7/11 South Beach & Low Carb check-in

[Meatball Mommie]

Welcome, Margaret! Good to have you join us!

I like salsa on my eggs in the morning. I buy a brand from my refridgerated section so it's "fresh" and I love it! Would that work for you? You can also buy Canadian bacon (essentially just ham) to have with your eggs. That's what I had this morning.

I am not usually hungry mid-morning either - I just take a few mixed nuts with me to work and that's good enough.

Also, do you think the limit on the beans is for the carbs or a GI issue? After reading the SuperCharged book, I was thinking that the guideline was there to prevent some GI distress, so to speak I'm not sure though. I like beans in my salads but also pretty much any way I can eat them! The roasted chickpeas are so yummy! I like them with curry powder, but my kids won't eat them that way.

I will have to look at the dressing recipe you linked... I need something different for a change. I have some Spenda that I use in place of sugar. At some point I also want to look into Stevia per Brittone's rec in the other post.

[Sweetum]

I'm finally seeing some movement in the scale - about 4pounds, I think (AF visiting right now. And essnce629, oyou're right, I do feel a little leaner around my face and neck. But tomorrow is my last day on phase 1. And after reading essnce629's post about beans, I looked up kidney beans, chickpeas, mung and lentils for their carb content and red kidney beans have a whopping 38%! so, I'm thinking, I'll do phase 1 again in a couple of weeks (I need to get some insoluble fiber into my system right now!), this time with more salads and no kidney beans. I'll try to watch my sugar (yes, I did not completely give it up which was a mistake) and oil more closely. I'm saying I'll do it again this quickly is because I'm motivated now and really was successful in avoiding rice and bread, and now don't crave for them. I can easily have them on my entree plate and let them be And I'm not tired or grumpy or anything like that. Anyways, like I said, I'll move on to phase 2 starting Tuesday and do that for the next couple of weeks.

Any suggestions for starting phase 2? which meal is the best one to start adding carbs to? and what kind of carbs?

[essnce629]

I had to post about a new product that I just bought/tried. I really prefer vanilla yogurt to plain, but all the vanilla yogurts in my grocery store have sugar added. I was looking in our organic section and came across Sweet Leaf brand liquid stevia in "Vanilla Creme" flavor. I was a little sceptical especially considering it was $14 a bottle (yikes - I still can't believe I actually bought it). But it's really good - and totally perfect for my yogurt. You only use like 5-8 drops so that bottle is going to last a long time.

Just had to share!

Brittone uses this as well in her yogurt and recommended it. I have the unflavored stevia drops since I don't like vanilla yogurt, but I put 2 drops in my plain yogurt and a spoonful of either apricot or mixed berry jam that's sweetened with xylitol. Nature's Hollow is the brand of jam and they also sell it at WF's. I keep the apricot, stawberry, and mixed berry jams in the house at all times, but they also sell blueberry, peach, and raspberry. Soooo good! Here's their website (I also have their ketchup, BBQ sauce, and honey substitute):

http://natureshollow.com/

Tonight DBF grilled tuna steaks and zucchini, so we had that along with the broccoli salad I made yesterday. I hate raw broccoli, but this broccoli salad (made with raw broccoli) is awesome! I put the raisens in for everyone else, but don't eat them myself. Here's the recipe (I use xylitol instead of sugar): http://allrecipes.com/recipe/fresh-b...ad/detail.aspx

Oh, and I'm really liking the precooked bacon from TJ's! Just heat it up for 15 seconds and it's ready to eat! No nitrates or nitrites either. The breakfast ham from WF's is still my favorite though with a whopping 17g of protein per slice! So good and I'm still full when lunch time rolls around!