South Beach Diet: Year 2

I am approaching the one year anniversary of going on the South Beach Diet, and, now that I think about it, also the one year anniversary of blogging.

Back in early January of 2004 I went on the diet and, at my lowest, managed to lose 45 pounds. Not bad. In the past 6 months or so I've gained 10 back. That doesn't paint a completely accurate picture though. I gained a couple back over the summer (trips to the ice cream store at the cabin are very difficult to resist), but the rest has been gained back in September and October (when we were moving and eating out a lot), and during the holiday season (starting with Thanksgiving, and going until, well, yesterday, give or take).

So now I'm going back to a modified phase 1. Breakfast and lunch are going to be no (or very, very low) carb. That means a return to the dreaded salad phase. I hate salad. I mean, every once in a great while, I could go for a salad if it had, like, breaded chicken and tortilla strips or something. And there's a buffet restaurant in Edina called QCumbers that has a great salad bar, but the kind of salads I'm eating - lettuce, cheese, turkey, dressing - suck after a couple days.

That's why I figured this week would be a good time to start the diet up again in full force. I'm only at work three days this week, so I can have more complicated (but still low-carb) lunches three other days this week. I'm not sure if my dinners will be completely in line with Phase 1, but I'm planning to cut back to at least Phase 2, and then limit myself to Phase 1 snacks.

So that's the plan for the next month or two, anyway. I'm just not sure how long I can last on these dang salads.