First things first, if you are thinking anything along the lines of "but Katie, you are skinny, you don't need to diet!", Please shut up. I know I don't need to lose weight, but I do need to become healthier, especially heart healthy. My dad had a massive hearth attack at 36 and was dead for around 5 seconds. Since then he has had numerous procedures including stents, angioplasties, lord knows what else. His parents have just as serious a history, as does my mom's mom. I turn 26 in May and that ten year marker is just staring me down. The terrible thing about all these family heart problems is most of them are preventable with good diet and exercise. This is where I fail miserably. I may be smaller, but I eat terribly and most of my exercise comes from walking customers around the store. I probably get my heart rate up once a month and not for the full twenty minutes most doctors recommend.
Enter the South Beach diet. This diet was developed by a cardiologist named Dr. Agatston who was trying find a way to help his patients lose weight, improve blood chemistry, and prevent heart problems. The current diet recommended by the American Heart Association is based on a low fat, high carbohydrate lifestyle which fit the known science in the '50's when it was developed. Since then scientists have learned so much more about nutrition, cholesterol and the connections between them. This is what prompted Dr. Agatston to create a eating style based on good carbs and good fats. There are 3 phases; On the first you completely cut out all carbs, fruit, and juice. Basically anything that will become quick sugar when digested. After the first two weeks, you slowly add carbs back into your diet. When you finally reach a healthy weight, you enter phase 3, eating well for the rest of your life. This is the main reason Nick and I really enjoy this diet. It is not a quick fix weight loss, it is a whole new way of life.
I picked up the book from work when our Doctor Suggested this to us two weeks ago. I was really excited at all the benefits of this diet and the workability it had with our everyday life. Some things, like no fruit for the first two weeks seemed shocking to us, but as we learned about the nutrition behind it all, the first phase made more and more sense. We went grocery shopping this past Saturday and what an experience that was. Until this diet, I had no idea how many carbs Nick and I ate on a regular basis! We started in the produce and filled half our cart with vegetables. Normally we only use the top part and fill the rest with pantry and frozen items. We walked right through aisles we would normally buy all kinds of things in, and instead learned about lean cuts of meat we would have never looked at before.
Sunday had us clearing the cupboards of all the banned foods. We had just received our foodstamps the month before and really stockpiled. It was pretty disheartening knowing we would have to get rid of it all, but it was going to people who needed it and we would benefit from not having it around to tempt us.
Shocking, huh? That box is probably 2x4 and it is FULL.
So yesterday we started our new lifestyle and I think it went pretty well. We are encouraged to snack in between meals and eat until we are full so you're never left feeling hungry. This is the salad I made for today's lunch and its enormous!
Its chopped tuna, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers, avocado, celery and a garlic lime dressing. So far, I'm really excited for this diet. We have a fridge full of veggies and a mapped out meal plan. I'll let you know how it goes!
