So I'm reading The South Beach Diet and contemplating it

[gfrach]

Any experts here? They have egg stuff nearly everyday for breakfast and I can't do eggs. They also have a lot of salads and I can't eat a lot of salad. Can I just use any meal interchangeably for another? I don't mind not eating "breakfast food" for breakfast.

Thanks!

[Peggyann]

I do

I find leftover grilled chicken to be great anytime of day.

Also, I do have some carbs for breakfast (I'm on phase II), and I've found if I do the phase I breakfasts and then try to workout, I get dizzy and lightheaded.

~PA~

[bannanabette]

Any experts here? They have egg stuff nearly everyday for breakfast and I can't do eggs. They also have a lot of salads and I can't eat a lot of salad. Can I just use any meal interchangeably for another? I don't mind not eating "breakfast food" for breakfast.

Thanks!

Well this is my not very expert opinion so take it FWIW...

I think SBD is overall a good plan, but you're only going to see a dramatic difference in the first phase if you're currently eating very different from SBD (if you're doing a lot of refined sugars, simple carbs, etc) and if you have a bit of insulin resistance. If that's the case, then phase I helps to break the cravings and reset your body. But if you're already eating fairly well (SBD is similar to the Mediterranean diet) then my personal opinion is that phase I is not that helpful and is too restrictive, and I'd go to phase II from the start.

The point of SBD is good carbs (whole grain and low on the glycemic index scale), good fats in reasonable portions - it doesn't matter if you want to switch around the meals because all the meals are supposed to consumed until you feel satisfied. So it doesn't assume that you're getting X calories at breakfast and therefore you can only have Y calories at dinner, etc. You can repeat the same meals but you'll probably find yourself eating a smaller version in the morning just because it's easier to feel satisfied earlier.

If you have a really hard time stopping yourself when you're satisfied SBD can be hard (and that might be another reason to do phase I which is more strict). I do, so I find that the idea of just eating until I'm satisfied isn't something that I can do in the beginning - I really need to track my food and look at calories and plan pre-portioned meals for a few weeks before I can appropriately read my body's signals, so that's why I find sticking to SBD at the beginning very difficult. So basically I have been really "dieting" for a few days - pretty SBD compliant but I'm tracking calories - and maybe in a couple of weeks I'll be able to let go and just keep SBD food guidelines in mind when I eat.

The one thing you might find hard is that potatoes are pretty restricted even in phase II, and I'm not sure the GF mixes and substitutes that you normally use are low GI, even if they're whole grain (or vice versa).

[gfrach]

Thanks, Anna. I don't know if the GF stuff I use is low GI or not--probably not. My usual mix is part tapioca starch and part sweet rice flour and I'm pretty sure neither of those is low GI. (It also has brown rice flour and sorghum flour in it--both are whole grains but not sure about the GI.)

I used to eat pretty low carb, but just in the past several months my carb intake has escalated and I find I'm really craving sugar. That's why the SBD stuff really kind of resonated with me. Also it talks about carrying weight around the stomach and that's definitely where my extra weight resides. We'll just have to see if I feel like I can even manage it.

Another part I'm not sure about is what to feed C. In general I like to serve one meal, not two, so I really prefer if we eat the same thing, but he cannot afford to lose weight at all.

[gfrach]

Thanks, PA!

[Bickery]

Well this is my not very expert opinion so take it FWIW...

I think SBD is overall a good plan, but you're only going to see a dramatic difference in the first phase if you're currently eating very different from SBD (if you're doing a lot of refined sugars, simple carbs, etc) and if you have a bit of insulin resistance. If that's the case, then phase I helps to break the cravings and reset your body. But if you're already eating fairly well (SBD is similar to the Mediterranean diet) then my personal opinion is that phase I is not that helpful and is too restrictive, and I'd go to phase II from the start.

The point of SBD is good carbs (whole grain and low on the glycemic index scale), good fats in reasonable portions - it doesn't matter if you want to switch around the meals because all the meals are supposed to consumed until you feel satisfied. So it doesn't assume that you're getting X calories at breakfast and therefore you can only have Y calories at dinner, etc. You can repeat the same meals but you'll probably find yourself eating a smaller version in the morning just because it's easier to feel satisfied earlier.

If you have a really hard time stopping yourself when you're satisfied SBD can be hard (and that might be another reason to do phase I which is more strict). I do, so I find that the idea of just eating until I'm satisfied isn't something that I can do in the beginning - I really need to track my food and look at calories and plan pre-portioned meals for a few weeks before I can appropriately read my body's signals, so that's why I find sticking to SBD at the beginning very difficult. So basically I have been really "dieting" for a few days - pretty SBD compliant but I'm tracking calories - and maybe in a couple of weeks I'll be able to let go and just keep SBD food guidelines in mind when I eat.

The one thing you might find hard is that potatoes are pretty restricted even in phase II, and I'm not sure the GF mixes and substitutes that you normally use are low GI, even if they're whole grain (or vice versa).

You seem to know me better than I do!

South Beach Phase 1 is not my friend. I did lose a few pounds quickly and it stayed off, but it was all in the first couple of days and after almost 2 weeks, I was still having headaches and generally feeling unwell.

[bannanabette]

You seem to know me better than I do!

South Beach Phase 1 is not my friend. I did lose a few pounds quickly and it stayed off, but it was all in the first couple of days and after almost 2 weeks, I was still having headaches and generally feeling unwell.

Yeah, it's not my friend either. I have no energy for workouts if I do Phase I, and even when I'm completely off the wagon, my problem is that I will occasionally binge really badly on carbs (cake, etc), but my normal food intake tends to be whole grains/fruits anyway. So really what I have to do is learn portion control and control those binges (and not let one binge lead into another and another and another)