South Beach Dieters Group Meet Here!

[marvholly]

You [B]CAN NOT [/B] wait until your life calms down to get back on track. It never does. I know. Been there, done that. This was my summer:
5/3 Dad signed lease for senior living building, spent next month sorting/packing for Dad
5/28-29 Contracto gutted, redid my maste bath
6/3 Dad moved took 2 vacation days to get him settled
6/10,18,25 assorted baby/wedding showers
7/2 oldest DD had my first grandchild
7/4 booked my Nov vacation & made youngest DD book her honeymoon
7/5-20 Assorted crazyness w/ grandchild health issues
7/20-8/31 Assorted crises w/ wedding of youngest DD, sickness and vacations at work
9/1 Wedding rehersal
9/4 Wedding of youngest DD
9/6 Dad in hospital w/ pneumonia
9/6-9/9 co-worker on emergency leave, auto accident
9/9 Oldest DD spouse's grandmother admitted to ICU, not expected to make it thru the weekend. Guess who is babysitting.

You [B]HAVE[/B] to make the time to plan/prep ahead. Get a couple of those small snack packs of nuts at Walgreens and divide them down. Keep a couple in your car. Prep a lettuce wrap sandwigh in the am. Keep on a freezer pack and eat at stop light/parking lots while on the run. Prep meat & veggies for Mon dinner on Sun, Tue dinner on Mon.

[cacruiserjen]

Things NEVER calm down! LOL At least not in my life or experience... Anyway, everyone is busy, everyone is running, and everyone has major events occurring in their lives over the year. That said, if you want to be successful, you have to make it happen. Some great ideas have already been posted. Let me share some more:

String cheese or other individual packaged cheeses
deli meat (turkey - yum)
keeping really good, healthy bread on hand to make a half a sandwich to pack
cucumbers
tomatoes
celery
nuts/seeds

Keeping these things on hand and packing something to go will help. I never leave the house without a few bottles of water and a snack or two. I know that if I don't bring something then I will end up being longer than anticipated and it will screw me up. No, I refuse to stop for fast food (I've worked too hard for that to mess me up), but I will get past being hungry and be so starving that when I do eat, I will eat portions that are too big.

We also do a lot of restaurants. But I make good choices:

Salads with dressing on side
Good steak or chicken - no sauces
NO bread with my dinner, thank you very much! I know I can't stop at one piece!
Veggies on the side
Etc.

Hope this helps you some!

[cruisinqt]

You're all correct, my life is always busy and it will probably never slow down.:cool: So I went to the store and bought a few things that might help me stay on track. Albertsons had box of a dozen or so of those little packages of peanuts. Each package is only about an ounce which is the perfect portion size. I also got more string cheese and some of those SBD bars. Those are all snacks I really like and I know I'll use them. What I really need to do is exercise. My weight loss has been slow and I know it's because of the lack of exercise. I got the exercise bike with the handle bars that move back and forth out of our garage and into the house where I'm more likely to use it.;) Now I just need to get serious about the weight loss because my cruise is sneaking up on me, December 3rd isn't that far away. Thanks for the advice, I really needed a kick in the pants to get me motivated.

[adoptmom]

hi all- just a quick post to say hi. I got grandma moved yesterday! I'm getting ready to go check on her. Started back on WOE yesterday. Just doing it slowly so I don'thave digestive upset. I'll check in later and do a b etter post.

QT- hope you had a happy birthday!

Tami

[WeirdEyes]

QT ~ Did I miss your birthday? I am so sorry! Happy belated Birthday!!

Tami ~ I know you're relieved to get your GM moved. :D

Shae, Holly & Jen ~ GREAT advice!!!

