Ezma

I'm very thankful that I still have South Beach going on. It will give me added incentive to steer clear of the junk. Also, thankfully, they don't give out ice cream when you trick or treat. :teeth_smile: WE ARE STRONGER THAN OUR CRAVINGS!!!!

What I know for sure is..... I know Lap Band was the best choice for me. I know I have so much more movement range and energy now. I know I've lost 111 pounds in 8 1/2 months!!!!! I know I never thought I'd be exercising daily and even enjoying it on some days. I know I never thought I'd be so thoughtful of what food I put in my body. I know I'm less embarrassed now than I was at the same weight and lower when I was in my 20s. I know this forum has saved me from failing many times and I really appreciate all of you. I know I'm proud of myself for all the hard work I've done and all the positive, healthy changes I've made to my life. I know I'm gonna need cosmetic surgery. and last but not least... I know I'm gonna need new clothes again soon.

Well, I had my first weakness caving on South Beach last night. I gave in and had a small portion of ice cream. Hopefully it doesn't mess things up like it could on Atkins where the weight loss is a very chemical thing based on ketosis. I lost another pound even with the ice cream and I'm at a total of 6.4 down since starting this. I plan to finish up this week and very probably continue it until my doctor's appointment the morning of 11th of November. I really want to make up the weight I didn't lose last month. I'll be happy if I can take off another 11 pounds in the next 12 days. Might be a bit too high of a goal but we'll see.

Well the ice cream cravings have been strong since Sunday and they finally won on Wednesday. Last night, after 10 days without, I finally caved in and had a small portion of ice cream. It was very sweet and not as good as I remembered it. Now, don't get me wrong, it was good but just not as good as I remembered. Sugar is definitely an addiction for me but I think I can keep it reasonable now. I did lose another pound still so I hope it doesn't mess up my South Beach too much.

Sounds like Arizona would be the answer to your dream, at least in the winter. We have two seasons - hotter than hell and gorgeous. If you can make it thru the 6 months of 100+ it's so worth it. Next month's meeting I plan to eat the dang things. So they better keep the plates far from me. LOL.

I dropped another 1.2 pounds this morning. Brings my total to 5.4 pounds so far. I have 5 days left of phase 1 and I'm hoping I can lose another 5 pounds on it. Not sure if that's realistic but I can sure try. At the rate I've been going it will be about 8 pounds total in the 2 weeks of Phase 1. That's a bit lower than I was hoping but I'm so very happy with the loss so far. Is anyone else still on Phase 1?

I sure does count if you want it to Tap. I looked it up on Daily Plate and it says you burn 681 calories an hour doing it. Sounds like your having lots of fun with the winter white there. We're still in the 90s during the day and I can't wait for that to drop just a bit more. The ice cream cravings have been extremely strong for me the last couple days. I did avoid it but just barely. And last night, we went to a cancer support group and they had two trays of cookies and brownies right in front of me. They were at arms and nose reach for 90 minutes. Jeez. It was torture but I prevail. I can't tell you how many times I almost reached out and grabbed the dang things and nommed them down. I did get the reward for being good this morning though, I'm down another 1.2 pounds.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: Yay!!!!!!!!!! I'm so, so, so, so, so happy for you. It won't be jinxed. It's yours and will stay yours and more to come. Good for you Tap! :biggrin::w00t::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::w00t::tt2::smile::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::smile::smile::smile:

Hope they got you back on track and you lose some soon. It's a real boost and I'm sure you need it as much or more than I did.

I was up half a pound but that seems to be my trend on this diet. Should drop 1-2 pounds in the next day or two. I'm staying on phase 1 this week. I've been very happy with the progress I've made in the first week and it hasn't bothered me at all to be on it. Can't wait to weigh in the morning.

Yay! 1 full week with no ice cream. Only craved it twice and only one of those times was I close to caving in. Hope you all are doing well with your cravings too.

Monday morning weigh in - I'm up .6 from yesterday but down a total of 3.6 from last Monday. Not quite the 10 pounds that Lil had in a week but very respectable and I'm so happy to have it going down again. Exercise has been going as planned. I'm doing my 18 minute aerobic workout and a 20 minute walk each day. Not quite to the 45 minute total I was aiming for but very close. As soon as it gets a bit cooler during the day I'll add another 10 minute walk on my break. How's everyone else doing?

It's a good morning. I'm down a total of 4.2 pounds now. Not bad in 6 days. Yay South Beach! I can tell this will be my go to everytime I need to get myself back in line and kick a carb addiction. Best part is I feel good again too. I have more energy and just feel better. Another biggie for me today is that I reached another goal. I now only have 100 pounds to lose. Tomorrow it will hopefully be less than 100. I know that's still a lot but it will come off. I'm sure of it. Yay me! Has anyone tried the ricotta Desserts for phase 1 yet? I've had one before with strawberries and ricotta but it had honey and fruit in it and it wasn't South Beach friendly. But it was oh, so good. Tonight I'm gonna try either the mocha or lemon one. Looking forward to it.

