How about a 5 lb lose, maintain, 5 lb lose, maintain, etc diet?

I lost another 5 lbs, it made a difference but I'm just wondering...

How about a diet where you bust your tail, lose 5 lbs then maintain for awhile maybe a few weeks, then go at it again for a month, workout, diet, etc and then maintain?

I seem to have the energy, enthuiasm, etc to make it through 5 lbs of weight loss at a time.

Then I want a break from v8 juice. And counting every calorie. This dieting is just so much work.

But I'm whining tonight because I'm sick again, another cold and who on earth can keep up cardio with a cold? This junk is going around I heard...

Horsey, you seem to get sick fairly often. Are you eating enough and eating nutritiously?

Love, your mom

I have no comment about the diet plan, but whatever works, so long as it's healthy.

I do seem to get sick when I go on these "diets" of mine that include intense exercise. Here I am sick again. My boy brings garbage home from his daycare, so I'm going to have to go on strike with that place, he gets sick, gives it to me - but if my immunity was better. How do you build up immunity? It might not be cutting fruit and veggies in South Beach I that I've been doing...

But I'm thinking now I might go to plan b, which is lose 5 lbs, take a break, lose 5 lbs more... I think dieting makes me sick. And yes I mentioned in another thread that my dear old mom thinks I got sick last summer because I was working out to death and dieting, according to this health nut mother, it depletes nutrients we need when we go overboard.

But me it's one extreme to the next. And that can't be healthy can it. Yo yoing?

I wouldn't think so.

Do you really have to restrict veggies on south beach? I thought veggie-restriction was unique to atkins...? Either way, it can't be helping! How about a nice, moderate calorie-counting plan rather than anything drastic? Say 1500-1800 calories, lots of those from fruit, veggies and lean proteins in conjunction with your exercise. Eating healthfully for long term weight loss should NOT make you sick!

Horsey, I don't see any thing wrong with losing and maintaining, then losing again, if that's what you decide you want to do. If you're finding weight loss to be a lot of work, then taking maintenance breaks might be good for you. I've taken a couple during the last 2 and 1/2 years. I don't think I would have made it without taking a little break.

Personally, I try to maintain at 127-130, when I go up to 131 I go back into weight loss mode. Losing 5 lbs is intimidating to me, losing 2-3 lbs isn't too bad. To be clear though - I eat mindfully nearly 100% of the time with the goal of staying at my goal weight and NOT needing to lose weight.

Eating well doesn't make me sick, I've been glowing with good health (except for one bout of a bad cough 2 years ago) since I started.

Hey!

My main concern is that in those "few weeks" when you're supposed to be maintaining, you'll regain the 5 pounds. And then it will be like starting over from scratch.

I'd say, stick with your weight loss plan and don't be trying to change things around all the time. I know it may sound boring, but if you eat a variety of foods, it doesn't have to be. No one said losing weight wasn't hard work!

I don't know exactly what line of work you are in, but most work involves seeing something through until the results are obtained. Weight loss is no different. Imagine what would happen to your income if you just decided your work was boring and you didn't feel like it, so you didn't do your job.

You could be getting sick for a number of reasons that have nothing to do with weight loss. Do you take a multivitamin every day? Do you take extra vitamin C in the winter? Are you stressed from overwork?

I hope you feel better soon! Take it easy, but don't give up.

Jay

It sounds to me like you might be overdoing the diet and exercise ..one extreme to the other. I would personally try to find some middle ground.

Taking a maintenance break is ok, but if returning to dieting/exercising makes you sick each time, then your body might not like so many changes. A maintenance break shouldnt look that different than your losing plan, just a little more food.

I used to get sick every time I started a diet/exercise program too. Then the illness would derail everything and I would wait until I was healthy and try again and get sick again.

When I started to be more consistant and less radical with my changes...ease into the diet ...ease in to the exercise, not go from 0 to 100 in both the same day, I quit getting sick and now I am very healthy (with a kid in preschool no less)

Jay I'm self employed and I do this in my work too, go in spurts and now I'm picking up the pieces trying to do a new plan where my work is more stable and I'm not hitting deadlines so hard. Maybe I'm getting older and will mellow out a bit. I like the idea of a calorie counting plan with 1500 calories or so, I'll admit I went down to 900 or so calories a few days last week and exercised, that can't be good for you. The South Beach limits fruit and certain veggies the first phase, I'm not going to do that phase anymore, it seems to make me sick especially the time of year I need nutrition the most.

Ennay, you did this too? Got sick when on diets/extreme exercise? I can't figure this out but it does seem that when I overdo I get sick, partly it's not just diet/exercise but my work is stressful as well. I likely do need to get more consistent and make less radical changes, easing into diet and exercise. Healthy people don't get sick like this even around sick people do they? I'm going to have to mellow out, it's just at times I get so frustrated and want to kick this fat overnight.

I agree with Ennay. And JayEll.....and everyone else!

Here's the thing: this lifestyle might be WORK, but it should not be HARD. In my perspective "diet" (defined as a short term radical change in food intake) is a four-letter word.

I mean, your plan certainly could work for you and I don't want to discourage you. I am just worried about how HARD it is for you to bust tail, count every calorie and then need a break. What is that break going to look like when you reach goal?

