Day 104: Indulgences

Went to Whole Foods again yesterday because I couldn’t find the fish I wanted at the local grocery store. Of course, I bought a bunch more than I intended, but I am pretty excited about my Grilled Artichoke-Stuffed Portabellas. Those will be great for lunches! I really wanted to get some of their prepared chicken salad (curried, yum!) but I restrained myself. Hubbo and I also bought some goat cheese, mini toasts (whole wheat of course, and totally adorable if you can use that word to describe food) and a bottle of Pinot Noir. Oh yeah, and some pre-made kabobs. I love Whole Foods and can’t wait until we are fabulously wealthy and can shop there for everything. (In all honesty, shopping there probably wouldn’t be a ton more expensive than shopping other places if their pre-made stuff didn’t look so fun, and if walking by the cheese stand didn’t awaken my gourmet urges, but hey: live a little.)

Anyway, the scale was noncommittal this morning (why is my scale so crappy? Oh, right. I bought the cheapest one I could find…) so I don’t know my weight. I’m suspecting it is somewhere around 192 or so. Of course, I’m currently drinking coffee with a bunch of white sugar dumped in because I used the last of the Splenda packets I’ve been keeping in my wallet yesterday and forgot to replenish. Hopefully a couple teaspoons of sugar won’t hurt, but I feel bad about it anyway.

Day 90: Trying New Things

The scale has been very noncommittal the past couple of days. I think I still weigh 197 this morning. A couple of times it said 196.5, but it also said 199 a time or two (and I know that is wrong). I’m going with the 197 because it’s the closest to yesterday’s being that it is exactly the same.

Anyway, had a pretty successful weekend. Friday night Hubbo and I went out on a date. I had several things that are allowed on Phase II in moderation: red wine, rice pilaf, wheat bread. I felt guilty afterward because although I know they’re all technically legal, I felt like I shouldn’t have had them all together (and also because I had a handful – maybe 10 – of peanut M&Ms at work that day.) I gained half a pound that day but it didn’t really bother me – could have been worse.

Yesterday we went shopping at Whole Foods for a couple things, and this is always a treat for me. We got some whole wheat mini pitas to stuff! We’re both pretty excited about that. We’re also going to try the Ezekiel 4:9 pitas to see what we think. I’ve heard both great and terrible things about Ezekiel 4:9 products, so we want to make our own decision about them.

I guess that’s about it, but I can throw in this: I made the Gazpacho recipe from the book last week for some lunches. Delicious! I never thought it would taste like that.

Phase II, Day 11: Shopping Around

212 lbs today, but that’s ok. At least it’s not the dreaded 214 again! And: my double-chin is gone. Completely gone! Nothing wobbles under there when I poke at it. Also, my size 16s have several inches of room in them suddenly. They were trying to fall down all day. It was really annoying in the most awesome sort of way.

Anyway, in other news: I am considering switching grocery stores.

Now don’t get me wrong – I love my local grocer. Ok, so it’s not technically a “local” grocer; it’s owned by a national corporation. But it feels local to me. The people there are really friendly, I love their produce, it’s close to my house, etc. But I’ve been thinking a lot lately about switching to Trader Joe’s.

Mostly, I’m really bummed out that my local Smith’s (branch of Kroger from my neck of the woods) doesn’t carry Pita bread. At all. The other night when I wanted Pita, I wound up settling for whole-wheat tortillas. Oh yes, the tortilla section is huge (as you would expect here in the Southwest), but there is not a Pita to be found. 

I can live with whole-wheat tortilla, but I really love Pita bread. And I’ve got a feeling Trader Joe’s carries them.

To be honest, I’ve never actually been inside a Trader Joe’s. Everyone always says how great it is and all that, but I’ve just never gone. I’ve got my comfort zone, I’ve go the store that carries everything that I need (except Pita, grr!), and Trader Joe’s is farther away from my house. I’ve never had a reason to go in. Also, I’m worried: is it more expensive to shop there with all their fancy foods?

The other option is Wild Oats (akin to Whole Foods), which is further away from me than the grocery store but closer than Trader Joe’s. But I wonder if I’d be able to find everything I wanted there – or if it might be even more expensive.

Can anyone out there promise me that I won’t be shelling out big bucks if I start shopping at one of these places?

Phase I, Day 10: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Weight was up to 216 again this morning, so a gain of 1 lb. I’m not freaking out about it – I figure it is a combination of not working out for two days and the visit from my Aunt Flo. (Not freaking out about it does not, however, mean that I am not taking my fatter-than-yesterday butt to the gym this morning.)

Anyway, nothing else really of note other than the super-exciting news that I found Fat-Free Sugar-Free Chocolate Jell-O Pudding at the store yesterday. It only has 8g carbs per serving, so yay! Only other news is that I am finally getting sick of eggs. I never thought I would say that – I love, love, love breakfast foods and thought having eggs every morning for two weeks would be great. I am beginning to rethink. 

Oh well. Only four more days of eggs, right?

The Beginning of the Story… Prepping for South Beach

Well, the time has finally come.

Last week at a routine exam my doctor told me she wanted to send me for some bloodwork. Due to the fact that I’d gained 25 lbs this year, she suspected I had probably developed either diabetes or a thyroid problem.

In all honesty, I suspected the same myself. My parents are both diabetic, so I knew I was high risk, and the weight gain did seem very over-the-top. I got married a little less than a year ago, and I started working out semi-regularly this January, so there have been some definite life changes taking place this past year, but c’mon, not 25 lbs worth. You would think that I would have lost weight!

Anyway, my bloodwork came back negative: I have neither diabetes nor hypothyroidism, as the doc and I both suspected. But nevertheless, the experience scared me enough to realize I do have to get my weight under control, or suffer the consequences later. I am 22 years old – I should not be experiencing these health problems so early.

So South Beach it is. My mom went on this diet a few years ago (back when she was first diagnosed with diabetes) and has lost over 50 lbs on it without any exercise. I am younger, and I do exercise, so I’m going into this fully expecting success. I don’t think I could make the decision to do it otherwise…

Anyway, I’ve also decided to make it a project. Here I will post on my progress, my frustrations, my cravings, and what I believe to be the highs and lows of the diet. If you are considering South Beach, read on! I promise to be brutally honest.

And let’s start that honesty from the very beginning, shall we? I am starting the diet tomorrow morning (and therefore I guess I have to finish that bag of tortilla chips tonight… ;P) and already I have suffered what I believe will be one of the most painful blows involved: grocery shopping. I am trying to follow the diet, Phase I at least, as strictly as possible, and that includes following their outlined meal plans for each day. I love to cook, so this is the only way I think I will make it. Anyway, ingredients for those meals? $150 at the grocery store today, and that will feed me and hubby for almost the first six days (will have to return for some fresher items closer to the end of the week).

This is going to be long and painful… But I’ll be darned if it doesn’t turn out to be worth it!