South Beach Dieters Group Meet Here!

[SheilaInAL]

Hi Folks,
Thought I would check in all the boards. Thanks so much for the welcome backs. :D

I also carry the weight around the danger zone in the middle. My dad died of heart problems a year ago today (although he was nowhere near being overweight....he had advanced stages of congestive heart failure) and my mom had a heart attack and a splint put in just over a year and a half ago, my brother who is in Iraq had a heart attack 3 years ago and had 2 splints put in (and yes the military accepted him for duty over there!)

Anyway, with all the heart problems in our family, I am trying to avoid that path and work hard now at eating the right things and getting the exercise I need. Amazing how much better I'm feeling. I think I would like to keep this up indefinitely! :D

Sweets have never been a problem with me, but the salty snacks sure are, so I have to steer clear of those. Fortunately, I do have a natural liking for vegetables and fruits and things like that so it helps.

Again, thank you for the welcome backs. I hope everyone is having a great day!

[WeirdEyes]

Sheila, wow!! You do have a lot of heart problems in your family. I can't believe your brother is in Iraq. My goodness! Unlike you, sweets are my downfall. I wish I liked fruit and veggies more. :rolleyes:

[FlorenceItaly]

Juli - I hope you were able to make it to the grocery store to get some healthy food in the house.

Sheila - like Tami sweets are my downfall. I also a large portion of my weight in the middle. I plan to switch over to SB, as soon as I take the time to research it.

Shae - THank you so much for sharing with me.

I am sorry I am not able to address everyone individually in this post. I will get better as time goes on and I am terribly tired this evening.

I also deal with thyroid issues (hypothyrodism)...been on meds for a few years, but STILL feel very fatigued. I can't seem to find the right doctor or the right combination of meds. Instead of being energized by working out, I am fatigued. It is about all I can manage to do is go to the gym and come home. I am making an appt with a new endo tomorrow....so again, I am HOPEFUL.

Have a good evening everyone, and a good Thursday :).

Marie

[irislady]

Juli,

You sounded like you really need some help to get you going again. Don't get discouraged. You know we're all pulling for you. Remember to take one day at a time. A 40 pound weight loss seems overwhelming right now, so concentrate on smaller losses. Break it down to 10 pounds in the next month. You know that that is do-able. Once the weight starts coming off again, you'll get even more motivated to stay with the program. Put all the "off limit" foods out of reach, but make sure you have healthy choices in their place. If you can't physically get rid of the "bad stuff" in the house because of other family members make sure it's not where where you'll be tempted by the sight of it. Leave reminders on the frig about your goals. Log what you eat and when you eat it so you can see any bad patterns you might have and change them. Another helpful hint I read not long ago was to avoid watching TV as much as possible. There are way too many commercials for unhealthy, high calorie foods. Their whole purpose is to undermine our will power. Drink lots of water... and try drinking a full glass of it before you sit down to eat. Also, try drinking more fat-free milk and/or taking calcium supplements. Adding fiber also makes you feel more full. Get a good carb/fat/calorie guide and read labels. Calories and portion size still count. Avoid going to the places where you have a terrible time resisting high carb meals. (For me it's Chinese and Mexican restaurants.) Don't freak out and give up over small gains. They'll most likely be temporary and due to water retention. Reward yourself when you reach your first goal, but with something other than food. Plan your meals in advance. You're less likely to make something you shouldn't eat if you have the ingredients for a "legal" meal. If possible, find someone else that you're close to to go on SB with you. And, of course, exercise. Even if you don't lose all 40 lbs that you want to by May you will feel better, look better and be healthier with any weight loss, right?

I'm sure I've forgotten many other things that will help. I hope everybody else will post what works best for them. We're all here for the same reason to get and give help in losing and maintaining our losses.
Shae

[adoptmom]

Hi everyone! I'm so proud of myself today! I had an iceskating lesson and have walked over 12, 000 steps today! Woohoo! I'm also on my 19th day straight of exercise. Tomorrow I will be 20% of the way to my goal of 100 days. Also my weight finally started to drop again.

