[Wannabe Hotmama]

South Beach but I'm afraid of not making it through the first two weeks. I'm a car-aholic. I'm a working mom of 2 young kids, DD 7 and DS 3. I need a lot of convience in preparing foods. Do you think I can do this? I'm looking for anyone who can tell me how they made it through and also any successful losers.
TIA!

[Pinkwhispers05]

I think you can do it! I'm just starting this diet also, but I believe you can do it! You can do anything you set your mind to. I have faith in you! I too am a car aholic. lol. As far as convience goes, insted of buying convience items, why don't you cook once a week and just throw stuff in the freezer? Like if you're making a dessert, dont make one every night, double the recipe and use it all week long. Or if you're doing something with chicken, cook up a bunch of chicken breasts and store them in the fridge. They won't go bad within a week(my parents own a restaurant, we do this often) and you'll only have to cook once a week! You can do it! If you want, I'll be your losing buddy. We can lose our weight together. Think of it in mini goals. Make your goal for the month of may to lose 5-10 pounds, thats reasonable for a whole month, especially just starting the SBD, and when you do lose the weight, you'll feel great and you'll want to continue!

[Kelly J]

Welcome - I love your user name! LOL You *can* do this. I'm a mom to 2 - a soon-to-be 4 DD & a 7 mo DS and work full-time. It's a little hard to balance all of the cooking w/ being a mommy & wife & worker & and and and (you know how it is ) but it can be done with lots of planning.

Planning is hard for me and when I fall off SBD it is always b/c I didn't have my meals planned out. BUT, with that said, it can be done. Do your meal plan a week ahead, cook ahead as much as possible (as pink said), do your shopping only once a week - this is also hard for me - and you'll see that it's pretty easy to stick to this WOE.

Good luck!

[lottie63]

it's not really 2 weeks of torture, because after about 4 days you lose the cravings! On the fourth and fifth days I got a wicked bad headache...but I suffered through it and now I'm feeling great and have lots of energy! It's just the first few days that are tough, but there is lots of support here, so that helps!

[Bunnababy]

This is a great place to be and get support. Check out the Phase I recipe section for easy quick meals that taste really good. The first few days are the only tough ones and then the cravings go away and it is much easier than it would seem. Beachgal and Barb have lost a bunch of weight on this WOE and several others have been on this for a long time.

You can do this you just have to decide you want to.

[kyemom]

Like Pink said, the easiest thing is cooking in advance. I also have 2 kids DS is 8 and DD is 5. I work full time, am a wife and a mom and raise Great Danes, and am always running to the baseball field. You just have to cook on the weekends or when you can, cut up your veggies in advance, and anything else that will make your life easier...You can do it!!

[Barb0522]

I work a more than full time job, have an 8 year old son and am very active in Cub Scouting in both pack and district activities. I have activities 4 evenings this week plus all day Saturday and Sunday. I plan ahead and that really helps. There is a South Beach Quick and Easy cookbook that has some good fast meals. Sometimes I throw something in the crockpot - check out the Wendy's chili in our recipe section. Somethings make more than one meal like sloppy joes or taco bake or any number of things.

On den meeting nights I throw together pita bread pizzas. On phase 1 you can make pizzas using portabella mushrooms and on phase 2 you can use whole wheat pita bread.

I have a calendar that I write my meals on and then when I am planning meals I can look back to see what meals worked for us before. Saves a lot of time.

[beachgal]

Our Beachies are so great! Thanks, chicas! You all had wonderful things to say and I don't really have much to add!

I can promise you, W. Hotmama (LOVE your name!!! ), that 99.9999999% of us lose our cravings by the 5th day (and many of us see results as early as 3 days into P1) of P1. You HAVE to stick to the guidelines in P1 to see that happen, though. It sounds impossible, I know, as a carboholic, but let me tell you, if I could do it, anyone can!!! Seriously...I was eating unrestrained for over 3 years. I gained over 150 pounds and I figure I was eating at least 26-28 servings of carbohydrates (all of them simple carbs) a day. I didn't think it would be easy, but I figured anyone can do something for 2 weeks, right?

The recipes here make it so much easier than you'd believe! And once those cravings go away, you think you are in paradise!!! The first day you wake up and realize that, for the first time in forever, you actually aren't hungry enough to consume your pillow in a mad eating frenzy...well that feels like the most amazing thing ever!!! You will have SO much more energy...you'll find that you've been missing half of life with your focus on getting your sugar/carb fix. It's something else...and I really hope you feel confident enough to put your heart into it.

As one of our fabulous mods, Sandi, has in her signature: "If you want it, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse." I found that to be TOTALLY true. I always found excuses before, but when I decided that this is really what I wanted, NOTHING stood in my way. Nothing.

You CAN do this...and we're here to help! Check out the Phase 1 links in the FAQ, post in the P1 thread, and ask questions! I look forward to hearing all about your progress!

Lots of and !

[cottagebythesea]

Wannabe Hotmamma and Pinkwhispers05!

With all the great advice, there's nothing left for me to say except, you can do it!

[crk05]

Wannabe Hotmamma!

I know you can do this if you put your mind to it. I'm a grad student, love my breads, pastas, etc, and have a really busy schedule, but I made it work for me. I found that planning menus ahead of time and being very organized when I go shopping helped me out a LOT. There are lots of easy things you can make that fit into the program. There are so many wonderful people here who can offer advice and some great recipes on the recipe thread!

Good luck!