Okay, I'm in...I hope!

[einstein's legacy]

I started the South Beach diet today, the day went well and dinner never tasted so delicious. Thanks to Dan (Dweck) I'm motivated but I've been this route before with other diets, succeeded, and then wound up in the same place!

I still have some questions about Phase 1 of this diet though, anyone else here doing South Beach??

[Linda1]

I'm not doing SB, but wanted to welcome you aboard!!

[Tundra Aries]

I'm not doing it either, but wanted to say welcome too!!!

Good luck, great support over here

[Chester B. Dickens]

Questions?? Fling 'em here. Whazzup?

BTW -- When you sit down to dinner, you should NOT be hungry!!! The snax throughout the day are designed so that you don't overeat at mealtimes. And to keep your metabolism churning (so your body doesn't shut down out of starvation, thinking, "HEY! NEED SOME FUEL DOWN HERE!!!").

[MidwestGirl]

I made it thru the first 2 weeks and I wasn't starving

Good luck!

[einstein's legacy]

Day II went well too...I think. I just can't stomach anything more than coffee before I leave for work so I've been bringing along 2 hard boiled eggs, celery, and 2 triangles of laughing cow light cheese and a bottle of water. I've only been eating 1 of the eggs though, this has been carrying me through until I get home which is about 4 pm. when I have been eating 2 turkey slices with salsa and grab a lowfat string cheese. Then there's dinner....which will consist of salad, salmon, turkey, or chicken breast and sugar free jello for dessert/snack. I haven't been hungry yet.

Can you tell me about nuts during Phase I? Can I eat all nuts? Quantity?
What about other snacks I can grab and take with me?

What is it that you're eating for snacks that keep you full??

TY

[Chester B. Dickens]

Day II went well too...I think. I just can't stomach anything more than coffee before I leave for work so I've been bringing along 2 hard boiled eggs, celery, and 2 triangles of laughing cow light cheese and a bottle of water. I've only been eating 1 of the eggs though, this has been carrying me through until I get home which is about 4 pm. when I have been eating 2 turkey slices with salsa and grab a lowfat string cheese. Then there's dinner....which will consist of salad, salmon, turkey, or chicken breast and sugar free jello for dessert/snack. I haven't been hungry yet.

Can you tell me about nuts during Phase I? Can I eat all nuts? Quantity?
What about other snacks I can grab and take with me?

What is it that you're eating for snacks that keep you full??

TY

Sounds like you're off to an awesome start, Randi. The 2 wks will pass quickly. Just keep your head down and moving, and try not to think too hard about it.

Snacks I rely/relied HEAVILY on:

- Almonds. I'm still very big into almonds. They have excellent fats for your heart, and they are lo-carb, even tho they're hi-cal. In Phase 1, be sure to COUNT THEM OUT!!! Yes, I counted 15-17 almonds, put them in a baggie, and took them to work.

- Pistachios. Again, count them. Stay away from the icky red ones. Go for the green.

- String cheese is good. ALL cheeses are good. No carbs at all.

- Beef jerky. Again, shockingly low in carbos. And enjoyable.

- Hummus. This can get stuffed into celery for somethign truly lo-carb/lo-cal. I take a few (AND I MEAN FEW -- I COUNT THESE AS WELL) multi-grain crackers and a small container of hummus and use it as a dip.

- Rice cakes. I use the minis and COUNT THEM OUT!!

- Yogurt. I use the Splenda version of these:


- An apple. Useable in Phase 2 when you're adding back fruit.

Here's a very typical SB day for me ----

7A - Breakfast - Steel cut oatmeal. I've found this in the convenient packets in the whole foods section of our local supermarket. So it's all the nutrition of steel cut oats, without any of the bother of soaking overnight and dealing w/the taste of wallpaper paste. I've come to like this a lot. I will sometimes add a scoop of protein whey powder to bump up the nutrition some

10:30A - Snack. See above

1:30P - Lunch. This can be a wrap made w/lo-fat lunchmeat (a reasonable portion). Or some lo-carb soup (someone-or-other is making a lo-carb chicken enchalada soup that I really like -- can't remember the brand, but it's one of the nationals [progresso? campbells? i dunno])

3:30 - Snack #2.

6P - Dinner. I've been able to cut down on portions pretty easily, swinging into dinner without the starvation that used to take the air out of my tires on former diet plans. I'm still avoiding the whites (potatoes, fries, rice, pasta) and filling up on things like steamed veggies and meats. But it hasn't been bad. When we DO make pasta, it's the wheat version, which even our kids can't ID as tasting any different.

10P - Snack #3. MOST NIGHTS I skip this one entirely, preferring to merely 'ride out the day' on what I've already consumed. If I'm really gnawing for something to eat after dinner hrs, I try to make it as early in the evening as possible, and again, as carb-friendly as possible. One of those yogurts is good if I'm 'needing' dessert. Some sorbet (but be careful here of hidden sugars). Another 15-17 almonds or pistachios. Even a lo-fat, sugar-free cup of Jello pudding will work.......

[einstein's legacy]

I can eat rice cakes and multi grain crackers in Phase 1?????? Naw.... I thought I had to totally cut out anything like that. I love rice cakes and I could spread my low fat cheese on them. Are you sure I can eat them in Phase 1???

Yum, I could spread my little cheese triangles on the rice cakes!! Oh that would be fantastic but I won't do it until you give me the Phase 1 go ahead. BTW...I haven't lost an ounce yet!!

[Chester B. Dickens]

I can eat rice cakes and multi grain crackers in Phase 1?????? Naw.... I thought I had to totally cut out anything like that. I love rice cakes and I could spread my low fat cheese on them. Are you sure I can eat them in Phase 1???

Yum, I could spread my little cheese triangles on the rice cakes!! Oh that would be fantastic but I won't do it until you give me the Phase 1 go ahead. BTW...I haven't lost an ounce yet!!

Hmmmm... Lemme think on that. I would guess that if they were plain-jane (no cheese flavoring, no choc, no caramel, no popcorn), they'd prolly be okay. The whole wheat crackers would be better.

[einstein's legacy]

I reread all of the SB forum and diet info I could find on line and I don't think rice cakes or whole grain crackers are a go in Phase 1, but that's okay, I'm already on day 5 and doing well. I think I've made two booboos so far, one is the fat free Yoplait vanilla yogurt I had today, it had 15 sugars , and the other is the steak I had last night, it was a ribeye (12 oz) and today I learned that this cut of meat is too fatty. Otherwise I'm really find and although the scale STILL shows nothing I'm feeling better. I thought I'd have a rough time w/o any of the "whites" (flour, rice, potatoes, past etc), but it really isn't bothering me at all. If I don't see a change in the scale by Tuesday (completion of week one) I'm going to have to revisit what I've been doing and see where I've gone wrong and make adjustments, but this has happened to me before and then suddenly there'll be a drop.