I've decided to go with South Beach as well. I followed Atkins plan prior to my 3rd pregnancy (about a year and a half ago). I didn't have much to lose at that point but I did love the way it made me feel. Only problem is I felt like I was dieting and if I slipped up, I'd binge. I have that all or nothing attitude. It became a constant going back and forth thing for me. When I got pregnant, I knew I couldn't follow atkins and someone told me that South Beach was safe. So I read the book but never really gave it a fair try (I don't like dieting during pregnancy...guess thats why I gained 66 lbs, lol). Anyway, after I weaned my daughter from nursing, I decided to go back to Atkins but the same diet/binge cycle began so I've decided to finally give South Beach a try. I'm hoping that since I'm not focusing on being in Ketosis and counting carbs, I won't get into that "diet" frame of mind. Anyway, today is day 2 for me. Good luck to you!

Hi and Welcome!!

Good for you on seeing that your dieting mentality needs some adjusting!! It is best when we begin to see eating this way as our new way of eating for life.....thats whats happened for me and I truly feel that I've changed permanently.

I've used the Meal Plan Guide to teach me how to eat this way. I now still eat according to that guide. I've learned how to cook and I always keep my fridge stocked with the right foods.

I see you've got 3 young children and thats got to be a challenge for you. I wish you the very best on your journey.

I haven’t read up much on SB…it looks pretty decent and seems to work to some people, but really, I feel it’s more like a low-fat diet than it is low carb. In fact, from the little I’ve read about it, it seems to be diet fairly high in carbs. I know it emphasizes complex carbs, but as anyone on Atkins knows, introducing even 30 or 40 extra grams of complex carbs into your diet will stall your efforts very quickly.

Anyone agree/disagree?

Essentially I’ve found, at least from 3 years of personal experience and tons of low carb nutrition research, that the ultimate goal is to reduce caloric intake, no matter how you get there. Atkins is effective because it decreases hunger and therefore portion sizes (and yes, glycemic values, insulin levels, and carbohydrates do play a role in weight loss. However, let’s face it – if you ate ONLY 10 slices of white bread with a can of Coke every day for month, you’d lose weight dangerously fast because you’re hardly consuming many calories even though your carb count would be through the roof). It’s also effective because it is destroying the myths of low fat diets (which I find extremely unhealthy, and when the government finally catches up to actual medical research in about 10 years you’ll see the food pyramid turned on its head…its just that the current admin isn’t a big fan of the whole “science” thing).

With that said, it seems as the SB is at least fairly similar to an Atkins phase 3 or 4 type diet, but I’d like for people to comment if they feel that’s not an accurate assessment.

I think it’s also important to remember two things about Atkins:

1. It encourages plenty of vegetable eating, along with low sugar/glycemic fruits – I’ve had more salads with full fat dressings on Atkins than at any other point in my life.
2. It doesn’t limit you to just high saturated fat type of fats – it encourages fish, chicken, and other lean foods, such that I could actually eat a 30 carb Atkins menu and consume all vegetables, lean meats and even a wide variety of fruit.

I would love to learn more about SB, however I’ve been hesitant to go on a nutrition plan that dramatically raises the carb count while cutting down on some healthy fats and proteins. If I wanted that, I’d be on nutri-system (which by the way, works by limiting portions and calories like every other single diet).

This should spur some discussion :-)

Spurring conversation is what the War Zone is for.

Each individual forum is for support in its own plan.

Take a look at the Updated Food lists thread pinned near the top of this forum. It has our Meal Plan guide that tells us how to do this. We do eat healthy fats all the time.

Low carb is a relative term. I've obviously had much success doing SBD and I was able to lose my weight at way more than 20 carbs per day. I'm also now maintaining this loss for over 1 year so I must be doing something right.

If coming down from about 200 processed carbs daily to about 50 whole and fresh carbs from fruit, veggies and legumes...I'd say thats low carb or if you want to say it another way, moderate controlled carb.

ps- SBD focuses on unprocessed foods while nutrisystem has you eating highly processed pre packaged foods...which is big so I would not be comparing the 2 plans.

With the best will in the world, I agree with Judy, to compare nutrisystem to SB is silly. They are nothing alike.

My thoughts: I often see people comparing plans when they have done only one of the plans, not both. With respect to you, you can form the wrong opinions of a plan if you've never done it.

SB doesn't cut down dramatically on fat, it's a lower fat plan granted, but it's by no means a low fat plan. I eat avocado, cheese, olive oils...full fat dressings even!
But what I really wanted to point out was that you kind of contradicted yourself a little....you say:



but you're questioning a lower fat plan....I don't get the point you're trying to make there. If cutting cals is the only way to lose weight (which, as it happens I tend to agree with) then surely you're agreeing that SB would work because it's a lower cal plan...?

I have to tell you at this point that I have done both Atkins and am now on SB.

My opinion on the difference in the two plans is simple. It boils down to choice. You either want to eat unlimited low carb veggies and healthy whole grains and other exciting food, or you wish to go along the more carnivore route and eat lots of meat with much less fruit/veggies (which may be equally exciting to some people).
Ultimately the choice is up to the individual.

I personally felt that Atkins did me good in the respect that it got me clean of carbs and refined stuff - it set the clock back to zero if you like. But after the initial 50lb loss I had nothing else for over 6 months. No loss is hard when you're trying to do everything the book tells you. I think at that point Atkins was doing me no good because it was making me terrified of eating!
Then, to my delight, I found SB, I had to cut back on the fats, (but not cut them out completely) but the most brilliant thing was I could open my menu up to so much more food and still lose weight!!

I think all things considered, both plans work for different people. Atkins worked initially for me, but SB works better at this point of my weight loss.

