Cjsutherland's Journal, 20 March 2011

Awesome! Good for you! 

Thanks! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. :) 

How long have you been on the South Beach diet? I'm nearing the end of week 2 and doing pretty well. Sometimes I just wonder how long the honeymoon will last though... 

Nevermind, I just looked at your history. You've been staying on track VERY well and in just 2 months! This diet is awesome and I have a feeling you'll be a great inspiration to me. 

Yeah, it's been pretty good. I've tried it several times over the years, but this time I'm also counting calories, which South Beach recommends against. I think by eating whole grains and staying away from simple carbs that I'm not getting hungry often, and the calorie counting is what's making me lose the weight. So it's a good combo. And the Fat Secret apps are a huge help. Looks like you're right on track yourself. Congrats and keep it going! 

Cj- how did you figure out your calorie intake and what phase are you on in the SB diet?  

@Emmasmommy28 - I'm in Phase 2. I started out not counting calories for the first few weeks, but using the Fat Secret food logging apps to keep track, just for my own records. After two weeks, I realized I was ending my days with a 1200 calorie deficit, and I wasn't hungry much at all. So I decided that would be my target, to have a 1200 calorie deficit every day. How much I eat depends on the amount of exercise I do and if I had been working that day or not. But the Fat Secret logger makes that bit easy. Doing research I found out that 3500 calories burned = 1 pound of fat burned. So 1200*7 days = 2.4 pounds burned per week. And surprisingly, it's averaged out to be just that! So it's working. I think the trick is to find out what you are comfortable with, then stick with that one number. And keep track of *everything*. It's really helped me. 

Like you, I tried SB before without counting calories. I had success, but this time I decided I'd keep myself more accountable with FatSecret. If I just do SB by itself, I will follow it closely but get carried away with the carbs, eating too many chickpeas, for example. Congrats on your weight loss and willpower!