Just wondering why everyone picked south beach? I have tried almost every diet around. I was doing my own lower carb and cut out all sweets and soda and lost a few lbs on my own. While working on the computer something from SBD popped up on my screen and I decided to click it and read more about it. A few people including my mom told me to look into it but I always brushed it off as being another Atkins and I couldnt handle that. Well then I saw you had to pay for the site so I decided to do a search and came to this board. I spent the day reading and was so inspired I decided to post and go to the market that night and start the next day. I dont think this plan is for everyone, the same way as I dont thing WW is for everyone. WW is nice that you can eat small portions of sweets but for me I cant just have one and when I do it makes me crave more. After trying every diet out there, SBD is by far the best. I am not even one week into it but usually the first week is the hardest and I am really happy so far with this week!

Oh and also I have always been on boards and such while doing a new diet. I alway remember how it seemed it was working for everyone but me. Everyone would be like this is so much easier than I thought and I would be miserable thinking this is the worst I cant do this. So finally its nice to be on the otherside and say hey this is better than I thought it would be and I can do this!

My RE (fertility doc) told me to follow south beach when I started my met. He said it's the best way of eating for PCOS'ers and I think he's right!!

BTW, I sent you an IM so if you haven't figured out how to use it, there's something from me there

Angela

My dr told me to do it. My cholesterol isn't so great, nor is my BP. Blood sugar, however, is perfect. I did WW, but I was always starving and I developed an obsession with food and eating and points and when can I eat and did I work out....ugh. Started this on Monday. So far so good.

An old friend from high school was doing it and suggested I give it a try. He had seen me at our 20 year high school reunion four years ago and made comments about how heavy I had gotten. (Now, I remember why I broke up with him!) Anyway, he lost some weight on South Beach and had joined the paid site. I checked it out and was skeptical but eventually decided to give it a try when my doctor gave me three months to lower my cholesterol or I would have to go on meds.

Now I have done well and the old boyfriend went off it and is still overweight. I just can't wait until we have the next high school reunion and I get to see his expression when he sees me

I was initially skeptical that I could get my family to eat this food but they eat most of the same stuff I do so it has worked out well.

I decided on South Beach because it seems like the healthiest diet out there. I tried WW years ago and was so preoccupied with points, no points, and it just seemed like I was thinking about food all day. I like that SB stresses healthy carbs and fats. Atkins is just gross. There's no way you can eat unlimited amounts of butter and call it a diet!I tried LA Weightloss and lost about 30 lbs in 3m and did lose the cravings but it was so focused around their sugary diet bars and supplements. I remember looking at the ingredients and nutrition counts and thinking why am I not eating WW pasta instead---less sugar and more fiber for the same calories. The fat was restriced to only 1 tsp a day and they said olive oil was bad for you. I ended up having gallbladder surgury at 30 the following year. I've since read that going on a crash very low fat diet can aggravate the liver causing gallstones to form. Since then I'm determined to get healthy the right way. South Beach with the whole foods and whole grains is perfect and I'm happy with it so far. I do think the book is not very informative and I had some misconceptions that have been cleared up since this site!

I needed to lose some weight!! I did Atkins 2 years ago & lost 40lbs! But then I got sick & my mother told me to knock off the Atkins...so I did & I have gained 38 pounds back. I know limited my carbs/sugars worked for me, but I knew I could not do no carb again. So here I am at the beach! The weight loss is slower, but I feel better.

I have a friend that was dropping weight like crazy, and kept telling me about SBD. Finally I saw a picture of myself, and decided it was time for SB. Here I am, and here I will stay!!

I knew I needed to do something about my weight. I heard a blurb on NPR about SBD. It sounded interesting so I looked it up on the internet and found the Prevention site that had a lot of articles about the diet along with the foods to enjoy list. I printed out the phase 1 list to read later.

