The toughest part of a diet isn't watching what you eat. It's watching what other people eat.

Ever been  to SoBe?  That's where the South Beach Diet originated from. Dr. Arthur Agatston developed this unusually unique diet. Eat the right carbs, eat the the right fats.  He said that the reason most diets fail is that people get tired of counting carbs, calories, points, proteins, grapefruit slices, cookies in the cookie diet, yada yada, yada.  My brother Steve was THE biggest proponent on this diet. "Dave, this is the healthiest, best diet.  I've lost SOOOO much weight.  Well big brother must be correct right?  I'm sure he read some article on it.  

Well Dr. Agatston's books became best sellers.  And why not? My brothers lost tons of weight.  So my wife and I decided to go on it. 

I gotta say the first two weeks of that diet were the most grueling weeks I've EVER had on a diet. My root canal, well both of my root canals at that point were MUCH easier than my wife and I found those two weeks.  You've got to cut out all the carbs... .to rid your body of the cravings. That includes not only the bad carbs like white bread and potatoes but also the good carbs like whole grain breads.   Not only do you rid your body of carb cravings for chips and stuff...you also rid yourself of every incredibly delicious tasting food on the planet.  This diet has three phases...first is the worst!  2nd is not so bad and third phase...well I never got to the 3rd maintenance phase. 

I did lose about 30 some odd pounds..think about it...pick up two 15 pound bowling balls.  That's how much weight I took off!  I was slimmer than I had been in many years.

But holy cow! The recipes in those cookbooks...

Now, I'm a pretty picky eater to begin with, but not only were the recipes in that first book REALLY bad, a good number of the other books had ingredients that you had pay an and a leg for only to use a couple of teaspoons.  So we bought some other of the SoBe cookbooks and were able to use very few of the recipes.  Many of them were probably OK for most people, but not my lovely wife and myself.

Again, not the right diet for me.  I just couldn't control myself during a cruise.  I ate what I wanted..and I mean, isn't that what cruises are all about?  EATING????  Well, after the cruise I just could NOT go back on that phase 1 and rid myself of the carbs again.  And after a few months I got on the scale to weigh myself and the needle went all the way up to where it said, "To be continued." 

So this was also NOT the right diet for me.  Bye-Bye South Beach Diet!!   Another diet down the tubes!

Now let's fast forward 10 years and 40 pounds later to 2010.  NOW my brother Steve who told me South Beach was the best thing since sliced bread now tells me that the Jorge Cruise Belly Fat Cure is the best thing since man landed on the moon!   And that's where I am now.  Down 30 pounds as of today.

I wanna lose weight the "sensible" way!

Well that was my next diet:  cutting back (ummm, OUT) fried foods and sweets and cut down on portion size. HOLY SMOKES! Great Jumping Jehosaphat!!!  I actually lost weight! It took a while, but I dropped about 30 pounds!  That was great...until....those french fries starting whispering my name. Then some birthday cake at someone's house called me over.

I felt like a cartoon character with a good angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other shoulder.  One told me to eat the cake and the angel with the halo said, "Dave, you've done SO well...don't blow it!"  Speaking of blows, the little devil knocked the angel off my shoulder and I had some cake.  The next day some fried chicken, and it goes on and on..the weight, I mean.  Doesn't sensible means cutting out the good stuff forever?  


The problem is WILLPOWER!!!  It reminds me of the time one of those beggars came over to me and said that he hadn't had anything to eat in several days... I said back to him, "geesh, I wish I had YOUR willpower!!"


If you look at cookbooks from the American Heart Association you'll see there's plenty of recipes for sensible cooking and eating!  

