South Beach Diet Fat Chicks on the Beach!

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Old 11-09-2006, 03:28 PM   #1  
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Hello everyone. Well I just jumped in this forum today. Haven't looked around too much. I have been successful with changing my eating patterns and exercising in the past and I feel I am doing very well. I hit a plateau in August and realized I needed to really watch my healthy portions and start counting cals with fitday. I did that and went from 238 August 28 down to 216 today. WHoohoo!! So I know this cal counting and my walking is working. I do about 1600-1800 cals a day and I walk any where between 60 minutes to lately I have been upping my average to about 90 minutes a day.

This is my general menu:

Breakfast:

1 apple, 1 orange, half a grapefruit, 1 banana, sometimes I'll add strawberries or blueberries but I make this into a smoothie with Ice!

Lunch:

1 low carb slimfast, OR 2 oz of tuna(in water) w/ 1 tsp of light mayo, 1-2 slices of whole wheat bread. I only do tuna maybe 1-2 a week, you have to be careful w/ the mercury! Or I have 1 tbs of smuckers all natural peanut butter on the bread, lately I sometimes have low fat turkey or ham, maybe a slice of cheese.

snack: 1 yogurt or 1 serving of total(no milk) or honey bunches of oats(no milk) or if I had a sandwich at lunch I have a low carb slimfast

Dinner:

It varies. I try to do boneless skinless chicken breast(once in a while I will get the breast with te skin and have shake n bake) with 1 cup of rice (I have switched to brown more often than not)and brocolli and carrots 3 - 4 times a week. One nite, usually Sunday, I will have red meat like low fat roast or a steak with 1 cup of mashed potatos and a vegi and salad. The other nites I will have bean and cheese burritos(just recently picked up whole wheat tortillas and will try that soon) w/ spanish brown rice, go easy on the cheese, sometimes use mozarella(I just found a ff cheddar and mozarella shredded mix that I have used for my salads that I like, i am going to try it tonite on the burritos!). Or once a month we will have lasagna(in moderation) or 1-2 a month chicken enchiladas(in moderation) . I usually have to have tacos at least once a week or I freak! lol With chicken though. I use olive oil to fry the shells in, the last few times we just warm them up! Once a week I will go out to eat for lunch and I tell myself I can have whatever I want! Usually twice a month it is a nacho bell grande. Twice a month a burger and fries. I remember even last year that would mean a 1/4 cheeseburger with fries and onion rings and sugary soda and lots of ranch and thousand island! But I have since cut out sugary soda completely! It's just not worth it! If we go out to eat at a nice rest., I will have a salad w/ ranch, (which is like once a month) Plus a burger and fries. But I don't dip the fries in the ranch or thous. island no more and actaully seldom even get onion rings any more. Next time we go, I am going to see if hubby just wants to split the fries with me and our daughter who is 2. Last time when we went out to eat I gave her 1/4 of my burger and that shaves cals off right there!! Him and I and her had split one fry and 1 onion ring and even brought onion rings home for the other kids cause there were so many but next time I go I think the 3 of us will just share 1 fry.

Anyhow that is my general week. The bread is 100% whole wheat I drink water though I need to try to drink more, I have crystal light with dinner, once in a while I do have a diet soda.

But I have a small problem. I have done alot of research online to get to this point and have made alot of healthy changes. I have looked high and low for the perfect % match. You know, fats, carbs, protein.

What I had read somewhere is 30% fats, 50% carbs, and 20% protein. I had been roughly trying to follow that for a while. Some days the fat would be higher, some days lower but at the end of a week it usually averaged out to 30%

Both of my parents were diabetic and they are both dead now. Mom at 52 with cirrhosis of the liver and my dad at 65 from a heart attack while getting more of his foot chopped off. I hope I am not coming off sounding callous but this is a very grave situation. My biggest motivator in losing this weight is I don't want to wind up like that. That scares the heck out of me. I miss them both and never want my kids to feel abandoned the way I do. What I am also saying is that this isn't a cosmetic issue with me, I am concerned for my future health. I can't afford to be "wrong". I really wonder what the correct % are cause everywhere on line is different. I would not mind doing less carbs and more protein but then I hear you get too much protein and it could damage you organs too. Ugghhhhh. What to do? How much is too much? etc.

