Laur, I don’t think WW can be combined with South Beach.
WW penalizes you for calorie content and fat grams. They don’t care about carbs or glycemic levels. South Beach, AFAICT, isn’t so worried about fat and calories.
You can try it, of course, but I would do either one or the other. If you are carb sensitive, IMHO, WW is just going to make you miserable. Yes, WW is great in that it allows you to have anything you want, but if carbs make you hungry, eating them is just going to drive you crazy. WW is a well balanced plan but I don’t think it’s for people who are sensitive to carbs.
I’ve gained back three pounds, and I’m hoping it’s just monthly bloat. I do everything right, and I can’t drop any more - I’ve been sitting at 195 for a long time now. I’m pretty frustrated.
You can combine WW with Atkins or South Beach. Just eat to your points allowed of Atkins or SB-approved foods.
The question would be, why combine them in such a manner?
With WW, you can eat anything you want, but you have to stay within a certain number of points. With a low-carb diet, you can’t eat everything you want, but you can eat as much as you want. An overweight person should be able to lose weight one way or the other, and not have to do both at the same time.
Because I think that, with WW, I let myself eat too many unhealthy things, even if I do stick to the points I have. I want a way to encourage myself to eat fewer refined carbs etc., and I was idly wondering if the two could be combined. I haven’t looked into it yet - my mother bought the South Beach book and if I decide I can’t trust myself to reduce carbs without following a program, I’ll read it.
I’ve done quite well on Atkins. Once you get into it, it’s really very easy.
I make lunchmeat rollups most days - get some decent lunchmeats from the deli (not that nasty Oscar Meyer plastic crap) and roll up a slice of meat with a slice of cheese and a slice of lettuce on the outside. You can add some spicey mustard or even a little mayo.
Make sure you eat enough veggies and drink plenty of water, at least 64 ounces a day, if not more. I’m convinced lots of water is key to losing weight.
norinew suggested a good crunchy Atkins-friendly snack a while back - take some pepperoni slices and wrap them in a single layer in a paper towel and microwave them for about a minute. They get dried out and are nice and crunchy. Thye’re like little spicey chips. Quite tasty!
And adjustment to make: my baseline weight is incorrect. I measured 319 at the Hampton YMCA, then the next day at the doctor’s office I checked in at 336. The next trip to the Y, I did it again, and came up with 335. 335 is now my baseline.
This morning, I weighed in at the Y and got 332. Woo Hoo!!! To top it off, I also did 1/4 mile swimming without stopping for a breather. Now it’s time to work up to a 1/2 mile standard workout in the water.
Very sore, tired, and hungry when I got to work, too.
This weekend, we had a Dopefest for the MADs. ultrafilter was there, he can tell you how he thinks I’m looking. Also, when I walked into the door, I was greeted with a “Holy Shit you look great!” from Airman Doors, who always was known for his command of the english language
Saxface was also there. She moved to France just as I started dieting, and she was so pleased to tell me how great I look now compared to then.
I tell ya, Saturday was a fantastic, non-scale victory day, for me.
I’ve been going to Bally’s almost every day. I do 25-30 minutes on the elliptical machine or treadmill, then swim for at least 20 minutes. Yesterday in the pool, I had a conversation with a lady who’s at around 350 lbs and 5’5" tall (she told me). I told her what I started out at (256) and what I’m at now (195), and how it’ll come, just stick with it. We chatted for about 45 minutes, which meant I tread water for about that long, more workout for me I guess! Anyway, she left smiling, when she looked pretty down beforehand. That sort of made my afternoon.
So, as mentioned, I’m still at 195. I have switched to the Wendie plan on Weight Watchers, where you vary the amount of points you eat in a day (you can find out more about it here) and hoping that will take care of this plateau.
I was 199 last week (Monday), but got down to 191 over the last week. I’ve been going to the gym 3 times a week religiously, but pigged out yesterday. I had a big mac for lunch (I haven’t had one in years, seriously, and I was craving it!), and Pizza Hut for dinner.
Screwed up my knee this morning at the gym. I was coming down on a lunge, and landed funny and heard it pop. Everybody cross your fingers that it heals fast…
Probably a stupid question:
Could I be losing inches without losing weight? I’ve been stuck at about 188-189 for awhile now, but several pairs of pants I bought right before Christmas are definitely looser.
I’m exercising (walking and stationary bike), but not any more than I have been before. A co-worker whom I only see occasionally saw me today and called me The Incredible Shrinking Woman.
I never measured myself other than weighing, so I have no idea of any measurements.
I’ve lost 15 lbs since Dec 1 low-carbing it (according to my bathroom scale) and I’m going to the doctor tomorrow (to have my possible carpal tunnel looked at, but my doc always checks weight, BP & temp on anyone who holds still long enough.) – I’m strangely excited to see what the doctor’s scale says.
As far as my OWL, I’ve added in berries and melon, nuts, LC yogurt (dannon Carb Control) and even a couple tablespoons high-fiber granola from Whole Foods. Still losing, slowly but steady, maybe about 1 lb/week-ish. Diong good, can’t complain.
Except my excercise program is off the rails… I’ve been wussing out re: riding my horse in the cold.
As for me, I’ve decided to try out a ketogenic diet–probably the Atkins plan. They’re all basically the same, but it has the longest history, and has had the most adjustments to make it easier to follow. My motivations at a low right now, and seeing some results would go a long way towards picking it up.
I have an appointment with a nutritionist next week to ensure that I’m not placing myself in danger on Atkins. If she gives me the green light, I’ll go forward with it starting that next weekend.
What are you doing for exercise? A lot of what people do will add muscle mass, and muscle is more dense than fat. If you’re swimmming, running, aerobic dancing, lifting weights, etc. then don’t worry about it. You’re still losing the fat, and soon the muscle building will level off.
Wow it’s great to read about everyone losing! Absolutely amazing!
As for me, it’s been a month, and about 10 lbs lost. Disappointing, but progress nonetheless. As for my stats, I’m knocking off everything I lost before Jan, and starting over. Soooo now I’m at 170/160/120.
The big thing is that I FINALLY got the courage to join and attend the university gym. I’ve never exercised regularly in my life, and it’s amazing how much better I feel b/c of it! I’m cycling and on the elliptical, mostly, but I’m trying to start a jogging regimen.
Dopers give me so much motivation. Keep up the good work, you guys! Another month and it’ll be even better
Basic walking and riding a stationary bike. Nothing strenuous. Certainly nothing on the “I’m going to the next Olympics!” level. I ride my bike for about 15-20 minutes, twice a day. At least once a day - sometimes I forget the second time. And I’m not pedaling hard. Just a simple slow and steady pace.
That’s probably enough to build up some muscle in your legs, and offset any fat pounds you would be losing.
A doctor explained it to my mom this way once: Think of a pound of muscle as about the size of a pencil and a pound of fat as the size of a bag of cotton balls. (Probably not totally correct, but it gets the point across)
I’m hoping to hit the 50-pounds-lost mark by April 7th, when I go to Texas for a few weeks to visit family. That’s 11 pounds away. Do-able, if my body decides to cooperate.
