South Beach Diet - Phase 2, End of Week 1 Checkpoint
Saturday, December 27th, 2008Filed Under Phase 2 | 27 Comments
After two weeks in phase 1, I have moved on to the more liberal version of the diet known as phase 2. In this phase, fruits and other healthy carbs like brown rice, whole grain bread and sweet potatoes can be reintroduced into the diet. And more importantly for me, phase 2 allows wine consumption.
Surprisingly I was not really craving carbs after two weeks of almost no carbs. I got so used to phase 1, I could go on it for another two weeks easily, but I am not sure if there might be any side effects of skipping carbs for that long. So I went and bought steel cut oatmeal, whole grain bread, brown rice and some fruits in preparation for the first week in phase 2. Being able to consume fruits is a big plus, as it make an instant snack at home and even on the go, you can find fruits practically anywhere.
Breakfast was one of the challenges in Phase 1. Eggs were my only option in phase 1, and I was really getting bored with the routine. Even though I have never liked oatmeal, I was looking forward to this non-egg option for breakfast allowed in Phase 2. But Oatmeal really let me down! Have you ever had oatmeal without sugar? Even though I added strawberries and walnuts it was still pretty disgusting. I don’t like any of the artificial sweeteners that are allowed in SBD, so my oatmeal breakfast lasted just one day. After that I switched to cantaloupe with fat free cottage cheese for breakfast, it tastes yummy and makes a quick meal, but it doesn’t keep me full for long. So back to eggs for me, until I did some research online and came across the best South Beach Diet resource out there - Kalyn’s Kitchen. I have been a visitor on Kalyn’s blog for a while, but I never really noticed the emphasis on South Beach Diet before, as her recipes all look so delicious, not at all diet-food like. Anyway, Kalyn is an amazing South Beach success story, and she has featured Agave Nectar as a South Beach friendly natural sweetener due to its low Glycemic index. I’ve been using Agave nectar for a while, but never really connected the dots with SBD, but thanks to Kalyn now I know. Oatmeal doesn’t taste all that bad with a little bit of Agave nectar drizzled over, thanks Kalyn!
As far as other meals are concerned, I prepared long grain brown rice for lunch. I like brown rice in salads, but not that much with curries. Frankly, I’d rather have a salad and protein and skip the rice altogether, which is what I’ve been doing after that one meal with brown rice. I also have an occasional slice of whole wheat bread, but other than that I am pretty much doing phase 1 + fruits + wine in this phase.
A Phase 2 meal - Curried Trout with brown rice and cucumber-cherry tomato salad.
- Fish Curry - It is the same recipe as this one, with the addition of green bell peppers.
- Salad - Sliced mini cucumbers and cherry tomatoes in a fat free yogurt + dill + salt and pepper dressing.
Weight loss has really really slowed down, I lost just 1lb this week. I guess that is the more natural and healthier way to lose weight, but that first week really spoiled me rotten. I have readjusted my expectations now, and as long as the weight keeps going down and not up I feel happy. Also, even though the scale is not showing it, my clothes fit much better now. And the claim on the cover of the book - “Lose Belly Fat First” is absolutely true.
Phase 2 - End of Week 1 stats
| Target Weight Loss | 17.5lb |
| Days on Diet | 19 |
| lbs lost so far | 8 |
| lbs to go | 9.5 |
Yay, I did it! I have finished phase 1 successfully, with only very minor slips! Seattle got the biggest snow storm in more than a decade and we have been stuck at home since last Wednesday. I have to say this really helped me stay on my diet. As I mentioned before, South Beach Diet is easy to follow if you are preparing all the meals yourself, and this forced house arrest made sure that I got enough time to make all my meals. Also, I just realized that if I were not on a diet when we got stuck at home for so many days, I’d have been eating so much junk I’d have surely put on another pound or two.
Weight loss really slowed down in the second week. I lost 5.5lbs in the first week which was very encouraging, but this week some days scale didn’t show any change, and some other days even showed 1/2lb increase which made me really sad. This is precisely why the book advices not to weigh in every day and just go with weekly weigh in. But I look forward to getting on the scale every morning, it has become an obsession of sorts. I guess some of the fluctuations this week were due to the fact that it was that time of the month which comes with some bloating and water retention. This week’s total weight loss is only 1.5lbs, which makes it a total of 7lbs lost in two weeks. If I think about the total loss, it is still pretty good. So I am declaring Phase 1 a total success for me.