It just seems every time I turn around it is something new they throw at us! "You need to eat whole wheat bread, it can't say enriched, it has to be 100%, You need to eat brown rice, no potatos" etc. I used to eat potatos every nite so me cutting back to once a week is a victory. I don't mind switching to the whole wheat most of the time and the brown rice. But I did read something the other day that disturbed me:


Whole Wheat Bread

So here I am trucking along thinking I am doing great eating "whole wheat bread" and then I read this. So i switched to wheat from white and made sure it is whole grain or 100% whole wheat and it doesn't matter? I am really sick of all this. I feel like they don't want us to eat anything! They tell me that bananas are really high in sugar. Good lord!

I know the key thing is exercise which is why I have upped my 60 minutes to 90 minutes. But still. What is the deal? I know a low carb diet like atkins is not for me. I know some people at 3fc have been successful and I would not knock it and hurt theiur feelings but I really can't condone a "diet" that discourages fruits and veggies. I also thought that there were "good carbs" and "bad carbs" and I do feel the body needs them. When I was looking up the atkins stuff for a friend who said they did it, I ran across a little snippet about south beach. It said they encourage good carbs. I like that. It sounds like something similiar to what I am already doing. I am still searching for answers and would love a little advice here.

If someone has some great links to point me in the right direction? If I can try something similiar to the beach that might be nice. I am happy with my cal counting but wouldn't mind incorporating some stuff. Is it just a way of eating or what? What does everyone recommend for carbs %, fat % and protein %? I know not all fats are the same. I am just trying to do the right thing. WHy do you feel southbeach is the way to go?

Thanx for listening to me I know it was long. Any advice would be appreciated.
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Old 11-09-2006, 06:24 PM   #2  
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Jasmine!

I do get how serious this situation can feel to you, especially with what happened to your mom and dad (I'm so sorry, btw. My mom has Type II, too.), but honestly, you're doing all the right things! So please give yourself a big pat on the back and take a deep breath, okay? It can feel pretty intense, but as long as you're losing the weight and working out so that you're building muscle, you are going to be in a MUCH better place than your parents! So don't put so much stress on yourself as if one percentage amount wrong will send you over the edge, okay?

That said, I don't think there's any perfect number combo. One of the things we learn/teach on SBD is that what works for one person isn't necessarily going to work for someone else. What you need is special just for you. I know that many of us who use Fitday work on a 30/30/30 of fat/protein/carbs...but what kinds of fats, proteins and carbs you're eating can make as much of a difference (if not more) than how much...i.e. good fats, lean proteins, whole grain carbs, etc. Sounds like you already know that.

One thing that may make a huge difference for you is going to a nutrition clinic, preferably one that has up-to-date equipment. The one here in my town has a way to measure your fat percentage using electric current...they place diodes on you and measure it. They also have a machine that measures your exhalations for about a half hour and can tell from them how you're doing internally...how much protein you are/aren't burning, whether it's coming from food or from muscle/organs, what your metabolism is, etc. If you can get that information, you can find out how much is too much protein for you and work with the nutritionist to design a plan that's just right for your body! Check into that...if you need the phone number of our nutrition clinic in hopes that they might know of a similar one in your area, let me know by PM.

As to the article, I'm not sure that I totally agree with it. Dr. Agatston, the one who created SBD, definitely doesn't. He says, clearly, in his book, that whole grains, due to the increase in fiber, are digested more slowly and, thus, release sugars into the bloodstream more slowly, having less of an impact on one's blood glucose level. If you check the glycemic index (GI), you'll find that white bread is treated exactly the same in the system as straight sugar. The GI of whole wheat bread (a real one...not one where the first ingredient is 'enriched flour' and they add in some whole wheat flour) is much, much lower (the first website I checked, randomly, says that WW bread is 51 with sugar being 100. They also said that Wonder bread is 73...and I've heard several times that it's the same as sugar, so I guess there is all sorts of misleading info out there! ).

