LCMarathon
Mon, Jul-21-08, 13:55
Hi all.
I lost 200 lbs on the weight watchers core plan and have about 75 lbs left to go. Been stalled at this point for almost a year due to off-plan binge eating and cravings. I'm unable to get back on my feet with the core plan so have decided to try the south beach diet.
First off:
I saw some posts while I was searching saying the plans were very similar, but they are very different! On the core plan, I ate a very large amount of carbohydrate, almost 75% of my total food intake. On the core plan, it is very hard to get dietary fat. You are limited to 2 tsp oil per day, and the only other sources of fat are from soy and salmon and lean beef.
On core, my staples were grains, beans, vegetables, and fruits, with a little bit of meat thrown in every few days.
It seems like it may be possible to do core "SBD style", but it is definitely a challenge to get a decent amount of fat, and to eat 3 or less servings of starch per day.
It looks like to me, almonds will be a cornerstone of my SBD, and there is no way I could have eaten them on core!
(end rant)
Now, I started on Saturday. Before that I had read three books: South Beach Diet, Good Fats/Good Carbs, and the restaurant book (more of a reference but might as well list it). These are all books my aunt bought a couple of years ago, so none of the new stuff (how important is it?).
I have been eating the same things every day, with a little variaton. For breakfast I have been eating cottage cheese with almonds. Lunch and dinner have either been salads with chicken or fish, or a chicken/fish dish with a side salad. The dressings I use are: Newmans Own Balsamic Vinaigrette, Newmans Own Oil and Vinegar, and Newmans Own Caesar. I am really getting to like canned salmon on a caesar salad (with no croutons of course).
My first question is -- how to get veggies at breakfast with my cottage cheese/almonds? I know that we are required to have 1/2 cup of veggies at breakfast but I can't seem to find a good way to eat them except for the fritatta/omelet recipes that are so popular. I don't have anything against eggs I just really like the cottage cheese/almond dish.
I think I went into ketosis the first day. I ran 2 hours in the morning and ate per the plan and I had 'the breath' before I went to bed.
Sunday I ate breakfast and then pretty much forgot to eat. I just bought a house and had some pretty epic yardwork that took all day. Had grilled chicken and veggie kebabs for lunch, caesar salad for dinner, but didn't eat any snacks. Was not hungry all day. I estimate that I ate about 1400-1500 calories all day and I am a large young male.
Today I haven't been hungry but am making myself eat almonds for snack. I have lost about 6 pounds since Saturday. Kind of TMI but I hadn't had a BM since I started either, so I took 2 tsp of Psyllium this morning, and that straightened itself right out.
I am kind of uncertain about phase two. I did read the book but it seems somewhat unclear. Do I build up with 1 fruit or 1 grain per week, or 1 fruit and 1 grain per week. Like:
week 3: 1 fruit per day
week 4: 1 fruit 1 grain per day
week 5: 2 fruit 1 grain per day
week 6: 2 fruit 2 grain per day
week 7: 3 fruit 2 grain per day
week 8: 3 fruit 3 grain per day
or
week 3: 1 fruit 1 grain per day
week 4: 2 fruit 2 grain per day
week 5: 3 fruit 3 grain per day
I kind of hope it is the latter. Although I am not missing carbs now, I am a high volume exerciser (marathon runner) and feel like I need a few carbs, I am just ADDICTED to sugar. I know a lot of active types skip P1, but I don't want to because I don't think I will be able to break my sugar addiction that way. Longest I will be running in P1 is 90 minutes (and only twice).
I've picked kind of a down time in my training regimen to do this -- I'm doing a marathon first week of Dec and starting building up in two weeks -- right when I should get to phase 2. So I am in a rest phase now, about <20 miles per week for about 4 more weeks.
In phase 2 -- do the SBD branded energy bars count as a grain? I assume they do. Maybe I should avoid those altogether -- they were a favorite of mine before I dieted (I loved to get the chocolate 'high protein' ones and top them with peanut butter).
So far this has been awesome, no cravings at all, already losing weight and feeling better.
I have a run scheduled for tomorrow though -- just 3 miles but it will be the first run since starting (I was still loaded up on carbs for my AM run on the first day I'm sure). I am hoping that it goes OK at least.
