I did great on sbd but got lazy and complacent. I've been calorie ccounntg the last few months but that's only helped me maintain. This allergy season is really hitting me hard-horrible post nasal drip that triggers a nasty cough.

My doctor suggested I avoid all wheat and dairy for a few weeks and see if that might be helpful. Since all the allergy medications are not working for me.

Then I was talking with my dh this morning and he said "you should go back on that South Beach diet. Your allergies were almost gone those years you were on that diet, you had a lot more energy and lost weight without a ton of exercising, you were just getting your 10,000 steps in every day. And you were seldom sick."

Wow, I didn't realize he had noticed all that. I guess eating natural agreed with me. Who knew?

So I was going thorugh my old food journals (other thing I got out of the habit of doing) and realized that every time I did phase 1 I ate a lot of dairy. All that cottage cheese, yogurt and ricotta cheese in addition to the regular low fat cheese I added to just about everything. That was one of the reasons I liked SBD.


So what are some suggestions for phase one dairy-less? More beans, maybe try to figure out some recipes for all the tofu I have in the fridge.

{I shop at a large Korean market and they tend to have it on sale for 0.99 every once in a while and I of course knowing how good it's suppposed to be for you buy it. It sets in the back of the fridge until a month or 2 after it's expiration date and then I throw it away, saying next time I'll do better.}

Probably take an extra calcium supplement. I may hit Trader Joes and get some soy based yogurt and cheese.

Any simple tofu recipes? All my tofu recipes are chinese style and have a done of ingrediants and too many steps

Any post nasal drip relieve ideas?

Sarah in MD

I've never cooked with tofu so I can't comment on that, but my husband has found a lot of relief from his nasal allergies by using a neti pot twice a day.

I would be very careful about eating a lot of soy. Goat's milk products are supposed to work for people who have issues with dairy. You can buy yogurt and cheese made from goat's milk at Trader Joes.

I eat a lot of soy being vegetarian and all and haven't had any problems with it. Obviously everyone is different

I love almond cheese, especially the cheddar. I actually prefer it to low fat cheddar, more flavor. Unsweetened almond milk is really good too.

Honestly I eat very little dairy and it hasn't had a negative impact on my ability to follow SBD. I just don't like most dairy foods though I'm really trying to eat more yogurt. I get plenty of calcium from all the greens and beans I eat and good carbs from beans and veggies.

It's interesting how many of us have realized we just feel better without wheat in our diets.

I do the nasal washes with saline 2x a day also. I take claritin and a 12 hr sudaphed in the morning then benadryl at night. Plus nasonex 2 squirts each nostral 2x a day. The doctor didn't like that I was taking so much-I don't know why not, he's the one who prescribed most of it. I threw in the sudaphed myself. It worked for awhile. He wants to keep an eye on my blood pressure while I'm taking so much. That's why he wanted me to try changing my diet.

I don't have a problem with tofu or soy milk. I know there has been alot of news about how bad soy is for a person, but I'm at an age where a little bit of extra estrogen would be good . I will keep a food journal with what I'm eating and problems that show up because one could haver sensitivies to many things. A good article about pros and cons of soy is here: http://www.schsa.org/PublicHealth/pa.../2001/04c.html

I didn't realize that goat products have a different effect then cow's milk. I'll check it out. Vareity is good.

Almond cheese? I didn't know they made that. Where do you find it?
My problem is that I love dairy.

Thanks
Sarah in MD

I find almond cheese at my Co-op and at Whole Foods. My mom has high cholesterol so I have her hooked on it too. They also make mozzarella and garlic herb mozzarella. Cheddar is still my favorite though. It also melts really well.

Sarayu, did you know you can freeze tofu? It changes the texture somewhat, but I prefer it that way. There's only my DH and I at home now, and he won't touch tofu, so when I buy a package, I quarter it and wrap each portion separately before freezing. If you add a marinade or any spices to it first, it absorbs them better, too.
This is just some helpful information for you so you won't end up having to toss out expired tofu.

Trader Joe's -- that I know of -- doesn't carry any soy yogurts that are SB-friendly (too much sugar). If there is a Whole Foods near you, you could get some unsweetened soy yogurt there (or even some agave-sweetened, if you eat agave). I wouldn't use soy cheese as you would use dairy cheese on SB either without doing a close check of the protein counts. Many of them just add flavor without adding a lot nutritionally - I use them as a treat only. I love making tofu ricotta - I've never tried it in a sweet application, but it is great in savory dishes.

My mom and I have both done successful P1 without dairy so I know that it can be done.

I would look into what you are eating before getting that calcium supplement. The govt/dairy industry has led us to believe that milk is the main source for calcium when that is just not true- supplements are better than nothing but many greens contain it too! here is a lil info...


Dark Leafy Greens

Cooked turnip greens (450 mg)
Cooked bok choy (330 mg)
Cooked collards (300)
Cooked kale (200 mg)

Cooked Beans

Navy beans (140 mg)
Soybeans (130 mg)
Pinto beans (100 mg)
Garbanzo beans (95 mg)
Lima and black beans (60 mg)

Sea vegetables

Nori (1200 mg)
Kombu (2100 mg)
Wakame (3500 mg)

Nuts and Seeds

Almonds (750 mg)
Hazelnuts (450 mg)
Walnuts (280 mg)
Sesame seeds, whole, unhulled (2100 mg)
Sunflower seeds (260 mg)

Here is something I got from makingpages.org....
The calcium myth is applied, in particular, to vegans - vegetarians who have eliminated meat and milk products from their diets. Somehow, the notion got started that the only good source of calcium is milk and cheese. Granted, milk does have a good supply of calcium, but so do many vegetables -- especially green, leafy veggies. The truth is, vegetarians suffer less from osteoporosis (a deficiency of calcium that leads to weak bones) because the body assimilates the calcium they eat more easily during digestion. The only serious proponents of this myth today are multi-billion dollar sales outfits like the National Dairy Council, which has had to pull ads claiming "Milk -- it does a body good" because a court found them to be false and misleading. The fact is, milk does a body more harm than good.

Nori has 1200mg of calcium? Wow, I love that stuff. What's the serving size? I buy the single serving sizes at the asian store, it has 30 calories-back when I was calorie counting. It really hits the spot when I'm craving something salty like chips. But I just checked the label and niether of the ones I have contain any calcium.

I just like the convience of dairy for snacks- string cheese, single serving yogurt and cottage cheese are easy to grab. No thinking involved and I enjoy the taste. I just have to plan better and stop being so lazy. That was one of the reasons I fell off The Beach, I was just so tired of cooking from scratch all the time. I got taken in by the sales in the frozen meal section for lunches, which weren't 100% beachy friendly but sort of close enough (my lopsided thinking) which led to being hungry just a little bit after eating... so stop being lazy, get organized and eat right. LIke my dh says to me frequently-it's just something you have to do, like cleaning house and mowing the lawn. It just has to be done.

I have read about freezing the tofu changes the texture. I probably wouldn't use it frozen either. I'd let it get freezer burn and then throw it out. We tend to use the extra soft tofu in our house because dh likes the texture better. It absobs flavors really easily. I like firm and extra firm for sauteeing with strong tasting vegetables. If you pat it dry and put it into a really hot skillet with just a little oil you can get it to brown.

update-
It seems to be working. I'm down to only Nasonex each day and the post nasal drip is just about gone. Yeah.

That is great!