Visitor from VF
Hi Ladies,
I'm visiting Cathe's site while our VF (Video Fitness) forum is down for upgrades - - hope you don't mind if I throw in a comment or two. We don't talk about the D-word at VF but I felt I could add something of value.
I think there are some Pro's and Con's about South Beach Diet. I did it last summer for two reasons, 1) Type 2 diabetes runs in my family and at 41 I need to be really start being conscious of my diet and carbs play a big role in managing Type 2 diabetes 2) I wanted to lose weight.
Pros's:
*Made me very carb conscious, selecting better carbs, and reaching for healthier snacks
*Made me more sugar conscious, and guilty. I still LOVE sugar (especially chocolate) but I really try to be much more careful. Now I think, when a hard candy will do after dinner do I really need a chocolate candy bar during the day? NO!
*Lost some weight (about 8 pounds) Didn't keep it off because I was not consistent with my diet AND exercise. I'm back on my exercise routine and though I haven't lost pounds yet I see transformations.
Cons:
*I was VERY grumpy and sluggish about day 3 for & for about 2 more days. It got better but I almost felt like I had the flu.
*This diet isn't magic. I think the first phase really is a very low calorie diet as well as a low carb diet. Of course you'll lose weight.
*I miss eating bananas, pineapple, watermelon. So I'm probably going to eat them anyway.
I have a friend who is a registered nutritionist and dietician - - according to the medical facts our brain alone needs about 100 carbs a day to function properly. Thus you should not cut out those whole grains and other healthy carbs that are in fruits and veggies. I think that whole sluggish feeling is directly relateable to this fact. This diet is not for children!!
I do think this is a good way to jump start anyone's journey into health, but you must move into the 2nd and third phase for long term health reasons. The 2nd or 1st phase should be just a "get on track" mode that is relatively short. I really do not miss all the starchy carbs, I eat them once in a while but I really make healthier choices in carbs on a daily basis. I hope your journey is for HEALTH not only for the almight pound.
Good luck!
Kerri