Tarra, have you consulted a doctor or nutritionist? I'm not sure what your friend is basing his information on, but it sounds like he has a very confused view of nutrition. Everything I've read has said that a variety of foods is best for good health. People have varying opinions on what specific foods are best in each category (i.e., on South Beach, we prefer whole grains over simple starches in the starch category, and "healthy" fats over saturated or trans fats in the fat category), but I've never heard anyone propose that an all meat diet is best. In fact, I have many vegetarian and vegan friends who never touch meat and are thin and in fantastic health.
Every person's body reacts in its own way, so you just don't know that what works well for one person (your friend) will work for you.
While each person's weightloss can look different, and if someone sees you every day, they may not see the loss as easily as someone who hasn't seen you much, I find it nearly impossible to believe that your friend can't see 46 lbs of loss. That's a
huge success (good for you!!!
) and I'm sure
everyone can see it. I don't know him, but your friend doesn't seem very friendly.
As to picking a plan, the caveat is knowing what you can
live with. It's possible that you just hit a plateau on your former diet. We all have them, and you just have to work through them. Eventually, the weight will come off again. However, it's also possible that your diet was so limited that you eventually felt deprived and hungry, and so you ate more than you should (either eating on your plan, but eating more food, or eating off your plan). If that's the case, you should consider what made you feel so deprived. The best plan for you is one where you can limit your intake without feeling so deprived that you'll go off plan eventually.
Personally, I think South Beach may be a very good fit and is definitely worth considering. I am hypoglycemic as well and had a lot of weight to lose when I started (just over 150 lbs). I've never been hungry on this diet (sometimes I was too full to finish my meals!), and since my main problem with any diet I'd done before was that I kept craving more food, the way that SBD takes away cravings was a Godsend for me.
Read the book and see what you think. I promise you'll never be hungry--you eat tons of veggies and lots of protein and fiber which keeps you full--but I can't promise that it's a cheap way to eat. You may need to get creative, buying veggies at farmer's markets and other places where they aren't as expensive, buying frozen veg, buying dried beans, etc., but it is possible to reduce the costs. Furthermore, paying for healthy food now is a lot cheaper than paying for medical bills later.
Though, if you don't have the money now, that's hard to appreciate.