My boyfriend and I started southbeach last Monday and since then I have not lost a pound. I started at 128 and I am still 128. I have stuck to the diet well- no carbs at all and I am not losing at all. Makes me want to eat a cake!!! What could be going wrong?

VLeigh23 - First things first, have you read the book? This is not a "no carb diet." It's a healthy carb way of eating. Also, how tall are you? Is it possible that you don't have much to lose?

Would you post your menu for the last several days? It could be that you're not eating enough.

I am 5'5 and I don’t have much to lose, I know, that’s why I thought phase one would work well for me to kick start my healthy habits. Over the last year I have gained about 12 pounds that I want to lose. I have read the book and to my understanding Phase one eliminates most carbs. Here is a rough list of what I have been eating the last few days.

Sunday:
Breakfast – Lettuce taco wraps with beef, avocado and cheese
Lunch – a blue cheese chicken burger
Dinner – cauliflower “rice” with beef stew meat.

Monday:
Breakfast – 3 eggs with Colby jack cheese and mushrooms
Lunch - Large chicken breast bakes with parmesan and cauliflower “mac”
Dinner – A bit or 2 of my boyfriends new York strip and about half of my tuna steak with avocado mash stuff ( avocado, wasabi powder, light soy)

Today:
Breakfast – a Few bites of rotisserie chicken with hummus
Snack – Half a Mediterranean turkey burger
Lunch – broccoli and shrimp
Dinner – The rest of my tuna steak.


Most every day starts with 3 eggs with something in them. I have a lot of cauliflower “rice” with shrimp or beef. I have a good share of salmon and steak. Just bought 2 pounds of ground turkey that I will be eating in the next few days.

I know the lack of snacks might look bad but I eat all day. I make everything I eat myself so I eat it all throughout the day. I am never hungry. I also drink a lot of water.

Hmmmm yeah you're not eating NEAR enough sister. You're lacking in dairy, beans/nuts/legumes, veggies, and possibly protein depending on your portion size. You need a MINIMUM of 1500 calories a day and MINIMUM of 4-6 servings of veggies a day. Go to www.fitday.com and enter what you've been eating in to see how close you're getting, but you should NEVER fall below 1500. If you do, your body will go into starvation mode, and you'll not only not lose weight, but your body will store every calorie and fat gram you put in it, not knowing when you're going to eat again.

Here's a sample menu for Phase 1:

Breakfast:
6 oz tomato juice
Cheese, mushroom & herb omelet
1 cup coffee

Snack:
1 stalk celery
1 wedge LF laughing cow cheese
1- 8 oz glass of Crystal Light, diet soda or water

Lunch:
grilled chicken breast (4.5 oz)
2 cups romaine lettuce
2 tbs low sugar dressing
½ cup sugar free jello

Snack:
14 cashews

Dinner:
6 oz grilled fish with herbs
steamed green beans
1 tsp butter
tossed salad (greens, gr. pepper, tomatoes, etc)
2 tbs low sugar dressing

Dessert or snack:
Ricotta crème (SBD book)

The other thing is that you really don't have much to lose. The people that lose several pounds during Phase 1 are those that have a significant amount of weight to lose.

Tweak your menu and hopefully you'll see a change!

I did forget to add that I have a substancial about of low sodium V8 everyday, throughout the day as well.
I am a little scared to eat more. I do, with the exception of today, eat very large portion sizes. I am never hungry and I get full. I will try to measure out my portions as according the the book and see if I start to lose any. Do people really measure out everything they eat?

You need to be eating 4.5 cups of veggies a day.

The V8 doesn't count?

You can count one cup of juice toward your 4 1/2 cups of veggies a day.

I second Lisa's recommendation to read the book thoroughly. South Beach isn't a magical weight loss diet. It's a healthy way of eating that helps you control cravings and thereby sets you up to make healthy eating choices.

When I start plateauing, I check my calorie count. I honestly can't lose weight unless I'm around 1200 calories a day. It's just the way my body works. Other people are different. I make sure I'm getting exercise, moving throughout the day. I throw more protein in.

It could just be that you're going to lose the weight slowly. This time around, it's taken me about three weeks to lose each pound, BUT it's stayed off and I'm happy with what I'm eating.

