Phase 2 Gameplan

Hello Friends!

I am still Carb-free, but I have been doing some research on how to best add carbs back into my diet.  So far the best article I have found is on about.com.  According to Laura Dolson, the author of an article entitled, "How to Do Phase Two of the South Beach Diet" the idea is to add one "high nutrient, high fiber, low glycemic" carb into your diet each week.  She suggests having only one serving of your new carb each day.  Every week you will add back a new carb and monitor how it affects your cravings for food and how it affects your weight.

I have decided that my daily carb for this week will be whole wheat pasta.  I decided to go with pasta because I can extend a portion of pasta by using spaghetti squash.  I have done this before and served it to my husband without telling him what I did.  When I did, he didn't notice the difference!  This will be a good way to ease in some carbs.  I feel like this is a safe plan and I will be less likely to undo my hard work from overeating carbs.

Next week, depending on how this change affected my weight, I'll add in some fruit.

Now, I'm off to find some yummy things to put on top of my pasta-spaghetti squash mixture!

Linus, I Know How Ya Feel.

I can really empathize with Linus from the Peanuts gang.  Linus clutched to a blue blanket for security in a similar way that I am clinging to Stage 1 of the South Beach Diet.  Stage 1 is safe and effective.  I lost 6 pounds in one week!  I haven't weighed in yet this week but I think I lost a few more.  Like Linus I am unwilling to give up the known producer of successful results.

I know that I can not sustain the eating patterns of Stage 1 and that I do need carbs.  However, there are so many out there to choose from!  If anyone out there has any recipes or suggestions for reintroducing carbs into my diet, my ears are open!

Food Journal for today

Breakfast
=3 slices Turkey Bacon

Lunch
=6 slices chicken lunch meat
=1 cheese stick

Dinner
=2 bowls of chicken soup

Beverages
=2 cups of coffee, caffeinated
=2 cans V8
=WATER

Hello Carbs!

So, this should be the week that I can begin to slowly add back in fruits and carbs.  I should be excited, but I'm scared.  I am not too nervous about the fruit, its the carbs that make me nervous.  Pasta, popcorn, bread, These are the foods that made me fat, and now I'm supposed to add them back into my diet?

I am nervous that once I start I won't be able to stop myself.  I know that the best way to make sure this doesn't happen is to plan out my meals, but I'm scared to bring carbs back into my house.  I really miss pasta and popcorn so one of those will probably be the carb I add back in.  As for the fruit, I just can't choose.  I love fruit.  I love fruit the way I love carbs.  I could eat fruit for every meal.  Pre-South Beach I used to eat apples and peanut butter for lunch all the time.  Strawberries are yummy too, but they are not in season.  Grapefruits are delightful, but do I really want to be limited to just them for an entire week?  Bananas are out, they are too high in sugar, but oh so yummy.

So stay tuned for my decisions on how to ease into Phase 2.  For most of this week I will probably stick with my Phase 1 foods until I can decide on a plan that works for me.  I WILL, however, be adding milk back into my diet because I REALLY miss my mealtime beverage of choice.

I was pleased to be able to stick to SBD so well last week.  I did cheat once, on Friday, but it was a pretty big cheat.  On Friday night I went to eat at Don's Alley with my husband and another couple from our Sunday School class.  If you have never eaten there before, you should.  They make amazing home cooked food!  They also make huge rolls that are amazing and every meal comes with one.  For dinner Friday night I had pot roast with mashed potatoes and fried okra.  I ate the roll and put real butter on it.  I also dipped my okra in ketchup.  Now that I have confessed my diet sins let's move onto something I did right diet wise.

In defense of my cheating, I was pretty sick last week and food just didn't sound good until Friday.  Normally when I'm sick I eat ramen, pop corn and other carb-ey foods.  This week I was able to stick to lean proteins and green veggies, until Friday.  Another thing I like to have when I'm sick is my mother-in-law's chicken noodle soup.  Her recipe comes from a family recipe that traveled all the way from Italy to Oklahoma.  Her version has a few SBD no-no's:  carrots, white potatoes, lots of tomatoes, and pasta.  Here is my SBD version.

