Monday, March 5, 2007

South Beach phase 1, day 7. I made it through the first week of the strictest phase of the diet. Correction, -we- made it. Storm has been doing this with me, too. And he's succeeded in staying on it, too. He used to be on Atkins full time, lost a lot of weight on it too... but once he came off of it... well, Atkins only works so long as you never, ever leave it. South Beach starts strict and gets more realistic as you go. So...

I'm noticing that I feel different. I can't put my finger on it, because it's not like I have a ton of abundant energy (wait till the end of March when I get back into the gym and then we'll see all the energy), but I don't have quite as much inertia working against me. If I sit down on the couch, I don't feel like I'm stuck to it anymore. I still complain mentally about having to get up and do chores, but it's nowhere near what it used to be.

I guess that's it. My life has long had an underlying tiredness to it. A weariness which was exacerbated by the depressive bouts. I used to think that the tiredness was just part and parcel of the whole Depression schtick, but now I'm beginning to think that there really is something to the notion of eating well will put you in a better head space.

I do miss pizza, but I found that the ghetto Stop & Shop next door actually sells nut flours (as well as nothing-added nut butters like Peanut Butter and Almond Butter, etc). So I think that when I go grocery shopping tonight, I'll buy a bag of the pure almond flour (nothing but ground almonds) and try making a pizza margherite from sliced tomatoes and goat cheese. Last night I made a tomato-basil-mozz mix for salad, and it was so sweet and nice, I'm going to be reprising that for tonight's salad.

That's another thing. I totally never "got" the whole concept that certain non-carb foods were actually sweet. But lemme tell ya, after just one week I can totally taste how a tomato really *is* a fruit. The sweetness is there. I never would have named tomatoes as being a 'sweet' food, but then I also wouldn't have named peppers or cheese as being 'sweet' either. But this is what life was like for the most part before refined sugars came along. I can only bet what bread is going to taste like next week.

Anyhoo, I was going to chat about art and my project ideas, but for right now I think I'll wrap this up and head out to lunch for my Mediterranean Salad with goat cheese and roast chicken.

See? I can't tell what's happening with my metabolism right now. I'm eating only healthy foods, and they're really becoming delicious. Some meals, like this morning, I eat more food than I ever did. But other meals, like last night, I stop halfway through because I'm full. A snack is literally a handful of nuts, and then the hunger is gone. One handful. Granted, I've got big hands, but also granted, they're feeding a big body, and not just from the fat. Large stature.

The thing I notice now, though, is that the low blood sugar moments are gone, but so is anything resembling a buffer between myself and my hunger. There is no gradual onset of hunger. One minute I'm full, the next minute... FEED ME! FEED ME ~NOW~!!! *lol* Well, that's what it feels like. Luckily, the timing is pretty consistent. About four hours after a meal, it's time to eat again. So I usually put one snack between lunch and dinner, and I push dinner back slightly so that by the time I start to approach hunger time I'm sleeping.

And Aquafina's FlavorSplash and the Polar flavored seltzers are godsends for me. Godsends. Don't get me wrong, I actually love ice water and drink it regularly. (My family must now be wondering who the hell I am and what I've done with their soda-only son). But I do like flavor. Too many flavors to sample and enjoy to allow myself to only drink water. The Polar Pomegranata Seltzer is a big favorite of mine. The Pomegranate covers the slight bite of the seltzer and fruits it up a bit, until I almost feel like I'm drinking pure juice. Almost.

Egads, Phase 2 must be like a food playground! Just imagine this diet if I could put maybe a glug or two of actual pomegranate juice into the seltzer. Just enough to color the water slightly. But, oh my.

Gonna try the low fat Ricotta, Splenda & unsweetened cocoa powder "dessert" tonight.
With the almond-flour 'pizza'. Ohhh... time for lunch. ;) More on art later.