I'm hungry!

Avatar for sarahfran
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
I'm hungry!
14
Thu, 07-12-2007 - 11:12am

I'm new here. I'm on day three of phase one of South Beach. For the past year and a half my sisters and I have all been focusing on losing weight/eating healthy/getting in shape. I successfully lost 30 pounds and got to my healthy "weight range" (I don't worry about a specific target weight, just a range of about five pounds that's healthy for me) over the course of six months or so, then maintained that loss for a year. But this year I started getting lazy--I realized that I could pretty much eat what I wanted as long as I kept up my exercise routine. So I ate JUNK, and my weight still stayed in the range I liked, but closer to the top end of the range.

Then in late June I went on vacation and gained almost five pounds. When I came back, I realized I was in trouble--it's July, and that means that I can't go to the gym (I go during my lunch breaks, but during July my DD is in a morning day camp so I spend my lunch breaks ferrying her home) and DH's work schedule (he works nights, so we tag-team parent) means I can't even get out to run from home (which I hate anyway in July!).

So no regular exercise and five pounds over my healthy range, ten pounds from the lowest point of that range. So I'm trying South Beach to, I hope, kick start some weight loss, get off the junk diet I've been on, and prevent further weight gain during a month that I can't exercise regularly.

It's a great time of year for South Beach. The grill is just waiting to be used, and every morning I go out to the garden and pick lettuce, green beans and peppers to eat. The tomatoes will be ripe in a few days. So lots of fresh veggies easily and cheaply available.

But here's my problem--so far this diet has been like a Chinese food diet for me. I realize I'm just on day three, but every single day I've eaten a meal until I'm no longer hungry and an hour later I'm ravenous. The sort of hungry where your stomach rumbles so loudly your coworkers can hear it. I'm eating snacks regularly, so it's not as if I'm starving myself between meals. My meals involve a normal portion of protein and lots of some kind of vegetable. I'm eating string cheese or nuts for my snacks, usually along with pepper slices (which have been my usual snacks for the past year and a half). I know I'm getting enough calories (when first losing weight I just reduced calories and exercised, which was remarkably effective for me. There were no foods that were not allowed, and I was never hungry except very late in the day.).

Is this normal? Will this go away? I don't know how much longer I can last when I feel so hungry all the time!

Sarah

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Pages

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-02-2005
Sun, 07-22-2007 - 1:57am

Hello cl-katymb143

I am thinking of starting the diet this week after I go to the grocery store (lol). I noticed that on your ticker that you've lost a lot of weight, may I ask how long it took you to get there? I am 240 right now (which is where you began) and I am 5ft 9 in. It was very motivating looking at your ticker countdown!! I am going to become a reguar on this board when I begin the diet, you guys really support eachother and I really need that right now.
Have a great day, thanks.

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-20-2007
Mon, 07-23-2007 - 5:22pm

Well, I started south beach in May of last year, but I moved across the country and started law school, so this year I wasn't very strict. I ate a lot that I wasn't supposed to and didn't exercise at all, and although I didn't gain any weight, I didn't lose any either. I've been much better since school got out, but it makes it hard to say how long it took me to get here. Before I started south beach, I had already lost about 20 pounds just by counting calories, but I had completely stalled so I decided to try this. So I lost about 35 pounds on south beach, and it was a pretty average rate of loss. About 1-2 pounds a week. I only wish I had stayed on track this year because I could be at my goal weight right now, but now I know better! I'm 5'8.5" and my body shape is so different! I can't wait to lose the rest of the weight! I'm not just doing this to lose weight, but I'm doing it to be healthier. So no matter what, I'm sticking to it this time!


I know you'll have great success on south beach of you stick to it! We're always here to answer any questions you have!


Photobucket
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Tue, 07-24-2007 - 5:52pm

Hi, Sarah! Fancy seeing you here! :) Sounds like you're doing great! I remember eating a lot of turkey, lettuce & cheese roll ups when I was on Phase 1 a very very long time ago. Like everyone said, if you're hungry then eat! There's plenty to choose from. Cottage cheese, another glass of milk, yogurt, pickles, more nuts, egg salad...

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Lilypie 2nd Birthday PicLilypie 2nd Birthday Ticker


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-31-2007
Tue, 07-31-2007 - 12:12pm

Sarah,

I often have the same problem when I eat veggies with dressing, for example, as a snack. They just don't keep you full for long. Fortunately, there's not really an upper limit to how many lo-cal veggies you can have, as long as you keep the amount of dressing/hummus/pb in check.

Do you like beans? I find that beans are very filling and stick with you a lot longer than veggies with a lot of water (not that you should eat fewer veggies like peppers, etc- definitely still get your 5-a-day).

I often eat a portion of black beans with cilantro and cumin (I can pass along the recipe if you're interested) for a snack. Sticks with me till dinner!

Good luck!
Kate

Pages