First day of South Beach for me. I did Atkins a while back, lost my 20 lbs but found it really hard to stay on the maintainence and gained it back plus. The problem was the lack of fruit, legumes, whole grains, and I've never been a big meat eater. YO-YO dieting is not my thing and I never had to worry much about weight until I had an injury and then surgery which decreased my activity level for quite some time. Being over 50 doesn't help to shed those extra lbs. SBD looks like it will fit me better in the long run than Atkins. I've read all the low carb and semi-low carb books that our library has looking for one that might work. I know I feel better eating fewer carbs. Looking forward to fitting back into my size 8 jeans!!!

Jeria, do come over and join in with the Beach Babes thread, you'll find all kind of people over there all at different stages, but all on SB.
Hope to see you over there (link in my signature)

foxgluvs, Thanks, I just went over to the the Babes thread and put my 2 cents worth of history in. Support will be more than helpful with the stresses that are in my life right now. I'm off to bed, long day today and probably a longer one tomorrow. jeri

I might be sticking my nose where it deosn't belong since I do go by Atkins but eating all the fat on atkins...that is how you lose on atkins is by eating fat. But i take it that wasn't the case for you guys other wise you would be on the atkins site. To each his own!

Hi YY, yes, I did atkins too, and I found that after a while (and 50 lbs) my weight loss stopped. I figured it was because of all the fat (calories) and so I switched over to SB. I prefer SB because it has enabled me to eat many of the things I couldn't on atkins and still lose weight.

I guess it's a case of whatever works for you is great!

YY, Definately to each his own as everyone is different. Personally I had trouble sticking to the high fat regieme on a long term basis in Atkins even though I did lose the weight I gained it back plus. I'm hoping that the SBD plan will work for me to keep the weight off forever. I love whole grain breads, fruits, meals like chicken chilli with beans, 18 bean soup, etc. all homemade of course. With my mother's severe osteo I need to have some dairy in my diet besides cheese and my calcium blend vitamins. Yogurt and buttermilk will be perfect. SBD allows foods that I think I can live with. I do feel better and have more energy with lower carbs and have never believed that a highly restrictive low fat diet was the answer.

I am so torn, there are so many things I want to try to jump start my loss again. Maybe since I don't have alot to lose I should do SB? Then I was told to do Meat and Egg fast for a week to get jump started. I don't want to jumble any eating diets ( i don't like using that word because eating healthy is a way of life but anyway) together because that is a recipe for destruction!!!!! I am not sure what to do. I am in about a size 10 - sometimes a 12. I'm one that doesn't weigh myself but 3 or 4 times a year so I can't say how much I weigh. I'm rambling......

You may want to reconsider weighing yourself more than 3-4 times a year. A study was doen of successful maintainers and they have 3 things that they do in common.
1- they all eat breakfast
2- they all weigh regularly( at least once a week) and take action at a given cutoff point on the scale
3- they all exercise regularly

I've been maintaining my weight for only a few months now but I've never maintained in my life so this is new to me. I have a cutoff weight that I watch like a hawk.

Do yourself a favor and get on the scale so that you have a starting point. You can also use your body measurements to guide you.

If you do phase I and do it by the plan, you will have a good start. Stick with one plan for 6-8 weeks before you start looking for other alternatives Jumping around from plan to plan isn't the best choice either.

Thats my advice for you. Hope it helps!!