Sunday, May 13, 2012

The Steak Tip Diet~

This is how I looked after losing 10 pounds~
I was quite happy to dump the extra weight by getting back on my diet~
 Since I got lots of interest in my Steak Tip Diet~here it is.  I call it the Steak Tip Diet because I have been eating lots and lots of steak tips in the past month and half and have lost 14 pounds to date, and only a couple more to go to reach my goal... But long before that,  when I was recently divorced over ten years ago, I discovered the Atkins diet craze and decided to try it~I stayed on it for several years and figured out the best way to live with carbohydrate restrictions but still enjoy meals and keep my figure in check.
However, after I married Mr. Maison Decor he started encouraging me to join him in his ice cream addiction and one thing led to another, and I got off the lo-carb path....and this bad eating led me to gain 16 pounds since our wedding day 5 years ago. Not a good thing!~Adding 10 or 20 pounds can age you tremendously at this stage in life (the middle years) and I was determined to get back to my controlled and healthier eating habits.  So this is just a guide line of what works for me~so give it a try if you want to see results....because you will.

The basic rule for the first two weeks is:
NO CHEATING OR NO RESULTS
STAY AT 20 CARBS PER DAY OR LESS FOR FIRST TWO WEEKS
TAKE A MULTI VITAMIN DAILY
DRINK 4 OR MORE GLASSES OF WATER DAILY

 The first thing I recommend is having what you need in your cupboards and your fridge at home...that way you don't fall off the path. The basic shopping list to start the diet is listed below, so print this out and go to market:

  • Eggs, butter, Bacon or Breakfast sausages, half and half, Splenda, Coffee
  • Oscar Mayer sliced turkey,  any deli meats sliced for sandwiches, Hellmans mayo, sliced cheeses, cans of tuna and chicken, dill pickles, celery, lo-carb pitas or wraps (many found in front of the deli case)
  • Romaine lettuce, Caesar, Blue Cheese, Italian, Ranch Dressings
  • Dark green veggies: Asparagus and Broccoli, Zuchini and Green Beans
  •  Steak, Chicken, Pork, White Fish
  • Crystal Light beverages, Flavored Waters that are 0 carb/calories
  • Spirits if desired:  Miller Lite or Michelob Ultra lo-carb beers, Vodka and Rum have 0 carbs and can be mixed with crystal light or diet drinks, white wine in limited amounts. Dark colored beverages like red wine or whiskey will have many more carbs than clear or light so don't use those.
This sliced turkey in the ready made deli case has been a godsend. It has a long shelf life and tastes great and is always ready for a quick rollup for my daily lunch on the go~all packages are labeled with carb content, so flip it over and read the total carbs per serving so you don't make a mistake. 
I have an egg every day~it keeps me hunger free til lunch. And the idea that an egg is bad for your cholesterol has changed~the egg is not the bad guy anymore!  I love Hellmans Mayonaisse~no carbs in this and I use it to mix up Tuna or Chicken salad for lunches or dinners. Buy the best, your taste buds will thank you!
Romaine is the only lettuce I buy~and I get it in the huge 6 pack at Costco, as I make a big salad every night for my dinner.  These are two of my favorite dressings~both 1 carb each per serving....but check the labels for dressings on the carb content, I never buy anything over 1 carb/serving. I also buy a chunk of parmesean cheese or romano from the deli and grate it for a delicious salad.
I keep a sliced cheese tray (also from Costco) in the fridge for when I am really hungry and need to stave off the hunger pangs...cut up celery sticks in a glass of water are always in my fridge too. Try to have things like this on hand and you will not cheat.  Nuts are also a good thing to snack on, some better than others carb-wise, so read your labels.
I keep both tunafish and chicken breast in a can (it tastes great) and they are instant lunches when you don't have any turkey or roast beef in the fridge. I get lo-carb pitas and wraps and even sliced bread and keep the carb count at 4 or 5 carbs for my "bread".  This wrap above is 10 net carbs and I cut it in half as my portion.  The carbs that you count are NET CARBS, that means subtract any fiber grams from carb grams and that gives you the Net carb which is what you will be adding to your daily count.
My favorite wrap brand is Joseph's Pita~also at deli-counter. You can use Mustard, Mayonnaise for condiments, no ketchup or sauces....beware there can be lots of sugars in BBQ sauces, or sweet/sour dressings etc, so play it safe.  
Dining out is a no brainer~I always order steak and a caesar salad with a green vegetable, or as shown above, steak tips and house salad with blue cheese dressing, and one glass of wine make for a very nice meal~you can have a grilled or roasted chicken breast instead of steak....order a burger and get blue cheese dressing on the side, take off the bun when it comes and eat up! Just don't get anything breaded or things that have hidden carbs. 
So this is my Steak Tip Diet....after two weeks you can start adding in more carbs, like chopped up strawberries with whipped cream, or cut up cantaloupe with breakfast mixed with blueberries~get a carb counting guide that fits in your purse, so when you are out shopping for food or dining you can quickly check to see that you are safe.
If you follow these guidelines, and stay to 20 carbs or less a day I GUARANTEE you will lose 7  pounds in a week~
When I start my diet, I keep a log of what I eat and my starting weight of the day~each day I weigh myself and write it in to the log~it is a very effective way to keep you from going over your total. Let me know how it goes for you if you are going to try this.  When cooking for your family you can always cook the meat/chicken, green veggie, salad, and add rice or potatoes for them and you just pass on the starch~its pretty easy.

