Gettin’ my skinny on…
My new goal in life, or at least for the upcoming week, it to return this damn dress and instead find one in a size I’m happy to wear.
Last week I started a new diet… and I hesitate to call it a diet because I’m eating more often and in some cases more food. Still, I’ve dropped nearly eight pounds in a week and hope to continue the trend. For now, what is working is the South Beach Diet.
Ideally, I’m supposed to eat three full meals, have two snacks and a dessert each day. I’m actually having a hard time remembering to eat my snacks.
If you’re not familiar with this diet, for the first two weeks you can’t have any fruit, bread, starches or alcohol ~ that’s Phase 1. From the literature, I can expect to lose between 8-12 pounds during these first two weeks.
I’ll fess up now. On Friday when JM and I had our girls’ night out ~ I ate sushi. Rice and all… but day-um, it was so good. Okay, I also had a beer. Rice and beer two totally illegal items during Phase 1, but I got back on the wagon Saturday.
In Phase 2 you get to add some of those carb-rich items back into your diet. I plan to add one or two things and track how my body reacts. From past efforts, I’ve found bread to be my downfall, and I’m okay with permanently eliminating that. If fruit packs the pounds on, that will be hard to abandon. I’m supposed to stay in this Phase until I reach my target weight. For the curious, I would LOVE to lose about 25 pounds, that would get me to 140 ~ you can do the math.
Once I reach my goal, I enter Phase 3, the maintenance phase. There it is, my plan for conquering my weight demons.
The first time I tried this plan, I gave up because it was so recipe/cooking intensive. This time I’m determined to make this work so my weekend cooking marathons will be spent cutting up veggies for snacks, and prepping chicken and other lean meats for dinners.
During the past week I’ve had some pleasant surprises. A new salad restaurant opened near my office (I’ve already been there twice). There are a lot of things you can do to a salad to make it delicious. For those first two weeks, salads play a huge role, having this resource has made it easier to follow. Another nice thing is that there are a lot of my favorite foods on my legal list.
I can have hummus, and I love hummus. Here’s the key, don’t eat the whole container, a couple tablespoons with some sliced cucumbers, green peppers and celery is all you need. I can have hamburgers, just not the bun and fries. I can have chicken and steak, I can have cheese and nuts. I can have avocados and salsa. I also rediscovered the joy of Jello (sugar-free, dontcha know.)
I also found that baked garbanzo beans are a lot like roasted nuts and are a safe snack, and make wonderful croutons for salads.
Roasted Garbonzos (4 servings)
1 (14-19 oz.) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
Place on baking sheet in a single layer. Bake in a pre-heated 350º oven for 50 minutes or until browned and crisp.
I also found a dessert recipe that is not only allowed in Phase 1, but is really good. To me this tastes like cheesecake filling.
Almond Ricotta Créme (1 serving)
½ cup part-skim ricotta cheese
¼ teaspoon almond extract
½ teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons Splenda
1 teaspoon slivered toasted almondsMix together the ricotta, extract, juice and Splenda in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Transfer into a dessert bowl and sprinkle with almonds. Served chilled.
From the comments I got when I told everyone about my moment of clarity, there are a lot of you out there trying to lose weight too. Your encouragement has been great and I would love to pay that forward to all of you too. I’m not going to ask anyone what you weigh, but would love to hear how much you’ve lost and how you did it. We can share recipes or suggestions for what order when eating out.
Join me in this adventure and let’s have some fun together gettin’ our skinny on.
I’m not weighing myself, but I’ve been doing my work out video daily for 11 days now…minus one. Let me tell you, that one day, I felt like a slug and I know it’s because I took a day off of exercising. I’ve also been eating Lean Cuisines and watching my portions. I’m hungry, but am choosing better foods to fill my void.
[Tara R.] Mom… I know what you mean. Before I went back to work a few years ago, i worked out almost everyday. One missed session and I felt awful. I need to get back to doing more. YOU keep going too. Good for you!
hi TARa!
this made me **giggle** when you said, “Here’s the key, don’t eat the whole container.” hahaha, yup, of course! that could be a whole diet book. don’t eat a whole package of cookies either. just one cookie.
you’re doing great. in fact, i bet that hard gut busting laughter yesterday was a workout, too. hehe.
rooting for you! and i know you are rooting for me, too!
i had backslid on my goal. you’re the first person i have told this to. i’ve gotten back onto the band wagon of my goal and in the last couple weeks, i have lost 8 1/4 pounds. i gave up the choc candy/bars habit .. you know that. i am eating smaller meals mainly. but i am remembering to snack throughout the day so i am not starving and overeating because of feeling that way. i park far away when i go places so i have to walk father typically. i am doing more pushups and other floor exercises. i need to do more exercising though. but losing 8 1/4 pounds in the last week/two has helped my mood, too. i have a long way to go though. i am about the size of queen latifa. so i don’t have to be carted around on a semi truck flat bed when i go out of the home, but i feel huge and am pleased with making some changes lately and i want to continue to improve. so i am glad we can continue to support and encourage each other. don’t forget to come get your award from my bloggy. good job so far. but you’re awesome no matter what the number on your scale says, never forget that girl. take care, beany bear
[Tara R.] Beany… that’s awesome. Good for you getting back on track! I’ve been trying to take the stairs more often. I only work on the third floor! I’ve gotten so used to taking the elevator, but those steps would do more for me. I just want to fit in my old clothes.
opps, didn’t realize i wrote you a book comment, hahaha
[Tara R.] Beany… that’s okay, you know how much I like to read. HEHE
Sounds like you’re off to a great start, Tara! Keep that positive attitude!