[cruisinqt]

Thanks for the congrats, I had a wonderful weekend.:)

Have any of you noticed caffeine making you hungry? I know that on SBD you're not supposed to have more than 1 or 2 caffeinated beverages a day, but I ignored that suggestion. I love diet sodas and am addicted to them. I probably drink 6 - 8 of them a day.:o Well, I think maybe the extra caffeine is spiking my hunger, so I made a pledge today to cut way back on the caffeine. I used to drink iced tea all of the time as a kid so I went out and bought some decaffeinated tea today. I made 2 quarts of iced tea and sweetened it with Splenda and it tastes great! I forgot how good fresh brewed tea tasted. I'm going to just drink 2 diet sodas a day and stick to the iced tea the rest of the time. I'll let you know if my appetite goes down by my cutting back on the caffeine. Have any of you noticed caffeine making you more hungry? Dr. Agatston says that caffeine makes your insulin levels go up and that triggers your appetite. I wonder if any of you have found that to be true.

[WeirdEyes]

QT ~ I do find that caffeine makes me hungry. At first, it curbs my appetite and then WHAM! I'm starving! LOL I allow myself one caffeine drink a day and that is my coffee (can't live without it :o). I then drink water, Crystal Lite, de-caf green tea, and one diet, caffeine-free soda. Try switching from regular diet soda to caffeine-free.

[adoptmom]

Yeah, I need to work myself back off diet soda too. I actually like iced tea unsweetened but not hot tea. Hmmm.. maybe I'll make a big pitcher of Chai today. I'm just afraid of going into DT's working myself off the diet soda. :rolleyes: This time of year I really seem to need the fizz, especially in the morning. I may have to keep my morning fizz for a while until ragweed season is over.

Tami

[irislady]

Hi, all. I got a reminder from my hairdresser this week NOT to forget my vitamins, calcium and EFA's. I hadn't taken my pills while we were gone or the 10 days after we got back. My hairdresser noticed that I had some hair breakage which I've never ever had before. In fact, it's always been very healthy and strong. I guess the supplements had been keeping the problem in check. My age also probably has something to do with it, but I know a lot of people complain about hair breakage, brittle nails, dry skin if they don't add certain supplements to Phase 3. I'm sure it also depends on what foods you eat. I have to admit I'm very limited in which veggies I like and don't always eat the healthiest ones. I never forget to give my dogs their daily pills, so I put my bottles next to theirs so I'll remember. Anyway, just a "heads up" to my fellow SBDers. Ooo, sorry about the bad pun.
Shae

[adoptmom]

Shae- I had to get pill minders so all of us get the correct meds. Each family member has their own so I can tell if they got their meds in the morning. They're also great if we're traveling so that we don't have to carry a zillion different bottles. WE just load them up at the start of the week and go from there.

Tami

[cacruiserjen]

Check out what is available in your stores! Truly, there are some great choices that taste the same as regular caffeinated diet sodas! Drink those instead!!

[adoptmom]

[quote name='cacruiserjen']Check out what is available in your stores! Truly, there are some great choices that taste the same as regular caffeinated diet sodas! Drink those instead!![/QUOTE]

Very true, especially if you like fruit flavored sodas. Diet right has some great ones. My newest fav is cherry 7up plus. When I was a kid my favorite drink was cherry Hi-C and cherry 7up tastes just like it. :rolleyes: We also drink alot of caffeine free diet dr pepper. I can't tell the difference at all.


Here's a recipe I was playing with last night. It will be good for all those holiday parties coming up. It tastes just like the full fat stuff you get at restaurants but won't kill your calorie budget for the rest of the year. I used vegannaise because of DD's egg allergy but you could use light of fat free mayo instead. That would cut the calories and fat even more. I would not use miracle whip.

Spinach-Artichoke dip

1 can artichoke hearts (not the marinated kind)
1 10 oz box chopped spinach, thawed
1 8 oz block fat free cream cheese softened
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup parmesean cheese (not out of a can!)
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 Tsp paprika
hotsauce

Preheat oven to 325. Combine the mayonnaise and cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl until fairly smooth. Chop the artichoke hearts. Mince the garlic finely. Drain the spinach and squeeze it dry in a towel. Add all 3 to the mayo mixture and stir. Add the parmesean cheese, paprika and a dash or two of the hot sauce and stir again. The mixture will be slightly lumpy. Pour the mixture into a baking dish (I use stoneware because it holds the heat for serving.) Bake at 325 for 45-60 minutes until it's golden and bubbly on top. Serve with low carb pita or tortilla chips, veggie sticks or high fiber crackers.

