My
Experience - South Beach Diet story
by
Wayne
Alan
Having never
officially gone on a diet before, it was with some apprehension
when I began my online diet plan. I'm 34 years old and my
weight had steadily marched north up to 213 pounds - and while I
still mostly looked fine when clothed my energy level was
noticeably down, weight gain of about 10 pounds a year was
common, and my exercise plan with the treadmill & Tivo had done
nothing to shed the weight. Having reviewed the diets
available, I began my journey with the
South Beach Diet.
The South Beach Diet
was derived by a cardiologist, which is fine by me since my
family has a history of heart disease. The first phase of
South Beach involves a 2 week period where you ban all
carbohydrates, sugar, and alcohol to name a few. This was
tough for me - I absolutely live off of carbs. Mostly bad
ones. From cereal and 'instant oatmeal' in the morning, to
sandwiches and pizza in the afternoon, and my main guilty
pleasure - pasta. I could live on pasta every day of my
life - and my wife seems to think I have. The South Beach
Diet allows you to have carbs - but not during the first 2
weeks. I really learned how I was dropping bombs of carbs
and sugar into my system, spiking my insulin levels as my
digestive system struggled to break down the simple carbs.
I'll be honest - the first
2 weeks were tough at times. The first full day was the
worst - I would have given almost anything just for a bowl of
cereal. I had a business trip and social settings with no
alcohol or carbs wasn't easy. But it was totally
achievable - even for Mr. Pasta (me). After 8 days I had
dropped 10 pounds - not bad at all. I didn't realize how
bloated I had felt, my energy levels came back, and your system
begins to truly break your cravings.
Giving up sugar was the
easiest for me, and for the first 2 weeks I filled my craving
for carbs instead with realistic portions of nuts, cheese (yes,
low fat dairy - cheese, even cheese sticks and string cheese) is
filling and easy. Fish is ok, and when used with lemon
herbs is quite good. Meat and chicken or turkey is good, I
could even have sausage (low fat turkey sausage). To be
sure, this is not Atkins. Something tells me despite
Atkins claims to weight loss, eating a pound of bacon and lard
and red meat at every meal is not in the best interest of my
arteries.
Finally through the first
2 weeks is when it got really easy. I admit, I cheated a
little, even had pizza maybe 1x a week - but it was smaller
portions, I was less hungry - and I actually was eating it 2-3x
a week before the diet. You get to introduce 'good carbs'
- even to my delight pasta, although you have to make sure you
get the right kinds of pasta - mainly whole wheat pasta. I
even got to have cereal again - even though its high in
carbohydrates, its from whole wheat grains, not processed white flour
or rice like I used to eat. Need it sweet? Just use Splenda or a sugar substitute - honestly I didn't notice a
difference. Now I add the good carbs to the lean meat and
vegetables and my diet has been truly adjusted.
The thing that really sets
up South Beach Diet is the education - it adjusts your approach
to food and nutrition, becoming less of a diet and more of a
lifestyle. I still 'cheat' - lets be realistic, you've got
to live, but my weight dropped from 213 to my goal of 185 and
its totally manageable. Other than the first 2 weeks,
where you have to follow the more restricted diet, its been
quite reasonable.
Even for a 34 year old guy
who just wants to sit on the couch and watch football - I am not
the diet guru, but this worked for me in a very sensible way.
It dropped the weight, improved my energy, and thru easy
education improved my cholesterol, triglycerides, and lipid
counts (all things I began tracking due to family issues).
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