Week One Comes To A Close

Today marks the end of week one and I'm glad to say I'm halfway there! One more week of phase one to go.

I ended up only eating the one big meal yesterday. I was feeling nauseated at work last night and a little dizzy. Everytime I put a piece of food in my mouth I felt worse, so I just didn't eat anything and instead just drank my sparkling water. So when I got up today, I was starving. I'd have been in trouble except I had something already made. I turned off my crock pot and dished out a big bowl of chili.

I should say that I've always been very proud of my chili recipe and think it's far better than anything in a restaurant. Being in phase one, however, meant my usual chili wasn't going to work. I've always eaten chili over rice with lots of sour cream and cheese. I thought giving up all that was going to make eating chili an unhappy experience. But I was wrong.

I've always been a big fan of Wendy's chili. For fast food, it's a pretty good, reliable staple that's reasonably healthy. I've been eating it for decades. But recently, Wendy's has changed the recipe and the new stuff isn't as good. So went another good thing, I thought. But then I found a recipe online that claimed to be the original Wendy's recipe. It was also phase one friendly, so I tried it. And boy am I glad I have a crock pot full of the stuff. I can't wait for dinner, to have another bowl. I don't miss the sour cream or the rice though I did put a little bit of reduced fat cheese on top. It does have the same taste as Wendy's, but it's a bit chunkier and definitely better. I'll never go back to my old chili recipe, that's for sure.

Better Than Wendy's Chili (South Beach Phase 1)

• 2 lbs 93% lean ground beef
• 25 oz can tomato sauce (NOT spagetti sauce)
• 15 oz can red chili beans
• 15 oz can kidney beans (undrained)
• two 15 oz cans of pinto beans (undrained)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, sliced thinly
• two large, fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 3 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons kosher or coarse salt
• 2 cups chicken broth (I like Rachel Ray's in the carton)
• 2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper

Brown the beef on the stovetop in a non-stick pan so you don't need any additional oil. When done, do not drain the liquid off, just dump the whole thing into the crockpot. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well so that spices are evenly distributed. Set temperature to low and cook 3 hours.

**This makes a mildy spiced savory chili. If you like yours really spicy, add chopped serrano or habanero chilis and use hot chili powder.**

I have to say this recipe is really indicative of why I don't feel like I'm on a diet, even though I'm on the most restrictive phase of South Beach. My co-workers are always peeking in to see what I've brought to eat every night and they, too, can't believe I'm on a diet. So much of what I read made me think phase one was going to be a scary thing, but it hasn't. The worst of it was switching over from going out to eat all the time to cooking at home instead (and that was the scary part for me). With a little bit of work ahead of time--mostly searching for recipes online--I don't feel deprived or restricted. Maybe even a little bit pampered, since most of these recipes are special dishes, things I wouldn't cook on a regular basis, much less a different one every night.

The thing that kept me sane the most this week: not eating breakfast foods at breakfast. Alot of people complain that the variety at breakfast time in phase one is almost non-existant. Eggs, eggs, and more eggs. I was dreading this because, as much as I love eggs, three days in a row would put me off eggs for quite a while. So I treat breakfast as just another lunch or dinner and that works great for me.

My other big concern was my schedule. I rarely eat a regular 3 meals a day and I certainly don't eat at the time most people do, since I work from 11pm to 7am. So keeping up with a breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, and dessert schedule looked impossible. So I didn't. As long as I eat the amount of food I'm supposed to on a daily basis, I let myself be the judge of when I need to eat instead of putting food in my mouth at alarmed intervals. It works and I am definitely losing weight.

My goals for the coming week:

1. making sure I drink at least 64 oz of water a day (I met that goal only twice this week)
2. taking a good multi-vitamin supplement every day (skipped that this week)
3. adding 45 minutes of aerobic exercise, 3 days a week (due to my extreme lack of fitness, this will be lap swimming in the local pool)