Mere's Chicken Soup Cure-All

Ingredients:

• 1 small-medium sized Chicken
• 1 bulb Garlic
• 2 Yellow Onions
• 1 head of Broccoli
• 1/2 package of Celery
• 1 bunch of Kale (you could add any greens, but these looked the best 
• at Walmart when I was picking up ingredients for soup)
• 1 bunch Italian Parsley
• 2 small cans of tomato sauce (no sugar)
• Garlic Salt
• Sea Salt
• Pepper
• Basil
• Sage
• Oregano
• Worcestershire Sauce 

Directions

1. Dice the onions, chop the garlic into small pieces and put inside a large stock pot.  I used the whole bulb of garlic because I like garlic and because I was sick and garlic is a natural antibiotic.  Though normally I only put in 4-6 cloves.  Trim the broccoli florets from the rabe, then chop the rabe into thin slices and add to the stockpot.  Chop the celery and the parsley and add these to the pot as well.  Add the tomato sauce, cover with water and bring to a boil.  While bringing vegetables to a boil add the garlic salt, sea salt, pepper, basil, sage, oregano and worcestershire sauce to the pot.
2. While the vegetables are coming to a boil, de-skin the chicken and trim off any excess fat.  When the water has come to a boil add the chicken.  Lower the heat to a simmer and cook the chicken until the chicken is cooked through or a meat thermometer registers 165 degrees Fahrenheit.  My chicken took about 45 minutes to cook through.
3. When the chicken is done remove it from the pot and pick the meat from the bones.  Chop the meat and add it back to the still simmering pot.  Chop the kale into 1 inch pieces and add it to the pot.  Cook for about 10 minutes or until the kale is bright green and cooked.
4. Serve immediately.

This makes a lot of soup.  My husband teases me about the amount whenever I make it.  You can put some into containers to freeze, but at our house this disappears fairly quickly.  I credit this soup with my quick recovery from what was a very nasty cold.  I started getting sick on Monday morning and by Friday I was feeling much better.  You can add any seasonings and vegetables you like.  These were what I used this time.

I am excited to weigh in this week to see if I've lost more weight.

Halfway to Carbs...

So I realized that I hadn't blogged in a while and I have some exciting news to share with you.  I weighed myself yesterday at the YMCA after Zumba.  I started this journey at 165 lbs.  Yesterday, the pointer on the scale landed on.....159 lbs!  I lost six pounds this week!  I am so excited.  I didn't take my measurements before I before started the diet so I don't know if I've lost any inches.  My clothes don't feel different yet so I think I can assume that I haven't lost significant inches.  I will try to take my measurements this week so I can start tracking that as well.

This week my husband and I went out with some friends from Sunday School to a Mexican restaurant.  Mexican is one of my favorite cuisines.  I absolutely love the free salsa and queso that they bring to the table.  Before the diet, when my husband and I would go to Chile Mercado I could easily eat two bowls of salsa and queso.  When we went to Poblano's I was very proud of myself.  I didn't eat any queso and I only had 10 small scoops of salsa and no chips.  For dinner I ordered the Carne Asada Tacos without the tortillas, black beans, and steamed ranchero beans.  I mixed the beans with the steak and only ate half of it.  I saved the rest for lunch on top of salad drizzled with lime juice.

I also worked out three times this week!  On Tuesday I went to Yoga, Thursday I played Just Dance 2 for an hour and a half, and on Saturday I went to Zumba.

I also went to the movies on Friday night with some friends to see Beauty and the Beast 3D.  It was amazing! For those of you who don't know me, one of my favorite indulgences is popcorn.  I love movie theater popcorn with lots of butter drizzled on!  Every time I go to the movies, which isn't often, I get popcorn and load it with butter.  Even though I really wanted some, I resisted the urge and enjoyed the movie without my buttery treat.

