Well, let's see. My big news - I've decided to start the South Beach Diet. And it's scary.

Not the diet itself, but the idea of doing something like this, something where I've seen how other people have had great success, and committing myself to it properly so that it'll work. And if I don't follow the diet properly, like so many of my good intentions in the past, then... that's discouraging.

But I have a beach buddy, as it's called, and I went out last night and bought a whole bunch of condiments and food and so on (my fridge is now way more packed then when I posted the pictures of it over on LJ, as requested), and I currently have the determination to see this through properly. I started half-way through the day yesterday; I'd already eaten foods off the 'avoid' list for the first phase earlier in the day, so today is the first real day of being on it, but I'm determined to do this properly. I'm tired of having this belly that I've had my whole life, and I'm tired of working out and not getting to really physically *see* the results the way I'd like.

I know, girls are meant to be padded, and I'm not trying to avoid that; I like my boobs, I fully intend to keep them, and I think women look better with some curves to them. But I've seen in a lot of women how they can look fit and still be feminine and not be voluptuous or rubenesque, and I'd like to look like that.

I'd also love six-pack abs, but for now I'll just borrow them off of boys. ;)

Don't worry, this blog is not going to turn into a recitation of the meals I ate, or what my scale reads at this exact moment in time -- and not just because I don't actually own a scale. True story. The SBD webpage (how I registered) has a journal that you can keep there, so I'm restricting all of my food stuffs to that page. No, I'll keep this page full of thrilling updates like, "Today my cats ran around the apartment!" or "Today I went to work!" etc. I know you've all come to expect high-quality updates, and those you'll continue to get.

I might, however, occasionally be tempted to say things like, "today my pants felt looser!" or "today I got to wear a skirt that I haven't worn in a year," because those are going to be the way I really benchmark this. I don't have a goal weight, per se; I know that because of my working out, I've put on a decent amount of muscle weight, and that's obviously going to change my BMI stats -- which currently say I should weigh no more than 137 lbs; the last scale I got on, after the BBQ dinner my dad held, where I got to eat a baked potato, delicious steak, salad and bread, I clocked in at 159. *flex* Of course that was post-meal, and with the scale on an uneven floor... but it's still the heaviest I've ever been. And I don't think I have many friends who would be calling me obese or 'a large girl.' If there are any, by all means, speak up. :)

So for now, I'm going to target about 140 lbs and see how I look from there; if I still have a lot of belly or whatever, then I'll go down some more, maybe take it 5 lbs at a time or something.

Anyhow, for those of you who are mocking me for following a fad diet... I agree with you, or at least I did. Then I saw a friend of mine lose at least/around 40 lbs, and he's kept it off without difficulty -- and now he's at the point of getting to eat more or less whatever he wants... so I'm thinking that the suffering and sacrifices I have to do and make for the first little bit are going to be worthwhile.

The first two weeks, I avoid carbs and sugars -- so I don't eat rice, bread, potatoes, or fruits. This is going to be the hard part; no pizza for two weeks, no sandwiches, no bagels, no wraps, no pita bread, no hamburgers (because I can't have ketchup or buns, so unless I just layer on the salsa like my dad does), no fruits to act as a healthy dessert... urgh. It's to break your body of the habit of craving carbs and sugars -- which, let's be honest, make up a great deal of my regular diet.

But after that point, I get to reintroduce select fruits and carbs. It's not a carb-free diet. I promise I won't have BO issues or breath problems forever and ever. There's even a list of fast foods that I can eat, including several items at McDonald's, so that's going to help me out when it comes to having to grab food in a hurry (like I will tonight).

The only really hard part is going to be at the bachelorette I'm attending in a week's time -- it's supposed to be a sugarfest. My buddy and I have agreed that we'll probably extend our two-week first phase for an additional week or so (I might cheat and only add a day or two) to accomodate that evening... and hey, maybe a sugar binge will also act towards helping me break out of craving them for a bit. :)

So, I think I've purged myself of diet talk for awhile. Sorry for the boredom. ;)

Yesterday I went grocery shopping. But I already covered that, so moving on. ;)

I also spent longer than I wanted to in the morning trying to replace one of my piercings -- my oldest, barring my earlobes. I find it frustrating that that one seems to have grown in somewhat (after only about a month being out), whereas another I have hadn't closed many months after I first removed it with the intention of healing it over. So, it looks as though one of the steps I have to take when I have some free time is to get to a piercer to have it (sorta) redone. Yay. :P Then there's the question of whether or not I want to have my last piercing (that healed over completely) redone, as well. I'm not 100% convinced yet.

I've been sleeping poorly because of the heat the last few nights. I actually kept my window open last night, and had the fan on for about half of the evening. The cats got wound up again and woke me up around 3, at which point I also turned the fan off... and then in the morning the two of them were trying to get me to get up and moving, instead of lying in bed, lazy, like they have the last few weeks. I wanted to get up and go for a run, but I had a faint headache that was nonetheless making me feel fairly queasy and nauseated, so not only did I not run, but I didn't eat the little breakfast quiches I'd made. It's a rough life being me. :)

I indulged myself a little last night by watching Gilmore Girls and then Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. I don't watch it often, but every now and then it's fun -- everyone seems to like one another, and last night they were certainly trashing a particular girl in it (who'd come to visit the guy, and wasn't being especially nice or accomodating). It was great. :)

Okay, I'm going to end here, 'cause I need to go to get myself a snack. I'm feeling the wobblies, and I know it's because of the lack of sugar and carbs. Stupid spoiled body! :P