Just started South Beach :)

Do you want a diet or a lifestyle?

good luck!

I have a late night snacking issue as well.... coupled with a sweet tooth.

So I got a 40 calorie brownie recipe from MFP and made those so at least the caloric intake of my late night eating wasnt too bad.

My suggestion is to take your time to figure out a program that works for you, not to find a program and try to fit yourself into it. Success is based on long term commitment... if you can see yourself eating the South Beach diet for a year + then by all means rock it out. But if you are concerned that you can't stick with it long term (aka diet vs lifestyle change) then you may need to rethink your approach.

Either way, congrats on deciding to improve your health!

Ive been counting calories and working out and its been helping with weight loss but I feel like crap sometimes. I can tell when my insulin is spiking etc....Im insulin resistant so I want to do this for lifestyle change and health benefits. Im not into fad diets. I like that you can slowly introduce good carbs back in so I feel like this is something I can do for life once I break the carb addiction.

I have PCOS and eating South Beach way is very good, I try to eat this way most of the time.

I have PCOS as well and my gynecologist always told me that South Beach was the best plan out there to help loose weight.

I have PCOS and eating South Beach way is very good, I try to eat this way most of the time.

Do you feel better following the plan? Im tired of the spikes in energy. One minute I feel like I'm bursting with energy and the next minute I feel like I'm going to faint. Then I eat something to bring my levels back up and then I get super sleepy.

I just started South Beach too! I have PCOS, and the diet was recommended by my gynecologist as a way to manage insulin resistance without taking more pills everyday. I have about 20 pounds excess weight to lose, and I'm hoping that will get better too. My mom went on it last year and lost 50 pounds and kept it off without any problem, but I had always thought it was a diet for people with heart problems (her blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides were better than mine by the time she was done!). Now that my gynecologist has recommended it to me, I'm going to try it out. I've only been on it for 2 days, but so far so good.

If you like to cook, here's a food blog that's centered around South Beach-friendly recipes. She has categories for each of the phases, further divided by dish-type, so it's really easy to find a good variety of things to eat. I think my biggest problem would be boredom, as I really like to have a good variety of foods in my diet. I do not eat meats other than fish, and her site is also really helpful for finding delicious protein-rich meals. Hope it helps!

http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2006/09/south-beach-diet-information-posts-on.html

I started about 10 days ago and lost 8.8lbs so far.... Yayyyy

I started about 10 days ago and lost 8.8lbs so far.... Yayyyy

That's Awesome!!

I did SBD several years ago and lost weight and maintained that - until I let myself have sugar again. Then is was a downward (upward?) spiral. Last year I did the 17-Day Diet to get myself off sugar again, and this time stayed off. Now I'm using MFP to lose a few more pounds and to regulate how much I eat and exercise. I still have several SBD cookbooks and use them a lot - very good recipes!

I just started Phase 1 so I can't say anything about Phase 2. Phase 1 is easy because its very straightforward but hard because I miss bread. My doctor also said it helps with belly fat so Im excited about that. But I mainly want to get my insulin under control. My parents are diabetic too so Im with you on being healthier.

It's definitely worth it for the belly fat. Try measuring yourself, as that is a really good indicator of how the inches go down around your waist. Especially if you are doing the excercise component of the diet plan, which would mean you'd be putting on muscle mass and not see such a big weight drop. Honestly, within the first few days I knew that fat was going from around my belly, I *feel* less blobby.

With respect to the headaches mentioned above, I had the opposite effect - mine are gone now that my sugar levels aren't spiking all over the place. Not a single one since I started. Would recommend you keep a stash of mixed nuts and seeds, low fat cheese (the mini ones that come in packs are v. handy), and lean ham handy. I have one in the work fridge as well as at home. Knowing it's there helps me to ignore the sugar/carb cravings.