Apart from the weight loss, some other positive aspects of going on this diet were
- I started having breakfast every day.
- I’ve become very mindful about what I eat.
- I stopped adding sugar in my coffee, I don’t miss it at all.
- I am having regular servings of vegetables with all my meals, which I never used to do before.
If you do decide to take up the South Beach Diet, here are some helpful hints for phase 1.
- Keep some no-cooking needed veggies like cucumber and celery handy so that you have an instant snack, and even use it as a side for dinner/lunch when you are not in the mood to prepare a salad with your serving of protein.
- Same goes for salad leaves. Wash and keep the leaves in individual serving sized containers or bags.
- I pretty much use two different salad dressings, which are very easy to prepare and tastes great.
- For crunchy leaves and vegetables with high water content, I make a dressing by combining low fat yogurt, herbs, salt and pepper. This goes great with most types of lettuce and also with veggies like cucumber.
- For regular leaves like mixed greens and spinach, I make a dressing by combining crushed garlic, salt, freshly ground black pepper, balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice.
You don’t need to invent any new fancy recipes if you don’t want to. Chances are that a lot of your favorite recipes are already south beach friendly, if you skip the side of carbs or make minor substitutions. Here are a couple of dishes I successfully adapted for dinner in phase 1.
Lemon Garlic Trout - Just the trout, salad is not phase 1 friendly due to the fruits
There are many more recipes here which are South Beach Friendly, I will categorize the recipes soon to make these easy to find.
We went out for dinner on Sunday night, to celebrate a successful phase 1. Most places were closed due to snow, so went to our favorite Sushi place - Umi Sake House. I ordered couple of crunchy rolls which obviously had rice. I also had a glass of red wine, it felt great! Remember, it is okay to reward yourself once-in-a-while, but don’t go overboard!
End of Phase 1 Stats
| Target Weight Loss | 17.5lb |
| Days on Diet | 14 |
| lbs lost so far | 7 |
| lbs to go | 10.5 |
Click here to view all the posts in my South Beach Diet Experiment series.
Quick and Easy Baked Salmon Filets in a Spicy-Lemon-Dill Marinade
Wednesday, December 17th, 2008Filed Under Mains, Quick-fix healthy meals, Seafood | 21 Comments
I don’t even have an excuse for my tardiness this time! Can I use the acquisition of two new gadgets as the defense? Wii has been taking up a lot of my time and energy lately, it is totally cool and super-addictive. Also, I finally bought the iPhone and I am hooked!! For all the fellow iPhone owners out there, I have updated this site to be iPhone-friendly, so if you are stuck at an airport or something, feel free to browse around. Check the bottom of this post for some screen shots.
On the kitchen front, I’ve been cooking a lot of simple quick fix healthy meals lately, as part of my pre-new-year resolution to get back in shape. I haven’t been taking too many pictures though, but here is one real easy one with big flavors and very little effort!
Ingredients
- 1 salmon filet cut into two (~ 12 - 16 oz)
- 1 tsp red chili powder or cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tbsp non-fat yogurt
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
- salt to taste
- olive oil to grease the pan
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 375F.
Combine the chili, turmeric, yogurt, lemon juice, dill and salt in a cup and mix well to make the marinade. Brush the marinade liberally on both sides of the salmon filets.
Lightly grease a baking sheet or a non-stick oven-proof pan with some olive oil.
Place the salmon filets flat in the pan, and bake uncovered for 15 minutes on one side. Turn and bake for another 10-15 minutes till the salmon filets are flaky.
You can finish up on the stove top to crisp the outside if needed, if not serve as is with the juices and marinade from the pan spooned over.
I served this with some green beans sautéed with garlic and chili flakes. A great low carb meal, and it is ready in a jiffy!
iPhone Screen-shots
South Beach Diet - Phase 1, End of Week 1 Analysis
Sunday, December 14th, 2008Filed Under Phase 1 | 9 Comments
I stopped doing the day-by-day posts, since it is is way too much work, who was I kidding anyway? 
I’ve been weighing in daily, and the weight has been coming down slowly but steadily.
