But I think South Beach phase 1.5 just has too many carbs for this carb sensitive chickie to lose weight. I have stalled for 6 weeks, most times only having one dairy/1 grain per day. Last week I really killed it , exercising more and eating very clean,, practically phase 1. All that and up a pound..

So I went back and asked myself when were all the weight loss attempts not working? What did they have in common? When I did lose weight consistently, what was I doing then? The answer to the last one is watching carbs.. so I think I succeded in P1 because of the lower carbs.. and even 1 grain or fruit in P2 was enough to keep my insulin high enough that no chub was allowed out.

I LOVE doing SBD and want to transition to a wonderful SBD lifestyle in maintenance, but for the losing stage, I think I have to do what works for me, ultimately

I love this board and will continue to post (hope no-one minds) mainly probably on weight loss support, but not in the eating thread as it's not fair and misleading since I'm not really on this plan for now.

I wanted to give it a test run first to see if it was me or the plan, and with 2 days LC I finally saw the scale move downward 3lbs! SO learning as I go but will try this for now.

All the best to you guys and I hope to see you very soon, when I am transitioning to maintenance!!!

-Tara

This is so me too! Even if I eat 1/4 cup of brown rice or 1 piece of fruit I will not lose. I always do best on Phase I. Of course this has me worried about when I finally get to goal and start eating the grains and fruits, I will start gaining. When I did slim4life which everyone has great success, I didn't. My plan had me eating grains and fruit and the weight just wouldn't budge. I do best with meats,poultry,veggies and beans and ff yogurt.

I completely agree! I've lost 30lbs doing phase 1 in 2 months and now I've been stuck for the past month because I've been dying to have fruit and yogurt cause of the warm summer weather! I'm starting tomorrow again with the phase 1! I found some good recipes on here for some breakfast foods- pancakes and waffles made with riccota cheese! They sound awesome and I can't wait to make them to tomorrow morning!! Let me know if you guys find any other good recipes!

hmm, I wonder if I should stay in p1 awhile instead of counting carbs.. I was on the fence about this..?? It would be so much easier if WOE's were one-size-fits-all and could *guarantee* fat loss! LOL

I think I'll carb count for a few weeks and if I miss dairy too badly I'll go back to P1 for awhile.. I love dairy. I also love blueberries. Sigh.

PS I'm not doing some crazy fry-everything-in-bacon-grease plan, LOL It's pretty much phase 1 with me watching the carbs in dairy and beans, and allowing fruit also while counting the carbs.

devinmic- have you tried the 1 min chocolate "cake"? It's phase 1 and satisfying, you can also cut the splenda to 1T and eliminate the cocoa powder, and they call it a 1 min "muffin". It plumps up and you could add some cream cheese, trans fat free margarine, and/or NSA jam (the jam would be phase 2)

I feel the same way. So long as I avoid carbs, I'm good. A slight mess up and bam, going no where.

I know the book says you're not meant to stay on Phase 1 forever -- but I've actually wondered about that once or twice. Supposedly you're not getting nutritional variety without the addition of the fruits and the grains...but is that really true? I wonder.

I mean you can surely get the nutrition that's in fruit and grains, in some foods that aren't fruits or grains. KWIM? For instance, there's a lot of vitamin C in certain fruits, but so too is there C in certain vegetables. And so on...

I am another person who is sensitive to practically any grain, including corn, which isn't even always classified as a grain! And many fruits set me off. I too have been wondering about Phase 1.5 and how I'll do on it...last time I tried SB, the addition of one grain set me off into an all-out binge and I fell off the SB wagon.

Yet the rest of SB seems so healthy. So very, very healthy. Vegetables? Lean protein? Nuts? Water? Dairy? My goodness, I can't even imagine another bunch of foods grouped together that would scream "healthy" as much as that.

I know this is against doctor's orders, but...I personally would go back to Phase 1 and just double-check into what nutrients are most prominent in a variety of fruits and a variety of grains, and see where else I could get those nutrients...or if perhaps I were already getting them in some of my veggies and legumes. In fact, that may be what I do end up doing after my two Phase 1 weeks are up.

So in a nutshell: I hear ya. I know what it is to have my body go crazy over a tiny taste of a fruit carb or a nibble of a grain-y carb. And how it is to feel "different" from other people because of it...But though like you I realize avoiding these types of carbs (plus certainly refined ones!) is probably the only way I'll stay in control, I don't believe I want to go as far back on the carbs-in-general scale as, say, Atkins. I just know I don't want to do that. I KNOW South Beach is healthy.

I think you should drop back to Phase 1 and see what happens. And if you need somebody to commiserate with, PM me some time or whatever. Or just post on here...Trust me, you are NOT the only one.

OMG- I am not alone. I was expecting to be chastised, ridiculed and then, banished.

Melanie- Dr A does say a few times that you shoud move to phase 2 for "nutritional variety" but I've also seen him say the reason it's not a good idea is that it can be harder to stick to long-term (because it's more restrictive). For super-sensitive people though, I think no bread is easier than 1 slice!
Basically I think he was just trying to increase our odds of sticking with the program; I mean, one can get a very full, satisfying, vitamin-rich diet on phase 1. The only thing we'd be adding back is glucose (no thanks) and fiber. However if you're eating plenty of veg and legumes, fiber intake won't be a problem.