Hope you stick around!

vleigh, thanks for posting and trying to figure this out instead of just quitting. Also, if no one's said it yet,

While you are certainly eating a decent volume of food, you do have a lot of protein and less of other things. You may want to try to have a more varied diet--more vegetables (try two eggs with some veggies thrown in instead of the 3), and include things with fiber, such as beans. Perhaps you're a bit constipated?

I'd definitely enter your calories into Fitday for a couple days, just to get a feel for what's going on. You may have to eat less or eat more, depending on your body. Like Kara said, some people just have to eat less to lose, especially as they get closer to their goal. However, if you eat too little, you confuse your body and tend to make it harder to stick to your plan. A good way to solve this confusing issue is to ensure that you work out several times a week, combining cardio exercise and strength training. Are you working out? If you haven't in the past, you don't want to start in Phase 1, but I'd recommend starting as soon as you hit Phase 2.

Those who lose a lot in Phase 1 tend to be people who've eaten a diet drastically different from SBD in the past who also have a lot of weight to lose. With only 12 pounds, I think your results are pretty normal, as discouraging as they may be. Keep up the good work and I think you'll eventually see results.

Kara-

I fully comprehend that south beach is not a magical weight loss diet, nor am I looking for one. Phase one is advertized as a way to “kick start your weigh loss” and that is all I was looking for. I have read, and carry around in my purse, the SDB supercharged book along with the good carbs bad carbs. I have not been keeping track of my calories but I will start now, Thanks.

Laurie-

Thanks for the welcome! Your comments are super helpful. I have been constipated and I think it is due to the amount of meat I am eating. Today I was at Whole Foods looking into different fiber supplements to take to get things moving, but there are so many I gave up! Do you have any other recommendations for high fiber foods I can add to phase one? And do you think I should add a supplement?

I used to be a gym rat, but in the past year and a half or so I have quit completely and started eating too much. (Hard break up, woe is me sob story..lol) I just re upped my membership and I am going to enter the gym for the first time in awhile today so hopefully that helps.

My diet was not that far off from SBD. I did eat a fair amount of pasta, but it was always whole wheat. I like to think I am a pretty healthy person who just fell off track a bit. Once I figure out this Fitday thing I will plug in my food. Although I wanted to throw in the towel, I think I am going to stick with it! Thanks guys

Glad you're going to stick around. You'll find your groove and see what works for you and what you need to tweak. You must have some bag to carry around the two books! Maybe that's good - more calories burned with every step!

I tried taking a fiber supplement and all it did was make me REALLY bloated. I seriously looked like I was five months pregnant. Ridiculous. Do you eat beans? I like to add them to salads. Or roast chick peas. They're so good! Let me know if you want the step-by-step. Maybe cut back on cheeses, too.

Hope you had fun at the gym!

Yeah, that's what the woman at the store said about the supplements so I figured I would look around on the nets before I started taking one. I haven't had any beans but re-fried, what would you recommend for the most amount of fiber? I do eat hummus and I will add that to more of my meals.

Mmmmmm hummus!

I honestly have no idea which kinds have the most fiber. I usually get them canned - easy. Maybe check out the labels in the store? I like any kind of bean in a salad - chick peas, kidney beans, black beans, cannellini beans. They're all good in there.

There's a great recipe in the recipes for black beans and lime tofu or something like that. It's super yummy and I am almost positive it's Phase 1 legal. Yep, it is. Here's the link. http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/entr...egetarian.html

Good for you for not throwing in the towel!! Since you may not have very much to lose, the loss will probably be quite slow. I believe it is recommended that someone who doesn't have a lot to lose should start on phase 2 (only if you don't have problems with cravings). And you said that you ate pretty healthy before, so perhaps phase 2 is better for you?

I would also say make sure you are in fact getting enough calories (use Fitday if you can figure it out, or just look at food labels and add it up yourself). But the diet is only half of it. In order to lose anything, you have to burn calories... so get in the gym! or put up holiday decorations! it doesn't really matter... just do something to get your heart pumping and muscles working. Keep with it, and the scale will reward you in time. Or even if the scale is stubborn, your pants are guaranteed to feel a bit looser =)

Jazzang, thanks much for your comments! I just decided today that I was going to start Phase 2 because I started working out again, and I am back in the groove! I need to read up about it because I was focused on Phase 1 when I was reading the book. I have been using the fitday and I have really started getting into that as well. I dont know how many calories I am supposed to me taking in a day. Yesterday was my first full day of tracking at I was a little over 1500. Does that sound about right?