I don't really tweak too much. I try to stay pretty close to plan.
I have dark chocolate and an occasional glass of wine, but that's allowed.
I overdo on the fudgesicles sometimes and frequently go over the 75 calorie treat allowance.
Sometimes I have too many nuts.
Sometimes I plain out cheat and have something off plan. These I call "planned indulgences" and try to make it a small thing and not to do it more than once/week.
I buy the Kashi whole grain frozen waffles and sometimes have one for breakfast with some peanut butter on it. They are close to meeting the bread guidelines, but not quite, so I guess this is a tweak. I don't have one more than once/week.
If I have the choice to have something with regular sugar or artificial sweetener and I know I can just have a little bit, I'll have the one with sugar. (Like ice cream - might eat a cup once every two or three months) I know the point of not eating refined sugar is to keep the cravings at bay so if I am confident that I can get past any cravings, I will avoid the taste of artificial sweetener.
I occasionally tweak the diet a little by indulging in one of my favorites, a Kashi Pumpkin Spice Flax bar. And once in a while I'll have a ThinkThin creamy peanut butter bar. They don't seem to affect my cravings in any way, and for me, I'd rather have one of those than be tempted by some "real" Frankenfood stuff.
I am a tweaker!!! Occasionally I overdo the cashew/macadamia nut butter or red wine on the weekends. So far, fortunately, everything seems to balance out over the week.
Tweak, Tweak! Don't we all, at least a bit? I'm great w/ the meals, but I do admit to having prolly one too many sugar-free York Peppermint Patties, which I think are actually better than the originals! They're only 27 calories, so, sometimes I convince myself to have one (or two) too many on a given day.
I'm on my last day of Phase 1, so I haven't been on the plan for very long, but my weight has gone down some despite some "tweaks." I will admit that some things I eat have sugar listed as an ingredient, but I make sure it is WAY down the list of ingredients and check the grams of sugar per serving. I also don't always eat as little saturated fat as I should. I went out to a restaurant and got a grilled chicken sandwich with bacon and cheese. I ordered it without the bun, but I still ate the bacon and cheese. I don't do this every day, so I didn't worry about it. I still lost weight over the weekend, too, so it didn't affect my progress.
I guess i'm a tweaker. I'm in week 4 and have lost 9 lbs total. Husband lost 11. i have cut back on wine, but every day or two will put a splash in some SF FF cranberry water for a spritzer. I have only had one bread serving, maybe 3-4 times all month. Other than that, pretty much on plan. I think its important tho to tweak as the weeks roll on or you wont stay on plan.
I tweak a little, but not much. Sometimes, if I cannot find a lf flavor of cheese I will purchase the full fat kind and eat 1/2 servings instead of a full serving. Sometimes I also like to drink 3 or 4 cups of milk a day. I can't say how much tweaking has affected me because I do not weight myself. But my clothes are loser, and I feel like if the worst thing I do is drink 3 cups of milk a day - it isn't the end of the world.
I do however know that when I follow a "diet" to the letter I usually get the best results as far as weight loss.
I won't eat fat free cheese. I simply won't. Lightning could strike me dead, but I will NEVER eat fat free cheese. However, I do stick to the 2% *sigh* as much as it kills me.
(Cheese is a big weakness for me). Oh, and beer, but so far I am off that. At some point I will be enjoying a couple low carb beers, but not nearly this early my diet.
I'm a tweaker...well, you know what I mean! I think you have to or you will go crazy. On P1 I didn't go off plan too much, but if I did, or I had too many nuts one day, I didn't beat myself up. We're human! I'm not going to gain back all the weight by having 5 too many nuts, or an extra SF fudgesicle. As long as you can keep the cravings down you're good to go!
And ThinAgain...how good are those peppermint patties?!? There is no way I would be able to tell the difference between a real one and a sugar free one!! I got the Reese's PB cups too, so I'm hoping I can eat just one! Or two
I am very new to South Beach. This is my first month of ever even trying this. The last time I tried a low carb diet was Atkins back 6-7 years ago.
I have followed it to the letter since January 1st EXCEPT.....
...... that I made an "error in judgement" this past weekend. I was feeling guilty that my DH's (and I like it too) favorite "sweet treat" wasn't around so I "insisted" on making my Mom's homemade fudge recipe. I honestly thought I could avoid a piece. Well, I had more than one piece. No, it was not an actual craving either! I think, it was all mental and, maybe, I just wanted to "test myself". Well, I was wrong on all accounts. I sent the rest of it with him to work to pass around.
I am going to try and figure out a way to make it with Splenda the "next time".
I paid for it with a 2 lb weight gain too! Which I am still mad about.
I am so angry at myself for this because I want to get this blasted fat off my body and have it stay off. I'm not saying you all don't but I just want to get this dieting behind me instead of always in front of me. You can see my pixs on "pixstosee" to know what I am talking about.
I need to follow this to the letter. First of all, I want it to work and I have too much dieting "history" in my past to know that once I start tweaking it here then it will be too easy to tweak there and there and there.
So, call me the bad black sheep of SB, but I have to non-tweak, ladies. That's the way it's got to be with me. All or nothing!
Definitely a tweaker.
Like Kara said, sometimes if I have to choose between a little sugar and artificial sweeteners, I will take the sugar. This only happens once in a while and it doesn't bother me as far as cravings go or disruption in weight loss pattern.
Also, I fudge on the cheeses here and there. There aren't a lot of interesting lowfat cheese options in my local grocery so sometimes I do full-fat and just moderate the quantity of it very carefully.
And ThinAgain...how good are those peppermint patties?!? There is no way I would be able to tell the difference between a real one and a sugar free one!! I got the Reese's PB cups too, so I'm hoping I can eat just one! Or two
SoulCyster: I'm in enough trouble with the SF York PP's, there is NO WAY I will try the Reeses Cups!! LOL!!!
I have to admit, my trouble before South Beach was candy... forget cookies and cake...so, it's very hard for me to completely omit it from my diet. I didn't touch anything in Phase 1, but, now I do have a piece of sugar free candy at least once a day. I think if I didn't, I would eventually 'splurge' and eat something REALLY bad for me, so, I just have to live with my cravings, even though they are in my head and not 'body' cravings.... sux.
Other than that and wine, I have no problem staying within my P2 boundaries. I can easily see myself maintaining for life on P3.
Did you tweak SB or followed to the letter??
I think you have to or you will go crazy. On P1 I didn't go off plan too much, but if I did, or I had too many nuts one day, I didn't beat myself up. We're human! I'm not going to gain back all the weight by having 5 too many nuts, or an extra SF fudgesicle. As long as you can keep the cravings down you're good to go! 
I'm a non-tweaker-call me the black sheep of SB