Food for thought, Natalia. Thanks for posting this and I hope you continue to hang out with us.

Natalia- I'm glad you're experimenting and not just giving up. Congratulations for staying focused on your health. It's so easy to just give up when our bodies don't respond the way we want them to.

A couple of thoughts - I remember noticing in the meal thread that you regularly use bars and artificial sweeteners. I wonder if you are having some trouble with the artificial sweeteners and mystery bar ingredients? I know some people find they really stall when they eat too much of that stuff.

Your calories also seem really low. I never have luck increasing my intake but a lot of Chicks report success from actually increasing a little. Just another experiment

Finally I'm sure you've seen this thread already, http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/sbd-...aily-dish.html

We are all experiments of one and I'm sure that if you keep tweaking you will find what works for you. Good luck!

I read Cyndi's link regarding the Phase 1 time limit.

Several weeks ago, I read Dr Agaston's article in Prevention Magazine-one I would like to quote and share, but couldn't locate it last night. I read through the article several times to make sure I had it right, because Dr A was sharing his daily food and exercise plan. I specifically remembering him saying that he eats very little grain. He also said he would only have some type of treat very occasionally, and it would usually be only a small bite.

There are many chicks who follow a 1.5 pretty consistently, which I would certainly use to describe what Dr A was talking about with his own food plan. By calling it 1.5 or 2(with very restricted grains) you would still be focusing on all the other healthy benefits of SBD.

I will try to locate the article today and post Dr. A's typical menu. I really felt like it gave the OK to follow SBD a bit more restrictive than is described in the book.

That's pretty much what I do, Natalia.
I consider myself in Phase 2 because I can have my steel cut oats or some fruit if I want it, but most days I just stick to veggies, beans, nuts and lean meats or fish and I'm quite content. I think for me the trick is knowing that I can have the fruit or whole grains if I want them, but not making them part of my daily menu while I'm focused on losing weight. I can only eat so much food in a day, and when I start adding grains and fruit I have a hard time getting in the recommended amount of veggies. I think that's what slows down my weight loss.

I "took a break" for a while in May and June because my life was incredibly stressful and I'd already met my 50 pound goal. I feel best when I eat well, so I ate a loose phase 2 diet, with whole grains and fruit pretty much every day during that time. Even with occasional candy bars, cookies and meals out, I didn't pile on pounds, I actually lost a couple, but much more slowly than I'd been loosing. I believe I'll be able to maintain just fine with fruit and whole grains in my daily menu, but to blast my fat away I do best when I eat them sparingly.

Good luck, I hope you find what works best for you.

Thanks girls!
Cyndi- you are right, I was using bars and artificial sweeteners. I ran out of bars last week and am not planning on buying more. As for the As/s, well it may sound childish or stupid, but my Coke Zero is not going anywhere. I'd rather cut off an appendage than give up AS's or coffee. A girl's gotta have a vice!!
Plus I have not cut back at all on AS's and I am now down 4lbs in 3 days. So maybe they aren't the reason for the stall.

DEbbie, that's interesting. He probaby created a liberal phase 2 for pragm atic reasons. Again, that he'd rather people go to P2 than go off-plan, even though P1 is perfectly healthy. I'm not scared to stay in P1 indefinitey but I woud prefer berries over beans and in a way I think it's 6 of one, half dozen of the other in terms of carb intake.

Heidi, you're lucky you can still lose on P2- albeit slowly. But now as a maintainer do you still eat a very scant p1.5? Or was that just to lose the post-off plan lbs??
I think I'll be able to do a 1.5 for maintenance but perhaps not for losing. I'm still debating between a longer term P1 and watching carbs. My meals and snacks woud look very similar anyway, so at the end of the day it's more like a customised P1 Whether berries or legumes they're still both converted to glucose.. and it'd be nice to have another packet of almonds when I want them in exchange for a dairy.. they seem very similar but the carb counting slightly more flexible which could be a real perk if I'm planning on being in this stage for months.

Thanks for all the input- very much appreciated!!

This is me exactly. I'm a serious Coke Zero addict. My friends make fun of me for it, but I won't give it up.

I have been maintaining for 2 years on SB & follow Phase 1.5 most days. It is extremely rare for me to eat bread, rice, etc. I do eat oatmeal occasionally, but usually have eggs for breakfast. I also eat sweet potatoes occasionally. I eat a ton of veggies daily. I just recently started eating fruit again, but never more than once a day. I think I probably should eat fruit more often as I believe it offers a lot of nutrients that might not be available in vegetables (anti-oxidants & stuff we haven't even identified yet). I would probably have to eat less of something else though to maintain & I'm pretty happy with my current menus. I think each of us has to find their own path for weight loss. Good luck with yours!

Mmmmmmmm, Coke Zero. (droooool)

Okay. That said...Natalia, you said you ran out of the bars last week and since then you've lost a few pounds. So maybe you've zeroed in on what the problem was. I think the plan you're describing sounds fine, and healthy. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be a 1.5-er myself (based on past experiments), and maybe only a couple/few times a week at that. I agree that Dr. A did say more than once in his book that boredom is an eating plan killer (well, to paraphrase). That was no secret so he was/is trying to work with human nature as well as physiology (another thing I recall he outright said), and that only makes sense.