Kickin' my own ass

217.2

My first day of South Beach Phase One yesterday was a little challenging. I was hungry at times and craving carbs like nobody's business! But interestingly, as Hilly noted in the comments of yesterday's post, I did feel much peppier. And my concentration was better, too, which is huge for me. Of late, I have so often felt tired and had a hard time focusing.

Today I don't feel as great, but I don't think I can blame it on the diet: I woke up between 5 and 5:30 this morning with a bad headache (maybe the start of a migraine). I took Excedrin, and then went back to sleep for a couple of hours. . . . but now it's 10:45, and I am still sluggish, drowsy (eyelids feel heavy), and have a mild throbbing in my head.

I must give props to Mo for her suggestion in yesterday's comments for the two-week turnaround. I did Day 1 of Week 1 yesterday, and found the cardio quite challenging; I sweated a lot more than I usually do during my workout. The strength training didn't feel all that difficult at the time, but I am mildly sore today, which is a good sign that I actually worked some muscles. I am going to do Day 2 this evening.

Days like today make it really hard to stick to healthier eating and exercise. When I feel sub-par, I get a bad case of the "f$&k its" and don't feel like putting forth the effort. It's all I can do to get out of bed and get to work, let alone put forth any extra effort in any area of my life. Plus there is no enjoyment in doing cardio when I'm sluggish and headache-y.

Oh well. That's life! Every day isn't going to be a bed of roses, right? If I want to do this, I have to find a way to kick my ass into gear, even when I don't want to.

My one small problem yesterday was that I didn't time out my meals and snacks appropriately. This meant that I didn't have an afternoon snack, so I went to the gym hungry and was ravenous by the time I finished my workout. Allowing myself to get over-hungry often leads to overeating or poor food choices (not to mention making me quite irritable). Instead of hitting a drive-through somewhere on my way home--as would be my usual M.O.--I walked over to the Trader Joe's in the same complex as my gym and picked up some low-fat cheese and pistachios to snack on during the drive home. I ended up eating a little more fat than I'd planned, but it was a far cry from my usual eating habits. Dinner was the same healthy chicken salad that I had planned. . . . I just bought it at TJ's rather than preparing it myself when I arrived home, as I'd intended. Whew! Crisis averted.

Today I have all the "provisions" I need to get me through the day, plus an extra snack just in case. I've got my gym bag packed and will go work out after my piano lesson.

Oh, and I forgot to mention: MM had to skip the gym last night (had to arrest someone) and will be going to a different gym location than me tonight. That's right, people: I am working out despite the fact that my husband won't be at the gym with me! Ha! Now there's dedication.

P.S. Anyone have any suggestions for something low-carb to order when eating Italian? I'm usually all over the pasta, but I'd like to finish out two weeks of Phase One without interruption. We have planning for weeks to have dinner at Maggiano's this weekend.