I know that all of us probably know at least a few people who have lost a considerable amount of weight on the south beach diet. Have they all been able to keep off the weight? My mom's friend said that 2 of her friends have gained 10 back within a short period of time and they have been counting calories but haven't been eating a ton of veggies and sometimes having desserts. I guess this diet really is gonna be a way of life from now on, huh?

Yup, you hit the nail right on the head, Merecat. It's a way of eating for life. As soon as you let that sugar back in and don't get it out of your system with P1, you're probably doomed to gain back your weight in the same way you gained it in the first place.

I'd say maintaining your SBD loss is the same as maintaining any other diet plan. You might check into the Maintainers forum to see what their tips are. I think, no matter what, you need to be very careful in watching what your body does in P3 so that you can keep the weight off, at least in the first year. I also plan on following a technique I've heard from the maintainers--if you weigh five pounds more than goal (or higher), you need to jump back on Phase 1 & 2 to get it back down. Never let it go past that five pound mark without addressing it.