Shelly's Journal (mascaraonprince)

[MascaraOnPrince]

HI! My name is Shelly. I'm a 32 year old sahm of a 3 yr old, 2 yr old, and 6 month old. I am 5' 5" and this morning I weighed in at 251.4. I have PCOS and when I'm taking metformin my weight is much more managable. I'm off it now because I am breastfeeding. My kids have come so close together that I've been off the meds for the better part of 4 years. Thankfully I have never tested as insulin resistant or had a bad glucose test. I'd really like to keep it that way! But I am really struggling right now. I have actually gained about 12 lbs. since my last baby was born I've read that low glycemic diets are really good for women with PCOS so this seems like a great fit for me.

I'm not sure what I want my final weight to be. I know how I want to look and feel. I guess I'll have to wait a while to figure out that final number or dress size. Probably somewhere around 160 / size 10. For right now I am making a short term, 2 month goal to lose 30 lbs. That would sound like too much, I know, if I weren't going back on my meds. But the medicine levels my horomones and helps be drop weight that shouldn't be there. That plus South Beach plus continuing with the exercise I generally do, I think 30 lbs. in the first 2 months is very doable. I'm actually weaning my baby early so I can start taking it again. I really believe in the goodness of breastfeeding and I am home with him all day so this wasn't an easy decision. I've been going back and forth on it for a month but I think it's the right thing to do.

I want to be a good example for my kids and I want my husband to be proud of me. And, to be honest, I don't want to be embarrassed or uncomfortable in a bathing suit this summer!

So here I go!!

[MascaraOnPrince]

Phase One, Day One -

I started typing this last night but I got distracted by the kids before I finished. I feel good about yesterday. I was really glad that I had grabbed some decent p1 snacks at the store because we were stuck in traffic for about 45 minutes after shopping and I was starving! I didn't have any cravings so that was good. We've been incorporating p1 meals into our menus for a couple weeks as we used up non-p1 foods so I feel like I'm starting out with an advantage. It was hard not to eat the cheesecake in the fridge but that was an emotional reaction. I had a rough day with the kids and my husband was sick and slept from the time he got home until it was time for the kids to go to sleep. Then my 2 year old was having a hard time falling to sleep. Even after I gave in and let her snuggle in my bed it was after 10 before she drifted off. I probably had a whole 15 kid-free minutes before I went to bed. I was stressed yesterday and was losing my cool with the kids way too much. That didn't have anything to do with what I ate but it makes me feel GREAT about not eating that cheesecake. Instead I grabbed a diet soda and watched American Idol on my dvr I'd really like to eliminate diet soda from my diet but baby steps....

So here's my day one food list.

Breakfast -
3 egg omlete w/ cheddar cheese and bacon (I know bacon isn't a p1 food but I had a bunch in the fridge that I can't just toss, trimmed of fat and baked), shared with kids
1/2 cup tomatoes, not shared

Snack-
celery with blue cheese spread and hot sauce

Lunch (sort of...we were stuck in traffic through lunch time so I dug a couple things out of the grocery bags)
Salami stick, small
Nuts, small handful

Snack -
V8, 11.5 oz can

Dinner -
Salad of 3-4 cups mixed greens, 2/3 cup grape tomatoes, 1/4 cup sliced black olives, 1 tbsp feta cheese, 2 tbsp dressing (1 gr carbs), 2 small spicy sausage links

[bethy]

Welcome, Shelly. South Beach is a super way of eating that will give you slow, sustainable weight-loss, good health, stable blood-sugar and enough energy to chase three little kids around! Best of luck to you

[Chris55]

Having P1 snacks available really helps when you need to keep your hands out of the cheesecake!! When I'm in the mood to be organized, I prep some veggie strips and put them in baggies, do the same with nuts (that way I don't keep eating out of the can, a problem for a few people on this board ), and have some cheese sticks and hummus around. That way I have grab and go stuff to eat if I'm headed out the door. Just like you have snack stuff available for your kids, you need to have things you can eat. And eventually hopefully they will be the same snacks as you get the kiddos and DH to start eating better, too. You're setting a good example for them!

[MascaraOnPrince]

Thanks for the comments!! I am feeling so great even though this weekend was a total bust. We were out of the house most of the weekend, which started out sorta-ok but went downhill. First my husband grabbed breakfast at a drive thru and said the most SB friendly thing he could see was the breakfast burrito minus the tortilla so he got me 2 with a fork. Great idea except it had breaded chicken inside. I picked through and managed to eat mostly the eggs and veggies. I ate some of the chicken w/o any breading and just tossed the rest. So far ok...then we were going to stop at a Wendy's for lunch so I could have chili with a salad. Except by lunch time we were running 45 minutes behind and we couldn't sit to eat. I needed something I could eat while we were driving so I chose a burger and tore away as much of the bread as I could without having a full mess. Not great but I was trying. By dinner my husband wanted a cheesesteak. I just shrugged my shoulders and ate one too. I only ate half, though, when normally I would have eaten the whole thing. I guess that's something. Kinda. The following day, Mother's Day, my husband gave me 2 dozen Shari's Berries strawberries and got me my favorite Mexican food for lunch . SIGH..... I had a few of the berries through out the day and totally splurged at the restaurant. I ate a fried chimichanga and some rice. The only good side was that I was aware of my portion size, ate slowly, and didn't gorge on the chips. I left the rest of the berries for my husband and kids to eat over the next couple days. Would have been great if I were on Phase 3 and not just a few days into Phase 1. I'm not worrying about the past but I want it recorded so I can come back and remember.

Something really fantastic came out of all this, though. When I went to bed on Sunday night I really thought I was going to wake up the next morning feeling awful about myself and really struggling to get back to 100% on program. But I woke up feeling fine, not beating myself up, and not a single craving. I was perfectly satisfied with my healthy phase 1 foods all day. I made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and wasn't one bit tempted to eat the noddles (although, that's never been a fav of mind). I had a huge salad, a big portion of broccoli, and a few meatballs (kid sized, about 1"). I was perfectly satisfied and no cravings! And today has been the same. Had to get my son to preschool a bit early so I grabbed a couple pieces of low sugar beef jerky to eat the car. Made an omlette with tomatoes when I got home. Plain seltzer to drink. No cravings, not hungry. So maybe I managed to make just enough good choices and keep enough P1 snacks in me to not put myself back at square one. Or maybe I just got lucky. Either way I feel like I've learned something and my pants are still loose. Sigh of relief...

We're taking a beach vacation in about 2 months and I really don't want to spend the whole week regretting any diet cheats, big or little. I want to feel good about myself and set myself up for making good choices while we're there. We stay in a hotel that has a full kitchen because even if I'm not dieting I don't want to eat out all week long. So I'm honestly not even a tiny bit worried about vacation week. I can't have any more slip ups between now and then.

BTW - my husband aplogized for getting me chocolate and strawberries. Not that I blamed him, he didn't put it in my mouth. They've become a tradition for Mother's Day and he didn't even think about it. He also wrote me a nice letter apologizing for not supporting me more lately, with SB and other things, he's just been in a selfish mood lately which is VERY unlike him, I was letting him work through it and he did!