Four pregnancies in five years is what did it. I never made it back to my pre-pregnancy weights before getting pregnant again, which means my weight kept creeping steadily upward. I have tried Weight Watchers in the past, and while it works for many people, I just found that it made me think about food all the time. After years of saying I was going to lose weight, at the beginning of this year I started making an effort to do just that. Not wanting to pay someone else to help me lose weight, I just started eating smaller portion sizes and not eating at night. This led to a 10 lb loss in 3 months; not bad for not really doing anything special, but when you'd like to lose 40-50 lbs, it's a long, long, long, long road.
Friends from my church had just started the South Beach Diet a few weeks ago, and I saw the great results they were getting. After chatting with them about what it entailed, I checked out the book at the library -- FREE! This made me happy because as I mentioned, I was done paying someone to help me lose weight. Basically what the South Beach Diet does is cut out simple carbohydrates from your diet. For the first two weeks, Phase 1, you limit your eating to mostly low-fat meats, low-fat dairy, good fats and lots of veggies. During Phase 2, you add in small amounts of complex carbohydrates in whole wheat breads and fruits. After looking through to see what I could eat, I decided that it looked like something I could handle and if it truly got results, it was worth a shot.
I started last Monday, and the first day I was climbing the walls with my carb cravings. I spent most of the day just trying to distract myself from my desire for bread and sugar. I had no idea that my carb addiction had such a hold. The nice thing about the South Beach Diet is that you're never hungry. If you get hungry, you eat. Simple. There is no weighing or counting points or calories or anything. I love that.
The biggest challenge for me is that I really dislike artificial sweeteners. They always taste chemically to me. But in a pinch, I have found a few things that will, if not fully satisfy, then at least take the edge off: sugar-free Jell-O, sugar-free gum, sugar-free chocolate pudding (for those chocolate cravings!). And I have discovered that a sugar-free, non-fat blended ice mocha from one of my local coffee stands is like heaven in mouth. The thing I miss most is my flavored Coffee-Mate creamer in my coffee in the morning. I'm sorry Nestle, but the sugar-free versions are nasty!
Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet lasts two weeks, so I am halfway in. Right now I'm a little sick of eggs. And I've been eating a lot of green beans, which have worn out their welcome too. But I know that I can push on through the week, change up my menu a bit, especially with such positive results.
Week 1 Loss: 5.4 lbs
Waist Loss: 3"
For those wanting to start the journey with me, I've pinned some great recipes on Pinterest.
Woot Woot! Thats fantastic my friend :) 3 inches is amazing. Its not easy. Proud of you.
Posted by: Shan | April 16, 2012 at 05:09 PM