Here is an example of my daily carb count:

Coffee with splenda and half and half: 2 carbs
1 Egg 1 carb
2 strips Bacon 0 carbs
Joseph Pita 4 carbs
Tuna or Turkey 0 carbs
1 Slice of cheese 0 carbs
Dill pickle 1 carb
Crystal Lite 0 carb
Steak 0 carb
Romaine Salad 2 carbs
Maries Dressing 1 carb
Parmesean Cheese 0 carb
Asparagus 4 carbs
White Wine 3.5 grams
Total: Under 17 carbs!!
I wish you luck and hope you find this works well for you as it has for me! Please check with your doctor if you have any concerns about starting such a diet.





Photobucket

23 comments:

  1. Amy....looking good. I did the adkins diet, I never felt so good in my whole life. I lost 30 pounds too. The draw back was eating salads, I take bloodthinners and the greens worked against my meds. But could do a modifide version. I am trying to get myself to cut back on sugars. Happy Mother's Day. Smiles, Susie

    ReplyDelete
  2. The National Academy of Sciences, the most prestigious scientific body in the United States, agrees with the AMA and the ADA in opposing the Atkins Diet. So does the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins, the American Kidney Fund, the American College of Sports Medicine,and the National Institutes of Health.

    When Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution was first published, the President of the American College of Nutrition said, "Of all the bizarre diets that have been proposed in the last 50 years, this is the most dangerous to the public if followed for any length of time."

    Thought you should know.

    S
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beach Bungalow, I have to disagree. They have always been against the Atkins diet, but it works. I have a wheat allergy and I have to eat a modified version of this diet. Carbs are an ENEMY! Plain and simple. Today's wheats have been modified and look nothing like the wheats we ate as a child. Did you know they have been genetically modified to make us CRAVE more - you got it - wheat!
    So with all due respect, regardless of what the "experts" say - Atkins works.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My husband has been eating "Caveman" for 2 years now. He NEVER eats grains or any bread. He does cheat with cookies sometimes... he has never looked better or felt better getting off the carbs. My only downfall for your diet above is strawberries. They are like candy to me and I love them... I can give up the bread. but I can't give up my strawberries!! I have to give up fruit for two weeks?? oh no.
    Great ideas you have posted here and I really appreciate you taking the time to outline this!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for the great post, Amy. I've done Atkins several times (I love sugar too much to give it up forever), and each time I've done the Atkins I've felt and looked great, along with lowered cholesterol and general health improvements.
    Ice cream and jujubes called to me over the past few months, and I had corresponding weight gain.
    So now I'm following what you might call a modified Atkins/Primal eating - and visit Mark's Daily Apple blog for tips, recipes and inspiration.
    Best wishes for continued health and sveltness for everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think when people hear Atkins they think high fat diet~but I think my version is more watching the carb count and after the first few weeks you can be more relaxed about it. Grilled meats and chicken with salad and green veggies is good eating in my book! Being overweight comes with many health issues, and lots of people don't get results on diets and therefore never get the satisfaction of feeling thinner and healthier~my mom did this diet with my guidance and lost over 20 pounds and she moved better, breathed easier walking stairs and looked better~after all there is a mind-body connection, and when we look better we feel better.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Amy,
    Congrats you look great!I too have lost about 13 lbs since January.And hubby lost 15 lbs.But we actually went vegan.No meat.Lots of veggies,fruits,healthy nuts and pasta.Crazy I know.I guess what ever works right?
    Happy Mothers Day.
    Anne

    ReplyDelete
  8. I had to go back to an old post, Amy, to see a picture of you because I didn't think you needed to lose weight. I thought it was more of an accidental weight loss due to being so busy with the new shop. I still don't think you needed to lose weight, but I can see a difference {I looked at your September Brimfield post}. What matters is you feel good physically and mentally!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks Kathy~but gaining 3 pounds a year is not good! And it adds up and gets harder to lose, so thats why I wanted to go back on my carb restrictions to fit into my old clothes. My weight is right at just above 130 lbs~so I am not underweight, still a healthy weight~getting close to 150 feels too uncomfortable for me. Everyone has a weight that they feel best at, you are right!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Amy, My cousin's husband worked for Dr. Adkins and the people he truly helped were those that found nothing else worked for them. He was a man who was ahead of his time in many, many ways.

