The (Not-So) Ordinary Life and Times...

South Beach Diet: Day 11 (I cheated)

What a WEEK! Good news to come  (later) :)

One weekend in Phase 1 of SBD wasn't so bad, but this weekend is WAY harder. I've lost 7 lbs. so far, so that's great!! But today, it was all I could do to help from flinging myself into Hy-Vee and buying every chocolate cake donut I could find. But I did not cheat.

Lazed around most of the morning, watching TV. But I did not cheat.

Then Dan said that his friend Kerry was coming to Des Moines and they were going to hit a few golf balls at the golf dome thingy. Then we were all going to a movie.

A movie.

Do you know what kind of food they have at a movie? Only the world's most perfect food. The most perfect food that is just the right amount of crunch and salt, and is my absolute favorite food in the world. Ladies and gentleman, I give you...

Popcorn.

I cheated.

How can you go to a movie and not get popcorn!? It's buttery goodness was calling to me, and no matter what I did, there was no denying that I was going to consume this crunchy golden treat. Which I did. In great quantity. And it was heaven. Sorry, SBD, you just got served.

We saw Avatar (3 hrs!!) and it wasn't bad. Very epic.

I will try to play out the last few days of Phase 1, but not sure how much longer I can keep this up. I want to cook with Julia again...

What we think about food...

I've been doing a lot of reading lately about Americans and their never-ending love affair with food. Dr. Kessler's The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite had some very interesting things to say about eating and why it seems impossible for some people to stop, even though they know it is bad for them (overeating, not eating in general).

As a big Jillian Michaels fan, I often look at what she's reading and recommends. Some other books I'm interested in reading:

• Appetite For Profit by Michele Simon

• Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

• Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

• Deeply Rooted by Lisa Hamilton

• Food Matters by Mark Bittman

• Food Politics by Marion Nestle

• Meat Market by Erik Marcus

• The End of Food by Paul Roberts

• Slow Food Nation by Carlo Petrini

I'm also an avid NPR listener, and this morning there was a very interesting story from Radio Lab. In this particular study, subjects were given a number to remember. Some were given a 2-digit number while others were given a 7-digit number. All they were told to do was memorize their number, walk down the hall to another room, and recite that number. They didn't know, however, that they would be stopped on the way by someone offering a snack - a 'thank you' for participating. They were offered chocolate cake or fruit salad. more often than not, the folks remembering the 7-digit numbers chose the cake, because the "rational" part of their brain was busy remembering the numbers and their "emotional" brain was free to take over. But the people who memorized the 2-digit number more often chose the fruit, because their rational brain wasn't as busy.

That got me thinking -- are we too busy? Is that why we have a hard time saying no to food that is bad for us? If our rational brains are so busy thinking and worrying about work, or school, or any number of other things that fill our lives, we may subconsciously be letting our emotional brains take over such a simple task as eating. So even though it may be just one more thing to "rationally" think about, eating right will always pay off in the end.

Food for thought.

South Beach Diet: Week 2

Today begins week to of Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet. After one week on Phase 1, I've lost 5.5 lbs. Not too shabby! Dan has lost 11.5 lbs. We're both looking forward to having some bread, pasta and rice next week, but we're doing ok. I think the low-sugar fudgesicles have been a life saver for me.

I'm at the 10 lb. mark since actively trying to lose weight. Feels pretty good :)

Long day. 8-5 at regular job and 6-10 at retail job.

South Beach Diet: Day 7 (morning)

Well we've made it almost a week. Carb cravings have subsided, and I'm generally feeling pretty good. I've lost 4 lbs. total since starting last Tuesday. I had lost 5 lbs., but the darn weekend made me gain one back.

The recipes in the South Beach Diet cookbooks are really yummy and satisfying. One thing I have been missing is a starchy side, like a potato or rice. But I rarely feel hungry.

I'm going to weigh myself tomorrow (the one-week mark) and then try not to weigh again until the following Tuesday. That will be tough, but I'll try. If I can go 2 weeks without bread, I can go a week without weighing myself.

Dan and I went to the clinic on Saturday to work out in the gym there. Dan really pushed me hard and I've been sore all weekend. I suppose that's a good thing, but I took Sunday off from lifting. Just a quick 30 min walk on the treadmill was all that got done yesterday.

I also went to Rachel Sweerin's baby shower on Saturday. It was a fun time and Rachel got some nice things. The hardest part was the food!! There were so many yummy-looking things that I had to skip on because of dumb diet. I hope the "J" cookies (for Judah) were great, Rach!

Onward to a snowy Monday. Why do we live here again?

South Beach Diet: Day 4 (morning)

No more weight loss for me this morning, but I don't really mind, because now I'm happy I can have fudgcicles!!!! I'm SAVED!

Dan has lost 10 lbs! He's excited. Maybe this weekend I can get into a more regimented workout routine. I've been really busy this week and only had two dates with Jillian. I think the elliptical is calling my name...

South Beach Diet: Day 3 (afternoon)

Not as pessimistic as I was this morning. I felt better after I ate some breakfast. I also found out that I'm allowed to have sugar-free hard candy and no-sugar added fudgecicles! Hopefully my chocolate cravings will subside. I've heard they do after a few days.

South Beach Diet : Day 3 (morning)

Death. That is what I feel like.

Ok probably not quite that bad, but I do feel really weak this morning. Little snafu with the breakfast this morning, (i.e. I slept too long) so Dan didn't get to eat because the veggie quiche muffin dealies were taking too long to bake. I took him two muffin cups at work though, so he shouldn't hate me.

