Tuesday, October 05, 2010

South Beach

OK, I'm going to try something.

As has been mentioned here and observed in person by quite a few people, I'm fat. Not just a few pounds overweight, either; I'm in the range usually described as "morbidly obese." At my worst -- a figure I've backed away from a little -- I could stand to lose about half my body weight in order to be in the healthy-to-acceptable range. This isn't something I'm particularly proud of, but it's a fact.

Lately I've been thinking about a few other facts: that heart disease, diabetes and various cancers run rampant in my family; that excess weight is often a contributor to infertility in women; that I made a promise to my Creator to take care of the body He gave me, and I haven't been very good at keeping that promise. I'm 40 years old, and increasingly I've been feeling the impression that I'm running on borrowed time. I don't like that feeling.

I also don't ordinarily feel comfortable telling people when I go on a diet. It's just something I feel awkward sharing. That's not to say I haven't gone on diets before -- I have dieted on and off since I was twelve. It's just that when you have as much weight to lose as I do (100+ pounds), it's difficult to stick to a Spartan diet plan for the long haul. Most people could handle four to eight weeks of diet modification, but could you sustain the sensation of deliberately denying yourself the things you enjoy, feeling weak and hungry for the better part of two years? (That's about how long I reckon this will take.) Suffice to say that my diet experiences tend to end in failure; maybe that's part of why I don't like talking about them.

When Mom was here, she joined me in the first week of a fairly restricted diet regimen. Although we both lost weight, we agreed that this, too, wouldn't be a viable program over the long haul. And yet in the process, I recognized something that many other people have learned and mentioned: namely, when you have someone else going on the diet with you, you're far less likely to fall off the wagon. That original regimen, however, definitely isn't for me; I'm too much of a foodie to treat food strictly as fuel.

That realization brought me around to exploring the South Beach Diet. It seems nutritionally sound and appears to be a regimen I could live with -- not just for two years, but for good, which is more or less the point. Not only have I asked the virile and manly Captain Midnight to go on this diet with me, I'm also mentioning it here in the hope that you'll hold me to it. The idea here is that more accountability might lead to greater success.

Cross your fingers. Here we go.

4 comments:

MarieC said...

South Beach is one of the better eating plans out there. I lost 100 pounds using it, myself. I suspect you are far less likely to get tired of all the veggie-chopping, exotic ingredients, and constant complaints of "chicken AGAIN?" than I. For me, it was too much like work, but for someone who already likes to cook, you should do very well!!

Soozcat said...

Thanks, Marie.

I'll admit, I do like to cook -- but so does Captain Midnight, which should help. The key will probably be learning how to tweak existing recipes so they fit the plan.

Gretel said...

Good luck with it! I've been making meals of fruit as well as making sure I get at least one bout of exercise a day and it is slowly falling off without too much effort. Cheese has become a special treat though and even more appreciated for it. :)

Soozcat said...

It is interesting, isn't it, how limiting a particular treat makes it even better when you have that rare chance to savor it...

Good luck to you as well! Crossing fingers for both of us.