Welcome to My South Beach Weight Loss!!

This blog is to document my success (and I'm sure failures) with the South Beach Diet (from now on refered to as SBD). I started this diet on Jan 19, 2010 and I've already lost 15lbs and I thought this would be a good way to keep motivated and let others know how great this diet can be!

So the whole idea of SBD is to loose weight without having to give up all the good stuff we love to eat. But to do that you have to make it through the first two weeks, called Phase 1. For this phase you DO have to give up all the good stuff, like sweets and bread, and even alcohol! Cruel and unusual... So to say the least this is the hardest part. But don't despair, its only a week, althought to be perfectly honest it felt like a month. HOWEVER, having said that, I lost an incredible 10lbs in these 2 weeks.

So to explain... the idea of Phase 1 is to sort of cleanse the body of all the excess carbs that turn to sugar. This is to kill the cravings and let me tell you, it works! After a week, it was so easy to avoid all the bad stuff. However, the hardest part (other that just wanting to eat bread!) is being creative in what you eat. There is no bread, pasta, rice, or any other starch, including potatoes, and all other starchy or sugary (ex carrots) veggies. Oh ya, and no fruit! Its definitly a challenge to find things to each when you take all these out of your diet. So I used to recipes from the SBD book, and basically lived on eggs and beans and salad, in various forms, for the two weeks.

Now I'm on to Phase 2, which allows for the reincorporation of all the good stuff, but in smaller portions, and only if it whole grain (which I've learned is different than whole wheat!). So no more white bread, white potatoes, white rice or any other food made with enriched wheat flour (which basically turns to sugar, and can raise your blood sugar faster and higher than a teaspoon of white sugar!!) This phase is way easier, but I do find that I still have a hard time coming up with ideas for dinner, especially because I have to make sure my one and a half year old son will eat it (soybeans and lentils are not a big hit, to say the least!!)

So now that I've shared the start of my diet journey, I will be describing each success and struggle in an attempt to show people that eating healthy is not impossible with a toddler, and to share how great it can feel to take control of your weight loss!! Welcome to my journey!!

Start weight: 210lbs (baby weight... really!)
Current weight after 4 weeks: 195lbs (including a 2 week set back due to everyone in my house being sick as dogs!)