New to South Beach

krislady

Hi. I guess the title pretty much says it all . . . I've been on MFP for several years, off and on, but I've decided to start the South Beach diet.

I've never been a fan of "diets" - the idea is just off-putting. But I've come to the conclusion that I'm just not losing the weight I should be. Don't get me wrong - I don't eat junk - never have, really. I make almost everything from scratch - I'm not even kidding about that. Bread, sauce, mayonnaise, salad dressing, lard - if it's possible to do at home, I probably do. I *love* food - real food.

Granted, I get lazy about recording what I eat, which seems to make me lazy about paying as much attention to what I eat, which leads to non-weight-loss. And when I put my jeans on the other day and they were tight (again!), I took a good hard look at myself. Clearly, what I'm doing isn't working.

So I did some research, and I ordered the SBD book, and here I am. On a diet, after all these years. Seriously - the ONE time in my life I've actually been "on a diet" was, oh, about 25 years ago when that "cabbage soup diet" was going around. Spoiler alert: it's not great.

However, this one, after Phase 1, seems sustainable. I think, in the long run, it's a matter of realizing that by giving up white rice and bread and potatoes and such, or at least severely limiting the "avoid" items, I'm not actually missing out on anything -good-, but rather, making room for something -better-, you know?

So anyhow, I'm on Day Four of Phase 1 - so far so good, though it's taking a bit of getting used to.

Sabine_Stroehm

After phase one it's just play healthy eating! Welcome!!

krislady

Thanks.

So I'm on Day 5 of Phase 1.

I got on the scale this morning and I'm down almost 5 pounds (4.8). Granted, at this point, it's probably mostly water (I feel like I've been peeing every half hour!), but STILL.

Also, I saw a passing mention on a blog to someone doing her "yearly return to Phase One" - is that at thing? I mean, do people commonly do that?

I actually was thinking this morning (BEFORE I ever saw this!) that, once I meet my "goal" weight and get the hang of this, if I ever "slipped" (Seriously, I hosted both Thanksgiving AND Christmas dinners last year, and I somehow gained TEN POUNDS over the holidays!), anyway, that might be a reasonably quick and easy way to get back on track - a week of Phase 1, then ease back into the other stuff.

Any thoughts?

krislady

Day 6.

Still so far so good. . .I've handily avoided bread, potatoes, sugars, fruits, alcohol. . . we got this.

BUT. Tonight's pizza night.

Every Friday night, for the past -many- years, we have pizza. And beer.

It's a matter of my husband's a New Jersey transplant, and "you can't get good pizza around here" (not entirely true, but not that far off), he's a baker who took up sourdough as a "hobby" a few years back, and then a fantastic brewery opened around the corner, which I literally drive past on my way home from work. . . Friday Night Pizza Night has been Sacred.

I've seen recipes for cauliflower pizza crust which look . . . involved. And questionable.

So, while Husband is enjoying his pizza (but no beer this week), I'm thinking eggplant parm for me.

I've already sliced an eggplant and roasted it (no bread crumbs, no flour - nothing but a bit of salt and the smalled sheen of oil on the sheet pan), and I'm thinking of layering that with a little (maybe 1/4 cup) of low-fat ricotta, my roasted tomato sauce (nothing in it but tomatoes, garlic and herbs), some GOOD parm, and a bit of part skim mozz - just enough to get a little melty.

Does that sound about right?

Sabine_Stroehm

krislady wrote: »

Thanks.

So I'm on Day 5 of Phase 1.

I got on the scale this morning and I'm down almost 5 pounds (4.8). Granted, at this point, it's probably mostly water (I feel like I've been peeing every half hour!), but STILL.

Also, I saw a passing mention on a blog to someone doing her "yearly return to Phase One" - is that at thing? I mean, do people commonly do that?

I actually was thinking this morning (BEFORE I ever saw this!) that, once I meet my "goal" weight and get the hang of this, if I ever "slipped" (Seriously, I hosted both Thanksgiving AND Christmas dinners last year, and I somehow gained TEN POUNDS over the holidays!), anyway, that might be a reasonably quick and easy way to get back on track - a week of Phase 1, then ease back into the other stuff.

Any thoughts?

That was probably me. I tend to lose sight a bit as the year goes along and do a "reboot" of phase 1. I remember from the book he said if you gain, then you can just go back to phase 1 until the pounds come of.

Sabine_Stroehm

Speaking of losing sight, ha. Christmas had some over indulging. Getting back on track has been challenging as I keep having house guests and events. February looks clear, so I'm doing a total reboot. Phase 1, including no wine starts today. Whoot.

tmoneyag99

FWIW the Book is on audible.com.