Foodie Chickie

The South Beach Diet in a nutshell. The diet or the lifestyle as I like to call it is split up in three formats Phase 1, 2 and 3. Phase one normally takes two weeks for people to complete. In those two weeks a person needs to rid their body of sugar. That means staying away from sugar and carbs; such as rice, bread, pasta, sweets, and fruit. The book has suggested meal plans to help a person accomplish this. There is even a recipe book, which luckily my husband’s mother gave us. Both our mothers let us borrow their copies of the South beach book. The first two weeks were difficult for me. It took me almost a week for the cravings to completely stop. What helped me were the no carb and no sugar Jell-O brand gelatin. It was surprisingly yummy. I also drank a few decaf iced coffees with Splenda, a sugar substitute.

Phase two you can start slowly brining back carbs since some carbs such as fruit and complex carbohydrates are good for a person. The recipe book said it was ok to eat up to three servings of fruit a day. The nutritional benefits outweigh the sugar. I have also heard from different people that a person’s body digests natural sugar differently than processed sugar.

Phase two is also all about choices. Learning how to refeed yourself. If a person is going to have the occasional carb with their dish, have a piece of whole grain bread, instead of white(which is just sugar), have the whole grain pasta instead of regular pasta, have brown rice, or other varieties of whole grain rices. And occasionally a potato is ok. If I am going to eat no carbs(minus fruits) for four to 6 meals out of the week, maybe I can have two meals with healthy carbs. Plus portion control plays a factor. The book suggests to eat rice and pastas the size of a golf ball per meal. It varies with each person, some people, not in the beginning can have a slice of whole grain bread, a banana and apple a day and still lose weight. Others may not. You have to see what carbs work for you. Mostly everyone we know is aware we are on South Beach and hopefully wouldn’t consider us rude if we go to their home and not eat the carb item, if there is one. Or maybe we know we are going to their house and not eat so many carbs that week so when we are over at a friend’s house we can partake in a carb. It’s all about choices. The same could apply if we are out to dinner. Although most places now offer carb-free menu options, some do not and we just have to make the choice of not eating the side item if it is not a vegetable or saving our carb meal for that night out. And the same goes for holidays and parties. It gives one something to look forward to so you don’t feel so deprived. Trust me it is not easy going to a fast food place and ordering a salad instead of a nice burger meal, but my body is healthier for it.

Here is a site with good information about phase one, what foods to avoid during that time, what foods is considered healthy and so on. Phase 3 is now that you know how to feed yourself just continue with what you were doing on phase 2.

We can even have a slice of pizza if we want to. The pizza sauce usually made of tomatoes is a great cancer fighter; olive oil is a healthy fat, as is mozzarella. The problem is the crust. So instead of getting a regular crust, opt for the thin crust.

We’ve also realized that going to the supermarket means reading labels more carefully. Just because something says fat free does not mean it is better for a person; without the fat there is also less flavor, and companies want people to buy their food products so they’ll include more sugar. Opt to go with the whole product instead of the fat free one.

My husband has lost so far 12 pounds during our phase one (which ended yesterday) on South Beach which means his cholesterol is going down, the reason we started this new life. I have lost six pounds. I understand that women lose weight slower than a man does, but that is not a determent, because my not so good cholesterol will get better also, just with a bit more time.

I suggest you borrow the book from the library or someone you may know who has decided to lead the South beach lifestyle to attain further information.

I subscribe to Kraft's magazine(its free). They have some good recipes and information on cooking and products. Their recent issue had a lot of advice about low carb lifestyles. They have actually begun a partnership with Southbeach.

Here are two lists of alternative foods that Kraft has introduced based on their new relationship with South Beach.

And low carb recipes. There is also an interesting article about Kraft foods that have zero carbs. And a carb counter.

Last night's dinner of Sausage and Peppers:
Sausage and Peppers 


Salad 


I boiled 9 sausages in water until the water evaporated. Usually takes an hour. While the sausage cooked in another pan I sautéed one onion, half a large green pepper and red pepper in olive oil and seasoned it with salt and pepper. After about ten minutes I added 8 ounces of tomato sauce and 4 ounces of water to the pepper and onion mixture and let it cook up until the sausages were browned and the water evaporated. I then put the sausages in the tomato veggie medley and let that cook a few minutes more. I grated some mozzarella cheese on top and enjoyed it with a nice salad.

In other news the NYC subways are flooded and now all trains are cancelled. Hopefully by the time I leave for work that will change. My train station was flooded and not just the tracks. There was water coming in from the ceiling and two inches of water on the floor. From NPR via Niel:
"housands of people are walking across the Brooklyn Bridge this morning to get to work, because a record heavy rainfall knocked out most subway service between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Here are some of the lines affected... · 1, 2, 3 and 9 suspended between Times Sq. and 96th Street; · 2 trains are running on the 5 line between Nevins in Brooklyn and 149th in Bronx; · M train suspended between Chambers and Bay Parkway · F trains are running on the 8th Avenue line instead of Sixth Ave. from West 4th street to Queens Plaza · E trains are suspended between the World Trade Center and Queens Plaza; · N and Q service is suspended between DeKalb Ave. and 57th; · The W train is suspended in both directions between Whitehall and Ditmars in Queens · No V trains are running ; · LIRR trains into Penn Station are experiencing 20 to 30 minute delays as a result of a third rail problem in one of the East River tunnels. · LaGuardia is reporting 90-min delays; We will be following the transit problems and keep you updated on WNYC. "

I left work late yesterday waiting for ads. I hate leaving work late. I know I'm not the only one. I totally feel not as relaxed the next day and missing out on hubby time. Can't people have any consideration for other people's time?!!!!