Fun Monday # 44 - The Dreaded Diet

Grace - MamaRehama is our hostess this week and her assignment is:

Many people make resolutions during the month of January and they usually include diets/eating healthy/losing weight and all that good stuff. I myself decided to try the Weight Watchers this time round. My assignment is to tell us about a diet or two (Atkins, Sonoma, Weight Watchers, South Beach, the You on a Diet, Best Life, The Abs Diet, The Zone, Cabbage Soup, E-Diets, Dr Phil, Jenny Craig, The Meditteranean Diet, Nutrisystem, Slim-Fast, Suzzane Sommers or No Name diet etc etc) that you have tried and what you liked or did not like about it. You can tell us about one diet that you had so much success with, or another that was a torture to follow or both. AND/OR Photo assignment: post a photo of something/someone that makes you feel good about yourself. It could be your loved one, your pet, your part of the world, anything goes.

My New Years resolution this year has NOTHING to do with dieting because I always fail. But, a couple of years ago, I tried one and it worked pretty good ... at least for a while !!

The South Beach Diet - it can't be classified as a low-carb diet, a low-fat diet, or a high-protein diet. Its rules: Consume the right carbs and the right fats and learn to snack strategically. Confession: I just put away the Chex Mix I was munching on while putting together this post - guilt got to me !

It really isn't a "diet" - it's a life style change, in regards to the foods you eat. You can eat a great variety of foods - it's mantra - NO WHITE - stay away from white breads, stay away from white potatoes, stay away from white rice, stay away from white pasta - and sugar too - it becomes carbs.

So, it took me a couple of times to get started (phase one is a killer).

I failed time and time again. I felt tired all the time and seemed to always be hungry. My head would ache and I was a total B!tch to be around.

I then decided to Sh*t can phase one and concentrated on phase two. I plugged away and vowed not to give up.

After a while (quite a while, it seemed), people started to notice that I had lost a few pounds. My clothes started getting a bit looser - the belly fat was disappearing. I was able to buy some clothes in a smaller size. I was feeling pretty good about myself and it really wasn't all that hard. A lifestyle change - that's what it was. Being constantly aware of what you are putting into your mouth ...

I lost 30 lbs. and was for the first time in a long, long time - under that God awful curse of 200 lbs. People never believed me when I actually confessed to my weight - I am 5 ft. 10 in. and blessed with height so the weight is distributed - but I knew how much I weighed and didn't like it one bit.

I went on a cruise in June of 2007. I ate often AND like a pig. ANYTHING I wanted.

When I got back, I hadn't gained an ounce.

I was feeling so good about it and eventually sabotaged all of my hard work. I no longer paid attention to the lifestyle change that I had created for myself. I was still mindful of some of the things I ate and careless about so many others. It creeps back on - Yes, it does.

So, now I am determined to do it again and lose 30 plus pounds this time (I didn't gain it all back - but still hate myself for the pounds that I let slip back on to my body). It wasn't really all that hard once you got into a routine - you get tired of some of the same foods - over and over again. But, if you are willing to try new things, there is plenty of variety.

All of this - because I am going on a cruise again in October of this year. And I want to feel good AND look good too.

And this time, I vow not to fail - both before and after.

And now, for the photo part -

Post a photo about something/someone that makes you feel good - um ... looks like I have failed to read the rest of it !

Dark Chocolate !!

Make sure to visit Grace and see what everyone else has to say ...