We moved Grandma out of the hospital today too. She's in a nursinghome which is 5 minutes from my house. That will be such a great help as I've been driving 25 minutes each way or more when the river was flooded. It's a nice place for a nursing home. The decor is a bit dated, but it's clean and it smells good when you walk in the door. All the residents I saw were smiling and so was the staff. I feel so much better about it now. They still think she will be ready to go back to the Methodist home in 30 days though probably not back to her house for a while.

I made a really good soup tonight that I got from Rachel Ray. It's one of her 30 minute meals. I'll try to get the link and post it because it's totally SB friendly. I just swapped the potatoes for greenbeans but I bet that sweet potatoes would be good in it too.

I guess I'm "lucky" in that I carry my weight in my hips and thighs. I have fairly low cholesterol (150) and little family history of heart disease. My dad did have a heart attack but it wasn't because of heart disease, just stupidity. (Long, sordid story. :rolleyes: )

Shae- Ugh! I'd LOVE to see some sunshine! I really don't mind the cold, but the cruddy grey skies are bringing me down. I'm hoping to keep below 32 until after Monday. They are having a homeschool ski session so we're going to take the older two and go Monday. After that we can have 40's for the rest of winter and that would be fine and dandy.

Anyway, I'm off.

Talk to you all later

[Cindyrella]

Thanks to all of you for the welcome.

Juli--I went on SB last spring and had good success--a 14lb. loss when my goal was only 10! However, I'm having trouble the second time around just like you. I've only lost 3 lbs in 2 weeks and I admit I've been cheating with sweets. I vowed to continue Phase 1 this week and have been good except for last night when I didn't get home from work until 8:30 and had a turkey wrap. Not supposed to have that tortilla. I think what made a difference last time was exercise so I got on my treadmill Monday night and I'm going to again tongiht. I'll report if it made a difference next week. One thing with exercise for me is that I do it AFTER dinner adn drink lots of water during so it keeps me from snacking because I'm full from the water. I only have 10 lbs to lose but boy those 10 are hanging on!:eek: Wish me luck!

[SheilaInAL]

Hey y'all,
Just finished my routine of evening exercises. I had read somewhere the other day, the trainer recommends doing the most vigorous exercises in the evening, about an hour or so after your evening meal, since it is normally your largest meal of the day, so that's what I've been doing.

Sheila...yes, I was surprised too when they called my brother up for Iraq, but he willingly went and so far, he's still doing great.

Shae...I have the same problem......I LOVE Mexican and Chinese food! If I could, I would live off that stuff! To me, it's more addictive than sweets! Having to cut out those and my beloved Dr. Peppers makes me a very unhappy camper...but have to sacrifice if I wanna get this weight off! LOL!

I hope everyone has a wonderful night, and please don't be discouraged. Always believe that you can lose the weight and then stick to your strategy! :D

[Cindyrella]

Shae-forgot to tell you in my original post that I too have the dreaded "pear" figure (thanks a lot mom). I've found that although cardio is good for your metabilsim and your heart, the only way I can get rid of my "saddlebags' ugh, hate that word, is to do leg exercises with weights--both ankle weights and dumbells. I did this last spring and it really worked. I had a Kathy Smith video I worked out to--just 20 minutes. I couldn't stand her whooping and hollering but I hit the mute button for that :). Anyway it was the Kathy Smith "Llift weights to lose weight" tape. I've tried pilates, the stablizer ball ,etc and that was the only that I could stick with and had good results.

[adoptmom]

Sheila- I feel for you. Both of my little brothers have gone to Iraq. One is now home and the other is scheduled to come home sometime in February. They literally passed eachother in Kuwait when the older was on his way out and the younger was on the way in. Now we'll have a few months of breather space but the older one expects to be sent back in July. Ugh!

