According to an article at Science Daily,
Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in the United States. Although some risk factors, such as age and heredity, cannot be controlled, many factors, including smoking, cholesterol, blood pressure, obesity, and inactivity can be modified, thus, lowering the risk.
Interestingly, Arthur Agatston, whom you may know as the “South Beach diet doctor,” suggests that education on preventive measures is making huge strides toward eradicating heart attacks and other preventable health crises.
Read more in this article from today’s New York Times.
And don’t forget to check out b5media’s own heart health blog, A Hearty …read more

I’ve gotten WAY, WAY off track this week with my work deadlines and other things going on in my personal life. Can you say stressed out? That’s me.
I had totally forgotten how addictive sugar is. I have no control. Once I get started eating my old way, I want more and more. Yesterday, I had breakfast with some friends — sugary, white flour coffeecake, sugary muffins, and fruit. I had lunch with my mom, and she gave me delicious but sugary blackberry cake. So that led to having ice cream cones with the kids later in the afternoon … …read more

One of the recommended foods on the South Beach Diet is almonds. In fact, Dr. Agatson encourages diet followers to count out ten almonds as a good afternoon snack. It’s easy to get carried away when you eat an almond; they’re so tasty you may end up getting way too many calories if you don’t watch the amount.
According to Almonds Are In, recent studies show that almonds can help reduce your cholesteral. One study of men with high cholesterol showed that almond butter, as well as raw and dry-roasted almonds, helped to lower cholesterol levels within a month.
Almonds have …read more

I checked my mail yesterday and found a surprise — from Melodee of ClubMom’s Amazing Shrinking Mom blog. woohoo! It was my ClubMom water bottle, which she’d promised for those of us who sent her a comment about “dieting naked.”
Now this is not what you think! What it means is she has lots of dieters in her sidebar who are being bold enough to admit their pre-diet weight and update their progress. I didn’t send her my weight, but she added me to her blogroll, so people can check here to see my progress.
I’ve lost 15 pounds since April — …read more

I need to be honest here and update you on my diet. I’ve let it go the past few days! The first week of school here has sent me into a spiral of stress-related eating. At least I know what’s causing it, and I know where I need to go to get back on track.
My weight is staying steady, at 10.5 pounds lost since starting the diet three weeks ago. At least I haven’t gained back anything, but my loss is at a plateau. I’ve had more snacks in the house because I’m packing lunches for the kids. So guess …read more

A friend wrote me recently and said I’ve inspired her to get back into the South Beach Diet. She and her husband tried it for a while, then stopped. (YEA! A friend who reads my blog is a true friend indeed!) She wanted to know how I do this while feeding a family. Good question.
I asked my Mom 2 Mom Connection readers how in the world a mom can get started improving children’s eating habits. My big concern is sugar substitutes — are they OK for kids? If I eat sugar-free yogurt and jello, is that all right for them? …read more

I want to offer a big ol’ lively welcome to Ruth Schaffer, who’s launched a new blog in the Science & Health channel here, Eating Fabulous. Since she’s a trained microbiologist, I’m looking forward to gleaning her healthy eating tips.
Here’s a post with good news: Chocolate Promotes Cardiovascular Health Among the Elderly. Ruth says to “opt for the high fat dark chocolate.” Mmmm … always nice to hear an excuse for eating chocolate.
Right now, I’m still working through Phase II of the South Beach Diet, so I’m meeting my chocolate cravings with soy protein bars. I just really have to …read more

OK. This morning was the grand weigh-in. After two weeks on the South Beach Diet, here’s my moment of truth:
TEN POUNDS … GONE. I’m ten pounds lighter than I was 2 weeks ago. People, this diet rocks! I’ve written before about what you cut out of Phase 1 — I gave up pasta, rice, bread, potatoes, fruit, and anything with sugar. I stuck to the diet pretty well until last weekend when I ate a few spaghetti noodles and some potato chips. And sure enough, the scale was up a little the next day. So I might as well just …read more

Have you tasted the new Tab Energy drink, bottled by Coca-Cola? It’s not bad. Not bad at all. I love the packaging — the bright pink color caught my attention. And it saved me from going off my South Beach Diet. Here’s the deal.
We attended a fabulous birthday/ tea party yesterday, held in a quaint bookstore cafe. Oh, I was really craving the chocolate. Tiny, scrumptious-looking chocolate chip cookies on a silver tray, lush chocolate iced brownies. A cool pitcher of honey-lemon tea. NOT. ON. MY. DIET.
The voices in my head had a battle. It’s OK. It’s a party. Just …read more

I stepped on the scale this morning, as part of my daily Flylady routine, and saw the numbers drop again. I’ve lost 7 pounds now in only 5 days on the South Beach Diet. I can’t say enough great things about this program. I may even become a permanent follower of this eating plan, which means I’ll try to stay away from highly processed carbs for the rest of my life.
According to the diet’s author, Dr. Agatston, most South Beach dieters lose between 8 to 13 pounds during the strict two-week Phase I, then loss slows to about a pound …read more