| thewalrus
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I am officially on the South Beach Diet!
I'm so excited. Too excited. I'm just so glad to have a PLAN set out for me. In the past I'd always make up my own diet plans, and never stick to them... it's just too easy to bend the rules when you make the rules!
I'm currently at 177 pounds. My goal weight is 150. I may shift that a bit later, but for now that's the plan. So, 27 pounds. I can do this. I'm not going to weigh myself until after Phase 1 is completed, however!
For exercise, I'm going to do 20 minutes of yoga every morning, and 20 minutes of walking. I'm not going to push myself to do anything extreme- if I want to do more, great, but I refuse to feel guilty about it!
Anyway, this website looks pretty fantastic- I'm getting so much inspiration from you all and I can't wait to be able to post my own tips and "after" pictures. :D |
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Sat May 03, 2008 5:41 am |
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| mom2five
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| Hey walrus....WELCOME! You will find what you need here. I started at 169, and want to get to 130 (lbs) Join the beach <don't forget your sunscreen!> |
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Sat May 03, 2008 6:00 am |
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| thewalrus
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I've survived my first day on the diet!
I started feeling pretty sick right after lunch. I was a vegetarian for so long... since eating fish is so new to me, my body seemed to freak out after my big tuna salad. I ate a veggie burger patty at dinner, which I'm not sure is technically allowed (I think it has some wheat gluten or other impermissible thing in it). It made me feel MUCH better though. I can't live off tuna salad! I'm going to limit myself to one fake meat product a day, and hopefully I'll still get the detox effects that Phase 1 is supposed to bring.
I also had a little 2% milk in my coffee, cause the shop didn't have skim. Tsk, tsk. I'm going to confess all my little transgressions here though, so I don't let them pile up and get out of control!
Did my yoga and walking- felt pretty good.
Also- ricotta creme? Not so good. Maybe I'll get used to it, but blech.
I'm still pretty pumped about this diet. In the past I would have said, "Oh, I feel like crap, this diet clearly isn't made for someone who doesn't eat much meat, and I might as well quit" - but this time around I just made a minor adjustment and made myself stick with it! ('Cause really, NO diets are made for vegetarians- except the high carb, low fat ones, which I already know for SURE do not work for me at ALL).
I know I'm going to succeed.
:D |
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Sun May 04, 2008 4:42 am |
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| Gemmy
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Hey Walrus
There's a few vegetarians around on the site (I'm not one of them) and I think there's a couple of thread about with advice on how to live with SB without eating meat. I think beans play a pretty big part! But it might be worth checking them out. The beauty of this "diet" is its flexibility.
Good luck with everything! |
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Sun May 04, 2008 12:02 pm |
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| thewalrus
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| Thanks Gemmy. Wow, I'm a dunce. For some reason I thought beans weren't allowed in Phase 1- I totally overlooked them on the list! Oh man. This will make things SO much easier. :D I'm gonna go make some chili ASAP! |
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Sun May 04, 2008 6:16 pm |
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| Gemmy
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Glad to be of service. Enjoy your chilli, just remember to keep it SBD friendly.
It's also worth checking out the recipes on here, if i remember rightly there's several bean related recipes there. |
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Sun May 04, 2008 6:22 pm |
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| thewalrus
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Day two done!
Some minor transgressions again today: I ate fake meat again. I also ate two dinners, haha. I felt SICK, like dizzy-nauseaus-headache sick (must be the SBD Flu people talk about)- so I had to eat again. I tried the bean trick (Amy's Organic Black Bean Soup, yummy), and it helped a lot. I also ate an additional jello cup.
I also didn't do my yoga and walking, since I wasn't feeling so well. I will make up for it later!
It's kinda hard this week because it's finals time for me... I'm going to try to be better about making new recipes and whatnot once this craziness is over. Of course, I'm still checking the boards about 10 times a day, haha.
(Actually, being good about my diet is making me a MUCH less slacker student- yay!).
I'm a little less enthusiastic than yesterday, but I haven't given up and I AM GOING TO DO THIS! Quitting is NOT even an option. :D The very thought of not succeeding on this makes me miserable. |
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Mon May 05, 2008 3:36 am |
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| Gemmy
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Yeah, it sounds like the SBD flu, if it's any help it passes in the next few days!
This "diet" isn't about calorie counting etc where you can only eat x amount, eat until you're satisfied and if that means one of your meals is bigger than it normally is then so be it - so long as its all SB P1 friendly foods.
