Marcia's Diet Update

This is painful to admit, but I'm back in weight loss mode. After managing to lose 107 pounds and keep it off for many months, I packed on 10 pounds in the last 3 months of 2008. I sort of ended up the year by making a conscious decision to just have a good time and not worry so much about eating some extra goodies over the holidays. The only thing that saved me from gaining more was that I continued a pretty good workout regimen.

Anyway, the "old" me would have continued to gain all the weight back by falling into old habits for good. Luckily, the "new" me recognizes the importance of getting back on track, and that it's a whole lot easier to lose 10 pounds than 107 or more! So, I'm back to my healthier eating habits and have bumped up the workouts, I've already dropped 3 of those pounds, and I know those last 7 will be gone by the end of February, if not sooner. It's embarrassing to have to admit that I gained some weight, but it feels really good to know that I'm tackling the problem while it's still a relatively small one.

Anyone find any Wii Fits yet? I'd love to change up my workout routine, and am DYING to find a Wii Fit. Let me know if you find any!!

So...... in an effort to find a "weight maintenance" plan, I picked up a copy of "The South Beach Diet" a couple of days ago. The diet itself is in 3 phases, with phase 1 being a really strict 2-week plan, then phase 2 until you hit your goal, then phase 3 for life. It is a really sensible plan, as it was developed by a cardiologist for his heart patients, and was designed more to change the blood chemistry for a healthier heart, than to lose weight. The good part is, you get to a healthy weight also. So I'm just debating whether to start with phase one, which would probably bring me to my goal in 2 weeks, or just start with phase 2. Phase 1 has no bread or starchy foods or fruit at all. I can handle no bread for 2 weeks, but I like my fruit! So we'll see.

The other good thing about this plan is that people tend to lose belly fat first -- so I'm going to try to talk Mark into doing it with me. No alcohol at all for those first 2 weeks, and then wine instead of beer if you do want a drink. That would be tough on Mark, but I know he could do it if he tried. And, people have even gotten their type 2 diabetes under control on this plan and have gone off their medications -- another good reason for Mark to give it a try!