    I follow a modified version of that plan but I eat no flour and no sugar. I have taken off a lot of weight and keep it off. I have about 20 more pounds to lose. The older you get the harder it is to take it off...so good for you for getting the edge on it. Happy Mother's Day-xo Diana

    ReplyDelete
  11. Congrats on your weight loss. It is so very hard to do. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. I will give this diet a try. Your store is looking great.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Looking good, Amy. I remember trying this back in the day, and I felt great. I've been working on my diet, mainly for blood pressure reasons (I runs in my family). I've put on a few extra pounds over the years, but the way I feel when I don't eat properly is the real issue. Thanks for reminding me to focus.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I've never been on a diet. I Have a simple rule rule eat what I want just half as much as much as I would like to eat. I also get on the elliptical machine and burn about 800 calories 4 times a week. I could never get into the whole count points do this and that thing. If things get comlicated or I feel deprivation I'm not interested. I rather do the exercise to burn it off and try to get the whole body working. The problem with all the meat diets from what I've heard is the reprocusions with your digestion system. I won't go into. Detail but it can be very nasty and require painful surgery. The old sweat and 5 days a week healthy. Eating only works for me.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank you Amy for posting this. I completely agree with you that this diet works for those that simply cannot adhere to other diets out there. My husband and I have done it in the past and both lost a considerable amount of weight. You look great!

    Lauren

    ReplyDelete
  15. I lost a ton of weight dieting AND eating ICE CREAM every night. Made my own ice cream using Splenda. Excellent.

    ReplyDelete
  16. You look fantastic and that diet sounds delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I think your diet is very sensible...My hubby is very "health conscious" and agrees that gluten is not a good thing for you..so we have stayed away from bread, potatoes, etc...in the end, it makes you feel better and have more energy...He really enjoyed reading the book "Primal Blueprint"...made a lot of sense...

    You look great!

    ReplyDelete
  18. My baby gets married June 30..will sure try this so I can lose a few for that big day!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Congratulations on both your shop and your weight loss! I've enjoyed watching virtually the progress and evolution of your lovely shop. Don't forget, in addition to your diet, that you have been extremely active during this time, burning lots of calories which also contributed your weight loss! I've done Atkins through the years and my only objection to it is the use of artificial sweeteners. (Google the dangers of the various ones, including Splenda, unfortunately.) I personally have moved more toward the Primal/Paleo philosophy. I wish you continued good success in your endeavors!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I didn't think you looked like you needed to lose, either, but it's all relative, right? Thanks for sharing what works for you. I have a thyroid and am still searching for what works for me. Ugh! I have done diets that limit my calories to 1200 a day and exercise on my elliptical burning 800 calories from 5 to 7 days a week only to have 1/2 lb weight loss. It sucks! I'm glad you found something for you! Carry on!

    ReplyDelete
  21. The diet is quite sensible...except I would not use any artificial sweetners like Splenda. It's easier to kick the sweet tooth habit (research shows it usually takes about 2 weeks to do that)than take "risks" with something artificial. But that's just my opinion after studying alternative health care for 20 years.

    You, your store, your diet...all very inspiring! Thanks for the great post :-)

    ReplyDelete
  22. I think when you are motivated anything works. however low carb works faster & I have tried atkins with good results to lose 5 or 10 lbs but ended up switching to south beach. It seems a bit less saturated fat for me (who has to watch cholesterol) The only thing is you don't build as much muscle without carbs & I like my weights.you look fabulous so keep up the good work. can't believe you are staying the course even with the stress of opening up a shop. I'd be shoving chocolate in my mouth as possible-lol. You have a beautiful family-happy belated mothers day. :) chris

    ReplyDelete
  23. Thanks for posting this diet. I have lost 50 lbs. in 14 months on Weight Watchers, but I seem to be stuck 10 lbs. from my goal weight for two months now. I think I will go lo-carb to see if I can encourage my body to start losing again and reach my goal. You said stick to 20 points for the first few weeks. When do you add back in fruit to your diet?

    ReplyDelete

 
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...