Help. 1 week and no weight loss

[Dez]

Hello, I have been on the South Beach Diet for 1 week now and have not lost a single pound. I've been really good and followed all the rules. I usually will have a hard boiled egg and v8 for breakfast, 15 nuts exactly for morning snack, Salad with grilled chicken for lunch, low fat string cheese and veggies for afternoon snack, and then for dinner we have been having either grilled chicken or fish and veggies, or home made soup such as turkey chili. then I will have one sugar free pudding for dessert. I have only been doing a little weight training at the gym this week as I havent had much energy for cardio. I dont understand what I am doing wrong. I also have not been able to go to the bathroom in the past 4 days so I'm thinking that could be it also. I'ts depressing me because I have been working so hard at it and not seeing any results. I'm not overeating and I feel that I'm really sticking to the guidelines. does anyone have any tips or suggestions?
????: South Beach Diet Forums http://www.southbeachdietbulletinboard.com/introduction-forum-just-say-hello/5847-help-1-week-no-weight-loss.html

P.s. I only have about 15 lbs to loose but i have a very petite frame so for me this is a lot.

[RedRox]

Well a couple things. First understand that with so little to lose, you won't lose very quickly at all. A better metric for P1 is 10%-20% of what you expect to lose in total, you might lose in P1. So you might not lose anything or you might lose a pound or two. Also realize the real weight loss phase is P2 and P1 is just the foundational 2 week period to prepare for P2 and to help normalize your blood sugar levels throughout the day and help curb the food based hunger pangs and cravings caused by insulin spikes and drops from poor eating habits and high glycemic carb sources. So all of that good stuff is going on by following the program as you are. (although SF pudding is really a P2 food and only the kind you make from a powder with nonfat milk.) Really I just think your expectations might have been set a little too high. This is a slow weight loss program that succeeds through consistency and longevity and works as a lifestyle change program, not as a diet. You've only given it a week so far. Give it a few months, make it how you will eat for the rest of your life, up your exercise and see what happens over the long term!
????: South Beach Diet Forums http://www.southbeachdietbulletinboard.com/showthread.php?t=5847

Also are you getting your allowed milk or yogurt (dairy) in every day and some portion of beans/legumes? Those are really good sources of allowed P1 carbs and sugars that really help with energy levels and may help you get more exercise in. Most try to make this a much lower carbohydrate program than it was either intended or is healthy for us and you can easily get 80-100 gms of total carbs in daily if you use all the sources allowed, so you really shouldn't go into ketosis or get too low on energy if you use what is allowed and available.

[Dez]

Thank you,
this is great advice. I will add more beans and plain fat free yogurt and hit the gym for cardio and weight training. I probably was expecting too much too quickly as I generally ate healthy before the diet, I just had to cut the bad snacking habits, which I have, so I'm sure I will see results in the long term. thanks again for the advice.

Dez

[RedRox]

you're welcome! Most of the dramatic weight loss in P1 is water weight from depleting glycogen stores anyway, not actual fat loss. If you were eating fairly healthily before you started SB, then you won't really see that dramatic drop to start with. Actually you probably could start in a modified version between P1 and P2 and do OK, but there might be value to you in going through the P1 process both from a cravings point of view and also just as a means of building the foundation for P2 eating.