Now: 148

So it's the end of two weeks, theoretically the end of phase one. I only lost 4 lbs., but this is most likely because I haven't been excessively stringent about the whole deal.
And then, interestingly,I get a South Beach newsletter in my e-mail this morning chirping something about why you might not have lost as much as you hoped in phase one. It's then that the good doctor made his first peep about exercise. And I haven't gotten much exercise, especially since I popped my finger.
The newsletter also said that people who carry their weight on their hips and thighs lose weight slower. That's the first I've heard, but that is indeed where I carry mine.My waist is my saving grace, it tends to be nice and flat.
Except today.As much as I like those little sugar-free candies, I suspect they bloat a person. I feel as puffy as a tick on a dog.
I'm making a stab at eating a real breakfast this morning. They say you ought to eat breakfast. I can't really see the benefit of eating MORE food, it seems like I oughta take the opportunity to not eat when I'm not hungry. But this is one point on which every expert seems to agree. So I'm trying it.
I'm going to do phase one for one more week. Then I'll switch.

Middle of week 2

I won’t weigh in for another two days, I’m only weighing once a week, but I feel good about it. I’ve sure been hungry enough. I’ve been sticking with the plan pretty well, I think.
I finally ran out of the higher fat products in my fridge. Yesterday I went to Costco and got low fat cheddar and good olive oil and some sugar free jello snacks and stuff. I loaded up on veggies and diet drinks, with and without caffeine.
I’ve changed my position on sugar free candy. A coworker let me try a sugar free heath bar type thing by Russell Stover. It was really good, so I got some, and some peanut butter cups. Unfortunately they are pretty high in calories, but they sure taste good. This non-fat mocha with sugar free syrup I just got is god-awful, though. YUCK! No more Da Vinci sugar free chocolate syrup for me! Egad! We all agree that it tastes like medicine!
I sure get hungry during work hours. It’s funny. I’m definitely not hungry in the morning, while I’m at home where I could fry an egg or something. No. I get hungry about an hour and a half after I get to work. I usually eat a non-fat yogurt. Which kills my appetite for about 32 minutes. So then I eat lunch, which is like a salad or some soup or a lean beef patty with Swiss from the diner next door. Then I’m hungry again at 4. So I forage disconsolately for a snack, like a handful of nasty peanuts from the coin machine in the lobby. I need a better plan.
Then I get home, all psyched to eat a nice big meal. But I’m so hungry I eat a snack, trying to be moderate, which at that point in the day is like trying to hold a mastiff on a leash when said mastiff sees a fleeing cat. I usually do pretty well, only because the only instant gratification foods in my fridge are leftovers form last night’s healthy dinner and some sugar free jellos and what not.
But by the time I eat the snack and get dinner done, I’m not very hungry any more. So I stuff the leftovers in the fridge, which become tomorrow’s desperation snack. Then, late in the evening, I want sweets. That’s when I like carbs and sweets, basically because that’s when I’m getting tired. Now I have my sugar free stuff, I eat that. So far, so good.
I am a long-time devotee of heavy fuel. Methamphetamines. Freebase cocaine. Absolut martinis. So I find it weird to be thinking now about cutting back on caffeine! How things have changed!
That said, my formerly bad self likes herbal tea now. At night. Since I can’t drink myself down off whatever high I put myself on anymore, I find that I lay awake for hours if I so much as drink a Diet Coke after six. What the hell? When did I get so sensitive? But there you have it.
So I recently bought a nice big box of herbal teas from Costco and I love the pretty matching green boxes with the little drawings on the front, like blueberries on the blueberry kind and oranges and stuff. It’s such a nurturing thing to do, to make a pot of tea and drink it, hot and soothing and delicate.
I haven’t changed entirely. I still make it with two teabags and chug the whole pot.
I do notice that I haven’t been getting that energy drain at like three in the afternoon any more. I used to want to fall asleep at my desk. So I’d head to the bakery two doors down and get some coffee and sometimes a cookie too.
Most recent dining triumph—I play in a band and so I get free food and drinks most places (Isn’t that funny, I’ve got no use for either any more, it seems). I just played a place with southern food. If you’re not aware, southern food isn’t exactly Jenny Craig. But I got a nice Philly steak sandwich, tossed the bread and ate it with a fork. Swiss cheese is low carb and low fat, the roast beef was low fat, and it had lots of peppers and onions. It came with some nice coarsely cut coleslaw. Kept me going through the show.

