New and need help.

[LosingItNow]

Hi everyone.

Okay, yesterday, I logged on to Atkins. I had been on Atkins 2 years with great successs (weight wise); however, I never moved too far off induction... which equalled a failure in keeping it off. I am right where I started two years ago.

Anyway, I was going to try Atkins again, but then noticed the link to this site. I have heard of South Beach before, but to be honest, I never really looked into it (until yesterday). So far, I really like what I see and think this is a better fit for me.

I want a plan I can live with my family. I want to be able to eat the same things (or close). You know where my 6 year old twins are not asking me why they have to eat such and such, but I do not.

I know very little about SB and have some questions. I am going to look for the book at a store today and if they do not have it, I am going to order it from Amazon. I will probably not start until I get the book and have a chance to read it; however, I would like to start planning.
????: South Beach Diet Forums http://www.southbeachdietbulletinboard.com/south-beach-diet-forums/2386-new-need-help.html

I have looked at the meal model, but would like to see if anyone would be willing to give me examples rather than just the model.
In phase 1, what is your typical day. I would like to start buying the ingredients which would mean success.
It is hard for me to by speciality foods, since I do not know of any health food stores where I live. So, food that I can find at the grocery store is best. Though the grocery store tends to carry some specialty items. I just need to have an idea of what I need.

Thanks for any help you can give.
Lori Ann

[Jilly_Bean]

:Welcome: Lori Ann!!

You are wise to do research before you begin. I did that too and it helped a lot. It's important, I think, to have things in your house and easily accessible, especially on the first few days.
????: South Beach Diet Forums http://www.southbeachdietbulletinboard.com/showthread.php?t=2386

I did Atkins years ago and it never worked for me. I hated it. But, I love veggies (luckily, because they are very important for good health), and now I believe that anybody that tells me to limit veggies is a crackpot. This is the food plan for me. I LOVE it! And I know it's healthy and not just about the weight. In fact, it's really not about the weight at all, but that's the beautiful side-effect that we are all after, isn't it?

If you'd like to see what I eat (and what I ate on Phase 1), you can go to my blog. I post my food every single day. In the beginning (I think) I had the amounts written down. Now, I just know what amounts to have, so, except for nuts and uncooked grains (which I'm not so good at eyeballing), I write down the foods without the amounts.

Good luck to you!

[LosingItNow]

Wow! Thanks for the quick response. I will definately be looking at your blog!

[jfrue610]

Welcome! And I would agree with Jilly Bean, doing your research is smart. Take your time to feel comfortable about this change you are about to make.

I tried Atkins about 6 years ago and initially it was great but I fell off the wagon bad. It was just too restrictive for me. My cravings did NOT go away and all I thought about was having sugar.

South Beach has SO much more variety, and yes - you can eat a lot of veggies. You learn to love them! And there are great recipes out there as well.

I tend to eat much of the same thing every day, changing it up a little bit for dinner and weekends I will cook soups or home made chili.

My typical day looks like this:

5:30am breakfast of 2 eggs (1 whole + 1 egg white) and canadian bacon, 1 cup of steamed green beans

8:30am snack 2 tablespoons of natural peanut/almond butter or a low fat cheese stick

11:30 lunch chicken breast (about 4 ounces or so) with steamed green beans or broccoli (usually 2 cups)
????: South Beach Diet Forums http://www.southbeachdietbulletinboard.com/showthread.php?t=2386

2:30pm snack of celery sticks with a cheese stick

5:30pm grilled beef or chicken or baked fish w/ 2 cups of veggies

7:30pmsnack cheese stick or hardboiled egg

The weight comes off fast and the energy level stays even throughout the day.

Let us know how it goes once you've started. Plenty of support here

Good luck and hope to hear from you very soon!
:Welcome:

[SUEZIEQ]

I was also looking into Atkins, but decided I needed more variety also. I would also like some examples of the menus.

[RedRox]

I think one of the nice things about SB is that everyone's menus can look different and still be on plan. With the meal models and the food lists, you can find foods you enjoy eating and then put them together in a coherent way.