Last night I made Chicken Parmesan.  For those of you familiar with Italian Cuisine might ask how Chicken Parmesan can be SBD Phase 1 friendly.  Well, here's how:  Almond Flour.  If you have been reading the blog regularly you might remember that I made a Chicken Nugget recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen that uses Almond Flour instead of wheat flour.  To make Chicken Parmesan I used the same method.  For those of you interested in making Chicken Parmesan, here's how.

Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients

• 4 Chicken Breasts
• 2 TBS Olive Oil
• 3/4 to 1 cup Almond Flour
• Spices--I used premixed Italian Seasonings and added Garlic Powder, Basil, and Majoram

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Coat a baking pan with the olive oil and place pan in oven to heat while oven is heating.
• In a large plastic bag mix the almond flour and seasonings.  Rinse the chicken breasts in the sink, place on a cutting board and flatten each chicken breast with a meat mallet.  
• When the oven is ready remove the pan.  One at a time put a flattened chicken breast in the bag with the almond flour mixture and coat the chicken breast.  Place the chicken on the pan and repeat with the other chicken breasts.
• Bake for 10 minutes, turn the breasts over and cook for another 10 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees Fahrenheit
• I served the chicken over Spaghetti Squash I had tossed with I Can't Believe Its Not Butter spray and Parmesan cheese and topped it with homemade tomato sauce. 

While cruising the internet I came across a recipe for Cheesecake that is Phase 1 friendly that I can't wait to try.  Be looking out for a post on how it turns out.

Food Journal

Thursday
Breakfast
4 slices of Turkey Bacon
1 cup Decaf Coffee with non-Dairy Creamer and Truvia

Snack
1 cup Regular Coffee
1 can V8

Lunch
Salad with Turkey Taco meat, Avocado and lime juice
Cheese Stick
Jello
1 can V8

Dinner
Unsweet Tea with Splenda
10 small scoops of salsa
Carne Asada Taco Meat with no Tortilla
Black Beans
Ranchero Beans

Friday
Breakfast
Grande Regular Coffee from Starbucks with 2 Splendas, non Fat Milk and a splash of Half and Half

Snack
1 can V8

Lunch
Salad with Carne Asada Taco Meat and Lime Juice
Cheese Stick
Jello
1 can V8

Snack
1 can V8

Dinner
Turkey Taco Salad with Avodado Salsa and Lime Juice

Saturday
Lunch
Salad with Chicken lunch meat

Dinner
Chicken Parmesan
Spaghetti Squash
Steamed Spinach

Sunday
Breakfast
2 Slices Turkey Bacon
2 Eggs, Scrambled

Lunch
Salad with diced Chicken Breast

Snack
Ricotta Creme from the South Beach Book

Dinner
Salad with Tuna

Phase 1, Week 1, Day 3

Hi friends!  How are you today?  I've been better.

Today I had a meltdown at home after school.  I was tired, hungry, and I REALLY wanted carbs!  The source of my discouragement came from the fact that I am unable to eat between meals.  SBD builds in two snacks a day to help keep your blood sugar up and to keep you from binge eating at meal times.  I am a teacher and my schedule doesn't allow me time to have a morning and afternoon snack.  So when I get home I am starving.

I have been trying to drink a V8 instead of eating a snack.  This is working okay, but I still wish I could eat something.  This afternoon I was super hungry and I needed to make dinner.  On top of that I was starting to freak out about going out to eat tomorrow.  I haven't eaten out yet on the diet and our Sunday School class is  going out to a Mexican restaurant tomorrow.  Mexican is one of my pitfalls.  I can easily eat my entire meal after consuming 2 bowls each of queso and salsa.  I love queso!  However, it isn't SBD friendly.  So I was tired, hungry, and freaking out that I was going to blow 3 days of good eating on queso.  I was a mess.

