what i’ve discovered over the last few months is that there is really never a good time to start a change in your eating patterns, especially when it’s called a d-i-e-t. i’ve been able to incorporate 20–30 minutes of exercise into my morning routine, but the diet change was much more difficult.

first, i’m not a meal planner. i try not to plan, much, really — i just always seem to get overwhelmed. anyway, since i’m not a meal planner, i’m also a terrible grocery shopper. i tend to go to the grocery every other day or so to find food — which was wreaking havoc on my lunches at work (“yuck, i don’t want soup. let’s go get burgers!”).

but it’s summer now (sort of, if it would ever stop raining) and i want to go to beaches and i want to feel comfortable with myself in a bathing suit. all of my clothes, really. and i want to be less paranoid about how i’m going to look in photos, too.

so today i went to grocery store with a list and a sort of plan. today i’m diving into the south beach diet. phase one is the first two weeks and it basically consists of eliminating carbs and sugars. in phase two, which is supposed to last until you’ve reached your goal weight (i’m not so sure about this, but i’m planning for a minimum of two weeks at least), you start to add certain food back into your meal plans. after that is phase three, though i don’t remember how long that one is supposed to last and i’m took lazy to reach for my book to look. you get this idea with this stuff.

my first challenge with this diet was one of those product parties ladies have in their homes. there is always snacky food and drinks at these things. this one had pretty healthy snacks — hummus and pita, strawberries, cheese. (i did snag a few pieces of gouda because cheese is on that “okay” list for phase one.) and then there was a big jug of sangria.

alcohol is on the “not okay” list for phase one. so i couldn’t partake, even though i really would have liked to because major grocery shopping worked up my anxiety pretty well. and i was a little late to the party, and i hate being late. i was feeling sort of stressed out this afternoon, in general; this weekend has a big list of things to do and i don’t have enough time to do them all.

in any case, i had brought along a can of lacroix water so i had that to drink. i’m liking lacroix as a replacement since it doesn’t taste like plain ol’ water and it has bubbles that make it feel like drinking soda or champagne or something else that is fancy. (and lime is a prefect refreshment for a hot summer day — not that we’ve had any of those around here…)

during the presentation, we all got mini 100 grand candy bars as a way of doing a prize drawing. i was not even tempted; i brought it home for jason to eat instead.

it’s easy to say i haven’t felt tempted today because it’s only the first day. but i am excited about all the veggies in our fridge now. i even got bags of frozen shrimps to put in salads or whatever. really, most of the recipes i’m finding sound pretty great — and summer is a perfect time to eat fresh veggies!

i am writing this at the end of the first day. i have a headache at the moment, but i’m not sure if its because i need to go to bed or if my body is missing carbs/sugar. i’m expecting a bit of withdrawal period, i just don’t know how intense it will be. (side note: in early 2012, i quit drinking coffee [and caffeine entirely for a while] late in the week so i wouldn’t have to deal with the withdrawal headaches at the office. i’m hoping this works out the same.)

i’m posting all of this because i want to be somewhat accountable for how this thing progresses. this is on my goals list and i want to take it seriously! i should also note that i don’t actually have a scale in my home; i only know how much i weighed at my annual lady doctor visit a few weeks ago. when i get a couple weeks in maybe i’ll find a friend who has a scale and borrow it for a check-in, but the number on that scale is not my prime focus with this experiment.