Not losing enough

I started on the low carb South Beach Diet. I am an 81 year old male.
Work out at the gym every other day, 30 minutes cardio and 90 minutes on
the weight circuit.
First week lost 5 lbs, next week barely 1 lb. Need to lose about 15 - 20
lbs.
I don't think that I can stay in Phase I much longer.
BTW - I think that the first week loss was mostly water.
How do I maintain the weight loss at reasonable pace?
--
Nathan Gutman

"Nathan Gutman" wrote in message
...
I started on the low carb South Beach Diet. I am an 81 year old male.
Work out at the gym every other day, 30 minutes cardio and 90 minutes on
the weight circuit.
First week lost 5 lbs, next week barely 1 lb. Need to lose about 15 - 20
lbs.
I don't think that I can stay in Phase I much longer.
BTW - I think that the first week loss was mostly water.
How do I maintain the weight loss at reasonable pace?
--
Nathan Gutman

1 Ib a week would be an excellent rate to lose weight!

That's about 500 calories a day! WOW

There are several problems with the South Beach Diet. One, the carb
level is too high. Two, the fat level is too low. Three, it allows
grains and legumes, which can cause weight to stay on. Four, it
advocates cutting down on saturated fats. Saturated fats do not cause
heart disease and in populations where saturated fat use has gone
lower, the obesity level has gone UP.

If you feel terrible, it is most likely the low fat levels that are
making you feel that way.

I think you would be better off following Protein Power Life Plan by
Mike and Mary Eades or Natural Health and Weight Loss by Barry Groves.

Nathan Gutman wrote:

I started on the low carb South Beach Diet. I am an 81 year old male.
Work out at the gym every other day, 30 minutes cardio and 90 minutes on
the weight circuit.
First week lost 5 lbs, next week barely 1 lb.

Some advice from Dr Atkins that applies across the board to
every type of diet plan - A stall is 4+ weeks without a cheat,
without a new low, without a lost inch. The definition is not
arbitrary. It's about what is and isn't reasonable in expectations
of loss rates. There probably hasn't been a dieter in history
happy with the fact that the time scale for fat loss is month to
month not week to week, but disliking a fact does not convert
that fact into fiction. Join the club of not liking your loss rate
but it remains true that no mattr your dislike of the rate you're
doing fine.

Need to lose about 15 - 20 lbs

Next bit from Atkins that applies to all types of diets - The
last 10 pounds is supposed to be lost "very slowly". And given
the definition for a stall that ends up meaning a pound a month
during the last 10 pounds.

This factor comes with a principle - More to lose, faster to
lose it. Less to lose, slower to lose it. Like it or not the people
who say you can trigger loss by changing calories aren't
correct. The body changes metabolism to keep the rate of
loss proportional to the amount available for loss.

Seriously, a pound a week is a fabulous rate at this point.

Worse, how did you select your goal? Insurance tables run
10 too low. If you used an insurance table add 10 and you
really only have 5 - 10 to go and you're already in the last 10.

I don't think that I can stay in Phase I much longer.

Not knowing enough details of SBD I'll point out that on Atkins
phase one lasts 2 weeks. If a plan has phases, go through
them on schedule. Plans are designed based on at least a
decade of practice and they suggest stuff that is not obvious
for the simple reason that what they suggest works better
than the obvious.

BTW - I think that the first week loss was mostly water.

Sure. So what? How does this change the fact that you're
losing at what's basically the ideal rate to keep it off?

How do I maintain the weight loss at reasonable pace?

By continuing on as you are going and work through what
are and aren't reasonable expectations. You're in good company
on that as there probably hasn't been a dieter in history happy
with actual loss rates. But that's your job at this point - Get a
handle on what rates are reasonable and make peace with
those rates.

Nathan Gutman wrote:
I started on the low carb South Beach Diet. I am an 81 year old male.
Work out at the gym every other day, 30 minutes cardio and 90 minutes on
the weight circuit.
First week lost 5 lbs, next week barely 1 lb. Need to lose about 15 - 20
lbs.
I don't think that I can stay in Phase I much longer.
BTW - I think that the first week loss was mostly water.
How do I maintain the weight loss at reasonable pace?

Nathan, it sounds like you have a wonderful exercise routine, good for
you. Like someone mentioned, the South Beach diet may have too many
carbs, but you have only been on the diet for a short while. You could
give it another few weeks and see how you do.

If you are building muscle (90 minute routine), this could be what your
scales are reflecting. In other words, you could be losing fat, but
gaining muscle.

Congrats and keep up the good work.

Becca

On Jul 16, 9:09*pm, Becca wrote:
Nathan Gutman wrote:
I started on the low carb South Beach Diet. I am an 81 year old male.
Work out at the gym every other day, 30 minutes cardio and 90 minutes on
the weight circuit.
First week lost 5 lbs, next week barely 1 lb. Need to lose about 15 - 20
lbs.
I don't think that I can stay in Phase I much longer.
BTW - I think that the first week loss was mostly water.
How do I maintain the weight loss at reasonable pace?

