Ok, I was at a garage sale last summer and I bought a South Beach Diet book for .25

[PrairieRose]

It's been in my closet all of this time and this past weekend we're at Gripey's dmom's house with his family. His nephew is talking about being on the S. B. Diet. (his wife is an aerobics instructor and weighs about 25 pounds) Anyway we got to talking about what we're doing, which is/was mostly just watching everything we're eating. Lots of salads, no sugar to speak of, drinking only water. Gripey told dnephew that he lowered his own cholesterol over 50 points in 2 months by doing this and has lost 30 pounds. So as the night goes on and on and the S.B. Diet is brought up several more times. Gripey looks at me and says let's get that book. I said, we already have it..... . He says have you read it? I said, um, no. But we dig it out, dust it off and have been going over it since. I think we can do this if we can give up bread of any kind for 2 weeks.

Anyone here done the S.B. Diet? If so did you find it easier or harder than other diets? Do tell. (please and thank you)

[YankeeMom]

I did a paper on low carb diets in college.
While I think SouthBeach is better than say, Atkins, I still can't understand a diet that would let you eat pork rinds but not an apple

I think the hardest thing is phase one. You just don't realize how many things are off limits carb-wise until you read that.

[MysticalRain]

I have started the South Beach Diet and although it can be a challenge, it depends on how much you want to achieve your goal on how difficult it is. Change is never easy, but if we can see results it is encouraging and uplifting and makes the challenge worth the effort.
PS I do not eat pork rinds.

[Telephus44]

I have read it (and then sold it on Half) and while the general theory made sense to me, I just thought a lot of it sounded really extreme (especially phase 1). I have made more of an effort to cut down on "processed" carbs since reading it, but I still need potatoes and rice. And I still eat my homemade bread :-)

DH thought the "mashed potatoes" out of cauliflower sounded good - I'm too chicken to try them. If you end up making them, let me know how they are.

[slowtypinwoman]

I talked to someone who had made them. They just said they were really bland, then had really bad gas for the next day.

[MOM2EM&SETH]

I tried these and my mashed potato loving family wouldn't touch them. I did like the recipe that was posted on another site for like overstuffed baked potatoes.

Credit to cjquick on Frugal Families:
From Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes ~ great site! I haven't made a recipe from there yet that hasn't tasted yummy!


JUST LIKE STUFFED BAKED POTATOES
16 ounce package frozen cauliflower *
8 ounce cream cheese with chives (see NOTE)
8 ounce shredded cheddar
3 green onions, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 pieces bacon, chopped and fried until crisp
Paprika, optional

Cook the cauliflower until soft, about 8-10 minutes; drain very well and break up florets a bit with a spoon (it's also very good if the cauliflower is still a little chunky). Put in a greased 8 x 8" baking pan or 2-quart casserole. Mix in the cream cheese, cheddar, green onion, salt, pepper and bacon. Dust top with paprika, if desired. Bake at 350º for 20-40 minutes, until browned and bubbly. Or, microwave, loosely covered, for about 40 minutes on 50% power, turning dish after 20 minutes.

Makes 6 servings (5 net carbs each)

* You can use up to 2 pounds of cauliflower and there will still be plenty of sauce and cheese to go around. With 2 pounds of cauliflower the count would be: 8-12 servings (8 servings - 5 net carbs each) (12 servings - 3.5 net carbs each).

This is very yummy and an all-time favorite. It goes very well with my Grandma's Rouladen and is very nice with grilled or broiled salmon.

NOTE: The cream cheese with chives has more than double the carbs of plain cream cheese, so you could substitute regular cream cheese and blend in some chopped chives or finely chopped green onions. This would reduce the carbs per serving by about 1 net carb each.

My family still would not touch this one either but I loved it!

[Michelle]

I did it, and once I started it, it wasn't that bad. I had a TON more energy, but then my stomach started to bother me, and I had to stop (this was after 3 weeks of doing the program)

If you are looking for something less restrictive, that DOES allow potatoes (once a day) and fruit, check out the CORE program from Weight Watchers.