Phase 3: A Diet For Life

[luv2bike]

This is a lifestyle change.

Once you reach your weight loss goal, you'll continue on to Phase 3 where you'll follow the principles of The South Beach Diet that you learned in the first two phases. Phase 3 isn't about abandoning the diet and eating anything you want, it's about continuing to make smart food choices. Experiment with new recipes and ingredients, enjoy your new lifestyle, and know that weight loss can greatly improve your overall health.

You may have started on The South Beach Diet merely hoping to lose weight. If you adopt it and stick with it, you will surely accomplish that much, but you'll also do a lot more for yourself. And all of it very good because your weight loss can help improve your overall health.

No foods need to be avoided during Phase 3, so there is no food list you need to follow. If you find that you've gained five pounds or so back, then get on Phase 1 for a while, until you're back where you want to be.

[Lynne]

I think that Phase 3 is probably the hardest to follow as how many of us succeed on diets, lose weight and then yoyo right back up again.
I think we need to consider that we are in this for life. Great post Luv. Thanks

[Mindy moves on!]

I can't imagine eating any other way now that I have adopted this as a lifestyle. I was eating pretty healthy before SB but the guidelines here really helped and have opened my eyes to some foods that I *thought* were healthy and are not!

And after eating good for me grains, white breads just don't cut it anymore!!!
Though some artisan breads are so wonderful, I'll always have to be careful not to overdulge too much in those once I'm on Phase 3!

usually you can't wait until you can be in maintenance but on this diet I'm in no hurry to get to Phase 3!

[luv2bike]

Originally Posted by Mindy moves on!

usually you can't wait until you can be in maintenance but on this diet I'm in no hurry to get to Phase 3!

Well, we could use someone in phase three to get some life in this forum! You're more likely to get there sooner than me.

[cheshirecat]

Not that I'm at Phase 3 yet by a long chalk, but been thinking about it. Do you just eat more to stop losing weight once you hit maintenance? Cos I'm pretty full on what I eat on P2! Or is there a point at which your body just reaches an equilibrium and stops losing?

[nancy]

Originally Posted by cheshirecat

Not that I'm at Phase 3 yet by a long chalk, but been thinking about it. Do you just eat more to stop losing weight once you hit maintenance? Cos I'm pretty full on what I eat on P2! Or is there a point at which your body just reaches an equilibrium and stops losing?

I'm almost 59 years old, so that might be a factor in my experience. But yes, it's been pretty much like you say. I mostly do the SBD phase 2 (including exercise!) and maintain. I've learned to love the food, etc, so don't feel deprived or hungry.

[RedRox]

I vote for the equilibrium concept as well. I like to call P3 "the mother of all plateaus"! :lol: And I disagree with the way the book seems to characterize P3 as a relative free for all and if you gain, you go back to P1. I think this is still disordered "dieting mindset" thinking and is just another form of yo-yo dieting that we are trying to avoid. For me, P3 is not a whole lot different than P2 most days. In the summer I might enjoy the occasional high quality ice cream at a specialty ice cream shoppe and corn on the cob in season, but I don't eat either regularly nor can I afford to slip into the habits of eating ice cream nightly at home like I did prior to SB. And if over the holidays I gain a few pounds, I go to a tighter P2, but I don't give up whole grains, low GI starches and fruits altogether for any period of time. These are healthy things that provide for a fully balanced meal plan and I disagree with any program that asks us to eliminate important and healthy categories of foods like fruit and whole grains. (Note that I don't use very many flour based forms of whole grains like bread and pasta to begin with. I mean real whole grains in their whole format!)
????: South Beach Diet Forums http://www.southbeachdietbulletinboard.com/south-beach-diet-forums-phase-3/160-phase-3-diet-life.html

P3 is more of a state of mind to me. You plateau at or near your goal weight for awhile and you understand what it takes to stay there and you just kind of get to a point where you admit you are "there" and nothing really changes much. There is no finish line really. You just step back a bit from the "losing" mindset and it no longer becomes as overriding a concern. You eat what you've eaten all along to lose the weight, enjoy a few more occasional treats along the way and just keep on truckin'!! When it's a successful lifestyle then there really is no reason to change anything!

One thing that doesn't change is that you still wake up every morning and get to make the same choices about food, activity levels and lifestyle that you made every other day along your journey. That never changes really. I don't ever really allow myself to believe "I've made it" or conquered all my demons. I still have to choose health and activity over sickness and slugdom each and every day just as I did when I started. I'm much more comfortable with those choices, and I've proved they work for me now, and I can't ever imagine myself going back to what I was before I started, but it's still all about making the right choices with each meal and snack every day. I LOVE the way I feel now and the quality of my life is sooooo much better in so many different ways and at so many different levels that the choices are pretty easy to make, but I know I still have to make those positive choices to continue enjoying my life to this extent!