Week 6: Weigh In Day and Walking

I just completed Week 6 Of Jorge Cruise's Belly Fat Cure and this week I lost 2lbs. It was a tough week with Thanksgiving and eating out a few times, but I did it! That puts me at a total of 19lbs lost so far! Almost half way to my goal of 40lbs. I have also decided that I want to lose more than 40lbs. When I started I just wanted to be "less fat" but I have bigger goals than that now! For the first ever, I think I can get to the weight I was when I got married. It feels really possible! 


A few months before I started the Belly Fat Cure, I started Power Walking. While Jorge encourages exercise, he says don't do it to lose weight. Instead, exercise for your heart and to be fit. So that is what I am doing it for, just simple self improvement. 


At first I was doing 3 miles with moderate hills and it was killing me! Over two months I moved up to do up to 6 miles with big hills. I love how these walks make me feel! Sometimes I do them with a friend and other times alone. I actually prefer the time alone to really work myself and huff and puff and get red in the face. They are tough, and the next day I am sore. But its good to feel those sore muscles and know that Im pushing my body and can feel its strength. It is also part of taking a little time a few days a week for just me. I have noticed that it has gotten easier (not easy, mind you) as I am lugging less wait up those hills. I am excited to say I did 45 miles in the month of November!

I find that the right music can really help me move. The right song comes on and I feel like I am just flying along the trail. This is one of those songs and I thought I would share it with you all and help motivate you to get out and move today!

Say Hey (I Love You) - Michael...

Do you have a song that really gets you moving?

Product Review: LaTortilla Factory Smart & Delicious

Without a doubt the best tortillas I have found for the Belly Fat Cure are the Smart & Delicious Low Carb Tortillas from LaTortilla Factory.  They have 1gram Sugar, 18grams Carbohydrates and packed with an amazing 12 grams of Fiber. They are so high in fiber and taste great! I found these at my local Lucky's grocery store chain with 8 tortillas and also in bulk at Costco. I take out a weeks worth of the Costco package and freeze the rest.

I make several things with these tortillas and use them almost daily. Chicken & Carne Asada tacos and wraps from Jorge's menus and a few things I do on my own. They help me keep a meal to under 2 Carb Servings, which I was having trouble doing before I found these.

I thought I had found a better tortilla in the Mission Carb Balance brand, but turns out that they have Sucralose in them, so avoid them! While regular tortillas are okay in Sugar and Carbs, they usually take up two Carb servings on their own and are low in Fiber.

I give La Tortilla Factory Smart & Delicious Tortillas 5 Stars! They are priced great, available at chain grocery stores, Costco and Carbsmart.com. They have a great S/C, are super high in fiber and taste great. These should be a staple in your Belly Fat Cure plan!

Week 5: Weigh In Day

Monday was my weigh in day and this week I lost 3lbs! Even I was surprised at this. That means that I have lost 3 - 3.5lbs each week except for one. That is pretty amazing and I don't think I could ever ask for or expect better results from a diet plan. That puts me at a total of 17lbs lost on Jorge Cruise's Belly Fat Cure Carb Swapping program.

Despite the wonderful weightloss, I had a few challenges this week:
1. I ate out, ordered a Shrimp Fajita salad and the food came coated in a honey like sauce. But I ate it since I was really hungry
2. I experienced the most stress since I started the plan, thanks to some mixed results on a medical test that will take even more tests to finally clear up. But it will be cleared up and I didn't eat off plan at all.
3. I threw a party for my son's birthday complete with a homemade Chocolate cake. But I didn't even take a lick, which was a little harder than I thought since its messy business.

I also keep thinking about these 15lbs I gained this summer that put me at my heaviest weight ever. I can't seem to get out of my mind, "if only I hadn't gain that extra weight, then this 17lbs loss would have really gotten me somewhere!". Now I'm only back to "normal overweight weight", which is annoying.

I was complaining about this to my Husband and he said instead I should be thankful for those final 15lbs. Because if they hadn't have come along and attached themselves to my hips and stomach, I might have kept with the status quo and never taken the actions that lead me here. I needed something shocking and scary, which for me was getting close to 200lbs, to make me DO SOMETHING. It is really true! Without those stupid 15lbs, I would be my "normal overweight weight" but without a plan, still addicted to sugar and artificial sweeteners.

So today I am going to be thankful for those extra pounds, that I have now said goodbye to, a realize it happened for a reason. The next 17lbs I lose are going to mean so much more to me and maybe be harder to lose, as I've been holding on to them for a long time now. Its also got me thinking that I can and will lose more than the 40lbs I had originally planned. And I never could have imagined that!

BFC Stuffin's - Stuffing Done Right!

Stuffing is one of my favorite Thanksgiving items. Done traditionally it is has the highest Sugar and Carb count on the table. But they can be done so MUCH better to leave you room in your S/C count for more of your favorites!

 I call my Stuffing "Stuffins" because they are baked in muffin tins which creates individual servings and you get more crunchiness. Which is my favorite part!

 My first plan was to find the absolute lowest S/C Count Bread around. Which I found after much searching (Trader Joes 1 Slice: 0 Sugar 7g Carbs). But waiting in line at the grocery store I saw a dozen different bags of stuffing and started to read their labels. And to my surprise, I found more than one brand that had a lower count than my grand idea would. Meaning a lot less work for me!