At one time the AHA had some incredible recipes on their web site.  One was for Hot and Sour Soup.  It wasn't exactly like you get at the Chinese restaurants. In fact it was NOTHING like what you get at a Chinese restaurant, but it IS good:

Hot-and-Sour Sou (AMA)
======================
8 Cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 Cup cornstarch
3 TBL water
1 Cup thinly sliced green cabbage or bok choy (about 3 ounces)
1 Cup sliced fresh shiitake, cloud ear, or other mushrooms
1/2 Cup sliced green onions (~ 6)
2 TBL soy
2 TBL minced fresh gingerroot
1/2 Pound reduced-fat tofu, cut into strips
1 Cup white vinegar to taste
1 TBL black pepper (freshly ground)
Egg substitute equivalent to 2 eggs or two eggs slightly beaten
1 TSP sesame oil
.
Bring brother to a boil in a large stockpot over high heat

Meanwhile, mix the cornstartch with the water n a small bowl; set aside.

Add the cabbage, mushrooms, green onions, soy sauce, and gingerroot to
the boiling broth. When the broth mixture returns to a boil, stir in
the cornstarch mixture. Let the mixture boil for about 3 minutes.

Add the tofu strips, venegar, and pepper. Taste and add more pepper or
venegar if desired. Reduce heat to a simmer.

Slowly drizzle the egg substitute into the simmering soup, stiring
gently. Remove from heat, stir in sesame oil, and serve.

Calories: 111
Protein: 9 g
Carbohydrates: 11 g
Total Fat: 4 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g
Monounsaturated Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 235 mg

From American Heart Association Around the World Cookbook (1996)

Servings: 4

Weight Watchers-My First Diet

I do want to say that as of today I have lost well over 100 pounds.  Of course that's over the course of about 15 years and doesn't take into account that I put on more than the 100 pounds that I took off over the course of those diets.

Probably the first diet I ever went on was the Weight Watchers diet.  I still have most of the Weight Watchers Books that I paid so dearly for!  That was the BEST diet. Of course I had never been on another diet so it WAS the best diet I had ever been on.  I had my note cards and kept track of all the points. I got REALLY tired of counting points. After losing about 25-30 pounds I finally gave up and went back on my regular diet of high fat and high sugar foods.

Now  don't get me wrong,  I know several people who have lost lots of weight and have kept it off over the years. So I don't knock it. It just wasn't right me for ME.  Their web site is a treasure trove of information on costs, what the diet is, a description of how you can go to meetings (and compare with others on how much time you've spent counting points), how much the diet will set you back, a few recipes and links for information on the endless cookbooks they have.

There are several diets which most doctors will highly recommend.  Weight Watchers is one of them!

One of those DUH! studies:
Weight Watchers vs. Fitness Centers

 In the first study of its kind, using sophisticated methods to measure body composition, the nationally known commercial weight loss program, Weight Watchers, was compared to gym membership programs to find out which method wins in the game of good health.   The answer is that both have pros and cons and that a combination of the two produces the best results.

 I guess that lets me out.  I don't do Weight Watchers and I don't do fitness centers.  DURN it all.....

Let's Start With Some Humor!

How to know when it's time to diet: 

• You dance and it makes the band skip.
• You are diagnosed with the flesh-eating virus, and the doctor gives you 22 more years to live.
• You put mayonnaise on an aspirin.
• You go to the zoo and the elephants throw you peanuts.
• Your driver's license says, "Picture continued on other side."
• You ran away and they had to use all four sides of the milk carton for your picture.
• You learn you were born with a silver shovel in your mouth.
• You could sell shade.
• Your blood type is Ragu.

As long as I can remember, my parents and brothers and I always had a problem with weight.  My mom had her thyroid taken out back when I was kid, or maybe it was before I was even born. No matter, or, it didn't matter.  I can't blame MY excess weight on the thyroid.    Plain and Simple, I like to eat. My brothers like to eat and my mom likes to eat (my dad is the ONLY one in the family who never seems to have been bothered by the desire to eat and eat).

My mom hates to exercise, my brothers hate to exercise, and I hate to exercise.  What a revelation! Maybe THAT'S why we have a weight problem.    OK, I've probably taken a good 10 years off my life span, but at least I don't smoke or drink.  And I am VERY thankful that my 3 teenage kids have never had a problem with their weight.  They are all so slim and trim!

My  job here is to start a new blog...one of thousands and thousands of dieting, cooking, yada yada yada that are out on the 'Net.  Hope you get something out of it.