First week went by relatively easily. It is definitely not a hard diet to keep up, if you are preparing all your meals. If you are eating out, it is kind of hard to find healthy choices. I started the week with preparing all the meals myself, but towards the end of the first week I got lazy, and had to rely on cafeteria food for lunch and had to go out to restaurants a lot too.
Going out to restaurants is the biggest challenge. Better restaurants would be willing to make substitutions and omissions on your request, like Cafe Harlequin I mentioned earlier. Friday night we went for a movie -( The Day the Earth Stood Still, which sucked by the way) - and afterwards as we were already at the mall, we decided to grab dinner at McCormick and Schmick’s. Since it is a seafood place, I was hoping that I’d have plenty of choices, but really there weren’t that many options when I checked the menu. Most dishes had some berry sauce or honey glaze or rum butter or something sweet. Finally I decided to go with a simple roasted salmon and a small spinach salad with walnuts and goat cheese with lemon vinaigrette. I didn’t even bother asking what was in the vinaigrette, or to hold the sugar since McCormick is a chain, and I am sure it the dressings come from a bottle. When the salad came by, I saw that the walnuts were candied, so I had to pick them all out. Also, the dressing was really sweet I am sure there was sugar in it, but I had it anway! Salmon came with carrots, broccolini and roasted potatoes, since carrots and potatoes are no-no’s in phase1, I kept them aside.
I was really full by the end of the meal! This made me realize how much I used to eat before I went on the diet! Even if I had ordered the exact same dishes, I’d have started with some bread, and definitely would’ve gobbled up all the candied walnuts, and the two roasted potatoes I kept aside. In addition, I’d have had some cocktail or beer. At least this diet is teaching me how much calories I can skip by being a little mindful at every meal!
I also had to go for a holiday party with Siv’s team this weekend. Office parties are normally kind of boring, especially if it is not your own team, and alcohol sure makes it a bit more tolerable. So this was a tough place, but I did stick to it. A sparkling water with lemon got me through it. I did slip a bit at the buffet though. There was some chicken satays which were really bad without the sweet peanut dipping sauce, and a roasted salmon which was too dry and too smoky, so my only meat option was a slice of the tender fatty prime rib. I only had one slice, and had tons of salad with it. No carbs, so it wasn’t that big a slip.
The groceries I got at the beginning of the week lasted me the whole week, I still have some fish left over and some veggies and cheeses as well. I will have to do another grocery run tomorrow, but that was a pretty cheap week as we didn’t eat out as much as we would on a normal week.
Anyway, to sum it up I have lost 5.5lbs in the first week. I also went shopping on Friday, and tried out some jeans just to see what it feels like, and I am glad to note that I fit very comfortably in a size 8 now.
| Target Weight Loss | 17.5lb |
| Days on Diet | 7 |
| lbs lost so far | 5.5 |
| lbs to go | 12 |
Today the morning weigh-in showed only a 1/2 lb loss compared to a a whole pound each on the previous days. But still it is going down, which is great news! Today I had lunch and dinner outside, due to previous commitments. I was a really good girl, stuck with the program!
Lunch was at a Mexican restaurant. I ordered the chicken fajitas naked. Didn’t touch any of the sides except for a bit of guacamole and some lettuce salad. Most of the salad was under the refried beans, so I ate only a bit.
Then for dinner I went out with friends to a fabulous new restaurant in Kirkland - Cafe Harlequin. That menu was so tempting, also M & M were having wine which made me crave so bad. But I had some water with lime and lemon slices and had about 3-4 bottles of water throughout the night.
Our waitress was super friendly and super supportive. After I explained my dietary restrictions, she helped me find items from the menu and gladly accepted slight modifications. I had the baby spinach salad with toasted pecans and goat cheese without the sliced pears and substituted the sherry vinaigrette with the lemon-garlic-vinaigrette. I got the dressing on the side, so that I won’t overdo it. For the main course I got the Seared Salmon Stemperata without the french green lentils. This came with bell peppers, olives, capers and mint. I picked out all the capers, since I wasn’t sure if it was allowed, but after coming home and checking the book I realized that capers are fine. Salmon was super delicious! This restaurant was so good, I can’t wait to go back after the first phase is over!
I was not that diligent about eating vegetables today though. I had no time in the morning to make a salad or some sautéed vegetables for a snack later in the day. The spinach salad I had for dinner was my lone source of veggies today. 
