Twenty Days In...

Sometimes change can be a hard thing. It's exciting and fun, but more often than not, it's not the easiest thing to actually put into practice.

I finished Phase 1 of the South Beach diet and, I am not going to lie, it got old fast. Who wants to eat egg beaters and a pile of vegetables for breakfast washed down with a V8 every morning? Not I. I joked with my father that maybe that's the real premise of the diet, that you get bored and sick of eating all the same things and just stop altogether. Well, I had my moments, but I charged forward and did what I could and along with exercise, I lost about fifteen pounds in the first two weeks. This delighted me and also concerned me. When I lose weight fast it usually means one thing: it's going to come back. Well, I moved on to Phase 2 which re-introduces the "good carbs" back into your diet. I am attributing the initial weight loss as shock because of the massive change from eating holiday goodness to egg whites and raw veggies for two weeks. Well, moving on to Phase 2 meant to me that I had a splurge day coming. Well that day kinda camped out for about two and half days. And when I say "splurge" I don't mean that I ate cake and ice cream. I had veggie sushi and low fat, low calorie home made Chinese chicken dumplings and stove popped popcorn with olive oil. But that was enough to do it. Five pounds came back, but that still leaves me hovering at ten pounds less than when I started, so twenty days in, and all in all, I will take it.

So, today I am shaking off the early week digression and facing each day as it comes. One of the biggest lessons I have had to learn is that this all takes time. I can't wish weight away and as much as I would love to just be done with it all in a week or two, it took much longer for my body to get into the shape that I am in (which is round!) and so it's going to probably take just as long, if not longer to get out of it. I know it is said over and over in all weight loss literature, but it's a bitter pill to swallow when you just want the struggle to be over. That's another thing, it's hard not to be jealous of those who have the natural bent toward fitness and thinness. It's hard to restrain the slapping mechanism in my arm when a thin person complains about the three pounds they gained over the holidays. I know I shouldn't judge until I've walked a mile in their shoes, but walking a mile in someone's shoes who only has three pounds to lose sounds like heaven to me right now. Conversely, I can at least rejoice that I don't hundreds of pounds to lose with medical conditions and diabetes and what not. Thank God that is not the case. So, there is the silver lining. Overall, I am staying focused and changing my thoughts on food and learning what is acceptable for most may not necessarily be beneficial to me and there is no need getting my panties in a bunch over it all. As the saying goes, "it is, what it is" and I might as well just get used to it and move on.

In other news, now that the holiday crunch is over, I am amazed at the time I have once again. What on earth did I do before the fall hit? I haven't a clue. My evenings stretch before me like a wide open plain filled with possibility. I get in a workout and a shower and if I am waiting up for my husband to come home late, sometimes, I can fit in a movie and a half while I knit. That and I can sit and read and read and read. It's lovely. That is, of course, if the children don't make encore appearances in the night after I have put them to bed, which they have the habit of doing. Overall, I am well on my way to achieving my goals.

I finished reading Life of Pi last evening and I highly recommend it. It is thought provoking and once I started it, I simply could not stop reading it. I don't want to give anything away, but it's good enough to re-read.

Started Emma last night. Currently reading the Introduction which I absolutely love. It just sets you up to launch right into the novel.

I won't bore you any further. I guess that's all for now.