There is the official website, which I think is southbeachdiet.com, but it
is a pay site and you will find very little useful information there if you
aren't willing to pay.

You really ought to read the South Beach Diet book if you want to understand
its plan.  See if you can borrow it from a friend or a library if you do not
wish to pay for it yet.

As I recall from reading the book, Agatston allows tomatoes but not more
than a serving a day.  They are relatively high in sugar.  As for the
non-lowfat meats, I think Agatston's purpose in recommending lowfat products
is to keep the total calories down.  Certain other low-carb plans (Atkins in
particular) would not take this approach, as lowfat products frequently have
extra sugar and starch in them to replace the taste lost when the fat is
cut.

Thus, in addition to reading the book, I recommend charting your calorie
intake for a while using a tool like fitday.com, so you can see just how
much the full-fat versions of things are affecting your total calorie
intake.  What I have learned from reading this group is that most people can
lose fat while eating a number of calories each day of roughly 10 times
their bodyweight.  So if you weigh 180 pounds, aim for around 1800 a day,
and cut it if you aren't seeing results.

carla

You think you are following the plan? You don't know what you stick in your
mouth? Or do you not really know what the plan is?

Carl,

I also have been on the South Beach Diet since Monday, March 1, and as of
yesterday, I've lost 7 lbs. I have not followed the phase 1 menues in the
book exactly either, since I'm trying to use what is fresh and available in
this small town, and my grocery budget is already shot for the month. I've
been eating a lot of green salads with fat free italian dressing... lettuce,
cherry tomatoes (though I used regular roma tomatoes the first two days
until I got some cherry tomatoes). I even ate out one day for lunch....
country buffet place. I had baked chicken breast, (I removed the skin) green
beans, steamed brussel sprouts, and a salad from the salad bar with boiled
eggs, and cheese on it. Last night I made hamburger patties with lean ground
beef, and served mine with vegetables and a boiled egg. I'm eating a lot of
boiled eggs.  But I'm avoiding lunch meats, because I think they are too
high in fat for what I'm getting out of them. So as you see, I'm not
sticking to the menu either. Fish is hard to get here, other than canned.
And we are on the go so much, it's hard to find a lot of cooking time.

You might try going to Fitday.com and putting in a day's menu and see where
your high numbers are. You might be eating things that will surprise you
with their numbers. As for the low fat cheeses, I don't have any here and
have a fridge full of regular cheddar, pepper jack, stuff like that, so
that's what I'm eating. Just in moderation. Portion control is an ongoing
learning process with me, but Dr. Agatston said my job was to eat until I
was satisfied so that's what I do. I just try to fill up on the things that
are strictly legal, like salad.

I wish you the best, and hang in there. Perhaps you don't have a lot to
lose. Or your diet was already fairly low carb. Without knowing what your
activity level or previous diet was, it's hard to say what the problem might
be. Try Fitday. It cleared up a lot of things for me.

Jean

282/275/140

I have not had a cigarette in Eleven months, one day, 14 hours, 32 minutes
and 58 seconds.
That's 6732 cigarettes not smoked, saving $686.68. But who's counting?

Try this site: http://groups.msn.com/SouthBeachDiet

Hi Brian, welcome to the group!

Did you read the book?
Don