Thursday, June 4, 2009

Fresca is Delicious, Except When I Wish It Were Wine

So I've been on the South Beach diet, Phase 1, for five days now. [Phase 1 is designed to retrain your body how to process normal food since we eat so much crap in America these days. As such, Phase 1 is really restrictive; the good news is that it's only two weeks. If you want to learn more I highly recommend reading the book; even if you don't want to go on the diet it's really informative about how our bodies react to different foods.] I'm happily surprised and pleased to report that I'm not having horrible food cravings. I think that's a result of 1) knowing what I was getting into and 2) being really, really ready to lose some weight. I'm eating a ton of vegetables (like, for every meal, even breakfast!) and I'm figuring out things to make for dinner that will satisfy both Jason and I. Tonight I sautéed turkey sausage + onions + garlic + red, yellow, and green bell peppers + mushrooms in hot-pepper olive oil. For Jason I boiled a small pot of penne pasta to add to his portion. Voilà! We're both happy. Yesterday I made burritos but just put my stuff in a bowl instead of a tortilla. And I'm trying to make extras of everything so I have an easy lunch the next day (so if I suddenly realize I'm starving, which happens often, I have something already ready and don't have to worry about succumbing to temptations).


My favorite go-to items when I start to feel snacky are (in no particular order): celery, which I pre-cut and have ready in the fridge, with a little peanut butter or a Laughing Cow cheese wedge spread in; yogurt, since luckily for me I prefer plain low-fat yogurt anyway; cottage cheese, except I accidentally bought the no salt added kind and it is disgusting--even the texture is different!; a spicy-hot V-8; a cheese stick; a small handful of almonds. After dinner I usually have a sugar-free fudgesicle. I broke the rules at the beginning of the week because we still had some great fruit left and I couldn't bear to not eat it (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and kiwis). My other cheat is that I usually eat more than the allotted amount of peanut butter--2 tablespoons is not a lot! But other than that I've been doing pretty well. And I've seen the scale dip a bit, so that helps!


The only hard part so far has been not having red wine! (There's no alcohol during Phase 1.) It wasn't bothering me too much until last night when I came downstairs to watch So You Think You Can Dance... my ritual is to bring a glass of wine downstairs and drink it while I watch the show and organize something in my craft room. Not having the wine was bugging me a little bit last night. I had Fresca instead, but we all know that as delicious as Fresca is, it's not Pinot Noir! I'll be happy when I can have a glass every couple of days again.


The really hard part will be this weekend. On Saturday we have a picnic with my local alumni association. According to my last name I'm supposed to bring a dessert, but that won't be happening! If I can't eat it, there's no way in heck I'm going to make it and bring it to a picnic! So I'll make sure to bring something that I can eat (and I'll probably eat a good snack before we get there, too!). On Sunday we're headed to a friend's house for barbecue. I'm really unsure about this, since I don't know the guy (Jason rides motorcycles with him) and have no idea what they'll make to eat. Should I have Jason tell them ahead of time that I'm on a special diet and risk annoying them, have them go out of their way to cater to me, etc, or should I not tell them until we get there and risk coming across as snobby about their food (and potentially starving)? Risky either way, bah. I guess I'll ask Jason what he thinks since it's his friend (but then of course I'm sure it will be the friend's wife preparing the food, so who knows). Advice?

See you tomorrow for Favorite {Photo} Friday!

7 comments:

Ingrid Parmeter said...

Don't go and not eat their food. I think it is okay to tell them that there are certain things you "can not eat", and if they are hospitable at all they will want to make things that work for you. I've never minded cooking for my vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, anti-inflammation diet friends. I don't think you have to justify yourself too much..... like you don't have to distinguish that it is a diet versus allergies or vegetarianism. And what you are asking for is probably EASIER to cook than other things. Let them know that you don't expect anything special and can happily eat huge quantities of spinach! Maybe you'll luck out and get a gigantic pile of radishes!

summerdavid said...

And bring a "backup" meal in your purse - almonds, cheese, some celery, stuff like that - in case you don't get enough food to eat at the meal.

Good luck - hang in there!

Chiara said...

Have Jason tell them. Eat a snack before you go and there should be something you can pick on. If you cheat just get back up on the wagon at the next meal and don't beat yourself up.

Unknown said...

Hey Girly girl. Love this post. So many good tips. Might have to try this south beach, since I have all the books and all. Just never opened them up:) The food sounds so up my alley:) And you sound like quite the cook. And about supper. I go with chiara:) Have a good weekend and I promise to send your package tomorrow.

jen said...

mad props for doing this diet. i honestly do not know what my body would do if i tried to de-americanize it.

have you tried drinking the fresca out of a wine glass? or is that a faux pas?

Wisconsin Girl said...

Love the pics to go with this post, esp. seeing the ones you took in Italy, as it brings back so many memories! I can't believe you are on day 6 already. That's great! The first few days seem to be the hardest. I haven't done South Beach, but I ate much better last week and then I broke down and bought a frozen meal for lunch one day because I had nothing in the fridge at home and it was getting late. I didn't want to...but...UGH! Anyway, it felt gross to eat it. After eating good things, or things that are good for your body, you don't even want all the gross processed stuff. Now BBQ's, that might be a hard temptation. You could always bring your own veggies to grill...grilled veggies are so yummy anyway! I know you'll do great. Have fun and keep looking forward!

Jilliene Designs said...

love the photos! very well suited for the commentary too! Re; The food issue for tomorrow - I did not eat sugar for a year and 1/2 and often ran into dietary conflicts at social events which I think sometimes were misinterpreted so I started bringing my own finger foods. this way it was obvious that I was not just making up a story to avoid their cooking nor drawing attention to myself often causing the hostess to scramble to accommodate me. I'm so proud of your commitment and willingness to take care of yourself.