July/August - Weight Loss Challenge

[jobob]

As far as South Beach taking more time, I know my mother said that it tended to take fresh ingredients (meaning more trips to the store) and cooking.

I see what you mean. There's definitely more advance planning needed than for our normal way of eating - we'd have meals like soup & tuna sandwiches, chili and rice, or pasta fairly regularly since it involved zero planning and we could get the ingredients out of our cupboard.

I'm trying to find items that can be made ahead of time & frozen, & popped into the microwave.

My long winded question is....what is fast, good for you, and doesn't go bad quickly? There are days I don't even have time to make scrambled eggs (go figure!) so those are cereal days. I don't like skimping on sleep either.

Here's something that I plan to try - mini vegetable quiches that can be frozen & reheated in the microwave. They'd work well at any meal or as a snack. The recipe is in the SB Diet book, and I also found it in this journal:

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Vegetable Quiche Cups

Need: Foil baking cups, muffin tin, cooking spray, oven

Ingredients:
3/4 cup liquid egg substitute - I used Nulaid ReddiEgg real egg product which is produced with egg whites and is pasteurized so there is no salmonella risk. It is cholesterol and fat free. You could also use 3 large whole eggs or 3/4 cup egg whites.
1 package frozen chopped spinach (10 oz.)
3/4 cup shredded reduced-fat cheese - any kind of your choice. I used some cheddar and some mozzerella.
1/4 cup diced red or green peppers or mixture of both
1/4 cup diced onions
A couple shots of Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce, if desired, to taste.
Salt to taste - with the cheese, these don't need much added salt, but I like things salty and so I added a half teaspoon of salt.

Heat oven to 350F
Line 12 cup muffin pan with foil baking cups, spray the cups with the cooking spray.
Thaw and drain spinach - I wring it out well in my hand.
Mix the spinach, egg substitute, cheese, peppers, onions, hot pepper sauce, salt in a bowl.
Fill the foil cups with the mixture.
Bake at 350F or 20 minutes, testing so that a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Remove from cups to serve.

Nutrition:
77 calories
5 grams fat - which includes 2 g. saturated, 3 g mono
10 mg cholesterol
3 grams carbohydrate
9 grams protein
2 grams fiber
160 mg sodium (more if you add salt as I did)

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HTH, - Jo.

[teigyr]

The quiche cups looks fantastic Thank you so much and I even have the ingredients. I guess I'm not the only one with time management problems.

I was looking through the journal and some of the food looked really good. I will have to read up on this a bit more.

I think maybe I'll make a double batch of the quiche cups this weekend. We always keep frozen spinach around, I tend to throw it into my scrambled eggs.

[jobob]

Excellent! I'm not fond of peppers so I'm going to use mushrooms or sundried tomatoes (or both!) instead.

[Possegal]

oh, thanks for that recipe, that would be a nice thing to make ahead and have for breakfast. i'm soooo not a morning person and so i find it hard to eat things, even though i know i need to.

i do fairly well with lunch provided i take the time the night before to make things to take to work. a nice salad with a little chicken that you buy already cooked, and a light dressing. then lots of fruit.

my dinners right now i'm doing well with, i have been going to one of those make your own prepared meals places, let's dish. i make sure to make the ones lower in calories/fat. but they really help with the whole portion control issue, which is always a big one.

[GLC1968]

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

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 )

[jobob]

I've lost five pounds in less than a week , 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!

[Duck on Wheels]

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).

[ibcycling]

I've lost five pounds in less than a week , 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.

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

[han-grrl]

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...

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!)

HAPPPYYYYY FRIDAAAAY!

[uk elephant]

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.

[Jallora]

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.

[ATL Laura]

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

[bethanymarie]

week 1
starting weight - 191.6
today weigh in - 188.2

3 lb down this week! I feel awesome. CANNOT WAIT until I am in the 70's again. Have not been in the 60's in over 2 years.. this will be the year ! Heres to another great week!

I biked approx 40 miles this week. Ate only when I was actually hungry, but do not deprive myself of any certain thing.

Stay focused and positive!