Only one thing keeping me from South Beach....

[razberry]

"real" cheese. Is it possible to do South Beach if you can't stand the lowfat cheeses? I did Atkins, and lost great, but gained after a miscarriage, and then every time I slacked up a bit. Then I started back doing low-glycemic. The lost is much slower, but I'm happier. It's really similar to South Beach, no bread (if so, Ezekiel), very lowfat cuts of meat (if using ground beef, drain and rinse off the fat) but I do real cheese (just not alot of it). I'd like to try South Beach for the summer, but worried about the cheese since it's repeated over and over to use the fat-free cheese. Really I only use cheddar and mozarella (I think the mozarella is okay), mainly on Mexican dishes, casseroles, etc. I already drink FF Mootopia, use FF sour cream. I do use a little bit of real butter mixed with olive oil to stir fry since I think margarine is terrible for the body. What do you think? Can I make the plan work? Will I still lose?

[Lynn18]

Razberry, I am no expert by any stretch of the imagination. I've only been doing South Beach for 3 weeks. I'm guessing that you could use the real cheese as long as you understand it would slow down your weight loss compared to eating low fat or fat free. As long as you were following the rest of the plan, i.e. lean meats, skim milk, lots and lots of veggies, etc. I think it would be fine. Just my opinion.

[razberry]

Thanks! I'm supposing that is due to the calorie count in the fat. I'm wondering if I eat lower calorie in the rest of the meal if it will balance out. I really don't have a problem eating smaller portions or cutting fat elsewhere. Does anyone know of a lowfat cheddar that tastes good and melts regularly in recipes?

[JoLi]

I didn't think I liked the fat free/reduced fat cheese either. Since starting SBD I've been using Sargento's reduced fat cheese. It is pretty good.

[BobbiOh]

I can't stand low fat cheese, however I'm finding that I can't tell the difference between full fat cheese and certain brands of reduced fat cheese. Kraft makes a cheddar from 2% milk, which is great and behaves like regular cheese. Also, Trader Joe's has reduced fat cheddar and swiss, both of which are good.

You can do it with full fat cheese, but guess is that you'd have to limit your fat intake somewhere else, not just calories.

[Flash First]

My husband's car broke down and I don't drive therefore my supermarket options have been limited. I cannot buy FF cheese within walking distance of my house therefore I have been using regular cheeses and don't see a stall but then again perhaps I'd be losing more if I were not eating regular cheeses. I don't overdo it with the cheese though.

Thankfully we have our car back and this weekend I am heading out to Trader Joes and will stock up on cheese sticks etc.

[Pita420]

My favorite cheese in the world is Cabot's seriously sharp cheddar. I went off of it and bought the 2% cheese from Kraft and Cracker Barrel. It is fine when I use it in a recipe like a quiche, scrambled eggs, ect. But, for eating no thank you. I bought some pepper jack the other day and ohhhhhhh is it good for munching. I agree that the higher fat is something to consider and I do.

[rose1]

In general, we think FF cheese tastes like a pencil eraser. We use real cheese. We also use real butter and real half and half. Be sure you check the labels on the FF products. FF half and half has corn syrup, FF cream cheese has sugar, and FF sour cream, if it doesn't have sugar, is full of unpronounceable ingredients. We use the real, full fat things in moderation, sticking at or under the serving sizes.

I totally agree with you on the margarine issue!

As far as stalling, since we don't eat meat, the fat in the cheese substitutes for the fat in the meat and isn't a issue for us. Basically, if you are eating the lean meats, and the good veggies, a little cheese or butter shouldn't hurt anything!

[Flash First]

Hi Rose,
That makes total sense.
I have PAM and when I was on Weight Watchers I used it but since starting SB I use only real butter.

It's true if you don't overdo it I don't think it's a big deal.

Just got back from Trader Joes and bought the skim cheese sticks. Will report on them in a bit.

FF

[Flash First]

Listen, I know it's late and I go by the don't eat late rule but it's Friday night and the start of a 3 day weekend. Just finished a semester in school, next Thursday I start summer classes.. then after August 17th I am done forever.
I went back to college this semester after having dropped out six years ago and took three classes this past semester, have to take three more over the summer.. well just found one I need one extra credits so either in June I take swimming or tennis.. but I will be done .. unless I don't get permission to take that one credit.

Thanks for listening to that..
but so I am eating the skim cheese stick from Trader Joes. DELISH.

What is everyone doing this weekend?
What are the plans for the barbie?

[SNuGGiE]

I use mozzarella the most because it is usually part-skim anyway in the store so it is just normal cheese to me. Other than that though I haven't really been able to find any low-fat @ the store I go to so I just use regular.......

[razberry]

Thanks ladies. I've been slowly switching off of my regular cheeses. Just a tiny bit of really sharp cheddar, and mainly mozzarella (Sp?). Thanks so much!!

[slemmenes]

I have a terrible time even trying to FIND low fat or fat free cheeses. Even the part skim mozzerella seems to have a lot of fat. And other than that I can only find reduced fat already shredded cheese. So I go with that, but it's terribly boring. I found Kraft Fat free singles, but the processed cheese thing doesn't appeal to me at all.

[blessedbeing]

Please, please do yourself a favor and skip the fat free cheeses. They're awful, in my opinion. You'll probably be much happier going with the low fat versions if you can find them. If you can't find lower fat kinds of cheeses, then buy regular and reduce your portion sizes to make up the difference.

[lmatkins]

Don't eat the fat free cheeses! They aren't real cheese and they certainly don't taste like cheese - I think they technically have to label them as "cheese food" because they don't meet the standard of identity requirements for cheese. Fat free cheese is full of crud and full of bad carbs and sugar. Seriously, read the back of the label on some of those fat free cheese slices It's scary.

Low fat cheese isn't that bad - especially stuff like the park skim mozarella, etc. Also the laughing cow cheese is wonderful and endorsed by south beach. They just came out with two low fat flavored versions of that cheese!

[refiningme]

Originally Posted by Pita420

My favorite cheese in the world is Cabot's seriously sharp cheddar.

Yeah! Love Cabot Cheese not only is it a great cheese but it's a farmer's co-op.
Your support helps to keep the farmers in business!

[rose1]

I didn't know Cabot was a co-op. That's good to know. I love their cheese.

[kittysmith]

Hey Rose, DH and I also eat butter & olive oil...margerine is a no-no in my book. We always try to eat "real" food!"

[rose1]

Same here! No margerine of any kind. Another of those "personal choices".

[franzie99]

I am a cheese head! I love the stuff in all flavors! Sam's carries a Cabot 50% Light Cheddar (it is a white cheddar) and it is terrific. Not only is it delicious, since it's Sams, you get a huge block of it! Definitely give it a try, you won't be sorry.

[Rebecca130]

JoLi, I was just noticing your stats. Well... you should be proud of yourself!!! That's incentive for me to start South Beach and stop procastinating. Thank you for posting that, there's people like me that read stats and it's giving us incentive.

[Rebecca130]

JoLi, I just noticed that I am 191 pounds and I'm pretty close to where you are now. Maybe I CAN do this???? Girl, you are my hero right now, if you can do it, so can I, right???