Hey chickies,

I am starting Phase I over, now that my life has calmed down a bit. I was wondering if someone could critique what I've eaten today (so far) and tell me the absolute no-nos for Phase One. It was so easy in the summer to eat salads everyday- but in the winter I crave soups and starches. Today hasn't been a by the book day, but I want to know how bad I'm cheating without knowing it.

6:30 am- Eggbeaters with mushroom omlette- cooked with smart balance
Small can of v-8

8 am- 16 oz coffee with sweet'n'low and skim milk, 24 oz of water

10am- wedge laughing cow cheese

12:30pm- Burger (no bun) with jack cheese, lettuce, tomato and jalepenos wth a side of vegetables (albeit swimming in butter thanks to the restaurant).

2pm- few bites of fat free cottage cheese. 1 lowfat vanilla yogurt (splenda type) with 5 pecans. 24 oz water.

I anticipate that I will go home and grill some turkey kielbasa and have some sauerkraut (Monday night football)


Help.

Some of the ohter women are better at this than I am but, I would say it looks pretty good. I don't know about the cheese on the burger since I doubt it's low fat, so you could probably skip it. Of course, the butter, but you know about that. And I would add a big 'ole side of veggies for dinner -- a side salad, or broccoli with low fat melted cheese, etc.

Congrats on getting back on the horse!

Lauren

I've heard someone say that restaurant burgers are often very high fat. It might be okay for once in awhile though.

Well I wouldn't beat yourself up about the burger, but they aren't usually of the leanest meat unless you cook them yourself and I also say I doubt the cheese on top is low fat. Also, I am not sure where I read this but I did read somewhere that restaurants will either dip or baste their meats in butter before they cook them to make them juicier/tastier.

And yummy they are! I can say I have probably had a restaurant burger a week or so and I'm still losing, I just wouldn't do it any more than that.

lauren

We have them (bunless) at home once in awhile. I buy really lean burgers, and serve them topped with low-fat cream cheese, onions and mushrooms. They're divine!

Burgers from the fast food joints are the worse for fat content (helps preserve them). Burger patties from restaurants and supermarket are okay but not great. Home made - well at least you can use lean mince and cook them so the fat drips off. The rest of your food looks good.

I have just finished winter on the beach and my weight loss was not as fast as in summer but perhaps this is because I am lighter so not as much to lose. I got through winter making a big pot of vege soup in the weekend and having a bowl before dinner and sometimes for lunch if I'm home. I also bought a steamer and have had lots of steamed veges often with a low fat, low sugar cheese sauce.

Thank you ellis, that sounded wonderful! I'm going to try it on my turkey burgers later this week.

Since I'm in the same boat as VTprop, what about tomato soup? I know there's a recipe in the book for a tomato soup but (dude!) it had ham in it. Grosssss. How about just regular old tomato soup?

And about this V-8 business? Ewww!

Jessica, I used to hate it, too. The texture... ugh! It's like drinking something with sand in it.
If you drink it straight from the can when you're starving while you're in public trying not to grimace, it should grow on you.

Jessica, I think you can very easily cook your own tomato soup. Most recipes should already be South Beach or be easy to convert but if you are talking canned, then you will need to be very careful of the ingredients. I know some people use canned soups but many of them have ingredients we should not be eating. Especially on phase 1. BTW, Welcome to the Beach!

Hi, VT! So glad to have you with us, VT esq. (I always wanted that after my name...not to be a lawyer, just the esq. part. )

Your day looks okay. Instead of having dairy at both snacks alone, try getting some veggies in there. Put the laughing cow on celery or red bell pepper or even green bell pepper! Try the microwave frozen veggies...there are a couple (even a broccoli with low fat cheese sauce) that are SBD friendly (I think so) and easy to nuke for a snack. Have cottage cheese with tomatoes or cucumber or both for a snack. Get those veggies in!

As to burgers, the fat in the restaurant ones will blow your mind away!!! The ones at Ruby Tuesdays have about 50g of fat! I would try not to get them in the future at a restaurant. However, you can get 95% or leaner ground beef from the grocery and make your own. They can be very decadent that way! I even made one with a slice of Cabot 50% red. fat cheese in the middle and it melted while cooking....yummmm!

Also be careful of hamburgers that you do not make yourself. They are often filled with bread crumbs to make them stick together...a no no for phase one.