Going to the beach

The South Beach, that is.

One of the transitions from student life is that I no longer have access to the student health center and the Cornell Healthy Eating Program. CHEP paired me up with a nutritionist, a nutrition doctor, a therapist, and a drug-prescribing psychologist (who said I didn't need her). We worked together intensely for the better part of 6 months and then off and on for the next year to try to create a healthier, happier Derrill.

The diagnosis was: insulin resistance. That's kissing cousin to diabetes, but not there yet. It meant a whole new approach to food. I've been eating 5 small meals a day, 120-150g of protein each day, and only 30-40g of carb per meal. It was a big adjustment at first, but I got used to it and I've been following it pretty well for the last two years.

The problem was that even though the nutrionist's electronic gadgetry said I was losing fat and gaining lean muscle mass (to the tune of a 30 pound improvement), it hasn't translated into even a one pound difference on the scale.

So now that I have a whole new doctor, he's putting me on a whole new lifestyle, the South Beach lifestyle. For the next two weeks, I essentially pretend I'm on the Atkins diet, only I focus on lean meats and cheat less. Promised weight loss: 8-14 pounds in 2 weeks. Then I move to a more manageable lifestyle that includes fruits and whole grains sparingly until I get to my goal weight, at which point the management gets a little looser.

In two weeks, I'll post Before and After pictures and give my review of the SB Diet Phase One.

On Thursday while picking up a backpack to carry Hyrum in, I also picked up a new Wii game: My Fitness Coach. She gives a pretty decent workout. "As far as we know." We know we sweat and we know our legs HURT after the first few days. It was difficult to walk kind of hurting. I got better Sat-Sun and Joy will hopefully be back to normal tomorrow. We walk a lot - cardio is not our style. "I always want to do cardio though."

Prayers and well wishes are always appreciated. Anti-testimonialists, please wait to post your negative results until I do the before and after post.