Hoping for help

[confused dieter]

Hi, this is my first post. Several years ago I tried South Beach and lost 20 pounds in a about 5 weeks. About 2 years ago I tried again and lost the 5 pounds I had put back on. And now I am trying again but am wanting to lose more weight. I spent 3 weeks on Phase 1 and lost 10 pounds, which brought me back to where I was after my first attempt. But after 2 weeks on Phase 2 have only lost 1 pound. Phase 2 is why I got frustrated the past 2 attempts to lose any more weight. I really need to lose another 15-20 pounds and understand that I need to stay on Phase 2 until I have lost it all. But I cannot figure out why I am not losing. I realize that I need to start making up my own menus because following just the 14 included in the book gets boring. Does anyone have any suggestions? I have joined a gym and work out 3 to 4 times a week.
????: South Beach Diet Forums http://www.southbeachdietbulletinboard.com/introduction-forum-just-say-hello/3980-hoping-help.html

Confused Dieter

[RedRox]

Originally Posted by confused dieter

Hi, this is my first post. Several years ago I tried South Beach and lost 20 pounds in a about 5 weeks. About 2 years ago I tried again and lost the 5 pounds I had put back on. And now I am trying again but am wanting to lose more weight. I spent 3 weeks on Phase 1 and lost 10 pounds, which brought me back to where I was after my first attempt. But after 2 weeks on Phase 2 have only lost 1 pound. Phase 2 is why I got frustrated the past 2 attempts to lose any more weight. I really need to lose another 15-20 pounds and understand that I need to stay on Phase 2 until I have lost it all. But I cannot figure out why I am not losing. I realize that I need to start making up my own menus because following just the 14 included in the book gets boring. Does anyone have any suggestions? I have joined a gym and work out 3 to 4 times a week.

Confused Dieter

Yes. Several! Please understand this is a lifestyle change program and a slow weight loss program. It takes a lot longer than 2-4 weeks and realize that the longer it takes the better off you actually are. Not only does slow weight loss usually mean more permanent weight loss, but the longer you are in P2 losing weight, the more you learn about how this healthy lifestyle thing works, what foods work well for you, what foods are your triggers, and what levels of certain foods you can eat and still lose or maintain. With "only" 15-20 lbs to lose it is just going to take time. Focus on your health, the quality of your exercise and your life and those kinds of things and let the weight take care of itself slowly over time. Consistency and longevity are what work in the long run.

And I never followed a menu in the book in P1 or P2. Please find the Food Lists and the Meal Model sticky topics in the P1 and P2 forums here. (You need the P1 and P2 food lists since the P2 list just adds to the P1 list and the P2 meal model). The Meal Models give you a much better idea of how to actually combine the food lists into a coherent plan and may also help you better understand where your current daily menus may be high or low in some areas. Also, the P2 menus in the book are more for a "full" P2. The real suggestion from the official SB folks is to transition slowly between the two phases adding in one new serving of fruit or starches each week until you get up to the 2-3 servings of each recommended in the book and reflected in the P2 menus so the transition process can a month or more.

And it's very common to stall during the transition to P2 and to stall and plateau in general for weeks at a time even during the active weight loss phase. That's why it's important to be committed to it for your health and to learn to enjoy the process and to develop menus that you enjoy eating every day. Then it just becomes "life" and however long it takes, it takes and you aren't just "waiting" until the weight is gone to start living. Live now! Enjoy each day and make it a good one! Celebrate the successes and don't stress about the stalls!

If you'd like, post a typical day or two menu either here or in the P2 forum and others here can probably help you troubleshoot it too if you think that would help. But really, you can do everything "right" and still not make progress some weeks or months. Just the nature of the process.

[confused dieter]

When I was looking at the P2 menus today I started to realize the amount of carbs that had been added and started wondering whether I should be blending them with P1 - especially since there were many things from P1 that I enjoyed that had been omitted from P2. So I guess I have intuitively started to figure out my problem.

Also thanks for the information about the Meal Menu sticky topics. I will look them up. I have never been a menu planner, which is probably the reason for my weight problems, so this will surely be a learning process for an old dog.

[RedRox]

Well P2 really builds on P1. It isn't so much about leaving P1 things out as adding P2 things back in. A breakfast still should have some amount of protein, good fats and good carbs and include a 1/2 cup of veggies if possible. Even if you replace eggs with an allowed type of oatmeal as your first added starch/grain, there still should be some protein and veggies along with it for instance.