Oh, yeah, you're doomed! Skip the pasta, potatoes, bread, & switch to diet coke. You'll be okay. I'd suggest picking up a South Beach Diet book or even the small guide. That's what I'm using.
Is it reallly that bad in menopause? I've been on hormone replacement therapy since I was 32 and am terrified of getting off them. I can hardly remember anything now, my kids are always telling me "you already asked that question, 5 minutes ago..."
Good luck, I'm sure someone can give you better answers.

I'll try to give you some answers from my experiences with both the Atkins Diet and the South Beach Diet.

Some people, maybe you, maybe not, but definitely me, have a low tolerance for high carb foods, such as pasta, white rice, potatoes, breads, sweets, and even things like fruit juice. If I eat some of those, my blood sugar spikes and I want to eat more and more of these foods - therefore, weight gain. If I eat a small portion of whole wheat bread and a small portion of the whole fruit (with fiber - not just the juice) the body has to work longer and harder to digest the "good" carbs and my blood sugar doesn't spike high.

Atkins has you eat enough meat, eggs, salads, and lower carb vegetables to fill you up and make you feel satiated while keeping the carb count to 20-30 grams per day, which is very low. On this plan I felt great and had plenty of energy and lost 22 lbs. in 2 months, but couldn't maintain that strict way of eating.

South Beach emphasizes the "good" carb foods like, whole wheat products, brown rice, beans, and less saturated fat in meats, butter, and cheese. I've lost 11 lbs. in 6 weeks doing the SB diet and feel that it is a healthier way of eating that I can stay on forever. SB does get a little confusing at times; they have updates where they add foods that previously were not on their list of foods to enjoy; some foods they promote are hard to find in all areas or are expensive.

For myself, I'm sort of combining the elements of Atkins and SB. I make my own Whole wheat bread, stay away from lots of processed foods, and those chemically toxic bottles of Diet Coke/Pepsi/Mt.Dew/etc. - sorry, but I had to say it! I do put real butter on my morning toast but don't have any butter the rest of the day. I use olive or safflower oil in cooking. I start each day with 1 or 2 eggs with turkey bacon or my homemade lean sausage and I have a cup or two of coffee each day. I usually have a small portion of fruit during the day, but not eaten all at once. I take nuts and cheese for my snacks and keep dinner to a protein and salad or vegetable. I try to drink a lot of water each day and have just discovered that I like Crystal Lite diet drink mix - but I add more water than is called for as I like them weaker. And I don't drink it exclusively all day.

My job provides me way more walking and physical activity than I want. I'm also dealing with menopause - which I thought I was completely through - arrrggghhhh! But I'm not on hormones and don't plan to be.

When I used to eat too much of a high carb food like potatoes, I would feel like a big couch potato - no energy at all. When I stick to protein and vegetables, I feel better and have more energy. It just takes a while to get completely away from our old eating habits. I've said I'm going to post a big sign at home and at my office that says "REMEMBER HOW GOOD LOW CARB FEELS!" Hah!

You might want to do some internet searching and read up on low carb diets in general and Atkins and South Beach in particular. This seems to be more than just a fad now - companies are investing in making low carb products, fast food restaurants are adding low carb menus and....Krispy Kreme doughnut stock has recently gone down!! LOL!

If you have other questions, I'll be glad to answer if I can.

Teresa

Teresa,
That is a very well written info.
I too have started dieting FINALLY since January kinda using Atkins. It's mainly just LOW carb eating and wow do I ever feel better!
Before, I would get hungry again soon after eating a huge high carb meal. And I'd get fatiqued to where I felt I needed something to eat.
I have more energy now and feel so much better about myself and wouldn't trade that feeling for any of the "bad" foods I used to eat like a bag of chips, cake, pie, pizza like I used eat making a meal of them. No such thing as moderate for me when it is stuff like that so I stay away from it.
Eventially I will add fruits and such but for now I am laying low.
~Urlee~

Teresa.. How do make your sausage? I want to try South Beach but not sure of it. How many carbs can U have with SB? How many more carbs does SB give U over Atkins? How much meat can U have with SB?
I'm afraid that yogert & cereal will be hard to give up. The yogert I like has 13 carbs & the cereal well forget it LOL
I need to do more research. I have some misgiving as I had a kidney infection the end of May that left me with Neuropathy & don't want to do anything to hurt my health more.

Catherine,
Since your at Menopause, go ask your doctor or gynocologist about COKE and BONES! You may not have any bones left if you continue to consume cokes. The phosphorus acid in Coke depletes calcium in your body. (It doesn't deplete it - it affects the UPTAKE of calcium from your body). If you're in Menopause, you need 1500 MG of calcium a day. So stop with the cokes! Maybe allow yourself one DIET coke a day.

You'd be amazed at how switching to water makes you WANT water instead of sweet drinks.
If you're eating pasta, potatoes, peanut butter sandwiches and coke all day...the menopause isn't messing with your mind and zapping your energy, the starches and sugars are!

Go to the library and get a book on nutrition or a diabetic recipe book...ask the librarian. They should help you.
READ the book SUGAR BLUES! That's a real eye opener!
Dr's don't have time to tell you all this, you need to do your own research on this stuff. Find out what the top antioxidants are, what veggies supply the most nutrients without calories, lean meats and fish supplying nutrients you need (the B vitamins, fish oil etc)....new info on TEAS...Stay one step ahead of the doc and you'll be very knowledgeable!
Good Luck with those azealas!
June Lynn