Hi Ladies! I'm new to this forum and to this site. I came across it while surfing the net trying to find other's experienecs on South Beach. I briefly viewed some posts and it seems like most of you are having great success on the diet so Congrats! Unfortunately for me, I don't feel like I'm succeeding like I had planned and like the book says and am growing more and more frustrated. Tomorrow will be a exactly 4 weeks for me since I've been on South Beach and my total weight loss for this has been 5 lbs.
In the first two weeks, I dropped about 4lbs and I followed the book accordingly, didn't cheat, etc. The third week, I started phase 2 by incorporating more carbs, but actually I never really added in many more. I might have a sugarfree/fat free pudding on a day or a piece of whole grain bread. Last weekend, (which was the weekend of my 3rd week), I wound up cheating on my diet because there were some celebrations, etc. I cheated a little on Saturday and on Sunday. When I weighed myself Monday morning, I was 2 lbs heavier. Though I cheated on the weekend, I went right back to my diet on Monday and its been more of Phase 1 again.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has had slow success and if anyone knows why its so slow for me. I know I cheated, but that was after 3 weeks and I went right back. Still, i'm wondering why I only had lost 4 lbs in the 1st 2 weeks and since then 1 lb.
Any input, thoughts, or advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.

First of all, to 3FC and to the South Beach part of the Forum.

There could be many reasons why you have not lost on this plan. First of all, how much do you want to lose and how tall are you? How old are you? Have you been dieting before? How bad was the cheat? Were you drinking enough water?

Give us a bit more info and I'm sure the other Beachies will be in here with ideas. Hang out a bit - there's lots of info and support here. Check out the stickies in the FAQ Section.

this is a plan for life. it's not very forgiving scale wise of cheats...

one cheat meal can undo weeks of good eating. I know...

5 pounds in 4 weeks is awesome. you don't say how much you have to lose or how old you are or how active etc... but those things matter

5 weeks in you should be on your third week of transition and eating 1-2 grains per day and 1-2 fruit servings per day.

are you exercising?
are you drinking enough water?

The things that keep me from losing as much weight as I would like on SBD:

1. Too many "sweet" treats, even if they are sugar free. There is something about sweet-tasting (sugar free) treats that mess up my brain and keep me from losing. I personally do better eating 1 square of dark chocolate on occasion, than eating a lot of sugar free puddings, diet cokes, cool whip, etc.

2. Not enough veggies. If I think I am eating enough, I still try and add more. Never enough!

3. Too much cheese. That sneaks up on me every time.

5 pounds is awesome! SBD isn't a fast weight loss diet. Actually, I call it the "patience" diet, because it isn't a quick fix. But it is something you can actually LIVE with in the long run. Hang in there and welcome.

As others have noted it's hard to say too much without knowing your stats. The less you have to lose, the slower it goes. That said 5lbs in 4 weeks is awesome!

Things that contributed to my success include regular exercise, lots of fiber rich veggies (not salads - greens, broccoli, cabbage, etc) and regular servings of beans.

I tried south beach before and stalled at 30 pounds, I have come to realize I need to calorie count, too. Doesn't matter how much I stick to the diet, my choices have to be the lower clalorie ones or I will not lose. I have just started this a few days ago and I think this is my answer.

Could you post a day or two's diary of what you're eating? The ladies here are wonderful at helping out with changes that might be beneficial.

Thanks ladies for all your tips!
I appreciate it. Some of you asked for my stats. Sorry, that i forgot to mention them. I'm about 5'4", age 33, and I have about 30 lbs to loose.
I drink alot of liquids, but not necessarily alot of water. I may drink 2 big glasses a day, have maybe 1 cup of coffee (w/caffiene), 1 diet soda, and drink alot of diet tea. I don't have a regular exercise routine, but I try to get in some exercise when I can. I may go to aerobics class 2x a week, and also may go walking for an hour or so. I try to get in at least 3 hours of decent exercise a week.

I hope this gives more info to help me figure why I'm not loosing.
Thank You.

One more thing I just thought of, I have been snacking on sugar free/or reduced fat peanut butter. I have about 2-3 tbsp each day. I thought this was good but should I not be doing this?

Thanks again for all your help!

Thanks ladies for all your tips!
I appreciate it. Some of you asked for my stats. Sorry, that i forgot to mention them. I'm about 5'4", age 33, and I have about 30 lbs to loose.
I drink alot of liquids, but not necessarily alot of water. I may drink 2 big glasses a day, have maybe 1 cup of coffee (w/caffiene), 1 diet soda, and drink alot of diet tea. I don't have a regular exercise routine, but I try to get in some exercise when I can. I may go to aerobics class 2x a week, and also may go walking for an hour or so. I try to get in at least 3 hours of decent exercise a week.

I hope this gives more info to help me figure why I'm not loosing.
Thank You.

One more thing I just thought of, I have been snacking on sugar free/or reduced fat peanut butter. I have about 2-3 tbsp each day. I thought this was good but should I not be doing this?

Thanks again for all your help!

I think the experts on this board would probably also need a few days from your food journal. Are you just having the peanut butter or are you also snacking on nuts?

You definitely need to be drinking more water....water helps with weightloss, and most of us don't lose if we aren't getting a lot of water. Upping your exercise will help with your loss as well....try getting in 5-6 hours a week.

Your peanut butter should be nothing but peanuts and maybe a little salt. Most supermarkets carry natural peanut butters on their regular shelves now.
We are allowed 2 T. of fats per day....peanut butter counts towards those fats....if you have more, your loss will be slower.

You don't want reduced fat peanut butter since lots of bad stuff are added to it. You want the ingredient list to just say peanuts and possibly salt. You are limited to 2 TBSP a day as long as you have no nuts. Or you can have 1 TBSP and a half serving of nuts.

Can you post a couple day's menu to give us an idea of what you are eating?

actually no... nuts or nut butters are limited but don't impact on the other fats of 1 tsp at breakfast and 1 tbsp each at lunch and dinner (or 2 tbsp of salad dressing)

but the nut butter should be just ground nuts.

Thanks for the correction, Nessa. It's been awhile since I've read the book and proper portions. Do you know what the proper portion of peanut butter would be in a day?

I'll combine this thread with the original one.