Hi
I have a couple of questions (Im new to low Carb)

How many carbs per day are allowed or suggested to lose weight
and...........
Has any one tried and had success with the South Beach Diet
and........
Does any one know where low carb bread is available Brisbane area (Northside)
Thanks

The best idea is to choose a plan and to stick to it while trying to lose weight, and then you can figure out your own plan for maintence.


The diets differ. For atkins visit www.atkins.com. I did Atkins without buying the book, there is enough info there.
In brief: Eat only meat, vegetables, and small amounts of cheese for the first two weeks of 'induction', for a total of 20g of carbs (not counting fibre) a day. Stay away from coffee and artificial sweetner for this period. There is a list of foods on the site - just print it out and use it as a shopping list is the easiest way, rather then counting

After the first two weeks you can add 5g of carbs each week untill you stop losing. Add more vegies, berries, nuts, cheese, low sugar yogurt, then low carb bread. This is the suggested order, but I understand low carb products make life easier.


Atkins and SOuth Beach are very similar in the later phases and the first phase. The major differences are in the weight loss phase.
The major differences in the diets are
(1) On Atkins you gradually reintroduce carbs, on South Beach the emphasis is on 'phases' and after phase 1 you can add more carbs more quickly.
(2) South Beach emphasises using low fat products and a consideration of GI, and some carb foods you can have sooner.
E.G. On South Beach weight-loss you can't really have butter or fatty bacon, but you can have low fat milk and oatmeal.

Both diets work. I think Atkins for weight loss is more effective becuase it is easier to understand and easier to follow - the printing off the foods and shopping to the list approach. SOuth beach has some contradictions in the book - differences between the text and the recepies provided.

For maintence, both diets will morph into a controlled fat controlled carbohydrate, avoid white foods, diet. So the choice you make is really only for the short term.

Thanks mb99, all that info is certainly a help and congrats on your weight loss, can I ask how long it took

It took 6 months to get to my goal of size 10 from a size 16. However, there seems to be a line between 'overweight' and 'not overweight' that everybody notices, and for me I was happy at Christmas after only 3 months of dieting and didn't feel like I was seen at 'fat'.

Since I reached goal I have dropped another clothes size. So, you know.

For me losing 8kg in the first 3 weeks a huge motivater. This is why I reccomend Atkins. Even though I didn't lose any more for a couple of weeks after that the jump start really helped me, becuase looking at losing 20kg+ can seem so hopeless.

Start October: Started about 78-9kg. (size 16)
Start November: 70kg (all in first 3 weeks, fast intial loss on Atkins, some water loss)
Start December: 66kg (size 14) - Nobody noticed this weight loss at all, even people hadn't seen for ages
Start January: 62kg (size 12 - big inches difference from Dec) - everybody starts noticing
Start February:58kg - started pre-maintence
Start March: 55-6kg (goal) (squeezing into tens)
April-May: down to 54kg (actually a 10)
August: 53kg
Oct 04: 49kg (size 8)

I'm on South Beach and have had success on it. I don't have as much to lose as some people on the forum, so my progress is slower, but 10 lbs in 3 months is still good for me!

Before you choose between SB and Atkins, you should take a look at the "plans" section in the green tool bar above. That will help you sort out the differences.

Whichever plan you choose, just stick to it 150% and you'll succeed.

Wow! mb99 you certainly are an inspiration. What kind of excercise did you do? I noticed you are the same height as me and roughly started your quest to lose weight at the same weight I am starting. So that gives me hope
But... I think Im going to find this hard as my staple breakfast diet for years and years is one slice of toast and a cuppa and I also have a sweet tooth, not choc but biscuits etc.
but Ive got to do something in 10 months alone I have piled on 10kg.
So I better get started hadnt I
Thanks for all the info

i have been reading some of the things written and i feal encouraged to try hard to succeed...going to go shopping today to check out some of the things talked about...... i too have a breakfast of coffee and toast and never feal like eating much early in the morning..when my wife cooked bacon and eggs for me i never rearly wanted it...when i told my wife that this diet has bacon and eggs for breakfast she did not believe me...very good to read about the weight loss and how there is a time when people notice the loss...i put on 18 kg in 1 x year and my father who i had not seen for 2 x years said i looked like i was ready for an heart attack..48 yo he could be right

Hi Jenko

Its taking that first step thats the hardest, It took me about 4 weeks of reading about Atkins, South Beach and general lo carb eating and reading these forums and seeing how much weight these people were losing before I finally took the plunge
The first two days were the hardest, I was so hungry and missing my bread, then I found a health food shop that sold empower Bread mix, its not as good as "real bread" but it tastes a lot better than no bread. I also did a grocery shop just for me and bought all the Lo carb suggestions from the site. I buy Cadbury Lite Choc. Boil heaps of eggs to snack on and always have sugar free Jelly made up in the fridge to have with some cream.
I am by no means an expert and Im learning every day. So go for it you have nothing to lose but that weight. I have lost almost 11lb in just under 3 weeks.
Good luck