Greetings Everyone!! I'm Jess and I'm 22 years old. I weigh 235ish and I'd ultimately like to be around 180 or so. I've struggled with my weight my entire life, pretty much. After my dad passed away in November 2007, I got serious about changing my unhealthy eating habits. I went from 311lbs to 214 at my lowest. After getting a little too comfortable, I shot back up to 250. I tried Atkins a few months ago, but discovered it was way too restricting for me. (I don't think I could live without milk) haha. Anyways, I think South Beach is a much easier WOE that I could follow for the rest of my years, with some of the good stuff in moderation, of course I started dating this guy a couple of weeks ago and I've gained 5 lbs in the past week alone from cooking good for him(biscuits and sausage gravy, hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, bacon, fajitas, chips n dip) From now on, he'll be following South Beach along with me if he's eating my cooking..lol. I clearly don't have the will power yet to be able to cook great carby foods without partaking in the festivities.

I just left the library with a copy of the book, so I'll be reading up on that this afternoon. I have a few questions/comments thus far. Firstly, it is optional to stay in phase 1 for longer than the 2 weeks? Also, from everything I've read, snacks are required. My issue is that I'm absolutely stuffed with all the water and veggies that I've eaten today, and I just don't feel like eating. Should I still have a stick of cheese for a snack regardless of if I'm hungry or not? I'm going to list my days menu so far so all of you pro south beachers, please feel free to disect it if there's anything I should be doing differently. I pray to God I can stick with this diet and finally get down to where I'd like to be. Sorry for the novel! Any and all comments/tips/advice is welcome. Thanks for reading!

Day 1

B- mushroom, bell pepper, onion, egg, and low fat mozzarella concoction

S-1 string cheese
1 medium coffee from micky d's with 1% milk and 1 packet of splenda. (not decaffeinated) This is all the caffeine I'll have for the day.

L-2-3 cups of iceberg lettuce, cellery, mushroom, 98% fat free ham, tiny bit of cheese salad with 2 tablespoons of ranch dressing.

(That brings up another question...I literally will not eat any other salad dressing than ranch..will I be okay making my own? I use penzey's buttermilk ranch spices mixed with Helman's light mayo and a little bit of 1% milk.)

That's all I've gotten in for the day. I'll probably have a few mixed nuts for my afternoon snack when I get home. Something along the lines of chicken breast sauteed in olive oil, garlic, onions with a bit of roasted red pepper aioli sauce drizzled over...and a veggie.

Hi Jess!
Welcome to the beach!!

Its great that you'll read the book first!


During phase I, it is important to eat snacks but if you are not feeling hunger, then do skip them. It is OK to stay in phase I for a bit longer but it is very important to get into phase II and begin to add, and subtract, new foods. This enables us to lose weight while we are eating the good carbs in phase II.


This all looks good to start. If you log your food into your journal daily, I can help you that way.


Ranch is good with those ingredients, just know that you'll need to watch how much you use as it'll be very calorie dense.
Its also a good idea to try to be open to trying new food, flavors and dressings.


One thing that is key on SB is that most foods have portion controls, so if you are confused, ask.
1 oz nuts or 2 tbs of nut butter is the daily allowance.
2 cups of dairy daily( I count all dairy including cheese in this. I don't eat more than 2-3 ozs of cheese per day )

I've been maintaining my 120 lb loss for 5 yrs now so I've got a lot of experience with this. I love this plan as its taught me how to eat in a healthy and balanced way.....and I've become a pretty good cook too.

I wish you great success!!

Hi MissJess! First let me say I took a look at your gallery and you're gorgeous!!!

I too wish you great sucess on South Beach. It's by far, for me, the best choice in plans to live your life by. I've tried them all too - Atkins, which helped me lose my initial weight, WW, Jenny Craig, you name it. Especially if you enjoy cooking!

You absolutely can do this! We all can!

Welcome MissJess.

Have you seen the food lists and meal plans? They are here in SB thread. I still use them as a guide. Makes eating on SB so much easier.

Maybe someone can post a link thing to them. (I don't know how to do it ) Print them off and keep them handy for making a grocery list and quick reference. I keep mine on the side of the frig.

You seem to be off to a good start. Good for you using the library to get the book. I use my library too, I've checked out the cookbooks.

I had to learn to lower my portion size so I got hungry for my snacks. If I eat too much at meals I'm not hungry for a snack. Its all about learning what your body needs and balancing it with your life.

Welcome and enjoy South Beach.

Thank you all for your words of encouragement! Portion size is definitely an issue for me and always has been..that, and eating out of boredom, especially at night. I pray that I can work through all these short comings.

Okay, so I've read that during phase 1, only plain low fat yogurt was allowed and then I read somewhere that artificially flavored yogurt has been added to the list. Does any of you know for sure about this? I have several containers of low fat vanilla flavored yogurt in my fridge that I'm afraid to eat, just incase. Also, without thinking about it, I made a broc and cheese soup last night which is absolutely amazing..however I thickened it with about 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. What thickener do you use if corn starch isn't allowed? Everything else in the recipe was SB friendly, though.

Yes, to the vanilla low fat yogurt.
I use red lentils to thicken soups as it also adds fiber and doesn't have flavor. I use an immersion blender after its cooked, to blend it all together.
Yes, you gotta lose the corn starch.

Darn lol. I figured that. Another question..in the book it says they strongly recommend having beans every day..how do you all incorporate these into your meals? The only way I'm really used to cooking with them is when I make chili.

That confused me too as I was not a bean person before doing this.
Its not only beans its also lentils. I eat hummus as one way, split pea soup is another as is using red lentils in other soups.

Many make 3 bean salads...not me though as its not my cup 'o tea.

I like a cup of split pea soup as a snack, I like warm stuff when its cold outside.

Please make sure that you find the **meal plan charts and food lists** in the weighin thread, 2nd and 3rd posts.

Jess, I'm not a South Beacher, but saw your post and wanted to welcome you back! I noticed you had disappeared for a while. I hope that South Beach is *THE* plan for you. Wishing you the best, girl!

Thanks, Krystal!!! I hope so as well. Seeing your pics alone is a huge motivation for me. I WILL do this, dangit! hah

Hi, MissJess. I also wish you best luck with SBD. I got the same decision of change about 5 months ago. If you truly decided it, ultimate success comes afterwards.