Hi everyone,

I started South Beach yesterday and today I feel awful. Maybe I'm catching a virus? Is it normal to feel bad at first?

Thanks!

Yes - for me it was headaches, fatigue, things like that. But if you have anything much more serious than that, I would keep an eye on it.....

Are you adding legumes and milk? That seems to help but the first few days can be rough. On the other hand, you could have a bug. Wait and see for a bit but call the doc if it turns into something serious.

Sounds like detox to me. It's bad carb withdrawls and is a good thing. In a day or two you will feel fabulous. Hang in there, hun!

It is normal...it is short lived..hang in there!!

Icmethinner dear I feel for you.

I remember the first time I started SBD. Talk about one sick puppy. It is different for each person but I felt like I had the flu for 3 days then on day number 4 I woke up feeling better and by day 5 I was feeling great.

Everything I have read says that it takes 3 days for something you ate to completely leave your system. So it makes sense that I started feeling better on day 4. I know it's no cosolation that you will feel better when you feel so lousy.

Hang in the hon for a few more days and if you don't start to feel better it could be the flu instead of detox. Make sure you are drinking your water and getting in your beans and dairy. They all really help.

Good luck and hang in there!!

You can keep the sugar withdrawal symptoms at bay by drinking lots of water and eating at least 2 servings of beans a day with meals. I did this when I first went on SB and never did suffer withdrawal symptoms.

I feel awful (headache, tired, nausea, achy) but I want this weight off and I want to be healthy, so no way am I quitting. At this point, I am pretty sure I'm not getting sick and that it really is detox.

Thanks for all of your suggestions (and sympathy!) everyone!

I can sympathize. My first couple of days on SBD were OK but days 3-6 were UGH! I felt dizzy, weak, tired, and head-achey for most of it. Keeping up with my beans, veggies, and dairy helped a bit, but really I just had to hang in there and let my "South Beach flu" pass. Most likely you'll start to feel better in a few days. Good luck to you!

I felt great the whole first week -- with energy to burn, because I started after a lot of holiday binging that really had me down physically and mentally.

I wonder if the "detox" thing applies more to those who are used to consuming sweet foods? I'm more a starchy (pasta etc) type overeater. My daughter who is not overweight, gave up sugar and had headaches the first few days -- and I remember when I was planning my pregnancies having headaches after eliminating coffee that lasted about as long.

I started a week ago and lost four pounds my first week. The food was just starting to seem monotonous when I had my weekly weigh-in -- now I'm psyched again!!

Hi I'm new but I can definately confirm that the first week can be tough as you adjust. Your body is used to using refined sugars for it's energy.

Somewhere around day 4 you will convert over to fat burning metabolism and begin feeling better. It is like your body wakes up and realizes "Hey I can use THIS for fuel too" Then it goes to town burning up fat.

In week one I had to eat very often to avoid the low blood sugar. I really had to stay AHEAD of it. If I let it bottom out, I was too late, because meat, cheese, greens etc... take much longer to raise it than sugar and carbs do. So I would feel pretty crappy for an hour or so with bad headache.

Into the second week we settled back down to just being able to eat at regular mealtimes and some snacks.

The other thing I would caution you is that don't fall into the trap of cheating to feel better. A friend of mine would go for a little fruit every time she started feeling bad. It was just a little so she didn't think it was that bad. It ended up just prolonging the misery, as she did not convert over to the fat burning.

Good Luck

Indeed - headaches, fatigue, nausea - all in the first 5 days. After that I start feeling better. I find that eggs and skim milk are good counters to that - at least for me. Oh, and getting in a V-8 first thing in the morning helps alot too. Not sure why, but it works for me...

Hang in there! It *will* get better.

I felt terrible from about day 2 to around the end of the first week. I felt like I was coming down with a virus AND pms'ing all at once! It should get better soon. You are detoxing, and sometimes it just doesn't feel so good to have all that junk flushed out of our systems. Hang in there!