I am interested in doing the SB diet. I have the book. It looks OK, like not too restrictive (except that Phase I! whew!!) and I think I can do it. Problem is.... I'M NO CHEF. In fact, the only reason I have a kitchen is because it came with the house.

I've been trying to cut down on processed foods lately, specifically watching my sodium intake. I love fresh fruits & veggies, and normally snack on those. But if I'm going to do SouthBeach, I cannot hit the fruit - esp. during that phase I, and I'm afraid I'll end up gaining weight.

Do I have to adhere to the menu they give you in the book for phase I? Anyone have any VERY SIMPLE/VERY EASY recipes? Lately I've just been eating deli turkey slices and cut up bell peppers & carrots for lunch, and baked chicken with steamed broccoli for dinner. Breakfast varies - sometimes a smoothie (half banana, 5 strawberries, 1/4 cup skim milk, 1/2 cup low-fat yogurt) or sometimes a cup of Honey Nut Cheerios w/skim milk or 2 boiled eggs for breakfast.

I'm hovering at 158 - 160. Can't seem to budge the pudge! OH - I am 42 years old, no children, and going thru what appears to be the beginnings of early menopause

Any ideas?

There's lots of easy recipes in the recipe section of the sb forum here.

You don't have to follow the menus in the book. They are guidelines, in fact if you did follow them you'd be in the kitchen most of the day.

Grab the foods to enjoy list and figure out what you like from that. It does help to make some sort of menu for yourself just so you have the foods in the house that you want to eat.

Good luck
Sarah

The forums here are great for recipes. I have the SBD cookbook which I really enjoy. I am no gourmet chef either and between a full-time job and nursing school (when shcool is in) it's rough for me, so I do simple things. There are some really easy recipes in the cookbook and in the forum

Beach Patrol!

There are tons of easy things you can make, and no, you don't have to follow the menus in the book at all. Just the guidelines (check out the guidelines listed in the FAQ section here to make sure you have the latest information...the book, especially the hardcover, has older information) like the Foods to Enjoy/Avoid lists.

It's a wonderful plan and very easy to follow, IMHO. You can substitute vegetables for your snacks instead of fruit for the 2 weeks of P1 (not long, in the scheme of things).

Thanks everyone - especially beachgal! -for the nice welcome!

Ok, so I officially started the Beach Diet today. For breakfast I had some slices of turkey breast, one boiled egg & a cup of coffee with Equal and fat-free creamer.

I just finished lunch. Again, slices of turkey breast, some grape tomatoes, and sliced up yellow bell peppers. Drinking water, which is easy for me, because I love-love-love water.

But darn it! - I AM STILL HUNGRY. Nothing else to eat here at work, except the BADBADBAD food in the vending machine.... and I have some grapes left over from last week, but I know I'm not supposed to have fruit of any kind the first two weeks of the SBD. So big waaaaah.

What I ended up doing was taking the "eat from this list" list and whittling it down to things I like. So now I have a very Beach-Patrol tailored list. I figure this should be fairly easy, but I really need to go GROCERY SHOPPING!

Can I eat things like frozen dinners & the such that AREN'T SouthBeachDiet dinners??

OK, 2nd day in, and I've already gone nutso.

I had a frozen "South Beach Diet" dinner last night. I don't think I was supposed to eat that yet? ... Because it had some pasta in it (which I didn't realize until I started eating it) - it was some chicken-kinda meal with broccoli for veggies. Also, I had a Mtn Dew yesterday (I always have ONE Mtn Dew about an hour before I work out, the caffeine kick really helps!)

So I cheated. A little.

How bad am I, I mean really?

Whoops! SBD dinners are NOT for regular use, just for emergencies, and should not be eaten on Phase I unless specifically labelled Phase I. We are supposed to be eating unprocessed foods as much as possible.
Did you check out the Revised Food List in the FAQ Section? Adding dairy to your menus may help with the hungries.
Forgive yourself and do a good day 2. .

And I hope that was a Diet Mountain Dew!

Uh..... noooooo..... regular.... I just cannot do diet drinks. I am not good with "diet foods" of any kind, really. Some certain stuff I am OK with... like I use Fat Free coffee creamer & stuff like that. I can eat Sugar-Free gelatin & so forth, but Diet sodas.... ICK! - ESPECIALLY diet Mtn Dew... it just tastes like kah-kah to me. Yucky, blatooey, phleh!

But I have a friend who did the SBD and he lost 60+ pounds; he said he cheated A LITTLE from day 1 & has always cheated A LITTLE. So I figure... I can cheat A LITTLE too???

OOPSY!!!! Ok, now that I know that...

Yeah, I kinda figured as much. I'm a processed-foods worshipping gal. I've been much better at fresh-as-much-as-possible the past couple of years, tho. And I've lost (& gained! ) at least 30 pounds AT LEAST 5 times in my adult life. Last summer, I was only 3 pounds from my goal weight when I re-injured an old shoulder injury, which side-lined me in my exercise habits, and I gained 25 pounds since September...

anyhoo....

Yes, I've been checking on that several times TODAY, LOL! - but I thought we're only allowed 2-3 servings of dairy during phase 1? Did I misunderstand something there?

I've posted twice but lost it!

This plan requires major committment especially during Phase I. Cheating just a little bit can keep your body craving carbs and inhibit your success.

Dairy is 2-3 servings. I mentioned it because it did not appear in any of your posts. It and legumes can ward off the hungries.

Perhaps you could post a day's menu with quantities and we can take a look at it.

I used to love regualr Mt. Dew also, but the newly formulated Diet Dew is awesome!! I drink one every morning instead of coffee. Try it for a week...you will get used to it and crave it

Okey dokey! ... here goes!

USUAL SBD BREAKFAST: 2 fat-free beef franks, microwaved. with mustard
1 boiled egg
1 cup skim milk
1 cup coffee with fat free 1/2 n 1/2 & Equal

USUAL LUNCH: turkey breasts
cut up yellow bell peppers
sliced cucumber
grape tomatoes (those little bite size tomatoes)
1 boiled egg

USUAL DINNER: salad (lettuce/tomato, peppers, cucumber)
boiled shrimp, baked chicken or ham in salad
fat free Italian dressing
1 glass tea

As a snack, I usually grab a handful of nuts, usually around 10am.

Okey... so... whaddya think?? (I have lost 3 pounds in 5 days.)

They have a "newly formulated diet Mtn Dew??? I just MIGHT give that a try! If I hate it, I can just spit it out, right?