Happy 2010!

So who would have guessed we would be here. 2010. I distinctly remember watching Beyond 2000 with my dad, and marveling at how by now we would be teleporting, riding segueways upstairs and everywhere, and eating environmentally conscious food which delivered all the necessary vitamins to fight whatever ailment you had on the day while simultaneously eliminating world hunger.........

hmmm

Anyways

It's been a huge year to look back on, so at the risk of turning this into a very pensive retrospective navel gazing ramble, I'm going to look forward.

To kick off 2010, and in response to some rather unpleasant bouts of ill health and frustration for both of us in the last 6 months, Mark and I decided to start a cleanse. Starting the new year off on a good track digestively seemed to be a good way to put the rest of the systems in order, you are what you eat etc etc etc. Following that, on feeling more healthy, and Mark's legs now having had a 2 seasons off rugby to heal and recover, we are also on a plan to start a regular exercise regime. So in the manner of all things internet and blog, I'm opening a little window and sharing with you our journey, and even if noone reads these thoughts, at least it will prove as record for me!

Plus, by putting it all down on a post, it makes it possible for me to indulge in something I have been wanting to do for ages........a recipe blog!!! So what better time than when we have decided to do Phase one of the South Beach Diet, and have had a rather restrictive list of foods we can eat for the two weeks of this cleanse.

Now before you start the tirade of "oh no, not another fad crash diet!!" I did lots of reading and while I am skeptical, I'm also impressed by the amount of fairly balance literature out there about this whole thing, and really, what can really be bad about an eating plan (intentional omission of the D word) that is low GI, high in fibre, high in vegetables, low in sugar, and low in fat. And if it doesn't work as it's supposed to, then it's two weeks of our lives eating lots of veggies and learning new cooking techniques.

For those of you who don't know anything about the South Beach Diet, there are loads of websites out there, and a couple of ones I liked while I was researching are listed at the bottom of this post.

So, I hope you will be patient, and indulge me as I ponder food, excercise, self image, communion and community, and hopefully some of your comments about all of this.

Next two posts will be our first two favourite recipes from Phase one:

High Protein Miso soup and "Spaghetti [squash] and meatballs"

SBD resources and information

http://www.healthyweightforum.org/eng/diets/south_beach_diet/

http://weightloss.about.com/cs/diets/a/aa060403a.htm

http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/