Off the Wagon -- Thud

A little less than 3 weeks ago, we restarted Phase I, to try to get off of a "plateau" in our weight loss.   It worked like a champ.  In the first 10 days on Phase I, I dropped from 239 to 232 pounds.  Ahh, but then the flip side of the coin.  In a period of just 4 days . . . I experienced the dreaded "Snack Day" at work, a visit from my in-laws and a birthday party at "The Pizza Machine."   I tried to be healthy on snack day (I took grapes), and for the in-laws we had low-carb options at lunch, and dinner was pretty healthy too (chili with ground turkey replacing the ground beef, and more beans than meat).  And apparently "Pizza Machine" was a euphemism for "Eating Machine" -- which was ME.   At the end of our extended weekend of Gluttony -- I was back up to 236.  

I've mostly behaved this week, and I'm now back down to 233.  We'll see what this weekend does to me. . .

Back to Phase I

We're now a week into our third try on Phase I of the South Beach Diet.  As a refresher, this phase is the most restrictive.  We are not allowed to eat any carbohydrates and are limited to very low fat items.  So the question is:  "What CAN you eat?"   Well, here's an example.

This is my lunch today.  A spinach salad, carefully measured:  1.5 ounces of Spinach (about a cup); one ounce of baked ham, shredded; a teaspoon of diced raw shallot; a teaspoon of diced roasted red pepper from a jar; a half a teaspoon of shredded low fat Swiss cheese; a half teaspoon of low fat Newman's Own Raspberry Vinaigrette and a half ounce of unsalted mixed nuts for crunch.  (Planters has a new "Nut-trition" line: http://www.planters.com/varieties/nutrition.aspx -- although it's not shown on the website today, they have a "South Beach Mix")

Is it working?  You bet.  As of this morning, I've lost five and a half pounds since last Sunday morning.  (Although I've "cheated" 2 times -- once with crackers and cheese, twice with Dairy Queen, which we used to bribe boys into good behavior.)

Another week and we can introduce carbs back on Phase two.

On the downside -- the 40-inch waist-size jeans I bought last weekend -- they keep falling down.

More zeros

Labor day weekend, I blogged about about the power of zero.  On that occasion the "zero" in question was 240.0, my weight.   I've not gone back up to that point, but I have hit a slight plateau in the weight loss, bouncing back and forth between 236 and 238 pounds.    The 40 I want to talk about today is a different, but related milestone.

We went shopping after lunch.   For the first time since about 1997, I purchased two pairs of pants with 40 inch waist.   For comparison, the jeans I bought last January were a 48 inch waist.   I didn't buy any shirts or jackets today, but discovered I am now able to get into a size 46 regular suit coat.  (That's down from a size 52)

However, we've decided we're tired of being stuck at the weight where we are . . . so starting tomorrow morning, we're moving back to Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet.   This is the most restrictive phase of the diet, being very lowfat, and totally eliminating carbs.   We'll stay on this phase for two weeks, and see how it goes.  Last time we did this I lost about 12 pounds in those two weeks.