Now: 149
Still doing good. Another pound down, as of two days ago. Trying to only weigh once a week. When I was younger, (I'm 34) I used to get pretty obsessed with my weight. It was a sure fire way to make myself crazy. For years now, I've avoided both diets and scales, and haven't been the worse for wear, really. Except about 3 years ago I got weighed at the doctor and topped out at a record 159. So I went to Weight Watchers until I weighed 150. I still drank back then, so it was hard to lose weight. It is hard enough to control what I eat, but back then, I was even less able to control what I drank.
Since I've quit drinking, (through AA, great program) I've been able to get a handle on a lot of other things. I quit smoking four months later, that's been a year and a half ago now. I started really getting a lot more exercise. Hungover, I never felt like doing much. I and my boyfriend, also in recovery, hiked all summer this year. What a difference!
Everyone in my office diets. It's "Atkins that" and "South Beach this" and "Weight Watchers the other" around here. I didn't participate in that sort of thing for so long, for fear of losing it like I did when I was in my early 20s. Now I can, and it's like a nice return to reality. I don't drink too much or do dope any more, and I don't binge and starve like I once did. I, too, can come to work and confess to eating a dessert on Sunday night and exclaim about a new low-carb product discovered. I feel so...normal!
I did eat dessert last night. I had a roommate for a while who lost 40 pounds on a low carb diet, and once a week, on Sunday, she let down her hair and ate what she wanted, within reason. You can't argue with a 40 pound loss. So I did a good, solid week on this diet and then indulged in a wonderful bread pudding made with croissants and peaches and served with mochi ice cream. Outrageous. I'm not sorry.
Still, it's weight I'm not going to lose. I'll never forget one sunny afternoon when a friend remarked that it's too bad AA doesn't let its members have just one beer on a hot day like that one. He so profoundly did not get it, I suddenly realized. It's not AA that doesn't let you do anything. Its alcoholism. For me and millions like me, there's no such thing as one. Maybe I could pull it off once or twice, but soon, I'll be right back where I was. Fat is the same way. I can argue the rules of a diet with myself all I want, but in the end, it's the science of my body that's going to make the rules. I eat at a caloric deficit, especially a low-carb one, I'll lose weight. If not, I'll carry this rather too-lush caboose around indefinitely.
It's funny, I've always questioned whether dieting for vanity's sake wasn't rather more trouble than it was worth. Vanity is not a socially sanctioned concern by the bizarre double standard of society, in which one is supposed to be beautiful, but only effortlessly or by a seemly and healthful and not-immoderate pursuit of exercise and proper nutrition. I tried to tell myself it was for my health but I never really fooled myself. As Anna Quindlen, my favorite columnist besides Ellen Goodman and Molly Ivans, wryly noted, saying that you are dieting for your health is like saying you bought a floor-length mink to stay warm. But Dr. Agatston made a point in the book that was a bit of an epiphany for me. What a wonderful incentive it is for practicing healthy habits, he said, that it improves your appearance. Ah ha! It's for health AND appearance, and that's just fine!
Unfortunately, my exercise routine may be severely disrupted. I injured a finger at the climbing gym yesterday, and it may be a while before I'm climbing normally again. I heard something go pop in there. Doesn't hurt too bad, but these things take a while to heal, I'm told. I tell you, it's tough typing with two of your fingers taped together. We'll see. I'm not too in love with the idea of non-recreational exercise. I'm not historically any good at maintaining it.

Polly’s South Beach Diet Blog

I got weighed at the doctor a week ago and at 152, I’ve gained nine pounds over the summer, in spite of rigorous hiking and rock climbing. Part of that is undoubtedly muscle, but I also know I let myself eat a lot of sweets because of all that exercise I was getting. I want to get back down to 135. I look great at 135. Besides, rock climbing involves hauling myself up a wall. The less I weigh, the easier that will be, no doubt.
So I immediately started the South Beach Diet because everybody says it works. I found the book a little inconsistent; it says there are no portion sizes or calorie counting, but the sample menus do both.
It also talks about use of good fats, but the sample menus don’t include many, really. If you just look at the sample menus, it looks a lot like any other diet.
Also it said that giving up caffeine is not a must, but the sample menus call for decaffeinated everything.
So I’ve decided to go with the philosophy of the diet, no high-carb foods the first two weeks, no saturated fats, pretty much adhering to the (very limited) food list given.
Other than that, I’m eating when I’m hungry. In the first week, I lost two pounds. Not the dramatic weight loss others experience, but I eased onto the diet, cutting carbs out gradually the first three days.
So I am pleased.
I love to eat and I hate bad food and deprivation doesn’t really work out for me. So I’m going to eat things I like; no fat-free ranch dressing for me. I like real chocolate, and the sugar-free variety is so unlike real chocolate that I plan to forgo chocolate altogether.
I’m going to blog my weight loss as well as the foods and recipes I’ve discovered.

Week One:
Weight loss: two pounds, now I'm 150
Good foods:
I took a bunch of fresh vegies I like; summer squash, mushrooms, onions (the latest from Dr. Agaston is that onions, tomatos and carrots are unlimited in the first phase), broccoli, etc, and sauteed them in my brand new set of Circulon non-stick pans, which I love.
Then I sauteed a few ounces of firm tofu and added it (I like tofu), and then threw in a can of black beans. I covered that and let it cook.
Once it was all hot and the veggies were nicely al dente, I scooped out a small plateful and grated a scattering of cheddar cheese on there. It wasn’t low-fat, because I’m using up what I’ve got in the fridge, but it wasn’t a lot, either.
That was really good with lots of salt and pepper. Salsa probably would have been good too, if I’d had it.