Breakfast
- 2 eggs scrambled with onions and 1 slice of Canadian bacon diced and mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup regular coffee
Mid-morning Snack
- 15 almonds
Lunch
- Restaurant - Naked chicken fajitas + 1 tbsp guacamole
Evening snack
- 1 wedge fat free laughing cow cheese
- 1 cup regular coffee, black
- 1 string cheese stick, later in the evening
Dinner
- Restaurant - Spinach salad with goat cheese and pecans and Seared Salmon
I am not very happy with today’s diet. Hope it hasn’t undone anything.
| Target Weight Loss | 17.5lb |
| Days on Diet | 3 |
| lbs lost so far | 2.5 |
| lbs to go | 15 |
This morning weigh in showed another lb drop! This is pretty good motivation to keep up with it! Now that I am having coffee, headaches have completely disappeared. I missed the morning snack today, since I was in back-to-back meetings till noon. So after breakfast, I directly went to lunch, but I had two snacks before lunch and dinner which makes it still 5 meals. Hope that is okay!
I was craving something spicy for dinner, so I made the Chicken Chili Fry using chicken breast instead of thighs as I normally would, and had it with a salad with yogurt dressing. I normally like to have this chicken fry with white rice and yogurt, so I got it as close as I could, replacing white rice with sliced romaine! Really, I didn’t miss rice at all!
Breakfast
- 1 cup regular coffee, black
- 2 eggs scrambled with Canadian bacon, onion, mushrooms, asparagus and cheese
Recipe: Saute sliced mushrooms in a little bit oil till all the moisture is gone. Season with salt and pepper. Keep aside. Blanch the asparagus and saute in the same pan. Remove and keep aside. Cut the Canadian bacon and onion into small dice.
Heat a bit of oil in the same pan and add the bacon. When it starts to brown, add the onions and cook till it is soft.
Add the sautéed mushrooms and asparagus and stir well to combine.
Mix the eggs with 2 tbsp grated cheese of your choice and pour into the pan. Add red pepper flakes and salt and some fresh herbs. Cook stirring constantly till cheese is melted and eggs are solid.
Serve hot.
Midmorning snack
- None
Lunch
- Leftover dinner from last night- Broiled Catfish in a red chili powder + coriander + cumin + lime juice marinade
- Blanched green beans stir fried with a shallots + garlic + red chilies paste.
Recipe: Heat water in a pot with 1/2 tbsp salt. When the water is boiling, add whole trimmed green beans. After the water gets back to a full boil, cook for 2 minutes. Remove the beans and plunge it in a bowl filled with cold water and ice cubes.
Pound shallots, garlic and whole red chilies in a mortar and pestle to form a coarse paste.
Heat 1/4 tsp olive oil in a pan, and add the spice paste. Season with salt. Stir fry till fragrant.
Add the drained beans and saute till the beans are coated with the paste, and heated through.
Evening Snack
- 15 almonds
Late Evening Snack
- A piece of fat free mozzarella cheese
Dinner
- Chopped Romaine salad with a quick yogurt + dill + salt dressing
- Chicken Chili Fry (Replace chicken thighs with breast)
| Target Weight Loss | 17.5lb |
| Days on Diet | 2 |
| lbs lost so far | 2.0 |
| lbs to go | 15.5 |
I woke up and weighed myself and I lost 1 lb in a day!! I know, I know, that is just normal fluctuations, but I sure was glad that it was fluctuating in the right direction. I started the day with a decaf like yesterday, but the headache started from the morning itself. After a particularly painful meeting after lunch, the headache got so bad, I was craving caffeine!
After I did a bit of research online, a lot of websites mentioned that two cups of coffee/tea a day is okay, as long as it is followed by lots of water. So I had my first full-caf coffee at 2pm, and it was bliss! Headache went away in a matter of minutes! This is the first lapse and it just took barely two days. But I hope the coffee is not going to reverse the effects, I can’t survive without it! I am planning to start the day with a coffee and have another one in the afternoon from tomorrow.
Breakfast
- A 2 egg spinach and cheese frittata with a slice of Canadian bacon
Recipe: Wash 1 cup of spinach thoroughly and drain. Place in a Microwave safe bowl with the water from the washing still clinging to the leaves. Microwave covered for 90 seconds. Remove and squeeze the excess water out. Chop finely. Beat the eggs, and add the spinach, 2 tbsp cheese, red chili flakes and salt to taste. Add ½ tsp olive oil to a non-stick pan and pour the egg mixture after the oil is hot. Cook for 2 minutes till the bottom is set. Place in the top rack of the oven on hi-broil setting and heat for 2 minutes or till the top is set and the cheese is melted. Remove and have warm.
