Smooth Sailing

I feel really good.  And that feels really good to say!  My sons are finally getting over their viruses, work has been a much more manageable pace, and I am not tortured over this diet.  In fact, with all the veggies I've been eating, my skin looks more radiant and I feel...healthier.  My joints hurt less too, I'm not sure if that is from losing weight or nixing the sugars, but I am moving like a normal 40-something instead of looking like I'm a step away from needing a walker.  I can feel the slack in some of my clothes, and my mood is still much better than it was a couple weeks ago.  

Last night my husband was eating mac and cheese right next to me and my typical reaction would have been wishing I could eat it too, but I'd just eaten a taco salad I made myself, and his carbfest didn't even appeal to me.  Win for me!  This is getting easier, slowly.  I am starting to reap the rewards of not caving.  I think what will be my tricky part is keeping things sane on the weekends when my family tends to eat out a lot.  Last weekend we ended up at Chipotle and I ate a bowl of beans, veggies, greens and guacamole with their softritas, which is seasoned tofu.  It was OK, not the biggest fan of how al-dente they cook their beans and the softritas mix is not something I love, but my family likes it there and I was happy I could eat something at a restaurant.  

It has been more than a year since I've been in South Beach Diet, but every time I do, I am painfully reminded of how much I dislike protein!  Meat or meat substitutes, tofu (unless it's deep fried like the Chinese restaurants do), textured vegetable protein (that even sounds disgusting right?), I just don't like it!  I just ate a taco salad (using soy crumbles) and I almost couldn't even eat it I was so not enjoying the crumbles.  I'm going to switch to seitan (wheat protein) for a few meals and see how that goes, if not, I'm giving up and relying on dairy, nuts and protein shakes (beans on occasion).  One of the reasons I continue to fail on SBD is because of this whole protein issue.  This is my first time trying it vegetarian and egg-free.  I am weird about food, especially textures. I can't force my way through something I don't like (my husband can do that and it amazes me), so at least I'm learning even after starting and restarting this diet so many times.  I feel positive that if I can keep learning what doesn't work, eventually I'll figure out what does, and then I'll run with it long-term.  I feel like I am closer than ever to solving this food and emotions thing.  That will be a lifesaver for sure.  Literally.  It's true what they say, the first steps are the hardest.  Now that I'm past those first steps, I see smooth sailing ahead!