Hi everyone. I've been doing pretty good this first week of Phase 1, but not perfect. Breakfast is usually ok and then late morning I sometimes fall back asleep and miss lunch. Then I'll have my afternoon snack and a good supper but I'm not doing well on the portion sizes at my night meal. Like tonight I ate grilled chicken breast, steamed broccoli and canned great northern beans. I had a plate full and really enjoyed it and was satisfied and then within a hour I was back in the kitchen and had another serving of it all and then I ate popcorn. So I have to work on my dieting through the night hours.

But I have lost another 9 pounds since I last weighed at my doctor's office two weeks ago. So that makes 22 pounds since January 14th when I started trying to lose weight. I'm sure most of it is water weight since I have so much to lose.

So I will try to do better this coming second week of Phase 1. But I don't know if I should start Phase 1 over again since I wasn't perfect. I think I read in the book or somewhere here or elsewhere on the internet that you should just keep going. So I will unless I hear otherwise.

I don't like looking at the scale either. I would like to weigh just once a month if I could but I know I'm not that patient so once a week or every two will be more likely.

Keep on keeping on...

Justmary, i promise you that its not all water weight..the average person..only has about 5 pounds of water weight..a lot of that is actual weight girl..Congrats! I understand how you feel about your scale..i do too..some days..however, im addicted to my scale.. i always weigh, though do to having TOM ive decided not to weigh myself and as for popcorn, i have learned there are worse things to eat off plan besides popcorn..thats a phase 2 thing..and if you must cheat..cheat on that..cause its better than full out sugar and least popcorn has fibre to help with that high glycemic content that corn has.

Its a new day for me..im starting fresh again.. im hoping to do a clean 2 weeks..cause ive been slacking..though right now my motivation sucks cause im bloated like a balloon due to my TOM. Sigh.. i was really looking to see the scale drop numbers..but im gonna have to wait.. i wont even bother weighing cause i know it will be higher due to water retention which is making me feel like a beached whale.. I hope this time my cravings for chocolate dont kick in..cause it made me fail bad last night..

This is my weigh-in day, and I have lost 3.1 pounds this week--my first week on phase 1. I am SO happy with this loss--it is huge for phase 1 when coming in from phase 2!

I followed the phase strictly and didn't get off-plan once. All my cravings for sugar and carbs were gone in three days. I would encourage everyone who is on phase 1 to follow it strictly--it simply doesn't work at all if you cheat. The whole point is to shock your system out of sugar/carb addiction and change the way your metabolism works. If you cheat on this phase it doesn't do anything for you. Phase 2 is different, at least for me. The risk there is if you cheat you continue cheating until you are eating too many carbs and start gaining weight, but in general phase 2 is much more flexible.

Credit moi as they say on the Judith Beck sight!

Now to work on exercise--I am such a couch potato!

By the way, does anyone know how to change your weight on the weight tracker without changing your whole signature and choosing tracker characteristics all over again? I am now 203.1 pounds!

Jicarilla, go to Edit Signature and take a look at the code. Yours says "/lb/226/165/206/." Change the last number to your current weight and remember to save it.

Hi everyone!

I had a great day yesterday but diet wise, it was not the best! My periods have been going crazy recently and I've started again a week early (and only 14 days after the last one finished - stupid pill grr). I think that could explain my need to eat everything I could get my hands on yesterday. Here is a breakdown:
B: Protein shake, coffee, water
S: Courgette puff and red pepper
L: Salad with tuna and sweetcorn (yeah I know but it was the best option I could find), soya yoghurt
S: Buttermilk, nuts
D: Salad from buffet and 2 bites of my bf's doughnut. The small 2 bites were actually an achievement, seeing as though everyone else ordered one for themselves...
Other mishaps: a few bites of a bread roll, one bite of a museli bar.

Ah wasn't too bad I suppose, and I'm back on track today more or less. I have been eating way too many nuts in the past few days, but to be honest, I'm not too bothered. It will sort itself out when I'm allowed to snack on fruit again. One more week left on phase one, even though I cheated. I think I'll move onto a phase 1.5 and just add fruit in for a week or so. I'm enjoying the lack of grains, because it means no stomach aches (unless I eat too many sugar free sweets). It also means I can cook more creatively, which is nice.

Have a nice Sunday everyone, the sun is out here and it is finally warmer than 0 degrees c )))

PS : Justmary and Jicarilla - well done, good work girls!

Well, it was smooth sailing on the beach for me for quite a while but I've hit a bump in the sand and after facing a health problem find that I'm slipping by not eating completely on plan. So today, I'm starting phase one today and will do a clean 14 days to get me back on track. No excuses, no whining, just gonna do it so hope you ladies have room on your part of the beach for me for the next two weeks.

Hey all,

I'm new here!

I just re-started the South Beach yesterday. So far, so good. I did this way of eating a couple years back and had great results, but of course, didn't stick with it, so gained it all back plus a few. I'm going to wait to weigh in until tomorrow, then every Monday morning. Since I have so much to loose (around 60 pounds) I will probably try and stay on the first phase for 3 or so weeks.

I find that the carbs really make me pack on the weight, but the problem is that I'm not much of a protein lover. I never crave the protein. I could take a veggie sandwich over a steak or roast chicken any day! But whenever I shed the carbs from my diet, I loose the weight, so I will try and learn to love the protein!

I'm also on a fitness plan too. I use to do these marathon workouts in the gym, 1.5 to 2 hour sessions. I found that if I knew I couldn't do my regular (schedule/work/school), strenuous workout, I just wouldn't do it. So basically I have a history of binge exercising!

