Willie's Journal

[Willie6]

I am taking the plunge and starting the SB Diet tomorrow. My initial goal is to lose 80lbs. but at the end of it all I would like drop closer to 100lbs.

Current Stats-
36 yr. old Male
5'10 tall
290 lbs.

Current mindset-

I am pretty frustrated with myself for getting to this point. I am at a point where I need to do something and finally address my weight issue. I have tried a lot of diets and have had some success. Unfortunately, there is something that always knocks me off of my track like holiday's, vacation or I have a pretty hectic work schedule. Once I get off course it takes me anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months to get back on track again and by then I have usually gained all the weight back. I am hoping that I can get my act together and stick to the SB Diet.

Concerns with SB Diet-

Hunger. I am at my busiest work season of the year. I am stressed already and I am worried that I will spend the next 2 weeks starving. I know-This is not a starvation diet but I feel like my body will experience hunger and cravings as it gets used to the program.

Exercising while on the diet. As a former athlete who still loves enjoys working out and playing sports, I fear that the limited diet will make me want to eat more or may even have a negative impact on my working out. When I get on a workout kick, I do like to spend 1-2 hours (typically closer to 2 hours) lifting weights, swimming or doing some sort of cardio. In the past when I have missed a meal and then went to the gym I have felt very weak. I fear the SB Diet may have the same affect if only in Phase 1. Disclaimer: I am a complete newb to the diet so I am not saying that is what will happen; it is just a fear of mine.

Limited Diet-I see there are some very specific serving sizes that you can have. For instance 15 almonds. This is a huuuge concern of my since in the past the more restrictive the diet, the harder it is for me to stay on it. I do think there is enough variety in the diet for me but if I have to measure and count everything I am concerned that I will not be able to stick to it.

P.S. 15 almonds is not going to fill me up!

Failure-This one is not exclusive to the SB Diet. I have tried to get healthy more times than I care to remember and I find myself more and more asking myself "Why bother with another diet?" Or thinking "failure is inevitable." That's where you guys/gals come in!!!!

That about sums it up. Sorry for the long post but I thought it would be good to provide some info about me and some of my concerns. I think a lot of dieting is mental so I will probably include how I am feeling with my regular updates as well.

Wish me luck. Tomorrow starts a new beginning.

[JeffInJax]

Willie,

My story has much been the same as yours, ive tried most of the diets out there and failed due to any number of reasons. One morning you have to wake up and decide that there wont be any excuses, you're plain and simple not going to let anything get in your way. On that mindset id lost something around 55 pounds before teetering around there. Im still at 55 pounds down and will be starting southbeach back up again. The reason southbeach works in my opinion is since you dont starve yourself, even if you fall of a bit its not rapid gain back, because your metabolism is still revving. Im not going to lie and say you'll be full of energy on phase one, the first week especially sucks but my piece of advice would be to make a bean dish or something similar for the concentrated carbs that you cant have from bread and fruits. I make a dish called taco soup in the crock pot which lasts me for a full week and prevents the headaches i seem to get when doing phase 1. Will you feel weaker on phase 1? More then likely because all the glycogen is being drained from your muscles.

If you're dedicated to reaching your goal, the forums is a great place. It will provide motivation and yes, all of us fall off the wagon sometimes but hop back on and keep strong. Take care and see you on the beach!

[Willie6]

Hey Jeff! Thanks for stopping by. I hope you check out my journal often. It would be nice to get another guys opinion on things. 55 lbs. is pretty great! I can't imagine what it would feel like to lose 55 lbs. I have to tel you I have read some posts on here that have me terrified. People seemingly sticking to the diet and 3 weeks in have had little to no weight loss. That would destroy me.

So on to day 1 post. I think this quote sums it up well:

"He who fails to plan is planning to fail" -Winston Churchill

So I knew I did not have eggs in the house but I was almost certain I had cottage cheese. Wrong! There went my plan for breakfast. Unfortunately I had to be out the door early so I put a hold on breakfast. After my morning appointment I hit a Denny's. I ordered a veggie omelet and turkey bacon. Not a bad recovery but I am concerned if portion size is a problem. The omelet was pretty big.

Later today I have some boneless-skinless chicken breast made up with broccoli. So I can have that for lunch and dinner if I need to. I am going to hit the grocery store in an hour or so and stock up on some other things as well.

Off and running!

[Willie6]

Ok so Day 1 part 2-

Kind of a weird day for meals do to not being very well prepared. Here is what I had for the rest of the day:

Breakfast-Omelet and turkey bacon(See above)
Lunch-I got hungry and could not wait to get to my chicken and broccoli so I went to Subway and had a salad with lettuce, spinach, green pepper, onion, cucumber, cheese, oil and vinegar.
Dinner-Chicken breast and broccoli with a little bit of 2% cheese on it.
Snack-Celery and natural peanut butter and 15 almonds.
Snack-1 Cup of turkey chili

Ordinarily I would like a mid-morning snack and mid-afternoon snack but today things got a little flipped around.

I made some turkey meat chili this afternoon and tuna salad for the rest of the week so I will not be scrambling the rest of the week.

Day 1 complete. Sadly, I would say I was feeling hungry 50-60% of the day. Hope this changes with a few more days under my belt. Feedback time! Is my eating ok or am I missing something?

[JeffInJax]

Your quote couldnt be more accurate, the reason i was able to be on the beach and almost never slipup is besides breakfast i had all my meals prepared 2-3 days ahead of time. On sunday id make my lunches and dinners til sunday. By the way, something i was told in the beginning was since i was a bigger guy it wouldnt hurt to increase my almonds to 30 or so. Im a pistachio guy, so i eat 30 of those like the menu suggests. Protein is an unlimited type deal, for example though your omelette may of seemed huge, long as you stopped eating once full its fine. As for what it feels like losing 55 pounds, well some of my old clothes feel like a dress instead of a shirt now lol.

One thing i noticed you missing is you need your dairy, wether it be through yogurt or skim/fat free milk. I dont enjoy the taste of plain fat free yogurt so what i do personally is add a packet of splenda and a little bit of pure vanilla extract. Turns the yogurt into something good.

Dieting is more psychological from what ive experienced then anything. We as guys have a slight natural genetic edge when it comes to weight loss. Its not fair but for example i lost a little over 20 pounds in my first month before slowing to a steady 1-2 pounds a week. Though it is hard to do your diet the way you want right now it'll soon become second nature.

By the way, just a heads up i tend to be very direct and forward so please dont take anything i say as mean, just being honest and trying to help any way i can. The first two weeks i remembered being hungry for the first 4-5 days. Anyways good luck and keep strong. Remember, new spices and seasonings are a beachers best friend!

[Willie6]

Thanks for the advice and guidance. Where should I add the yogurt or milk? Should it count as one of my snacks or can I just drink a glass of milk whenever?

Day 2 is off and running. So far feeling slightly better than yesterday but I am terrified after eating of feeling hungry 30 minutes later.