BeachReady

Snacking through rough times

George is just losing a pound a week now.  He'd like to step it up, so we're looking at what we can do.  We figured out that there are certain times of the day when it's hard to control our eating.  For me, it's the late morning hours.  George finds it difficult in the late afternoon.  We're going to try to manage those times with planned snacking, more water, and exercise.  Our plan is to eat something healthy and satisfying just when we need it the most. (Both of us like nuts for those little indulgences!)  We can also drink a couple of glasses of ice water.  Maybe we can change our walk time.  We might also eat lunch and dinner a little earlier.  (I hate to go to bed on a full stomach, anyway.)  It won't always work with our schedules, but those days when it doesn't, we have our snacks. ~ Louise

We eat lots!

We probably eat way too much, but we never feel deprived or like we're on a "diet".  As long as it's still working, I think it's OK.  We just eat the right carbs and the right fats.  No white flour or white sugar. 

Do we miss it?  I thought we would miss pasta and cookies.  Surprisingly, we don't.  We could eat whole wheat or spinach pasta, but we now prefer spaghetti squash.  When our daughter made batches and batches of Christmas cookies, I thought we'd be a gonner.  But, we ate one and that was that.  No cravings. 

I think about pizza once in awhile, mostly because it's convenient.  But, I really prefer something more substantial that's just as fast and easy - like sauteed scallops on a bed of cooked spinach, drizzled with olive oil and lots of garlic ---- yum!  (Hm-mm.  I think I know what we're having for dinner tonight.)  ~ Louise

What we eat

Here's my favorite meals:

Breakfast:  Bowl of plain/non-fat yogurt with half an orange or grapefruit, half a banana, and a sprinkling of frozen strawberries or blueberries.  A half of a whole-grain English Muffin (Trader Joe's has delicious British Muffins). 

Lunch:  Salad with meat (turkey, chicken, or tuna) and cheese (Jarlsberg Lite and reduced-fat Cabot Cheddar) and olive oil/Balsamic Vinegar dressing.  Or, an omelet with cheese and mushrooms, etc.

Dinner:  Fish or chicken and steamed vegetables.  Or, homemade soup and salad.  Or, spaghetti squash with marinara sauce. 

Dessert:  A Frappuccino, low-fat ice cream bar (Starbucks),  or a Silhouette fat-free fudge bar (the Skinny Cow).   Instant Jello pudding (fat-free, sugar-free) is a quick and easy treat, especially when you top it with a whipped topping like Redi-Whip (fat-free). 

Snacks:  Nuts, apples, hummus with cut-up veggies (sometimes whole-wheat pita bread), and Jello (sugar free).

Beverages:  Water (lots!), coffee, tea , diet soda, and wine with dinner.

Now that I look at it, it looks boring.  But, it's not.  We never seem to eat the same thing twice in one week.  I think it's just cause Louise changes it based on what's fresh in the produce section or at the fish store.  We also eat out sometimes.  ~ George

New favorite fast-food dinner

My new favorite fast food is scallops.  Sea scallops (or bay scallops, if they're available) are tender and delicious and cook in just a few minutes. 

For the two of us, I saute a half-pound (or more) of scallops in olive oil and garlic until they turn opaque.  They're delicious served over whole wheat angel hair pasta with marinara sauce.  Actually, George prefers them on a bed of spinach that's been steamed or microwaved.  I add more garlic and olive oil and parmesan cheese.  (And to think that George never used to like spinach!) 

You can use either fresh or frozen scallops and spinach.  It's all good and very fast.  Yum.  ~ Louise

Favorite snacks

I love the concept of eating often.  Every couple of hours I grab a handful of nuts, an apple, or a piece of cheese.  I find my energy level higher than ever and I never feel deprived.  I think the trick is to eat before I'm really hungry, so I don't snack on bad fats or bad carbs.  It takes a little planning to take snacks and water with me wherever I go, but I think it's key to keeping on track.  My favorite snacks? 

• Fruit
• Cut up veggies (carrots and celery) with a bit of hummus
• Cheese (especially Cabot reduced-fat cheddar)
• Cashews or pistachios
• Slice of smoked turkey or leftover chicken
• Jello or jello pudding (low-fat, sugar free, and guilt-less)

To satisfy my need for a chocolate frozen treat, I have a Frappuccino, low-fat ice cream bar (Starbucks) or a Silhouette fat-free fudge bar (the Skinny Cow).  Okay, maybe they're not completely in line with the "diet", but they help me stay on track.  I have one every evening and no longer miss ice cream (well, not completely).  A little indulgence keeps us motivated, no?  I think these treats are what's made it possible for George to stick to this for almost 5 months now.  ~~ 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

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

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