Just got back from the grocery store and I have a few questions:

Can anyone recommend some brands of spaghetti sauce? They all seemed to have a lot of sugar.

What about flavored yogurt? Again, they all seemed to have a lot of sugar.

Are whole wheat (ultra) lean pockets ok?

Well, I'm in Canada so brands are different. The only safe way for pasta sauce is to make your own - I believe Hunt's has no sugar added and can be used as a base. Yogurt should have no sugar in the INGREDIENTS. The nutritional info will show sugar but that's lactose from the milk. 100% whole wheat pita pockets are great and make a legal pizza! I just may make one for my supper tonight!

Ragu makes a No Sugar Added Tomato and Basil pasta sauce that I can buy at WalMart. There are several other brands that have no sugar added but we don't like their flavor as well.

For plain yogurt, I use the Dannan fat free. I like the Blue Bunny Lite 85 for flavored yogurt. Kroger store brand lite is also fine. Just check the ingredient list to make sure there is no sugar added.

Are you talking about pita bread or the Lean Pocket frozen foods? The pita bread should be fine but I doubt if Lean Pockets makes an acceptable version. You would have to post the ingredients for us to know for sure though.

These are the lean pockets:

Ounces: 8 Servings: 2
Calories: 210 Calories from Fat: 60
Total Fat: 7 g Total Fat % Daily Value*: 11%
Saturated Fat: 2.5 g Saturated Fat % Daily Value*: 13%
Cholesterol: 25 mg Cholesterol % Daily Value*: 8%
Sodium: 600 mg Sodium % Daily Value*: 25%
Total Carbohydrate: 21 g Total Carbohydrate % Daily Value*: 7%
Dietary Fiber: 5 g Dietary Fiber % Daily Value*: 20%
Sugars: 5 g Protein: 20 g
Vitamin A % Daily Value: 0% Vitamin C % Daily Value: 0%
Calcium % Daily Value: 15% Iron % Daily Value: 10%
Weight Watcher Value: 4
Diet Exchanges: 1 Starch, 3 Very lean meat, 0.5 Fat

I'd have to see the ingredients list to determine whether these are ok. Just because it says it's "made with whole grain", doesn't necessarily mean that it's made with 100% whole grain. Some companies are still using those claims as a way of passing off mostly refined-flour versions as whole grain.
Check the ingredients to make sure that the first grain listed is 100% whole grain, and beware of the word "enriched".

Also the sausage and pepperoni are probably too high in fat. I normally use turkey sausage and turkey pepperoni and my recollection is that regular ones are too high in fat.

I am glad to see more and more products made with whole grains. Even if they aren't completely whole grain and so are not approved for South Beach, they are better than what could be purchased just a few years ago.

I'm guessing the Lean Pocket is a no-go....

I also like the Ragu No Sugar Added Tomato Basil sauce, but if you don't like that, there's Hunt's No Sugar Added in the canned tomato sauce section. You can add basil, oregano, and garlic to it to make your own tasty sauce. (Or, if you're a foodie like most of us, you can just use your Pampered Chef Italian seasoning, or a combination of Tastefully Simple seasonings, or Emeril's Italian seasoning.....)

But if you're Ph2, whole wheat pitas work well for pizzas, as well as Flatout bread. And look for flavored yogurts sweetened with splenda. You can also take plain fat-free yogurt and add sugar-free syrups to it to flavor it, and toss some fruit in there.

I would try to stay away from things like Lean Pockets.... even though they're "lean," they still are pretty high in calories and fat, and unless it says "100% Whole Grain" or "100% Whole Wheat," it's just trying to fool you. It may have SOME whole grain in there, but not enough to make it good for you.

Great questions, Cielle!

Beachies, don't be fooled by the "made with whole grain" trend. In fact, if it says "made WITH whole grain" you can be 99.9% sure that it's not SBD safe. Basically, they can only say that it's Whole Wheat if the first ingredient is WW. Those who just add a little whole grain flour to make it seem more healthy are the ones who are stuck with saying "made WITH whole grain" because it's not totally whole grain, just a small part.

So, for instance, we can have Whole Wheat pitas because they are 100% WW, not white flour with a little whole wheat.

If you see the word 'enriched' in the first three ingredients, it's probably a no-go. Just an easy way to scan ingredient lists (which most of us probably already know...just a tip for the newbies! )

Thanks, y'all. I'm so disappointed about the lean pockets. I'd like to find more that I can take to work that's quick and easy. Not a big fan of the south beach dinners that I've tried so far.

Some ideas that I used to take to work:

- Large salad
- Soup (Veggie, tomato, refried bean, stuffed pepper, spicy lentil, etc)
- Chili
- Taco bake
- Morningstar Farms burgers (especially tomato basil burger with a slice of lowfat pepperjack cheese on top)
- Taco salad
- Burrito with FF refried beans, salsa, cheese, and lettuce
- Peanutbutter on ww bread or tortilla
- Pizza casserole

Cielle Do you cook for dinner? One thing I like to do is either double or at least make an extra half of whatever I am cooking and the leftovers are lunch the next day. That way I always have something on hand.

For me, my standard lunch is Roasted Tomato Hummus and celery. I buy a container of hummus, and a big bunch of celery, and take that to work. I'll have lunch for the week! Unless I forget my yogurt, then it's breakfast too, then I usually get a small salad with tuna for lunch.

Good luck!

I save leftovers from meals and eat those for lunch. Sometimes I combine meals if I don't have enough leftovers for one lunch. Today's lunch is leftover red beans and rice from last night's dinner (Taste of Summer cookbook - easy and wonderful!) with some leftover grilled chicken I had saved from another meal. DH didn't leave me any of the steak from last night's dinner.

I make up a double batch of the broccoli cheese soup (see phase 2 soups) in a huge pot and that serves one dinner and 3 or 4 lunches. I do the same thing with chili. I try to make sure I always have meals in the freezer for lunch. I use the Ziplock containers. They freeze and reheat well.

Cielle - do you have Trader Joe's out your way? They have lots of good options for pasta sauce as well as easy to grab foods for lunches and such.

Edit to Add: As far as yogurt, most flavored brands have more sugar than I'd prefer. What I've done is take plain non-fat yogurt and add fresh berries and splenda to make my own flavored kind. Very yummy.

What about Dannon Light & Fit yogurt. I have the snack size cup here - 4 oz, No fat, No sugar, and between 40 and 45 calories per cup. It's pretty much standard fare for breakfast, and sometimes dinner for me.