Day 3, no cheating, but portion control is tough

[ovenfried]

Hello everyone...

I'm on the 3rd day of Phase 1. I feel utterly fantastic. Very clear-headed. I even feel a little more flexible. Exercised yesterday big-time...biked 8 miles of mostly light uphill...feeling it BADLY today. So I'm resting.

No issues at all with cravings for bad things. I just need to watch my portion control. The other night I sauteed some sirloin steak, onion and mushrooms, and put it over a can's worth of lentil beans. Totally thought I was going to eat only part of it. Nope. At least it was all good stuff though!

Today I had 2 tablespoons of unsweetened natural peanut butter on celery sticks for mid-morning snack. If I can get used to the taste of celery, I'll keep that up. For lunch I had a chicken Ceasar salad with all the right things in it.3-4 tablespoons of lowfat cottage cheese and some vegetarian refried beans for mid-afternoon snack.

Three things I love about this is that a) I'm saving SO much money by not eating out (which I do frequently), b) I'm getting much more adventurous in the kitchen, and c) I know exactly what I'm putting in my body. Shopping for food is a lot easier, actually. I can walk through the grocery store and enjoy the smells of bread, cookies, pastries, etc, but knowing I can't have it just eliminates any urge to put it in the cart.
????: South Beach Diet Forums http://www.southbeachdietbulletinboard.com/south-beach-diet-forums-phase-1/5782-day-3-no-cheating-but-portion-control-tough.html

I plan on losing 65-75 pounds over the long haul. So we'll see! In any case, I'm learning how to eat so much better.

(I did find a post about portion control, so I'm going to use that info starting at dinner.)

Have a nice day.

Amy

PS....my brother may get the lap-band....I can't imagine what it will be like at Thanksgiving when we see the family. They're gonna freak!

[RedRox]

Well you can always fill up on the P1 vegetables! Those are really the only truly unlimited thing you can always have more of and the only category with minimums. Sounds like you are adapting pretty well though!

And FYI, beans should be limited to 1/3 - 1/2 cup per serving although you can have multiple servings in a day, just not bunched together at one sitting. So a full can of lentils is probably 3 servings that would have been better spread out over the day and you should have had more vegetables as vegetables, not just the beans. So since the dinner guideline is a minimum of 2 cups of veggies, you could have a 1/2 cup of beans towards that minimum, but should still have 1.5 cups or more of regular P1 veggies. If you are still hungry, wait 10-20 minutes and go back for more veggies first and then add more protein after that.
????: South Beach Diet Forums http://www.southbeachdietbulletinboard.com/showthread.php?t=5782

Really though I think the key thing in P1 is more to avoid the high GI foods and begin to lay the foundation for healthy eating for P2 and beyond. If you overeat on P1 foods to help with satiety and that helps avoid the refined flours and sugars, then that's a better solution than being "perfect" and then bingeing becasue you can't take it anymore!

Keep moving forward! and Welcome!

[ovenfried]

Thanks!

Today is Day 10 and I'm pretty much sticking to the foods I'm supposed to eat. I know I eat too many nuts (which I know is tough to control and leads to higher fat consumption). BUT, I eat more vegetables in a day now than I used to in a week. That alone is progress to me.

I weighed myself yesterday on a scale I don't use normally, and it was the first time I've weighed myself since I started. It read ZERO pounds lost. I'm not going to be frustrated about that though, because really at 37 years old I am un-doing 37 years of bad eating habits, and my body just probably needs more time to shrink. I work out 30 minutes to an hour PER DAY (I'm beyond the fitness exercises in the Supercharged book). Friends are telling me I'm looking way more toned. And I can tell by the increasinly squishy belly fat that it's shrinking. (I've experienced some weight loss before and remember that.)
????: South Beach Diet Forums http://www.southbeachdietbulletinboard.com/showthread.php?t=5782

Just looking at the way I feel....more energy, more flexibility, a MUCH larger desire and urge to exercise....this is definitely the way to live.

My biggest concern is going to be starting Phase 2. Introducing the things that are a big weakness to me. Luckily I've eaten whole grain/high fiber stuff for years now, but controlling the quantity is going to b a challenge. I have to take it!

Amy

[RedRox]

Perhaps consider starting with lower GI fruits like any kind of berry and starchy veggies like sweet potatoes or whole grains in their whole format like brown rice, quinoa, barley or steel cut oats. Grains pulverized into flours to create bread or pasta products tend to be higher GI and may cause more craving and trigger issues for people than the other P2 options. remember the category that includes breads and grains is really called "Starches" and includes the starchy veggies too! Good luck!

[ovenfried]

Yeah it will be noooo problem making the right choices. I'm a whole grain fanatic. I put ground flax on my whole grain cereal ALL the time. I love the Ezekiel breads. Whole wheat tortillas. And I love berries. I'll come back here in about a week and fill in on progress.

[ovenfried]

Well I made it pretty successfully though P1. Overall, I've lost about 11 pounds. I exercise about 6 days per week too, which I know is a huge part of my weight loss and slimming midsection. Pretty easy program!

Now on to Phase 2~~~!!