I did the south beach diet a few years ago and lost about 15 lbs. The first few days were really difficult because I LOVE sweets but it did get easier. Something to keep in mind--it's really easy to re-gain weight you lost when you start re-introducing carbs again. You have to play around with what good carbs you can eat without regaining the weight. I eventually stopped eating low carb because I didn't feel that I had enough energy. Now I just eat everything in moderation and exercise. I have to exercise at least 5 times a week because of my back issues but it all works out. I still eat sweets (in moderation, of course), I don't gain weight (b/c I'm exercising all of the time), and I have a TON of energy. After you reach your ideal weight I would suggest just eating healthy and exercising.I truly believe that exercise is so important to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. In my opinion, it's really difficult to maintain a low carb lifestyle for an extended period of time, unless you have REALLY good will power, which I don't
Good luck!