Strollerderby

It must be that time of year.  We started South Beach again just recently too.  In fact, I've been reading Strollerderby to try and get my mind off hunger pangs.  

Our twins are still too little to eat exactly what we're eating.  They can't really handle the raw vegetables yet.  But I give them the salmon and chicken that I make.  They seem to be really into it.  Of course, they're also really into jarred "meat sticks," so who can say?  How old are kids when they start to eat salad?  Mine still just lick the dressing off, chew the leaves for a second, and then spit them out.

I think I'll make one of those Splenda/ricotta things tonight.  The lime zest one sounded all right.

My husband and I also started South Beach two weeks ago. I feel so much more even throughout the day. I'm not a fan of artificial sweeteners, so I've just cut desserts (except for one small square of dark chocolate, occasionally - hello, antioxidants!). Our daughter just staretd solids. It raises a question for me - should we be thinking about what foods we give her at certain times of day? How does all this apply to babies? Of course, the last thing a baby needs is a weight loss diet, but in terms of setting lifelong habits and establishing good nutritiional/energy patterns throughout her day - should she have lower glycemic index foods in the morning? Lentils for protein? I haven't applied any of it to her, but I wonder if others have information about this.

I tried South Beach, but found it was just way way way too high in fat to really become a long-term thing for our family.  What I have found, instead, is that portion sizes are absolutely key to our healthy eating.   It's totally eye-opening to realize that a serving of meat is typically 3 ounces, yet you can go to your local steakhouse and order the 21-oz T-bone.  That's a week's worth of meat on one plate!

Kudos if it works for you (the ricotta desserts are disgusting, to be quite honest), but I'll be shocked if anyone who starts it today is still doing it a year from now.

I'm a total South Beach devotee!  I have a protein shake every day. I eat the turkey burger without the bun.  Et cetera, et cetera.  I even own the South Beach 30-minute or less cookbook.  Some fabulous recipes btw.  Not particularly kid friendly though.

Hey RachelZ, We've been a South Beach family for 3 years or so and still going strong.  We've both lost weight on the diet and are now within appropriate BMI ranges.  

Crankmama, good for you guys!  The things I love about South Beach are that I do not have to starve myself to lose weight.  I don't limit my intake of food at all - we just choose more appropriate foods.  We don't have to count anything.  I love that it cuts almost all the processed stuff.  And the food is yummy!

Phase 2 will make your life even better and give you more energy.  Whole grain breads and pastas, brown rice etc. will taste yummy to your newly-trained taste buds!

We lasted 3 weeks on the South Beach Diet -- it made us cranky and hungry -- but we did learn a lot about portion control and eating correct amounts of protein, veggies and carbs. I chalk it up as a success.

Kristina - that's great that you have survived so long on this program!  But isn't the cutting out of overly-processed foods and moving toward more whole grains and foods just common sense?  Do we really need a book to tell us to do this?

I've read a lot of these "diet" books and some of them have very useful tips.  Whatever works for you, great.  I found that I took a little from column A, a smidge from column B, and mixed it all up into something that works for me.  

Of course, it's coming up to bathing suit season, so I may just toss all this "common sense" out the window and go on a crash diet!

RachelZ - common sense is fantastic, but when you're at a point of despair over weight gain, some structure can really help get things going, to reprogram patterns and habits. That's why "diets" like South Beach (or even Jenny Craig) can be successful - they give people clear directions and steps to follow, to push them out of their rut and back into something that might be common sense, but that wasn't a fully internalized, practiced routine. Sounds like you are really able to cobble together your own program, which is awesome! It just isn't that easy for everyone, and it's really easy for some people to continue to make poor choices if they aren't educating (or reminding) themselves through some reading and/or coaching. It's another way to bring a full awareness to your life.

I agree that South Beach is especially great in that it doesn't require you to count calories or measure portions - you are not supposed to be hungry. It uses the "cold-turkey" tactic to abolish the sweet cravings and energy lows - for me, this forced me be very conscious of every food choice for two full weeks, and abolished those little mind games: "Oh, a tiny piece of cake won't hurt, I didn't have breakfast," etc. I have lost 11 lbs in two and half weeks, which gives me the jumpstart and motivation to keep on the healthy path (whereas losing a pound or two would have made me feel discouraged and frustrated).

And it isn't supposed to be a fatty diet - it is not Atkins. The foods consist of lean protein, vegetables, "good" fats like avocado, etc - with fruits and whole grains slowly introduced after Phase 1.

The only thing I don't like about it are the artifical sweeteners ... but we find that some extract flavorings or dark chocolate cocoa powder in skim ricotta is quite tasty, even without the sweetener!