I've Changed My Way Of Livin' And If That Ain't Enough . . .
Written: Oct 09 '03 (Updated Oct 10 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A three-stage plan that's easy to follow. Great recipes.
Cons: None that I could find
The Bottom Line: Applause, applause!
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| ed_grover's Full Review: Arthur S. Agatston M.D. - The South Beach Diet: Th... |
These days you can usually catch me singing or humming my own version of W. Benton Overstreet and Billy Higgins' song There'll Be Some Changes Made while I make a salad dressed with virgin olive oil, a bit of vinegar, some dry mustard, salt and pepper but no sugar. Billie Holiday I ain't, but my version goes somewhat like this:
There's been a change in my eatin'
There's been a change in me . . .
I've changed my way of livin' and if that ain't enough
I'm gonna change the way I strut my stuff
'cause nobody loves you when you're old and gay
There've been some changes made to day
There've been some changes made . . .
Good bye, milk chocolate, farewell to all the foods I should avoid like mashed potatoes loaded with gravy, Fettucinni Alfredoand other white pasta, white rice and dinner rolls. Adios to refined sugar and white flour. Adieu to all those wonderful jams and jellies I used to eat too much of and hello to wiser eating and a healthy, happier lifestyle.
I've been following along with other Epinions' members who are reading a series of low-carb diet reviews by Gamblin_man (see link below). I really appreciate his insights and have just gotten my copy of Dr. Arthur Agatston's book, The South Beach Diet from my local library after a long wait. I previously looked at the diet on the web site and got an idea of what's involved. Maybe that might be a good place for some of you to start if you're interested. You can check out the site at http://secure.agoramedia.com/index_sbd2.asp?promo=99CCDCAC-DE24-486D-876D-86B7F84F5C81&email= and some of the recipies at: http://www.prevention.com/cda/feature2002/0,4780,5346,00.html.
If you're a lot or a little overweight or even a little bit worried about adult onset (type 2) diabetes, you should read this book and take this cardiologist's advice to heart. In Part One, the good doctor discusses everything from how and why the diet was developed on through a brief history of popular diets and how to eat in restaurants. There's also a section on diabetes. Throughout the book he includes stories from his clients who give testimonials to what their lives were like before they dieted and what they are like now. It reminds me a little of AA, but that's not exactly such a bad thing in itself.
In the Popular Diets section he discusses how the diet craze began. It seems the American Heart Association diets grew out of post-World War II studies done by Dr. Ansel Keyes of the University of Minnesota. Further on we learn that in the 1970s "a kind of 'nutritional correctness' not unlike political correctness arose and low fat high carbohydrate became a sort of conformity among Americans even without proof that it would improve overall health." Dr. Robert Atkins wrote his famous diet book that many use today. Other diet phenomenons were The Pritikin Diet and The Ornish Diet, and while Agatston speaks kindly of his peers we should remember that he's promoting his own book here.
Agatston says that the USDA's diet pyramid was built on a base of complex carbohydrates. One could suppossedly eat bread, pasta and rice in abundance without any ill effects. It was said that the only bad things about sugar was that it caused tooth decay. Meat and fat were evil. Now we know that refined carbohydrates cause rapid changes in blood sugar levels, stimulate further hunger and make us want to overeat and get fatter. The recent revelations about adult overweight and the possibility one in three children developing diabetes in their lifetime should cause some of us to stop and think what we're putting in our mouths. We truly are becoming what we eat, and if you think I'm wrong read the following quote from the book:
"The best intentions of the USDA and its pyramid turned out to be a diet based on sugars. It is the widespread adoption of this way of thinking that has caused the fattening of America. National guidelines that were created to make us thin and healthy actually made us fatter and sicker.
I think this is a great diet, but if you live alone or the whole household is going on the diet together, I'd make sure to eat up or give away all those goodies in the cupboard and refrigerator that you will most likely never ever use again before you even think of starting. Every time I turned around I found packages of pasta and bottles of this or that jam that had to go; even the ketchup and the peanut butter, which would have been okay if it was natural, weren't right; they both had too much sugar. The only things in my larder that I was okay with were my fresh vegetables, some of the meats in the freezer, my butter substitute, my sugar substitute and my whole wheat bread (I checked to make sure it had no white flour).
But that's been the story of my life and when my doctor told me my triglycerides had hit dangerously high levels a few months ago I knew it was time to do something. Now, there's no counting calories, fat grams or portion sizes because The South Beach Diet has helped me make some important additional life changes. I started some time ago; I quit drinking, gave up caffeine and finally quit smoking. Now I'm after the rest of the bad guys: sugar, bad carbohydrates and excess fat, all of which I love dearly. To me there was nothing better than the crispy fat on a roast of some kind, a baked potato smothered in sour cream or a gooey desert, especially if it contained chocolate.
You can learn to avoid bad carbohydrates (white flour, baked potatoes and sugar) and concentrate on the good ones along with low-fat dairy, eggs and lean meats, any kind of seafood and a bit of moderate exercise by adopting the plans in Dr. Agatston's book. For the first two weeks there was to be no fruit, no dairy and as little fat as possible. It all went rather well, and I dropped a good 10 pounds and felt much better.
