SOUTH BEACH DIET SHARE GROUP

Don't try any trendy diets.....Eat right, exercise, period.

In this case, we were already pretty much on track with the meals. Having the book as a guide provided a common guideline for family in two states and four cities. One family member is 70 lbs overweight.

My wife has a college degree in food management. She spent most of her career as the Director of Food Service in a hospital. We are using the book as a guide to training ourselves to a life eating plan.

Mrs. Mapleleaf and I will sit down this week and share some details of our experiences to date. I thought you might be interested in the following information which is distributed in an alert bulletin from Google, anyone can sign-up:

"CONSUMER GUIDE: Low-carb cocktails & beers
Detroit Free Press - Detroit,MI,United States
... diet plans such as the Atkins and the South Beach ... t take you too
far off the low-carb diet ... genre will fare -- liquor companies began
creating new recipes ...
<http://www.freep.com/money/business/guide8_20040208.htm>

WHAT'S a dieter to do?
Minneapolis Star Tribune (subscription) - Minneapolis,MN,USA
... at Big Brothers Big Sisters talk strategy: Atkins, South Beach ...
It's good reinforcement." They swap recipes, dieting tips ... know it's
hard to stick to a diet ...
<http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4363351.html>"

We don't view this as a quickie diet, but as a change in eating style. This plan appealed to us because, after Phrase I, it appeared to be a healthy eating plan.

PHRASE I

Initially, one is struck by the boredom. Like, how many times can you eat Ricotta cheese and drink tomato juice? If you don't like eggs, then breakfast will be a downer meal. Hang in there for two weeks, it does get better. On the positive side, we enjoyed the fish and shrimp. And the eggs and omelets were OK to us...of course, Mrs. Mapleleaf is an accomplished cook...a big, big plus for me.

PHASE II

In Phase II you begin adding back in your fruits, whole grain breads, cereals and milk products. As you can see, the variety increases and thus the taste gets better. You will fine yourself spending more time checking out the nutrition labels as you shop. Snack bars are available, but we decided to skip them. We did come across the Blue Bunny low carb ice cream bars and the Breyer's low carb ice cream. We enjoyed both of them. Our grogery bill has increased, but to us it is worth it.

Mrs. Mapleleaf created these dishes:

CHILI

-One lb ground sirloin
-One pack McCormick chili mix
-16 oz can diced tomatoes
-6 oz can V8 juice
-1 16 oz can kidney beans, drained
-1 16 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
(salsa or picante sauce may be added to taste)

VEGETABLE SOUP

-2 16 oz cans chicken broth
-1/2 onion chopped
-1 rib celery chopped
-1/2 cup carrots chopped or sliced
-1 cup shredded cabbage
-1 16 oz can diced tomatoes
-1 cup green beans
-1 cup lima beans
-1 cup sliced okra
(season to taste)

SOUTH BEACH RECIPE NOTES

Phase I
p.134, vegetable quiche cups to go...did not like, subsituted eggs
p.152, gingered chicken breast...added low sodium soy sauce...very good
p.156, marinated flank steak...good recipe
p.168, oven roasted vegetables...excellent
p.171, surprise South Beach mashed potatoes...ugh! We now use steamed
califlower.

Phase II
p.202 sunrise parfait...excellent, even our 25 month old grandson liked it
p.209 tomato basil couscous salad...We believe the recipe is misprinted. Serves seven, we believe it serves one.
p.221 meat loaf...yuk!

How does South Beach differ from Atkins?
(The Lovely Bride is doing Atkins, ergo so am I -- when she's around.)

We are not as versed in the Atkins diet, but we do know that after Phase I, South Beach allows introduction of good carbohydrates, ie fruit, whole grain breads and cereals and dairy products. We are not sure that Atkins allows that much variety. We do know that our brother-in-law was on the Atkins diet and after visiting his doctor, he found out his blood work was out-of-line.
Using computer lingo, various readings have suggested South Beach is USER FRIENDLY.

We have been following the daily Google alerts re South Beach/Atkins diets.
Some informative articles will arise every week. Many will have follow up links.

