South Beach Diet, Revisited

Liz and I started South Beach again, last Wednesday. She’s been sick all weekend, and so the grocery list, menu prep and shopping duties fell to me today. All in all, the South Beach Diet isn’t too hard to adhere to… but it just takes a lot of time in terms of preparing menus, cooking, etc.

I like the diet because I can eat until I’m full, and still end up losing weight. The last time we did this, I ended up losing about 30 pounds. After getting off the diet for a few months, I’ve kept off about 25 of that original 30.

The first two weeks on the diet are the hardest – no grains, no fruit. Having done this before, I was prepared going in. Prior to us going on South Beach, Liz and I were drinking martinis at home, using a shaker, trying out different recipes. On South Beach though, liquor really isn’t allowed (beer isn’t either), and red wine is the only alcoholic beverage allowed.

I was prepared for the no grains thing. I was prepared for the no fruit thing. But I totally forgot that in those first two weeks, wine was off the list as well. Gah!

Ah well. We’ve gotten back into the habit of making sugar-free pudding in the evenings, after dinner… and that seems to do the trick, just as well.

Later on in the evening, Liz took this shot of me cooking in the kitchen. My hair is all frazzled because, oftentimes on the weekends, I’ll skip on the shower on Saturday/Sunday. I usually figure hey, I’m not going out anywhere and it’s not like anyone’s going to be taking a picture of me… :|

Our dinner tonight – Mahi Mahi with Citrus sauce, and a side of grilled asparagus. There’s also some steamed broccoli on the table, out of view).

The food’s been good, and even though we went “off” the diet since December… we’ve still been cooking South Beach style dinners. The only thing that’s changed for us is that we’re now making sure to each healthier lunches as well. Which tends to mean more cooking in the evenings, to make sure we have food for the next day.

So far, it’s felt like more than 5 days. I’m ready to have some fruit again, and ready for that glass of wine. A week and a half, and counting.