Longtime beacher here (since 2007). I haven't posted in this section recently because I have been having all kinds of food issues (different story, not related to the South Beach Diet...)
Here's what I know about SBD. It is a solid, healthy way of eating - but for weight loss, some people have to "tweak" it a bit.
For example, I have learned from experience that I have to go low carb(ish) to lose any weight. This appears to be a new development as I get older but it is what it is. I would gain weight on the Phase 2 SBD recommendations for grain and fruit servings. When I am "on plan", I mostly have 1 fruit serving and 0 grain servings in a day. This is often referred to as "Phase 1.5"
I don't track carbs per se but find that I have to keep them below 100ish to see scale movement. Something to consider. It seems like many people are carb-sensitive.
South Beach is easy to combine with other plans. Calorie-counting of course (that's what I do, but for me it's more about the macronutrient ratios than total calories - I never did figure out how many calories I need to eat to lose weight. I aimed for 1400, with exercise).
I have seen several people who combined SBD with Weight Watchers. Just make your food choices along the lines of what SBD would recommend (which I personally just think of as a "healthy diet".)
In the end almost everyone has to experiment anyway to see what works for them individually. You could stick with the main SBD structure and adjust one aspect of your diet, such as:
- No grains
- No artificial sweeteners
- Lower carb choices
- More protein (75g is a common amount)
- More fiber
- More fat (this one might be controversial and might stray too far from SBD, but there are many folks who swear by adding fat. I have added coconut oil to my diet but not regularly)
- Track WW points
- Track calories
- Cycle carbs and/or calories (high days mixed with low days)
- Look into intermittent fasting (I often do a very mild version of this, just holding off eating until later in the morning and ending eating at a set time in the early evening)
I haven't seen your diet posted but really I think if everyone (I am talking to myself here) absolutely focused on the 4.5 cups of veggies and the XXX amount of protein FIRST and didn't get sucked into the pit of nuts and cheeses and sweet delicious fruits and sugarfree "treats" (also talking to myself) it would be next to impossible NOT to lose weight.
If you feel like you do all this already, maybe consider having a medical evaluation that includes metabolic profile/insulin challenge/thyroid panel/hormone levels just to make sure there isn't something else going on.
I have found Dr. Mark Hyman's resources to be quite informative. I checked out his books from the library, but here are his websites. He has a list of blood tests on the Blood Sugar Solution website that might be of interest if you go to visit a doctor.
http://drhyman.com/
The Blood Sugar Solution (annoying pop-ups)
BTW - when I started running a few years ago (Couch to 5K - 9-week program) and was doing BodyPump, I did not lose a SINGLE pound during that time. There are a lot of threads around here about water retention when you begin an exercise routine. I don't pretend to understand much about it, but just know a LOT of people experience this frustration of feeling like they are putting out so much effort and not seeing any results on the scale. In my own experience, the only way I lost weight finally was to increase my daily activity level significantly (such as walking EVERYWHERE) and I lost around 15 lbs but it still took almost a year.
GOOD LUCK to you whatever you decide to do.