There are actually loads of good chinese and mexican foods that are SB friendly. We eat from those 2 cuisines plus Indian all the time. I love spicy foods.

Cindyrella- When I was 19 I had a crohn's disease flairup and came out of the hospital weighing 86 pounds (I'm 5'6") and I STILL had saddlebags. :eek: How irritating is that? Now on top I wear a size 12 but still need a 16 or 18 on bottom. Grumble :mad:

Tami

[WeirdEyes]

Hi friends! I'm very frustrated. After switching from Phase 1 to Phase 2, I've gained 1.5 lbs. I haven't been able to exercise this week either due to being sick. I guess that makes a big difference. I thought about going back on Phase 1 or Phase 1.5, but I can't live like that for long. I need my good carbs. :) Thanks for letting me vent.

[SheilaInAL]

LOL sorry guys, but I had to giggle a little reading y'all's posts this morning especially the part about wearing a size 12 top and a size 16 to 18 on bottom. Gosh, can I relate to that! I'm 4 ft. 11 1/2 in. tall. At a good weight, I can get into kid's clothes...at the weight I am now, I can't get into hardly any clothes! Frustrating indeed!
Tami...amazing both of your brothers went to Iraq and basically passed each other in Kuwait. Did they have to go to Kuwait for a month to do guerrilla warfare training before heading into Iraq? My brother did. I will be glad when he gets back and hopefully, he won't have to return over there...it's been hard for mom.
Ok, spill it........I'm still pretty naive about what are considered "good" Mexican and Chinese foods that I can eat. Care to give me a few tips? :D I've basically been living off of salads, cottage cheese, low-fat yogurt, things like that. If I can have certain Chinese or Mexican foods, it sure will make things easier to live with! hehe
You know, growing up, I ate what I wanted, when I wanted and never had the need to exercise. Now that I'm older, seems like everything I eat finds it's way to my hips, stomach and thighs. Life is so unfair! LOL!
Hope everyone is having a great day!

[irislady]

Tami, I miss the sunshine already! Now we've got a chance for more snow and/or freezing rain on Saturday. Yuck. I'm a picky eater and the only things I like in a Chinese restaurant are high in bad carbs... like the rice, noodles, Lo Mein, fried rice, egg rolls & fortune cookies. (But I like those A LOT.) I like Moo Goo Gai Pan,too, but only over rice and noodles. I've gone twice and only had the egg roll filling and the Moo Goo without any starch, but even the thickening is carb-rich. The only dishes I like at Mexican restaurants are the chips, tacos, quesadillas and enchiladas. I always order the same thing, but next time we go I may try a fajita. My daughter usually gets those. They don't interest me, but would be a better alternative. I make my own enchiladas at home with low carb tortillas, low fat cheese, onion and mushroom, and use the sauce sparingly. No chips in the house.

John, are you packed yet?

Cindy, leg exercises alone can't completely change a pear shape, but they truly do help to tone and develope muscles so that the legs look better. Hormones & genetics determine where the fat is going to be deposited. Diet and exercise (aerobic, too) will help keep the weight off. Every body, regardless of shape, needs regular aerobic exercise to keep the heart healthy. A weight lifting routine can be an aerobic workout if you keep your heart rate elevated for at least 10 mins intervals.

Shelia, don't get upset. You've probably got some water retention going on since you've added some carbs and haven't been exercising. "This too shall pass". You know you haven't taken in enough extra calories to have gained that weight in fat. Relax, your body will adjust and the water will go. Remember, you can't stay really low carb indefinitely and stay healthy.