How's everyone doing? In fact, how many of us ended up doing South Beach? I'd love it if everyone reports there loss so far on Monday. That would be a week into it and we can see how everyone is doing. It looks like I'm gonna be on the low side of their estimated 8-14 pounds in the two weeks but I'm truly ecstatic that the scale has moved at all. Very happy about the 3.2 pounds I've lost in 5 days. I'm still a bit bored with the food but then I haven't really made much of an effort to find exciting things to eat. Maybe now that the weekend is here I will become more creative with the food. Yesterday I tried to keep the cholesterol and fat lower and that worked pretty well. Without eggs in my diet my cholesterol was at 116% of daily needs or 348 mg and my fat was 64% or 42g. It's still higher than normal for me but I expected it on this diet. Phase 2 will be much better since it's basically what I loot at as normal eating for me. I still haven't decided how long I'll stay on Phase 1 yet. I did some research and the Dr that wrote the book says you can stay on Phase 1 for up to 2 months only if you have a large amount of weight to lose. I'd say I still qualify for that but I really do miss my fruit. Don't really care that much about the grains but I needs me some fruit. Today's my shopping and cleaning day so I don't exercise but I just might throw some in later on since I'm on a big push to get under 100 left to lose. Let me know how all of you are doing and have a great weekend.

I've got all my fingers and toes crossed for you Tap. In fact, I'm over here making Jeannie head nods and Samantha nose wiggles. Somethings gotta get ya over the hump. I'll report my weight loss on Monday too. It's been a good week for me since the scale is finally moving again.

Lookin' great! You can totally see the difference between the two pictures. Bet you're feeling a lot better too.

I've also been getting a bit freaked out about this. After all the weight loss I'm starting to get a bit of wrinkles and sagging in my face. I've always looked younger than I am and I don't want to work so hard to lose weight and end up looking horrible. I'm sure it won't get too bad but just feeling jumpy about it.

Happy Birthday to Denise!!! I, too, feel pretty good about controlling the ice cream now. South Beach has really done wonders for me. Once I got rid of all the simple carbs for a few days I quick having the overwhelming cravings for them. The potential is still there and probably will be until the day I die. I saw some ice cream on a commercial last night and said "Mmmmm, that looks good" to myself. I'm also feeling so much more energetic again now that they are out of my life. I really do think simple carbs are the beast itself. Have a great weekend guys. And remember.....Just say "No!".

Well, sadly but not unexpectedly, I'm up .4 pound today. Of course I was hoping to have lost more but it's not surprising at all to me. My weight seems to bounce up and down a lot when I'm losing so I just look at it as a sign that things are going as they should be. Had a little more hunger yesterday so I ended up eating a bit more. Add to that the lovely constipation effect of the diet. I upped my Fiber and have tried to up my Water but I think that I forget sometimes since I'm not very thirsty. Gonna have to get myself some shiny bracelets I think. Will try to keep my carbs very low today since I plan to have my iced coffee this morning. It's not that bad for calories or carbs in the real world but the half and half in it gives it 16 grams of carbs which is a little over a third of the max I want in a day now. Off to exercise. Have a good day guys.

Doing great Shiny!!! Couple more days like that and you'll be a total of 100 pounds lighter. Bet you're getting excited about that. Two more for me and I'll only have 100 left to go. Okay, not gonna say that again, it doesn't sound as much fun as it did when I set that goal. I had Jimmy Dean ham and cheese omelet this morning, 1/2 cup fat free yogurt for breakfast. I had a low fat string cheese and a cucumber for snack. Thinking about lunch but not sure what I'm gonna do there. I have some roast beef lunch meat or some chicken. Tonight I know I'm gonna have stuffed bell peppers. Last night I made the mashed cauliflower made like mashed potatoes. I was really good, almost tasted like mashed potatoes too, just a hint of cauliflower taste. Yummy

I've been doing great with the ice cream stuggle. I've been doing that South Beach diet and it's kicked in good. I don't crave the carbs anymore like I did. It was just what I needed. The weight loss is an extra plus. I did eat a sugar free fudge bar last night cause it's the only thing I have for dessert on the diet in the house. No biggie, they aren't my favorites.

We loved Bucket List though it made us cry and cry. It was very inspirational. Just saw Deja Vu while my hubby was doing his first day of the new clinical trial drug - thought it was good. One of my all time favorite movies is The Game with Michael Douglas. It's several years old but I bet it'd still be good.

I love this diet!!!! I lost 2.8 pounds now. Feels like I'm back in the weight loss grove and I feel much better now. Dang, it's sad how toxic bad carbs are to me. They taste wonderful and I love them but they really do make me feel awful. I know most of you guys only weigh once a week but how is everyone doing or feeling?

Tap - you're doing so great. You truly are an inspiration. Hell, I'd take 10 pounds from you onto me if I could. Every time I start to feel down because I've hit a plateau I'm gonna think about you. You have maintained the best attitute in a very frustrating situation.

Are any of you planning on staying on Phase 1 longer than the 2 weeks? I'm not sure yet. Figure I want to try and get thru them first. If the weight loss is great I'm sure I'll be tempted to stay on it longer but I really, really miss my fruit. Today felt like it went really well for me. I stepped on the scale in the afternoon and was down. Usually if I weigh in the afternoon I'm down 1-4 pounds from that in the morning. I have my fingers crossed really hard right now. I didn't lose any weight over the past month so it will feel so good to be on the right track again.