Today is day 3 of phase 1 for me. I didn't have any snacks today, but I woke up late.

Breakfast
3 hard boiled eggs
1 TBS mayo
two pieces of Canadian bacon
cucumbers with white wine vinegar and salt and pepper

Lunch
4 pieces of ham
2 pickles
1.5 TBS hummus

Dinner
beef fajitas from Chili's
2 TBS guacamole
lettuce
3 TBS fresh salsa
black beans

Hi it is my first day on this diet and I really hope that I do carry on with it as I am getting depressed about my weight. Today I have mackerel and lettuce salad. I am aiming to lose 2 pounds in the next 2 weeks. I am not so sure what to eat next and all that but I saw a lot of different recipes around. I am not a meat person as much but I can do eggs. I fear sugar withdrawals. I have been doing low carb for 2 months now... well no bread, pasta, rice, potato and processed sugars... but the amount of fruits I eat is omg. No wonder I am not losing the weight.

I am not sure if I can be strict with it because apparently I can't have chicken, can I? I am not sure...

, a hope for recovery! If you're seriously considering doing the South Beach Diet, we strongly recommend that you get a copy of the book and read it thoroughly before starting this plan. It's essential to know and understand the concepts and principles of this way of eating. We do have the current food lists for each phase of the plan in our FAQ's, but you'll need much more information than that to make this diet successful.
And, yes, you may have skinless chicken breast on this plan.

this and that all rolled into one response

Melanie - You are really working the plan this time. It's good to see you take your health so seriously. How do you feel?

A reminder to the newbies - your goal is 4.5 cups of veggies every day There are some great tips for adding veggies and some yummy recipes in the upper section of the forum.

My take on the Slim Fast shakes:
The ingredients in the Vanilla low carb Slim Fast:
WATER, CALCIUM CASEINATE, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, CANOLA OIL, CELLULOSE GEL, POTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, CELLULOSE GUM, POTASSIUM CITRATE, MALTODEXTRIN, SOYBEAN LECITHIN, SALT, GUAR GUM, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SUCRALOSE (A NONNUTRITIVE SWEETENER), CARRAGEENAN, SODIUM CITRATE, YELLOW 5, CITRIC ACID AND YELLOW 6. VITAMINS AND MINERALS: MAGNESIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM ASCORBATE, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, VITAMIN E ACETATE, ZINC GLUCONATE, FERRIC ORTHOPHOSPHATE, NIACINAMIDE, CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, MANGANESE SULFATE, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE, RIBOFLAVIN, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, FOLIC ACID, CHROMIUM CHLORIDE, BIOTIN, SODIUM MOLYBDATE, POTASSIUM IODIDE, PHYLLOQUINONE (VITAMIN K1), SODIUM SELENITE, CYANOCOBALAMIN (VITAMIN B12) AND CHOLECALCIFEROL (VITAMIN D3). SWEETENED WITH A NONNUTRITIVE SWEETENER.


South Beach is about whole natural foods as much as good carbs and good fats. While these might be alright once in awhile in an emergency I wouldn't touch them on Phase 1. It's important to retrain your palate and develop new and healthier eating habits. OTOH as far as I can tell there's nothing in them that is not allowed though I'm having some trouble deciphering everything on that list.

When most people here mention protein shakes they include things like healthy natural protein powders (100% whey or hemp seed, for example), a "milk" and fruits and/or veggies. Fruits make these Phase 2 but they will give you more energy and nutritional value than those pre-packaged shakes.

Thank you for the support. I will try to find out more information as I am going along. I know I have been rather impulsive starting this way but I did reach another really depressing point last night as I was getting dressed to go out and I just felt fat really. So far I have done good today, I had another meal - green leaf salad with chicken, only 1 tomato in it. I snaked on celery dipped in soft cheese. I am a bit grumpy but I know I will go through withdrawals. What does worry me is how am I going to have something that contains eggs for breakfast every day and also all the low fat stuff. I don't like low fat milk and yogurt. I always get full fat one because I have been vegetarian for several years and this is my source of fat. I also eat a lot of nuts. I can't believe that it is now limited so much. But anyway I am taking it easy, just for today I have eaten well. Tomorrow is another day, scrambled eggs, grilled chicken with veg and maybe more celery sticks. Looking forward to learning new meals and experimenting in the kitchen and taking it easy.

