Hello! I thought I would take a few minutes to introduce myself here. My name is Kerry and I just started phase 1 on Saturday. Well, actually I have been imperfect in that I have been eating full fat cheese (its all I have in the house) but I figured it was better to begin and eliminate all the foods I could with the exception of the cheese until I go food shopping again. I feel surprisingly good. I am really trying to look at this as a lifestyle change and not a diet. I have done so many diets before. I have been successful sometimes losing uptp 30lbs at a time only to gain it back and then some. Other times I start something and then get distracted and fall back to my bad eating, overeating, binging behaviors. So I am trying to be easy on myself with the cheese thoing since I am having success staying away from sugar, flour (most importantly) and fruit and other phase 1 restrictions. I am trying to tell myself that the next step is switching out the cheese when this is gone and I can get more reduced fat or fat free cheese and that it will be fine..that it ios better to go with 90% than not at all switching to 100 (or 99% anyway nobody is perfect..lol) as soon as possible and do a full 14 days that way too. I have a lot of weight to lose so its going to be a long term thing for sure .

I am 36 years old and live in Massachusetts. I am a single mom of 2 little ones (age3 and 7) and I am a teacher. I hope to get to know you all!

Kerry

Welcome kerry! I am relatively new here too but I have done southbeach. This is my second go of it, the first time took off close to 70lbs and gained it back due to circumstances. Any ways, welcome here and I agree it's better eating the full fat cheese than not, good luck to you and don't forget to start a journal.

Welcome Kerry! and Melodie!!

I hope that you are very successful on SB.
I love it and have been able to keep off my 120 lbs lost for almost 5 yrs now. If you've got questions, ask!!

Yes, it is a change in thinking to go from "dieting" to making this a permanent change in eating habits aka WOE or WOL. BUT it is very possible and easy to do that, we just have to change our minds.

Oh how do I start a journal? Thanks for the warm welcome! Your successes are really wonderful.

I must say I am shocked that I have not had sugar in 3 days now. Is this a sort of honeymoon? Can I expect withdrawl symptoms at a later time?

Kerry

Hey Kerry, I wanna become a Lead Teacher, what kind of teaching do you do?

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=172775
This link will tell you all you need to know to start your own journal.

3 days with no sugar is wonderful! Good for you that you're not feeling ill from withdrawal. Hopefully, you won't feel it at all.

If you haven't yet, read my success story, button at the bottom of my post.

Hi Bella... I am a special education teacher. I teach an integrated preschool class in a public school system. Have of my students have special needs and half are typically developing children without any special needs. I love my job and I am happy to talk with you about it! I have been teaching for over 13 years now!

Judy: wow! Thanks for the the link. You are really a model for maintenance...amazing!! Thanks for the journal link too.

Kerry

Hi Kerry, welcome to the beach!
Where in mass are you? I live in western mass too and my kids are close in age to yours. My girl is 6 and my baby boy is 2.
Good luck with the diet, it is really easy to stick to when you are used to the food list. My family follows the same diet as well. With whole grains and fruit for the kids.

Welcome to the Beach Kerry.

One thing you might try with your full fat chesse or other foods which aren't within the SB plan is to eat 1/2 the portion size.
I still do this with some things as I don't like the tast of some Fat Free foods.

Like Judy said if you have questions just ask.
The food lists and meal plans are a big help too. They are posted at the top of the SB thread. I printed them off and used it to make my grocery list. And have a copy on the frig for quick refernce.

Sounds like you are off to wonderful start.