I did it. For the first time ever, I started a real diet! Now, let me back up…
(Forgive me, this intro post will take a while. But it will make updates a lot quicker for both of us!)
I’ve known I had something wrong with me for years. But nothing ever made sense. Two years ago I finally made it to a midwife who worked with an OB who both broke away from their allopathic practice they were a part of. She had started practicing more generally in Women’s Health, with a focus on Wilson’s Thyroid Syndrome, which she had become certified in. Well, it turned out that I didn’t have Wilson’s Thyroid Syndrome, I just had a plain ol’ under-functioning thyroid. That was a relief. At least that was proven and measurable, and would dispel the nay-sayers! (The biggest of which was my husband at the time!) Meanwhile, I’ve also known I had sugar issues. But I’m not diabetic. But there were issues, and I knew it, even if no one else did. You can’t unassisted birth without knowing your body!
So Midwife started me on medication, and it made me feel better very fast. My temps even went up to normal, and for quite a while, too! Only thing was that the pounds never started falling off. After about 18 months I started not feeling so good again, and my temps were way down again, and Midwife was out of practice. :( I went to a General Practitioner to get a referral to an endocrinologist to get on some different medication. GP was aware of Midwife, and did not buy into the whole Wilson’s Syndrome thing. This didn’t phase me, and was to be expected. He gave me a referral, though, and suggested from my symptoms that it’s more likely that I was becoming insulin resistant. !?!?! I hadn’t even said anything about my sugar issues! He had my attention.
He started telling me about the South Beach Diet, and how it was founded by a doctor, blah blah blah. It’s all about getting healthy. He also said to exercise for a whole hour a day. I thought that sounded extreme, but have since heard that number said more often than not for weight loss. I’ve yet to start that amount. Indeed, I haven’t done any at all since my van broke 5 months ago and I haven’t been able to make it to the gym. And I never had the spare money for the book, but did finally get it a few weeks ago.
I opened the book, and straight from the introduction, I was hooked! I’ve always been naturally underweight (5′9" and 120#), but also believed a woman should have curves. And mama has always had some junk in her trunk, even at 118#! And though I don’t like my weight now, it’s not the number. It’s not even the clothes so much. I can still find cute stuff. It’s that I just feel so sloppy!! It’s disgusting, the way I feel. And it was better when I was working out regularly, but still not enough. And I’d resisted dieting before because half the stuff they tell you, you just know is crap (no salt??? no eggs?!?), and I wanted something real. Balanced. And as I read through the pages of The South Beach Diet, I couldn’t help but see how it all just made sense!! As I told EDH, "like unassisted birth!" lol.
I didn’t know how I’d fare without bread for 2 whole weeks. I know how I almost caved in during the Feast of Unleavened Bread last year. I had to call my Rabbi to stop myself from running to McDonald’s. But hey- That same feast was coming up! May as well kill two birds with one stone, eh? So I planned to start the first week with that.
And I did!
There are 3 phases to the South Beach Diet.
The Strict Phase: 2 weeks only!
It’s a buffet! Eat all the veggies as you want (besides the three exceptions below), and as much lean meat as you want, cooked in olive oil or canola oil. Eat a lot of these, 6 times a day. (Start with 2 cups veggies, and 3-4 ounces meat/protein. Have more as desired, but after a day or two, you won’t want to! You’ll be way too full!)
Have up to 2 cups of milk (& milk products) per day, and do have 1/2 cup of beans as your veggies (or a whole cup if in place of a protein during a meal).
For two weeks only, you can not have grains, oats, fruit, potatoes, carrots or corn. These foods all have a high glycemic index, which means they are pure sugar inside your body. And your body is already overwhelmed with sugars! And your body is possibly (definitely, in my case) becoming resistant! During these two weeks your body’s chemistry will correct itself, and by the end, you will be able to process sugars normally again. And you’ll have probably lost about 10 pounds, too.
The Weight Loss Phase: Until you reach your goal
You add back in some fruit and grains, but in specific amounts (and only whole grains). I’ll expound on the particulars as I reach this phase.
The Lifetime Phase: Until you die
And here is why I love this diet. It’s not a weight loss diet, even though it does that. It’s about health! It’s about training yourself. Which is exactly why, even though you can do Phase 1 for 4 weeks instead of just 2, it is actively discouraged. You are encouraged to move forward and not settle into the more ‘extreme’, harder-to-stick-with phase.
I’ve known certain things for a very long time now. But, how to get there?? And then what??? The South Beach Diet lays it all out for me. And it all makes sense, for the first time ever.
Ever. Do you know how big that is? Because even after running around in natural health circles for nearly a decade now, and having the local Health Food Stores calling me about stuff that people need help with (!), I still couldn’t get this whole diet thing together. This is HUGE.
Not only that, everyone knows I’m lacking cooking skills. Well, maybe not the skills, but certainly the knowledge! But the book comes with lots of recipes, too. So I’m even covered there. They haven’t left me hanging in any area. (And if you can afford the $5/week for the online membership, there are *thousands* of recipes there, with meal plans and printable shopping lists…)
And I’m thrilled to lose weight. I can’t wait to get back into those super-cute clothes that have been sitting in bins for a long time now. But I put on another 10 pounds this past year! Where does the insanity stop??? I’d like to be smaller, but I don’t want a quick fix. I want something that lasts. And with a lifetime plan, now I’ve got it.
This is huge. And I’m so grateful. And excited. And I guess I should go and do my one-week update now before the day is gone 
, but I was completely wiped out!)
