In a fond farewell to potatoes on the day before I started the South Beach Diet, my husband picked red potatoes from the garden, cleaned them and mashed them. Mashed red potatoes is a great way to say goodbye to potatoes for a while. They were delicious.

OK, potatoes are not going to be an easy to give up, but I will. In preparation for day one, hubby and I went shopping Sunday for a few things.

I came home, cleared out a drawer in the fridge and told the children, “leave it alone.” The kids immediately wanted one item in the drawer: my low-fat yogurt. I explained about my diet, and they were willing to (grudgingly) keep their paws off my food.

But they had questions. The oldest wanted to know if she was going on the same diet I was going on since I was the one that cooked most of the meals. I explained that I can cook potatoes without eating them. But I realized later that some things will be harder. For instance, I can’t have pasta for two weeks. If I make spaghetti for my family, what am I going to eat? Can my family go two weeks without pasta? I don’t think so. My husband loves all foods Italian.

Last night, while she was grabbing herself a snack, I asked my youngest daughter to grab me three baby carrots from the fridge. She thought my request was strange, and she asked if it was related to my diet. I said no, I just wanted a few carrots.

So I grabbed my book, and showed my kids what I could and couldn’t eat for the next two weeks. My oldest daughter immediately noted that I couldn’t have yogurt. I showed her that I could have low-fat yogurt, and I noticed that it also says “plain” lowfat yogurt.

Needless to say, the kids wasted no time grabbing a yogurt cup for themselves.

I also realized that carrots is on the ban list for the first two weeks. OK, I’m going to take the bag of carrots out of my drawer too. I will be eating a lot of eggs and drinking a lot of vegetable juice.

I need to buy a few things for specific recipes if I am going to make this successful.

But my family seems supportive. My middle daughter said she was going to try this restrictive part of the diet for a day. My oldest immediately agreed that she too would try it for a day.

“Wait,” middle daughter said, “can I eat English muffins?”

This change in diet thing isn’t easy, but the goal is worth it.