That said, you may find, if you believe what the author of the article said, that breads such as those made by Ezekiel 6:9, which are made from sprouted grains rather than flour, will not affect your blood sugar. You can do a simple test using a friend's blood sugar tester (with your own strips, of course, to keep everything clean) before and after eating whole wheat bread to see what happens. Dr. A also tells us that when you combine carbs with fats, acids, or fibers, they are released more slowly. So if you have a sandwich, put some mayo (good fats) on it, or some olive oil. Dip your bread in olive oil. Add vinegar, too. That should help as well.

Hope this answers your questions...keep posting if you have other concerns. You're doing great!
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Old 11-09-2006, 10:15 PM   #3  
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Jasmine- I totally agree with everything Laurie said about SBD. She's right on the moolah.

Although I still have both my parents (and pray with all my might that I will for maaaaany years to come), my Daddy also has diabetes (Type 1 I think? Insulin-dependent and not caused by lifestyle.) and watching him have to do a daily battle to his blood sugar was one of the reasons I choose this lifestyle. I knew that if my bad habits kept up, I would also have to prick my fingers and inject myself. And I'm a needle-phobe!

Anyways, you also asked why we felt SB was the way to go. I know it's good for me because of the way my body feels when I'm on it. Since cutting out all of those bad sugars and carbs, my skin has cleared up a ton and I have so much more energy. There were a couple of rough spots there in early P1, but they clear up. My thought process is clearer and I don't get the jitters anymore. Honestly, I feel so much better, I'm wondering if I've been slightly allergic all these years.

I also knew that I could never stick to a diet if I had to constently measure and ration everything I put in my mouth. With SBD, I still have to be careful not to stuff myself on certain items like cheese and nuts, but there are still tons of things that I can chow down. And I don't have to feel bad if I'm still hungry. I simply eat something. Which is great, I HATE being hungry.

If you decide to give it a try, I encourage you to commit yourself to getting through P1, two weeks. You may have some "withdrawal" symptoms that will make you want to quit, but stick with it because I promise they pass!

Also congrats on your weight loss! You've already come so far!
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Old 11-10-2006, 09:14 AM   #4  
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Jasmine..You are doing so great! scp.. I don't think I can add to the words of wisdom these chicks have... South Beach is a way of eating more than anything else.. And as you know calories count - so even if portion control isn't explicitly discussed in the book, we know that even eating tooo much of a good thing isn't going to help with weightloss.. I use SBD with calorie counting through Fitday too. You may want to seek a specialists consultation and some testing-like Laurie suggested. Good Luck Jasmine!
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Old 11-10-2006, 09:57 AM   #5  
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Jasmine - For me, South Beach has worked. Even though I am not at my ideal weight, I am much healthier than I was when I started South Beach. My cholesterol was high and is now normal. I have gone from 3 blood pressure medicines to none. I've gone from a size 18/20 to an 8/10. I now have the energy to do things I never could before.

For me, I love eating so many vegetables and fruits. I really enjoy whole wheat bread and tortillas. Before South Beach, my stomach would be torn up every time I would eat things with saturated and trans fats. Now I stick to healthy fats and I don't have any problems with my stomach.

Take a look at some of the recipes. You will find that one of the keys in South Beach is we aim for 4 1/2 cups of vegetables a day (not just salad). Look at the Taco Bake recipe. It sounds like something you would enjoy.
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Old 11-10-2006, 06:31 PM   #6  
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Everyone thank you so much for your advice and comments! I really appreciate it. Weight and health is something we all struggle with and we are all trying to find the right way. I think I am going to keep doing what I have been doing with trying to exclude the corn and the white breads whenever possible. I will see if I can switch to the 30/30/30 and see if that works for me. I am going to check out some of them recipes!
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