"It's so hard when I have to, and so easy when I want to."
- Sondra Anice Barnes
For the past few months my wife, Elisabeth, has been on the "South Beach Diet." I, by default, have been on it too. I haven't whined too much about all the salads, steamed veggies, fish and chicken we've been eating almost everyday. I do get a hamburger occasionally, but I'm not supposed to put any ketchup, mayo, or cheese on it. Putting it on a bun is illegal too, but a burger with no bun just isn't a burger, so she relents.
The Edy's "French Silk" ice cream that once occupied a prominent spot in our freezer is no longer there. In its place are low-carb popsicles and sugar-free jello. Something called Splenda has been substituted for the sugar I've always used in my morning coffee. Maybe it's my imagination, but I don't like it, so at the risk of being ostracized for my departure from the plan, I've continued using the real stuff in my brew. So far, the diet-police have not arrested me, but I'm watchful.
We read the labels on everything now, and foods with carbohydrates rarely get purchased. My orange juice and apple juice are no-no's, and heaven forbid if I sneak a few pieces of chocolate candy after dinner. Should I complain about the new diet, Lisbeth comes back at me with how easy it's all been. I'd been wondering if anyone else has been struggling with the low-carb regimen, and this morning discovered that Dave Barry has:
"...in the old days we didn't recognize the danger of carbohydrates. We believed the reason you got fat was from eating 'calories,' which are tiny units of measurement that cause food to taste good. When we wanted to lose weight, we went on low-calorie diets in which we ate only inedible foods such as celery, which is actually a building material..."
Dave's weakness for Snickers bars is undermining his resolve, while my weakness for bread and sugar is undermining mine. Is anyone else out there struggling with this as the two of us are?
1 comment:
Yes!!
I've not tried the South Beach diet, because I can't believe that carbohyrdates in and of themselves are so terrible for you. After all, how many natural vegetables touted for years as being good for you are just chock-full of the little suckers!!
In the past, I had success with Sugarbusters, which lets you have bread, pasta, fruit, virtually anything. (The bread, pasta and rice must be WHOLE GRAIN, but that's still better than none. The fruit must be eaten as SNACKS away from meals, but again, it's better than going without.) I lost about 17 pounds with that one.
Recently, I've just cut back on my eating, had mostly Lean Cuisines and cut out all of the fast food I'd been eating, and I've shed 30 pounds so far. If I were you, I'd drop by the book store and have a look at Sugarbusters. It's similar to the kind of diet that Diabetics eat. It sounds like a logical plan and it doesn't take near the resolve that these other "no carb" plans seem to require.
Good luck!!
Patrick
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