Hi. This is my first post here and I have a question for all those SB veterens. First a bit of history. I was on Fat flush diet in Feb 2005 starting at 223 lbs....by October of 2005 I weighed 146 lbs.....then I fluctuated up and down and up and down and finally up and up and up....right back up to 198 ( I think, I'll check my weight this morning). Anyway.....I want to lose weight again, and keep it off, but that diet is so strict and going all natural is really tough and expensive in the real world. I have a friend who had tremendous success on SB and my SIL had great success on Atkins (similar, right?). So here's the question part....can I do SB without being obsessed about food??? Either I'm obsessed and I binge and constantly think about what I'm going to eat or I'm obsessed when dieting and think about what I am going to eat....either way, it drives me crazy...I want freedom!!!! My ultimate goal is to overcome, permanantly, binge eating. I want to eat normal foods and if there is a SPECIAL gathering, I want to enjoy a bit of foods and then go back to normal foods. Does this make sense??? I've been dieting all my life (I was first on WW in the 5th grade....although I was very thin, my mother wanted to lose weight and thought we should all be on it). I remember bingeing at such a young age....I see my 10 year old son doing the same thing. I wish I had a reason for it, but I don't. I just like food. I had nothing traumatic happen....my parents are still married....I had a really normal life and still do. I eat happy, mad, glad, sad or otherwise!! Does anyone here do south beach and not follow a strict regiment????? Is it possible?? Thanks.....

Kristen

What I love about SB is that it is not a strict regimen. It's really a few basic rules and once you've got them down it's easy to follow. However, it does help to plan ahead - for your shopping and menus, etc., and it also helps if you are okay with cooking. I did feel like I was kind of obsessing in the beginning, but I think that's just my personality and also I was on the learning curve and figuring out what works for me. SB is pretty adaptable. It's the only plan I've ever really followed, so I can't compare to the others, but I really love it, and it has almost totally eliminated my desire to binge on sweets and bad carbs. I've been on SB almost five months now, and I can see how it is really a way to change habits of a lifetime to healthy eating, rather than a "diet" that you follow for a limited period of time. I'm sure the other chicks have advice to offer also, many have been doing this way longer than me. Whatever you decide, good luck and success to you!

Same here...at the beginning I was obsessive and paranoid about eating the wrong things/amounts etc. Now it is just second nature and I really don't have to think or dwell on it. I also LOVE to cook which helps keep our meals interesting and never boring. It does not at all feel like a "diet". It's just a very sensible way of eating where you just happen to lose a lot of weight. I don't find it at all restrictive and have even adapted our favorite "old" recipes to make the SBD friendly. Love it.

kmac! My opinions are the same as Schmoodle's and Femme's. I couldn't have said it better myself. I think after the initial Phase 1 and easing into Phase 2 that you'll find this way of eating will just come natural to you, and you won't have to constantly think of what to eat. I hope you decide to join us, and good luck!

Thanks, ladies. Every diet says it's not a "diet"...I'm trying to figure out which one is the one that isn't for me. I'm going to give this a try...starting today...who starts on a Wednesday??? Well, I'm going to. I house clean a few days a week and am out of the house a while....anyone have any ideas of what I can take with me that's very quick to eat (like, I can eat some turkey as I carry my vacuum up the stairs)......thanks for the warm welcome. I dare say that I will be here a lot for help, guidance and advice.

Kristen

Hey, kmac!

Yes, I think you can be on SBD without thinking about food as much. When the cravings go, you'll find it's much easier to avoid binges and avoid obsessing about food, too. That said, the thing about being on a plan of any kind is that you are going to have to think about food...a lot. You think about food in order to plan what you should eat, plan ahead for special occasions, etc. Geneen Roth (author of Breaking Free from Emotional Eating, Feeding the Hungry Heart, Why Weight? A Guide to Ending Compulsive Eating, etc.), who believes that the way to end compuslive eating is to stop dieting, says that's why diets never work--you spend just as much time thinking about food as you did when you weren't dieting...just for an ostensibly different reason. Obviously, some plans do work...just look at our maintainers! (check out the Maintainers forum for more...) But I think it's not so much that the plan works as it is that the person working the plan has found one that is compatible with their needs and lifestyle.

This is just me, another chick, talking here...not as a moderator, but I think it's really helpful, no matter what plan you follow, to work on the emotional/psychological aspect of your eating. You can work with a therapist, visit a nutrition clinic/nutritionist (one that works with people who compulsively overeat), or read books like Geneen's to help you gain insight into why you binge. SBD has helped me immensely in that it took away my cravings and made the desire to binge nearly nonexistant for a long, long time. But in the last year my emotional/psychological issues with food have become more prominent and I've been forced to deal with them. If I'd done it earlier, I'd be in a better place now.

Read the SBD book and see if it sounds like the right plan for you; one that suits your needs and your lifestyle. If so, I hope you'll join us here! If it doesn't seem right, you might find help in the 3 Fat Chicks: Because We're All In This Together book. It lists tons of diet plans and explains for whom the plans work best. Good luck!

Welcome to the Beach. Join us on the Phase I Thread. http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124754