Cruising on the Beach. South Beach, that is. The diet, that is.

Okay, I'm going to start by saying that I am a notoriously bad blogger. I have started two or three other blogs in the past three years or so, and have a total of ten blog postings between them. Yah, not good.

But this time I think it's going to be different. I have something meaningful (to me) and regularly updatable (yes, I know that's not a word) to blog about.

I've started the South Beach Diet. Again. Though I prefer to call it a "plan" or "lifestyle." I hate the fact that by putting the word "diet" in something, it's automatically considered bad, or a fad, or restrictive...or a cult. In fact, the word "diet" actually has a definition beyond how we as a society have come to understand it. Mirriam-Webster defines the word diet as:

1.a: food and drink regularly provided or consumed b: habitual nourishment c: the kind and amount of food prescribed for a person or animal for a special reason d: a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight (going on a diet)
2: something provided or experienced repeatedly (a diet of Broadway shows and nightclubs)

Notice that the restrictive "diet" is last on the list of definitions pertaining to food. I don't plan to starve myself, or deprive myself. I have chosen to take two weeks, and two weeks only, to allow my body to clear out all of the carb clutter that I have packed into it over time and give myself a fresh start. Over the course of the next weeks and months, I intend to completely evolve my eating habits from the unhealthy (too much fast food, sugary snacks and fatty "comfort" foods) to the healthy (well balanced, low in fat, high in nutrition). South Beach has helped me learn to do that in the past, and I am betting it will do the same for me now.

Now, in the name of full disclosure, I'm already a week into this lifestyle as I write this post; I only today realized that it would be worth blogging about. So I will be retroactively posting my last seven days of entries throughout the day. By the end of today, I will have eight posts...only two shy of what I accomplished in the last three years!

Anyway, I hope that if anyone out there reads this, they will find my experiences helpful as they pursue their own path to a healthier lifestyle. Thanks for reading!