So now I've resolved to hitting the gym 5x per week, but only spending 45 to 60 minutes there, instead of 1.5 hours. I find it's more doable, realistic, and I don't feel guilty if I can't do the marathon work out. Plus it's about making it more of a habit, a daily occurance, rather than something to just binge on.

I have a mini goal of loosing 20 pounds by the end of March, and then 2 pounds per week after that. I don't want to set too many unattainable goals right off the bat, but who knows, maybe this time will be the time!

Hi all. I don't feel too good. I way, way totally binged last night and my stomach feels sick. I haven't eaten a thing yet today and don't want to. I have to overcome this hurdle of nighttime eating. Wanting to eat constantly. I think I may need to redo the first week of SB that I just finished because I definitely haven't lost my craving for carbs as jicarilla says she has. Congrats to you, by the way, for doing so well and having such a great loss this week.

Welcome TashaLove. I need to set up my mini goals, too. I guess my first one will be to get below 300 and after that I'm not sure up until October 1 of this year when my youngest son is getting married and I would like to be around 225 or so by then. Please may it be so.

You know what, justmary? Today is a new day. Whatever you did yesterday doesn't really matter today. It just doesn't. Best thing, in my opinion, you could do for yourself today is to dust yourself off, make yourself a nice, big, on-plan phase one or two breakfast, something that will really fill you up. Starving yourself this morning and beating yourself up over it will set you up for a binge tonight. This is the same thing I do to myself all the time. So, today is a new day to start fresh!

Mary - How about posting a couple of days of menus? I bet you will get some suggestions that might help. Also if you know you are an evening eater than save something substantial for the evening. There's no reason you can't have a huge salad with hummus or some rf cottage cheese or yogurt. I had to do that with the afternoon drive home from work. That was always my worst binge time and i just had to come up with a list of acceptable foods - radishes, veggie sticks, veggie ham slices, etc. I'm contrary and if I make it a "must not" I'm more likely to go way off the deep end. It was better to just adapt. After awhile it did get better too and I even stopped eating in the car at all. That took awhile though, time to get rid of the cravings and figure out what I needed in each meal to keep my blood sugar level all afternoon. In the beginning I compromised

As far as restarting Phase 1, just get back on track now and get a clean week under your belt. See how you feel after that, how the cravings are, and you will know if you need a few more days.

Hi all!

JustMary - don't worry, just focus on getting back on track!

TallandThin, Tashalove and CindiM - welcome to the phase one thread!

I'm on my second week of phase one now, and I haven't stuck 100% on plan but at the most my cheats have been bites of bread/doughnut or carrots and sweetcorn. I haven't been suffering from massive cravings, except for the chocolate at the time of the month... I fixed it with sugar free pudding made from gelatine, cocoa powder, low fat milk and a bit of ricotta. It was nice!

My fitness plan has been ramped up because i've decided to cycle to work and not take the metro. It takes less time, gets me out in the fresh air away from the germs (!) and wakes me up before I start to teach :-) It is still icy-cold here though, so it's not great at 7am. After work it is nice though I'm running too, so I figure with all that exercise my weight will have to go down!

I weighed in yesterday and after a week I've gone from 152.8 to 151.2. Like I said though, I don't trust scales and I feel much better than they say!

Have a nice Monday everyone

Thanks for the information on how to update my tracker.

I woke up whining, believe it or not, about how "hard" Phase 1 is--which it isn't, it is just that I had gotten really used to eating badly.

It is true I have been "on the diet" for a year, but all my progress was between Jan and Sept last year--since then until a week ago I have been maintaining (but not gaining). What I really have come to understand is that if I want to lose weight I must diet with single-minded focus. It is a pain in the ***, because it takes time and effort, and I want an easier, softer way. Not to mention on the SBD I sometimes think weight loss is due to all the time and calories spent chopping vegetables

I am starting today to manage my expectations of no weight loss next week--when I have a big loss like this I often have no weight loss or a small gain the next week. We shall see on Sunday, which is far away. I need to just concentrate on my menu and exercise for today.

Sharon

Joining in with everyone if that's OK. First day of phase 1 today.

I tried this diet a few years ago and did pretty well. Now I have been diagnosed with diabetes so I really need to pick a diet and stick with it. Jmping back and forth from this diet to that diet.

Just getting back in the swing of things... I had a kinda Phase 1 few days last week/weekend but had some Phase 2 sneak in and some icky chips at a party last night. So tomorrow is the real start for Phase 1. I went shopping today and have all my usual treats so I should be good to go.

Just FYI, here are some of my go-to Phase 1 favorites:
Spaghetti squash deep dish pie (recipe here)
Sliced turkey (I use Tofurkey ) rolled around cream cheese, sliced green onions and pepper strips
Smoothie made with yogurt, protein powder, cocoa powder and peanut flour (just ground up peanuts)
Raw veggies with spicy hummus
Bean soups
Grilled tofu on sauteed cabbage
Cioppino (fish stew) on steamed cabbage
"English Breakfast" - one fried egg, pinto beans cooked with tomato sauce, grilled sliced tomatoes, sausages (veggie sausages for me).
Greek yogurt with Crystal Light (berry is the best) stirred in
The usual salads, Laughing Cow cheese, etc

Hope this helps anyone... I love reading other people's ideas ...

whoa - that is impressive! On Phase 1 no less. I am starting Couch to 5K again tomorrow, on which the first day ends up being about 3.5 kilometers, with only 7 minutes of running (I think) and I'm already mentally whining about it... and it's not even very cold out... I have issues with exercise apparently.