Nathan, it sounds like you have a wonderful exercise routine, good for
you. Like someone mentioned, the South Beach diet may have too many
carbs, but you have only been on the diet for a short while. *You could
give it another few weeks and see how you do.

If you are building muscle (90 minute routine), this could be what your
scales are reflecting. In other words, you could be losing fat, but
gaining muscle.

Congrats and keep up the good work.

Becca


5 lbs the first week, 1 lb the second, what exactly did you expect?
With only 15 to 20 lbs to lose, you can't expect weight to come off as
fast as it would if you had 100 lbs to lose. The quesiton that
comes to mind when people complain about what should be considered
excellent weight loss, is why do you have to have it come off very
fast. The usual reason is because the person is looking at the diet
as a short term fix, something to be endured for a short time so you
can go back to your old ways. And if you look at it that way,
you're destined to fail.

In article , Nathan Gutman says...

I started on the low carb South Beach Diet. I am an 81 year old male.
Work out at the gym every other day, 30 minutes cardio and 90 minutes on
the weight circuit.
First week lost 5 lbs, next week barely 1 lb. Need to lose about 15 - 20
lbs.
81 years old? Someone half your age (hell, 1/3 your age) would be proud of a
workout regimen such as yours. You've got 30 years on me, and that weekly
workout schedule would wear me out.

My advice is to be patient. The weight loss will come if you stay the course
with LCing and exercise.

My lipid profile and glucose levels were very bad when I started cutting out
carbs. Now my cardiologist is very happy with my test results.

There are more benefits to LCing than just weight loss.

Mark
280/220/200

On Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:01:51 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

There are several problems with the South Beach Diet. One, the carb
level is too high. Two, the fat level is too low. Three, it allows
grains and legumes, which can cause weight to stay on. Four, it
advocates cutting down on saturated fats. Saturated fats do not cause
heart disease and in populations where saturated fat use has gone
lower, the obesity level has gone UP.

If you feel terrible, it is most likely the low fat levels that are
making you feel that way.

I think you would be better off following Protein Power Life Plan by
Mike and Mary Eades or Natural Health and Weight Loss by Barry Groves.


In posts like this, you need to add, YMMV. South Beach is an
excellent plan for many people, and you paint an extremely misleading
picture of what it entails. I followed the Atkins plan for several
years. Then after angioplasty and stent insertions to open up a 98%
blocked coronary artery last October, my cardiologist put me on the
South Beach diet -- he actually gave me literature and lots of reading
about it. I've been doing fantastic on it. My triglycerides went
from 350+ to 117, and my total cholesterol is also 117. My HDL/LDL
ratio increased dramatically. I feel great, am healthy, and am
losing weight steadier than ever before.

You should not be giving medical advice to an 81 year old man, BTW --
especially advice that has questionable information that is more your
opinion than fact. It's true that South Beach allows more carbs than
Atkins or Protein Power, but they are low-glycemic carbs. I eat
limited amounts low-carb whole grain bread, oatmeal, and yams for
instance. I completely avoid any simple starches such as white bread
or processed wheat products, high-glycemic vegetables and fruit or
sugars. Diagnosed with T2 diabetes 4 years ago, my blood sugar and
HbA1c are perfectly normal on the South Beach plan. So much so, that
my doctor thinks that a mistake may have been made in my diagnosis
(which it wasn't) Contrary to your is statements, South Beach *is*
a controlled-carb plan. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with
consuming healthy unsaturated fats like olive oil instead of
calorie-dense saturated fats, which are calorie -dense.

And I myself will say, YMMV -- South Beach may not be for everyone --
but neither is Protein Power, Atkins, et al. We each need to find
what works best for us and our particular health needs, and then
stick with it.

Please do not state your personal preferences as the only practical
choices. It's not helpful.
---
Peter
270/216/180

On Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:44:55 -0400, Nathan Gutman
wrote:

I started on the low carb South Beach Diet. I am an 81 year old male.
Work out at the gym every other day, 30 minutes cardio and 90 minutes on
the weight circuit.
First week lost 5 lbs, next week barely 1 lb. Need to lose about 15 - 20
lbs.
I don't think that I can stay in Phase I much longer.
BTW - I think that the first week loss was mostly water.
How do I maintain the weight loss at reasonable pace?


Sounds like your're doing great! At that rate you'll lose the 15
pounds in a little over 3 months! And congratulations on your
inspiring exercise program. I'm 30 years younger than you and have a
hard time getting motivated to stick with mine.
---
Peter
270/216/180

Marengo wrote in message ...

And I myself will say, YMMV -- South Beach may not be for everyone --
but neither is Protein Power, Atkins, et al. We each need to find
what works best for us and our particular health needs, and then
stick with it.


Very true. :-)

Cheri