back on the happy healthy train

I know I wrote about my PLAN for the new year, but I didn't explain that I was going back AGAIN to Phase 1 of South Beach.  Are y'all getting so sick and tired of me telling you that?!  Truth be told, I kept doing it and then I kept falling off the wagon.  My commitment and focus were lacking.  I really let this whole injury thing get me down.  I hate that.  Ah well...hopefully there won't be another.  If there is, however, hopefully I can be a bit more responsible in how I handle it.  So, the point is I have a little bit of depression/holiday weight that needs some removable before I can even chip away at the rest of this extra baggage that's been keeping me company for so many years.  I decided the best way to do this was to return to old faithful with true commitment and a renewed spirit.

When I first started doing South Beach in July '09, I actually did Phase 1 for 6 weeks to really give me that jump start, though the program only calls for 2 weeks.  The difference between Phase 1 and Phase 2 is really just that there are no bread carbs and no fruit in Phase 1.  Bread carbs, in South Beach terms, consist of wheat bread, brown rice, wheat noodles, sweet potatoes, etc.  This go-around, I am going for 4 to 6 weeks on Phase 1 before moving to Phase 2.  The point of Phase 1 is to get you in control of your cravings and to detox your body.  I can already (after a solid one week) feel the difference.  I can go to the grocery store without salivating as I pass the bakery section.  I can go to a restaurant without longingly looking at menu selections I can't eat.  This, my friends, is progress.

So, what have I been eating?  Well...I typically make one or two meals a week.  For breakfast, I usually eat a green monster protein shake.  This is by no means a low calorie meal, mind you.  Since I cannot put a banana in it (no fruit, remember), I like to add a tablespoon or two of peanut butter to the mix.  My favorite protein powder is Jay Robb.  I tried to fight it because it's a bit pricier than some others, but the nutritional content and the taste can't be beat.  I take a cup of either skim milk or Blue Diamond chocolate unsweetened almond milk and put it in the blender.  I then add one scoop of my chocolate Jay Robb Whey Protein Isolate and the peanut butter.  I use the Simply Jif peanut butter because it has less sugar in it than regular peanut butter.  Next, I add in my spinach.  I don't measure...I just throw in a whole bunch.  I go ahead and blend and then I add in my 6 ice cubes or so.  I drink it on my way into work and it typically lasts me until lunch.

For lunch, I ate my pizza chili all week long.  I accompanied it with cut up colored peppers.  Did I ever tell you I don't ever eat cooked peppers?  It's true.  I hate them cooked.  I love them raw.  I buy them in the little multi colored 3 pack - red, yellow, and orange - and then I cut all 3 up and split them up into 3 baggies for lunch.  It's cheaper when you buy them in the 3 pack than when you buy them independent of one another.  I also eat either a sugar free / fat free jello pudding (my fave is the dark chocolate) OR I have one of those Carb Master yogurts from Kroger.  Now since it's the no fruit Phase, I eat the new Chai Vanilla flavor.  Yum!

For dinner, a few nights I ate egg salad (no bread, of course) accompanied by some roasted yellow squash and zucchini.  One of the nights I didn't have as much left over as the other two nights, so I accompanied it with a piece of chicken Italian sausage.  Another couple of nights, I ate a rotisserie chicken I had gotten from H.E.B. along with some veggies.  I then eat whichever I did not have for lunch - the pudding or the yogurt.

I have had 2 restaurant opportunities to choose wisely since I jumped back on this healthy happy train.  The first was last weekend at Family Lunch.  We went to Texas Roadhouse.  I ordered the grilled pork chop and for my two sides, I got the broccoli without butter or oil and the chili.  The second was at this week's Family Lunch.  We went to BJ's Brewhouse.  I ordered the bowl of chili, a side salad with no croutons and ranch dressing on the side (I do the fork dip method), and then a bowl of steamed veggies (no carrots, no butter, and no oil).

I mostly drink water, except in restaurants where I always seem to order iced tea.

This coming week's meal:  Crockpot Beef Stroganoff served over spaghetti squash - stay tuned for my recipe blog!