BeachReady

Let it Snow!

We live in New England.  We expect snow!  We love snow!  Ask anyone why they live here and they'll usually mention the four seasons.  So, why don't they come out to play? 

Remember how excited we got as kids when it snowed.  We couldn't wait to get outside to sled and ski (cross-country skiing for George and me).  Snowball fights.  Building snowmen.  It's one giant 'winter beach'.  It's all fabulous exercise, but it just feels like fun.  Even more fun when we play with our kids.  As long as we're dressed in layers of warm underwear, boots, and mittens, we'll be plenty warm.  We can play 'til dark.  Maybe later. (The stars are never as bright as on a clear winter night.) ~~ Louise

Slip-ups

Despite our best intentions, we slipped-up over Christmas.  We ate some bad (but delicious) stuff and we didn't exercise much, either.  George gained 2 lbs. and I gained 1 lb.  (Hey, better to look and know, than not, right?)  But, here we are - two days later and back on track.  So, what we learned is this:  you can slip-up and get back on track pretty easily. 

We might have gained more except that we consciously planned our slip-ups.  We knew we would want a drink on Christmas Eve and dessert, too.  That was more important to us than rice,  potatoes, or stuffing, so we didn't fix those.  We filled in the menu with a Caesar Salad made with a new fat-free, carb-free dressing which was awesome.  Christmas Day and Boxing Day were similar.  We ate a few cookies and yummy desserts, but we kept the portions small.  We also managed to get in an hour walk every day except Christmas. 

Yeah, we felt some cravings for more bad stuff, but we stayed in control.  We indulged knowing that we had a time limit and some sanity about it.  And, we didn't beat ourselves up about our slip-ups.  We just enjoyed.    ~~ Louise

Yogurt

Every morning we have yogurt and fruit.  We also use yogurt wherever we'd use mayonnaise, like in tuna and chicken salad, and in dips and salad dressings.  We do eat a lot of it.  Maybe that has something to do with our rapid weight loss. 

We heard on the news that eating yogurt daily causes weight loss, particularly around the middle.   Have you heard this?  Is it true?  Hm-mm.  We just like plain, non-fat, Dannon yogurt.   If it also speeds weight loss, how great is that? ~~ Louise

Why the South Beach?

As New Year's Day approaches, we're seeing lots of diet and exercise tips in the news.  Just this morning on the Today Show, there was a new approach that highlighted the evils of sugar and the value of certain foods.  It proposed eating certain foods (e.g. Salmon and Green Tea) three and four times a week.  It made me think again about why we chose the South Beach Diet. 

South Beach does not focus on one or two foods.  Nor, does it shun all fats, or even all carbs.  It's much more sensible and easy-to-follow.  It does require that you educate yourself about what makes some carbs or fats good for you, while others are bad.  (Or, you could just order a South Beach guidebook.)   Learning about the Glycemic Index and trans fats makes sense to me.  It's knowledge I can use to tailor my eating style as I like.  And, while new information is constantly being discovered, I now have a better base to evaluate it. I suppose I could just follow an eating plan, but knowing why I'm eating what I eat makes me feel more in control.  ~~ George

Lunch on the Run

George hates to shop.  Actually, so do I.  So, when we go out on a major shopping trip, I know we'll be tempted by any excuse to stop - like eating lunch.  It's tough to stick to our eating plan when we're grabbing a quick bite at the food court or the mall restaurant, so we've devised a solution.  We pack a picnic basket (really a cooler) with easy, nutritious food like cold turkey or chicken, sliced cheese (Lite Jarlsberg is good), apples (on Phase Two), nuts, and bottles of water.  It's great to go out to the car, turn on some music or the news, and relax with our picnic.  Sometimes, we just head home afterward, but once in awhile, we actually hit the stores again with more energy.  ~ Louise

Breakfast on Phase One

Breakfast on Phase One of the South Beach Diet was our least favorite meal.  It was the only difficult part of the diet.  It's in Phase One that we get rid of our cravings for sweets and flour, so no fruit or bagels or muffins.  It works, but, let me tell you, eating eggs or plain yogurt every morning is a drag. 

