South Beach

OK, someone asked in the comments of my last post how things were going on SB phase 1 ... and whoever you were - please leave your name so I know who I'm referring to! Thanks! =)

So, today is day 2 and I know I have a long way to go. But so far it has been great. I have not felt hungry AT ALL. What you eat keeps you full longer than the foods I used to eat.

The basics is that for 3 meals a day you eat a protein and veggies and a small amount of a 'good' fat. You also add in 2-3 snacks per day - but these too are usually protein, veggie or good fat. You are cutting out the carbs and sugar - which are my biggest downfalls.

So just for example - here is what I had yesterday:

Breakfast:
Olive oil {used to coat the pan}
2 eggs
2 TBSP red peppers mixed into eggs
6 oz V8
Coffee

Snack:
Low fat cheese stick
water w/ crystal light

Lunch: Veggie burger topped w/ tsp guacamole
Big salad w/ low fat ranch

Snack:
celery sticks w/ natural peanut butter
water w/ crystal light

Supper:
london broil done on the grill
broccoli
vanilla soy milk

Snack: ricotta w/ sugar free caramel syrup {I actually was NOT a fan of this but you'll see below where I found a better way to eat ricotta}

Today, I got brave and made my own guacamole and it turned out GREAT! I used two ripe avocados and one of those packet mixes you buy in the produce section, plus I added some chopped up tomatoes to it. I had it with my celery sticks for my morning snack and it was soooo good. I thought I would miss having guac w/ tortilla chips but with the celery being so crunchy it was yummy too. {I do still miss my chips though!}

This afternoon I was determined to find a better way to eat the ricotta. For some reason on SB they have you eat ricotta as dessert almost every day. They have you mix it with various flavors {lemon, vanilla, lime, almond} and then add a sweetener to it. But I just didn't like the texture of the ricotta eating it by the spoonful so my mother in law suggested blending it like a smoothie.

So today I mixed 1/2 cup ricotta, 1/2 cup vanilla soy milk, a handful of ice cubes, 1 packet of artificial sweetener and a tsp of cocoa powder and blended it all together. I swear to you it tasted like I was drinking a chocolate ice cream shake! I was not quite as sweet as ice cream - but still very yummy. I was pleasantly surprised and think this will be my new fave 'treat'! You could also add peanut butter, vanilla or almond flavoring or sugar free caramel syrup .... I'm excited to try some more ideas!

On another note ... I did feel a bit sluggish and headachy both days in the mid-afternoon. I think my body is just figuring out how to live without all those carbs and sugars that it's used to! But overall things are good and I'm happy to be sticking to it.

Also, yesterday we went bike riding as a family and today hubby and I played tennis for about 1/2 hour, then walked a mile. So I'm trying to incorporate more exercise into my days as well.

I'm sure I will check in later in the week and let you know how things are going!