning1

Just starting South Beach- i think i need the total break from carbs for a while to get back on track, best of luck.

Shannonigans84

I'm not doing SBD exclusively, more like just watching my carbs. It's been a week and a half with no slip ups (and no exercise other than my daily activities) and I lost 5lbs. I didn't experience any cravings and I'm not as hungry as I was prior. I think it's reasonable to keep this up because it's easy for me to skip the bread and I get my chocolate fix from sugar free options. Good luck!

joyw37

I am so glad I read this!! I started South Beach tuesday(today is sat) and have already lost 6 lbs! I have been on "1500 calories" with myfitnesspal since June and only lost 13. I feel better, haven't been hungry(which i was ALL the time counting calories) and really haven't had any cravings(which is really odd for me). I think for me, my body just has a severe reaction to "bad carbs". Actually, all i'm really cutting out is processed foods and sugar, which aren't healthy for me anyway. (and fruit, but it's not like i was really wasting my calories on fruit anyway). I really like the support of this site, was just kinda hesitant about coming back not counting calories. I'm glad to see i'm not alone:) ....and as far as if i stop this I will gain it back, well that is true of any diet. But this is something that I can FEEL is better for my body in just 4 days.

jojo1371

Today is my Day 3 of the South beach diet.. and I know you're not supposed to weigh yourself every day, but I have been just out of curiosity to see if this is actually working... and I've lost almost 3lbs. I've been on MFP and other calorie tracking websites since March 2010 and have lost 18lbs in the first three months, then everything has been halted since then. I haven't really stopped tracking, but being stuck in a plateau for almost a year was driving me nuts. I'm glad to see that this is working. I agree with joyw37 that maybe my body doesn't like "bad carbs" either.

I don't really feel hungry because I am constantly eating,whereas with counting calories, I was always hungry and somehow always manged to go over! The only down side so far with my SBD experience is that I am actually feeling very dizzy and nauseous. I believe this is the ketosis mode that your body goes into.

silkysly

I did SB back in the day. My starting weight was 167. (OMG, I never told anybody that before!) I follow the low carb thing & my only exercise was walking. It got me down to 132. It’s workable & you aren't hungry.

circusmom

I am so glad I read this!! I started South Beach tuesday(today is sat) and have already lost 6 lbs! I have been on "1500 calories" with myfitnesspal since June and only lost 13. I feel better, haven't been hungry(which i was ALL the time counting calories) and really haven't had any cravings(which is really odd for me). I think for me, my body just has a severe reaction to "bad carbs". Actually, all i'm really cutting out is processed foods and sugar, which aren't healthy for me anyway. (and fruit, but it's not like i was really wasting my calories on fruit anyway). I really like the support of this site, was just kinda hesitant about coming back not counting calories. I'm glad to see i'm not alone:) ....and as far as if i stop this I will gain it back, well that is true of any diet. But this is something that I can FEEL is better for my body in just 4 days.

I never even look at my calories anymore, as long as my carbs are in line everything else seems to fall in place. I've found that around 100g of carbs a day is something that is easy to maintain, and I'm still losing weight, not as fast as the introduction phase, but at a good pace. Good luck on your journey!

Jewels211

Hi, I followed the South Beach Diet - it did work very well and I lost 15lbs on it.

The only problem was, my skin wasn't so good and when I came off it and ate reasonably healthy, I gained all of the weight back and more!

You're saying your skin broke out eating SBD? How long did you stick with it? With some things, it has to get worse before it gets better. Phase 1 of SBD flushes out all the bad carbs, etc. If stuff is being flushed out, it may well kind of go out through the pores as well?

Jewels211

I had (and am having again) wonderful luck with SBD. Since it is a way of eating designed by a cardiologist to first and foremost help his critically ill heart patients to get more healthy, and in the process lose weight very well, it strikes me as being the wisest way to eat. I think it's really important to read the book; you can check it out of the library if nothing else. Because there is a lot of false statements out there about it, and also a lot of misunderstandings. Dr. Agatston lays everything out in very simple, straightforward, easy-to-understand way.

The big key to Phase 1 is to not be hungry. Eat plenty, just make sure it's lean proteins and LOTS of veggies. And drink lots of water. Often, "hunger pangs" are actually chemical cravings. If you're feeling "hungry" for examply an hour after you ate a good-sized meal, it's probably your body detoxing but crying out for another bad-carb fix. So you grab a piece of string cheese or a couple of thin slices of deli meat, even if you're craving something sweet, and I'll bet the feeling leaves. Dr. A sets up three meals, snacks between them, and a dessert in the evening to make sure you don't feel hungry AND to make sure your blood sugar levels stay even.

Then when you get to Phase 2 you sllloooowwwly add back in whole grain carbs (you've been eating carbs all along--veggies are carbs, just the good kind) and fruit carbs--both also good carbs, just ones that can raise blood sugar a little faster than the veggie ones. Sometimes it takes awhile for your body to get used to all of this, and during that time, weight loss can be a little wonky. But then you can settle down to a usually more even keel.

A strong suggestion I'll make is to measure yourself! Hopefully, as you begin. Then after phase 1, and then once a month or so. Sometimes the scale just sits there and looks at you, but the tape measure will NOT. You'll see love on that tape measure no matter what if you stick to the SBD way of eating. I mean, who cares if the scale insists you haven't lost anything in two or three weeks if the tape measure shows you've lost another 1/2" off of your waist? And suddenly, there'll be a "whoosh" on the scale, too, sooner or later, and you go from losing nothing to losing 2 or 3 lbs in a week.

I lost 71 lbs in 7 months on SBD 3 years ago. I ate plenty, wasn't skimping, just eating lots of veggies and sane amounts of protein, healthy fats, and grains and fruit. I wasn't even exercising! (Which I should have been.) Then I screwed up and slowly let it all creep back on. But NO way of eating will keep the weight off forever if you go back to the old ways of eating. Crap food, chips, processed stuff with lots of sugar, etc. are going to pack on the lbs unless you eat very small quantities of food a day. And fat cells love to attach water to themselves, so you also have that joy to contend with.

SBD is totally do-able if you understand what Dr. A wants, which is lots of veggies, only healthy meats, a couple of small servings of grain ( a couple of slices a bread a day, or a cup of whole wheat pasta, those are two servings). The plan is very flexible as long as you remember to stay far away from sugar, processed flour products and tons of sodium.

delraybuzz

I agree with you 100%. I had such success changing my lifestyle with SBD, and it was not a fad. Healthiest way of eating for those with normal "problems" ...I stayed on it until I required a hip replacement 4 years ago, and unfortunately was never able to resume my walking routine or aerobics (and beloved Zumba!) and fell into total lethargy!
Finding MFP has been so helpful, and although my friends are mostly seniors on the Golden Sneakers thread (I'm the oldest member there) I introduced my children to MFP and the fittest of the 3 is here and swears by the diaries!

I re-started yesterday, after my scale scared the daylights out of me, and tonight will try making Agatston's moussaka for a DH with diabetes who loves Moussaka- Greek style! Perhaps we can get a thread/forum going here fir those who'd like to share thoughts, encouragement, and recipes for South Beach Diet.

For those who are afraid of protein, drink at least 10 full glasses of water/ iced tea or coffee(NO sugar) or Crystal Light lemonade daily! It's great fo the kidney health! And for other problems, a couple of spoons of psyllium (Metamucil) wouldn't hurt! :bigsmile:

Buzz

PoshTaush

Awesome! I didn't realize there was already a thread... Is there a SUPPORT THREAD on here for the South Beach dieters? Just wondering...

I posted earlier...but didn't realize this thread had already been started.