I wanted to write this post because I have had some of you ask me how I am losing weight.

As of yesterday I am down 19lbs from the end of November!!! Whoo hooo me. I am only 8lbs from my goal but I may see just how far I can go because I am not dieting!

No you heard me I am not dieting. I along with my husband (and children for meals) have adopted a new much healthier way of life.

Have you heard of The South Beach Diet? This is how were are living now. The South Beach diet is a no crap diet, this is not a count your calorie, weigh your food diet. This is about a new way of life, a way of eating that is so much more healthy for your body.

You really need to read the book to understand all the principals but the main things I can tell you is we eat very little if any processed foods, we stay away from white sugar, white flours,Potatoes and other starches along with MSG and other un-necessary additives.





There are 3 phases of South Beach.

Phase 1 is the most strict of the phases and lasts two weeks. In this time you are very limited on what you are allowed to eat. This phase while you will lose weight and some quite rapidly (for most its mainly water weight) is about basically detoxing your body. This phase is to get your body over the Sugar, breads, and Starch cravings.

In all phases of South Beach you are not restricted on calories. You have suggested serving sizes which include lean meats, and a ton of vegetable! In phase 1 you are not allowed any grains period.

In phase 2 you are able to start re-introducing whole grains, and fruits, and some of the vegetables like peas and carrots that you are not allowed in phase one. You can increase the Grains up to 3 servings per day and fruit up to 2....Slowly. You may also re-introduce some of the better starches into your life like Yams. You will still continue to lose weight but at a slower pace.

In addition you are encouraged to eat 3 servings of dairy per day, nuts and plenty of water. This is not a low carb diet it is a low crap way of life! You can eat as many good carbs per day as you want unlike say Atkins.

You stay on phase 2 until you reach the desired weight, then you go to phase 3 which is maintenance.

I was on Weight Watchers about 7 years ago and lost 30 lbs, at the time it was the best diet for me. I didn't mind carrying around my books, or measuring everything out. I tried it again after I quit smoking in April only to find it was no longer a good fit. But there is a huge difference with WW you eat what ever you want and all foods have a point system. This works for some and it worked for me at a time. But I came to realize even if I was eating within my target point range per day the kind of crap I was eating was just not healthy!

All calories are not created equal! Sure I can have a can of certain soups for 1 point on WW, but I would never touch it on SB because it chock full of crap like MSG, and gross amounts of sodium! Not to mention Enriched junk! Enriched means they sucked out all the natural nutrients in their refinement process and replaced them late...ummm yeah truly processed.

Please don't let the Fat Free label give you the sense that the food totting the title is better for you, oh heck no! In order to be Fat Free they have to add a ton of sugars and other bad for you stuff! Really read the labels of you favorite Fat Free products!

I really have to say I love how I feel, I have way more energy. I don't feel like I am suffering, I am never hungry even if I forget to eat my 2 allowed snacks or dessert!

The only down site that I can think of is the cost of eating well. My grocery budget has most certainly climbed I would say easily by $150.00 a month! Because I am buying such small amounts of packaged foods I cant use as many coupons as I once did.

I have to say I am huge listener of talk radio, I much prefer it to music on most of my drives. In my town I listen to a station that hosts Neal Boortz and he said something today that really pissed me off! First of all I generally agree with him but this just got my angry. He said that the economy is being blamed for obesity because people are siting that it is too expensive to eat healthy. He went on to say no its the cheese burgers your cramming on your face, etc etc.

Ok Mr. Boortz perhaps if we made the kind of money you do to express our opinions on the radio the issue of affording healthier foods would be non existent. But let me tell you that was a huge generalization! I can appreciate the cost of eating healthy and let me tell you it is a hell of a lot more expensive then buying pre-packed processed so called convenience food.

I am a big coupon user I a have always used coupons to bring down my spending in any aspect I can including groceries. But when was the last time you saw a coupon for money off of fresh meats, or fresh vegetable? If you know where to find them please share.

In this world where so many people have to make a choice of how to stretch 40.00 for a months worth or groceries they are going to buy as much of what ever they can afford! Sadly it will be pre-packed because it is cheap! Even sadder is that MOST of it is unhealthy!

Don't blame the people who have to make that choice, blame the companies who make the products. I'm sure making small tweaks to the recipes wouldn't add that much to the production costs! I was there when I was a single parent. Most months I didn't even have a food budget, it was what ever I had left to spent. You can bet I bought the cheapest food I could find to make it stretch. SO before you make such a crappy comment albeit your opinion think for a minute.

Ok then I didn't really mean to get off the subject with my rant but it was needed in MY opinion.