Question about phase one in the South Beach Diet?

punka274

Cathlete
Hello all

I've been in this weight loss plateau since the spring of this year. The scale won't budge no matter what I try. Im getting very discouraged about it! I workout to cathe 5/6 days a week,getting in atleast 4days of cardio(most weeks 5) and weight training each muscle group atleast twice a week. My diet isn't bad either.

I purchased this book yesterday and intend on starting phase one tommorrow,I feel it is just what I need to break my plateau. My question is,has anybody added a carb or supplement in phase one of the diet to accommodate cathe's intense workouts and still managed to lose weight?

I have atleast 25-30pds I want to lose.

If I have two,I will take a rest week and not workout the first week in phase one. and maybe do power walks in the second week of phase one!

Im just SO READY to get this weight offx(x(!
 
Hi -- I tried SBD a few years ago and the first phase was difficult. I felt lighter, but I don't know that it was because of actual fat loss or because I was cutting out gluten, etc.

It definitely did not give me more energy. I felt hungry a lot. I've since learned that I really need my carbs, especially to keep my energy up for working out. Muscles use glycogen for energy and that comes from carbs.

What I did do, though, is eliminate the "bad" carbs and I switched to good ones.

Please be careful when you take on a "diet." Healthy carbs are important energy sources for healthy function.

I wish you the best. :)

Marla
 
I'm a 6 workout/week gal and found I felt no difference in my energy level during phase one. Actually I was kind of surprised by it but that was just my experience. Other people, from what I understand, feel drained from the reduced carbohydrates. IMO, you should try to workout and see how you feel.

I followed SB to the letter for four weeks. Also, I tracked my calorie intake on Fitday. The first two weeks in phase one I lost a total of about 5.5 pounds, but when I added more carbs back (and we aren't talking a lot - maybe one fruit and a cup of Fiber One each day) I gained back more than two pounds over the next couple weeks. Now I'm just paying attention to portion sizes and staying away from refined carbs. Since the end of October I've lost a little over 8 pounds. Not a lot, but taking into account my underachieving thyroid and the holiday season I consider it progress.

One really good thing I can say about SB is that I wasn't really hungry in phase one at all. If anything, I had to make sure I was eating enough and that's unheard of with me!:p
 
Hi,

I did SBD this summer and in Phase 1 lost 11 pounds in two weeks, continued my workouts 5-6 days/week and felt great. Then I went on vacation and completely fell off the wagon - I mean working out and eating. Here's the good thing - I have only gained back 3 pounds.

I found the hardest thing about Phase 1 was all the food to buy/prepare, etc. I'm no good in the kitchen, so I was somewhat overwhelmed. Having said that, I will be starting back on Phase 1 at the beginning of next week (Once hubby and kids are back to work/school and life settles back to normal!).

I didn't do any supplementing, I just followed the diet. I wasn't ever hungry - but I went from a not great eating style, to eating all that SBD food! I also joined the online forum, where you can get alternate meal plans and quick menu ideas for whatever phase you're in. If you don't want to pay $65.00 for 3 months, you can check out another website that has meals that is free. It's at http://sbd.shiles.com - It's called Century Club SBD and these people have all lost over 100 pounds and kept it off.

Hope that helps some!

Tricia
 
Hi Amelia,

I did the SouthBeach Diet last year when whatever else I did failed to bring result and whereas I was losing weight, within a few days I was really tired and couldn't keep up with Cathe workouts anymore, heck, even a powerwalk all over sudden was a challenge. I tried to modify with a little more carbs, didn't help. All it did was totally throwing me off track and within two weeks of going back to a sustainable carb intake, I had gained the weight back and then some.

I did everything to the "t" and I wouldn't do it again, not even modified. A few months ago, I started eating according to the principles of Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Diet (I just don't go as low-fat as she recommends), the pounds are coming off and I am not hungry and at a good energy level, well, aside from the past 1.5 weeks - HELLO XMAS TREATS :+

I know the frustration with pounds not coming off. I hope things work out for you. I still have a lot of pounds to go, maybe we can do a check-in and keep each other accountable.

Happy New Year!
 
I started w/ the SBD almost 4 years ago & it's really what started me on my weight loss journey. I never did Phase 1 at that time because I was nursing. But I can remember even following Phase 2 that I dropped 5 lbs in the first week. I don't remember having a problem w/ energy but at that time I was only walking for exercise.

It really did help me learn what *good* and *bad* carbs were and how they affect my body. It helped me kick the white flour/ sugar addictions. Now I pretty much stick to clean eating. I've found that I *have* to have my carbs in the morning, so I start my day w/ a bowl of oatmeal + protein. Good luck & feel free to ask if you have questions! I think I still have some recipe sites & things saved from SBD if you want them.
 
Thank You Ladies:)

I Have started the SBD today and so far so good.I did LIC this morning! Ive been so stuffed all day long!

Looks like the SBD differs from person to person,energy levels and such!

Jess,yes,I would love to have any recipe sites and things that you still have saved! Thank you for offering them,please pm me those!

Carola,Congrats on the pounds coming off agian,I know that is an amazing feeling! I also have tosca renos book,great book!

Tricia-I know what you mean about all the food prep.kinda aggravating but in the end,i know it will be worth it! Thanks for the website,I will go check it out now!

ETA-Tricia...GREAT WEBSITE thanks agian!:)

TK-Im totally with ya on just feeling full,I had to remember to eat today and thats crazy for me!

Marla-Thank you for the advice,I will becareful during this phase in the diet.

Happy new year everybody! Thanks agian for all the reply's
 
I think that is the key with SBD -- learning about different carbs, and cutting out refined carbs. That's why you lose fat, particularly around your middle. Good carbs are good for you. You need them, especially if you workout vigorously. You do end up adding good carbs back in anyway. Veggies, fruit, brown rice, whole oats, whole grains, etc. Those are excellent -- they digest slowly and have good nutrional value, whereas refined carbs turn to fat very quickly and don't have nutrional value.

Ideally, you shouldn't lost more than 2 pounds per week. You may risk losing muscle, and your skin won't adapt as well.

"The Schwarzbein Principle -- The Truth About Losing Weight, Being Healthy, and Feeling Younger" is a great book about all of this. It's written by Diana Schwarzbein, M.D.

Best wishes,
Marla
 
Amelia, Well, I've made it through our first day on the SBD but I've been hungry. Of course, I didn't make a special trip to the grocery store so I've just been using whatever I already had on hand that was "legal" on the diet. I did manage a halfway decent cardio workout, but was a little weary doing it--that may just be because I'm out of practice since I haven't done as much cardio lately because of the injury and illness issues.

Still, getting through one day will help me get through the next, and soon I'll get more groceries and hopefully that will help!

I'm glad you're doing this, too, or I might already have given up (I'm so weak alone).

[font face="comic sans ms" font color=purple]***Lainie***
My fitness blog: http://fitnessfig.blogspot.com/ http://bestsmileys.com/exercising/7.gif[/font]
 
When SBD made it's rise, I noticed that my normal eating is the SBD phase three. I tried the phase one plan several times since when I needed a boost, needed to get into better habits, etc., and it has worked very well for me. The very fist time, I noticed that I was very tired and that workouts were difficult. I think I read in the book (or maybe on line) but it says that if you are doing very intense workouts, you can have a low sugar, non-processed carb just a few hours before your workout, no matter what phase you are in. I did that and it did the trick! It only was an issue in the very beginning but if you cannot push through, go ahead and have one of the "permitted" carbs to help.
 

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