Note: Frittata is easier to make with at least 4 eggs. I doubled the quantity mentioned above and made a 4 egg frittata since it was breakfast for 2.
- 1 cup decaf coffee
Mid-morning Snack
- 4 skewers of mini caprese salad
Recipe : Mix ¼ tsp balsamic vinegar, ¼ tsp extra virgin olive oil, salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste in a small container. Add 4 cherry tomatoes, 4 small cubes of skimmed mozzarella cheese and 4 basil leaves and shake well to get the dressing all over. Make 4 skewers by threading 1 cheese block, 1 basil leaf and a tomato each on cocktail picks or tooth picks.
Lunch
- Leftover chicken kabobs from last night. Recipe below.
- Stir fried broccoli with onions, garlic and red chili flakes
Recipe: Wash the broccoli florets and microwave high for 90 seconds. Heat oil and add thinly sliced onions, thinly sliced garlic and sauté till soft. Add red chili flakes and salt to taste. Add the broccoli and mix well to combine. Sauté on high heat for a minute.
Evening snack
- 15 almonds
- 1 cup regular coffee, black
Dinner
- 1 mini cucumber
- Broiled Catfish in a red chili powder + coriander + cumin + lime juice marinade
- Spinach and Mozzarella stuffed mushroom caps
Recipe: Remove the stems from the mushrooms and keep aside. Steam the mushroom caps till most of the moisture is gone. Saute the mushroom caps in a bit of oilve oil, season with salt and pepper. Remove the mushrooms, and saute the spinach leaves with some garlic and red chili flakes and salt in the same pan till well wilted. Stuff the mushroom caps with the sauteed spinach. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and keep under a high broiler for 2 minutes. Serve hot.
This day was much easier, especially after I had that coffee.
Spicy Chicken Kabobs
These are all quick fix recipes, so no measurements. Just use the amount of ingredients according to taste. 
Cut boneless skinless chicken breast into bite sized cubes. Make a marinade by grinding onions, green chilies, coriander powder, fat free yogurt and salt. Marinate for at least 30 minutes. Thread on skewers.
Bake in a 375F oven for about 35 minutes. Turn the skewers and brush with leftover marinade half-way through.
| Target Weight Loss | 17.5lb |
| Days on Diet | 1 |
| lbs lost so far | 1 |
| lbs to go | 16.5 |
After a day of pigging out, I started the day 1 of the diet. It started fine, but got really worse as the day went by. I had no idea first day was going to be like this! It wasn’t the diet that bothered me, food-wise it was pretty good! I was full the whole day, didn’t feel hungry at all. In fact I ate more than what I eat on a normal day, but divided into 5 meals. Normally I just have 2 meals per day.
It was the lack of caffeine that really got to me. I normally have at least 4 coffees per day, though I didn’t know I was so dependent on it. I had the worst headache of my life the whole day. I was craving for coffee so badly, but I got through it. Hopefully it will get better by tomorrow!
Anyway, here is the menu for Day 1.
Breakfast
- An omelette with 1 egg, asparagus and mushrooms
- 1 slice Canadian bacon
- 1 cup decaf coffee
Morning Snack
- 4 skewers of mini caprese salad
Recipe: Mix ¼ tsp balsamic vinegar, ¼ tsp extra virgin olive oil, salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste in a small container. Add 4 cherry tomatoes, 4 small cubes of skimmed mozzarella cheese and 4 basil leaves and shake well to get the dressing all over. Make 4 skewers by threading 1 cheese block, 1 basil leaf and a tomato each on cocktail picks or tooth picks.
Lunch
- Baked Salmon Filet in a yogurt + dill + chili powder + turmeric + lemon juice marinade.
- Blanched green beans stir fried with a shallots + garlic + red chilies paste.
Recipe: Heat water in a pot with 1/2 tbsp salt. When the water is boiling, add whole trimmed green beans. After the water gets back to a full boil, cook for 2 minutes. Remove the beans and plunge it in a bowl filled with cold water and ice cubes.
