Two weeks prior to my WLS, I was on the South Beach Phase 1 diet. Has anyone done the same, and if so, are you still somewhat following the same regimen?

Yes, that's essentially what I'm doing, but informally it's just low carb while keeping fats low and dairy minimized. I went on a whackadoodle test to see if I could mimic/tolerate the afterlife of WLS and did it from the "very beginning" to now--post wls. I was eating 400-600 cals, mostly from protein drinks and little soup. Soup-IKR? Well my surgeon FREAKED. LOL. As did my PCP. The surgeon told me to up my cals to 900-1000/day or else WLS might not help. So now, I've slowly raised my cals and am up 800cals/day and am still losing. One more week and will raise it to 900cals. That's the long way to tell you, that eating so few cals, I really had to knock the hell out fat in order to eat 65g protein; 30 or fewer g fat; 20 g net carbs per day and get them to meet 600, 700 or 800 cals. So yeah...SB1 is fairly close to this, except I don't think Dr. A. spoke about any macro quantities. (I am still pre-surg...so maybe I should just shut up...maybe I talk too much? LOL)

No, I think you doing it is great. Have you found yourself losing a decent amount of weight while being on it, I lost a decent amount of weight prior to the surgery while using this diet. I'm really thinking about getting back on the SB wagon, one week out of the month, I go insanely "Coo Coo for carbs and chocolate", mode. Yikes!!!

Crystal, for me, the ONLY way--and I do mean only--to tame my inner carb monkey is to eat low carb. Otherwise the cravings and insulin fluctuations are ugly. The more you resist "caving" or going on/off, the more steady-state your bgs/insulin and hormones will become. I'm post-hyst, so no longer have the pms cravings to deal with. Yay God! But we do sometimes (Mr. Fluffy more than me...) have 1 square of Lindt 85% chocolate and that seems to help cut off cravings. He will have about 4 pecan halves and a square.

As far as me "losing a bunch." I am almost at 40lbs loss since May 3. I just found I'm hypothyroid and also have a super low B1 (probably have been low B1 for a long time--since chemo/radiation, but they just found it with WLS screening). To me it feels like I'm losing so slowly for the amount of angst, effort, and low calorie starvation. LOL. But now that I'm at 800 cals/day, it almost feels like too much food. I'm not hungry very often. But I'm continuing to lose about 10-11 lbs/month. I think low carb REALLY helps dial back hunger.

16 hours ago, FluffyChix said:

Crystal, for me, the ONLY way--and I do mean only--to tame my inner carb monkey is to eat low carb. Otherwise the cravings and insulin fluctuations are ugly. The more you resist "caving" or going on/off, the more steady-state your bgs/insulin and hormones will become. I'm post-hyst, so no longer have the pms cravings to deal with. Yay God! But we do sometimes (Mr. Fluffy more than me...) have 1 square of Lindt 85% chocolate and that seems to help cut off cravings. He will have about 4 pecan halves and a square.

As far as me "losing a bunch." I am almost at 40lbs loss since May 3. I just found I'm hypothyroid and also have a super low B1 (probably have been low B1 for a long time--since chemo/radiation, but they just found it with WLS screening). To me it feels like I'm losing so slowly for the amount of angst, effort, and low calorie starvation. LOL. But now that I'm at 800 cals/day, it almost feels like too much food. I'm not hungry very often. But I'm continuing to lose about 10-11 lbs/month. I think low carb REALLY helps dial back hunger.

I almost caved last night, I know my Dr. said I can have a little piece of chocolate...BUT...I'd rather not tempt myself and in turn, set myself up for failure. I bought sugar free pops and sugar free pudding, and that hit the spot. I wish they had mini-pop's, it takes a long time to finish one popsicle and I usually end up throwing it out.

Wooohoooo! Look at you staring down a craving!!! Congrats! That's really a BIG deal, you know?! Um...I do sf choco puddin'!

You should get some popsicle molds! You can even use ice cube trays and cover them with aluminum foil. Then when they are partially frozen, you can shove popsicle sticks into them. Then just pour 2-3 oz of premiere protein into each mold and freeze it. I know they (PP) have recipes for pops, just can't remember if there are any other ingredients other than the protein drink? I know you can add things like yogurt, etc. That way, you make only the size you need and they have some redeeming quality to them! LOL. Right?

So you are SOOO right to not do the chocolate if it's a gateway drug. Dr. Stephen Phinney, one of the authors of The Art and Science of Low Carb Living said in an interview that each cheat sets up back, metabolically, something like 5 weeks. That puts a whole nother spin on cheating doesn't it? Five. Weeks. *gulp* *sob* If that doesn't scare someone straight, I don't know what will? ha!

2 hours ago, FluffyChix said:

Wooohoooo! Look at you staring down a craving!!! Congrats! That's really a BIG deal, you know?! Um...I do sf choco puddin'!

You should get some popsicle molds! You can even use ice cube trays and cover them with aluminum foil. Then when they are partially frozen, you can shove popsicle sticks into them. Then just pour 2-3 oz of premiere Protein into each mold and freeze it. I know they (PP) have recipes for pops, just can't remember if there are any other ingredients other than the protein drink? I know you can add things like yogurt, etc. That way, you make only the size you need and they have some redeeming quality to them! LOL. Right?

So you are SOOO right to not do the chocolate if it's a gateway drug. Dr. Stephen Phinney, one of the authors of The Art and Science of Low Carb Living said in an interview that each cheat sets up back, metabolically, something like 5 weeks. That puts a whole nother spin on cheating doesn't it? Five. Weeks. *gulp* *sob* If that doesn't scare someone straight, I don't know what will? ha!

Seriously!!!! I never thought about that, the Premiere pop sounds delicious and is the perfect way to get in additional protein. 5 weeks = Your stalls. That makes perfect sense!!!!!