Saturday, January 12, 2008

The Eating Plan...

Okay, due to the many requests for my eating plan (diet is an awful word), here it is. I am doing South Beach by Dr. Agatston. For anyone who hasn't heard about it, he is a cardiologist who got sick of high cholesterol and other assorted problems that come from it. It is great for diabetics and prediabetics, of which I am thanks to 2 bouts of gestational diabetes and being over-weight. it is not like Atkins where you count carbs and are only alloted so many. Dr. Atkins thing isn't very healthy.

The plan is to correct how your metabolism functions. To do that you do have to cut out bread, pasta, starchy veggies, cookies, etc. for 2 weeks. You eat lean meats like chicken breast, fish, lean pork and beef. Although, in the interest of our food budget I do include chicken legs because they are cheap. Lots of veggies. All varieties of lettuce; greens like spinach, mustard greens, collard greens; mushrooms; string beans; zucchini; eggplant; red cabbage, green cabbage, napa cabbage; broccolli and cauliflower; celery; tomatoes... tons of other veggies too. Lots of types of cheese. Eggs and low-fat milk. Olive and Canola oil. Nuts in small amounts. Then after two weeks you slowly start to add whole grains and fruits so you figure out which ones your body tolerates and which ones pack on the pounds.

He has you eat three meals, 2 snacks, and a dessert. You cannot feel hungry. I will look up at the clock and think, "Wow, I haven't eaten in three hours, I should have a cheesestick." I am not constantly shoving food in my face because I am not constantly craving carbs.

His book gives a whole list for each of the phases, there are three, of foods to enjoy and foods to avoid. He also gives 14 days of sample eating plans for the phases, and lots of really yummy recepies as well. The book is easy to read, tells you about the diet and why it works, and then half tells you all the fun ways you can prepare all the foods you can eat. He advocates exercise, tells you the difference between good carbs like whole grains and fiber, and the bad ones that make you fat.

Knowing that heart disease, high cholesterol, and diabetes all tend to run on the Danes side, this is a winner with me. I don't want to have those problems like so many of our parents and aunts/uncles have. The first couple of days are hard without bread and stuff, but I felt great knowing that I was doing something good. And I have tons more energy which is good with my kids. It would be awesome if we could all cheer each other on. If any one wants me to email the foods list for phase one, post your email or write me, the_willfords@q.com and I will get that to you. Although, the book is great to have for recipes and motivation, it does run around $25.

On a different note, my mom is luckily going to be in Nampa on Tuesday, and has offered to run by the shop and pick up the phone for me. I love my family!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I would love for us to get a group together on our blogs so that we can cheer each other on, so if you don't mind emailing me the specs, I think this would be a great thing for several of us to do together :) My email is elethra@gmail.com