South Beach Diet Phase 2, End of Week 4 Checkpoint and SBD for Vegetarians
I’ve been on the diet for 6 weeks now, if someone told me last month that I’d stick to a diet for so long, I wouldn’t have believed them! But now it has become a normal part of life. I don’t really have to remember to eat breakfast or the daily snacks now, my body tells me when it needs food, and I always have something handy.
I started missing some of my favorite foods though, not rice and potatoes, but the fatty cuts of meat! I have professed my unending love for Pork Belly many times here. It is the tastiest cut of meat out there! Last Friday was Siv’s birthday, and since out of all my recipes, this Pork Ularthiyathu is his favorite, I decided to make it for him. The plan was to cook it just for him, but I must say I make a mean Pork Ularthiyathu and it was too much to resist! So I had it, but just two pieces with a healthy salad – that was my dinner two days in a row last week! It is full of saturated fat, but by allowing myself the pleasure, and limiting the quantity, I stayed on track. I think it is important to allow yourself small treats once in a while, if you totally restrict yourself from all your favorites, the chances of falling off the wagon will be more!
South Beach Diet for Vegetarians
More than a few wondered whether Vegetarians can successfully adapt the South Beach Diet. One of my friends who gave me the motivation to go on SBD is a pure vegetarian. She said that phase 1 is tough, but doable. Suggested protein sources for phase 1 are Soy-based meat substitutes that have 6 grams of fat or less per 2-3 ounce serving and all types of beans/legumes. Now you all know the problems associated with eating lots of beans, the embarrassing side effect of gas. I found a great article on Savvy Vegetarian about How To Eat Beans Without Gas.
© Elena Elisseeva – Fotolia.com
Some basic principles to keep in mind:
- Soak the beans in water and discard the water before cooking.
- If you can, after boiling the beans discard the water and rinse the beans again, best for recipes that ask for boiling the beans before adding other ingredients.
- Our body needs to get adjusted to processing beans, so start with small quantities of beans and increase the quantities slowly.
- Cook the beans till soft.
- Choose beans which are easier to digest.
Beans aren’t all that easy to digest, actually, but some are easier than others. Pinto beans, adzuki beans, black-eyed peas, black beans, kidney beans and chickpeas are relatively benign. Indian pulses, such as split mung beans (mung dhal), or red lentils (masoor dhal) are easy to digest. Navy beans, green or yellow split peas, brown lentils, are all harder to digest,and therefore more gaseous. Soybeans are famously indigestible, but much better in fermented versions such as tofu, tempeh, miso, and shoyu.
(Source: http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/svreports/beans_without_gas.pdf) - And finally, a product my friend swears by – Beano. Beano is a natural food enzyme dietary supplement that can help prevent gas before it starts. It helps you to digest the complex carbohydrates in beans and other gas-producing foods. By taking Beano at the beginning of a meal, you can help prevent gas, bloating and other discomfort.
Update – Reader Tips
Here are some more tips to reduce gas from beans from the comments section. Thanks to Indosungod, Sra and Suganya
- Add a crushed piece of ginger while boiling the beans and discard the soaked water as well as the water the beans were cooked in.
- Add ajwain (carom seed) and dry ginger to the bean dishes.
- Dry roast the beans before cooking
- Cook the legumes with a couple of bay leaves.
Here are some South Beach Friendly Vegetarian options. There are plenty more available online.
- Breakfast – Scrambled Tofu with Mushrooms
- Lunch – Black-Eyed Peas with Greens & Smoked Tofu
- Dinner – Stuffed Peppers with Mushrooms, Walnuts, and Greens Recipe
For those who eat eggs and diary, a lot of breakfast and snack ideas from the regular South Beach Diet meal plan can be used.
Stats
Even with the pork belly, I managed to lose 1.5lbs this week. It feels really really good!
| Target Weight Loss | 17.5lb |
| Days on Diet | 40 |
| lbs lost so far | 11.5 |
| lbs to go | 6 |
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Love the picture Sig. Thanks for the bean tips. Hahaha Beano – I remember seeing the ad on TV, it goes like this, “When you take Beano, there’ll be no gas” LOL!
This is great info Sig. I had sent one of my friends who wants to loose some extra weight here. She is a vegetarian and was wondering if SBD would be too difficult for her. I think this post will help her.
I admire you for sticking to the diet for so long. Hats off to you…
Loads of belated birthday wishes to Siv.
