Phase II, Continued

Well, I'm through the first 28 days, and according to the new scale I purchased, and my weight at my last doctor's appointment in January, I'm down 25lbs. I'm certain that things will go a bit slower now, but I feel great. Limiting carbs to healthy ones (fruit, veg, whole wheat/multigrain) has even seemed to improve my overall mood. I have had a few days of feeling "hungry" this week, but I've been doing things "on my own", working with the menus from the first month. I have a feeling I'm missing some protein here or there (making me feel hungry at times). I need to get my favorite recipes up here. Tried a new one last night - "Salsa Chicken" - was wonderful - something I'd serve to my girlfriends.

I also need to introduce some exercise at this point. I am finding myself a bit restless during the day (have a desk job), and have taken to walking around a little bit outside. I have a great elliptical, it's just in pieces still from my move last summer. Going to have to spend some time and get it put together. I enjoy using it for some reason - it could be because my movers referred to it as the "nutcracker"- let's just say I didn't do a great job of breaking it down and making it easily move-able :)

I have a business trip coming up in a few weeks that I was pretty concerned about (re: eating and meals). I found out today that I do have a mini-fridge in the hotel, so that is going to help me out a LOT. It will be easy to gather up my go-to snacks, and I can probably even manage to cover a few breakfasts and lunches as well. My dear mother also sent me a book for Valentine's Day - "The South Beach Diet Dining Guide". It is a reference guide with many of the chain restaurants and what is OK to eat at them. I feel a lot more confident about getting out of my comfort zone now. I'm also glad to be driving up and not flying - easier to bring along my food in a cooler that way.

Phase II, Day 1

Well, two days off of work this week due to the snow. It was quite beautiful, but the longer we are off, the harder my return to work is going to be :) I've been busy working from home today to try and alleviate the onslaught tomorrow (I do expect we will be back at work then). I started Phase II today, and was ever so happy to start my day off with some oatmeal (cooked in non-fat milk) and fruit (strawberries!). I'm hoping the reintroduction of some carbs and fruits into my diet will not affect me in an adverse way. I have a feeling my body will be a bit happier though - I was certainly looking forward to it. The oatmeal was very filling.

I ventured out to the grocery store yesterday to pick up the items I'll need through Day 5 (I started on a Tuesday, so this will get me through Saturday). This is certainly an expensive venture - I'm spending a LOT on groceries. Some items will last longer than the five days of course, but buying fresh produce really hits the pocket book. Five days worth of food equated to about $36/day (ouch), and that was only buying one large pack of chicken breasts. Of course the oatmeal, bulgar wheat, cereal, cheese and other things will last beyond five days, so that isn't really a true reflection of cost, but still, it made a noticeable dent in the wallet! Of course, I was spending at least $10/day on lunches alone in my previous life, but I still like to think I wasn't hitting $36/day...

Snow!

After living in Connecticut for seven years, I happily moved back to Virginia. Connecticut winters were always depressing - they sky, ground, and everything always seemed to be gray for months on end. The last winter I lived there, we had over 65 inches of snow. Needless to say, I have not missed clearing off the car, nor driving in it. I've been in Virginia about five and a half years now (originally from VA), and living near the coast where we rarely see snow. We got snow this weekend! I'm figuring about 6 inches, and it is just beautiful. Of course, I'll have to clear off the car today, and I'm not looking forward to that, but it sure is pretty outside. So, while holed up in the house yesterday watching movies and generally being a lazy bum, I learned something. I cannot keep pistachios in the house. My recipe for lunch yesterday was a pistachio chicken salad, and it was wonderful, however, I could not prevent myself from having far too many pistachios. I figure it could have been worse - I didn't go on a carb gorging fest - but, I know I had more calories than I should have. So, today is another day, and I'm going to take in some extra water (nuts are salty!), and get back on track. I'm heading in to Phase II on Tuesday, and need to get my grocery list and meal planning done. I hope to share some of my favorite Phase I recipes with you this week - there are some keepers, especially lunches.

Day 10...

So, I've made it to day ten, no carbs, no soda (South Beach). I can't believe how much more energy I have and how good I am feeling. I can certainly tell when I need to eat though - today I felt a grumpiness come on about the time I needed to have the PM 'snack'. It is interesting, I find myself more in tune with my body and have really slowed down while eating meals. What would've taken me 10 minutes to eat previously, is at least double that if not longer. I am looking forward to reintroducing some multigrain items into my diet next week - I'm getting a bit tired of eggs for breakfast every morning (although they are super easy to prepare, and I add various veggies to them, it's still egg!). Adding some carbs back in will allow me to bulk cook some side dishes that I can eat off of all week. I won't lie - the fresh food has been GREAT, but the preparation of it all is kicking my rear. I've gotten it down to about an hour to prep my food for the next day, dinners are going quicker now too. I've got gazpacho to make for tomorrow, but wanted to post my thoughts. I still don't have a scale, and I'm not too worried about it; I am approaching this as a lifestyle change. I just can't believe how ignorant I was about food - the amount of food (healthy) I can have for the same amount of calories as an unhealthy choice is just astounding to me. I want to make it into Phase II and introduce some exercise into the routine - my body seems to want it!

My time flies...

I set this up two years ago, and it promptly moved to the back of the stove. I've had a great two years in my chosen industry, but want to take another direction with this blog. I'm leaving the old posts, as I was actually pleasantly surprised by what I had written :) I'm working on weight loss right now, and need another outlet. All of my favorite blogs are food-related and that just isn't going to cut it! I figure I can spend some time posting my progress here instead of reading all of those gloriously photographed and descriptive blogs about foods I'm just not allowing in my diet right now.

I'm approaching my weight loss with the goal of changing my lifestyle - not dieting. I'm getting a jump start using the South Beach diet (recommended by two of my favorite doctors over the years), and I think it was a good route to take for me. I love carbs - cookies, pastas, breads... I started the first 14 day "Phase I" on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010. I've not even made it to a full week yet, but I feel successful and honestly just feel better than I have in years. The interesting thing to me is that I feel like I have found something that was missing - I've always loved vegetables and good food. The menu I have been following has allowed me to expand my view of food and food preparation - eating healthy is NOT hard, it just requires some planning.

Allowing myself to spend the time I usually would spend working on taking care of myself is also affecting a lifestyle change for me (we all struggle for balance). My brother and I always wonder why we are so able and willing to put everything we have into our work and not put the same effort into ourselves. I'm making that change now, and it feels great!

Many people do not like or agree with the protein-heavy portion of South Beach - it can be unhealthy for you if not monitored or applied in moderation. I do not expect to stay on the stricter Phase I portion longer than the initial 14 days. I may rotate back to Phase I after Phase II for a few months - we will see. I hope to track my progress and journey here (and hopefully this won't end up on the back burner any time soon).

Conversations

It is interesting to hear opinions from our male counterparts regarding the state of women in IT. One person (a fellow gamer) stated the following:

They don't exist ... I think maybe in my 11 years in the industry now I've worked with I think 1, and they were "trying" to get in to the field and she just wasn't going to cut it. It really does make me

I feel it is vital that those women who are currently working in IT make it a priority to ensure that our numbers do not continue to dwindle. It's a rough industry, especially for working mothers...the hours are never flexible enough, and the demands are high. What can we do to encourage more women to attempt careers in the IT workforce? There are so many opportunities yet to be had. What can we do to help encourage women to stay in a male dominated field? Big questions without easy answers.

Women Technology Leaders

The State of Women Technology Leaders