My husband asked me, "Would you rather have the carbs or be skinny?"  In that moment, I wanted the carbs.      I wanted the yummy, warm foods that fill me up and make have that warm fuzzy feeling inside.  I wanted pasta with butter and Parmesan, chicken and rice casserole, macaroni and cheese from the box, fresh baked bread, and movie theater popcorn.  At least, that's what the impulsive Size 14 woman inside of me wanted.  Somewhere deep inside the quiet voice of my former size 8 self whispered, "Let me out."  Deciding to listen to size 8 self I wiped my tears and marched my boo-heenie into the kitchen and made dinner.  I feel better now knowing that I didn't throw away three days of progress.   

Here is my food journal from Tuesday and today.

Tuesday
Breakfast
--2 eggs with texas pete
--2 slices turkey bacon
--1 cup decaf coffee

Snack
--1 cup regular coffee
--1 can V8

Lunch
--8 slices Chicken breast
--Cheese Stick
--Lime Jello

Snack
--1 can V8

Dinner
--Salad
--Chicken Nuggets leftovers
--Cheesy Zucchini leftovers

Today
Breakfast
--2 eggs with texas pete
--2 slices turkey bacon
--1 cup decaf coffee

Snack
--1 cup regular coffee
--1 can V8

Lunch
--Salad with Tuna
--Cheesestick
--Lime Jello

Snack
--V8

Dinner
--Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps
--Avocado Salsa
--Salad

Phase 1, Week 1, Day 1

Well, I have almost completed an entire day on South Beach.  I only cheated once.  As I was cleaning out the fridge to make room for all of the yummy salad fixings that I will be preparing with my new food processor I discovered homemade cookie dough leftover from when I made my secret family recipe Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pecan cookies last week.  I am sad to say that I crumbled (haha) and ate a few bites.  It would have been sacrilege to let such good cookie dough go to waste.  I am proud to say that the cheating stopped there.

I almost cheated over some flan in a cup that I had gotten to enjoy as part of my "last meal" before SBD.  I was unable to enjoy that yummy Spanish confection because I felt terrible yesterday!  Saturday and Sunday evening, and for most of today I have felt nauseous.  Nothing sounded good to me.  I was putting food in my body because I knew that I needed to.  I felt a little better this evening and I almost caved and ate it, but my hubby encouraged me to not give in!  We looked at the sell by date and it will still be yummy by the time I hit should be hitting my goal weight so I will save it for a celebration.

As I said in a previous posting I spent some time visiting http://www.kalynskitchen.com/.  If you haven't checked out her sight you need to.  Especially if you are on SBD or another low carb diet.  Kalyn is currently posting one Phase 1 SBD recipe everyday this month.  All of my meals this week come from her site.  Here is the plan:  Monday night Chicken nuggets and Cheesy Zucchini, Tuesday night leftovers, Wednesday night Spicy Ground Beef and Bean Soup with Cabbage and Spinach, Thursday night we are eating out with our Sunday School Class, Friday night Leftovers, Saturday night Turkey Lettuce Wrap Tacos, Sunday night Leftovers.

Today I tried the Chicken Nuggets.  Here is the link to the recipe, http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2010/03/recipe-for-south-beach-diet-friendly.html.  They were amazing.  The recipe calls for almond flour instead of bread crumbs which makes the recipe Phase 1 friendly.  After doing some research I made my own almond flour.  Whole Foods has it for 6.99 a pound.  I know.  My heart stopped beating too when I heard the employee quote me the price over the phone.  I made my own by taking plain, blanched, slivered almonds and pulsing them a few at a time in the blender.  After pulsing each batch of nuts I used a sieve colander to sift the flour into a bowl.  You can use whole almonds, but I didn't want the skins in my flour.  When making almond flour you really need to use the blender.  If you use your food processor you will end up with nut butter.  This is due to the high power of the food processor.  I made some extra and I have put it in a baggy in the freezer to use later.

This recipe is so easy and yummy all you do is cut up 2-3 chicken breasts into nugget style chunks and then flatten them.  I didn't flatten mine because I couldn't find my meat mallet.  Then you dip each piece into the almond flour mixed with poultry seasoning, paprika, salt, and pepper.  You then place the pieces on a pan that you have coated with olive oil and warmed in the oven.  I used a little too much olive oil and some of the nuggets were a little soggy.  Next time I will just use some cooking spray.  Bake the chicken on each side at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes on each side.  For dipping, I tried balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, and Texas Pete Hot Sauce.  I wasn't impressed with the Dijon Mustard, but I loved the vinegar and hot sauce.  I actually ended up mixing the two together in a great mixture of sweet and spicy.

