Can you believe it's been 4 years... through ups and downs, I still believe this is the best thing I could have done for myself. So let's do roll call Hello July babies!!! Denise 326/245/180 start/current/goal

Four pounds down - WooHoo!! Denise - good for you!! OK - Zebra cake was just a fluke - no more of that stuff....right?!?!? I'm continuing to do well on the SBD. I'm starting week 6 tomorrow and I'm down from 192.6 to 178.6 - 14 lbs. I'm very happy about that and I'm not really feeling deprived or hungry. This is actually a plan that I think I can stick with. Here's today's menu: B: one egg and some chicken, V-8, coffee S: zucchini slices with lite Laughing Cow cheese L: big salad with tuna, black olives, cucumbers, canneloni beans, chick peas, salad dressing S: FF yogurt with kiwi D: Tacoless chicken (all the ingredients from a taco, without the shell), broccoli S: SF Jello with some FF Greek yogurt and Cool Whip Hugs to all - I'm hoping we'll see some July babies popping their heads in to say hello for our 4 year anniversaries. Nancy

I'm down 4 lbs since I restarted posting here. So... my goal is not to stop posting since it seems to help me focus on the big picture... continued weight loss and health! Yesterday was excellent, although I must admit to finding a zebra cake in my cupboad and yes... I demolished it. Felt like two cents looking for change afterwards. That's the last of the junk food in the house! Todyay's Plan Breakfast:Tilapia Applesauce Snack: Achievone Lunch: South Beach Meatloaf & Geen Beans Snack: Achievone Dinner: Shrimp, Romaine Lettuce, SF Dressing Snack: Achievone Crystal lite Exercise... 90 minutes water aerobics.. DONE Have a great day! FINALLY LOSING DENISE

Very interesting and not too different from South Beach other than on SBD you need to eat around 4 cups of veggies per day (most included except starchy ones like corn and potatoes) and you are encouraged to eat some healthy fats like nuts, olives, olive oil, natural pb - of course guidelines are provided for amounts. You can eat sweet potatoes in Phase 2 (which is two weeks after Phase 1). When you start Phase 2 you can add one fruit or a slice of whole wheat bread, or steel cut oatmeal each week working up to three servings per day. Once you're on Phase 3 (or maintenance) you can really eat whatever you want, but hopefully the SBD has become a way of eating you can pretty much stick with. Many people have a treat day and eat ice cream or something like that. I was never much of a veggie person and the SBD has helped me find veggies that I like and I've never eaten so many!! I've found the SBD has helped me to control my eating - no more grazing. When I was binging I was eating all day long - boxes of cookies, candy bars - so much sugar that I would be physically sick, but I couldn't stop. That's what tells me that I am a sugar-holic. When you are ingesting something that is making you ill and you still can't stop, that's a sickness. So I guess my goal, one day at a time, is to stay away from sugar and processed carby white foods. Those are the foods that I am 'allergic' to and which set me off on a path of destruction!! Do I miss them? Yes, at times I miss them terribly. But I quit smoking 8 years ago and still get cravings for cigarettes. The cravings are fleeting, so I hope that will happen with the food too. Thanks Denise for posting the plan. It's always good to have another go-to in case things stall out. It's also good to keep your body guessing. I find sometimes if I am on a plateau, switching off to a different diet shakes the body up and you start losing again. Hugs, N.

Here's the scoop on the Protein Train... There's a group of folks on another forum that does this at least once per month: 5 Day Protein Train *Here are the rules for the protein train: © Cookie Luscious The goal is to put your body in ketosis and burn fat. Therefore, you must STAY BELOW 20g of carbs PER DAY. Go to google.com to read about ketosis. On this train ride, you CANNOT eat: - Bread of any kind (bagels, crackers, waffles, pancakes, toast, wheat bread, white bread, rye bread, pumpernickel, sourdough - you get the picture). - Rice - Potatoes (white or sweet) - Flour - Gravy - Beans - Sweets (cakes, pies, candy, cookies, M&M's or anything in this family) - Fruit nor fruit juices - Nuts (pecans, brazil nuts, walnuts, peanuts, hazelnuts or anything in this family) - More than one (1) green, leafy, vegetable You CAN eat: - Any meat (read the labels because some meats have carbs) - Jerky - Eggs - Cheese - One green, leafy vegetable per day (collards, turnips, kale, spinach, romaine lettuce, bibb lettuce) ** BROCCOLI AND GREEN BEANS DO NOT FALL IN THIS CATEGORY ** - Protein shakes (read the labels) - Protein bars (read the labels) - As much water (or other SF, Sodium free, calorie free, caffeine free, carbonation free beverage) as you can hold. Menu ideas for the protein train: Breakfast ideas: Egg and cheese omelet Egg white omelet Egg, cheese, and meat omelet Boiled eggs Turkey bacon (or beef or pork) Chicken sausage (or turkey or beef or pork) Decaf coffee with protein powder added Snack Ideas: Deli turkey slices with cheese rolls Deli ham Protein shakes Pork rinds Beef jerky Turkey jerky egg salad Chicken Vienna sausage (or pork) Lunch ideas: Tuna salad Chicken salad Grilled chicken breast Steak or steak and eggs Turkey burger with cheese and mayo/mustard (or beef) Ground turkey with melted velveeta cheese Pork chop Baked fish Dinner ideas: Cajun shrimp All of the lunch ideas Grilled chicken on a bed of romaine lettuce Collard greens Turnip greens Kale Mustard greens Spinach Rack of lamb Veal Lamb chops Turkey chop Roast beef (no gravy) Chicken wings Turkey wings Chicken legs Leaf lettuce salad