Fourth day on South Beach Diet, Already Lost 5 Pounds

[Dissipate]

This is only my fourth day on phase 1 of the South Beach diet and I have already lost 5 pounds! Recently I was complaining to my girlfriend that I had gained 10 pounds (from 6'0" @ 185 to 195) since my vacation and she recommended the South Beach for both of us. It has been a bit tough since I am practically addicted to sweets, and I can't have bread or pasta. But I load up on meats such as chicken, steak and salmon, which fill me up. My motivation for dieting really ramped up when a blood test came back from a disability insurance company where I applied for a policy. It turns out my cholesterol is crazy high! I was barely within the limit the company sets for applicants. In any event it looks like I am set to lose at least 10 pounds by the time phase 1 of the diet is over at the 2 week mark. Anyone else on this diet?

 

[KoolDrew]

Keep in mind most of the initial weight lost is just water, especially since you've reduced your total amount of carbohydrates. I've lost 7-9 pounds just overnight when reducing carbs.

With 10 days left until phase 1 is over you would need a deficit of 1750 calories a day in order to lose 5 pounds of fat. Assuming your maintenance calories is somewhere between 2600-2800 calories, you would need to eat around 850-1000 calories a day for that weight loss goal to be feasible.

So... it's likely not going to happen and if it does, it surely isn't mostly fat, which is what you really want to get rid of.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

This is only my fourth day on phase 1 of the South Beach diet and I have already lost 5 pounds! Recently I was complaining to my girlfriend that I had gained 10 pounds (from 6'0" @ 185 to 195) since my vacation and she recommended the South Beach for both of us. It has been a bit tough since I am practically addicted to sweets, and I can't have bread or pasta. But I load up on meats such as chicken, steak and salmon, which fill me up. My motivation for dieting really ramped up when a blood test came back from a disability insurance company where I applied for a policy. It turns out my cholesterol is crazy high! I was barely within the limit the company sets for applicants. In any event it looks like I am set to lose at least 10 pounds by the time phase 1 of the diet is over at the 2 week mark. Anyone else on this diet?

Read the fat loss sticky (http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=162171) if you intend to lose weight. You can do it in a much healthier, less extreme way. Ketogenic diets are fairly stressful on the body and, if you already have high cholesterol, are a bad way to go. Everything in moderation is key.

Also, keep in mind, as KoolDrew said, the weight you've lost already is water weight - not fat. As you cut carbs out, you lose the water that the body normally retains with them. Please read the fat loss sticky and take the healthier approach.

 

[MrEgo]

I don't think many people in here are going to promote a diet other than "eat right and exercise".

If you choose to do some of these fad diets, do you plan on staying on them for the rest of your life to maintain your weight loss?

 

[NAC]

Does everyone even know what South Beach Diet is? Why the immediate bashing?

I don't think at all it is ketogenic: "high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet".

Certainly it is low carb, but I thought the consensus on this forum was low carb is the way to go. The infamous fat loss sticky says so. But it certainly is not high fat - it recommends skim dairy products, low fat meats, limited oils. It is definitely low calorie. Restricts fruits, unlimited veggies.

It is essentially paleo, but with dairy and allowing legumes (for simplicity's sake I think). And it is strict on fat, which I think true paleo is, but many paleo practitioners are not.

In summary, IMO I think it's a wonderful diet, and simple enough that you can live by it for the rest of your life if you choose to. Read the book before you bash it.


Dissipate: Great job on your progress so far!!

 

[Lamont Burns]

I wouldn't call it bashing, the comments were more directed at the sustainability of the weight loss slope and what you would have to eat to get there. Keto/Paleo diets are fine in my book.

I don't think MrEgo understands that south beach is close to keto/paleo, and they are not fads, also staying on them to remain at a certain weight makes no sense whatsoever. You can in fact go to maintenance afterward. Shocking.

 

[MrEgo]

You're right - I had South Beach confused with something entirely different.

I wasn't bashing his method, I was just posing a question, although the question is not as applicable to this as it would be to something like Atkins or any of those others.