What we did to get through this was a little bit of a cheat.  We ate a small bowl of plain non-fat yogurt (Dannon tastes best in our opinion), and sprinkled a few plain, frozen blueberries on top.  Just enough to give it some flavor.  I figured  the antioxidant value of blueberries justified it. And, if it kept us on Phase One, it was worth it. Then, we ate an egg or two.  Usually, one egg yolk, mixed with three egg whites for the two of us.  We sprinkled in some low-fat cheese (Cabot 50% reduced fat Cheddar is good).  We're not big egg lovers and by the end of the two weeks, we couldn't face another egg.  We just settled for the yogurt and berries, maybe with a piece of cheese on the side.

BTW, I know some people use a banana instead of blueberries.  Potassium is a good excuse!  Of course, if we found we weren't losing weight or our sugar cravings, we could have eliminated this little cheat, but we didn't have to.  We were losing weight rapidly.  All together, George lost 17 lbs. and I lost 7 lbs. in those first two weeks.  Well worth it!  ~~ Louise

Doc said "Lose it"!

My cardiologist said, "You have to lose weight.  I don't care how you do it, just do it!" 

How many times have I heard this?  Let me tell you, I've tried and there's just no easy way to "do it".  But when we found ourselves with an empty nest, Louise and I set out to do the South Beach Diet.  Two weeks later I was down 17 lbs. 

Why the South Beach?  First, let me say that I have no vested interest in this particular diet over any other.  My doctor, however, gave it a big endorsement.  He said it's the first "diet" that made sense to him.  The more we read about the effect of sugars on the body, the more sense it made to us, too.  I couldn't believe that I wouldn't "suffer" and be anxious to go back to lots of good ol' white bread, cookies, and cakes.  But, surprisingly, I still don't miss any of those and we've been on this 18 weeks now.  ~~ George

3 White Culprits

The way I see it, there are three serious culprits that can destroy our health, and all of them are white.  They're white sugar, white flour, and salt.

When I was 18, the editor of Glamour Magazine, Helen Gurley Brown, was on all the talk shows.  She was thin and rich, and very sophisticated.  She swore that she never dieted; just did not eat white sugar, white flour, or salt.  I tried it.  I lost weight and felt much more energetic.  Then, I got off track and forgot all about it for many years (and many pounds).  When George and I read about the South Beach Diet, it all came rushing back.  H.G. Brown's ideas were now validated by a cardiologist, Dr. Agatston, the author of the South Beach Diet. 

We don't need white sugar, white flour, and salt.  There's plenty of natural sugars and salt in foods anyway, and whole grain flour products (notice whole grain, not just whole wheat) are available.  Sure, we indulge once in awhile, but it's easy to keep this way of life and feel really good.

Bon Appetite, Louise

Soups-On

We had three different kinds of soup last week - curried squash, lentil, and chicken.  There's nothing so welcoming on a cold blustery day (and we sure have had a lot of those) than a steaming bowl of delicious soup.  I just read that soup is a dieter's best friend.  It's comforting and filling, so it helps fill us up at the start of the meal. 

I love to make soup.  Actually,  I have no choice, since almost every packaged soup is so full of sodium that it would blow our day's allotment (<2000 mg.) in one bowl!  But, I have found some tricks to make it super easy and fast.  One thing, I usually don't bother to saute the onions and garlic as a first step.  I just toss them into the hot chicken stock (homemade, too) and simmer them along with the rest of the vegetables.  I think the soup is more flavorful and less oily this way.  Maybe I'm kidding myself, cause it saves so much time.  What do you think?

Oh, and my other huge time-saver for creamed soups, is my Braun hand blender. I don't have to transfer soup from pot to blender and back to pot in batches.  I can do everything in one soup pot. 

BTW, if you want my easy and fast recipe for homemade chicken stock, I'll send you Mom's Stewed Chicken, handed down through many generations.  Just let me know you want it when you sign up for e-mails.  I'll e-mail it right back to you, along with suggestions for several meals you can get out of the one Stewed Chicken recipe.   ~~ Louise

Play Ball

The guys and I went out to toss the football around with the kids before dinner on Sunday.  Before we knew it, we were playing keep-away and running circles around the kids.  They only caught us because we were laughing so hard we couldn't catch our breath.  At least, I think that's why we were breathing hard.  Did this count as exercise?  ~~ George