South Beach or Bust

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat are really good friends. 
                                                                                           ~Author Unknown

 I purposely held off on trying to loose weight until after we went to The Melting Pot, for obvious reasons.  But I really need to back up a bit.

Growing up, I was as skinny as can be.  I was called Bean Pole, Olive Oyl (Popeye's girlfriend), and any other names you can think of for being really skinny.  In fact, the doctor told my parents to let me drink half and half instead of milk to help put on weight.  Nothing worked.  I got married and had three boys, and in every case, I lost all the weight from pregnancy and always got back to my skinny self.  It wasn't until about 10 years ago that I had surgery to remove my thyroid, because of a huge goiter.  It wasn't until after it was removed and I started on thyroid medication that I found out that gaining weight is almost inevitable once the thyroid is removed.  Now they told me!  So for the past 10 years it's been a real struggle for me to keep from gaining too much weight.  I never had to go on a diet until about 8 or 9 years ago.  I tried weight watchers but I really liked the South Beach Diet.  It's really healthy and has some great recipes.  Plus I've been able to adapt some of my own favorites to fit in with the Phase I and Phase II of the South Beach Diet.

Tomorrow I'll be making my own recipe for swiss steak, but tonight Mr. Cottage grilled chicken breasts and I made the South Beach Cannellini Bean Salad, which is so yummy...

SOUTH BEACH CANNELLINI BEAN SALAD

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon minced red onion
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 medium cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
Salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together oil, vinegar, onion, and oregano in a large mixing bowl.  Add cucumbers, beans, and bell pepper; toss to combine.  Season with salt and pepper. 

It's best served at room temperature.  Store in the refrigerator and remove early enough for the oil to warm up before serving.

Makes 4 (1 cup) servings

It's worthy enough to take to potlucks...

For me, loosing weight isn't so much about looks as it is a health reason.  Diabetes runs in my mother's family and I saw first hand everything my mother went through and I don't want this.  So time to loose some weight and exercising more!