South Beach Diet

To add to a previous comment on a post I wanted to take something directly from the SBD book for all to read.
"Take a potato, for instance. An incredible versatile vegetable. You can do a hundred things with it, from soup to vodka. And what you do with it determines how fattening it is.
The worst way, from the glycemic index perspective? Baked. The process of baking it renders the starches most easily accessible to your digestive system.
Slightly better? Believe it or not, that baked potato will be less fattening topped with a dollop of low-fat cheese or sour cream. The calorie count will be slightly higher, but the fat contained in the cheese or sour cream will slow down the digestive process, thereby lessening the amount of insulin the potato prompts your body to make.
Still, don't think that when you're at the mall and stop for a quick baked potato at one of those franchise places that you're having a healthy snack. A baked potato in mid afternoon practically guarantees that you'll be starving for carbs by dinner. You'd be better off having a small ice cream or even a dark chocolate bar instead of that baked potato.
Better than baked? Mashed or boiled, due to the difference in the cooking process, but also because you'd probably eat them with a little butter or sour cream, and the fat slows the digestive process. Even french fries are better than baked, believe it or not, because of the fat in which they're cooked. Of course, the same is true of potato chips, but don't be misled: None of these are good choices for someone on the SBD. The type of potato you eat is also a big factor in all this. Red-skinned potatoes are highest in carbs. White-skinned are better. New potatoes, better yet - in every vegetable or fruit, the younger when picked, the lower the carb count. If you must indulge, do so sparingly. And try sweet potatoes instead of white."


I always went for the baked potato with NO butter and as little amount of sour cream as possible and even tried to stomach the fat free sour cream - DISGUSTING!

On a different note - I went to Red Robin with some girlfriends last night and here's what I ordered - Cheeseburger with NO bun, only one slice of cheese (instead of the normal 2 that they put on each burger), extra tomato, extra pickle, extra onion and lettuce. Did not use ketchup because of the hidden sugar in ketchup. I opted for the fries because I starved myself all day so that I could have them and I gave up a little on the cheeseburger so I could have them. And to add more fat to the potato (french fry) to make the digestion slow down I dipped them in Ranch...I just couldn't help myself. I tried not to - I didn't order the ranch with my meal, but after seeing those beautiful fries in the basket with no ranch to dip them in I got a little weepy and asked for the tub of ranch...on a good note though - I only used half the tub, in the past I would have sucked it dry and quite possible asked for a back-up tub! It was delicious and I don't feel too guilty because I stayed within my points. When I start phase one of the SBD I won't be able to do that...I'll have to skip those beautiful fries all together :-(