I lost 200 lbs on the weight watchers core plan and have about 75 lbs left to go. Been stalled at this point for almost a year due to off-plan binge eating and cravings. I'm unable to get back on my feet with the core plan so have decided to try the south beach diet.
First off:
I saw some posts while I was searching saying the plans were very similar, but they are very different! On the core plan, I ate a very large amount of carbohydrate, almost 75% of my total food intake. On the core plan, it is very hard to get dietary fat. You are limited to 2 tsp oil per day, and the only other sources of fat are from soy and salmon and lean beef.
On core, my staples were grains, beans, vegetables, and fruits, with a little bit of meat thrown in every few days.
It seems like it may be possible to do core "SBD style", but it is definitely a challenge to get a decent amount of fat, and to eat 3 or less servings of starch per day.
It looks like to me, almonds will be a cornerstone of my SBD, and there is no way I could have eaten them on core!
(end rant)
Now, I started on Saturday. Before that I had read three books: South Beach Diet, Good Fats/Good Carbs, and the restaurant book (more of a reference but might as well list it). These are all books my aunt bought a couple of years ago, so none of the new stuff (how important is it?).
I have been eating the same things every day, with a little variaton. For breakfast I have been eating cottage cheese with almonds. Lunch and dinner have either been salads with chicken or fish, or a chicken/fish dish with a side salad. The dressings I use are: Newmans Own Balsamic Vinaigrette, Newmans Own Oil and Vinegar, and Newmans Own Caesar. I am really getting to like canned salmon on a caesar salad (with no croutons of course).
My first question is -- how to get veggies at breakfast with my cottage cheese/almonds? I know that we are required to have 1/2 cup of veggies at breakfast but I can't seem to find a good way to eat them except for the fritatta/omelet recipes that are so popular. I don't have anything against eggs I just really like the cottage cheese/almond dish.
I think I went into ketosis the first day. I ran 2 hours in the morning and ate per the plan and I had 'the breath' before I went to bed.
Sunday I ate breakfast and then pretty much forgot to eat. I just bought a house and had some pretty epic yardwork that took all day. Had grilled chicken and veggie kebabs for lunch, caesar salad for dinner, but didn't eat any snacks. Was not hungry all day. I estimate that I ate about 1400-1500 calories all day and I am a large young male.
Today I haven't been hungry but am making myself eat almonds for snack. I have lost about 6 pounds since Saturday. Kind of TMI but I hadn't had a BM since I started either, so I took 2 tsp of Psyllium this morning, and that straightened itself right out.
I am kind of uncertain about phase two. I did read the book but it seems somewhat unclear. Do I build up with 1 fruit or 1 grain per week, or 1 fruit and 1 grain per week. Like:
week 3: 1 fruit per day
week 4: 1 fruit 1 grain per day
week 5: 2 fruit 1 grain per day
week 6: 2 fruit 2 grain per day
week 7: 3 fruit 2 grain per day
week 8: 3 fruit 3 grain per day
or
week 3: 1 fruit 1 grain per day
week 4: 2 fruit 2 grain per day
week 5: 3 fruit 3 grain per day
I kind of hope it is the latter. Although I am not missing carbs now, I am a high volume exerciser (marathon runner) and feel like I need a few carbs, I am just ADDICTED to sugar. I know a lot of active types skip P1, but I don't want to because I don't think I will be able to break my sugar addiction that way. Longest I will be running in P1 is 90 minutes (and only twice).
I've picked kind of a down time in my training regimen to do this -- I'm doing a marathon first week of Dec and starting building up in two weeks -- right when I should get to phase 2. So I am in a rest phase now, about <20 miles per week for about 4 more weeks.
In phase 2 -- do the SBD branded energy bars count as a grain? I assume they do. Maybe I should avoid those altogether -- they were a favorite of mine before I dieted (I loved to get the chocolate 'high protein' ones and top them with peanut butter).
So far this has been awesome, no cravings at all, already losing weight and feeling better.
I have a run scheduled for tomorrow though -- just 3 miles but it will be the first run since starting (I was still loaded up on carbs for my AM run on the first day I'm sure). I am hoping that it goes OK at least.