trying SB after Atkins. Newbie

[sneakrs]

I found this site by "googling" for the South Beach diet forums. I spent a couple hours reading about South Beach and the links were very helpful with recipies. Thanks so much for this forum.

I started Atkins last year and lost about 25 lbs. in 7 months, hit stalls and never lost another pound no matter what I tried.

I found Atkins too hard to stick with and started cheating. I gained back 10 lbs. very quickly. I also was sick of meat and fats. It just doesn't "feel right" to me to eat all those saturated fats.

I think, from what I have read, that the South Beach diet may fit into my lifestyle better, so I am going to try it.

I just wanted to introduce myself and say "Hey!"

[pstar]

sneakers,

Welcome to the beach...if you haven't reviewed most of the threads in this forum you should...lots of information here from folks who have experience with SBD...

Good Luck!

[sneakrs]

Thanks for the welcome pstar. There is so much information on this site and so many forums to read. I want to do a gradual switch to SB which I think may work best for me.

[Monika4]

Hi sneakr, welcome to the beach. There are now more ex-Atkins people on this forum than SB starters - there are several threads specifically. I am with you - I could stand the idea of so much meat and no fruit except for berries. I also couldn't imagine that a plain apple for snack could be bad - now I have an apple for snack quite often. And it is high fiber, I think it is very little known that some LC diets like SB are actually high fiber! It just feels right for me - not so different from previously either.

[sneakrs]

I would love to eat an apple! I haven't had one since May of 2003. There are so many things that Atkin'ers eat that I don't like and can't force myself to take a liking to. Thanks for the warm welcomes and off I go to read more....

[maggieb]

Hi sneakrs, Welcome!

As others have said most of us here are former Atkiners......

I switched mainly due to missing my fruit and tired of so much fat...you are welcome to read my journal which has a lot more info...the one thing I will caution you on. You mentioned you had trouble "sticking" with Atkins. Was that cause you missed your good carbs or other reasons?

The reason I mention this is because South Beach is more liberal in a sense that there is nothing to count i.e. carbs etc so you have to be careful you don't go overboard.

I keep telling myself that I have to be careful not to get too carried away in that regard.
Anyway welcome to this forum. You will find LOTS of info and wonderful people to help and guide you. I have found it has helped me enotmously over the last few monts and I am sure you will too.

Good luck!!

[sneakrs]

Still visualizing an apple or a grape to eat....

Yes, I did have trouble sticking with Atkins because of the limitations and I know lots of people will say there are no limitations or they never found it to be limited and so forth. I found it hard to stick with for a lifetime plan. I did it for 11 months. I wasn't a poster child for Atkins, but I did my best.

Just not do-able for me for lifetime.

I don't think I will adjust to "not counting" carbs for quite a while. That has been my way of life for sometime. I went from counting calories to counting carbs.

[fern2340]

Just wanted to welcome you sneakrs!!! Best of luck!!!

Linda

[SeeMyself]

I found Atkins too hard to stick with and started cheating. I gained back 10 lbs. very quickly. I also was sick of meat and fats. It just doesn't "feel right" to me to eat all those saturated fats.

Same here... since I have cut back on the fats my body seems to be letting loose of "it's fat" :lol:

I just wanted to introduce myself and say "Hey!"

So "hey!" back :wave:

Welcome and good luck

[Jeanms]

Hi everyone,
I'm thinking about switching to SBD. I have had fairly good success on Atkins.
But I don't seem to be very alert. I just feel slow and somewhat dim witted.
I was thinking that maybe I needed more carbs and that SBD would be a way to do this in a healthy way. What should I expect? Should I go full tilt into it.
Do you gain weight back first, when starting SBD. Thanks Jeanie

[geauxleaux]

I am on Atkins and am having (so far) success. My husband needs to lose some pounds and his doctor told him that the diet he recommends is the South Beach Diet (although his doc also said Atkins works well too, and does not seem to have any bad health effects).

Anyway, if my hubby goes on the SBD (lord knows, he needs to do SOMETHING!), and if I switch over to it from Atkins to join him, is there an intial weight gain experienced by former Atkins-ers?

[VanWinkle]

You should get a copy of the South Beach Diet book by Dr. Agatson. It is out in paperback now (Amazon sells it for $7.99). It lays out the diet in about 70 pages or so. In amongst the meal plan recipes, he gives the list of foods to favor/avoid.

It is good to read over these pages every few weeks until it all makes perfect sense. It takes less than an hour and well worth it.

It really is all about making choices by favoring real food with good carbs and good fats in reasonable portions.

[VanWinkle]

One other book that I purchased is the Atkins Shopping Guide. I got mine for $5.97 at Walmart (and then saw it for $3.99 at Costco).

Even though Atkins and South Beach are slightly different (with South Beach being a healthier Atkins, in my mind), shopping for food is almost the same.

This book is a nice reference for what foods to favor and what to avoid and gives a short description of why.

I keep telling myself: It is all about making better choices.