Ah, the weekends are always the hardest time for me...but so far, so good.

B: egg whites, blackberries
workout
L: lebanese buffet (omg!) had lots of salad, tabbouleh, 6-ish ounces of gyro, a bite of kibbi and 1 pita + hummus...not incredibly friendly, but a LOT better than I could have done. progress, not perfection!
S: still felt really full and bloaty from lunch
D: szechwan shrimp (tons of veggies included in the stirfry)

Thanks Cyndi, I am feeling GREAT!!! This is my 3rd week OP and I've found that I'm able to resist no-no foods, I'm not really having cravings, and I've managed to decrease my portion sizes and feel full of a less amount of food. I was at Taco Bell today of all things (a huge weakness) and ate the filling out of a fresco taco, and never once thought about eating the wrapper. That's a really huge step for me! I'm enjoying it. That's great information about the Slimfast shakes. I haven't bought any more since, (there was only 4 in a pack) but they did help on really busy days and made me feel full, and didn't elicit any cravings. But that said, the ingredient list looks scary and I would like to get more into natural and whole foods and the homemade protein shakes sound like a much better option that I definitely plan on adopting (They also sound more budget friendly as well as more nutritious). No more Slimfast shakes for me.

Hope for recovery, you don't have to eat eggs for breakfast everyday, or even something with eggs in them everyday. Check out the recipe forum for great breakfast ideas! I hope that helps. You will have to use lowfat dairy and cheeses for this plan, so I hope that over time you'll get used to it. incorporating them into recipes is a great way to get your lowfat dairy and cheeses in. Also, you will get nutritive fat on this plan, by using heart-healthy oils and margarines. You can make chicken salad with some full fat mayo (a tablespoon), the kind with healthy oils. On Phase 2, you can 'butter' a slice of whole wheat toast with a margarine like Smart Balance for example, which is full of heart-healthy oils. You can use healthy sesame oil for stirfries and asian salad dressing. At lunchtime, you could have a big salad with chicken breast (I see you like chicken breast, it's a great option!) with 2 tablespoons of ranch dressing for example, (any dressing with 3g sugar or below that also has healthy oils in it.) So you will definitely be getting fat still, just not the saturated unhealthy kind you find in fatty meats or full-fat dairy and cheese products. I think the focus is on good carbs (such as beans and plenty of veggies, and fruits and whole grains, whole oats, and etc on Phase 2), good fats as described above, and lean proteins (such as chicken breast, lean ground beef or ground turkey, very lean steaks, fish, and so on.) A serving of nuts a day is an excellent thing, as nuts are healthy for you, but stick to the portion size. I have bought a box of nuts portioned into 100 calorie snacks. Or have a tablespoon of sugar free natural peanut butter, spread on celery, or toast in Phase 2. Hope this helps you. There are endless food possibilities on the SBD, you just have to do a lot of careful planning and research (it took me awhile to see that, and now that I have done this work, I am doing well on the plan.)

Hope the rest of you ladies are all doing well and finding it more and more easier to stay OP!

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Phase 1.5 or 1

B- 2 slices turkey bacon, 2 eggs scrambled, 1 tablespoon EVOO
S- cocoa roasted almonds
L- filling out of the 'healthy' Fresco tacos at Taco Bell (seasoned ground beef, RF sour cream, lots of lettuce and fresh chopped tomato), and a side of pintos and cheese. My son enjoyed eating his taco and then my taco wrapper! lol.
S- Big garden salad with romaine, cherry tomatoes, fresh green beans from someone's garden, 2 TBS green goddess dressing
D- Tuna salad with tons of celery, onion, and hellman's. Had on whole wheat flat out wrap with lettuce.
1 cup milk
D- SF fudgesicle

Hi everyone! I made it through my 4th day on phase 1! yay! Today was the first day that I didn't have a melt-down. haha... I was seriously going crazy with the carb cravings. It was a good day. And I've already lost about 2 pounds. Pretty sweet!!

