South Beach - Atkins - Low Carb Diet Plans

I am in my second full day of “my phase one” and I am definitely felling the effects. I am hungry more often than before so I try to eat protein snacks between meals, like cheese sticks. I feel a little light headed. I think it is a combination of the cut back on carbs and the fact it’s so hot out side. (I just came in from the heat.)

Tonight we are going to a Dodgers game. This is good and bad. Good because it’s always nice to have an adults night out. Bad because I can’t eat a hot dog and drink a ice cold beer. The best part of a baseball game, if you ask me. I guess its diet coke and some peanuts for me.

Go Dodgers!

Technorati Tags: phase one, cheese sticks, carbs, Dodgers game, hot dog, ice cold beer, baseball game, diet coke, peanuts

We are back on a “pseudo Phase One” diet for the next two weeks. What makes it pseudo? I am not eating any sugar, bread or white flour, but last night we had two glasses of wine. Wine is not on phase one of the South Beach Diet. Tonight we had mixed veggies, which had corn and carrots, both not on phase one.

Why phase one again? I currently weight 146 pounds and I would like to be at 142. Wedding pictures and spending a week on the beach requires this…

Tonight’s meal

Seasoned ground beef mixed with mixed veggies, shredded cheddar cheese, and topped off with a bit of Tapatio hot sauce for a little kick.

I mentioned we had wine last night. We drank “The Little Penguin” Shiraz 2005. It cost about $7.00 us dollars and can be found in almost any major food outlet. It was a great little wine for only $7.00!!!

Technorati Tags: pseudo Phase One, sugar, bread, white flour, Wine, South Beach Diet, The Little Penguin, Shiraz 2005

It’s been awhile since our last post, May to be exact. May and June were really busy months for us. We traveled almost every couple weeks, visiting family and attending weddings. In May I proposed to Lilly. It took her a minute but she did say yes! We have a Hawaii trip coming up and this summer and we plan on exchanging our vows then. It’s a rush to get everything done but what better place to have a wedding. A true romantic paradise… We have very little time to get all the details squared away so time is very limited.

We really miss posting on the blog and are committed to getting back to writing and sharing about food, recipes, drinks, South beach Diet, and what ever else comes up. I just wanted to make a quick post so you know we are still here.

Technorati Tags: weddings, Lilly, Hawaii, summer, exchanging our vows, romantic paradise, blog, food, recipes, drinks, South beach Diet

A whole suburb in Boston went on a diet. The head lines read “City committed to smaller portions, more activity…” Great advice! On our list of 7 healthy habits portion size is number two. Cut out sugar, is the only habit that tops portion size in our book.

If you want to read more about this story hope over to MSN for the full story.

Technorati Tags: Boston, diet., portion size, sugar

We are trying to figure out what type of elliptical machine to buy so we asked for some advice from the people over at the daily plate, so far the response has been great. You can check out the thread here. Feel free to jump in and give us your opinion. I hope to do some test drives this weekend.

Technorati Tags: elliptical machine, the daily plate

Hope everyone had a fun but safe Cinco de Mayo. We wanted to enjoy Margaritas on Cinco de mayo but as you know the pre-made Margarita mix is loaded with sugar. We found a recipe on the net for a low carb margarita. I can’t remember where I got it from. The recipe turned out to be great. I actually enjoyed it more than the pre-made stuff. The pre-made mix is way too sweet for me. This was still sweet but not over the top.

Here is the recipe we used: (I wish I could remember the site so I can give them credit. If I can find the site I will post later.)

I found the site Bellaonline. The recipe was written by Lisa Shea.

Ingredients:
1/2 tsp orange extract
1 packet Splenda (or 2 tsp powdered)
1 tsp water
1 shot tequila
1/8 tsp lime juice
1/4 tsp lemon juice

Mix together the orange extract, Splenda and water. This pretty much is the curocao - orange extract is up to 85% alcohol. Put crushed ice into a shaker and pour this liquid over the ice. Now add in 1 shot tequila, plus the lemon and lime juice. Shake thoroughly and pour into a glass.

Technorati Tags: Cinco de Mayo, Margaritas, Margarita mix, low carb margarita, Splenda, lime juice, lemon juice, alcohol, tequila

Tonight we had home made pasta sauce with ground turkey and DreamField Spaghetti pasta. Now DreamField pasta Co. claims to have only 5 grams of digestible carbs. I am not sure how they can claim this? I have read their packaging and I have reviewed their website but I am not sure how they can claim this?

If anyone knows please let us know. Until then I will just believe the packaging…

I will try and post the South Beach Diet pasta sauce recipe we have created.

Technorati Tags: pasta sauce, ground turkey, DreamField Spaghetti pasta, carbs, South Beach Diet, pasta sauce recipe

Last night we had pizza! We have not had pizza since the first week of January 2007. We had a serious craving for pizza so we gave in… But before you get all over us we tried our best to find a “healthy” frozen pizza. We ended up buying DIGIORNO Pizza - HARVEST WHEAT RISING CRUST PEPPERONI.

The pizza was pretty good. It doesn’t hold up to a regular slice of NY pie. The good news is the pizza didn’t affect my weight the next day. I tried to really limit the carbs so I could enjoy the pizza.

Be careful of some of the thin crust pizza’s from Digiorno they have trans fat. Just read the label carefully and you should be ok.

Technorati Tags: pizza, frozen pizza, DIGIORNO, HARVEST WHEAT RISING CRUST PEPPERONI, NY pie, thin crust, trans fat

When I started on the South Beach plan my goal was to get to 150 pounds, down from 164. Once I reached my goal I realized I still had more weight to lose. Fast forward to today and my weight is at the 144 to 145 mark. I am happy but not. Let me explain.

So this is what I figured out. I have not worked out with weights in over two years, but when I was in shape my weight was in the 145 to 148 range. My muscle to fat ratio was much higher. So since I have not worked out in years my “lean weight” is more in the 140 to 142 range. I am not happy with this. As Lilly says if you keep going you will be at zero pounds.

She is right, I would much rather be 145/148 with the extra added weight being lean muscle. I need to make a commitment to exercise again and get that muscle back.

Happy Friday!

Technorati Tags: South Beach plan, weight, fat ratio, muscle, Happy Friday!

I was on my own for dinner tonight. I thought about going home and trying to fix something healthy, but I was just too tired. Our two year old woke us at 4:30 am this morning and kept us awake. I got about half the amount of sleep I normally get, plus work was very stressful so I decided to just stop by in-n-out and grab a double/double protein style. So tasty but not the most healthy meal, at least it wasn’t full of carbs.

I look forward to a home cooked meal tomorrow.

Technorati Tags: in-n-out, double/double protein style, tasty, carbs, home cooked meal