I used 3 chicken breasts and have barely enough leftover for tomorrow night.  I'll add a big salad and all will be groovy.  This recipe turned out so well that I am definitely going to adapt it to make one of my favorite foods, Chicken Parmesan.  Served with Spaghetti Squash instead of carb loaded spaghetti will make it SBD Phase 1 friendly.

Food Journal
Sunday
Breakfast
     --2 eggs scrambled
     --water
Lunch
     --Chicken Alfredo
     --1 homemade yeast roll
     --iced tea sweetened with Splenda
Dinner
     --Papa John's Cheesebread--whole order
     --2 slices Veggie Pizza with ground beef
     --Water

Today
Breakfast
     --2 eggs scrambled in the microwave
     --2 slices turkey bacon
     --cup of decaf cofee with non dairy creamer and Truvia
     --Water
Lunch
     --6 slices turkey lunch meat
     --Cheese stick
     --Jello
     --Water
Dinner
     --Chicken Nuggets
     --Cheesy Zucchini Bites
     --Water

Today...

Today I finally opened my new food processor!  I am so excited about the ease with which I will be able to slice, shred, puree, and knead!  I plan on using it to help make salad preparation easier for Phase 1 of SBD.  Salads are much more accessible when the veggies are already chopped, which makes them entirely more likely to go in my mouth.

Today I also had fun exploring a great South Beach website, http://www.kalynskitchen.com/.  One of my friends, in response to a request I included in a previous post for yummy Phase 1 recipes, pointed me in the direction of Kalyn's Kitchen.  You can imagine my excitement and surprise when I arrived at her site to discover that in January she is posting a Phase 1 recipe everyday!!  I really encourage you to go check out her website!  Like me, you will be surprised at the yummy recipes that she has for Phase 1!  I am very excited to try the Chicken Nuggets.

"Now Mere," you might say, "I thought you said that carbs were forbidden during Phase 1 of SBD.  How are Chicken Nuggets Phase 1 friendly?"  Well, I'll tell you.  Kalyn has a recipe that uses almond flour as the breading for the chicken.  Almonds are a nut, which is well within the constraints of Phase 1!  Be looking for a posting about nuggets this week.  If the hubby and I like this one, I will be trying to adapt it into one of our other favorite recipes...Chicken Parmesan!

The hubby ate the last of the mashed potatoes and I am working on the cookies like a CHAMPION!  We are well on track for starting SBD on Monday!

Now that I have quickly told you about my plans for a healthier me, let me tell you about the foods my body took in today.

Breakfast
--Chick-fil-A Chicken Biscuit
--Large Sweet Tea with no ice
        =Hey!  I know.  Chick-fil-A breakfast isn't all that healthy for you, and sweet tea is full of sugar.  Both    
        of which I will be giving up for a long time after Monday.  A girl's gotta splurge while she still can!

Lunch
--1 Apple
--6 Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pecan Cookies

Dinner
--Bowl of White Rice
--Bag of Popcorn

The invitation is still open for YUMMY Phase 1 recipes.  Tomorrow expect a preliminary list of things I am going to try this week.  I am so thankful that I am getting to share this experience with you, my readers!  I get so excited every time I log on and see that people are reading my blog not only here in the states, but around the world!  It makes me feel like you are invested in my success.  Well, starting Monday I will be working to live up to the expectations that I have set for myself.  Brace yourself for the unveiling of my start weight.  I think I might also add my current measurements.  That way we can track pounds and inches!  I am getting excited!  Are you?

I am EXCITED to announce...

I will be beginning SBD on Monday!!!  My husband and I ate like CHAMPIONS this week and all of the white food is out of the house!  Well, except for those homemade lasagnas that are in the freezer.  They will just have to stay there until I am skinny again!  There are a few chocolate chip oatmeal pecan cookies left, but they WILL be gone by Monday!

