Amie Dworecki\nI was waiting in line at a bookstore and leafing through "The South Beach Diet." I didn't really expect it to work for me, but I have wanted to lose the 10 pounds I gained during health problems earlier last year. I was also interested in finding out if an athlete could endure the grueling first two weeks.\nI actually didn't think the diet would be too difficult. The main change I would have to make for Phase One would be not eating fruit, which would be difficult because I love fruit. Also, I could not eat oatmeal and the occasional bowl of cereal. When Maurina suggested we do the diet together, I thought it would be an interesting experiment because, physiologically and nutritionally, we are quite different.\nMany people say my diet is "strict," but I prefer to say it is healthy. I first joined a gym at age 13. Since then I have dabbled in everything from amateur bodybuilding to running marathons. I am decent at "restricting" what I eat. I called my doctor, and he OK'd the diet. Let the experiment begin.
Phase One:\nBecause of my athletic background, I knew which 'allowed foods' had the most carbohydrates, so I tried to use this to my advantage. I was surprised to find I felt OK during the initial period. Immediately, I found myself cooking more.\nRegardless, I told Maurina on the second day that, "I miss my oatmeal. And I want a banana!" My roommate laughed at me because I wanted to 'cheat' by eating an apple, but I didn't. I was just happy the diet still allowed vegetables.\n"I'll probably be OK as long as we can eat all the vegetables we want," I said. "I hope they really mean that." \nAlthough I didn't think this diet would do much for me, it was discouraging to hear Maurina had lost quite a bit after the first week. My weight had stayed the same or perhaps even increased.\nDuring the second week, I began to get tired and lose my motivation to exercise, which is unusual for me. I contacted the nutritionists from the South Beach Web site during the second week. Their response was, "You need to be in Phase Two!" \nIn the last few days, the only thing that kept me on the diet was my bullish will to see if I could do it, but it bordered on torture. I became exhausted and workouts were shortened.
Phase Two:\nBecause of the added fat I was eating compared to my normal diet, I noticed I was not hungry, I was eating about 20 to 25 percent less carbohydrates and 300 to 400 less calories per day than I was before going on the diet. If I did not exercise, I was generally OK. The recipes were wonderful. I joined a Yahoo! message board for the South Beach Diet. I didn't have nearly as much weight to lose as most people on there, but was witness to their tales of losing 60 or more pounds with this diet.
Results:\nI have since started base training for an upcoming race. I also cross-country ski, run, bike, do yoga and weight train 10 to 12 hours per week. After the diet, I increased my carbohydrate intake 25 percent and calorie intake about 600 to 700 per day. As a result, my energy has returned. I have lost about three or four pounds. With all this activity, Phase One would not be sustainable for more than a day. \nBecause of my fatigue from the experiment, I would not do Phase One of the diet again, though it might be appropriate for less-active people. However, considering Phase Two is a modified version of my current diet, I actually bought the cookbook. \n-- Contact Staff Writer Amie Dworecki at adworeck@indiana.edu.\nMaurina Paradise\n am not sure what I expected going on the South Beach Diet, perhaps a couple of pounds lost would be nice. When my friend Amie told me she was trying the diet, I instantly thought joining her would be an interesting addition to the "experiment." Although Amie is my workout partner, our physical structure and abilities are very different. I jog slowly and ran my first 5K in June with a pace of about 10 minutes, 30 seconds per mile. Amie, on the other hand, has competed globally in half-marathons, marathons and triathlons.\nMoreover, when it comes to food ... well, I like food. I am not very good at restricting what I eat. Throughout my life I have tried to eat healthy and not too much, but, as my weight shows, I have not been so successful. I figured it would be interesting to see how two different people responded to this "intense" diet.
Phase One:\nThe first day was grueling when it came time to find something to eat. I was on campus working on a paper and had not brought anything from home. As I walked around the Main Library food court, I was amazed by the amount of food I was not allowed to eat. This was exacerbated by the fact that I am a vegetarian. Well, I was a vegetarian. To make this diet work, I decided to occasionally eat fish and poultry. \nAfter the first day on the diet, I wrote this entry in my journal: "While I did not feel hungry after dinner, a little while later while outside with my dog, I felt that I was missing something. I wanted something else to eat, but I did not know what." \nThat impression of "something missing," I am guessing, was the lack of sugar. But that craving disappeared after a few days.\nI was so excited when two days after starting the South Beach Diet I had lost five pounds. Still, I knew it was water weight.\nAfter realizing all I could not eat, I went shopping and stocked up on what I could eat: unlimited amounts of vegetables, protein and beans. I was excited to find I was not hungry after eating a meal. \nMy energy level was fine for normal activity, but if I did a lot of walking, such as gift shopping, I was exhausted afterward. I tried jogging three miles on the third day of the South Beach Diet. It was the hardest run I have ever done. But that was before I attempted a two-mile run near the end of week two. I literally had no energy to finish the last mile. It took every ounce of willpower just to move. It is not unusual for me to start slowly, but usually after a half-mile, I get my stride. Not this time. I ended up walking for one-minute intervals to reach my goal of two miles.\nPhase Two:\nI started eating starches and fruit again. My energy level returned to normal. A few days ago, I completed a five-mile jog, and now I am fitting into jeans I have not been able to wear for more than two years. I am amazed that, despite my cravings and temptations, I was still able to finish the first two weeks and not cheat.
Results:\nIn total, I lost 12 pounds in two weeks, more weight than I have ever lost with exercise alone. \nBut would I do it again? No way, not for two weeks. \nThe only way I could stand to do this again for two weeks is if I stopped running or doing any kind of exercise, which would never happen; my sanity requires that I run. Creators of the South Beach Diet recommend that people who are very active and/or training should skip Phase One and modify Phase Two because of the lack of fruit and starch sugars in the diet. The lack of those sugars is why I could not run two miles after 13 days on the diet.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Maurina Paradise at paradise@indiana.edu.
