Good Morning,

I hope everyone is doing well. I watched the 'Friends' finale, all the reviewers hated it, but I liked it... how else could they end it really... My best friend wrote a play (I helped her revise some of the drafts too) and it's being performed this weekend so I'll be going to see that with my parents and boyfriend on Saturday. I am doing the whole mother's day thing in June (don't ask), but will get her flowers and a card... It's been hard on my BF though... he was okay last year, not so much this year with it poor guy (his mom died March 2003).

Becky: I am sorta doing SOuth Beach too and have been getting really good results with it so I am happy. This week has been a light week for exercise for me, but I'll bump it up next week. I should be able to commit to my whole workout schedule too so yah! But about South Beach, I find I have to add more points or else I am just not getting enough calories... like I had so many foods that were 120-130 calories which I counted as 2 points, now a lof odf thigs are 60-70 points and I am counting it as 2 points. I have lost like 8lbs though Phase 1 has helped oodles with the sugar cravings.

KT, Jess and Belle: I struggle too.. I used to buy junk food almost in anticipation of a binge. I would rationalize I needed to learn to be around junk food etc, but would end up binging on it.... Check out the thread in the maintainers forum I have linked here http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...9&page=1&pp=15 titled "I though getting close to goal was the end".
A lot of these ladies have really succeeded but still struggle.. We all do.

Cheers!

Ali

Morning Ali~ I agree my sugar/bread craving have greatly decreased in fact I am 1 week into phase 2 and I still have not had a piece of bread. I am eating cereal in the morning b/c I was SO tired of the eggs. Anyways, I am glad that you are "enjoying" it too. How long have you been doing it? BTW Great link I read the first page and plan to go back when I have more time.

Hi all! Come out and post. I have missed this place so much.

Anyone want to share their coming up challenges. I have been obsessing about mine so I am going to write them down and then maybe I will think about them less.

Saturday~ Wedding
Sunday~ Mother's day (SIL is ordering Italian and MIL asked me to make brownies/keep in mind she knows that I am doing SBD)
May 18th~ Vacation with thin sister We made a plan though and will grocery shop.
June2~ B-day. We have cakes at work

Ok those are down on "paper" and I am just going to have a PLAN and stop obsessing. Thanks for letting me share!

Hi girls!

Ok, for you South Beach Dieters, I want to give this a shot, and did read the book a while back, but can you give me the highlights of the first couple weeks on the diet, and a typical food day for you? I do understand the concept, but always need help figuring out what to eat, and breakfast is a tough one for me, I usually have a muffin.

Help me! I want to lose these 25 lbs!!! On the upside, I am trying to walk about 3 miles a day, so exercise is good, but my eating habits really need an improvement!

Another questoins for the SBD girls. My bro -in law has a super high incident of heart disease (ie the men drop dead at 50) so he wanted to start the diet. He bought the book. He found that it was expensive! Is that true? What would make it expensive?? Ali, you are compelling me more and more to try the diet b/c I have sugar cravings...hugely. And they are worse now that I am off the pill. So I'd love to kick them!! If it's 2 weeks of suffering, I'd be up for it!

Tonya~ Hey! Great job on the exercise. 3 miles/day is awesome. As far as SBD the first two weeks weren't even that bad. I was definitely in the mindset though. I didn't feel hungry EVER and if I did I would grab a snack off the food list.

Ok here is the run down.

Phase 1 (2wks): No starches or fruit. My typical day looked like this

BKFST: Omelette, 2 pieces of bacon.

Snack: String Cheese

Lunch: Fresh Spinach Salad with chicken or turkey. Olive Oil/Vinegar Dressing and sugar free Jello. Or I would have left overs from the night before dinner.

Snack: Peanuts or Yogurt (you didn't use to be able to have yougurt in the first book but the list has been revised and you can have Vanilla yogurt or plain FF) This saved me. I looked forward to it everyday.

Dinner~ Chicken, Steak, Lamb or I even made some of the recipes. One was taco bake or chili is good too. Broccoli or Green Beans or Salad.

Dessert~ I didn't like the ricotta desserts so I found the ultimate recipe that made me HAPPY. Sugar free fudgsicle/PB(natural)/Cool whip lite. You heat up the fudgcicle for 15 seconds to get it off the stick and then mix these together. IT is like a Reeses cup. I also made PB cookies and brownies although these were not as good. These SB recipes for sweets were my saving grace. They are all made with Splenda.

I am sure I am not answering all of the question but that was my typical day in phase one.