I am excited to be getting back on the right track again!  I also have an encouraging story for all of you out there who get frustrated with exercise.  I am a teacher and I teach first grade in an inner-city school.  My job is stressful and tiring, but it is also one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.  Yesterday was our second day back from Winter Break and I was EXHAUSTED!  All I wanted to do was just go home, eat some carbs and curl up into a little ball, but I knew that I needed to exercise.  I didn't want to.

Exercise and I have a bad history.  I hate exercising.  Going to the gym and getting, oh horror of horrors, sweaty is not my idea of a good time.  So I have to trick myself into doing exercising.  Colorguard is a great example.  I was having so much fun perfecting routines and performances that I didn't notice that I was working out.  Actually, when I started Marching Band and Colorguard, in High School, my doctor thought that I was either starving myself or puking because I lost so much weight!  It was over 20 pounds!

A few years ago I discovered Zumba.  In my opinion Zumba is the greatest thing to happen to exercise since I don't know what.  And with a great instructor you can have so much fun and feel so sexy that you really do forget that you are doing something good for your body.  But yesterday I was tired.  I REALLY didn't want to, but when I got home instead of putting on my flannel pj's I put on my dance pants and dragged my butt to Zumba.  Boy howdy!  Was I glad that I did!  Somewhere in the midst of the Latin rhythms I got this huge burst of energy.  I felt like I had gotten 8 hours of sleep!  I also felt good about myself and what I had done.  I started to think, "I really CAN do this skinny thing!"  It reminded me of Legally Blonde when Elle says,"Exercise gives you endorphins!  Endorphins make you happy!"  Listen to Elle, she got it right.

Now for the things I ate.

Yesterday

Breakfast
--Two snack sized bags of sun chips
--1 cup of coffee with 2 sweeteners and non-dairy creamer

Lunch
--lasagna
--sunchips
--apple
--6 chocolate chip cookies

Dinner
--Roast Beef
--Brussel Sprouts
--Mashed Potatoes
--Cranberry Juice mixed with Water

Today
Breakfast
--Plain Bagel and Cream Cheese
--2 cups of coffee with half-and-half and splenda

Lunch
--Turkey and Cheese Sandwich on Wheat Bread with mayo and mustard
--Baby Carrots
--Milk Box

Dinner
--Chips, Salsa, Queso
--Carne Guiso (Mexican Pot Roast)
--Mexican Mashed Potatoes
--Ranchero Beans
--Margarita on the Rocks
--Water

Quick Food Journal Posting

Here's what I put in my body today.

Breakfast
--Ramen
--Cranberry Grape Juice mixed with water

Lunch
--1 slice pot roast
--1 small scoop of mashed potatoes
--1 small scoop of Brussels sprouts
--six chocolate chip oatmeal pecan cookies (small)
--large cup of coffee with caramel macchiato creamer powder and truvia

Dinner
--Lasagna
--Cranberry Grape Juice mixed with water

Snack
--Half of a Chocolate Milkshake

A big THANK YOU goes out to the people who commented on my last post with some recipes and websites to help me get into Phase 1 of SBD!  Thank you for being so encouraging!

Sorry if there are typos.  It is late but I wanted to get this posted so I wouldn't slip up in my journaling.

There Is WAY Too Much White Food In My House!

So!  Here we find ourselves at my second post!  I hope that somebody out there is enjoying this.

Well, I am trying to get my kitchen ready to start the South Beach Diet.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the South Beach Diet I would refer you to Dr. Agatston's book about the Diet.  Here are the basics.  I have taken them from Dr. Agatston's book The South Beach Diet.