In fact, salt and pepper is key to this diet for me, so far.
As I said, I love to eat and I hate bad food. So when I say that I have found I love salad with no dressing, just salt and pepper, I’m not trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
Here’s what I’ve been putting on salads.
Garbanzo beans.
Half a small avocado-takes the place of the oil
A chopped hard boiled egg.
A bit of minced prosciutto
Sunflower seeds
Cucumber
Blanched, peeled tomato.
Chopped pickle.
Onion-white or green
Purple cabbage
Chopped black olive
A bit of blue cheese, crumbled. Not low fat, but only a little bit goes a long way
Other shredded cheese

Of course, I don’t put all that on there at once! But with salt and pepper and with or without lettuce, it makes for flavorful salads that you can taste without an inundation of pungent dressing.

I usually have non-fat yogurt for breakfast, which Dr. Agaston now also says is in. I have the kind with fruit in it, even though you’re not supposed to. It’s not that much different from the plain kind, ingredients-wise. It makes breakfast possible, even though I have no desire to cook eggs every morning.

For egg haters, though, here’s a palatable dish. When I was at the Jailhouse Restaurant in Moab, Utah one morning, I had the best breakfast ever, a frittata. Just throw a bunch of your favorite stuff, broccoli, mushrooms, whatever meat that isn’t too fatty, onions and what not and saute gently in a pan. Then pour scrambled eggs or egg substitute, if you want, over it. Let it set on the bottom, then run it under the broiler to set the top. Then grate a little cheese on top and melt that, then cut it like a pizza. Each serving has very little egg-it’s mostly the vegies and whatever you put in there.

I don’t like most low and non-fat products, but low fat sour cream isn’t bad, nor is low fat cheddar. I hate low fat "half and half" so I just go with black coffee for now. But it Sure Lord has all the caffeine! I think it may actually make me hungrier by noon, but I don’t care. I can live with it.

I had a can of Baxters carrot and coriander soup for lunch today. Extremely light, low carb, good ingredients, and with a lot of pepper and a little grated cheddar, it was a really tasty lunch.

Mozzerella sticks are great for a mid-morning snack.

Last time we grilled steaks, marinated nicely in a vinaigrette, I grilled a couple portaballa mushroom caps, brushed with balsamic vinager and olive oil. They leave an inky trail of juice wherever they go, but they taste pretty good.

As far as trying to make a dessert out of ricotta cheese, cocoa powder and Splenda, well, one woman I know said she lived on it. Me, I think I’ll just forgo dessert altogether. But I might try some sugar-free jello!
I drink a few cans of diet pop a day, some with caffeine, some without. I’m also trying to remember to take a multivitamin daily, too, but it’s hit or miss.
One thing I learned while on Weight Watchers, also a good program that I lost 10 pounds on once, is that it’s a lot easier to get my water down if I keep a big glass next to me while I eat, for some reason. Plus, I get fuller, of course.

Eating out
I love sushi, and sashimi, the same thing without rice, is just about as good, so that’s nice. My favorite Japanese restaurant, Toyoda Sushi here in Seattle, also grills a wonderful cheek of yellowtail. It’s rich, but it’s got fish oils and no carbs! Also, their miso soup with little tofu cubes and fresh spinach leaves is so good I make it at home. When I’m really hungry, I sometimes prepare that soup before even starting dinner. A cup of it keeps me from gorging myself while I cook and again when I’m done. They also do a nice grilled veggie skewer there.
Thai curries without the rice are plenty good, too. Unfortunately, my favorite curries are rich in coconut milk and fairly sweet, too, from palm sugar, but red curry is also quite yummy. They also do great chicken skewers.
Salads and soups are good choices, unless of course it’s mayonnaise-based tuna salad and chicken corn chowder. Water-based soups are best. Oil and vinegar on the salad is the way to go, with lots of salt and pepper.
A small steak with a salad and/or cooked veggie makes me as full as I need to be. I found myself at a creole restaurant for a fundraiser for Katrina victims last weekend and a plate of peel-and-eat shrimp off the appetizer menu worked out well. Of course, I had a corn fritter too, and little lapses like that are probably why I only lost two pounds, but, damn, it was good. I’m not sorry. Two pounds is fine.
I find there’s usually some grilled-chicken kind of thing or other unadulterated protein on most menus. Starches like baked potato and rice can usually be opted out of.
A coworker brought pizza in the office yesterday, wouldn’t you know it? No one ever brings in pizza when I’m not on a diet. So I grabbed a plate and just scraped the top off a piece and ate that. Not low fat, but, hey, mozzeralla’s in and it was Canadian bacon, so not high-fat! And no carbs, so there you go. I didn’t feel too deprived. It tasted like pizza to me.

Another thing-it's not the sexiest place on earth to eat, but I've found the Old Country Buffet to be a good diet choice. Perhaps because so many seniors eat there, they actually have quite a few low-carb, low cholesterol offerings, like poached fish and steamed cabbage and whatnot. So rather than hit the food court at the mall, I hit the buffet.

I'm going to blog at least once a week with my diet results and whatever I've found useful (or extremely not useful). That oughta keep me motivated.