Halfway There

I am a week into my 14-day journey on the South Beach Phase 1 diet and I have mixed feelings at this point.  At 3 days in last week, I was pretty stoked to step on the scale and find myself down 1.5 lbs.  Then things got a little weird on both Thursday and Friday when I saw that I had gained weight both days.  Not cool.

Even less cool...when my husband stepped on the scale on Friday and he was down 5 lbs.  Kind of a dick move on his part.  Especially since his version of this diet apparently includes soft drinks.  You can imagine my feelings of wanting to slap the smile off his face after seeing his surprising weight loss.  That combined with the 2 hours I spent sitting on my front porch freezing my ass off on Wednesday night passing out candy to little kids....without alcohol I might add....has left me somewhat unsure of this whole diet thing.

On the one hand, I haven't really seen any weight loss (I'm only looking to shave off about 5 lbs...is that so much to ask??), but I do feel like my body is appreciative of my conscious effort to put good things into it.  In the last week, I haven't felt hungry during the day or at night, and I haven't felt any remorse about anything I've eaten either.  Definitely a plus on both fronts.  I'm also realizing that what I am eating on SBD isn't altogether different than what I eat normally.  Which may explain my lack of tangible results. 

So what do I miss most?  Fruit.  Since sugar is a strict no-no during these 14 days, fruit is off limits because of all the natural sugars in it.  I'm a firm believer that Honeycrisp apples are a gift from the Baby Jesus himself around this time of year and I have not been able to enjoy my normal go-to fall snack the last 7 days.  I miss it.  Something else I miss....an easy breakfast.  Maybe I'm not creative enough, but I am having a hard time finding protein other than eggs to eat in the morning.  And eggs are something I actually have to cook.  And I HATE having to spend the extra time doing that in the morning.  My go to breakfast during the work week has been eggs scrambled with veggies (usually spinach or zucchini) and turkey bacon.  It's a bit harder to eat in my car on my way to work than toast or oatmeal, but I manage.  Sort of.

Other than that, it's pretty easy to stay on track.  I've always brought my lunch to work, and I've always packed healthy, so that's nothing new to me.  I've had to be a little more on top of things as far as meal-planning goes, but that's fine by me.  Planning meals into the second week has been a little tougher since I'm trying not to be repetitive, but it's actually helping me to branch out a little from my normal "go-to" meals.

Just to give you an idea, here is a breakdown of what I made for dinner last week:

Monday: Blackened Salmon w/ Roast veggies (squash, zucchini, sweet onion, bell pepper)
Tuesday: Chicken stuffed with sauteed spinach & goat cheese, side of seasoned green beans
Wednesday: Grilled chicken salad (husband had to work, and salad is my go-to meal when I'm cooking for 1)
Thursday: Taco salad with avocado & pico de gallo (I use ground turkey instead of ground beef and spicy taco seasoning for a kick)
Friday: Turkey sausage & sauerkraut
Saturday: Steaks on the grill and roasted veggies on the side

Truth be told, these are all recipes I've done many times...just with a more conscious effort to keep them as healthy as possible.  I'm no Martha Stewart, but I think I do okay and husband doesn't complain (only compliments from him!)

So, we'll see how the next 7 days turn out.  I have been keeping up with my running in combination with all of this (I really feel repulsive when I don't work out), and I do feel good.  No regrets so far, just a bit of disappointment that I haven't shed more (or any) weight thus far.  Depending on how I feel after day 14, I may keep the diet into effect until Thanksgiving just for good measure...that is if the bucket of leftover Halloween candy in our entry way stops taunting me.  I've not given in yet, but I'm worried some of those M&Ms might accidentally fall into my mouth if I'm not careful.  Moreover I'm worried my husband will wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of candy wrappers in the living room only to find me passed out with an empty Halloween bucket in my hand and a face covered in chocolate and shame.  I think he's legitimately worried about that too.