Sheila, I'm a bit taller than you at 5'4", but I'm very small boned, so a little extra weight goes a long way. When I had to buy a sun hat on this last cruise I could not find a ladies' hat that fit. A Camp Carnival kids' hat fit me just right... but I refused to buy it and wear it. DH thought it would be "cute" if I did. HA. I did end up finding & buying a ladies' hat that had a draw string around it, and I could get it tight enough so that it didn't fall over my ears and eyes. The bill was huge in proportion to my face, but at least it gave me the protection I needed.
Shae

[WeirdEyes]

Shae, thanks for your helpful words. What would we do without you? :)

[ColoradoJuli]

Were do posts go? I just typed out a message, hit some key on my computer and poof! it was all gone...so I will start my confession again.

I did really bad last night. DH didn't come home until late, I hadn't made it to the store, there wasn't any food in the house so...I ordered pizza!:eek:

But...I did make it to the store today. I bought good food and have lots of meat and salad makings for the coming week. I feel much better and know that I can do this. I lost about 15 pounds that last time that I was on Phase 1, so I am sure that I can lose a good amount this time. I just have to stay away from my nightly glass of wine.:(

I do have some incentive to lose the weight before our vacation in May. DH told me last night that he will give me $100 for each pound that I lose between now and May 14th. This will give me 4 grand to do what I want with it! I just might book another cruise. Anyway - I plan to go to the bank tomorrow and get a one hundred dollar bill and put it on the fridge and get one for the pantry. I'll let you know how my savings account is looking.

Shae - thank you so much for your words of encouragement!

Shelia - don't worry too much about the weight. I am sure that it will come off once you feel better and can eat and exercise correctly.

Speaking of exercising...I haven't done any so I think that I will sign off and go do my pilates DVD.

Hope everyone has a good night.

[irislady]

We're all here for each other. Y'all have helped me, too, more than you know. I really wasn't sure at first that SB was going to work for me, and you all encouraged me to stick with it.

I picked up the Jan/Feb. issue of Low Carb Living today. It's loaded with lots of good advice including an article by George Stella about how to Low Carb grocery shop. George's advice works for "moderate" carb living as well.

Juli, relax. I had 3 slices of pizza on the cruise, and it didn't wreck anything. Just cut back on the carbs the next few days to balance it out. $100 a pound! Now that's motivation!

Shae

[Cindyrella]

Shae, you're so right about a persons body shape. My mother, sister and aunts all have a pear shape. I use my treadmill one day and then do excersies the next alternating days. About 12 years ago I was going through a nasty divorce, moved out of state and was a single mom. I lost 20 lbs from pure stress and at the time I didn't need to. I got down to 110 and I'm 5'7", I still had my saddlebags--just much smaller;) . I have considered liposuction but I figure now that I'm 49, I've lived this long in this body, I'll just try to look the best I can. It sure does take work though. I had never dieted in my life until I hit 42-43. Now it takes a lot of effort!

[adoptmom]

Shae- I'm addicted to George Stella's show on foodnetwork. I substitute lower fat items and take on a few extra carbs for it but they're really good recipes. We got a lot of snow today and are due for 2-6 on Saturday. I'm hoping it's closer to 2 because my little one has a birthday party.

Sheila- Yes they both spent their first month in Kuwait. Your brother will most likely spend some time there on his way out too. They call it demilitarization or some such nonsense but it's really deprogramming. :rolleyes:

As far as mexican food is concerned fajitas are great. There are alot of fish recipes too. My favorite salad is mexican too. You can't have it on phase 1 because it has mango but here it goes: Just thinly slice (matchsticks or very fine dice) 1 peeled jicama, 1 cucumber and 1 mango and toss together with the juice of 1 lime and chili powder to taste. We like this on low carb tortillas with baked or steamed fish. You could just as easily serve it over the fish and skip the tortilla.

For chinese food I like to stirfry veggies and tofu or meat with some ginger and garlic. Then I use teriyaki sauce from Kikkoman for the flavoring. It's the cheap and very thin kind and it has very little sugar.

I'll post some more recipes later but I need to get to bed now. Do you like Indian food? I have tons of SB friendly recipes for Indian food.