I'm a student too (final exams start tomorrow) and I find this diet helps my concentration levels. It's not been easy handing in "final year projects" and stressing about exams and not being able to comfort eat, which has been my usual way to cope with the stress, but it's well and truly worth it!
Gotta say you didn't pick the easiest time to make a lifestyle change! Hats off to you!
Getting through the "Flu" is the hardest bit, persevere Walrus, you can do it hun! |
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Mon May 05, 2008 6:22 am |
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| thewalrus
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Gemmy- Thanks for the tips. Yeah, the urge to comfort eat has been SO strong. Good to know that the diet can also help with concentration- I could use that too! Good luck with your finals!
Okay, today's update...
Day three done! Fake meat and extra jello again. :) I'm sure the extra 10 jello calories won't hurt me, but I don't want to overdo the artificial sweetners. I also didn't walk, again, but I did do yoga. I'm going to make up the missed yoga and walking over the weekend- should be a good way to decompress from exams.
I made the lime ricotta creme in the blender, with extra lime juice, and it's actually pretty good! It almost tastes like key lime pie. ...almost. I also ate an entire squash! I had never made squash before, but I'm a fan now.
I'm definitely getting used to this way of eating, and it's not terrible. I can actually fathom adopting this as a lifestyle, and the loss of the junk food I used to eat doesn't bother me so much. But for now I'm just doing it the addicts' way- one day at a time! |
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Tue May 06, 2008 2:13 am |
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| thewalrus
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Day four!
I didn't really eat meals today, just snacked a lot, but it was all healthy stuff. Walked, did yoga, and did some toning exercises on YouTube (from SparkPeople). I didn't want to push it so I didn't do the whole videos... I don't have much muscle tone at the moment! The yoga is definitely helping, though- I feel so much more limber.
I know this diet is working. My pants feel a little bit looser, and I feel better- more energy, happier, etc.
I am absolutely definitely going to reach my goal weight on this. I am sure of it. I have never felt sure about my diet/willpower ever before in my life. This is the time. |
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Wed May 07, 2008 1:32 am |
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| pedsrn
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keep it up!
btw, i saw your before photo. I cant wait to see how different it will look even in a few weeks!! |
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Wed May 07, 2008 1:49 am |
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| thewalrus
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| Thanks pedsrn! I'm definitely going to keep it up. :D |
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Wed May 07, 2008 11:13 pm |
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| thewalrus
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Day 5! I walked and will do yoga later in the evening.
I've been thinking a lot about my food struggles lately, and why I'm so ecstatic about where I'm at right now...
I was weight-obsessed through my teen years... less so in college and grad school, but there was still this sugar-addiction that controlled me. It destroyed my self-esteem- why could I not just have the willpower to stop? Was I that weak? The only reason I stayed at a relatively normal weight was my vegetarianism (I had tons of sugary desserts and snacks, but my meals were usually very healthy). Mentally, though, it's been destructive. I was like a junkie. I decided where to go study in the evenings based on where I could get my sugar fix. I hid candy in my desk. I knew where the vending machines were in every building on campus. It was daily self-sabotage and it made me miserable.
Detoxing and learning that good fats and lots of protein help curb those cravings is... amazing. Simply amazing. Reading in the South Beach Diet book that MOST people fail on low-fat, high carb diets was validation to me. I just felt awful, unsatisfied, unbalanced whenever I tried to eat "right." I tried to follow the food pyramid: 6 - 11 servings of bread/rice/pasta per day right? Hah! It's like potato chips- eat one and you can't stop- give me a carb and I want five more... sugar sugar sugar. I had never been on any diet that WASN'T low-fat and high carb, and it clearly did not function right with my body.
But now, I finally have the tools to STOP that, after a 10+ year battle.
So really, it's not about fitting into a dress, or looking good, or even about my physical health. It's about BREAKING AN ADDICTION. Those things will help me see my progress, and will be very beneficial in their own right, but they're just perks.
So, unless I get hit by a bus or something, y'all can count on seeing "after" pictures- because I am NOT giving up. |
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Wed May 07, 2008 11:28 pm |
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| thewalrus
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| I just finished exams! My friends went to celebrate with alcohol and gourmet chocolate cake, but I obviously can't have either. Chocolate cake is definitely one of my downfalls, so I didn't want to be in the same room with it. I just had to write that down cause this is a first for me, haha. |
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Thu May 08, 2008 6:42 pm |
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| griffin
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Good for you, Walrus, in resisting the temptation for chocolate cake. It's amazing that some things that were just too hard to resist become easier once your carb cravings are under control.
Keep it up -- sounds like you're doing great! |
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Thu May 08, 2008 10:29 pm |
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