If you have leftovers it makes a great omlet filling the next day with a slice of canadian or regular bacon diced up on top.

Tami

[WeirdEyes]

I've been drinking caffeine-free diet sodas for years because I have problems sleeping. If I drink a regular diet soda, it keeps me awake.

Tami ~ Thanks for the recipe. It looks yummy!

[adoptmom]

No problem. I'm trying to come up with as many things this year in advance that I can take to parties and pitch ins. I want to have a good restart on this weightloss by Christmas.

tami

[cruisinqt]

Well, the verdict is in, going off caffeine made a huge difference in my appetite. When I cut myself back to just 1 or 2 caffeinated diet sodas a day, my appetite went way down. When I drank more caffeine, my appetite went way up.;) My only problem is that I am totally in love with splenda diet Coke and splenda diet Pepsi and neither of them are caffeine free. Diet Coke and diet Pepsi both have caffeine free options, but they have aspartame. I like the diet Coke and diet Pepsi that are sweetened with Splenda, they taste is soooo much better than their aspartame counterparts.:) I'm trying to be good and drink the diet cherry 7-up plus and the Island Fruit diet 7-up plus which are both sweetened with Splenda and are caffeine free. I still have a strong craving for the splenda diet pepsi and the splenda diet coke, but I'm trying to be good.

[WeirdEyes]

QT ~ Glad the decrease in caffeine helped. I really wish that Coke or Pepsi would make a caffeine-free soda with Splenda. Have you tried any of the Diet Rite sodas? They are made with Splenda, caffeine-free, and sodium-free. They have some new flavors out now and I think I'll pick some up.

[adoptmom]

Funny you should be talking about nutrasweet and splenda. This article came across one of my homeschool groups today. It's moderately over the top but it does make some good points.
[url]www.portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/10/298627.shtml[/url]


Tami

[adoptmom]

That's wierd! I posted but it didn't move us to the top of the forum. My post shows up though. CC must be having a senior moment. :D

Tami

[Belle]

I drink Diet-Rite.. it's good. Like that it's caffine free and with Splenda.
I like the "coke" flavor the best..other flavors just ok for me.

Like diet coke/caffine free, wish they would make it with splenda
too. I drink it but mostly drink the diet-rite.

Really trying not to drink to much of anything and DRINKING WATER INSTEAD.
If you drink lots of water your less likely to drink much "coke" of any kind.

[adoptmom]

Belle- You're right about the water. I bought several 1.5L bottles and fill them half way then stick them in the freezer. When I fill them I add sweetener free things like green tea extract, lemon, grapefruit, lavender, or peppermint oil or something along that line. It keeps it from being "boring old water" as my kids call it. :D

Tami

[irislady]

Sorry that I haven't been participating lately. Things are kind of crazy around here right now. B-I-L lost his battle with cancer this morning, so I'm trying to arrange my flight to NJ to coordinate with my youngest sister's flight. I can't get there from here easily, so will fly out of Louisville. Our grandson is due at any time, so we've come up with back up plans should he make his arrival before I can get back. Also had to make an unexpected trip over to Louisville on Friday.
Talk to you when I get back. Shae

[adoptmom]

Shae- I'm so sorry to hear about your BIL. Take care of yourself too. I know it's hard when you're trying to take care of everything else.

Tami

[irislady]

Thanks, Tami. I'm leaving shortly to drive to Louisville. There just are no decent flights out of Evansville anymore.
Shae

[adoptmom]

Hellooooo out there! Anyone here?

Shae- How is your family holding up?

Tami

[CruisinCamper]

Ok I've been cheating, alot. I'm starting over today and going to do the strict by the rules phase 1. Of course I got up at 5 am and cut up celery and cucumber, put whole chicken in crock pot. After I got about half way to work I realized I left veggies and can of tuna in the fridge.:o I guess I'll be at the grocery store for lunch today. I'm gonna fix the egg and spinach cups this evening so I'll have breakfast. I can't eat when I first get up.

Good luck to everyone,
Anita