Tami

[WeirdEyes]

Shae, isn't it great that we have this wonderful support system? It makes me feel good to know that we all help each other. :)

Juli, congrats on getting to the grocery store and buy what you need...that is a great start. Also, WOW!!!! $100 for each pound?? I wonder if my DH would go for that. ;) Good luck, girl!!

Tami, I can't hardly eat Chinese food any more and I love it! It makes me feel so sick afterwards. My favorite is Mexican and I do make a Mexican salad that is SB friendly and Salsa Chicken. Yum!

Cindyrella, my MIL is a pear shape. She can wear a size 6 or 8 on top and then takes 14's on the bottom. She is really short...around 5' so every little pound shows on her. She's tried for years to get it off and it doesn't budge. I've loaned her my SB book to see if it will help.

[irislady]

Hi. I wonder why it is that some pear shaped women lose that after menopause and some don't. My best friend and I were both always on the thin size, but definitely carried more of our weight on our outer thighs. Neither of us needed to wear different sizes on top and bottom, but did have the dreaded saddlebags. Now after menopause we both gained our weight around the middle instead, and the saddlebags are almost non-existant. I also put my weight on in my back and chest which she didn't. She, too, used a low to mod. carb WOE to lose the weight and keep it off after her daughter lost 30 lbs. on SBD. My friend never actually followed SBD because of the restrictions of Phase 1. She refused to give up orange juice or use a sugar sub in her tea. She was never one to have sweet cravings, though. Breads, pasta and salty snacks are how she gained her weight after meno.

Tami, I do a low carb Chinese stir fry at home that we both love, but our Chinese restaurants offer very few low-carb options that aren't seafood. (I can't eat seafood because of an allergy to iodine.)
Good luck with your snow. I hope it won't affect your little one's birthday plans. We're supposed to miss most of the snow this time, but maybe get a little freezing rain. Hopefully, that won't happen. The Ohio River valley often causes quirky weather patterns that push the bad stuff away from us.
Shae

[ColoradoJuli]

I had a good day yesterday. I think that shopping helped with my mental attitude and I am doing much better. I also got on the scales and have lost the two pounds that I gained on the cruise. $200 gained and $3800 to go!

Sorry about the lousy weather that you are having. Our high yesterday was in the mid 70's and it is to be in the mid- 60's today. The weather in Colorado is so much better than most people realize. January always has some beautiful warm and sunny days.

I'll take all the chinese recipes that you all want to hand out. I sometime get a craving for chinese and we end up eating out at Pei Wei.

Has anyone heard if the Kraft low carb dressings are alright. I picked up a couple yesterday. They have 0 carbs and 3g fat.

[WeirdEyes]

Juli, glad to hear those 2 lbs are gone! The weather is nice here also...high 60's. :D

[cruiserforlife]

Afternoon all,

Just one short week from today I'll already be on the Sun and have consumed the 1st. of 300 meals! Somewhat kidding I'm sure...

Weighed myself today (usually do every week or so) and zero weight loss so I'm not stressing about it.I have lost zero since the intial 15 lb. loss.Either I'm doing something really wrong (highly doubt that) or this diet just isn't for me.

I will just continue to do what I'm doing and when I cruise,I won't deny myself either.With our 1st. home purchase just on the horizon,I seriously doubt we'll be cruising for a long,long time so this will be our last big fling.
Will continue to exercise,eat good and take the stairs whenever possible.

What else can I do?

[WeirdEyes]

John, I don't know what else you can do. It seems are you are doing everything right. Are you eating enough? Are your clothes loose? :confused:

[cruiserforlife]

Shelia,

Not really,same as after the intial weight loss.Pants feel exactly as they always have.

I'm baffled.

[WeirdEyes]

John, you sound like you might be experiencing what I am..the dreaded weight stall after switching from Phase 1 to Phase 2. I plan on cutting more carbs and exercising more. That is the only thing that works for me. Good luck and have a blast on your cruise!