South Beach Diet – Prep Work

Posted on | December 7, 2008 | 6 Comments |

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.

Category: South Beach Diet

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« « My South Beach Diet Experiment – The Beginning| South Beach Diet – Phase 1, Day 1 » »

Comments

6 Responses to “South Beach Diet – Prep Work”

varsha
December 22nd, 2008 @ 2:52 pm
Reply

Looks like a lot of preps gng on Sig..eagerly waiting for the rest of it ..:)..n all the best..:)
nags
December 22nd, 2008 @ 5:59 pm
Reply

wow! that is a lot of patience, to mark all of this down!
Kavya
December 22nd, 2008 @ 6:48 pm
Reply

Hey Sig…way to go gal…i started this diet sometime back but only managed to go on until friday..sticking to it over the wknd was really tough.. great to know u’ve completed 2weeks successfully…would really be interested to know how much weight u’ve actually lost in these 2 weeks…wud stick around to see the recipes n results!!! hopefully i can manage to do this soon too..happy holidays!!!
Mamatha
December 23rd, 2008 @ 6:03 am
Reply

You are overweight? But you don’t look it. I tend to put on a lot of weight this time of the year and it takes me a whole year to lose all that and the vicious cycle continues. And since I am short, even a small gain in weight shows. I’m fighting a losing battle with weight this month so I’ve told myself that I will start dieting in earnest come January.

I’m looking forward to this series Sig and will root for you all the way. Happy Holidays to you and Siv!
Health | Melatonin Supplement
September 27th, 2009 @ 2:52 am
Reply

South Beach diet is the best for losing weight although it was originally designed by Arthur Agatston and Marie Almon to prevent heart disease.
Yumi
October 10th, 2009 @ 11:55 pm
Reply

South Beach Diet is also good for reducing body fat. i think it was originally intended to promote cardiovascular health.