South Beach Diet - My first week menu for Phase 1... please take a look and help me correct it.

Hi, I was making my first week menu for phase 1, (I'm starting again this Sunday), and was really drawing some blanks.

I did get some great ideas by googling the 'net for South Beach sample menus and also the recipe forum here. If you see your recipe on my menu, I give you full credit! I'm trying to reuse some of the same stuff in my menu so I don't go broke buying a TON of different stuff. I didn't incorporate enough beans in my menu and would like to fix that. Also, I had pork tenderloin as one of my dinners alongside SBD "mashed potatoes" and I need a replacement, because BF just told me he refuses to eat it, and to be quite honest, I don't like pork tenderloin anyway. I have too many eggs up there... maybe not enough veggies... not enough beans... not sure if I have enough dairy or too much... I'm a bit confused.



Day 1-

Breakfast- 2 eggs scrambled in a healthy fat, glass of v-8 juice, 2 slices veggie "bacon", coffee w/ skim milk and splenda

Snack: celery with 2 tablespoons hummus

Lunch: Salad with turkey, tomato, lettuce, peppers, sprinkling of reduced fat cheddar, 2 tablespoons sugar free dressing

Snack: cucumbers with low-fat cottage cheese

Dinner- "lasagna" stuffed bell peppers, salad, and 2 tablespoons sugar free dressing

Dessert- Ricotta creme made with hershey's cocoa (the sugar free kind that's pure cocoa) and splenda


Day 2- Breakfast- 2 eggs scrambled in a healthy fat, glass of v-8 juice, 2 slices veggie bacon, coffee w/ skim milk and splenda

Snack- roasted chickpeas, veggie wedges

Lunch- Salad with diced chicken, chopped avocado, tomato, onion, crumbled veggie bacon, and 2 tablespoons sugar free dressing, and cup of skim milk

Dinner- Pork Tenderloin with SBD "mashed potatoes" made with chives and a bit of sour cream and reduced fat cheddar cheese, roasted garlic and onion spinach

Dessert- Dannon lite and fit vanilla yogurt



Day 3- Breakfast- Crustless spinach quiche, 2 slices veggie bacon, v-8 juice

Snack: celery and tomato with hummus, cup of skim milk

Lunch: turkey roll ups with cream cheese and pickle

Snack: roasted chickpeas

Dinner: Taco bake with avocado salad (lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado, dressing) with sour cream and reduced fat cheddar

Dessert: ricotta creme


Day 4- Breakfast- leftover crustless spinach quiche, veggie bacon slices, v-8 juice

Snack: celery stuffed with natural peanut butter

Lunch: Leftover taco bake w/ salad

Snack: celery stuffed with reduced fat cheese spread

Dinner: Dill Tuna Salad on Cucumber coins

Dessert: few pieces sugar free candy


Day 5- Breakfast- eggs, veggie bacon, v-8 juice, skim milk

Snack: cucumber and reduced fat cream cheese spread

Lunch: leftover Tuna Salad on cucumber coins

Snack: ?

Dinner: Chicken Divan, salad

Dessert: ?



Day 6: Breakfast: 4 slices veggie bacon, skim milk, assorted veggies, v-8 juice

Snack: cucumbers w/ cottage cheese

Lunch: Leftover chicken divan, salad

Snack: celery and natural PB

Dinner: Chicken "enchiladinis"

Dessert: ?



Day 7: Breakfast: v-8 juice, 2 hardboiled eggs, chunk reduced fat cheddar

Snack: reduced fat cheddar chunk and veggie slices

Lunch: leftover chicken enchiladini and veggies

Snack: veggies and hummus

Dinner: Chicken cheesesteak Saute, salad, broccoli

Dessert: PB cookie: (natural pb, splenda, egg)

Hey Melanie...it looks pretty good...I see you have a few empty places for dessert and snacks...I really liked eating nuts for snack...especially pistachios because you can have more...also...sugar free jello or sugar free fudge bars are yummy...
...to replace your pork tenderloin...my favorite south beach diet recipe is the chicken parmesian (not sure I spelled that right!)...you mix together low fat freshly grated parm cheese, pine nuts, italian seasoning and coat chicken breasts with mixture...salt and pepper coated chicken and then cook in skillet until juices are clear..then put in oven with low fat mozzarella cheese on top...serve with sugar free tomato sauce...it is the best thing ever!!! Let me know if you need any other recipes...I have the cookbook and it is awesome!

I am new to the beach but the menu looks good to me. You may want to look through the recipe section on this website to get some more dessert ideas.
One question, why wait until Sunday to start? Start today!

Hey Melanie...it looks pretty good...I see you have a few empty places for dessert and snacks...I really liked eating nuts for snack...especially pistachios because you can have more...also...sugar free jello or sugar free fudge bars are yummy...
...to replace your pork tenderloin...my favorite south beach diet recipe is the chicken parmesian (not sure I spelled that right!)...you mix together low fat freshly grated parm cheese, pine nuts, italian seasoning and coat chicken breasts with mixture...salt and pepper coated chicken and then cook in skillet until juices are clear..then put in oven with low fat mozzarella cheese on top...serve with sugar free tomato sauce...it is the best thing ever!!! Let me know if you need any other recipes...I have the cookbook and it is awesome!

