Getting started

I’m 10 days into Phase 1 of the South Beach way of doing things. Unfortunately, the monthly bloat has set in so one and a half of the seven pounds that I was down so far have returned. But still, already my pants are very noticeably looser and my belly no longer leads the way. My goal is to lose 25-35 pounds, which would be from the current size 16 down to 12 or 10. For my height, medically, I should be at 140–145. I’m taking action because I’ve never been this big and I was finding the weight to be more and more intrusive in my physical activities.

I chose South Beach because I recently saw my friend RM for the first time since December who had lost about 30 pounds the South Beach way and is now a wisp of his former self. If he could do it, so can I! So I bought the basic, blue South Beach book, read it, and got started. As I planned my first week’s meals I was excited to find that the recipes are things I like to eat anyway, the way I like to eat them. Well, except for beer being the biggest no-no on the list. Ever. But it’s beer and a steady reduction in home-cooking over the last four years that got me to this point, so if I have to switch from beer to my other favorite, red wine, then I guess I’ll mostly make the sacrifice.

So this first week and a half, even though it’s Phase 1 which is supposed to be the strict phase that rids you of your icky refined carb dependence, has been so easy. I can’t believe this is a diet! Well, it’s not really a diet, just a healthy way of eating that has the fringe benefit of weightloss. This is pretty much the way I used to eat, except for tons of versus some salads, and zero white rice and potatoes. I mostly don’t eat white bread anyway, unless I’m out and something crusty and good comes with dinner, and I don’t have a huge sweet tooth. Potatoes I can take or leave, but I’ll miss white rice. And beer.

I haven’t felt like I was starving. I get hungry, of course, but especially after I got through the first couple, it hasn’t been that craving, I’m-gonna-die kind of hungry, which I now think of as the carb-withdrawal hungry. Instead, it’s a gentler reminder to put a bite or two in my mouth and then I’ll be fine. I no longer feel stuffed after eating like I frequently used to. You know, like after eating a whole frozen pizza or something. Which means that I haven’t been waking up with food hangovers. Or beer hangovers. I like that! Today—when I ate two each of mini-sized Doritos, Crunchy Cheetos, Sun Chips, and pretzels after sweating in my un-air-conditioned office for the first six hours and just wanted to taste something salty—was the first time I’ve cheated. My other transgressions are only related to quantity, but not even that much.

One interesting thing I’ve noticed is that whatever change is taking place in my body, I’m drinking a lot more water. That’s one area where I’ve always been good, but since I started South Beach, I’m probably drinking 2–3 times more water than I used to, because I’m that thirsty. I’ll have to research whether that’s a known side effect.

This is going so well and I like what I’m eating so much that I might just continue Phase 1 for an additional week or two. Since I cook for one, I have lots of leftovers and so have gotten through only about three or four days’ worth of recipes (I’m mixing and matching). They’re so yummy I want to try as many as possible! Plus, like I said, it doesn’t even feel like I’m trying so why not keep going.