From the Kitchen of an Italian Mafia Wife

[ItalianMafiaWife]

Hello!

I have been reading some journals for a few days now and thought maybe I should give it a try.

My name is Pamela, 27 years old from Texas. I have a wonderful husband (been married since Oct 09) who is the Italian part of my life. We have a senial dog named Shadow. I love to shop, travel, and drink good wine! I decided to make a change and start South Beach about a week ago. I had been using Phentermine pills as a weight loss, but as soon as I would get off the pills the weight would just come right back. So here I begin my journey - Monday was Day 1 of Phase 1 - I am 5'8" 207.3 lbs.

Monday and Tuesday were the hardest days for me, I wanted to break and have a roll with dinner or a peanut butter cup, but I resisted and made it another day. Yesterday was a much easier day, I didn't try to kill anyone for a doughnut hehe. So I can only image today will be a bit better.

As of yesterday I was 3 lbs down (YAY!) I really HAVE to get a workout in. I did yoga on Monday but have been a slacker since then. I did sign up for a dance class at the rec center. In my younger years I danced with a company in town and have missed it dearly since. Would love to start back into the routine of dancing every week.

Calorie wise I have been keeping track on Sparkpeople.com - everyday Im averageing 1300 calories, 100-120 g of protein, 60 g of carbs, and 55-60 g of fat. Which seems to be pretty fair.

Excited to begin this life change, and believe I can do it without the help of meds. My first goal is 15 pounds, second goal 25 pounds. I will see where is goes from 25 lbs in setting new losses for myself. I dont know how it will feel to be 25 pounds lighter!

Have a wonderful day! Enjoy your veggies!

I hope to post my meals in the following days to get some outside input on what I may be lacking. TTFN

[buttercups]

Welcome! I love the name of your journal!! I am picturing you surrounded by great heaping pots of spaghetti and lasagna! Sounds like you are doing very very well already! I can't wait to see what food you post. I am glad you are not taking pills anymore..... the South Beach way of eating has no side effects, so you will lose weight and be healthy!

See you around!

Laura

[lakegran72]

I can only add to buttercup's post.......we eat well here.. wonderful, delicious, appetizing food. and it is all healthy!!
If you enjoy cooking you will love it here.

[ItalianMafiaWife]

Moving right along folks to Day 5 -

I’m feeling pretty good, nighttime is the hardest for me because that when I want my SNACKS! (And not the good SB kind) I made an awesome bean/lean beef chili last night. It was a little spicy but yummy! I just gave the 3fatchicks.com recipe my own twist. I’ll post the recipe farther down in case anyone would like it.

So how about some advise - Here is my mean plan for today (its been kinda a crazy morning)

Breakfast: Grande Skinny Vamilla Latte from Starbucks, Laughing Cow Wedge, Cucumbers (I normally make breakfast at home but it just wasnt happening today)
Snack: Dill pickle, Weight Watcher String Cheese
Lunch: Chili, 1/8 c. low cheese, celery sticks with Natural Peanut Butter
Snack: 1.5 cups Romaine lettuce salad - with 1/8 c. low fat cheese, 2 tbsp. Kraft low fat Balsamic vinaigrette dressing; and 3 oz pre-cooked oven roasted chicken breast strips
Dinner: Hubby is taking us to Outback – I plan to have a grilled steak or chicken with extra veggies asking for no “sauce” i.e. butter when cooking
Snack: Sugar-free fudgesicle, sugar-free popsicle, sugar-free jello (spread out throughout the night)


Any thought would be great – See anything I am missing or need more of?

If you want to make your kitchen an Italian Mafia Wife kitchen here’s my chili recipe:
1 lb lean ground beef
3 cans no salt added Tomato Sauce
1 can water (use one of the tomato sauce cans)
1 can Organic Kidney Beans
1 can Organic Pinto Beans
1 can Organic Black Beans
3 tbs chili powder
1 can Rotel chili fixins (we used the hot kind)
1 garlic clove diced or pressed
1 tsp black pepper

Brown beef and drain in large pot, add all the remaining items, stir and bring to a slight boil. Cover and leave on low for 45 min. (After we ate I let it simmer on low for another hour so I could package and freeze the remaining chili)
Add a little low fat cheese to top before eating and enjoy!

[Chris55]

Your menu looks pretty good, even your breakfast on the fly! A little more protein probably would have been good there. Not sure how much is in those little wedges. Other than that, make sure you're getting healthy fats - olive or canola oil or some avocado. Low fat dressings are usually not encouraged because some of them replace the taste from removing the fat with sugar, so check your label for high sugar content. Healthy fats are good for your heart and help you feel satisfied after eating.

Your afternoon snack looked almost like a meal, but maybe you were doing a really late dinner. Sometimes I end up with two afternoon snacks myself - 4 o'clock is hell for me.

[DCLissa17]

Be careful with your sweet treat snacks. If you get the munchies after dinner, maybe try to limit to one sweet SF treat and try some yogurt w/ splenda/vanilla or yogurt w/ SF jello powder, raw veggies & hummus is also a good munchie snack. Remember, you can essentially eat as much veggies as you want! Besides the "normal" meals/snacks amounts, if you still feel hungry you can add more veggies and/or an additional protein serving. I try to always keep celery, broccoli, cucumber, and cauliflower in the house (once in phase 2 add back carrots and snap peas) to cut up raw and eat with or without hummus when if I get munchies after dinner/on weekends.

i have a tendency to eat mindlessly while reading/watching TV and to just rush through my food. it really makes a difference in the amount of food I eat and the satisfaction I get from it if I slow down and really savor and enjoy the what I'm eating! The great thing about this WOE is that after you give them up for awhile, all the "treats" get better. The sweets are almost overpowering and the alcohol hits you a lot harder when you don't have them routinely.