Hi all! I'm Anne. I'm 32, live near Seattle and am married with one little girl who is five. I lost about 50 pounds on Weight Watchers a few years ago, but it has slowly crept back on. I've been so busy and stressed that I have stopped taking care of myself, and I finally decided I'd had enough and NEEDED to take care of myself. I have my own business that keeps me really busy, and of course being a wife and mom keeps me busy as well, but this is just something I have GOT to make time for, so I'm doing it. I'm excited to do this for myself!

Anyway, I just started South Beach yesterday, and I think I'm on the right track, but I have a couple of questions - one in particular - Do I have to eat the meals as outlined in the book during Phase 1? There are some things in the Phase 1 menu that I just hate (specifically, vegetable juice, eggplant, peppers, Canadian bacon, anything with dill or cilantro, cherry tomatoes, ginger, Gazpacho and anything made with greek olives). I'm thinking that the whole point of having the menus is to give ideas of what you could have, not to require that you have those things, right? And if you stick with the foods on the "Foods to Enjoy" list, you're okay? Also, is the "meal, snack, meal, snack, meal, snack" order mandatory? I tend to mix things up a bit more than that... (like snack, breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, dessert).

and to The Beach! I'm so glad you decided to make YOU a priority.

The menus in the SBD book are just suggestions. Most of us just choose foods from the food list. Please see our FAQ Sticky for the most recent list; the one in the book may be out of date. The snack order is not mandatory although skipping snacks is not a good idea as your blood glucose level may drop and cause cravings.

Please join the other Phase Oners on the Phase I thread for this week and also pop in to the Daily/Weekend Chat.

Hi! No, you don't have to following the meal plan..you can have whatever you want of the "allowed foods". What I do is plan a day or so ahead. I find recipes in the book(s) and online that we would enjoy. There are a lot of things in the plan in the book that I don't like either. (I'm with you on the cilantro...to me, that stuff is gross and smells like an old used mop..ick!).

With so many recipes in the book and online, you can really have a great variety of foods that suit your pallette so you won't get bored with it. You can also adapt your "old" recipes to be SB friendly. I can't always follow the meal, snack order myself and the weight is just falling off of me. I would imagine that the order is to keep your blood sugar at an even keel so you don't go nuts with dips or spikes that make you crave "the bad stuff". You just have to find the right combination for your own body and run with it. Everyone's body and internal clock is different so some adaptation I'm sure is the norm.

Thanks for the warm welcome! I figured as much about the menus, but wanted to be sure! I officially started on Friday, and I'm actually having a much easier time on Phase 1 than I thought I would. This morning (after just two days) I'm already down 5 pounds, and 2" on my waist! I've had a headache each afternoon (carb withdrawls, I'm guessing) but a couple of Advil and I've been fine. No unbearable cravings. We went out to dinner tonight to Outback Steakhouse (early anniversary dinner - tomorrow is our 7th wedding anniversary!), and I had a pang for the bread, but my husband tucked it away behind the menu and that was that. I didn't even want it once I couldn't see it.
I had the Victoria's fillet (yum!) and steamed broccoli, and left totally satisfied, eventhough I didn't have bread or dessert. And I had some steak left over to throw on my salad tomorrow for lunch! Can't beat that!

Hey 1 thing...usually on day 3 or day 4 people get a blah feeling...it doesnt feel good....stick to it and after u make it through the blah day u will be fine....and come here often!
Robyn

Missanne! and, Happy Anniversary!

Hi Missanne!

Welcome to the beach! You are gonna love it here and will find SBD to be life changing. As Robyn said, watch around day 3 or 4, you WILL feel a little run down and blah. Eat beans every day they will really help with this!

Missanne!

Thanks all! I did have that on Day 2 and 3, and a little bit this afternoon (Day 4), but it was much milder this time around. I felt like I had a migraine coming on, and just felt "off", almost flu-ish. But today was way better than yesterday, so I think I'm on the upswing with that. I read some threads here about it and was prepared for that to happen, so I just took some Advil and drank a little caffeine (Pepsi One) and that took care of it. (I know diet sodas are no-nos, but I can't give up everything at once, so I decided to just cut it down to 1-2 cans per day).

Anyway, the "blah" feeling is WELL worth it for the results! I know we're not supposed to weigh every day, but I can't help it. I weighed myself before I started (Thursday morning - Day 0 - I tested a couple of SB meal ideas, but didn't start the diet this day). I skipped weighing on Friday (Day 1), but on Saturday morning (after only one day!) I had lost 3 pounds. And as of this morning (start of Day 4, after 3 days on the plan) I am down 7 pounds!!
So, if nothing else, that certainly keeps me motivated to stay on plan!

Thanks again for the warm welcome! Pass the suntan lotion, 'cause I'm staying!

a day late and a dollar short but WELCOME!

It's never to late to say hi! Thanks for the welcome, Nessa!