Thread: No weight loss on South Beach- 2 weeks on Phase I!

I've stuck to Phase I religiously for two weeks - low fat meats, cheeses, and allowed veggies. No bread/crackers/rice/sugar/pasta/potatoes etc. I have not lost one pound, and to put it mildly I'm discouraged.

I am exercising a few days/week but I doubt it is a fat-to-muscle conversion that makes it OK not to lose.

I'm seeing other posts about this SB failure, so I know I'm not the only one. I'm not diabetic, don't have any metabolic disorders that I'm aware of. Is it possible that there is a small segment of the population that the SB Diet doesn't work for, or is there some little tiny glitch that throws it off?? Like 21 peanuts instead of 20??

Cranky in PA (kfz)

Hey Teelbee and Maggie -

Thanks for writing back. No fruit at all during Phase I - I gave away my cherries (no bad jokes!) and I have clementines sitting on the counter, going bad. Not one piece of fruit. Not a drop of alcohol.

This is the first I'm hearing a bout CCLL so maybe mine is very low, like 1.

Typical menu -

I've eaten Egg Beaters with veggies and low fat cheese (broccoli, green beans, mushrooms, onions)

Cheeseburgers made with lowfat beef and turkey and lowfat cheese, with allowed veggies (mushrooms, onions), Heinz reduced sugar 1 gram ketchup
Salads with some chicken breast or salmon with sugarfree dressings or oil and vinegar

lots of diet soda with 0% sugar

water, but not 8 glasses a day, I drank alot of SF soda

low sodium V8
coffee in the morning with some soy creamer and splenda

lowfat ricotta/lowfat cottage cheese mixed with splenda and cinammon and few drops of vanilla extract

I do snack on mixed nuts, so I'm probably eating more than 20 peanuts a day which may be stalling things but for pete's sake I need some joy in my life.

I also snack around 8:30 - 9 pm so that may be slowing things down since I know I shouldn't eat late at night.

That's it guys, that's pretty much what I've been eating for 2 weeks. I'm bummed. Any feed back would be appreciated.

thanks,

Karen

Thanks Maggie and Teelbee - I appreciate your feedback. Gives me a couple of things to think about,

Karen

hi karen!
the thing about SBD is that it is NOT a low carb diet ... it is about the RIGHT carbs. you should not be counting carbs on SBD.

i honestly think your sample menus look pretty good! i would say maybe a few more veggies and more water. but it looks like you've read the book and stuck to the plan. peanuts are ok on P1 SBD, so don't worry.

i lost about 20 lbs on SBD last year (from 150 to 130 lbs), and i found that i lost the most weight AFTER the first two weeks. so maybe once you [sloooowly] start adding back in your fruits and whole grains, you'll see the scale move.

also, are you exercising? that was a key component for me.

best of luck and keep us updated.

oh .... by the way, how much are you trying to lose???

Hey there cgilson -

Thanks for taking the time to write. I'd like to lose 15 - 20 pounds.

Since my posts above, I stopped eating nuts entirely, and replaced diet soda with water. Since then I dropped 4.5 pounds, yay. Not sure if that was it, but it sure didn't hurt. I have found my system is strange in that it takes a couple of weeks for a response (aka weight loss) even when I'm moving in the right direction as far as changes in eating habits. The weight sure seems to come on faster though!

My mindset in the past has been watching fat and sugar, rather than carbohydrates, so this is new to me. And as you said, the right carbohydrates are OK, and I'm still learning what they are.

I bought George Stella's Living Low Carb book which seems good. Does anyone have experience with his recipes?

And yes I've been pretty active; getting to the gym at least a few days a week. I have found no matter how much I watch what I eat, if I don't exercise I don't lose weight.

Thanks everybody for your words, and feel free to continue to send suggestions. It's all been very helpful,

Karen

Hi, Just wanted to check in and see how you are doing? I have been on SB for almost three years now. It becomes a way of life after a while. However you do get to learn what works for you and what doesn't. For example - SB says you can eat ricotta cheese - every time I do, I seem to put on the weight, when I stop, the weight drops back down. Also, one very important thing about "sugar-free" - you need to watch the sugar alcohols, they can be just as bad, if not worse than regular sugar. Sugar-free substitutes like lactitol, and maltitol are by far the worse and whatever you do stay away from aspartame - that to me is like pure poison. I use "Stevia", you can get it at any supermarket in the "healthy" section or at a healthfood store - it isn't bad once you get use to it. By the way, I too like nuts, but I find that I need to stay away from them, I just can't eat a few, so for breakfast, I eat two slices of Ezekial Bread which you can get from a healthfood store or grocery store (it's all natural, no sugars) and 2 Tbsps. all natural peanut butter, no sugar or salt and that seems to satisfy me till lunch time. Oh well, hope this information helps. Good luck!!