I have accepted a more moderate plan for myself. I eat what I eat and I move how I move and these are things I can do today, tomorrow, in October, and in 2040 (hopefully!) The weight is going away....not superfast, but it is going all the same. I have lost 21 pounds since the end of September, and I have not busted tail or anything else or gotten bored. I know what 300 calories for breakfast looks like in a variety of forms. I can have X, Y, or Z for breakfast and I know what works for snacks and for lunch and for dinners. And there is really no change in the short-term or the long-term.

So I would suggest the chilled-out approach. Play around with food. Get to know what a 1600 calorie day looks like. Experiment with different foods so that you get to know what works for you and you don't have to work at 1600 calories (or whatever you choose). That piece can become second nature. Think about an exercise schedule over the week that works for your life. Get into that routine.

Yes, there is discipline, and work, but it should not be so bad that you can't sustain it. Cause in some form or another, we all need to find a sustainable plan.....or it all comes back.

Again, this is just my opinion and it is what works for my personality and philosophy, but since you asked, I thought I would share my opinion.

Good luck with your journey!

Well the last time I took a "break" after losing all of the weight, I got FAT again! That tells you something about my extreme dieting/exercise techniques doesn't it? Most of the books on dieting today are admitting that the extreme DIETing doesn't really work because of this. I made progress in two months just cutting back and exercising more, it's just not as quick but slowly I'm getting back down to where I need to be. Thanks

horsey - the problem with SB (and I LOVE SB) if you do the breaks is you are continually in phase 1. Phase 1 is NOT meant to be long term. Now if I need to get things under control I return to phase 1 for 3 days. Also, you should never be going that low in calories on SBD (or ever). One of the problems I remember seeing a lot when I was on the official SBD site is people who used to try a lowfat diet now trying to do lowfat AND sbd. You cant do them together or there is no food left.

Start in phase 2. Plan 1500-1600 calories following the guidelines of 3 meals, 2 -3 snacks LOTS of veggies with a variety of color so you hit all the nutrients (the only vegetables that are restricted on SBD are STARCHES, not vegetables) LEAN protein, olive oil, nuts or avocado and small sensible portions of whole grains and fruits. Nothing radical.

If you are HUNGRY - reevaluate, come in here and post menus and let us help you. This is about changing the way you LIVE, not the way you diet.

Exercise. Start slowly. 3 days a week 20-30 minutes. You can add one day OR 5-10 min/session per week (i.e. week 2 you could do 4 days with 20-30 min OR 3 days of 25-40 min). Ramp slowly.

Your body is so confused it doesnt know which end is up

And consider adding some meditation or yoga to help with your stress...even deep breathing. Conscious breathing can radically lower blood pressure.

Sure there is. There's FF cottage cheese, egg whites and celery. Although I'm sure you could get pretty bored with that diet after a week or two.


Seriously though, you're not supposed to be always in P1. It's a very hard two weeks. I think it's mostly meant to get a better dieting mind-set and rid of the cravings for carbs.

You don't need to weight and measure everything carefully on South Beach. It's more of a eat reasonable portions diet. Once you're familiar with approximate serving sizes, there's no reason to keep measuring.

Vegetables with the exception of carrots and beets are unlimited in P1. (corn, peas and potatoes are starches not vegetables) In P2 the only vegetable you can't have is beets. And I doubt many people are saddened too much by that. In fact you are supposed to eat 4.5 cups of vegetables a day on South Beach.

I agree with ennay, start on Phase 2. I've seen you post in the SB forum, I'm pretty sure you've done a bit of P1 already. I definitely don't think P1 is for everybody. I felt pretty lousy by the last couple of days of it. Try just having a couple of grain and fruit servings a day. I think it's something you can do more long term.

This is what has been working for me

I've been doing calorie counting using thedailyplate.com. I made a rule that I cannot loose more than 5 pounds per month. I'll usually limit myself to 1,600 calories per day (but keep it loose, I cheat often, as long as I don't go too crazy and record EVERYTHING). I usually loose the 5lbs (if I'm good) in the first 2 weeks. Then I up my calories to 2,000 and maintain for the rest of the month but still record EVERYTHING I eat online. The "break" week or 2 revamps my metabolism, and gives me a break mentally. At this pace I'll be down 35# by my summer cruise and I really have not felt deprived. I try to eat healthy filling foods most of the time, but I still eat some "bad" foods too as long as I have the calories for them for example I finished a 12 pack of full fat meatball hot pockets over the course of a week and a half and still lost weight. I also feel like the maintaining weeks are teaching me how to eat so that when I am maintaining for good I'll know how to do it. I also have not been exercising and the weight has been comming off.

It's simlar to your plan because I loose weight 5# at a time, I'm just doing it slowly and not killing myself.

I looked at my exercise journals, and I lost 10 lbs in six months, and 5 lbs in thte past 2-1/2 months, so I AM making progress, just not FAST. But I'm thinking the fast progress was my problem in the past, a diet/exercise journal from 2005 shows how FAST I lost weight, and then I KNOW I gained it back fast when I quit the extreme dieting and exercise. This time around I'm slowing changing my eating habits, and exercise too. I forget that I've made progress. And although not "official" it does appear that I go in spurts, diet and exercise a little harder for a month or so, then give it a break as it's boring - but this time my breaks aren't as "bad" as before so I'm not gaining inbetween!