Foxgluv,

Could you tell me what your average weightloss is and do you excercise? I am considering switching and would like as much knowlege as possible.

thanks

Jimsbride, I have lost 40 odd lbs in 18 months. That's on SB, on atkins I lost the rest, but then stalled for ages.
You and I have had discussions about this in the past I seem to remember. The point of any plan is that you have to stick with it.
I have had what might seem to some as slow weight loss, but the trend has been down, and on occasion I have eaten off plan, but I have never alowed it to derail me completely. That's the key, you need to get into the mindset that this isfor life, not just a 5 minute plan.

And with regards to exersise, I lost all my weight with exception of the last 5 or 6lbs with no exersise at all.

Judy, my impression was that spurring conversation and an exchange of ideas was one of the goals of any bulletin board or php driven web site, no?

And I agree with you, low carb is indeed a relative term which is why many, especially the media, have been associated the phrase "low carb" with south beach. I see nothing low about it (except maybe the first two weeks). Granted, it may have far fewer additives and preservatives as the average packaged food diet, however it still subscribes to a low fat philosophy. Pick up any "Kraft" South Beach salad dressing and compare the label with a full fat dressing and I bet you'll see some different numbers.

While I can say that I have never tried SB, I am aware of many of the foods and philosophies of the diet and I can tell you how I feel when I eat those kinds of foods - hungry.

Low fat food tends to make me and a lot of other people hungry, and tends to replace the fat with carbs and sugar, which ultimately drives hunger, and therefore increase the likelihood of caloric intake. Which again, is the root of most weight gain. Unless food is naturally low fat, it's typically been junked up to get there. Hence your obesity epidemic correlating with low fat diets.

And yes, fox, I agree with you, however I think the issue with SB is that it allows a lot of low-fat food (in other words, foods naturally high in fat but replaced by the food industry with a low-fat substitute, piling on the sugar and carbs), which, at least for some people, tends to make them much less satiated when they eat, and give much more of rise in insulin and sugar, which contributed to how they gained weight in the first place.

Therefore I think Atkins is efficient at curbing appetite, which leads to fewer calories, while stressing whole foods, whole grains, a ton of vegetables and healthy fruits (rather than the kind of fruits that are equivalent to shoving spoonfuls of table sugar into your mouth).

Now, if this spurs further discussion and interaction, you certainly have my apologies in advance! :-)

[QUOTE=dividedsky]
While I can say that I have never tried SB, I am aware of many of the foods and philosophies of the diet and I can tell you how I feel when I eat those kinds of foods - hungry.

QUOTE]

How anyone can be hungry while actually doing SBD is beyond me. I've never eaten so well in my life and I am never hungry. In fact many times when I think I have eaten a reasonable amount of SBD foods I later find myself full for hours. It is then that I realize that what would have been a moderate portion of high carb foods was actually a large portion of lc foods. In other words, SBD foods are so filling that they naturally lead to portion control. I don't need a huge portion of steamed brocolli to be satified. The same goes for most of the SBD foods that I love. Hungry? Not me!

As I stated in my first response to you, spurring a debate about plans is what we have The War Zone for......if you chose to continue this topic, please take it over there.

No need for apologies....you are a new member and maybe you don't know how this board operates.

We each chose plans for whatever our personal reasons are. I choose South Beach and I made it work for me. I hope you find a plan that you can make work as well for you.

I am not going to engage in this debate. I wish you the very best on your journey.

I have been seriously considering SB. I have had a difficult time with Atkins and find that I am health issues that need to be dealt with dieterily (sp) which is close to what SB has.

So, in starting the Phase one, is there any advice for me that would help in the transition from Atkins (mentalily) to this one?

Thanks,
Michelle

Judy, I think perhaps you're thinking "discussion" is synonymous with "debate," and I think that might be where you're misunderstanding me.

Considering this part of the forum is entitled "from Atkins to South Beach," my guess was that there would be some posts comparing the two or advocating for the differences, but you're right I'm new here and maybe made the wrong assumption. Perhaps the intent of the forum is more to say, "Hey, I did it, who else is having the same luck I am?" So I'll stop here...

BTW: I have chosen a nutrition style that is very similar to Atkins, with perhaps a higher carb count b/c I run about 3-4 miles a day. It's worked beautifully for about 3 years, but my point was whenever I would dive into the breads and low-fat foods of the SB diet, I would start to get hungry and find myself slipping back into a high carb type of lifestyle...

Dividedsky, I think you are sort of missing the point of SB completely. The idea is not to eat a bunch of processed refined foods that have the fats replaced with nasty things. In general (at least those of us who read the forums), we try to avoid all or most processed foods. Rather we strive for foods that are naturally low in SATURATED fats. We use olive oil, cheeses, meats, fish, avocadoes, etc regularly. Even eggs are "unlimited". The key is not to read the general terms of the diet and go crazy. Unlimited doesn't mean you can sit down with a dozen hardboiled eggs and go to town. It means you eat 2, along with a plate full of veggies. If you're still hungry, you can have a third.

But what I (and many others find), is that if you eat a lot of vegetables, good fruits (non-tropical), and a decent amount of protein, then you actually stay full for a long time. But that's besides the point because we are encouraged to eat every 2-4 hours anyway to help regulate our sugar levels.

So if you were tochoose to follow SBD, by eating the Kraft processed SB foods, and all kinds of lowfat versions of products, and chow down on quantities of whole grain breads - yes you will fail. And I feel bad for you. However if you go into it with the right approach - SBD is incredibly succesful and well balanced. Hence my 56lb loss to date, and the hundreds of lbs lost by others.

Divided, I apreciate what you just posted. I am seriously on the balance between the two and want to know the pros and cons.

Could we possibly just talk in this thread about the differences between SB and Atkins, and not have people laying down the law about what, in their opinion, is right!