by Marcia Purse
Breakfast
Although the South Beach Diet frowns on Atkins convenience foods, I'm going to give the Atkins shakes a try, because I hate fixing and eating a solid breakfast! I've been having a liquid breakfast since my college days (long, long ago). It was Instant Breakfast then, and I switched to SlimFast when weight became a problem.
Here's a comparison of the two shakes - Atkins and SlimFast:
Pills and Supplements with Breakfast:
Celexa (Antidepressant) - 30mg
Trileptal (Mood Stabilizer) - 150mg (but I think I forgot to take this!)
Wellbutrin SR (Antidepressant) - 100mg
Tenoretic (for high blood pressure) - Atenolol (beta blocker)
100mg/Chlorthalidone (diuretic) 25mg
Coenzyme Q-10 - 50mg
Calcium Citrate (with other helpful things for osteoporosis) - 500mg
Multivitamin
Fish Oil Capsules (2) - 600mg of Omega-3 fatty acids
Acidophilus capsules (2) (for healthy digestion)
Naproxen Sodium (for pain) - 550mg
Morning Snack, Lunch, Afternoon Snack
Because I am recuperating from surgery, I'm not working full time yet. I left for work at 9:40, arriving at 10:00, which is the usual time for my midmorning snack. Had a Lucerne part-skim mozzarella cheese stick around 10:40; then I wasn't hungry at the start of our lunch break, which is at 11:30. So my long-time friend Jo (who is also my boss at work) and I went for our usual walk when she had finished her lunch, and I ate afterward - my own variation on a South Beach Diet salad (recipe below). As usual, I ate a little more than half of it for lunch and the rest a couple of hours later. At 12:50 my computer reminded me to take Trileptal - and I discovered I didn't have any with me. Ah, well.
Usually I also have a small snack around 4:00, but today I left the office at 4:20 - and I was hungry on the way home. This was, by the way, my longest day at work yet since surgery, and the first time I was able to drive both ways without a lot of pain.
Whoops! Mom had hosted a music club meeting while I was at work, and when I got home, there on the counter was a leftover dish of the most wonderful little candies - small balls of chocolate with hard mint coating. Before I could stop myself, I'd eaten at least ten - then I asked Mom to hide them! I ate another cheese stick and took a well-earned nap.
Dinner
Dinner was a 4-ounce cube steak and lots of cauliflower with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray, along with a big glass of water. After dinner, my 75-calorie treat (allowed by the South Beach Diet) was 133 calories of pure dark chocolate. Well ... this is less than I had been eating each day.
Close to 10:00 pm I had a lettuce and tomato salad with about 40 calories worth of dressing - but was still hungry, so I mixed up half a cup of vanilla ricotta crème ... and was STILL hungry. Four cheese sticks AND the leftovers in a can of mixed nuts later, I finally turned out the light and went to sleep. It was 11:30. Not a good ending to the day, diet-wise!
Night Meds and Supplements
Trazodone (antidepressant/sleep aid) - 25mg
Lorazepam (antianxiety/sleep aid) - 1mg
Zocor (for high cholesterol) - 40mg
12-hour Chlor-Trimeton (for allergies)
Coenzyme Q-10 - 50mg
Calcium Citrate - 500mg
Fish Oil Capsules (2) - 600mg
Acidophilus capsules (2)
Naproxen Sodium (for pain) - 550mg
Marcia's Chicken-Feta Salad
3 cups loosely packed Romaine lettuce
3 oz Perdue Short Cuts(R) Carved Chicken Breast, cut into 1/2" pieces
2 oz (or so) crumbled fat-free Feta cheese
1 small tomato or 3-5 cherry tomatoes, chopped up small
Dressing: equal parts Olive Oil and Lime Juice and salt to taste
Note: You can add things like cucumber, celery, red onion, etc., etc. to this as your taste buds prefer and time permits!
Next Page: Day 2 and Day 3
