south beach day 29
So it was not about losing weight.
Not primarily anyway.
A friend at the office raved about the South Beach Diet. He swore up and down that it helped him kick junk and sugar cravings, drop cholesterol, and yes, lose a few dozen pounds.
After the last half marathon, I was looking for a new health/fitness challenge. I was especially interested to find out if junk/sugar cravings could really be kicked. I was pretty skeptical. I was even more skeptical when friends like EC (who has done it at least twice) said I would end up enjoying dark chocolate. Blech. I've always written people who like dark chocolate off as suffering from pretentious, delusional, stuck-at-the-adult-table-itis.
Well, I've started to enjoy dark chocolate. During the first 2 weeks of the program (when you're basically eating nothing but low-fat cottage cheese, chicken breast and 20 unsalted peanuts a day) I began to unwrap small bars of dark chocolate, sniff it and put it back in my desk. (I know that sounds sick. But I did go to a chocolate tasting class this summer and the instructor kept talking about using your 5 senses to fully enjoy chocolate. So there.) And now that I can eat teensy bits of chocolate again--well, let's just say I'm converted.
I'm nearing the end of "Phase 2" of the diet which means I can start to eat almost everything again. But I'm supposed to have "learned how to make wise food choices" which basically means that all the foods that gave me such joy in my pre-South-Beach life will have to be eaten like once every 4 months. I draw the line at fried chicken, chicken wings and kalbi though.
I can say that overall, trying the South Beach did help me appreciate good, simple food like oatmeal, strawberries and fresh vegetables. I also realized how much mindless eating I do: eat junk to procrastinate, eat junk when I'm bored and eat all kinds of junk to make me feel better on bad days, at "special occasions" and just out of habit. The diet is not without critics of course. Sugar substitutes are featured prominently which I think is sketchy. You're probably better off eating small amounts of real sugar.
In the end, I did lose a few pounds, have more glowy skin and feel better when I run. It probably won't be that long before I start eating all kinds of junk again...but I guess I can always do a modified version of the South Beach again then.
Not primarily anyway.
A friend at the office raved about the South Beach Diet. He swore up and down that it helped him kick junk and sugar cravings, drop cholesterol, and yes, lose a few dozen pounds.
After the last half marathon, I was looking for a new health/fitness challenge. I was especially interested to find out if junk/sugar cravings could really be kicked. I was pretty skeptical. I was even more skeptical when friends like EC (who has done it at least twice) said I would end up enjoying dark chocolate. Blech. I've always written people who like dark chocolate off as suffering from pretentious, delusional, stuck-at-the-adult-table-itis.
Well, I've started to enjoy dark chocolate. During the first 2 weeks of the program (when you're basically eating nothing but low-fat cottage cheese, chicken breast and 20 unsalted peanuts a day) I began to unwrap small bars of dark chocolate, sniff it and put it back in my desk. (I know that sounds sick. But I did go to a chocolate tasting class this summer and the instructor kept talking about using your 5 senses to fully enjoy chocolate. So there.) And now that I can eat teensy bits of chocolate again--well, let's just say I'm converted.
I'm nearing the end of "Phase 2" of the diet which means I can start to eat almost everything again. But I'm supposed to have "learned how to make wise food choices" which basically means that all the foods that gave me such joy in my pre-South-Beach life will have to be eaten like once every 4 months. I draw the line at fried chicken, chicken wings and kalbi though.
I can say that overall, trying the South Beach did help me appreciate good, simple food like oatmeal, strawberries and fresh vegetables. I also realized how much mindless eating I do: eat junk to procrastinate, eat junk when I'm bored and eat all kinds of junk to make me feel better on bad days, at "special occasions" and just out of habit. The diet is not without critics of course. Sugar substitutes are featured prominently which I think is sketchy. You're probably better off eating small amounts of real sugar.
In the end, I did lose a few pounds, have more glowy skin and feel better when I run. It probably won't be that long before I start eating all kinds of junk again...but I guess I can always do a modified version of the South Beach again then.
posted by Duncan and Jen | 12:12 PM
2 Comments:
Well, always good to try something new. I say sure, eat healthy, but you've gotta enjoy your food too! yay for (occasional) junk food and dark chocolate (I have always favoured dark although I like all colours). And watcha got against kalbi, my chinese food eating friend? Huh? :)
Hi Gloria!!! I see I was not clear: I meant to see that no one is taking kalbi or fried chicken or chicken wings AWAY from me...b/c I'm such a FAN!!!
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