• The diet has three phases.  Phase 1 is the strictest and slowly you add back foods in healthier forms.
• Phase 1 lasts two weeks.  In Phase 1 you are not allowed to eat:  fatty meats, fatty cheeses, vegetables high in sugar like beets, carrots, and corn, potatoes of any kind, all fruits and fruit juices, alcohol, all starches, carbs, and dairy.
• In Phase 2 you are allowed to add back in low fat dairy, 1 piece of fruit a day, some starches and carbs like: whole grain bread, wild or brown rice, sweet potatoes, whole wheat pasta and some cereals.  You add back 1 item at a time over the course of a week to see how they affect your body.  Phase 2 lasts until you reach your target weight.
• Phase 3 is maintenance.  Nothing is off limits at this stage because according to Dr. Agatston, "At this point you should be knowledgeable enough about how...it [food] interacts with your body...if you want it, and it doesn't undo all your sacrifices, you should go ahead and enjoy."
• If you gain back weight, you just go back to Phase 1 for a while until you lose the weight.

My house is still recovering from the decadent eating that took place over Winter Break.  White food was in abundance:  Chocolate Chip Cookies, Homemade Lasagna, and Mashed Potatoes made with cream cheese and half-and-half are all in my fridge!  I am making one last hurrah before starting Phase 1 of SBD (South Beach Diet).  So here's my food and exercise journal from the past 2 days.

Monday, January 2, 2012
Breakfast--Ramen, Cranberry Grape Juice mixed with water
Lunch--Skipped
Dinner--Pot Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Brussel Sprouts, Cranberry Grape Juice mixed with water
Exercise--Elliptical 1 mile, Stationary Bike 3 miles

Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Breakfast--Chick-fil-A Chicken biscuit with jelly and salsa, Large Sweet Tea
Lunch--McDonald's Angus Bacon Cheeseburger, Medium Fries, Medium Unsweet Tea sweetened with 3 Splenda
Dinner--Left over Chow Mai Fun (Rice noodles with veggies, chicken, shrimp, and steak), Cranberry Grape Juice mixed with water.
No Exercise!

Hopefully sometime next week all the white food will be gone.  I hate to throw food out so my plan is to eat normally until the forbidden foods are gone and then replace them as they are consumed with acceptable Phase 1 foods.  When my kitchen is Phase 1 friendly I will start my two weeks!  Dr. Agatston promises that I will lose between 8 an 13 pounds during this stage!  I am so excited!

To any South Beachers out there, any recommendations for yummy Phase 1 recipies??

The Journey Begins...Almost

Hi!  Welcome to my journey to skinny!

I am an Oklahoma Sooners fan, First Grade teacher, and wife to an amazing man!  I received my degree in Education from the University of Oklahoma a few years ago.  During my time at OU I was a member of the Pride of Oklahoma Marching Band Colorguard.  Being a member of the Pride was one of the best parts of my school experience.

Pride was a great way to cheer the Sooners on to victory and stay in shape!  We practiced Monday through Friday for two hours.  Then on gamedays we practiced for two hours in the morning before parading into the stadium and staying on our feet for most of the day.  For those of you who haven't been keeping count I used to workout for over 10 hours a week!

All through college I never had to worry about watching what I ate or clothes not fitting.  However, once I got married and started teaching I stopped those 10 plus hour a week workouts.  I have gained over 20 pounds and can not fit into many of the clothes I wore a year ago!

I have decided to take back my body!  I am going to use this blog to help me stay accountable on the journey to skinny.  Here's the plan:

• I will be following the South Beach diet.  I did South Beach half-heartedly this summer.  I didn't see much results because I only followed the diet religiously for a week.  The diet is easy to follow and allows me to eat many of my favorite foods.
• I will work out at least once a week at the gym and once a week at home.  I haven't worked out at all in quite some time and I can easily commit to once a week at the gym and once a week at home. 
• I will blog on a (hopefully) daily basis what I have eaten and how much exercise I have gotten.  I am hoping that by exposing my eating habits I will be held accountable for my eating decisions and feel good about them.
• Once a week I will post an update on my weight.
• Once a month I will post my weight loss and exercise goals for the month.
• Whenever I come across a recipe or an idea that I think that others will benefit from I will post it here.

I hope that my experiences will be an encouragement to others.  Dieting is new to me and I need all the encouragement I can get!