Now that I have a few minutes-- I'm 26, mother of a busy 3 year old daughter and wife to a Marine. We are always on the go!

Anyway-- I have been a little overweight since I was 4 years old. It just was kind of like that for me. As I got older, my weight just started creeping up. During high school I joined the Track and Field team and lost an astonishing 60 pounds in 4 months. Don't ask me how I did it, it just happened. I went from 262 to 200-- Then I went to college. I was a swing dancer in college and lost another 30 pounds or so my freshman year, leaving me at 170. I was so pleased because I looked and felt better than I had my entire life. I left college halfway through my sophomore year because I felt I was wasting my money being so indecisive. I had also put on 15-20 pounds in the 5 months of one semester. Dejected, defeated, depressed I went home to the middle of a very messy divorce between my parents. My weight went up again. I left to move to Houston, TX (I was living in MA) and my weight creeped back down a bit. Then I moved to California and it went down a bit more-- but I was still in a size 16 or so (I didn't have a scale). Then I moved back to New England. In 2003 I got pregnnat with my daughter. I was 250 pounds when I found out I was pregnant, and 305 when I delivered her (January 15, 2004). I lost 40 pounds really quick (water weight), and then was stuck. Fast forward a bit- December 31, 2004 I got married-- I wore a size 20 pants to my court house wedding, and then in January moved to North Carolina, where my husband was stationed (Cherry Point). I was horrified when I finally bought a scale to see that my weight was 277 pounds. My husband was deployed, and while he was gone I lost 40 pounds. I worked out harder than I ever had, because I didn't have to do anything else. When we moved up here (Quantico, VA), I gained a crazy amount of weight. I gained everything I had lost PLUS 12 pounds. I was at 291 and feeling pretty sorry for myself-- as well as feeling unable to move or anything (did I mention, I'm 5'8). So here I am, at 287 or so and DONE with being overweight. I'm just finished with it. A bunch of my friends and coworkers have lost staggering amounts of weight with SBD, so I decided to give it a try. I'm really hoping this works. As a mom with a full time job and wife to a Marine (demanding job in itself), I've got to do something that I can stick with and loose weight so I can be around for my daughter and my husband. Here is to loosing the weight and being healthy!!!! I don't even care how long I stay on Phase 1-- I'd like to really get used to not eating bread like it is the end all of my existance. Until that addicion is cured, I'm not moving onto Phase 2. LoL.

erinid ~ I don't think I've properly welcomed you to the Beach yet, so

I can understand your determination to shed those unwanted pounds once and for all, and lose your addiction to bread. It's not wise to stay on Phase 1 for a long time, though. Dr. Agaston recommends staying on Phase 1 for no longer than 3 weeks at the max. Your body needs certain complex carbs and nutrients that you aren't getting enough of on Phase 1, and after a while you will most likely stop losing weight. A lot of the gals here (including myself) follow a revised Phase 1, more of a Phase 1 1/2. You have to remember to add your carbs slowly and see how your body adjusts. If you are afraid to start having bread again, try a different starchy grain such as brown rice, oatmeal or whole wheat pasta. I find what works best for me is to have my starchy carb first thing in the morning, that way I can work it off during the rest of the day. And don't forget to try to get in at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day, and drink, drink, drink your water!

My coworker actually STILL follows a phase 1 1/2 during the week, but her weekends are "off". LoL. She eats what she wants on the weekends, and doens't think twice about it. She is maintaining a 85-90 pound weight loss now for 3 years. She'll eat the south beach crackers and cookies, along with low-carb tortillas and things like that. I know for a fact, this may be it for me with bread and candy (i just love gummies). Life is about trade offs, right? And I am starting to do more excersise-- I walk during lunch and I'm going to try to get to the gym again-- Honestly, I'd be happy with 195 and low body fat, because I tend to be quite muscular.

Welcome!!

Welcome! Best of luck with your goals!!

Erinid, welcome. We are close to the same weight. You are a lot younger than I am. Be wise.....get it off and learn how to keep it off while you are younger.
I just finished my 2nd week on Ph.1. I have lost 10 lbs. I plan on staying on ph.1 another 2 weeks. I do plan on adding strawberries back.
Breads are a big thing for me also. Even bigger is sweets. I have found a bunch of ph. 1 great recipes that has really helped me make it through. I find if I make this interesting by trying new foods and recipes it really helps.
Good luck. Just hang in there and lets keep on "keeping on".

Erinid, welcome! I'm rather new myself, I'm a Navy wife in WA. Good luck with your weight loss journey, I like having this site to come to for support!

Erin!

Yeah, I agree with Cottage about Phase 1. What your coworker is doing might have worked for losing the weight, but she must not have cravings from sugar and such (that wasn't the reason she was overweight) and the way she's eating isn't getting her healthy. There's nothing wrong with trying a Phase 1 1/2....some people find that easier to maintain than going to Phase 2. But you need to make sure you are getting good nutrition during that Phase...that you are eating good fruits, good grains, etc. Using the SBD crackers and bars isn't going to give you the nutrition you need...sadly they really aren't aligned with what Dr. A talks about in the book. I guess his rationale for hooking up with Kraft was that those bars and such could help people who aren't on the plan to get healthier than what they were eating before. I know the nutrition clinic here in town recommends them as the best of the protein bars out there...but those bars can really make you crave more food as it's hard to feel truly satisfied on them.

Anyways, we strongly recommend that you read the book, if you haven't already. On this plan, you really need to understand what the basis of the ideas is so you can make good choices on how to make SBD fit your life. Of course, we're here to answer any questions you have as you read the book or afterwards. But definitely don't stay on P1 longer than 2 weeks. If you plan to go off the plan (which is fine) for a specific ocassion or time period, just plan to do P1 again when you're done to detox from the sugar again. With your friend's plan, she'd need to do P1 every week to get rid of cravings...and that's just not healthy. If you want a diet that allows you to have cheat days, you might want to check into the other programs out there. The 3FC sisters wrote a fantastic book that reviews tons of diets and gives the pros and cons of each. Of course, it'd be great if you think SBD is the right one for you. :

Glad to have you with us...hope that reading the book helps you feel that this is the right plan for you. Like you mentioned, I definitely had an addiction to bread and sweets, but SBD helped me kick it. Hope it'll do the same for you!