Spaghetti, Pizza, Italian oh my!

I love spaghetti...and pizza...and lasagna...and garlic bread on the side. I love Italian food. This has to be one of my biggest challenges when watching carb levels so last week when family members ordered in a pizza I was worried. But I had one slice along with a salad and I felt content.

Then over the weekend I opened the pantry to start dinner and from the back of the cabinet I heard it, calling my name, the SPAGHETTI! I didn't fight it and made a separate pot of whole wheat noodles to go with my sauce (I like the Hunts meat sauce in a can, I add a pound of browned lean ground beef). To fight the garlic bread temptation I brushed a whole wheat English muffin with a little butter and sprinkled some Italian seasoning and garlic salt on the top and put it in the oven to get crunchy. At the end of the meal, I felt satisfied, comfortable and proud of myself for modifying a meal that I love with healthier options.

I can do this and I tell myself that everyday. I have moments of weakness but before I had days. Disastrous days when I felt yucky and knew I needed to make changes. I am making those changes and always reading, searching and figuring out more changes to make. One step at a time...speaking of steps, the next big change will be exercise!

Memorial Day Celebrations...on the Beach!

Are you going to a cook-out or party today? Anyone that has ever tried to improve their eating habits knows that the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is not the time to make that change. You've got parties, baked goods, family gatherings and the temptations are endless. But, regardless of when you try to make a change you're going to have to deal with some event or function that will potentially cause your diet to crash. But instead of thinking about falling off the wagon, don't even think about being on a wagon at all. What do I mean by that?

I am trying to improve my lifestyle. I am not on a diet or a temporary change in my eating habits, I am changing the overall way that I eat and approach food in general. To me, that means that I am not obsessed with "falling off of my diet". Going to a cookout means that I get a little more salad, cut up my grilled chicken to add to my salad and skip the bread, have a little potato salad and if I really want some dessert, I have a little. Were my eating habits perfect? Of course not, but I will feel like I can stick to something if I make changes like that. Instead of filling up on potato salad, a hamburger, some corn, baked beans, and a helping of dessert I make better choices that still leaving me content with what I ate.

Be realistic with yourself, your lifestyle and the food you really like to eat. Skipping a small serving of dessert at a party doesn't help if you go home with dessert on your mind and have a handful of cookies with a big glass of chocolate milk to wash them down.

Enjoy your memorial day!

Pass the Salad Please

If you think salads are boring, maybe it's not the salad but what you choose to do with that lettuce in your bowl.

I've had a salad for lunch almost everyday for three weeks (plus a couple for dinner) and I'm still not tired of them. I change up the lettuce (spring mix, romaine, etc.) I switch out the proteins (hard boiled eggs, turkey bacon, grilled chicken leftover from dinner, deli turkey or ham, shredded cheese, feta cheese) I change up my toppings (tomatoes, cheese, sunflower seeds, almonds, etc.) and until three weeks ago I was all about ranch dressing but Kraft now makes some great tasting light vinaigrette's, my favorite is the light Raspberry Vinaigrette.

With the summer weather upon us are you craving a BLT? Make it a BLT salad, you've already got the lettuce just cut up some tomatoes, crumble some turkey bacon, toss in some shredded cheese and there's a summer favorite, without the bread! Be creative with your salads and save those carbs for when you really need them!

Water, Water Everywhere

I'm always looking for new things to drink. Unfortunately I don't mean a strawberry margarita vs a regular one but that would be yummy too! What I'm referring to is different, low cal, drinks instead of just water. Don't get me wrong, I do drink water, a lot of water and when I'm really thirsty there is nothing like cool water, without ice, to really quench your thirst but while I'm trying to reduce daily calories, I try to always have a beverage in arms reach.

I don't have a hard time with caffeine so I keep un-sweet tea in the fridge (Lipton regular and the flavored teas box are good) and I get a box of the little drink packets for water bottles every time I'm at the grocery. Not that I go through a box every week but I dump the box into a Ziploc and always have a variety of options such as sugar free lemonade, Crystal Lights, store brands, Lipton green and white teas, I get a different one each time to always have a variety. I also keep V8 on hand and I give my daughter V8 Fusion light, mixed with water as an juice option.

I've also stumbled upon the sparkling water at both Target and Wal-mart. The one I'm drinking at the moment is from Target and it's a Raspberry Blackberry sparkling water beverage. It's calorie, caffeine and sodium free! Wal-mart has a line of them too and I've enjoyed the lemon, tropical and several other flavors, also without calories, caffeine or sodium. They are carbonated but I'd rather have one of these than a soft drink even though I LOVE Diet Sunkist.

What beverages do you enjoy that are low in calories?

Rise and Shine it's Time for Breakfast

Good morning! If you've ever read about health and nutrition then you know that eating breakfast is important. It keep you happy, healthy, helps kids perform better in school and when eating breakfast you actually consume LESS calories throughout the day. I've always been a breakfast person so eating breakfast has not been a challenge, what I eat for breakfast has been the challenge.

I would love to have a bagel with cream cheese, or a big stack of fluffy pancakes but my problem with choosing things like that means that I'm "starving" just a couple hours later. As part of the South Beach diet I have changed what I eat for breakfast to scrambled eggs (sometimes with a little ham and cheese, like an omelet), or a hard boiled egg or fried egg with some turkey bacon. Notice the difference? PROTEIN! Eating breakfast like that means that I can make it till lunch, often without a snack, but if I do need a snack I'm content with a piece of cheese or something else small. I feel better all morning and don't feel a carb crash like I did before.