[Tara R.] Stacy… thanks chickie! So far, so good!
oh yeah, i take the stairs all the time, most of the time, too. i rarely take an elevator. i run up the stairs. i work on the third floor. when i have to go to the restroom at work, i almost always go down to the bottom floor because it forces me to do all the stairs all the time. all day long at work, almost everytime, i use the other floor’s bathrooms. and i drink water all day long, so i have to pee often! running to the different floor is a great stairs habit. highly recommend it girl.
yippee skippy for you for your losses so far. but don’t be miserable with your food choices. if mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.
you go girl
beany
[Tara R.] Beany… I’ve been drinking more water too… I may have to try to other floor bathroom thing. The food I can eat is really good, I just had some chicken capri with ricotta, tomato and mozzarella, and a broccoli salad ~ sans raisins. But it was delicious!
oh darlin’, i SO need to do something right now. Maybe I will try this. It’s the carbs for sure, they’re killer. Problem is I’m lactose intolerant & is SO hard to do no dairy AND carbs. But i must, must, must do something.
Congrats on the loss so far, that’s awesome!
[Tara R.] Eve… yeah, carbs, coupled with a rotten metabolism has made weight control a bitch. The whole SB thing is not as restrictive as Atkins. It’s just the first two weeks that you can’t have carbs, instead it’s lean protein and veggies. It may be a good option for you too.
My diet right now is packing for the move! Congrats – so glad you’re feeling good w/o starving yourself!
[Tara R.] April… that is more than enough exercise. Good luck with that.
Wow – I’m always so impressed with people who can commit to staying with any kind of diet. I’m worthless with that – I have no dedication or self control. I do need to lose at least 5 – 10 pounds, but lord knows I’ll probably put it off until I finally have that 3rd baby…
[Tara R.] Jill… I hope I can stick with it, I’ve not been very good in the past about committing to a diet. Check back in a couple of weeks. Since my baby is now 15yo I think it’s time for me to get rid of the preggers fat.
You go girl!
[Tara R.] Ashley… Yea, me! Thanks!
WOW – Congrats!
I really need to take control – maybe I will read up on this diet.
Thanks for sharing…wishing you continued success!
[Tara R.] Laura… that could be fun, doing this together. Let me know what you decide. (and thanks!)
You know I’m there with ya, cheering you on! I fell off the wagon, but to my surprise, when I got on the scale yesterday it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Time to get serious again.
[Tara R.] Nuke… the next step is to add back some weight training. When I was a SAHM, I did that a couple 2-3 days a week and it was great. I have to MAKE time to start that again. Good for you sticking with your plan too. Don’t be too hard on yourself about straying, it’s all good if you get back on track.
Actually, I’m fine. I’m just 4 inches too short for my weight.
Almond Ricotta Créme .. I have to make this..it sounds amazing!!!!
T- Much success on your new diet.. I give you so much credit for pulling out all the stops and saying you are going to make a change. It takes a lot to consciously make an effort to changing diet. You know my struggles with the scale so I applaud you for your healthy approach!!
[Tara R.] Kim… what is so cool about that recipe, is that you can play around with the flavorings… lemon, rum, coconut, or add cocoa and coffee granules for mocha. It really is very good.
I think I’ll join you! And thanks for the idea of the garbanzo beans. Is it okay if I eat the whole pan??
[Tara R.] Half-Past… They taste a little like corn nuts, but not as crunchy and hard. Eating the whole pan? Only if that means they are so good you don’t want to share.
We loved South Beach when we were on it. Eventually, we did get tired of the rigid cooking, but by then some of the habits were ingrained, and we were much better eaters generally. This summer, I’ve been all about the gym instead of the food monitoring. So far I haven’t lost a pound according to the scale, but my legs are more toned, and my shorts fit better, so I think perhaps I’m replacing fat with muscle. At least, that’s what I tell myself. Do you suppose it counts as success if your clothes fit differently, even if the numbers on the scale don’t budge?
[Tara R.] MommyT… of course it counts if your clothes fit better! I would rather go by that than the number on a scale any day! Good for you! Also remember… muscle weighs more than fat, so even if the scale doesn’t move, you’re still losing fat.
ooops, Also meant to add: CONGRATULATIONS on the eight pounds so far. And I love the new look around here.
[Tara R.] MommyT… thanks! That was a surprise, but I’ll take (off) all the weight I can. Thanks too on the compliment. I’m trying to streamline the digs too. Trying to make it look less cluttered. If I could only do that at home.
Oh, well, I wouldn’t recommend this diet to anyone so far as FEELING good goes, but I am on the “We have a stalker and are terrified all of the time” diet, plus the “my anti-smoking drugs make me want t puke” diet. Yours sounds so much better! I need to lose a g ood 30 punds, how do I know what to do re; the South Beach Diet without having to pay for it?
[Tara R.] Kori… yeah, I think I’ll stick with my plan. Girl, I really hate that you’re still having to deal with CSG. On the SBD, check out the link on the post, that will give you the basics. You can also find recipes and meal plans… all for FREE. I got one of the cookbooks awhile back and would be happy to share more recipes with you. It’s working fine so far.
Way to go! I never tried South Beach, but I did do Atkin’s for nine days and although I lost 13 pounds (which was way too much for me) I realized I am hypoglycemic, and I pass out without sugar…
[Tara R.] MamaWise… wow… that could have been really bad. That’s why I liked SB, I didn’t have to cut out all carbs, only for the first two weeks and I can still have dairy.