[img]396|left|Alex Campbell||no_popup[/img]I bought the South Beach Diet book on Wednesday. I went on vacation to Vermont on Thursday. My plan was to read the book and prepare mentally, then start to eat differently on Monday. I will not call this a diet because that word has a negative connotation. It’s a change in my eating habits.
[img]601|left|||no_popup[/img]
I read through the book pretty quickly, and learned that I really do have a sweet tooth. Not only do I love cake, cookies and muffins, but I am also drawn to the sweetest fruits and vegetables. I didn’t know that carrots, corn, bananas and apricots were full of natural sugar. I never thought about it; I just figured that any fruit or vegetable was great. Not so much if you’re eating them, plus two teaspoons of sugar in your tea twice a day, two cookies for dessert, and white rice with dinner.
On Friday night I had a dream. I was in the Times Square subway station. There were a lot of people around, but in the middle of the crowd there was an elderly couple getting a private karate lesson from a man. They both jumped forcefully down on the subway platform, yelling and thrusting their arms in the air.
Interpreting a Dream
I started to walk away, but out of the corner of my eye I could see the woman jump down onto the tracks. She had put some colored puzzle pieces of foam on the tracks so it would be soft when she landed. Suddenly, a train started coming. All of the people on the platform, including myself, watched in horror as the train got closer and closer. As the train hit and killed the woman, I woke up.
That dream was about the South Beach plan. In my dream book, it says that when you dream about other people, you’re really dreaming about aspects of yourself. Makes sense. The old lady was the old me. I’m saying goodbye to my old ways and starting a whole new way of life. The karate? Self-defense. I’m doing this to defend myself from junk food! Of course, it’s scary to take a leap of faith (jumping onto the tracks). The foam puzzle pieces looked just like the ones we have at the preschool where I teach.
During the four days before my major life change, I ate as I would normally, with a few exceptions. English muffin here, couple of cookies there, with a mini round hunk of cheese thrown in for practice. I got ready for my new life and read that book cover to cover. I got thrown a little bit by the news of Michael Jackson’s death, but it didn’t affect me too much, as I was in shock.
Defeating Closing Time
I took the bus from Vermont back to Boston in 4 1/2 hours, and arrived home on Sunday night at 7:30. I realized I had to go grocery shopping that night to get all the ingredients I’d need for the week. Walked in the door, dropped my bags, and got to the store in time to hear the closing announcement. I raced through that supermarket like I was on some timed game show. “First one to fill her shopping cart with everything needed for The South Beach Diet, Phase 1, wins a head of lettuce!”
On Monday morning I got up and grilled chicken.Oh yes I did. I needed it for my lunch. My breakfast consisted of a scrambled egg and two strips of turkey bacon, both of which I love. No problem. A little more difficult was drinking decaffeinated tea, which was devoid of flavor. Even harder was drinking a 5.5 ounce glass of vegetable juice cocktail; I choked half of it down. Got through the rest of the day without incident. I was not looking forward to my dessert of ricotta cheese, flavored with vanilla. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find it was quite delicious! Who would’ve thought! I figured I could definitely handle fourteen days of Phase 1, the strictest phase of the plan. Salad? Meat? Eggs? Ricotta cheese? Bring it on! Things were great. Until Day 4.
(To be continued)
Ms. Campbell may be contacted at campbellalexandra@hotmail.com
