I lost almost 6 pounds on my modified South beach diet

Dr Fomsky | April 26, 2011

I have been so desperate to lose weight quickly since I gave birth to my daughter 4 months ago. It hasn’t been easy but so far, I’ve lost about 10 kg (22 pounds) and a few of my old clothes are fitting me a little now. I was 70 kg before I became pregnant for my daughter and I weigh 74.5 kg now! This means that if I can lose another 4.5 kg, I’ll be back to where I was before I became pregnant. However, I have decided not to stop here: my target weight is 64 kg! This is approximately what I weighed on my wedding day! Yeah, I know it sounds incredulous but I want to do it and I believe I can if I put my heart to it. This will give me a healthy BMI of about 21.4. (The normal BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9).
Anyway, that brings me to the South Beach diet. I first came across this book years ago when I was in medical school but I didn’t really take it seriously because I wasn’t looking to losing weight. A little while ago, I was chatting with my friend who is currently on the Halleluyah diet and I knew that was not for me. I decided to search out a diet system that would be safe enough for lactating mothers to do. That’s when I stumbled on the South Beach diet.
This diet system was created by a cardiologist called Dr Agatston. On first glance, it’s similar to the Atkins protein diet but in reality it isn’t. In this diet system, you have to eat 5 times a day: your normal 3 meals and 2 snacks in between.It’s made up of 3 phases:

In phase 1, all carbohydrates are avoided for 2 weeks. Fruits, some types of poultry and beef are also avoided completely. There is a whole list of foods to avoid. and some that are encouraged. Beans, fish, lamb, vegetables, turkey ham, low fat cheese, etc are encouraged.
In phase 2, healthy carbohydrates are reintroduced. Bananas, plantains,potatoes etc are also avoided. You’re allowed oat meal, sweet potatoes, whole grains, etc. Many other foods are also allowed. You continue in this phase till you reach your target weight.
In phase 3, you can pretty much eat anything you want to in moderate quantities.

I modified it a bit because I read that lactating women should start from phase 2. I decided to start from phase 1 but modify it a bit. As a lactating mom, I took some carbohydrates once a day (in the morning) e.g breakfast cereal. I avoided fruits completely but ate a LOT of salad. Everyday, I could eat like 2 to 3 plates of salad. I also took lots of eggs (most times without the yolk because I was scared of taking in too much cholesterol).

In this diet, the only types of chicken allowed in phase 1 is chicken breast but I didn’t follow this strictly. The foods I ate regularly include:

cereal with skimmed milk
salad with ranch dressing or french dressing
goat meat (mutton)
Eggs
Beans
Almonds
Peanuts
Chicken
Green tea
Protein shake
Baked beans (actually not allowed but I ate it anyway!)
Chicken sausages (also not allowed but I wasn’t too strict in following the diet!)
Lettuce wrap with sausages and stewed veggies. (Really yummy!)
Moin-moin (Beans cake)

I avoided sweetened fizzy drinks and when I had the urge, I drank plain soda water. I also made time for exercise at least every other day. On the days I exercised, I did between 30 minutes to 1 hour. All in all, I lost 2.5 kg (5.5 pounds) and 1 inch off my waist during the 2 weeks and I know it would have been more if I had followed it strictly. I lost most of this weight in the first 4 days and I don’t know if I lost any for the rest of the time!

10th April 2011 24th April, 2011

Waist size: 34 inches Waist size: 33 inches

Hips: 41inches Hips: 40 inches

Weight: 77 kg Weight: 74.5 kg

I highly endorse this diet system and I moved onto phase 2 yesterday and I hope to stay here till I hit my target! By the way, I allowed myself a cupcake today!! Today, I continue on the journey and I’m happy that I have more choices of foods to eat like oats, wheat bread, brown rice, etc.

Dr Fomsky

About the author

Dr Fomsky

Nigerian-born Dr Fomsky is a God-lover, a wife, a mom of three and a medical doctor by day. She is very passionate about hair, skin and weight management. Since she had babies, she's been struggling to keep her weight and her tummy down!
At night, she likes to read books, write blog posts and leave comments on other blogs. She lives in Paris, France and is also the author of Solving your relaxed hair breakage book
ABOUT DR FOMSKY'S
HAIR TYPE: 'Texlaxed' hair, High porosity, Fine hair strands, low to moderate density
CURRENT LENGTH: Between shoulder and armpit length
LOVING: Argan oil for sealing, Brown Butter Beauty Love Deep conditioner, Shescentit Blueberry Co-wash conditioner and Hairveda Red Tea Satin Moisturizer
LONG-TERM PLAN: Trim off bone-straight ends (6 inches left) over time