My husband and I are on South Beach. In 1988 I lost 95 pounds
on the Adkins, but they say once you lose on that diet it is very
difficult to do it again. South Beach allows more carbs and the
protein is leaner. I would love to share menus with someone,
as we are getting tired of the same old thing for dinner. Don't
need fancy stuff, just normal menus a working wife can fix at
night. We eat alot of grilled eggplant, roasted acorn squash and
stuff like that, but I'm getting tired of catfish and pork loin. We
have found some wonderful low carb bread at our Central Market
here in Ft. Worth, TX.

Hi,
We are in our first 3rd Phrase...so not too many new recipes at this point; however, I assure you we will be churning them out in the future. My wife, daughter and friends enjoy creating stuff. In lieu of that, I have come across some web sites with recipes. Here are a few:

http://healthy.allrecipes.com/directory/4246.asp

http://www.angelfire.com/me2/mikem/recipes/

The low carb bread sure sounds good...here is an article wherein the author does THUMBS DOWN ON PHRASE ONE AND THUMBS UP ON PHRASES TWO AND THREE of South Beach.

http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/ne_columnists/article/0,2071,NPDN_14929_2641189,00.html

South Beach
The bread is really wonderful. They have regular loaves and
then pizza dough (already cooked) you can put cheese on and
broil. We've been using the pizza dough just as regular heated
bread with a little I Can't Believe It's Not Butter on it. I'd like
to try the Adkins brownies and corn bread, but at $7 a package,
I want to be sure they're good. Have you tried any of those
mixes? I'll look through those recipe sites. Thanks and good luck!

We've noticed items were on the expensive side...so we are avoiding them. Is the bread specific to that bread/dough or does it have a brand name?

The Fruit Juice Industry is filing a law suit against all these trendy low carb diets.

Low Carb Bread
The bread we buy is made in the bakery for Central Market,
which is a division here in Texas of H-E-B grocery. Adkins
makes a bread, too, but I haven't eaten it. This market makes
low carb bread, pizza dough, flour tortillas and hamburger buns.
We bought some buns last week and will try this week.

What I'm really wanting is regular, ordinary menus - not recipes -
so I can have some new ideas of meals to fix. Like, for example,
we had steak and baked sweet potato last night, and tonight we're
having hamburger steak, spaghetti squash and brussel sprouts.
That kind of information ---- what your actual meal consisted of.
I feel like every night we're having the same thing over and over,
meat, some kind of squash and brussel sprouts, brocolli or cauliflower.
There has to be something new out there I haven't thought about.

Thanks for your help!

To vary your veggies, try a steamed artichoke with lemon pepper mayo, cook some greens such as mustard or chard or collards with a little bacon fat, stir fry some summer squash with a little red and green pepper, make a nice greek salad with feta and kalamata olives and tomato. Since your diet allows winter squash, cut one in half and fill with sausage "stuffing", using a little egg and soy protein powder instead of bread crumbs, then cook until done. Use your imagination.

Good stuff, cj.

cknight, It sounds to us like you may to explore some other vegetables...zuchinni with onions...steamed cabbage (one of my favorites)...mustard greens...turnip greens...kale...okra and tomatoes...

We've made chile. A good soup during the winter can be made from turkey sausage (butterball brand), white beans, kale, simmered in chicken broth, canned tomatoes may or may not be added depending on your taste. We made pizza using using the whole wheat pita bread or tortillas, but hey, you got have the real stuff.

South Beach and Menus
Thanks for your suggestions. We do have cabbage, okra and
tomatoes and greens a lot, but I've never cooked with kale and
I've tried to cook artichokes and really messed them up.

I guess that being from the south, I just miss my chicken
fried steak, fried taters and gravy. haha But all in all, this
has been a very easy diet to follow. Really enjoyed the chocolate
covered strawberries this weekend and the deer meat chili last
night.

Thanks again for your help.
Cathy

To cook an artichoke, simply trimm about 1/2" off of the stem end, and any sharp tips off of the leaves. Rinse well and put in a pot just big enough to accomodate it. Add about 3/4" of water to the pot, bring to a boil, cover, and cook over low-medium for about 20-30 minutes. Don't overcook. A perfectly done artichoke will peel easily and the "meat" should scrape off easy as well, using your teeth.

Here's a dip I like to serve:

1/3 cup mayo
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp Crystal Hot Sauce

Just mix it all up. Dip artichoke leaves and scrape the "meat" by biting down and pulling them through your teeth, using the back of your upper teeth as the scraper. When you get to the choke, scoop it out with a spoon and discard. The heart and the step are completely edible and delicious.