Health & Fitness

Tonight was probably the best workout I’ve ever had. I love my yoga class.
It always leaves me feeling invigorated. We did about a million of these:

and now I can’t raise my arms above my head…but I feel great.

Image courtesy of Talkingsun on Flickr

It’s the longest day of the year and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than by doing yoga. And what better place than Times Square? I won’t be there to enjoy it this year, but next time I’m in New York in the middle of June, sign me up! Click here for more info.

Diets are hard to stick to when something throws off my normal routine. The culprit in this case is family…both my side and the in-laws. They’ve been in town this week and we’ve been out to eat every night since they got here. I was really good the first few meals…I only ordered foods on the approved list. But then I had a few fries here, a little dessert there, and before you know it I’m ordering a full blown Bleu cheese burger and fries from here. I blew it. So, I’ve decided to enjoy myself the rest of the time they’re in town (just another two days) and then pick up where I left off. Don’t judge me.

Last year I started the South Beach Diet to shed a few pounds. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the diet, here’s a little overview.

Phase One
The first phase lasts two weeks and is meant to give you a jump start—most people lose 8-12 pounds. Your diet can include vegetables, lean meats, chicken, seafood, beans, nuts, and low-fat dairy. That’s it. This is by far the most difficult phase, partly because you can’t eat sugar—not even fruit. I survived my sweet tooth cravings with sugar-free fudgsicles and jello. Even more difficult to live without is starches. All of them. It’s hard for me to find fillers since I’m used to always having pasta or rice or bread or potatoes. But after the first couple of days it gets easier, especially when you have a fridge stocked full of the foods you can eat. Last year I lost nine pounds on Phase One and felt healthier than I had for a long time.

Phase Two
Same diet as Phase One, except you can add fruits and whole grains. This phase is a lot more manageable long-term, and is meant to last until you reach your weight goal, at a rate of 1-2 pounds per week. During Phase Two I still had regular sugar cravings, but since I love fruit so much I was able to do pretty well. I decided to be done with it when I found out I was pregnant after one month and I lost my appetite for all things healthy.

Phase Three
Hopefully by now you’ve learned some good eating habits that you can practice for life. Yes, the rest of your life. It’s less restricting since the idea is that you’ve reached your target weight and you’re just maintaining it now. Since I never got to Phase Three the last time around, I don’t have much to say about it. But it sounds like a good plan, and one that I might be able to stick to long term.

It’s been a year since I tried the South Beach Diet, and now here I am with a one-month old and twelve extra pounds. I was so happy with my results the first time around, I decided to try it again to lose the baby fat.

I started this week. My goal is to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight and jeans size by mid-July. I have a vacation planned to see family in Phoenix and I know there will be lots of swimming (it’s Phoenix…there’s a pool in every backyard). Hopefully I can be comfortable in my swimsuit by then. I’d like to track my results here because then I’ll 1. have a place to write them and 2. be motivated to keep up with it since there’s the chance that others might read this. Fear motivates me.