[aryqa]

I am on day 7 of Phase 1. I have been sticking right around 25-30 net carbs and 1200 -1300 calories. I had been down 4 lbs and now I am back up 3. In my head I know that it is probably just a normal fluctuation (water, hormones), but in my heart I feel discouraged.

I didn't see any guidelines for carb counts. Is there a general rule for South Beach? My fiance does a low carb diet (not south beach) and he says he doesn't lose if he goes over 20.

[femmecreole]

No carb counts. How about a sample of what you've been eating?
Have you read the book yet?

[zeffryn]

20 is incredibly incredibly low and really not something that one could stick to long term. The veggie burger I had for lunch - just the patty and it was made from 100% vegetables has 10 g. of carbs in it. 2 of those would not be enough to sustain me for an entire day and certainly not for the rest of my life. The truth is, the low carb diets work...as long as you stick to them. Go off and return to normal, even healthy eating and the weight comes back on really fast. I gained and lost the same 25 lbs. for years doing Atkins. I would lose it in a few months and gain it back in a few weeks. Talk about disheartening.

the fact is that women's bodies fluctuate a LOT when it comes to weight. I work out all the time and eat really clean and still can fluctuate 5-6 lbs. in a single day. Just a pint of water equals 1 lb. Just because you're up 3 lbs. doesn't mean you're up 3 lbs. of fat.

It takes 3 weeks to create a habit. Don't give up after 1 week just because you aren't seeing the exact results that you want. Stick to the plan exactly (that is the only way it will work) and see where you are in a few weeks. Use the numbers on the scale less and more the way you feel, the way clothes fit, etc.

Good luck.

[EmmaD]

Hi! 25-30g carbs sounds really low for South Beach (but by net carbs do you mean that you don't count fiber grams?) I had a Phase 1 day yesterday and the carbs were at 74 g.

Here is a thread from a while back where we were discussing percentages of carbohydrates (rather than grams), but it might help. When I calculated what the article said should be a typical Phase 1 day, it was 62 g.

It would be almost impossible, I think, to abide by the general guidelines of South Beach and be really low carb, as it includes *4.5 cups* of veggies a day (yesterday, my 1.5 cups of tomatoes alone were 10.5 g) PLUS beans (my veggie chili was 26 g) AND dairy (my Greek yogurt was 9 g). It's not designed to be low-carb, just "good" carb. However, many of us here limit grain servings as we have found out that even whole grains can stall weight loss.

to you