Good for you Sig, I see you are doing well. It does take a tremendous amount of will power to doet, isn’t it? But surely once a week, you could eat what you want for a meal and not feel guilty, girl! I think it’s okay!!
)
Beans are great once in a while, everyday would be a BIG problem!:D
Am happy for you Sig..great gng..Do post your pic ,once you reach the goal..:)
I am soooo impressed! Really really!
I would want to try the veg option too, with dairy and eggs. Not cuz I am a vegetarian but I don’t cook it at home. So have to manage the veggie way
Sig, we eat a lot of beans and guess other than the occasional gas
or two we have become immune to it. I also add a crushed piece of ginger while boiling the beans and discard the soaked water as well as the water the beans were cooked in.
You have great will power girl. Also are you putting in exercise along with the diet ?
I think you’ll soon look like you did when you got married. Belated happy birthday to Siv
Wow Sig, congratulations on the weight loss, way to go girl !!
Actually, you should give in when the temptation is that high, or like you said, the very idea of this deprivation could really hamper you from going ahead with the diet
I do admire you sig for keeping up your diet for six, i can stick to them in the week, but thenwhen the weekend comes i am ogg the waggon again.
Today i was saying to hubby i shiuld go to the weighwatchers, atleast them i will be obliged to stcik to my diet as there is once a week meeting.
I don’t mind missing meat when i miss will be rice, pasta and potato mash.
I’d say its easier to go on a diet than stick to it!
Its nice to see that you’ve been able to keep to it.
I find it difficult to keep away my craving for carbs the most.
Ajwain (carom seed) and dry ginger are supposed to work well too, with beans. Nice pic, Sig, but I already told you that when I mailed you earlier today.
Hey Sig,
I have been reading your SBD series with quite a bit of interest. I too have tried my hands on a few diets, & I was successful at only one of them. I can see how much of an effort its taking @ yr end to do this, Don’t ya think that its much better to exercise than follow a diet to cut down weight. I have been quite regular with my exercises for a looong time now, I feel that my body feels better & fit & I dont feel guilty of having indulged quite often cuz I know tht I can burn it off. exercising does wonders for yr metabolic rate as well.
Have yu been exercising as well along with SBD or how is it???
Sig, its so commendable that you are almost close to your goal. I cant stick to it no matter how hard i try. Good going:)
Sig, your south beach diet posts are very informative ……. I am actually waiting for the posts that explain steps to be taken after the required target has been achieved and you go into the maintenance mode ……
1.5 in a week! I had to go back & reread that just to see i read it right. buddy thats a lot. here i have no breakfast, salad for lunch & almost no snack, & i cannot lose the 3-4 lbs i need to! I should start following this.
Yaaa u have only 6 more to go!
Wow! This is really working for you. Congratulations my friend.
LOL, that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard! I had no idea about Beano before my friend went on SBD
BTW, the pic is not mine, I bought it from an online image store, I was too lazy to spread out beans and take a picture 
Thanks Shilpa, I hope your friend gets to her goal!
Thanks Asha, at least for me, once I got used to it, it doesn’t take much effort. And yeah, I am trying to eat what I like in moderation, so I don’t really feel guilty…
Thanks Varsha!
Thanks N!
I think along with diary and eggs, a vegetarian version won’t be too tough! Good luck!
Beans or no beans, who doesn’t suffer from the occasional gas, right?
. I guess our body gets used to eating beans if it is a regular part of the diet. That article is mainly for people who are planning to introduce large quanitites of beans suddenly into their diet plan. Thanks for the tip about the ginger. I will add it to the post.
Err…… No…
Not yet at least, gyms are too crowded in January, at least that’s my excuse for this month…
LOL, I don’t know… I hope there was a diet to reverse the signs of aging too…
Thanks Arch!
Weightwatchers have worked out really good for some people I know, I am too lazy to count calories, so I chose SBD
Somehow I don’t have carb cravings anymore, I think the first two weeks take the cravings away… I still crave for fat though…
Thanks for the ajwain and ginger tip Sra, I will add that to the post too. And regarding the pic, I didn’t take it, check the copyright notice right below it
Hi Deesha, I guess you missed my post from last week.
Thanks Priyanka!
Thanks Cynthia!
ohhh yeah, I did miss that post of yours … Good luck with the program.
So far U ve done a great job
Like you said moderation is key part! Very impressed about SBD and way to Go !
If I may add, dry roasting the beans before cooking also reduces gas. So does cooking the legumes with a couple of bay leaves.
whoa!! that’s phenomenal!! congratulations!!
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