Having trouble losing weight..

M

mizlaur123

Cathlete
Hey Guys,
I was just wondering who out there has done the south beach diet and what their results were. They say you should lose anywhere from 8-14 pounds in the first two weeks because of the lack of calories and how restrictive they are. I started the diet monday and have been following every guideline and have not eaten any foods not on the allowed food list. I even have been losely counting my calories just to make sure I'm not over eating. My calories have been far under what it should take for my 5'7 166lb. frame to maintain weight. However, it is now friday which means it has been 4 days and i haven't lost a single pound. Has this happened to anyone else who has tried South Beach?

I'm wondering if since I am due for my monthly friend in a few days (i'm sure you understand hehe) that is kind of throwing my weight off too. Even though i'm not feeling especially bloated of anything. Any thoughts? Thanks!

Also, just wanted to add that I lost about 40 lbs. a year and a half ago and I was down to 140lbs. I lost the weight in various very unhealthy ways. I had battled an eating disorder for 3 years prior to that weight loss. Once i started seeing a therapist and nutritionist is when i began to gain weight back. Since i messed up my metabolism so much the weight came back on extremely easily even though i have continues to exercise in a healthy way. I am finally recovered from my eating disorder. But for my large frame and 5'7 height 166 lbs. is overweight and I really would like to get to 150-155 lbs. Thanks for reading this and hopefully someone, if not Cathe, will fill me in on their thoughts.
 
I feel like I have tried every diet imaginable. i just can't understand why I cant lose weight. I track my calories everyday and they hardly ever go over 1500 a day. I am a hairstylist and am on my feet the majority of my day. I workout as much as time allows (usually 4-5 times a week). I just don't see what I am doing wrong..
 
Mizlaur, you may want to see your doctor - a check of your thyroid and adrenal glands may be in order. Also, be sure you are eating super-clean. There has been lots of advice posted to people who have been in a similar quandary lately, if you want to try a search.
 
I finally figured out what works for me. If I work out too hard, I get too hungry and end up eating too much and instead of losing weight, i gain. So I tried something different, I do 30 weight workouts, followed by 30 minutes of cardio 6 times a week. Two of this cardios are Intervals, like Imax 1, 2 or 3. Or I do 3 ciruit training like BC,HSTA with three cardios, like Kick Punch, Crunch, and KM. Working out 6 times a week and eating 5/6 small meals a day. Keeping them clean, like chicken breast with salad, Tuna fish on whole wheat, Fillet of fish with grilled vegetables. Avoiding white bread, rice, & potatoes. I lost 4 pounds in 8 days, eating super clean.
 
OK here goes. Maybe at 5-7 large framed and 166 you are NOT overweight and that is why you can't lose. Many years ago I tried to get to the impossible weight for me of 120. Because that was what the weight charts said. Well my body would not do it. It likes 140-145 and so I ballooned up to 180(at 5-4), and stayed that way for years and year. Now in my upper 40's, I realize that my body is best at 140-145 and that is where I am at. Size 6, BMI just shy of the overweight mark, but I don't consider myself overweight and neither does my Doctor.

I reread your post again, and one thing I will say about messed up metabolism. It takes a while to fix. I was on some meds in my 30's that really slowed mine down. It took 2 years of hard work to start to change it. After that I continued with my bad dieting, and the weight stayed high for 7 years. It was not until I cleaned up the diet, I lost, but at an average loss of 1.5 pounds per week. Slow and easy is best, not 7-14 in two weeks.
 
I too did SOuthbeach recently. Lost 20 pounds too but it took a month. I didn't lose anything the first week either. THen when I reread parts of the book I realized I was eating some things that I didn't even realize were on the no-no list (like the number of peanuts you can eat in one sitting). SO I started over.

THen, I lost about 20 lbs the whole first two weeks and most of that was in the second week. Then I noticed I gained like 5 pounds just because of my monthly friend then I fell off the wagon for a few days. Don't get discouraged. Check what you're eating (I got the food guide and kept in my purse) and wait until after your monthly. You will probably see a difference then.

And the other person (can't remember who - sorry) that said it could just take longer to reset your metabolism after eating disorder is probably right. I recently went on sleeping pills and have hit a brick wall with my weight. Turns out this is a side effect. But I'm really needing this sleep so I'm just doing the best I can.

Now that I've had a start on understanding what it is to eat clean with Southbeach I'm working on better understanding food combinations and true eating clean. 60% fruits and veggies, 40% protein and no fruits or breads after 4pm at all. I'm only seeing an ounce here and an ounce there, but I'm trying not to "Sweat the Small Stuff".

If you need a pal on this feel free to email me.
 
by the way. Biggest tip for anyone trying to lose weight that I've found, is you don't take it one day at a time when dieting, you don't even take it one meal at a time - you take it one bite at a time.

If I realize I'm mindlessly munching on something bad - I put it down and physically walk away. (if I stick around I'll just pick it back up again.)
 
well I just read the free e-series "big fat lies" and it covered some issues with dieting. One thing is that lowering your calories too low may hurt you instead of helping. You need to read it yourself though. they are sent in small chunks for easy reading.
I got his e book "burn the fat, feed the muscle" and about to read that bit by bit. Plus if you want to loose the healthy way you don't want to loose too fast. that could be a lot of water weight and muscle loss. You just want to loose the fat. I found out about this site from this forum. I totally recommend it after reading the free eseries.
www.burnthefat.com
 
I understand where you are coming from -- I've done the South Beach Diet and didn't get the results I wanted. I started eating cleaner (which is the same concept of South Beach, but you can have good carbs, such as whole wheat bread -- I use the "light" kind -- and whole grain brown rice.) Uncle Ben's and others have lots of great whole grain brown rice mixes that taste great. The one thing I really noticed (I have been working to lose my last 5 pounds) is that when you really "up" your weights and focus more on weights instead of cardio, you start losing (that's what I did). All of a sudden I started losing the weight I wanted to (not mega amounts, but I saw a definite change in the scale). I also saw a definite change in my body -- I really leaned out (more than normal). Hope this helps!
 
Hey Guys! thanks for all the comments and advise. I stuck out the full two weeks and ended up down about 8 pounds. Just 5-10 lbs. more to go and then its maintaining which in the past has been a problem for me.. :-/
 
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