[gymrat dani]

I have such a ww mentality!! Do i need to watch my portions?I know the book says to eat until satisfied, but i know i`m eating more then just being satisfied..Also can i use regular salad dressings as long as the sugar and carbs are low, but the fat content is high?
one last thing how many nuts are too many i think i may be addicted..

thanks..

[GreatBigMonsterMomma]

Yeah, it's always a good idea to watch your portions. The diet is designed so that normal portions of good foods will fill you up. So measure if you have to to get normal portions, and once you're finished, go do something else to see if you're really still hungry or if you're eating just because it's there. If you find you have a problem getting full on normal portions, consider adding some beans to your meals. They have a very high fiber content, & I have found them to be about the most filling thing around. On Phase One, they definitely hav the most fiber of anything on the list of allowed foods.

As far as the salad dressings go...The book does mention using "commerically-prepared low-sugar salad dressing" several times, so I'm guessing it's OK. But there's nothing gained in using a necessarily high-fat salad dressing. If your dressing has a lot of fat in it, make sure it's not saturated fat, & you're probably OK. But remember this isn't designed to be a high-fat diet. It is not a mere reworking of Atkins.

Nuts...Book says 20 small peanuts, 15 pecan halves, or 30 pistachios. I'd try to stay to those counts. If all else fails, make sure you're not eating any more than one ounce. It will say on the package how many are in an ounce.

[skinnymini]

I think you really have to watch the portions on this diet. I did Phase 1 and did not loose a single pound! Talk about being dissapointed I only ate till I was satisfied (certainly never stuffed!) and followed it to a 'T' but I still did not loose a single pound. But I LOVED the way I felt eating this way, I had more energy and was hardly ever hungry and important for me, it kept my blood sugar stabilized. I normally easily lose weight so I was shocked when I stepped on the scale and not a pound had budged.

I also really like WW so I have decided to combine the two I have always lost weight doing WW so I know it works. I pretty much eat the South Beach way (with more carbs but not too many and only low glycemic ones) and stay within my point range that way I know I am controling my portions and will lose weight.

Hope that helps some from my (limited) experience with SB. Now after having done SB I do wish the book would have gone into more detail on "how" to eat. I know others have complained it was not detailed enough as well. I did not care for Atkins (lasted one day on that....lol) but I did like how detailed Atkins books are, hopefully Dr A of SB can do the same in the near future.

I really believe in the SBD though, I think it is extremely healthy (it's very much like the mediteranian diet IMO) and I really liked how my body felt while eating this way!

Skinnymini

[chick_on_the_beach]

I use weight watchers points to control my portions. Some days I eat loads but not many calories/points and then end up starving at nightime. Then I overeat. I aim for 4-6 points per meal and no more than 3 points per snack. I make sure I always eat something with calories/points because it fills me up quicker. For example, if I am eating out I will have a salad with olive oil (1 point) to fill my tummy and satisfy me and make sure I don't overeat when OP choices are not available. Just salad and water is frustrating. My tum certainly can't be fooled.

I think this is better than just weight watchers because it gets you in the habit of healthy eating all day everyday. Besides, it is easy to go overboard in the portions.

[clovey]

Yes, you do need to watch your portions, but what I did was concentrate on letting go of the carbs on phase one, and did not worry too much about portions, and then I found that by the time I got to phase two they kind of watched themselves as i was less hungry.

I had a splurge at the weekend on carbs, and now this week I am struggling to get back on track, and what I am finding is taht I am ravenous. I just want to eat and eat, so I am eating a lot of proteins. I am not back to losing weight yet, but I am purging out the bad carbs again. Seems to work for me.