 

[Dissipate]

Keep in mind most of the initial weight lost is just water, especially since you've reduced your total amount of carbohydrates. I've lost 7-9 pounds just overnight when reducing carbs.

With 10 days left until phase 1 is over you would need a deficit of 1750 calories a day in order to lose 5 pounds of fat. Assuming your maintenance calories is somewhere between 2600-2800 calories, you would need to eat around 850-1000 calories a day for that weight loss goal to be feasible.

So... it's likely not going to happen and if it does, it surely isn't mostly fat, which is what you really want to get rid of.

You are probably right. Right now I feel a LOT less bloated.

 

[Dissipate]

I don't think many people in here are going to promote a diet other than "eat right and exercise".

If you choose to do some of these fad diets, do you plan on staying on them for the rest of your life to maintain your weight loss?

To a large extent I do want to stay on something like South Beach for the rest of my life. Once thing is for sure, I cannot go back to my days of sweets and terrible restaurant food.

For instance, have you been to an IHOP recently? They put the calories on their menus now. I could not believe how many calories their dishes have. The same for TGI Friday's. Absolutely horrible food, most of it. I have a dining guide for South Beach, and few restaurants have more than 3 items on the menu that are ok to eat. I think that cutting back on sweets and restaurant food will really make a difference on my waistline.

 

[KoolDrew]

The initial weight loss can definitely be a great feeling, but what happens a lot is people think the weight will continue coming off at that rate and when it's not they get discouraged and think they're doing something wrong. In reality, if you're losing 1-2lb a week after the initial water weight is lost, you're doing good. Depending on your starting weight and bodyfat percentage, any more weight lost than that past the initial weight lost may be causing unwanted lean tissue loss as well.

So don't get discouraged if you don't reach your 10lbs lost by that mark. Aim for a bit more of a reasonable weight loss, especially since you're not too heavy to begin with.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Does everyone even know what South Beach Diet is? Why the immediate bashing?

I don't think at all it is ketogenic: "high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet".

Certainly it is low carb, but I thought the consensus on this forum was low carb is the way to go. The infamous fat loss sticky says so. But it certainly is not high fat - it recommends skim dairy products, low fat meats, limited oils. It is definitely low calorie. Restricts fruits, unlimited veggies.

It is essentially paleo, but with dairy and allowing legumes (for simplicity's sake I think). And it is strict on fat, which I think true paleo is, but many paleo practitioners are not.

In summary, IMO I think it's a wonderful diet, and simple enough that you can live by it for the rest of your life if you choose to. Read the book before you bash it.


Dissipate: Great job on your progress so far!!

The infamous fat loss sticky (written by me) suggests ~40% of calories from carbs. That's lower carb than nutritionists suggest, but by no means "low carb." The problem with it that it's extreme. These people were eating poorly before and tried to change their life instantly. It doesn't work like that. They're going to want breads, pastas, etc eventually. It's easier to skew your current diet and continually hone it in. That way, the individuals are more likely to stick with it. Extreme diets or fad diets that completely change one's natural diet don't tend to work for a reason. That reason is lack of familiarity and lack of satisfaction.

 

[NAC]

To detail South Beach a bit more:

Phase 1 is for 2 weeks and you can return to it whenever you lapse (or just want to). It is very strict.

Phase 2 is for when you want to continue to lose weight.
Phase 3 is for when you want to maintain weight.

You can eat anything you want under phase 3. The key is to use moderation and monitor your weight to make sure you aren't going overboard. To be honest, I don't recall the difference in restrictions between phase 2 and 3. I think in phase 2 you can also add back any food you want.

I found South Beach to be quite simple & flexible, but at the same time with enough structure and guidance to be helpful. It's easy to say eat 40% carbs, but without recording what you eat on Fitday or a spreadsheet, it is hard to know when you are hitting that target. South Beach walks you through it, provides concrete samples of what to eat and when. And it provides guidance of what to avoid, and flexiblity in later phases to eat what you want, what your body can handle.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

To detail South Beach a bit more:

Phase 1 is for 2 weeks and you can return to it whenever you lapse (or just want to). It is very strict.

