Started South Beach Today

[Gabby123]

OK I haven't posted for awhile but I need you guys to help me stay on this.I have to lose weight. I used to be able to just not eat and lose weight in my 20's and younger I can't do that now. My sister who doesn't have DB just lost over 40 lbs on South Beach. The weight just keeps creeping on since I was diagnosed and it's so hard to get off. I quit smoking on Christmas day almost 2 years ago cold turkey and I am stubborn and know I can do this. I can't stand being weak.I have had almost the perfect life the last 5 years, I have been raising miniature horses. I did the big horses for 10 years and gave them up after 2 back sugeries. Having the miniature horses makes me get up each morning and do something I like no matter how bad I feel.

Anyone else have good luck on South Beach diet and any suggestions.

[kgm0612]

I have a friend who lost 100-lbs following the Atkin's Diet, which is very similar to South Beach. It took her exactly one year to do it and she's kept the weight off thus far. She also did & still does alot of walking.


I just wanted to wish you Good Luck!

Karen

[Cinnabon]

I wish U good Luck. I had friends that were successful with this diet. They only mentioned it was a bit hard around the holidays,.

Update us as U go along.....

[MYDEAR]

good luck Gabby

i'm watching my carbs also. just really cutting way back. nothing white (no rice, bread, potatoes, pasta, flour, sugar and no starchy veggies). it's really help bring my numbers down and i'm losing weight.

mydear

[ketchuplover]

OK I haven't posted for awhile but I need you guys to help me stay on this.I have to lose weight. I used to be able to just not eat and lose weight in my 20's and younger I can't do that now. My sister who doesn't have DB just lost over 40 lbs on South Beach. The weight just keeps creeping on since I was diagnosed and it's so hard to get off. I quit smoking on Christmas day almost 2 years ago cold turkey and I am stubborn and know I can do this. I can't stand being weak.I have had almost the perfect life the last 5 years, I have been raising miniature horses. I did the big horses for 10 years and gave them up after 2 back sugeries. Having the miniature horses makes me get up each morning and do something I like no matter how bad I feel.

Anyone else have good luck on South Beach diet and any suggestions.

If it's not too personal could you tell us your height & weight?

[snowdrop]

I have to admit - I went right to week 2 and started with meat and veggies. I have cut waaaay back on startches - for me - that was not easy!!!! If I can do it - anyone can!!!

I have lost 11 pounds so far

[notme]

Good Luck Gabby, I am glad your miniature horses keep you going. I know that you can do it. My mother at 78 years of age went on a calorie counting diet and to date has lost over 100 pounds. She feels so much better.

Please keep us posted on your progress!!! Stubborn is good.

[Noemie]

Good Luck Gabby
You can do it!!!
And congrats on the stopping smoking.

[ontheway]

Hi Gabby!
Welcome to the beach!! How are you doing on it so far?
I started South Beach last fall, and lost 35 lbs. on it. My blood sugar went way down (from 7.4 to 5.1!), my cholesterol dropped from 228 to 197 (eating 2 eggs every morning!), triglycerides went from 204 to 153, and I just plain feel better all around.
I started with Phase 1....and doing that, I made sure to keep a VERY close eye on my blood sugar. I tested probably 6 times per day those first 2 weeks.
When I started I was on Glucotrol XL and Glucophage XR. Within literally DAYS, I dropped the Glucotrol and still only take the Glucophage.
I have pretty much stagnated since the beginning of the year, because I let up on watching the carbs, etc. and gained about 10 lbs. back.
I think that South Beach is the healthiest eating program I've EVER been on (and I've been on PLENTY!), so I am definitely continuing this WOE.
Today I am restarting Phase 1 for the 2 week duration. I need to get back on track...I feel much better when I am, and my blood sugars are better for it. My goal is to get off ALL meds eventually.
:)
I wish you all the best on your new journey.....I know you can do it!!
Marye

[chadrack]

Hey Gabby,

When I was first diagnosed with type ll, I went on the SB diet. I lowered my A1C to 7.1 from 10.4 in 3 months. I lost weight and was able to stay off meds for a while. I have since started meds, but that is due to me going on vacation a few months ago, and never really got back on it, even though I have kept the weight off. I think the SB is a sound diet and beneficial for the diabetic.

All the best...

[RBmumsie]

My sister, who is also a Type 2, went on South Beach along with her husband and they've done GREAT! Sis is off meds completely and looks 10 years younger.

[kgm0612]

Hey Gabby................just curious to know how you're making out on your diet?

Karen

[panmat1]

So I am wondering what you will eat for Thanskgiving? I am trying to follow this , started a week ago. Have a had a few bumps like a slice of birthday cake. But am doing ok. Nancy

[Sapphire]

It looks like the South Beach diet is not the best diet. With the popularity of low-carb diets reaching a high point recently, it was only a matter of time before someone adjusted it into "nutritional correctness." Enter The South Beach Diet by cardiologist Arthur Agatston, MD, of Miami, Florida, which has sold millions of copies and has remained on the best-seller list for many months.

The South Beach Diet is most certainly a low-carb eating regime with the usual carbohydrate foods such as bread (even whole grain), fruit, fruit juices, and rice, potatoes, and pasta excluded (or kept to a bare minimum). Of course, white sugar is out, as well as the whole gamut of processed carbohydrate snack foods.

So far, so good. But then the book gets the dieter into trouble because the author urges high protein consumption in the form of skim milk, lean meat and other nonfat foods, and prohibits the use of animal fats, a dangerous combination that rapidly depletes vitamin A stores leading to auto-immune diseases and underactive thyroid (which can cause weight gain) and even cancer and heart disease.

Furthermore, by eliminating both saturated fats and carbohydrate foods, the body has no ready source of the saturated fats it needs to build healthy cell membranes. Many studies have indicated that a regimen like the South Beach diet, high in unsaturated oils (even the so-called monounsaturated oils) and low in saturated result in disease, including heart disease. This is what happens when weak science is allied to political correctness.

The book makes some bizarre and nonsensical claims about saturated fats. Agatston claims that diets high in saturated fats cause chemical changes in the bloodstream leading to accelerated atherosclerosis and clogged arteries. They also raise the so-called "bad" cholesterol, LDL, which in the author’s opinion, elevates one’s chances of a heart attack and heart disease. Dr. Agatston is your basic run-of-the-mill cardiologist who adheres to the usual dietary claptrap taught about diet and heart disease. It does not seem to occur to him to check his theories with actual human history. If he had done this, as Dr. Weston A. Price had done several decades ago, he would have discovered the embarrassing truth that people who traditionally eat diets high in saturated fats do not suffer from heart attacks or heart disease. It should also be noted here that the book contains no footnotes--not even a bibliography--to support any of Dr. Agatston’s nutritional claims.


You are better off eating traditional whole foods. Prior to 1920 people ate whole foods and plenty of healthy fats like butter, lard, animal fat, cream, eggs, tropical oils, cod liver oil, organ meats, organic fruit and vegetables. Diabetes, heart disease and cancer was rare until all this processed foods came in the diet. If you are diabetic and you don't want to be diabetic anymore, eat traditional whole foods.