I'm so ready to quit this right now. I'm hungry, I feel weak and gosh darnit I want a donut!! But here's the kicker: I'm down two more pounds since yesterday. 'Splain dat, Lucy!

So I guess the weight loss is enough to keep me going today, but I don't have to be happy about it.

Total weight loss (so far) with SBD: 3 lbs.

South Beach Diet : Day 2

Well I didn't weigh myself Monday or yesterday, but since starting the diet yesterday, I've lost one pound since my last weighing on Sunday. Don't mind if I do, water weight, thanks!

Last night (after first day) Dan and I laid in bed listing all the things that sounded really good that we couldn't have. Top of my list was a chocolate cake donut. Come on. Who doesn't love a chocolate cake donut? Dan just wants rice.

Not eating breads or starches hasn't been to terribly hard so far, but not having CHOCOLATE is very hard for me. I've been paying attention to my body and what I eat for some time now, and I KNOW that every day around 2:30 - 3:00 I need a little something sweet. I've stocked up on sugar free jello cups, but not allowed to have pudding. In 12 days we'll be allowed to reintroduce some carbs and starches, so we'll see how it goes.

I think the hardest part is working two jobs, so not being able to be at home to freshly cook my meals is hard. But tomorrow is another day, and it's a morning date with Jillian :)

South Beach Diet: Day 1

Well it's day one of Dan's and my adventure into the South Beach Diet. Last night (being Dan's birthday) we had one last hurrah at the Cheesecake Factory. Nothin' like loading up on carbs and fat the night before you start a two-week detox. Yum. Godiva cheesecake. Can't go wrong.

So the main premise of the SBD is two weeks of high-protein and good fats, limited (bad) carbs and sugars. Then you introduce other things back into your diet. I'm doing the first phase with Dan because he's doing a kind of contest with some of his buddies. We'll see how far I make it. I want to look good in my bathing suit in Vegas in April!

I got up with Dan today (5:50 A.M.!!!) and decided that if I can't eat what I want for two weeks I might as well work my ass off so I don't think about chocolate milk (damn!!). So I did Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred level 1 workout. I think I will try to do her workout every morning. Since I work some nights at Coach I don't get a chance to get to the gym after work, and I tell myself I'm just being lazy if I can't do a 25 minute DVD workout in the morning.

So for breakfast (which I ALWAYS eat, just usually a smaller one) we had the Turkey Breakfast Stack: seasoned and grilled turkey patty (1/4 lb. turkey burger, basically) with a slice of tomato and a slice of cheddar cheese heated under the broiler for a few minutes. It was good, just more than I'm used to eating. Apparently it's to keep you sustained longer so you don't feel hungry. In my opinion, that's always good. I think my problem will pretty much be not gorging myself after two weeks is up!

For lunch I brought SBD-approved recipe for Mexican Chicken soup (which conveniently leaked in my lunch bag. Awesome) and for snacks I have cheese sticks and celery with a laughing cow wedge. Dinner is a salad tonight, mainly because I didn't plan well enough to have the chicken dish Dan will be having ready for me to heat up before I go to work tonight.

So far so good, we'll see how it goes!

Playing catch up

It's obvious that I have been rather lackadaisical with the blogging, but have no fear, it is a new year and I vow to post more often (all two of you readers out there)!

Mom has been suffering from debilatating headaches since early October. After four antibiotics for a supposed sinus infection, her doctor finally ordered a CT scan. That showed some bad news. Our initial thought was that mom was bleeding on her brain, so of course, I sent the prayer troops out. We got some better news when we found out it was excess spinal fluid, not blood. Still not good, but much better than bleeding on the brain. I of course put out a call for prayers for my mom. She wasn't herself at all, though of course she tried to be. The neurologist did a few MRIs of her spine to look for any possible leakage, but found nothing. She then started feeling better; her headaches subsided, the ringing in her ears went away. They did another CT scan and whatever fluid was seen on the first scan was gone. The neurologist claims she has "healed herself," but I'd like to think that all those prayers had a lot to do with it :)

Thanksgiving was very relaxing, Dan and I cooked our first holiday meal together! Dan roasted a beautiful turkey and I made stuffing, rolls, potatoes and mom brought the corn casserole and applesauce salad. Just the four of us (Dan, me, mom and dad) and it was a really nice time. The weekend after Thanksgiving was spent in Sioux city with Ray and Susan.

We've done a lot of driving in the last few months.

Christmas (as always) was a little hectic. We didn't think we were going to be able to go to Sioux City at all for Christmas, but we were lucky enough to work it out to go the weekend before Christmas. We spent Saturday afternoon with Leigh and Ken and Saturday evening with Ray and Susan. Christmas day was spent in Red Oak with my mom and Dad, and luckily we got there before the blizzard of the century hit! Marley (as always) enjoyed the extra attention from Grandma and Grandpa Gilbert.

After Christmas we had a Spanish visitor! Rachel's Javi came to Iowa from Barcelona and spend a few days with us while he was Stateside. We had a great time talking, plaing Wii, and drinking Mojitos.  We celebrated Spanish New Year around 5:00 pm with champagne and grapes. Javi called his family via Skype and we got to see them ring in the new year. New Year's Eve was a really fun evening with Rachel and Javi at the Des Moines Social Club. Bands, acrobatic performers and live artists made for a really great way to ring in 2010!

Other happenings include Daniel getting into physical therapy school at Creighton in Omaha, so we'll be moving as soon as I find a job! Dad will retire after this school year after 34 years of teaching. He told me he's excited to "have time to read the paper at night." :)

And now it's already halfway through January! This year is already flying by. Happy birthday to my wonderful husband today! Here's to a great new year and all things yet to come.