South Beach doesn't do carb limits. They are of the theory that 'healthy eating in reasonable portions' will slowly but surely get you down. Atkins in essence is a bit more strict - making sure you REALLY are avoiding those sugars and starches, to help you lose a bit more quickly. So it really comes down to how you eat. If you just can't give up that pasta and bread, South Beach will have you cut out enough sugar by cutting out "soda" and "desserts that are sugar filled" to slowly get the weight lost without big eating changes.
If it's been weeks since you have lost any, then I would look at the following things:
* Make sure you get 8 glasses of water a day. Your body needs that water to do its normal processing.
* make sure you take all your vitamins every day, for the same reason. Otherwise your body may literally be unable to lose the fat it wants to.
* While 20g a day is a guideline aimed at cutting out sugar, you should NEVER be hungry. The aim is NOT for you to be hungry or starve. If you take in too little food, your body will go into famine mode and conserve fat. So you must eat regularly - every 3-4 hours at least. The point is that you're eating HEALTHY foods. Not processed food, not high-sugar food. You should be eating celery for snacks, salads, fresh fish, pork chops, tons of broccoli and cauliflower, etc. You should be full and happy.
These diets are NOT about excluding foods from your intake as much as excluding SUGAR from your intake. You should still be eating a lot of food - very tasty, fresh, healthy food <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Also, exercise is a critical part of all of these lifestyles. Kids love to be taken on walks. Get a stroller or two and go out on walks daily. It's summertime, that should be easy. Take them to the park and play with them. The more you get your metabolism going, the easier those pounds will slide off.
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