But what about those mornings when I have 4 minutes before I need to get out the door? You're right, standing there and cooking eggs is not an option (which is another reason I boil 4-6 eggs at a time, peel them and have them ready). A great recipe I found on recipezaar was for some muffins that used ground flax seeds, eggs, peanut butter, ricotta cheese, Splenda and a handful of other ingredients. I made mini-muffins since they are really dense but doing a batch of these over the weekend means that on a rushed morning I can grab a hard boiled egg, 1 or 2 of these mini muffins and I've had a healthy, protein filled breakfast on the go! Before I would have grabbed a couple breakfast bars or filled a cup with cereal for the car, again, starting my day with carbs.

Like I mentioned yesterday, if you've not visited recipezaar you should try it out, I've never posted a recipe there and don't get money from them but I love their variety, user comments and ease of printing. I've been searching for South Beach recipes but their search options are endless, give it a try and let me know what recipes you try and like.

In the meantime, enjoy breakfast and think outside the box....the cereal box that is!

Bring on the Sweet Treats

What's your weakness when watching what you eat? Sweet? Salty? Alcohol? Fried Food? Mine is definitely sweets. Sure going without crackers and pretzels wasn't easy at first but it was just a matter of choosing new snacks. But when I get a craving for sweets, a handful of peanuts or a small cup of cottage cheese isn't going to help.

With a little time and effort I've found a couple low calorie options that are much better than what I would have reached for awhile ago.

A quick fix is a Sugar Free Fudgesicle or Creamsicle. They have 30-45 calories depending on what brand you get and will often satisfy a sweet tooth. If you can wait about an hour, stick that Fudgesicle in the microwave for about 10 second to soften it, scrape it off the stick and into a small bowl, add 2 tbsp of crunchy peanut butter (or smooth if you prefer) a small scoop of light whipped topping like Cool Whip and mix it all up. Put it back in the freezer for about an hour (if you can wait that long) and than you have a lower cal, "blizzard type" treat!

If cookies are more your taste than you can take 1 cup of peanut better (smooth or crunchy), 1 cup of Splenda, and 1 egg. Mix it all together and drop onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 deg. I get 12-15 cookies when I make them. They will satisfy a craving and you aren't going to sit and eat all of them at once, one or two and you're craving is probably gone without crashing your day.

If you've never used ricotta cheese as part of sweet treat, try that too. A little part skim ricotta with a packet of Splenda and a couple teaspoons of vanilla, mix it up, stick that in the freezer to chill for about 30 min and you have something that's really close to vanilla ice cream!

If you like these ideas then you may want to take a look at recipezaar for more ideas, I just looked up South Beach diet and found these and a lot more, most of which are phase specific to make it even easier.

Motivate Me!

I can't say what my motivation was behind starting the South Beach Diet. I guess there was a lot of reasons but something inside me felt different this time, I felt like I could do it. I wasn't doing this for an occasion or for someone else, I was doing it for me. I decided to make a change before I was put into a situation where I had to for medical, health, or any other reason. What was my motivation? I guess it was me!

It's my life, my body, my health, so why shouldn't I be the one to motivate myself. I have stumbled across something else that's been a good motivator when I have a moment or temptation where I'm struggling. The current issue of Good Housekeeping has an article called Food Critic. Bottom line, there are lots of food critics in your life. People who want to weigh in, comment and judge what you eat or do and how you do it. They may say cruel, hurtful things and claim to do it in love but there are better ways to support people. The author of the article is Geneen Roth. She has a good site that I've been reading through and several books that I haven't read but if you need some motivation for a change, check it out!

South Beach Success

I'm writing about a topic that is really DANGEROUS...dieting.

Not just any diet since I'm not an expert, a doctor, a nutritionist, you get the idea. I am a person who needed to make some big improvements in my lifestyle and eating habits so for two weeks now I've been on the South Beach Diet.

It all started about three weeks ago when I went to the Trash to Treasure party that I posted about and an aunt mentioned to me that she was trying it and she's been doing great! The week that followed I read the book, went to the grocery (reading labels takes awhile!) and made a commitment to myself. Two weeks later I am through Phase 1 and down 10+ lbs! More than the scale I feel better and no longer have those CRAZY carb cravings. I used to have a bagel or instant oatmeal for breakfast, crackers for a snack, a sandwich for lunch, feel like I needed something sweet in the afternoon then a well rounded dinner...that had more carbs. I won't lie that the first two days of NO CARBS was not easy but I did it and knew that if I could make it through the first week I could do it and I have. It doesn't even feel like a diet, more like a lifestyle change.

If you are doing, or have done, South Beach I'd love to hear from you. For at least the next month I'll be posting daily comments, tips, helpful hints and things I've discovered so far. I'm not trying to fit into a bikini, run a marathon or fit into "skinny jeans", I just want to feel better about myself and be a living example to the kind of eating habits I want my daughter to have.

Tip - Sometimes you've got to cheat!
If I am craving a piece of that Easter candy that's been hanging around, I drink a glass of water, wait at least 30 minutes and if I'm still craving it, I eat it! Chances are one piece will cure the craving, I'll get over it and instead of eating hundreds of calories trying to suppress it and still eating the candy, doing it and moving on will make me feel like I splurged and satisfy craving!

Playin' in the Rain

Here in Kentucky we have had more than our fair share of rain lately and my daughter is getting good use out of the cute ladybug raincoat she got for Easter.

Earlier this week the rain let up enough to put her in her jacket, her Croc-like shoes and let her enjoy the wet weather. She loved jumping in the puddles, smacking her hands on the water that had pooled on the tables outside and sticking her feet under the downspouts and letting the water fill up her shoes.

I realized that I am so blessed to be a mom with a working situation where I can see her everyday and watch her experience firsts like that one. It's one of those moments that I'll remember forever.