Hi All,

I?ve been reading these forums for a few weeks now, and thank you to everyone who?s raised my spirits with your stories. Here?s my (short) story.

I?m 25, and have been overweight my whole life (weighed over 10 pounds when I was born!). As of 3 weeks ago, I was at my heaviest at 303 pounds. After seeing test results showing that I?m pre-diabetic and have early signs of high cholesterol, I bought the South Beach Diet book (my Dr. recommended it) and started on 5/6/06. My short-term goal is to fit (properly) into the clothes I currently own. I REFUSE to go up another size! My long-term goal is to be under 200 pounds, and stay that way!

Even though I?ve been on it for over 3 weeks, I?ve only lost about ten pounds, but I seem to taking 2 steps forward, one step back. I weigh myself every morning, so I see every little loss and gain. I know that I just need to stick with it and I?ll see the results I want, but it?s just getting so frustrating. The first week I was exhausted, the second week I stalled out because it was TOM, and last week I got so constipated I was afraid to eat anything! I now feel like I might be back on track, and was planning on moving to Phase 2 this weekend, but I?m realizing that I?m SO afraid of carbs! Has anyone else had this problem, where they don?t want to move to Phase 2 for fear of evil carbs?

Thanks in advance for your support, and I look forward to getting to know everyone!

~Manda

Manda, 10 lbs in 3 weeks is absolutely amazing!

Just a tip - keep off those scales. Weighing every day is frustrating because your weight can fluctuate for various reasons, even though you are actually losing fat.

As far as constipation, add some fiber to your diet. Flaxseed meal is a wonderful source. And make sure you are getting enough plain old water, at least 8 glasses a day, in addition to your other liquids.

You've come to the right place for encouragement and ideas. This is a great bunch of motivated people.

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Nita

Hi Nita,
Thanks for the encouragement. I'm drinking PLENTY of water (feel like I'm swimming), and I'm trying to add in more veggies, because I know I'm not getting enough. But I'm still afraid of those carbs!
Thanks!
Manda

There is a thread on fear of moving to OWL (atkins) - but it certainly applies to phase II of SB also

http://www.lowcarbeating.com/bb/showthread.php?t=2694

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Mary Kay
2009 WW - 228 / 199

I want a Christmas Onederland!!

Welcome, Manda.

Hope you'll make yourself at home here.

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welcome, manda.

i would suggest you might want to limit yourself to weighing in once a week if you're finding yourself getting discouraged. eating more fiber is helpful for the other issues, and sometimes, i even take a fiber supp to help.

also, i also found it helpful to have lots of different ways to measure progress. i took progress pix (even headshots) every ten pounds, which was about enough to tell a difference in my face. i took measurements. i tried on different clothes. i journaled. it helped a lot, because when i was feeling down for any reason, i merely checked in on one of those other fronts to find some encouraging progress. nothing motivates like success!

good luck to you.

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Hi All,

Thanks for the support. I'm feeling a lot better the past few days, more in control. I don't know if I can stop weighing in every day (I will try), but I've decided that I'm only going to write it down once a week, which will make it harder for me to remember every little drop and gain.
MaryKay-thanks for that link about fear of OWLs, it helped me a lot. I got a lot of ideas about how to progress, and am officially moving to Phase 2 tomorrow!
I'm also going to take measurements tomorrow. It's something I meant to do when I started and just didn't, but at least I'll know my progress from this point forward.

~Manda
303/294/150

Hi Manda,

I started SBD on April 17th; the first time I wrote in this forum, a few weeks later, was to ask for advice/motivation, since I felt I wasn't losing weight as I hoped. I was also too focused on the scale, like you.
I realize now it is a big mistake to focus on the scale; first, I was indeed losing weight (I'm 10 lbs leaner already); secondly, it's better to establish for yourself a more or less long term objective like: "I'll lose 4 pounds until the 8th July", for instance. And then focus on it: make your food and exercise program according to your objective, praise yourself when you follow it well, don't be mean to yourself when you don't (just take a deep breath, and do better the next day...), and do not weight yourself until the D day. OK, if you can't avoid it, you can do it before, but never more than once per week!
You should try it. Really! It works! And you feel much happier with yourself also...
Good luck!

Stuck-On-Baby-Weight





P.S.: At this moment, my aim is to cross the barrier of 60 kg (132lbs) by my son's first birthday, on the 12th August!

Hi again All,
Everyone's kind words helped my to move on to Phase 2, as of Saturday. Let me tell you, that veggie and ham whole wheat pita was the best thing I ever tasted. So were those raspberries! I also avoided the scale between Saturday and today, and I was down 3 pounds this morning!
Baby, thanks for your words of encouragement. My semi-long term goal is to be at 250 by the end of the year (I'm doing the 250 or Bust Challenge), but I think I'm going to look at setting small, monthly goals for myself. And I'm REALLY trying to get on the scale once a week, but it's just calling to me! I should have my boyfriend hide it from me, and only dig it out on the weekends or something.

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Manda

SBD - 303-->287, 5/7/06-7/13/06
Atkins - 291-->284, started 7/21/06
250 or Bust Challenge