Oooh, I didn't know I could have sugar free fudge bars... bonus! :D

Mmmm, the chicken parmesan recipe sounds delicious, especially since I love the regular version. One question though, how do I crush the pine nuts? I don't have a food processor. In case I can't crush them because I don't have the right equipment, are there any other sort of "breading" I could use, that I would find right in a grocery store?

I am new to the beach but the menu looks good to me. You may want to look through the recipe section on this website to get some more dessert ideas.
One question, why wait until Sunday to start? Start today!


Budget. BF gets paid Friday so I'm trying to come up with a shopping list for then. Plus if I start Sunday, it's easier to look at the calendar (Sunday to Sunday, to Sunday to Sunday) if that makes sense, lol.

I gotta pick up some pistachios too, they're yummy. Great suggestion KellyLou. :)

the light and fit vanilla yogurt is a phase 2 item.

only plain low fat yogurt in phase 1...

not sure what the veggie bacon is.. make sure there is no grain in it. i preferred turkey or canadian bacon in phase 1 and early phase 2

the light and fit vanilla yogurt is a phase 2 item.

only plain low fat yogurt in phase 1...

not sure what the veggie bacon is.. make sure there is no grain in it. i preferred turkey or canadian bacon in phase 1 and early phase 2


Oops, I'll just eat sugar free fudge bars in place of the light and fit yogurt.

The bacon I'm referring to is Morning star farms veggie bacon, made with textured vegetable bacon. When I go shopping I'll check the box, if it's got grain I'll get some turkey bacon.

Does the rest of my menu seem okay or am I lacking stuff? I have a feeling I'm lacking stuff but I'm not sure what it is, after reviewing the menu a few times.

what is this sugar free dressing you speak of?

dressings should have 11-17g of fat per 2 tablespoon serving and less th an 3g of sugar per serving and have healthy oils in them....

or you can make your own..

remember avocado is a fat....

I wasn't sure of a dressing yet, I was gonna look around the grocery store until I found one I would like that was SBD compliant. Got any suggestions? I like ranch and creamy dressings, but I don't know what kinds are sugar free. I'm gonna write the 11-17g of fat per 2 tablespoon serving and less than 3 g of sugar thing on my grocery list, to make sure I get the right kind. I don't want to mess up at all this time.

Last time I was doing Phase 1, (or sort of doing, heh) I used Paul Newman's light italian because it had olive oil and was sugar free. But I'm not sure on the fat content, I'm thinking it might not of had enough since it was light.

Avocado... should I cut out the avocado in the salads and just use dressing and not both? Or if I used avocado in a salad, use only a tablespoon of dressing?

hidden valley ranch is fine....

Avocado... should I cut out the avocado in the salads and just use dressing and not both? Or if I used avocado in a salad, use only a tablespoon of dressing?


Do NOT overthink this.

if you use 1/3 of an avocado (or half a cup of guacamole) that counts as a fat so use half of that and then 1 tablespoon of dressing.

Yay Hidden Valley Ranch!!!

Do NOT overthink this.

if you use 1/3 of an avocado (or half a cup of guacamole) that counts as a fat so use half of that and then 1 tablespoon of dressing.

Okay, that sounds good, and very easy to do. I'm excited. Thanks! :D

Melanie - It sounds like you are on the right track....congrats! Make sure that you are drinking lots of water as well. And remember is you get hungry you can't go wrong with more veggies. But it looks like you've done your research and are ready to plunge in. Good luck on your journey!

Thanks Hcmacneil!!!!! I appreciate the support. :D I'm really excited about doing Phase 1 this time around.

I make my own salad dressings using plain nonfat yogurt as the base. Yogurt + avocado, or yogurt + 1 tbsp mayo + crushed garlic, or yogurt + 1 tbsp mayo + salsa are all very yummy.

WarMaiden, that sounds good, especially the garlic one, because I love garlic stuff. Thanks for the tip! I will get the hidden valley ranch and also the stuff to make your dressing, so I can switch up dressings, so not to get bored.

I had trouble getting my dairy in until I read here to use sugar free jello crystals for flavoring the plain yogurt and it is really good......and I hate milk but I just found some sugar free chocolate milk syrup at a health food store and have been able to drink about a cup of milk a day now.......so really it is just finding things you like and then not repeating so much that you get sick of it. I would also recommend the turkey bacon or the canadian bacon because it kinda gives you that bacony taste...and at the beginning it is those things I missed the most :). I have also been looking through cook books and thinking of ways to convert some recipes that i love and making them SB friendly......have some fun with it.

Hey, Mel -

Your menu looks good, but I think you might be better off with turkey bacon or turkey sausage for breakfast. There is some wheat starch and corn starch in the ingredient list. TSP is like TVP though and is ok for P1.

Here is the product detail:
http://www.seeveggiesdifferently.com/product_detail.aspx?family=934&id=352

Also, I don't know if you've eaten it before....but turkey sausage is better tasting.

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it, but adding a bit more dairy might benefit you.

Other that those things, it looks good! Good luck!

Since you're on a very limited budget, pine nuts are expensive. I wonder if that particular nut makes a big difference in the flavor, or what would be a good substitute.

Pine nuts can be pricey...one time I could not find any at the store and I used peanuts in a bag from the baking aisle and they tasted pretty good...and as for your other question...you can just crush them in the bag a little and pour into a bowl...the cheese will help them melt to the chicken ;)

I use almonds as a pine nut substitute...

Mel,
I must say that I am proud of you for overcoming all of your diet adversaries! You've been doing a fantastic job exercising all the time and planning for P1! Keep up the good work, girl!