I just finished phase 1, and I stepped on the scale today, and... I am down 9.8 pounds! In just 2 weeks. I am high as a kite right now!
I haven't posted before today, but I have been lurking for the past few weeks. This site has been great at answering my questions (usually before I have them). So thanks everyone!
I have been up and down in my weight my entire adult life. I gained almost 40 pounds since I met my (now) husband. And that was only 6 years ago. With phase 1, I have lost the remainder of the baby weight (2 kids). Now I just have to get rid of all our "dating" weight.
For once I decided not to wait until after the holidays to start getting healthy again. Now I just have to figure out how to survive them on South Beach. Any and all advice would be welcome...
As for "surviving"the holidays, I think that everyone has a different way of doing that. Personally I do not think of it as "surviving" more like, life happening. HAHA.
I do know that when I first went on SBD (almost 12 weeks ago) my original thought was to give myself "cheat" days. One day at Thanksgiving, one at Christmas etc. And be on plan and back to Phase I if I needed to. Giving myself that one day, took pressure off.
However, the longer I am in this, the more I realize that very few of the holiday foods hold much appeal. Sure I will have the turkey or prime rib, and a bunch of veggies, but the "treats" I am not that interested in. I am doing Christmas Dinner at my house and I intend on making it fairly SB friendly. Thanksgiving is at the in-laws and they know we are on SB so they go out of their way to make sure that there is stuff we can eat. I am also planning on taking a few of my own things to add to dinner and dessert.
Just remember that life happens. We are on a journey to healthy living and having a healthy relationship with food and ourselves. To me that means that once in a while something happens like a holiday, it is ok to indulge a bit. As long as the next day we are back eating healthy. Holidays are a big deal for everyone. Even people who do not struggle with food.
Lazylioness -> I've done basically the same thing with Thanksgiving and Christmas. But as of right now, I can't think of any one holiday food that I really must have. But nothing is in front of me right now, throwing it's yummy aromas at me either.
I think the biggest key for me is to remember that Thanksgiving and Christmas are days, not "seasons". Going off 2 days is no big deal, going off from the weekend before Thanksgiving to Jan. 2nd, is.
My problem is going to be the wine. We always have wine with holiday celebrations, plus I live near the wine country, so going wine tasting is always in our plans when family is in town. I know I can fit a glass or two into phase 2 occasionally, but my willpower usually goes out the window when I have wine. Ugh. It will take a lot of extra motivation.
Yup, it is a day or two. No biggie in the grand scheme of things.
Wine is a big BIG deal in our house too. Got to love it. HAHA. Red is ok on SBD. I know in "moderation" but still.
Interestingly enough, since I have been doing SBD, my tastes have TOTALLY changed. Like all around changed. Even my tastes in wine. Before, Red was just "ok" not my favorite, I MUCH preferred a white. Now, I am ALL OVER the reds. White's are just too...sweet? Light? I dunno. so YAY.
I think you made a great decision in not waiting until after the holidays to get healthy. Everyone is different, but I tend to favor staying as close to plan as possible. I feel better about my choices when I do that.
My best advice would be to become a regular here. I have found this forum so helpful! I made a pledge to myself last year that I would post at 3FC every single day. It is always easy starting out-we all have lots of motivation to stick to our plan. Two, three or four months down the road it can get more difficult. My everyday pledge keeps me focused and even when I have an off day, I know I have checked in and know I will be checking in tomorrow. The beachers here are great and I've managed to stay focused on weightloss longer than ever before...not to mention that I feel absolutely great when I follow this WOE.
Welcome L4L. I'm just a little ahead of you and am feeling so much better than I have in a long time. Looking forward to the holidays, I plan on staying completely on plan. No exception. It's just not worth it for me personally. And you know what, it isn't stressing me out at all. I going to make my favorite SB legal pumpkin pie which I'm looking forward to and while the family is eating what they want, I will be eating what I want which will include turkey and lots of vegs. Everyone has to approach the holidays in their own way and it doesn't matter, as long as we are all back on the beach come the new year.
Last edited by TallandThin; 11-18-2010 at 04:34 PM.
Thanks everyone for the welcomes. I feel charged up to tackle weight loss this time. Not sure what clicked this time around, but it really feels like it has.
I'll definitely be checking out this site daily to keep me honest. I have big lurker tendencies that I will have to try to break, but I will be around for sure.
Just finished Phase 1 - thanks to all
I think you made a great decision in not waiting until after the holidays to get healthy. Everyone is different, but I tend to favor staying as close to plan as possible. I feel better about my choices when I do that.