Pound shallots, garlic and whole red chilies in a mortar and pestle to form a coarse paste.
Heat 1/4 tsp olive oil in a pan, and add the spice paste. Season with salt. Stir fry till fragrant.
Add the drained beans and saute till the beans are coated with the paste, and heated through.
Evening Snack
- 15 whole almonds
- 1 cup decaf coffee
- Little bit of the leftover baked salmon and beans from lunch
Dinner
- Chicken Kabobs in a yogurt + lemon juice + jalapeno + ginger + garlic + coriander marinade
- Salad with Mixed greens + sliced baby cucumbers + cherry tomatoes in a balsamic vinegar + extra virgin olive oil + lemon juice dressing
Isn’t that a lot of food? I am supposed to lose weight on this diet? Hard to believe, but I just have to wait and see, I guess!
The diet starts tomorrow. I weighed myself today, and my BMI is 25!
BMI is meant to be used as a simple means of classifying sedentary (physically inactive) individuals with an average body composition. For these individuals, the current value settings are as follows:
a BMI of 18.5 to 25 may indicate optimal weight; a BMI lower than 18.5 suggests the person is underweight while a number above 25 may indicate the person is overweight; a BMI below 17.5 may indicate the person has anorexia or a related disorder; a number above 30 suggests the person is obese (over 40, morbidly obese).
Yikes! I am one coffee away from being officially overweight!
I weigh 17.5lbs more than my ideal weight for my height and age. So my target is to lose 17.5lbs in the next 6 months.
Phase 1 is the strictest phase of the diet. This phase is to resolve the insulin resistance of the body that was caused by eating too many bad carbs. No carbs are allowed in this phase. No pasta, rice, potatoes, fruits or alcohol. Coffee/Tea is allowed, but only decaf! That is the part I am mostly worried about! I have never had decaf coffee, I don’t even know what it tastes like!
Here is a list of foods to avoid: http://weightloss.about.com/library/sbd/blnophase1.htm
But the good news is that Phase 1 is supposed to give the most dramatic results as far as weight loss is concerned, especially belly fat, the biggest problem area for me. Read this link for an explanation as to why South Beach Diet causes the belly fat loss.
Here is a really good link on South Beach Diet 101. But for anyone seriously considering going on this diet, I highly recommend reading the original South Beach Diet book by Dr. Arthur Agaston.
Today is the day before. Technically I should eat everything I crave for today, I want to eat all the pasta and rice I can eat. Here is the rundown on today’s menu. This should satisfy my cravings for pasta, bread, rice and red meat for the next two weeks.
- Breakfast - Cereal bar, coffee with sugar. (my regular breakfast)
- Lunch - Pasta with a walnut+ricotta pesto with onions, garlic, prosciutto & roasted bell peppers
- Evening Snack - A fully loaded slice of star bucks lemon loaf + tall non-fat latte
- Dinner- White rice with, leg of lamb curry
I also went shopping today and bought a week’s worth of groceries. I didn’t exactly get everything from my shopping list, but what I have should last us for at least 10 days. Today’s total shopping bill came to about $160.00. If I don’t go grocery shopping anymore this week, and won’t eat out, this will be the cheapest week ever!
Grocery List - Week 1
Meat / Fish
- Boneless, skinless chicken breast - 6, almost 7lb - $23
- Catfish filets 3lb - $18
- Salmon filets <3lb - $22
- Canadian Bacon - 12 slices - $5
Cheese/ Diary / Eggs / Nuts
- 1 packet low fat shredded mozzarella - $7
- 1 block low fat Mozzarella block - $5
- 1 tub fat free plain yogurt- $3
- 12 large brown eggs - $4
- 1 lb almonds - $10
Produce
- Asparagus 2.25lbs - $7
- Green beans 2lbs - $6
- Mini cucumbers 2lbs - $6
- Baby Bella Mushrooms 3lbs - $9
- Spinach 2.5lbs - $4
- Mixed Greens Salad 1lb - $4
- Cherry tomatoes 1box - $4
- Red Onions ~3lb - $5
- Basil 1box - $4
- Romaine Hearts 12oz - $3
- Thyme 1packet- $3
- Dill 1packet- $3
- Snow peas 0.5lb - $3
- Broccoli 1lb - $3
Total - $160.00
I did a lot of prep work today. I have 3 lbs of mushrooms, and these will go bad in a couple of days. So I blanched some of it and froze them for later. I also steamed some mushrooms for making stuffed mushrooms later in the week, this went into the freezer as well. I blanched all the asparagus and froze most of it. I also made lunch for tomorrow, a baked salmon and stir fried green beans. (Note: Since I am back dating this post, in retrospect, I don’t recommend freezing blanched mushrooms or asparagus, both produced a lot of moisture while sauteing. It will be better to freeze these veggies raw.)
