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.

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!