Today I am officially starting off my Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet (SBD). To give a quick overview if you’re unfamiliar with it, the diet goes through 3 phases, and Phase 1 is the “Detox” phase. It lasts 14 days, in which I can only have lean proteins, some dairy, and vegetables with low glycemic indexes. In other words, no carbs/starches, and NO FRUIT! This is the hardest part of the diet, but the easiest to follow (if that makes sense!) Once this phase is over there are a lot more foods that I can eat, but it gets harder for me to determine what I can and can’t eat.

In the past I’ve lost from 10-12 pounds in Phase 1 (but I wasn’t exercising), so thats about 1 pound a day. I hope it goes just as well this time! I’m going to NOT cheat at all, although I need to verify that the veggie patty I ate for breakfast is acceptable (I’m pretty sure it is, otherwise I’ll have to get low fat sausage or turkey patties or something). I’ve already determined what my first reward will be…when I lose my first 13 pounds (I hope its not too long after I complete Phase 1) I am going to treat myself to a Strawberry Poppyseed chicken salad from Panera!! I found out yesterday that they are BACK at Panera (its one of their seasonal featured salads), and I LOVE this salad…

Since it has fruit in it (and the dressing probably has sugar) I can’t have it under Phase 1, but I think it’ll make a great reward. It won’t cost me much, and its better than a brownie, right?! I’m so excited! (And I realize I’m a dork, lol)

My last full day of Phase 1 will be June 9, and on June 10 I’ll start Phase 2. As of today I weigh 164 lbs, so if I lose 10 pounds (conservative, based on my previous experiences) I’ll be at 154 by that time. I sure hope so, that’d be a great weight to be at!!! Wish me luck!