Phase 2 is for when you want to continue to lose weight.
Phase 3 is for when you want to maintain weight.

You can eat anything you want under phase 3. The key is to use moderation and monitor your weight to make sure you aren't going overboard. To be honest, I don't recall the difference in restrictions between phase 2 and 3. I think in phase 2 you can also add back any food you want.

I found South Beach to be quite simple & flexible, but at the same time with enough structure and guidance to be helpful. It's easy to say eat 40% carbs, but without recording what you eat on Fitday or a spreadsheet, it is hard to know when you are hitting that target. South Beach walks you through it, provides concrete samples of what to eat and when. And it provides guidance of what to avoid, and flexiblity in later phases to eat what you want, what your body can handle.

Solution: measure and record everything you eat and record it on fitday. There are many examples of good sources of macronutrients in the fat loss sticky. You just have to be able to do basic math and mix your carbs, fats, and protein. On top of that, you will be healthier by getting active if you follow the sticky.

 

[ShreddedWheat]

The southbeach diet is awesome.....depending on how well I do on it I usually lose anywhere from 8 to 18 lbs and keep it off after the first 2 weeks until the holidays hit and then get lazy It is healthy.....

 

[Kipper]

The southbeach diet is awesome.....depending on how well I do on it I usually lose anywhere from 8 to 18 lbs and keep it off after the first 2 weeks until the holidays hit and then get lazy It is healthy.....

This yo-yoing of weight is precisely the problem with 99.9% of diets, ADHERENCE. Most people approach weigh loss as an acute goal when in fact it should be treated like a chronic condition, just like high cholesterol, diabetes, or depression. Ultimately, if you can stick to South Beach, that will work for you - and I don't mean for six months, for the rest of your life. Personally, I couldn't eat a low-carbohydrate diet. I'd get cravings too quickly. This is exactly the reason I fell off the wagon with vegetarianism after one year - I got meat cravings that wouldn't go away.

In the long term, studies show there is no significant advantage to any particular diet - low carb, high carb, low fat, high fat - since they usually all end up producing similar amounts of weight loss...so the question is, what diet works for YOU?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

This yo-yoing of weight is precisely the problem with 99.9% of diets, ADHERENCE. Most people approach weigh loss as an acute goal when in fact it should be treated like a chronic condition, just like high cholesterol, diabetes, or depression. Ultimately, if you can stick to South Beach, that will work for you - and I don't mean for six months, for the rest of your life. Personally, I couldn't eat a low-carbohydrate diet. I'd get cravings too quickly. This is exactly the reason I fell off the wagon with vegetarianism after one year - I got meat cravings that wouldn't go away.

In the long term, studies show there is no significant advantage to any particular diet - low carb, high carb, low fat, high fat - since they usually all end up producing similar amounts of weight loss...so the question is, what diet works for YOU?

Exactly. I'd also like to mention that research has shown that exercise plays a very key role in maintaining lost weight (found it on the American Journal for Clinical Nutrition). I would love to post graphs that they have, but am unsure of the copyright policies (anybody know if I can post it if I cite it?). Individuals who lost weight and exercised maintained their lighter weights while all individuals who stopped exercising all ballooned back up toward their former weights. Exercise and diet go hand in hand in creating a healthy lifestyle. The South Beach Diet is a diet only and not a philosophy. You need to jump on the diet + exercise = healthy philosophy or you won't be successful in weight loss.

 

[ScottyB]

I'm losing weight pretty quickly myself. I don't think it is all water weight as I went down a pant size already and they are getting looser as well. I was around 328 pounds for a few years, and then I caught swine flu on Nov. 8 and went down to 319 by Nov. 19th. (I just realized those numbers coincide. Divine intervention?) Now I am down to 308.4. I have added exercise almost daily and I eat a whole lot less than I used to. I am not really hungry all the time like I used to be either. I also have been making conscious decisions to eat healthier foods. For instance, I eat chicken deli meat sandwiches for lunch instead of McDonalds.