Hello everyone - first off, i'm new to computers and this is my first message on any board. I'm in real need of support. First, a little info about myself. I've just turned forty, last July, I started Adkins and lost about 18 lbs. I've been able to maintain my weight, but I think another 8 -10 lbs. will put me at my ideal weight. I'm not a very big person (only 5'1"), but I've struggled my whole life to stay trim. There really is a fat person inside trying to get out! I have a husband (who wants to lose 20 lbs.), and 2 girls 15 and 17. The 17 year old wants to lose 15 lbs. and the 15 wants to lose 6 - 8 lbs. As a family, we decided to go on the South Beach Diet. We've been on the diet for 7 days. My husband is discouraged because he hasn't lost any weight, any my 17 year old is going through Diet Coke withdrawals. I'm at my wits end!! My biggest problem (beside trying to be the family cheerleader) is that I work outside the home and the menus require SO much preparation. I'm literally cooking or chopping for hours a day. The day before we started,we all went to the grocery (totaling $326.45) and prechopped many of the items together - thinking that it would save time. The girls cleaned veggies, made 3 days worth of stuffed celery and most of the desserts. Well, it's just too complicated. I love the menus, we're rarely hungry but I just don't have this kind of time. Can anyone offer me any advice? Or words of encouragement?

Hey, welcome to the forum. You came to the right place to get your questions answered.

However, You would probably get more and better answers if you posted these questions under the "South Beach Diet" section.

Regardless - Welcome and best of luck!

I'll transfer it over there.

The coke withdrawls will pass. Since you all have such little weight to lose you might want to jump to phase 2 a little sooner. It could also be a matter of at 40 your body deosn't want to lose more, or if you are active you might have a good body fat percentage already. A number on the scale means nothing, instead shoot for a healthy amount of fat in relation to lean weight.

The kids are old enough to help out more with meals too. Maybe make it to where certain nights of the week they are in charge of dinner for the family.

Your husband may need more calories to support his needs. Men typically need more then women, and if he's eating the exact same thing you and the 17 year old are there could be problems. Also if he is over 40 it might just take more time. The older we get the less the body wants to change and give up it's security layer.

Thanks to all who replied. Family meeting tonight ~7:00. Everyone's gonna have to pitch in! - New goals - everyone confortable in their swimsuits by May 30th. We're going on a cruise.

Hey,
that's so great that your family is in it together. I'm 20 and both my parents are diabetic yet they don't diet with me or anything like that Anyways, i think the suggestion to go directly into phase II is a good one-- my roomate reads cosmo magazine and this months issue had an article about south beach for teenagers--Dr. A recommended going right into phase III, he said weight loss would be about 1 lb a week. I also drink diet soda (a lot) on SB, so maybe your daughter shouldn't worry so much about restricting herself (just a suggestion)-- check out the cosmo article though (not the whole magazine though, some of the other stuff is kinda racey)

FIrst, celebrate how luck you all are to be in this together! It is twice the work if you also have to cook for two parts of the family - the anti meat anti veggie pizza and noodles as well as south beachers! You are lucky.

Somewhere here a guy complained that SBD is too much cooking. But I am in your boat - full time career, two girsl 12 and 15 (but the chabbier 12 year old hates meat and veggies, and is very active, and the 15 year old looks great- I am not pushing), so in a way it is worse, on the other hand I only think of me (DH is diabetic and can't cut carbs in that way without getting his insulin messed up).

So, what do I find? I have a lot of allowed snacks around (peanuts, string cheese, lf plain yoghurt), I always have a head lettuce (Boston or butterhead), I always have deli cut turkey breast and lf cheese, and smoked Salmon. I sometimes cook hard eggs ahead. So, I don't often chop veggies for breakfast and Lunch - that is mostly the lettuce with some tomatoes and the deli meat and cheese. For dinner I don't think it is more work - in the beginning the biggest work was my breakfast since I often made warm veggies with eggs - now I am on a whole grain bread with avocado and cheese or salmon etc....

I often made about a 3 x recipe of the veggie quiche on a free momment in the weekend and froze about 10-15 of them. They are also a snack for me.

Dessert - we are not too much into that and the most popular one if was a large pack of jello that hung around for a few days in the fridge - eaten by all, SBD or not. Or I make fruit salad late in the evening - wash raspberries, blueberries, cut kiwi and pear and orange.

It seems you 4 have an admirable attitude of everyone pitching in! And don't forget to switch to phase 2 after two weeks - with so little to loose and teenagers it may be useful to make it all look more normal, have (albeit whole grain) Spaghetti again etc. so they don't drop and go the other way. Good luck - and report back here in a couple of weeks, PLEASE!

First off - thanks to everyone who replied. I am so excited about the support from everyone. OK - this is what's happened. In our meeting we decided the following things. My 15 yr old is moving straight onto Phase 3. She lost 5 lbs. last week and I don't think that's healthy. She's the kid who never once complained about any of the menus, lack of soda or anything. She's also the one who needed to lose the least amount of weight. Not to mention physically, she is the most active - she's an equestrian and trains many hours a week. She is now responsible for her own breakfast. The rest of us are moving to Phase 2. We also decided that if 1 or 2 Diet Cokes a day make my 17 yr old happy, than OK. It's not worth the struggle. She's finishing up her senior year and gearing up for her summer job as a tennis instructor. Then off to college. She's lost 3 lbs. I think that's should be right. Hubby lost 2 lbs. and he seems eager to continue. But what can I say - he's not too happy about kitchen time. So we compromised. All he has to do is package the lunches (if cooking or chopping is required - I'll do it) the night before and completely prepare one dinner a week. Together, we made the grocery lists and I did the shopping (still $354.67!). Everyone helped with the unloading, and then we went on to chopping, cleaning the lettuce, and making some recipes. This week should be smoother. I'm happy with my results, I've lost 3 lbs. and I feel like I have more energy. I am blessed that our family works well together, we all just really needed to listen to each other and figure out what our roles were. We all knew that we had to make some changes in the way we ate, and I do believe in this plan. I also believe that Mom's set the moods of the house and this Mom will continue to be enthusiastic - in part because of this forum. Thanks to everyone again.

First off - thanks to everyone who replied. I am so excited about the support from everyone. OK - this is what's happened. In our meeting we decided the following things. My 15 yr old is moving straight onto Phase 3. She lost 5 lbs. last week and I don't think that's healthy. She's the kid who never once complained about any of the menus, lack of soda or anything. She's also the one who needed to lose the least amount of weight. Not to mention physically, she is the most active - she's an equestrian and trains many hours a week. She is now responsible for her own breakfast. The rest of us are moving to Phase 2. We also decided that if 1 or 2 Diet Cokes a day make my 17 yr old happy, than OK. It's not worth the struggle. She's finishing up her senior year and gearing up for her summer job as a tennis instructor. Then off to college. She's lost 3 lbs. I think that's should be right. Hubby lost 5 lbs. and he seems eager to continue. But what can I say - he's not too happy about kitchen time. So we compromised. All he has to do is package the lunches (if cooking or chopping is required - I'll do it) the night before and completely prepare one dinner a week. Together, we made the grocery lists and I did the shopping (still $354.67!). Everyone helped with the unloading, and then we went on to chopping, cleaning the lettuce, and making some recipes. This week should be smoother. I'm happy with my results, I've lost 3 lbs. and I feel like I have more energy. I am blessed that our family works well together, we all just really needed to listen to each other and figure out what our roles were. We all knew that we had to make some changes in the way we ate, and I do believe in this plan. I also believe that Mom's set the moods of the house and this Mom will continue to be enthusiastic - in part because of this forum. Thanks to everyone again.