South Beach - 3.5 months later...

15 pounds on a 5'5 (ok maybe 5'4) frame makes a huge difference. That's how much I've lost thus far. My goal was to lose that much by my October 14th birthday and I did, and it felt amazing...and continues to every day.

The hardest part for certain of this process was the first week...the first 2 weeks. Starting a very restrictive diet during state fair week is not something I'd recommend. However, I learned that I could be successful even under those circumstances and that is pretty empowering.

Some of the little things I did that I think made a big difference:

• Lots and lots of water or green/oolong iced tea. Iced tea is good for you, it flushes out badness, and helps you feel full. Also, it boosts your metabolism. Always a good thing.
• Almonds. Lots of Almonds. I take them everywhere. If I get hungty I eat 7 or 8 and it totally tides me over until I can get to something more substantial. There are so many flavored varietes...salty, sweet, raw...
• Ditch the sugary stuff that you don't really think about..ie: flavored coffee creamers, syrup in lattes, BBQ sauces, peanut butter. I am a coffee adict - and I never considered how much sugar is in flavored creamer - so most of the time I have half and half with sugar, or a sugar substitute. Once you have broken your addiction to sugar - everything tastes sweeter and whatever sugar you add to coffee or tea is at least half of what your body was used to.
• Weigh yourself a couple times a week. Everyday is bordering on obsessive :-) actually, I think for me every day was misleading. My weight fluctuates based on a number of different things so it would be disappointing if it went up 2 lbs overnight and could be nothing but too much salt or a hormone surge. Weighing a couple times a week is more accurate, and it keeps you motivated.
• Have a blow-it day you can look forward to. Do not blow it during the first 2 weeks. It really is necessary to break the addiction to sugar. It's really hard - but definitely doable. After that if they have your favorite flavor at Culvers - get it and put it away for your blow it day. Chances are by the time you get to that day a couple bites of the custard will do the job.
• Finally (and this is huge) if you do all the right things and can't lose weight have your thyroid checked out. It's a tiny little gland that can wreak havoc on your whole body if it's unbalanced and it doesn't take much to become unbalanced...and it doesn't take much to get back in balance. This, I believe, is the most significant reason why this time I was successful. It took about a year to get in balance and it was so worth it.

It's good to take pants out of the goodwill bag and try them on...and be alarmed when they fit and you NEVER thought they would. That... is a really good feeling.