[Khewes]

I was wondering if anyone had ever tried anything like this. My husband is pretty adamant about not wanting to do Atkins, but wants to lose 50 pounds and has it in his head that he wants to do South Beach. I bought the book and we started yesterday. Except that I'm not doing the low fat thing. So, in essence, we're pretty much doing Atkins right now, he just doesn't know it.

But, he's being religiously faithful to the book, and in a few weeks we are supposed to start adding whole grains back in and I'm worried I won't lose as well.

Has anyone ever done anything similar??

Kim

[Leenie]

No sorry, I've never done South Beach, one reason is I'm an all or nothing kind of person, which means if they say I can have 1/2 a bowl of oatmeal, I'll wind up eating 1/2 truck load. I'm better off just completely staying away from carbs. And I'm not to fond of low fat foods, the chemicals scare me. Ever since YEARS ago my doctor said it harder for the body to break down low fat foods, then if you just ate a small amount of normal foods....does that make sense ?

You might wanna throw this on the South beach board and see what those ladies say? Can't hurt.

[Khem]

I lost about 50 pounds doing a reduced carb and calorie diet (about 50-100 carbs a day from fruits and veggies mostly, about 1500 cals) and it worked ok for a while. I switched to atkins for many reasons, but I would still recommend "reduced carb" to people who for whatever reason cannot quite swing atkins. I mean, even lower carb is better than nothing. When eating 50-100 carbs, however, calories DO count and you can't eat an atkins induction level of fats--or you'll be eating way too many cals. I'm personally a binge eater--a little bite starts off a binge--so the "all or nothing" style of early atkins (induction, OWL) suits me best when I am having a rough time. I know I will have to return to pre-maint and maint levels, but doing lowish carb proved there are some carbs I just can't eat. I cannot eat a whole piece of fruit; I cannot eat oatmeal; I cannot eat brown rice, I cannot eat whole grain cooked cereals, I cannot drink milk, diet coke, or fruit juice. Your mileage may vary. If your cravings start driving you nuts, refer to AFL (Atkins for Life) which has great suggestions for non-induction type menus. It almost sounds like you might be able to just do AFL and be no different than your hubby except in fat levels.

Another thing to consider is that it is *your* body... I regularly make meals for my sweetie that are basically protein plus vegetable/salad and I add a small serving of bread, rice, or pasta to his with no problem. I basically just make up a batch of rice and freeze it or toast a piece of garlic bread. He could care less what I eat as long as he sees good food in front of him. Maybe consider making meals that way--the base being what you eat and adding things for him? I think on south beath he'll be eating fruit (which isn't part of a meal usually anyway) and whole grains--which can easily be snuck into your basic atkins menu (Of course, you also get the good salad dressing!) Sautee and pan fry your meats using minimum amounts of oils to suit him, then add your fat in the form of cheese, avocados, and bacon on your salads and at breakfast

[Khewes]

Well, I managed to get him converted to Atkins, which is what I'm really comfortable with anyway. He just needs lots of assistance with it. "Can I have this? Can we have that?..... he looks to me to do that and if it helps him, then I'll do it. I've been around the block lots of times with this Atkins thing, but it is sooo much easier when the other adult in the house eats like me.

[Leenie]

Hang in there, after a while it becomes second nature.