Breakfast
three pieces of boiled low sodium ham
small amount of pesto on each made with chicken broth rather than lots of oil
cucumbers with salt and pepper

Lunch
salmon with the same pesto, capers, and roasted tomatoes (I didn't actually eat one of the tomatoes)
broccoli with salt and pepper
salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar


Dinner
3 hard boiled eggs
1 TBS hummus

snack/ dessert
fat free greek yogurt with a little agave nectar, cinnamon, and a touch of unsweetened cocoa powder

Thank you for the descriptions and the support! I am willing to cut down the nuts, I had 20 peanuts yesterday and that was all! But I really don't want to go back to low fat yoghurt. The problem I had with it is that I used to eat the whole pot, which is half a kilo. And I used to eat a lot of other low fat food, which resulted in me eating huge portions so in order to cut down the portion, I put up the fat. My milk is semi-skimmed and yoghurt has about 3.5 fat and soft Philadelphia cheese is 11.5 fat. I will just try to limit them as much as I can. Remove the fat cheeses I eat because I do realise that I cannot expect to be slim and live slim if I eat so much fat cheese.

Today I had lovely scrambled eggs with cumin, chives and parsley and 2tbs of yoghurt. Then for lunch I had chicken salad with a lot of veg and avocado, instead of oil.

I am planning on making the bean muffins and the ricotta muffins with cimmanom some time soon. They seem delicious!

Still grumpy and dizzy, my pulse dropped to 49 but I know that it will pass. It is for my own good! I went clothes shopping today and I am down a bra size which is great and I bought new leggings and a top! Feeling slim already hehe!

Thank you for being here for me! Wishing you all a successful day!

B - two eggs, canadian back bacon and pumpernickel bread
l - greek salad
s - yogurt
s - broiled shrimp, mushrooms and a salad with variety of veggies
s - bbell lf cheese

Brunch: cinnamon omelette
S:greek yogurt, 15 almonds
D: chicken cheesesteak saute, mashed cauliflower, sauteed spinach

Kids are still sick. Woke up not feeling so hot myself.

1)Chia Fresca
2)Smoothie (spinach, carrot, ginger, chia gel, coconut milk, banana, dates, blueberries, cherries)
3)Grilled tuna, veggie stirfry, salad
4)Fruit or fruit sorbet

Hope for recovery, that sounds like a delicious chicken salad. Avocado is considered a healthy fat on this plan so good call! :-) Sounds yum!

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My breakfast was sooo delicious this morning. I love having egg and cheese on sandwiches.

B- 2 eggs, cheese, and 2 slices turkey bacon in a whole wheat flat out wrap, (eggs & turkey bacon cooked in smart balance)
S- celery and SF natural PB
D- Lean cheeseburgers (Mine with fat-free cheddar, homemade SBD ketchup, mustard, tomato, onion, on lettuce)
Roasted yellow squash and onion (Check recipes for simple and easy recipe I found)
S- salad dressed with vinegar and seasonings
Dessert- fudgesicle

Although I had my nut portion today, I did mix in a small amount of almond flour with the ground beef. I usually use flax seed but it makes the beef taste funny to me. And it was a small amount, so divided up between 6 burgers, it wouldn't effect much, I don't think. Reason why I'm saying this is because the burgers were delicious and they held together beautifully so I'd highly recommend almond meal/flour for stuff like that. I also mixed in an egg, garlic salt, pepper, and lawry's seasoned salt.

Thank you for the support Fat Melanie (why fat, you are doing something about the problem, so you are living the solution, you don't deserve to call yourself that way) Yeah I am glad about the avocado! I had peanuts for tea time and I made a cake - 4 eggs, half a can of some chilli red beans, cacao, cinnamon, a bit of milk. It tasted weird, I blame it on the chilli, my next cake idea is going to be along the lines of chick peas and peanuts with eggs and cacao or coffee. For dinner I had a salad, veggies - baked courgettes and mushrooms with tomato and thyme and barbecued chicken.

I also made some barbecued beef meatballs with cumin, onion, black pepper, parsley, eggs. They are delicious and I am going to have that tomorrow for lunch with a salad.

I have to admit that I ate something naughty today - a small spoon of some low sugar peanut butter. Or was it naughty, I don't know... But I am not beating myself up, I am work in progress, I can't be perfect. I know I am moving forward with my new eating habits. I also had a lot of cacao, I haven't eaten chocolate for 2 months and I realised how much I missed with this cacao today, I am allowed to have cacao right, this one has no sugar in there.

Hope - for those cakes, try white beans (great northern, cannellini). They seem to have the most neutral flavor.

as for the peanut butter, i don't know about the low sugar. try to aim for natural peanut butter where the only ingredients are oil and peanuts (and sometimes salt). Cocoa powder is fine.