And in my observations, those who come to SB from Atkins tend to still be very afraid of carbohydrate based foods like beans, milk, yogurt, and the more sugar rich veggies like tomatoes and onions and tend to be less stringent on making sure the protein sources are lean enough. So as you make that transition, just be sure to realize that SB is not really "Atkins-light" as some seem to believe and pay attention to the food lists and meal models.
????: South Beach Diet Forums http://www.southbeachdietbulletinboard.com/showthread.php?t=2386

As to specific menus, it's been too long for me to remember what I ate then but in general:

B: we used the veggie quiche cups and canadian bacon a lot. FF milk.
S: string cheese and nuts
L: Large salads with lean protein and regular dressings.
S: Black beans with tomato, green pepper and salsa heated in a micro.
S: sting cheese and veggies like snap peas or celery.
D: Lean proteins and side veggies. FF Milk.
S: The ricotta cremes or a fudge pop with natural PB

Also I think homemade chili is one of the ideal P1 foods for just about any meal or snack. For meals, you need to have a side salad to get in enough veggies though. And while I'm not a fan of cottage cheese, it's an excellent high quality protein that can be used at breakfast or snacks for protein if you happen to enjoy it!

[LosingItNow]

Thanks for all of the information. I appreciate it! I will be posting when I start. I would love to start now, but will wait until I have had time to read the book.

[small dog]

Hi and welcome! Some people get quite tired of the eggs for breakfast and I am one of them. My usual breakfast is cottage cheese with splenda and cinnamon. We also like custard made with skim milk, egg and flavored SF syrups--DaVinci or Torani, found by the coffee in many grocery stores/Walmart. Another staple here is hummus which I make from dried chick peas. I think they are cheaper than the canned. I cook them and use some for hummus and my hubby likes them with Italian dressing. We also love lima beans cooked from the dry state and then barbequed. I find myself using beans more and more and while it is "work", we find they are less gassy than the canned and cheaper. We do keep some canned on hand however. They are like celery--a nice little vegetable you can sneak in here and there and nobody really notices or you can be bold about them and put them right out as meals and snacks. They go in soups or salads always. On phase 1 we overdid on the nuts a bit but found it didn't hurt us (better than cookies & chips) and also ate a good deal of yogurt which you can flavor with the above mentioned syrups or jello powder. The plain yogurt is better, cheaper and it only takes a minute to stir it up for a dessert or snack. I don't do the V8 or tomato juice-yuk-wish I could, so work a little harder to get an am veggie, raw ones or cooked spinach. If you like smoothies, a handful of baby spinach can be blended in and you WOULD NEVER know it was there. Doesn't look pretty but you don't taste it. Help & support is always here if you need it.

[wisejudy]

I just started, again, yesterday. All good advice given above. For Phase I, I have/am keeping salad makings (legal items) cut up and ready to go in the refrigerator. I did that on Sunday. I use romaine (wash, dry, tear up and keep in plastic bag w/paper towel on bottom of bag and put a paper towel on top of lettuce and it keeps for over a week), celery, bell pepper, broccoli, cucumber (hollowed out center), slice black olives and cubed low-fat cheese. I cut up my veggies and put them in plastic containers and quick salads always there. This is/was the most time consuming issue for me which preparing the salad. So I just spend some time one afternoon during the week getting all of this ready so you have your own mini-salad bar ready to go at any meal. Check out all the recipes on this site and also on the SB Diet Forum site. There are some excellent, for this time of year, soups, stews, chilis and crockpot foods that are very family-oriented for Phase I.

[small dog]

Yep, preparing the veggies ahead of time sure helps the early morning rush! Hubby made a chili yesterday--even made his own chili powder since we were out and it is fantastic! I need to make soup since I always want that on hand and some hummus but I am out of lemon juice. Geeesh! I have made the Shepard's Pie from this site and it is really, really good and will be a staple in this house and probably again when we camp because it should make up well in the DO. When it is cold out we just want hot--not so many salads. So, soup in the winter, salad in summer. Beans all year as grocery prices climb. I think we are eating less (but not cheaper) and healthier. I'd rather spend money at the grocery store than the doctor & pharmacy though!