South Beach is Working

So about the South Beach Diet...

Yeah.  It works for me.

I was so skeptical. It hasn't been easy though.  The food choices on this first phase are SO boring.  But since it's working, who am I to complain too much?  My husband and I have decided to have a party day on Sunday in celebration.  We'll go out for pizza (which my husband has been craving incessantly) and just make a freebie day of it food-wise and then jump right back on the wagon the next day.  We're not going to go into phase two fully though.  Still staying away from the breads, potatoes, and pastas, but we're going to add corn, carrots, and the occasional piece of fruit.  The corn and carrots are a big thing since our side dishes at dinner have been so boring.  Broccoli, asparagus, peas and green beans are just a constant splash of green on our dinner plates.  It'll be nice to be able to add some veggie medleys in again.  I don't think it'll derail us either.  Since it's not like we're going to go on a corn binge.

I find myself lately to be praying for spring weather.  It's still too cold overall (or too sloppy with melting snow) and I'd love to start an evening habit with my husband.  Maybe just a nice walk.  Or even a bicycle ride if I can find one for him at a decent price.  I don't think the poor man has ridden an actual bike in decades.  I really would love to have some sort of exercise that we could do daily together.

I Need an Un-Counselor

So I'm losing weight.  But I'm still not happy.

I started the South Beach Diet yesterday.  Before you go off on a tangent about how carbs are an important part of a balanced diet and how a body NEEDS them, I know.  I have a gluten sensitivity and shouldn't be eating breads, pasta, and such anyway.  So it's not a really big deal for me.  Essentially the first two weeks are just making me cut out excessive sugars (I drink more juice than I should), making me tone down my portions of starches like potatoes and rice (since I can make a whole meal of just these), and just breaking some bad habits I have gotten into.  My meals consist of mostly just lean protein and veggies with a bit of cheese here and there.  Lots of veggies (they have those good carbs).  I'm also doing the push-up, sit-up(crunches), and squat challenges again.  If you're interested you can find them here:

http://www.twohundredsitups.com/
http://hundredpushups.com/index.html
http://www.twohundredsquats.com/

My weight is down a bit more but I still don't feel good about it.  I mean, realistically I should be feeling great about it.  Here is my ticker as of this morning's weigh-in:

I'm impressed with myself.  That's not just a little weight. And yet, I STILL can't see it.  At all.  I am convinced that I truly do have some sort of body dysmorphic disorder.  I would think that 40 pounds loss should be a visible loss.  Something.  Anything.  But I don't see a difference despite the evidence I do have that includes small sized pants fitting and becoming too large, the guy I'm in class with on Fridays no longer has to scoot his chair forward for me to get by him, and even the fleeting image of myself looking decent in window and door reflections.  If I look in the mirror, I look exactly the same as I did a year ago, and really for decades.  I feel like I need an honest, unbiased, maybe even a harsh assessment of my image by a stranger.  If I could know for sure what other people really see when they look at me, perhaps I can begin to finally really tackle this horrible self-image problem.  I mean damn.  I don't ever feel pretty.  I just want to look in the mirror once and see the real me.  I know I can't be as hideous as what I see because frankly, I'm pretty sure no one would have ever married me if what I see was the visible norm.  it's pretty bad.

So if anyone knows any methods or homeopathic type therapies that might work for my problem, I'd really appreciate it.  I don't feel comfortable visiting any of the small number of counselors or psychiatrists in town because frankly, I've either worked with them or they know my father. Ethics and confidentiality are great, but i just wouldn't be comfortable.  So I'm going to have to continue to shrink myself.  Pun intended.

I Have a Game Plan

So plateaus..  yeah  BIG SUCK.

I tried switching everything up.  I tried everything I could think of.  No Good.  Still fat.

So I'm essentially starting over.  I've been eating at a maintenance the last few days and will continue it for another week in hopes it resets my whole metabolism.  Maybe?  And then I'm hitting the South Beach Diet hardcore.  I needed a sugar detox anyway.  My husband has requested to join me for at least the first two weeks and I'm excited and scared at the same time.  Excited that he's doing something with me, scared he's going to turn into a sugar-withdrawn, cranky, bear that growls at me all day.  He's also agreed to hop on board for some fitness challenges I'm starting on Monday, the 27th of this month.  I've taken part in the past and they were really fun:

http://www.twohundredsitups.com/ (modified to crunches)
http://hundredpushups.com/index.html
http://www.twohundredsquats.com/

SO...  hopefully that will have me singing again.  Singing songs of weight loss victory.  Only time will tell though.

Stupid weight.  Stupid fat chick.  *sigh*  Makes me want to kick people.  All those who say "Eat less.  Exercise more."  IT'S NOT ALWAYS THAT EASY!