July/August - Weight Loss Challenge

Those quiche cups are GOOD! I've made them before and they freeze well. :D

If any of you have any of the south beach diet cookbooks - I highly recommend them. Every single, solitary thing we've tried from them has been really, really good. Seriously. And one of them is all 'quick' and 'easy' recipes...which I really like.

If you need fast food, the best option is to take a few hours on a weekend, do your shopping, prepping and cooking...and stash everything away for the week in pre-measured sizes. Cut up fresh veggies and put them in baggies in the fridge - they'll keep for a week and it's easy to grab and go. Same for cold chicken (we used to grill a few breasts on Sundays and then I'd pack them into small tupperwares for the week). Whole wheat tortillas stuffed with scrambled egss, veggies and low fat cheese (or a tiny amount of feta - you don't need much) or cooked chicken, beans, and salsa, freeze in individual portions well, too. Healthy casserole type dishes, cooked and then cut into individual portions works great too. I used to do this and put half the servings in the fridge and half in the freezer to keep longer.

Basically, anything you buy as 'fast food' you can try to make a healthy version and freeze it yourself. It really works if you are careful to set aside the time on the weekends! (This all falls apart when your weekends are dominated by 5-6 hour rides each day or trips out of town, though :()

I've lost five pounds in less than a week :eek: , I've been a bit headachey, and I'm thirsty all the time. Many have recommended that physically active people going on the SB Diet should skip Phase I and go directly to Phase II, in which high-fiber, complex (aka "good") carbs are eaten in fairly small amounts.

So I think it's time for me to transition to Phase II. I'll be gradually re-introducing whole grain breads & cereals, pasta made with whole grain flour, and some starchy vegetables, starting at one serving per day, and working my way up to 3-4 servings per day.

For breads & cereals, I need to find products made with whole grains (i.e., whole grain wheat flour as the first ingredient, with no white/processed flour), preferably with 3 g or more of fiber per serving. That might be easier said than done!

Whole wheat pasta is allowed, a 1/2 cup cooked serving with at least 3 g fiber per. While pasta is my weakness I'm not sure I'd go for whole wheat variety, so I might just pass on that completely.

Breads made with white flour or refined wheat flour are not permitted, nor is pasta made from white flour. White rice is out too. White potatoes, corn and beets are still out - bummer, I like corn & beets, but they have a very high sugar content. Small sweet potatoes are OK though, on account of their high fiber content. Excellent, I love sweet potato.

I'm also allowed one serving of whole fruit (not juice) per day for starters, gradually working up to 3 servings per day. Some fruits are still not permitted, such as pineapple, raisins, and watermelon, on account of their high sugar content and high GI. I can live without those.

To kick off my entry into Phase II, this morning's breakfast was an odd take on the typical egg, homefries & toast breakfast. I made scrambled eggs (this time with some sundried tomato and lowfat mozzarella) - nothing particularly unusual there - but instead of homefries I had a dollop of store-bought hummus, and instead of toast I had a half of a whole-wheat pita, cut into thin wedges for scooping up the hummus. Mighty tasty way to re-introduce some bread into my diet.

We'll see what happens now that I've permitted a wee bit of carb back into my system. Hopefully I don't suddenly gain back all the water weight I've lost! :o

I'll be somewhere in transit tomorrow (Friday) morning, like airborne over the Atlantic. As of this morning, no weight change, which is ok on a week with lots of restaurant meals and birthday treats, and not much exercize due to a bike in need of repairs + excessive heat and smoky air outside. Saturday I may be down a bit after 24 hours of only airplane meals, but I'll register this week as a no-change and hope to be back on a downward track next week with cooler weather and more exercize (6 miles of commute per day, either on bike or on foot, gardening, gym time if bad weather, hikes and rides).

down 2 pounds 157 now :) Happy with that.....

Total bike time 3 hours.......tramping 6 hours ...... again happy with that considering it winter here ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jobob

I've lost five pounds in less than a week :eek: , I've been a bit headachey, and I'm thirsty all the time. Many have recommended that physically active people going on the SB Diet should skip Phase I and go directly to Phase II, in which high-fiber, complex (aka "good") carbs are eaten in fairly small amounts.