It was a shock to learn that my daily orange juice and banana were high on the glycemic index. The book told me I'd do better having a sliced orange for breakfast in Phase Two rather than a glass of OJ from the carton of juice I religiously bought every week.
Some of the things like dried beans and peas for soups, I stashed in a tightly sealed canister and hid it at the back of a top cupboard until it's time for me to reintroduce them back into my diet in Phase Two and Phase Three. For two or three days I busily typed diet plans into my computer that lasted for 14 days in duration. I started to copy some of the recipes, too, but there are only so many ways to grill a chicken or a steak. There are only so many ways to make a salad. Vegetables are raw, steamed, griilled or baked.
You eat six times a day so you're never supposed to be hungry. If you are, just eat more of what you're allowed, not a hunk of bread or some cookies or even pretzels. I start my day (late) with a glass of tomato or V8 juice with a squeeze of lemon and a few poached eggs with herbs and a piece of boiled ham or some leftover meat; even shrimps or leftover fish would be great.
In Phase Two I can add some fresh strawberries or a piece of cantaloupe. If I need more food (and I usually don't) I add a bit of fat-free cheese. Sometimes I make an omelet and just think of all the goodies you can put on those; everything but honey and jam. You can use vegetables, meat and/or cheese. For a beverage, I have decaffeinated tea . . . hot or cold . . . or water; even my caffeine-free diet soda is okay.
I found out where the magic is, and it's in the sauces, dressings and snacks. You can use any herb, spice or seasoning that has no sugar. I found a recipe for Tzatziki sauce, that lovely Greek stuff made on a base of plain yogurt with cucumbers, green onions, garlic and herbs. I can have it on a salad, as a dip for vegetables as a snack or on broiled chicken at night. I found out how to make Hummus, the spicy Middle-eastern dip made of ground chickpeas, olive oil, garlic and Tahini (ground sesame seeds). I also found out you can purchase all this stuff at your local deli along with Baba Ghannouj (the eggplant dip) I used to love on bread. Speaking of bread, in step Two and Three you can add back whole grain bread, sourdough bread, ryebread, brown rice, whole wheat pasta and wheat crackers. Read those labels.
In snacks we find low-fat cheeses, raw veggies and some fruit, like Granny Smmith apples with a teaspoon of natural peanut butter. You can always have the occasional hard boiled egg, but I'd rather put mine in a salad. I'm sitting here right now nibbling on 2 tablespoons of low-fat cottage cheese with bits of cut up green and red peppers, cucumber, broccoli and 4 cherry tomatoes. I'm in Phase Two these days and I can afford to add a teaspoon or so of the Fat-Free Catalina Dressing I had stashed in the back of the fridge. It has no fat or cholesterol, but there are 11 grams of carbs and 7 grams of sugar in two tablespoons. I use way less than that amount on what I'm eating; it takes the curse off the fat-free cottage cheese for me.
I found a nice recipe for a Balsamic vinaigrette and a Mustard sauce from Joe's Stone Crab in Miami; it's great on grilled salmon or Cod. You can use real mayonnaise, and they suggest adding some chopped Cilantro, which I don't care for. There are wraps made of lettuce leaves with a slice of turkey breast and some of that flavored Mayo, a piece of green onion and a sliver of green or red pepper. Nice, but I use a teaspoon of the Hummus and some of the pickled Dill Beans I made this fall. You roll that all up together. You can have two as a snack. It's also great with lean roast beef from the deli . . . or we're allowed to use ham, but not the honey-baked kind. If you just use common sense and you can eat well.
Tonight I'm having a piece of broiled pork tenderloin and some stir-fried vegetables. If I need more I can have a tossed salad. If you've got lots of money you can have expensive fish, shrimp and lobster until you never want to see it again. And, there are always those wonderful steak tenderloins. Lower on the scale is flank steak and sirloin.
Even in Phase One you're allowed a sweet made with fat-free ricotta, vanilla, sugar substitute and lemon rind, lime rind, almond extract (and a few slivered almonds or sugar free cocoa mixed in. I haven't tried any of that yet because I don't have an urge for sweets. If I do I eat two or three pieces of sugar-free lemon hard candy. That's a whopping 27 calories and it does the trick. And, don't forget about sugar-free Jell-O. Later on there are special dark chocolate treats, some with nuts, some with fresh and dried friut.
I really urge everyone to take a peek at the web site and to buy the book if you can. If you can't, get it from your library and copy, copy, copy. You'll not regret it and it should soon be out in paperback.
Just now, when I went to check up on the publisher and get the ISBN, I found an important statement that should be passed on: "This book is intended as a reference volume only, not as a medical manual. The information given here is designed to help you make an informed decision about your health. Please use it wisely. (Rodale Publishers, ISBN: 1-57954-646-3).
© Ed Grover – 2003
The Complete Food Count Guide: http://www.epinions.com/content_115095473796
Gamblin_man's review: http://www.epinions.com/content_104364674692
Recommended:
Yes
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ed_grover
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Member: Ed Grover
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Reviews written: 332
Trusted by: 400 members
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