Belle~ I am grocery shopping a bit more due to the need for fresh fruits and veggies in the house. If your BIL was used to buying lots of pre packaged stuff then I can see where it might be a bit more expensive however you are used to WWer's so I am sure you buy a lot of the healthy stuff already.

I honestly think the biggest challenge is preparation b/c in the first two weeks there isn't much that you can just GRAB to eat. That took a lot of getting used to but definitely worth it.

Beck - Thanks for the info!

what happens after the first phase? I know he thought the first 2 weeks were the most expensive, but he also complained afterwards. Which are the "good carbs"? Yams, oatmeal, etc?

Can you tell I am assessing whether or not to try this?? I have heard of many like ali that count the points and use the SBD and are successful, so I am tempted....how very tempting...

Thanks for the info! I know the first two weeks will be the hardest, not just because I need to steer clear of starches and sugars, but because I like easy things to grab for breakfast and lunch. So, in a nutshell, would you say if you stay away from sugars, carbs, and stick with eggs for bfast, salad for lunch, and meat/veggies (like green beans) for dinner for the first two weeks, you are following the plan? I guess maybe more of what I need is a list of foods to stay away from, I should see if the book is at the library.

Oh, one more question! Can I have diet soda? (In addition to my water intake of course!)

Tonya and Belle: I have found it good. I still do WW points, but have increased them... For breakfast turkey bacon, 1 egg and 3 egg whites were my staple.... but you could have a veggie breakfast sausage or patty as well as cottage cheese, ham or whatever else... About price, I spend about the same since I am not wasting money on buying stuff to overeat (okay I wouldn't buy stuff to always overeat, but raisin bran and ww tortillas did become binge foods).. Restaurants are cheaper since I don't order dessert. Also I weigh foods which SBD doesn't necessarily endorse... You can also make substitutes, cottage cheese for ricotta, look for sales etc... I eat tuna and a can of that is less than a $1.

Belle: I also just dropped the pill too... I think doing this has helped the transition and all.. though I found the pill gave me a lot of cravings too..

I ordered the cookbook so hopefully I'll get that soon!

Becky: We started about the same time I think my weight got to about 170lbs!! which is way high for me... now I am 162.... and since I am weight training my body is getting back into shape quickly... The results started within a few day of starting SBD.

I am debating doing WW at work, but am not sure.... at least I'd have a weigh in and group support I guess.

Good carbs = whole wheat bread, yams, brown rice, ww pitas, ww tortillas, barley, VERY high fibre cereal (like fibre-1), brown pasta, fruit (some they discourage), veggies.

Cheers!

Ali

Oh, I just found out mom has the book, so I will get it from her today, and begin today! I have to do something to shock this weight off of me!!

Tonya: plus 2-3 snacks a day

Cheers!

Ali

Ali - snacks are like peanuts, string cheese, maybe a hard boiled egg?

My bro in law said the book is great for the recipes. They are hooked on these quiches....apparantly they are amazing. And a ricotta dessert with almonds and cocoa.

OK I'll follow your phase 1 guidelines and then you can tell me in 2 weeks what to do (or I could try to get to a mall to find the book, but it's not as easy as it would seem with the move).

I MOVE to the new house IN ONE WEEK!! Yah!! We take possession on May 14. I have been wasting my "hour" off work (aka: lunch) arranging things like the phone, cable, etc.

I also got all my bridesmaids dresses ordered last night and tried on my headpiece with the dress - wowsers. REally nice.

OH and my matron of honour brought me the best bra from V's secret- its the shaping bra, full coverage. For a 38C it's amazing! I highly recommend it.

I CAN"T WAIT TO MOVE!!

I have a question for you all....would you get another dog? Since our other dog was put down, the remaining puppy (well, she is 11) is distraught. She goes to doggy day care until we move b/c she cries all day and we are getting in trouble with the condo association. So anyway, we were debating another dog to keep her company. But I am not sure....any stories for me??

Hi Girls ! I am here-concentrating on exersize-I have a 10k next week, so i need to run 4.5 miles tomorrow and at least 5 miles sunday and 6 on monday....SBD sounds a lot like Body for Life-all ways to increase protein....BFL has more carbs tho...
I'm thinking of going back to WW meetings-in spite of the expense, it keeps me accountable...

Have good weekends....

Lori - I am the same way - if I don't WI I feel like I can get away with more. I think I've come to realize that I need the WI, be it with WW or with my doc, but having someone else weight me makes a world of difference. I Like the group support too - I like the meetings!