SB newbie question

[VickiR]

Hi! I've been doing CAD for awhile now, no problems to date. Recently, my husband decided to start SB, and as a show of support for the first two weeks, I've been doing it with him. He has no complaints, which is wonderful, and he does look like he's trimming some tummy fat (so am I, for that matter) :) this is GOOD. We are at Day 5 now.

However, I'm personally noticing HEADACHES (in me). Is this a common side effect?

I wake up with them, my morning coffee relieves the headache, but they come back later in the day. Tylenol doesn't relieve them. I'm wondering if I need to either shift back to CAD (which allows a controlled amount of carbs, once a day), or to a partial Phase II with good carbs (a little hummus on whole grain crackers, frinstance).

We've been using sugarless chocolates, which I've never eaten before. I got them to help him stay away from the never-empty candy dish where he works, and it does help him. But I'm wondering if this could be the reason for my headaches (they are awfully darn tasty chocolates, we have 3-4 Halloween-sized bars per day).

I've been including large amounts of LC veggies in our daily diet (I do this with CAD, too, but even more so now), and I'm really REALLY regular now, which IMHO, is a GOOD thing.

thanks for any and all help. VickiR

[LadyBelle]

Remember on South Beach you are only allowed to have 70 calories worth of sweets each day. Those chocolate bars probably put you way over the limit. They are also probably lengthaning your withdrawl times and that could be why the headaches are remaining.

Part of it could be a caffine addiction as well, since the coffee seems to help. You might try slowly weaning down by getting 1/2 caff, then cutting it further with decaf until your at full decaf.

Make sure also to be taking vitamins such as calcium, a good multi vitamin and so on.

[VickiR]

thanks, I'll cut out the sugarless stuff. I think I'll leave the coffee thing alone for the time being, or switch to green tea.

[byebye30]

I agree that you are probably having withdrawal symptoms. "Discontinuation of the use of an addictive substance". Taking sugar, carbs and caffeine away from us is like taking alcohol or drugs away from other addicts. I had headaches for the first few days, also. They will go away once you've cleaned them out of your system.
Good luck!
~Byebye30~

[VickiR]

since I originally posted this, I've discovered that splenda (for me) was the headache problem - when I stopped eating stuff with spenda, the headaches vanished the same day. I now use stevia for my ricotta puddings (which I don't have nearly so much anymore), or the occasional piece of chocolate sweetened with sugar alcohols (which don't cause headaches or other adverse consequences, for me, in small quantities).

just goes to show, we are all a little different, and we kinda have to stumble through this individually.

I'm into Phase II now, the loss has slowed way down (I actually gained a few, then re-lost them). Although I'm eating a couple of servings of grains a day, my energy level has shot up, and I'm starting to run again! Only about a 1/4 of a mile a day, but I got decent running shoes and I'm starting to lengthen the run.

The other day, I made smoothies for me and DH for breakfast - blueberries, yogurt, rice protein powder (to bump the total protein a bit), and a smidgen of vanilla. Oh, and lecithin. It was yummy! Today was Kashi's "seven at seven" whole grain cereal (a lot like grape-nuts) - very high fiber (7 gm per 1/2 cup), with blueberries and NF milk. I like having a break from eggs every morning, and I eat after my run, so my stomach is really empty for the run.

I still eat a large salad for lunch, but yesterday I had an apple afterwards, for "dessert". And you know? my energy level was pretty constant till around 7 pm!

since my goals are tied to my energy levels and not just weight, I'm extremely happy with this. I may lose another couple of pounds, but that is secondary to expanding my morning run.

wishing you all the very best, thanks for the input!

OH, BTW, DH has gone from 202 to 189 on this plan, and he is feeling much better, too. His typical breakfast lately has been an apple, a grapefruit, and a dollop of peanut butter, with cheese sticks later in the am and a large salad for lunch.

[m1molly]

Vicki,
Which do you prefer CAD or SB & why???

[VickiR]

Actually, I've done the Zone, too.

The Zone was a lot of counting and problem solving - as an engineer, it wasn't that bad (math-wise), but some folks might find it complicated. I did lose weight, but had a bad reaction to the excessive amount of soy that I used. I dropped it after a few months.

CAD is pretty strict, but do-able - just avoid certain foods for most of the day, then have one meal with a LIMITED number of carbs. It is nice, since I can save any cravings I have for that one daily meal - say, have some fruit with yogurt (or ice cream!) or a couple slices of toast or a baked potato (not all three!). Very flexible. Easy to remember rules. *I have actual blood tests that show a very positive improvement in my cholesterol and lipid levels, comparing before and after - this is just me, we are all different, this doesn't happen for everyone* (this was on a diet with an estimated 50% calories from fat)

SB has it's phases, and although Phase 1 was pretty strict, I'm finding phase 2 (or is it 1 and a half?) very flexible too. I like that I'm choosing healthy carbs and fats, and that I can have a slice of whole grain toast as part of my lunch if I want, or whole grain cereal with NF milk and berries for breakfast. I am going to see the doctor soon for more blood tests. And my DH is doing it, too - it's easy since we are both doing it. We are both losing weight. I'm eager to see if his cholesterol is improving on this plan. He is also due for a blood test. I'm very careful with carbs so as not to have too many in any one day.