Phase I
Call it what you want: post-Halloween availability of candy, Thanksgiving pounds from the pie, work stress … I need to get my blood chemistry back on track and sharpen my taste buds so I that sweet potato is actually sweet again! I am going to try the South Beach Diet: Phase I and I’ve written out a two-week meal plan to help keep me on track.
There’s a handy-dandy summary of what foods fall into which phase but here’s the simplified version:
I cannot have: fatty meats, starches, carbs, rice or grains, sweet vegetables (beets, carrots, corn, potatoes, yams), fruit or juice, frozen yogurt, ice cream or soy milk.
I can have: lean meats, low fat cheese, nuts, eggs, low fat milk and plain yogurt, vegetables and legumes, olive and canola oil, spices and seasonings, broth, horseradish, extracts (in lieu of sweetener), pepper (but only low salt), cocoa powder and sugar substitutes.
The menu for this week (I use a casserole method to keep the prep-work easy, coordinate the grocery bill since we only shop once per week, and minimize any spoilage since it’s just me eating this food). Recipes to follow if they don’t already exist:
Weekdays, week 1:
Breakfast – vegetable quiche
Snack – wedge of Laughing Cow cheese, light
Lunch – chicken and vegetables with a side salad
Snack – 1 Tbs raw almonds and ¼ cucumber, sliced
Dinner – roast beef (no wine) cooked with root vegetables (no potato, yam or carrot)
Dessert – chocolate chai tea brewed in warm milk
Weekend, week 1:
Breakfast – slices of low-fat Havarti and turkey kielbasa on cucumber slices
Snack – 1Tbs raw almonds
Lunch – 1 cup of soup and a turkey and dill pickle roll up
Snack – 2 Tbs natural peanut butter
Dinner – steak with artichoke and side salad
Dessert - chocolate chai tea brewed in warm milk