So I think it's time for me to transition to Phase II. I'll be gradually re-introducing whole grain breads & cereals, pasta made with whole grain flour, and some starchy vegetables, starting at one serving per day, and working my way up to 3-4 servings per day.

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Sounds like you're doing great! I agree that you should be on PII if you're exercising. Don't forget lots of beans! They help with the SBD flu. :) There's a SB message board that has tons of great recipes. If you search South Beach Diet Beginner you'll find it. Good luck and keep it up! I'll be joining you on PII starting Sat.

Lora

Thanks Lora, I'll check it out!

I broke down and got the South Beach Diet cookbook :D They didn't have the 30 minutes or less one in stock so I just got what appears to be the original.

I have a lot of the ingredients already. I have a shopping list and will go to the store tonight after work to pick up small items so I can turn what I have into meals.

I'm not going to do the diet but plan on using a lot of the recipes, if that makes sense. I'm not ready to be structured but I do want to improve on what I'm eating. I need carbs but I'll try to make them good carbs.

I have to say the recipes look GOOD!

Happy Friday Millie!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by teigyr

I'm not going to do the diet but plan on using a lot of the recipes, if that makes sense. I'm not ready to be structured but I do want to improve on what I'm eating. I need carbs but I'll try to make them good carbs.

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You've got the crux of it. While I was reading through the South Beach book it finally dawned on me just how horribly I had been eating. Potatoes or pasta or rice with practically every meal, low on the veggies and beans. I'd have quasi-high fiber bread which, come to find out, wasn't all that high fiber after all. I'd avoid nuts because they were "fattening" but I'd have half a donut (and feel virtuous for only having half :rolleyes:), which compared to a handful of nuts was less filling and had probably twice as many calories and absolutely no nutritional value. I'd skip breakfast and then get hungry late morning, and either get a snack or pig out at lunch. And I'd *always* have a big cookie after lunch.

Well, here's hoping my grand revelations stick. I can't help but laugh at myself, I've been on this diet (or sorts) for less than a week and already I'm sounding like some kind of born-again Disciple of the Whole Grain :D

Yahooo! 141 lbs today!!

I've been reading the posts ladies - not always posting - but i am here cheering you on

This week - weather and work and prepping for the vacation kind of screwed things up a bit riding wise...but i did try to go for walks, and move lots

This mornings weight was 105 lbs...we shall see for next week if this is a real loss of a fluctuation... :confused:

I won't be posting my weight next friday cuz i am still away, but i will post it saturday or sunday when i am back (which might be scary since i am with the inlaws at a cottage all week!) :eek:

HAPPPYYYYY FRIDAAAAY!

Down a bit this morning to 204.4. Yay! Despite beer festival yesterday. Probably helped that I got up early and did a bike ride before work instead of missing the bike ride because of the beer festival. Not a big drop in weight, but enough to make me happy and motivated to keep going.

Only down a tiny bit. 182.8. My fancy new scale shows that my body water is up by 3% though. Between that and the fact that my face currently reminds me of my teenage years, you can tell that AF is here and on a rampage.

My biking mileage was only 30 miles this week thanks to the rainy weather.

Grrrr. I’m up 2 pounds to 179. I’d like to blame it on my scale, but I know that in reality my weight gain is the result of a few things:
1. When I originally weighed in I had just ridden a century a few days earlier, I was probably still dehydrated
2. 4th of July weekend and lots of bad food
3. Sitting on my butt watching the TdF after work everyday this week instead of riding
The good news is that I know what needs to be done to get me to that 170lb goal, I just need to get to it! Also, I shouldn’t let myself get too upset, 6 weeks ago I was 9 pounds heavier :)

today's weight- 171.0

Down .4- better than nothing, I suppose.

I just bought the SB Taste of Summer Cookbook, and it has some great recipes (Tiramisu, etc).