I am done with South Beach for the most part, I am switching to the Weight Watchers Points System.

It’s not that I think SB doesn’t work. I lost 10 pounds over the first 4 weeks. Nothing to sneeze at. I’m sure if I stayed on it, I would continue to lose, but I seem to be having some fundamental problems with it.

First, I was not able to stick with Phase 1 for even one of the three weeks I was on it. Switching to Phase 2 saw an immediate weight gain, even though it was alittle easier and I was sticking to it fairly well. It took a couple of weeks after the switch to start seeing anymore weight loss. A single day of falling off the carb wagon saw the gain of every painful pound loss that week. For the 6 weeks I was on Phase 2, the scale had just continued to bounce up and down. This doesn’t bode well for sustained weight loss for me.

I can’t explain it. I’ve been tracking calories, and my intake remained low (sometimes too low) even when I was not staying on program. What I did see was the % of fat seemed alittle too high – even though most of those fats were “good” fats. That may be the source of the problem for me, but drop those fats down, with the restricted carb list, and I was miserably hungry and moody.

And, I am tired of the restricted carbs. Period. I “get” the good carb vs bad carb.

What the 6 Week Body Makeover taught me about sodium, South Beach has taught me about carbs and fats. I feel I have been successful in reducing the refined carbs as much as is feasible. I’ve replaced all white breads, bagels, and muffins with whole grain/high fiber varieties – even using “light” 100-calorie versions of those. I’ve replaced all regular pasta with the Smart Taste (higher fiber) brand, and white rice with brown — and reduced pasta/rice consumption to once or twice a week.

As far as fats go, we have nearly eliminated red, fatty meats from our diet. We are eating more lean poultry and fish, and getting more nuts and beans in our diet.

Sweets & added sugars are a no-brainer. First to go on any diet, and I don’t miss them. Much.

I did WW a long time ago. The exchanges program, well before points. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been sort of watching points as well. To eat enough on SB to not be miserable took me well over the recommended points allowance on a regular basis. What I remember about WW, and see with the Points System, is that the biggest pitfall is not choosing wisely. There is also a danger of becoming delusional with the 35 weekly “bonus points” But I think that as long as you are determined to adopt healthier eating habits, it is a no-fail system. More important, for me, there is no “avoid list.” My daily allowance is 20 points. If I want 2 9-point slices of Meat Lovers Pizza, I plan for it. And still have 2-7 points for the rest of the day.

Counting points can be problematic until you have a cheat sheet of points for the foods you eat the most of. I’ve found some lists if you are interested.

The daily allowance of points drops as you lose weight, but like the weight loss, the points drop is gradual. There’s a short series you use to calculate your daily points:

1. The first two numbers of your weight. (So if you are 150-159, you get 15)
2. Add 2 points for females (12 points if nursing) or 8 point for males.
3. Add points for age: 17-26 add 4 points; 27-37 add 3; 38-47 add 2; 48-57 add 1; and over 58 add 0.
4. Add points for height: under 5 ft add 0, between 5′0″ and 5′9″ add 1, and over 5′10″ add 2.
5. Add points for activity: If you spend most of your day sitting down, add 0 to your weight watchers points total. If you are occasionally sitting but mostly standing add 2. If you are walking most of the time add 4. If you do physically difficult work, add 6. This one was tricky. While I sit most of the work day, I stand for phone calls, cooking, cleaning, and laundry and move around as much as I can – and I add as much activity or exercise as I can. I split the difference between the lower two and gave myself 1 point.

This site is difficult to navigate, but has alot of good lists and menus:

http://quiddity.cc/rachel/diet/wwfoods.htm

Wish me luck – I’ve adjusted my goal to be down another 10 by the 4th of July, and back into the “healthy range” by the end of summer!