At home, I was looking at the list and thought, "I have a lot of this stuff here now. I can start now." I was one of the strange ones, I didn't know anyone on the diet, just heard almost every talking about

I put a hold on the book at my local library, I was the 560th person on the list! It took from January to April for me to finally get the book from the library. By then my sister saw how good I was doing on the diet, told me I was too cheap and bought the book for me.

So I sort of stumbled into it and it's been great.
Sarah

MY doc also suggested it because of PCOS/IR. I do get frustrated because other diets got the weight off faster, but it always came back on faster too....

Angela- For some reason it wont let me message you even though you are online. Do you have AIM? Nice to know someone else is TTC with PCOS on SBD. I am hoping losing some weight will make AF come back on her own. Do you have any issues with that??

Everyone else great stories on what made you decide to try. I am so glad I found this board!!

Hi

Frustated about not losing on all the diets that I have been on. I made an appointment with my doctor had a long conversation with him and he sugguested the South Beach,as he is on it also. I have been on it ever since,and won't change it,for no other. Hugs BB

First, my step sister had lost 40 pounds following South Beach...I ignored it. Thought it sounded way too difficult, a fad diet where you perhaps live on Mangos or something, . I have been dealing with some serious back issues and at my last visit w/my regular doctor, we were discussing some of my current meds. I'm not a stupid woman, I KNEW that if I could just get some of this weight that I was lugging around mainly in my gut since my last pregnancy off, this would ultimately have a positive effect on my back. Anyways, we discussed it and I was just at my wits end...please, please just give me some magic pills or SOMETHING . He went through various 'diets' w/me and then got to the South Beach. He was very honest in telling me this wasn't one where I could just always swing through the local fast food and grab something, it would take some planning of meals, yada yada...and told me he has several patients and their families following this. But, the main thing for me, he told me a story about his wife. Said that one day his wife came to him really upset because their youngest had made a comment about how much she eats...he said to me something like "her weight has never been an issue for me, I love her no matter what, but this was it for her, she decided enough was enough"...and so, he said she also wanted a 'magic' pill... ....they investigated a lot of 'diets' and he by far felt this was the healthiest way of life. She gave it a go and at the time of my discussion with him, had lost 90 pounds. He recommended I go to the book store, take an hour and just look over the book, see if I thought it was something I could implement into my life.

He struck me with the mama aspect...I sympathized with his wife, I don't want to be an overweight, too tired or in too much pain to lug my arse around and be the mom my children deserve. It also reminded me that I've been blessed with a second chance at living a 'not quite pain free, but bareable' life and I needed to make the best of it and help MYSELF....not waste this precious gift. Also made me think, ****, if she could do it, I CAN DO IT! And thus I went home that evening, ordered the book off of ebay, did some investigating and started right after that. I am SO GLAD I DID!!! 30 pounds down as of this week and I feel SO much better. My goal is another 15-20 and I can't WAIT to see my doctor again to personally thank him and pass on a word of thanks to his wife, who probably doesn't even know she was much of an inspiration,

I've tried them all, coulda been a millionaire by now between joining formal programs, pills, gadgets, and books, bars, foods.... I spent alot of time talking to myself about my weight and tried to become in tune with my body and my emotional feeling while eating, or wanting to eat, or what I chose to eat... I read alot and figured out that for me South Beach fit my new "philosophy" and made just plain old good common sense.
While I do want to and need to loose weight, my focus is on eating healthy foods .

I find SB actually easy for me..how strange to say that... and I love the food (thanks to this website and Chief Chef Barb) !
I think I'm going to be a year round resident at this beach

I've never dieted. I had hit a plateau in my weightloss just from watching what I eat and exercise. I wanted to do somesthing about this six month long plateau. I knew I could eat better and SBD sounded like a way to eat right for the rest of my life.

This has been so easy, and this is coming from someone who can eat a loaf of french bread with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So far so good, been five days and NO BREAD! No cravings! IT'S UNBELIEVABLE!