Finally, I made this leg of lamb curry for tonight’s dinner, my last bit of indulgence before the diet starts.
My South Beach Diet Experiment - The Beginning
Saturday, December 6th, 2008Filed Under South Beach Diet | 5 Comments
I haven’t been very active on this blog lately, one reason being that I’ve been writing another blog. I wanted to keep it private, since I was not sure whether I’d actually stick to it. Yes, I tried a diet for the first time in my life (if you don’t count the feeble attempt at the Cabbage soup diet that everyone was trying some years ago. That lasted just a day), and actually finished a successful Phase 1. So now I can safely share my experience with everyone. I know there are plenty of people out there who struggle with their weight every day, so hopefully this would give someone enough motivation to do something about it. Since it gets tough to maintain two blogs, I am just going to republish all those posts here, and back-date these posts, since its been two weeks since I started this diet.
It happened slowly, but steadily! When I first came to United States exactly 11 years ago, I was thin. I was the type of thin where old ladies would get concerned about my health. They would advice me to eat better. But the fact was that I was healthy. AND I ate whatever I wanted whenever I felt like. Thinking about calories and fat was not something I ever had to do! I was blessed with a great metabolic system, I guess! Or at least that’s what I thought!
But over the years, that changed. I went from a size 4 to size 6 to size 8 to size 10. Then I started working out and I went back to size 4. I went back and forth between 4 and 6 a lot, mostly settling down at 6. I got bored with the gym routine and stopped working out completely about 4 years ago. It was also the time when we really got into eating out a lot. Suddenly we were trying out all the new restaurants in town.
Then two years ago I started this blog. Now that is the surest way to put on a few pounds. I was spending so much time around food, researching about it, trying out new stuff and also spending so much time online looking at the delicious goodies that others have displayed on their blogs. So it was just a matter of time before the waistline started expanding steadily. Before I knew it I was going past size 6 and onto 8 so quickly.
Lately I am not that comfortable in my size 8 jeans. My anatomy is such that all the fat goes to my lower body. So buying jeans and pants has always been an issue for me, but I couldn’t get myself to buy a size 10. I had to do something, and fast! I could hear the warning bells ringing. I really want to start going to the gym again, but I have been coming up with one excuse after the other for so long, I think realistically I can’t rely on exercise to get me to where I want, since I won’t be sticking to it. That is when I thought of going on a diet.
I have never been on a diet. I hate being hungry, that is the worst sensation in the world! I get very bitchy and angry when I am hungry, and then I get unbelievable headaches and I am good for nothing in that stage. But after reading about the South Beach diet, it looks like an ideal diet for people like me. You get to eat 5 times a day, so there are not many chances of getting really hungry. Also the first two weeks seems to be the hardest, after that it gets somewhat easier. Even though I love my rice and pasta and potatoes, I don’t think it will be hard to avoid these for two weeks. I have some friends who had success with the South Beach diet, I have seen it working. So the confidence factor is pretty high, this has all the makings of being a success. Now it’s all up to me! Wish me luck!
To me, the first step for starting any new venture is shopping. A diet is no different! So as soon as I decided to go on the diet, I got in the car and drove to Barnes & Noble.
The South Beach Diet - The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss. $14.95 or the paperback.
This one is the bible. It explains how Dr. Agatston came up with the diet and a lot of insights into how this works and success stories by “real” dieters. Even though it reads like the script of an infomercial, it does get you motivated. Most importantly, this book has the meal plan for the different phases.
The South Beach Diet Quick & Easy Cookbook with 200 recipes that can be prepared in under 30-Minutes. $27.95.
This one really doesn’t look like a diet cookbook. It has some mouthwatering recipes and some delicious looking pictures. The first book itself has a bunch of recipes, so this was not really necessary, but what the heck! I am such a sucker for cookbooks, I had to add this one to the collection! And 30 minutes or less, why not?
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