Hi everyone! Looks like I'm going to need some help making it through starting this diet (especially the first 2 weeks of it), so I'm really glad to have found this board! Went to the dr. today for my physical, and he suggested (he's very gentle about the weight problem, never pushy but still very clear on what I need to do!) that I start the South Beach Diet; I was kind of surprised, since at my last physical he'd really been touting Atkins, but he said today that he feels much better about South Beach because of the more reasonable eating plan.

So....I have the book! I have the little paperback on good fats & good carbs! And I'm planning on taking another 2 or 3 days to read the book and get totally ready for it! BUT, here's my question:
How feasible is this for someone who doesn't cook? And has anyone else in that situation done it?

I don't cook at all, except for nuking; we took out our stove many years ago when it looked too easy for a cat to accidentally cut it on, and have never replaced it, or felt the need to. So, whatever I eat on this would have to be either microwaveable, or able to eat raw, or able to buy ready to eat. Is that that possible on this plan?

Sally

Hi SallyLou,

I think it's very possible to follow SBD using microwaveable/raw foods.

I eat a lot of fresh vegetables like they are snacks as well as in my regular meals. Frozen vegetables can be nuked. Then there's other things that don't need to be nuked, like LF ham or turkey or cheese.



Cassie

SallyLou, just wanted to welcome you onboard! I don't have any advice about the not cooking...both I and my DH like to cook, so we don't face that dilemna....but I'm sure someone here will have some great advice!

Cheers!

Welcome, SallyLou!
Well, neither Sflake nor I can cook, so you should be just fine.
Could you get a toaster oven, perhaps?

Hi Sallylou! Another newbie and non-cooker here! We'll get through this with minimal cooking, maximum weight loss. No stove? Wow, that's even worse/better than me, depending on how you look at it. lol

One thought, if you want to cook a tiny bit, is an electric wok. You can make a ton of stuff in those, and they require minimal cooking skills and minimal space. My kinda cooking!

But I'm sure you can not cook at all. See you on the beach! I think we'll be easy to find, we'll be the ones munching on RAW veggies.

Welcome SallyLou!

I'm sure you can do quite well on SBD not cooking much. We have a few people who don't cook much (I'm not naming names Ellis and Sflake!) and they seem to do just fine! On SBD you eat lots of veggies which are fine cooked in the microwave or eaten raw. Read the book, and you'll have a better picture of the flexability of the program. I think you'll like it!
Sharon

Thanks, everyone, for your encouragement - and your quick replies! I sat down with the book last night and just kind of skimmed through it, and found that it really doesn't look as foreboding as I first thought, so I'm looking forward to it! (And to not looking like a Weeble anymore!)
I imagine I'll be seeing a LOT more of y'all here on the boards - so thanks again for the welcomes!

Didn't get in here to welcome you yesterday, Sally Lou so a big WELCOME! fromthe Great White North this morning. You'll love it on The Beach!

Welcome SallyLou!
You'll find all the encouragement you'll need for success right here on this board. So stick with everybody here and you'll do great! Good Luck!

Welcome Sally to the Beach you will love it here. I use a grill like the george forman one you can do lots of stuff on the and it will sit neatly on your counter or in a cupboard. The best of luck.

Hi Sally welcome!!

Welcome SallyLou!!!
Actually I was a terrible cook, still not great, before I started SBD. Now that I actually try to cook instead of nuke everything I'm finding I can make edible meals! Sometimes you just have to get creative!

Weebles wobble but they dont fall down.....

Wasnt that the advertising tune from the 70's? I am sure it was in the UK. And as a philosophy of life you cant get much better than that can you?

Welcome, from another newbie!

Welcome to the SBD group... I'm new too. No doubt you can stay on plan without "cooking"...but it will get very boring and we know what happens then.

Someone suggested a crockpot.. excellent, plus, microwave... excellent.
May I suggest you purchase an electric skillet. They aren't expensive, and you could braise meats and make stir fry in them.. plus make omlettes.

Good luck and best wishes,
Darby