Hello, I am new here I have just started on the South Beach Diet hoping to lose 15lbs so I can get underweight. I am currently in the Navy which is one of the reasons I am dieting, I am 72 inches tall with a weight about 215 (my max weight is supposed to be 201), by Navy standards I am 25% body fat (everything else says I am at highest 20%). I had a knee accident about a year ago and because my leg was immobile for 10 weeks during recovery (it was my first injury in my life so i followed the doctors instructions to the letter), I gained about 15lbs, well when I checked into my new job I was overweight and since 3 failures in weight or Fitness test you get put out of the Navy I was very concerned. I started portion controlling and before Christmas I was down to 209 and I had lost alot of body mass, of course being the holiday break I gained it all back and have been struggling ever since. My work out routines are an hour of various Cardio/Circuit training each day (Navy regulated of course) and I have been counting my calories ( I went from 3k a day to just over 1500). So me and my wife decided to start SB, my wife who was on the diet previously and lost 135 lbs was excited to start again. That just a short story to get you up to date, the portions I am getting is more then enough I find myself hungry but not starving every few hours which is OK it doesn't bother me, but the problem I am having is I am a caffeine buff, I drink about 2 Dr. Peppers a day (Cans) or have 32oz of cane sugar sweet Tea) I do not drink coffee or anything like that. I know you are to cut out Sugar but the problem I am having is I am getting bad headaches from lack of caffeine, and I have tried every artificial sweetener and I am get really bad headaches from them all (ACE K, Splenda, Aspartame etc). I one day one and I am ready to quit just because I cannot have caffeine, my question is would it significantly hurt my diet if I have 1-2 servings of cane sugar sweetened ice tea (12 oz per serving) a day? This would help me stay on and its really the only thing that's kicking my butt right now. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi!
If you have the 32 oz of sweetened tea, then you will boost your insulin level, which is what you're trying to keep stable. So no, you can't have the tea, I'm sorry to say. You could have a diet soda with caffeine in it to manage your withdrawal if you like - but you say they're giving you headaches... so is it the withdrawal that's giving you headaches, or is it the sweetener?

The diet is meant to be a lifestyle change, not a nightmare... so if you're addicted to caffeine, then come off it slowly. Don't make your life harder than it has to be. Then again, if you're ready to quit, then quit.

The other alternative is that caffeine related headaches usually go after a few days of being caffeine free, so take a pain pill and you'll find you'll be fine in a couple of days.

BTW, you shouldn't be hungry every few hours. Why not make up a few 'rollups' with ham or something on the outside and veggies on the inside and have them when you do get peckish.
Drinking sugary tea will make you hungry too btw... so keep off it.
Given you're a guy with high calorie needs with all the cardio, having a roll up or South Beach snack won't hurt.

Hi and welcome!
Its so good that your wife has been successful at her weight loss and can do this with you. She'll know a lot to be able to help you.

So, your main issue is no caffeine?
Why don't you drink coffee?
Why are you totally quitting caffeine?
I never did quit my coffee in the morning as I'm a wimp and don't want to go through the headaches of withdrawal and I kinda like it! But Annabell is right, no sugar allowed( so no sweet tea) on this plan and if you can find diet Dr Pepper w/ caffeine, do that instead. In time, you'll want to wean off of all sodas, even diet. But for now and for your caffeine, why not go for diet soda?
Do you think that your headaches are from the AS or from the caffeine and sugar withdrawal?....or both?
On the exercise aspect of your plan, 1 hour of cardio or is it mixed with weight training? Mixing it will help and too much exercise/cardio in general, while seeking weight loss, can be counter productive.

Yes, you are actually supposed to eat some snacks between meals on South Beach. You can see the recommended meal plan guides for both phases in the weekly weighin thread here, 2nd and 3rd posts. A rollup or a hard boiled egg is a good idea for a snack.

Being a Navy man, you are probably very good at following rules ....but please know that we all make these diet plans our own by making tweeks to make them work best for us.

Good Luck to you and thank you for your service!!!

This is his wife....
He has had problems with artificial sweeteners for years, if he drinks anything with even a little bit of aspartame or any other artificial sweetener he gets a bad headache. He also does not like coffee. I suggested stevia... has anyone used stevia with any success?

Thank you everyone for your help

If you get bad headaches when you cut out the sugary caffeinated drinks, it sounds as though you are suffering from withdrawal symptoms. If you can push through those headaches for a few days, the symptoms should subside. I've been there before, it's not nice, but it's manageable, and the health benefits on the other side are worth it.

Yes, Lots of people use stevia with great success.
I do think though, that your DH's headaches are more about his withdrawal symptoms from sugar than they are about using AS.....just my opinion.

I didn't like stevia but get on great with Xylitol, which is made from corn and no sugar.

Hello, Me again. I have finally completed my 2ND day of dieting, I have cut out caffeine completely although I crave it alot, No headaches I am drinking anywhere from 60-110 oz of water a day now. As for the Artificial sweeteners, yes I know it could have been from the no caffeine but, this reaction to sweeteners has followed me from about age 12, I don't like coffee (to bitter), so mostly i stick to tea, Dr.pepper or water. I also don't drink alcohol or smoke. I am doing good I am finding myself craving foods I have not craved in years (cereal, vanilla wafers). The most surprising is cereal I have not eaten cereal since I lived with my dad, we would both get up at all times of the night and sit down and have a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios together. After I left and moved in with my mom I started having upset stomach and becoming just generally intolerant of Milk so I stopped eating it, but because of my wonderful wife introducing me to Silk(soy milk) I find myself craving Honey Nut Cheerios. well that's all for day 2. Stay Tuned in for more drama

Keep going and keep full with protein based snacks...

If you like tea, try it without sugar. Make a hot tea, the pour it over ice and add in some lemon and a touch of xylitol (it's not artificial). Yum!

I am new this this and havent started yet, but I do wish you luck on your journey!

Hi, as a former caffeine addict I know those cravings very well. You wrote you drink Dr. Pepper. Actually in my opinion it is worse than coffee. The ingredients are:Carbonated Water;
Imperial Pure Cane Sugar [or "High Fructose Corn Syrup and/or Sugar," if you're not so lucky]; Caramel Color; Phosphoric Acid; Artificial and Natural Flavors; Sodium Benzoate (Preservative); Caffeine. It is proved that phosphoric acid reacts with the calcium at your body and causes bone density loss and kidney stones. And constant consumtion of sodium benzoate(E211) is linked with hiperactivity, neurodegenerative diseases that may form by years like Parkinson's. And God knows about the secret artificial flavors they use. So a simple plain coffee or tea is much more innocent then these beverages.
ON the other hand if you can not succeed quitting caffeine at once, you can reduce it by time. There is one thing I know about caffeine and sugar: the more you take them, the more you crave. But the less you take them, your sense of taste and body get used to it after some time.