Im so bummed this morning. Im one week into phase one. Lost 3 lbs at first and now I have gained back 2.5 of those lbs. I dont understand. I havent cheated once. And I added in the couch to 5 k program so everyday ive been walk/running or on my off days taking 2.5 mile power walks. Why am I not losing weight? I did southbeach becausse my diet had been stalled for two months and now it still seems like I cant lose any wieght. Im frustrated!
I dont kn ow if it matters but im a vegetarian so southbeach is challanging as it is. Its not like I can have a chcken breast for supper wth some veggies.
Help! Im hungry dont have energy and feel like im not even getting anywhere.

If you post some of what you have been eating it would be very helpful... Like a couple days worth of meals... Lots of chickies are vegetarian on here so it can be done although I do find it challenging myself...

ok well usually I have been having
a bit of plain yogart and left over veggies and beans for breakfast.
Then I exercise
Morning snack is usually raw veggies and a bit of hummus.
Lunch is either beans or a boca burger raw veggies and a salad.
afternoon snack is usally a handfull of nuts or peanutbutter on celery and a homemade chai with a bit of soy milk and splenda
and dinner is something I make. Tofu and veggies plus a salad or falafel and veggies, eggplant and veggies, spegetti squash and roasted tomatos.
and a sugar free popcicle for dessert.

You are already showing a significant loss. Most of the Phase 1 loss is water and people who were eating a lot of processed carbs lose the most. You may already have lost the excess water so your loss will be at a more "normal" rate. It would be interesting to get an idea of quantities for your meals too. I wonder if you might actually want to increase a little bit?

I know that SBD is not about counting calories but in this case it may be useful to run your numbers through one of the online calorie counting programs like fitday or daily plate to get a idea of how many calories you getting in.

I worked with a lady who couldn't lose weight on SBD, we went through her menus, they looked good but when we put everything in she was getting ~2000 calories a day. She was eating the right foods just too much of it.

It's hard for some of us to eat to satisfied. I know I have a hard to time doing it. Satisfied means no longer hungry. I tend to want to eat until I'm full.
good luck

For what it's worth - when I did Couch to 5K last year, I promptly stopped losing weight altogether. I was reading all these stories of people shedding pounds when they started but me, nope.

Don't know if that is the situation for you at all, but maybe it just takes a while for your body to get used to the new (type?) of exercise. Once you get to the end and are running regularly, maybe things will shift back into weight-loss mode.

Also, I second the idea to run your food intake through a calorie counter program, such as FitDay. You might be too high, then again you might not be getting enough calories. My completely arbitrary guess is that you should be somewhere around 1400-1600 calories/day (I aim for 1400 when I am counting). On Phase 1, I often have trouble getting up to 1000 calories when I check.

And some of us missed class the day they told us about full!

thanks guys. I am keeping track of calories i eat today and seeing how much they are so we will see. Im frustrated because since july I have bounced between 176-179 and its ANNOYING! I want to keep losing and this is the worlds longest platau ever! I really want to do the couch to 5k but in all honesty if it stops me from losing i dunno. I really want to meet my one year goal by dec.

oh and IM HUNGRY ALL THE TIME on south beach. But it could be because im running on hardly any carbs at all.

You shouldn't be hungry, so maybe you aren't eating enough.

Have you tried eating more beans? Beans are a great "good" carb that allowed in p1. You really shouldn't be hungry.

How about some good fats-avocados maybe? in moderation of course. Are you a no animal products at all vegetarian- eggs, cheese, milk?

I was thinking about this as I walked to the gym and back this morning... This is just my opinion, but - I didn't even consider stopping C25K when I stopped losing weight (I was also doing some weight-lifting classes 3x/week). I figured that good things had to be happening and my weight would eventually catch up. I mean, I had more endurance, more muscle tone...

Trust me, I understand the frustration of the weight stalling. I have less weight to lose overall but it has been nearly two YEARS of me trying to figure out what works (with some obvious lapses in there) and recently I spent around 6 months trying to lose anything. I stopped running this year, but I plan to start C25K again in October because I think I am not exercising strenuously enough.

I say keep tweaking your diet, maybe - just maybe - reduce the exercise a little while you finish Phase 1 and go full speed ahead into Phase 1.5/2.

Again, just my opinion, but weight deadlines can make you feel like a failure even when you are making all kinds of improvements in your body composition, eating healthy and establishing good habits for life. I have learned that I have to make behavior goals - like exercise 1 hour/day, eat on plan every day for a month, complete C25K, etc. It's the only way I have somewhat kept my sanity

whatever you decide to do! You have come so far already...

I know I shouldnt focus so much on the number and it would be such a big deal if I wasnt two lbs from not being obese any more and have been busting my butt trying to lose anything since jjuly. I guess im just frustrated because i HAVE come so far and the finish line is so close. I think im going to try to not put my diet in a box and just do my vegan thing and focus on the c25k. If I can add fruit then I think it will help me with my training. But ill just keep the grains at a minimum.

Instead of focusing on the scale-how about taking measurements weekly? Everywhere you can wrap a tape measure around-measure it. Sometimes when I don't see the scale move, the inches are coming off and that makes me feel better. And you'll be surprised where the inches come off-literally I was measuring:

neck,
top of chest,
middle of chest
right below chest-whre the bra strap is
right above pot belly
at natural waist-around belly button
top of hips
middle hips
right below hips-way upper thighs
middle of the thighs both sides for all the rest
bottom of pudgy part of thighs
fatty spots above knees
right below knees
upper calf
middle calf
ankle
biceps in a couple spots
forarms
wrists

I mean, when you are measuring every part of your body-something has to change -right?

I didn't lose any weight when I was running. I think for me I had an over estimation of how many calories I was burning when I ran because I felt like I was doing a lot. And didn't really control my eating as strickly as when I wasn't running. Then my knees became unhappy and I had to stop.

sarahyu, i think you hit the nail on the head. a lot of people stop losing weight when they start working out because they vastly overestimate how many calories they are burning and overeat accordingly.

the counter on a machine can be off by as much as 30-40%...which can mean the difference in a pound a week.

I finished C25K a month ago, run consistently now, but I need to do other things to lose weight. I cross-train like crazy, take 2-3 spin classes a week, do HIIT training on the elliptical or the treadmill, bikram yoga, pilates and usually one group cardio aerobic class each week. my body gets used to the running and I maintain with it, but rarely lose. I do it now for fun and because of the other benefits, if i add in sprints or something like that just to change it up, then i start losing again.

and as always, calories in needs to be less than calories out no matter what diet you're following.