Fat on the inside, Skinny on the outside...

Everyone always says to me, "You look great!" "You don't have to work very hard to loose weight." "Don't worry about it!" Here is why..... When I was little I was chubby. Not fat, but cute chubby and everyone told me so. When I was in 4th grade I got really sick with pneumonia and lost a lot of it. I liked not being chubby so then and there I started watching what I ate and haven't stopped since. I remember being on my first diet and exercise routine when I was 12. Slim Fast and Richard Simmons. I have never been able to drink a lot of pop and I love water (Thanks to mom :). Processed food makes me feel grose and sugars are nice but I love salty things. After having Phoenix I gave up dairy that cut out a lot of the greasy foods in my diet. Now, after having Atti I had 23 extra lbs that I was hanging on for some reason. I worked out and ate healthy but nothing was happening. Once he hit over a year old I started searching. A friend told me about South Beach Diet. I borrowed the book and fell in love with the concept. 1. eat when you're hungry 2. no sugar, fruit, carbs or starches for phase one (2 weeks) 3. snack I immediately made a menu and got on a schedule. 8am-quiche or eggs and turkey bacon with V8 for breakfast (I made the quiche in advance) 10:30-snack (nuts, cheese stick, vegetables and hummus....) 12:-lunch (salad with leftovers from lastnight) While making my salad I also cut up lettuce and vegetables for Brandon's lunch tomorrow and for our dinner tonight 3:-snack (tuna, cherry tomatoes...) 5:-dinner (usually meat, fish or poultry and vegetables and salad) 7: Dessert (sugar free jello for me) We went on the diet and without working out we lost 8lbs in the first 2 weeks and 13 lbs total. After that we went on vacation and slipped away from the lifestyle. This diet can be vary expensive. We are constantly looking for less expensive meals that still follow the guidelines. I started up again 3 days ago and feel great. The first 2 days are always hard because I go through withdrawal of the sugars. (Remember there are still carbs/sugars in tomatoes and vegetables and nuts.) I already feel like I've lost 5 lbs. My abs and hips have reappeared. I think I weigh around 140ish and I want to get to 125. We are doing it without a scale because really...it's all how you feel that matters! I feel great! Here is what we had for dinner last night (I don't usually eat this mugh meat, it was for the picture. There was a side salad) I just took frozen chicken breasts and covered them with salsa and taco seasoning. Covered it with foil and baked at 375 for 45-50 minutes. It is so tender that way! One of our favorite late afternoon snacks is beans. YUM! I'm SO excited because I'm actually working out this time! Wish me luck!