 What You'll Need:
 16 oz Stuffing Mix - with very low Sugar and Carb counts
 8 oz Sausage 1 Cup Sliced Mushrooms
 1 1/2 Cup Chicken Broth
2 stalks Chopped Celery
 Butter to line pan
 Muffin Pan

Directions: Cook your sausage normally and drain off any excess. In a large mixing bowl add the Stuffing Croutons, Mushrooms, Celery, Chicken Broth and Sausage. Mix well, use your hands if you need to! Use the butter to line the Muffin Tins and scoop in the mixture. Scoop in 1 Serving Size of your mixture (roughly based on the Serving Size listed on the box of Stuffing Croutons. That measurement may be based on dry ingredients and take into account the added ingredients that will take up volume) Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes, or until crispy on the outside. Remove from Muffin Tin and serve hot.

 The idea is roughly based on Rachel Ray's Apple and Onion Stuffins, but obviously ours don't have apples or onions in them! Both are too high in S/C for today. You can add any of your favorite low sugar/carb items to the mix for delicious Stuffins - Single Serving Stuffing!

 Brands I used: I love Jimmy Dean Naturals "Hot" Pork sausage, it is spicy though. I found Beckmans Stuffing Mix Traditional Homestyle. But look around your stuffing selections, I saw several that also had good S/C values.

 The Count: This is completely dependent on the stuffing croutons or bread you use. Mine was 1/2 Cup Dry 0g Sugar and 10g carbs. 2 medium celery stalks = 1g Sugar 2g Carbs, Sausage, butter, chicken brother are 0gs Sugar and Carbs. After everything is mixed together it should be 0g Sugar and 10g per serving.

Thanksgiving Round Table My fellow Belly Fat Cure bloggers are also writing about Thanksgiving recipes this week too! Stop by their sites for even more ideas: Maura at 12 Weeks to a Better Me Candice at Cooking to Lose that Belly Susan at BFC Products and Recipes

Dave at Belly Fat Cure for Life

Ryan at Ryans Incredible World

Dressed Up Cinnamon Crisp

Dessert for the holidays might be difficult for many of you, especially if you like pies. But I am keeping it simple this holiday season and hope you do the same. I plan on keeping to the Belly Fat Cure S/C of 5/2 per meal.

For Dessert I will be making a Dressed Up Cinnamon Crisp. Its is very simple and you will likely already have all the ingredients for your holiday menu. I listed the specific brands I used in "The Count", but the brand doesn't matter.

Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Tortilla
Heavy Whipping Cream
Butter
Natural Sugar Substitute
Cinnamon
85 % Dark Chocolate Squares (2 per dessert)
Raspberries (one per dessert)

I sprayed a cookie sheet with Pam and laid 1 Tortilla on it. Spread about 1/2 tsp of butter on it. You can use more if prefer. Then I sprinkled 1/2 packet of Sun Crystals and 1/2 tsp of Cinnamon over the top. Do this to taste, you may like more or less then me! (Just be conscience of the S/C count of your sugar sub.) I used a pizza cutter to divide the tortilla into 8ths.

Bake for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

While that was baking, I made Whipped Cream from Heavy Whipping Cream. Simply put the cream in a clean bowl and use a hand held mixer and mix until it turns into Whipped Cream. You could also use Reddi Whip that has a very low Sugar/Carb count if that is easier.

When the tortillas are done, stack four them with a tsp of Whipped Cream in between and a little extra on top. Shave off some Dark Chocolate on top. You may also like a little more sweetener, depending on your taste. A single raspberry to top it off and a few squares of Dark Chocolate would be a nice addition too!

The Trick? Find the lowest carb/highest fiber you can. Be careful though, some low car tortillas contain Sucralose. Avoid those!

The Count? 1/2 La Tortilla Factory Smart & Delicious:  9 Carbs, 6 Fiber  Heavy Whipping Cream, Butter and Cinnamon are all have 0g Sugar and Carbs. Sun Crystals: 1g Sugar and 1g Carbs per packet. Total S/C is 1/1 6g Fiber for one Dressed Up Cinnamin Crisp.

** I originally discovered BFC Cinnamon Crisps from my twitter buddy Melissa. If you are on twitter, we have a great Belly Fat Cure community there that shares ideas, progress and support for one another!

Thanksgiving Round Table
My fellow Belly Fat Cure bloggers are also writing about Thanksgiving recipes this week too! Stop by their sites for even more ideas:
Maura at 12 Weeks to a Better Me
Candice at Cooking to Lose that Belly
Susan at BFC Products and Recipes

Dave at Belly Fat Cure for Life

Ryan at Ryans Incredible World

Holiday Drink: Berrytini Cocktail

During the holidays it is always nice to have a celebratory drink. My Husband just returned from a trip to Russia and brought me back a nice bottle of Vodka. I'm not sure what that says about me, but I'm okay with that! Typically I like anything sweet with Vodka, so I chose to make a Berrytini!

What you need:

• A nice Vodka
• SoBe Lifewater 0 Calorie Black and Blue Berry
• Raspberries
• Ice 
• Martini Shaker - or two glass put together

Put 1 Cup Ice in the Martini Shaker. Add 2 oz. of SoBe and 1 oz Vodka. Shake well and pout into Martini glass with the ice strained. Add a Raspberry to the rim or a frozen one to the bottom of the glass.

S/C is 0/0 unless you have more than two.  Cheers!

Thanksgiving Round Table
My fellow Belly Fat Cure bloggers are also writing about Thanksgiving recipes this week too! Stop by their sites for even more ideas:
Maura at 12 Weeks to a Better Me
Candice at Cooking to Lose that Belly
Susan at BFC Products and Recipes

Dave at Belly Fat Cure for Life

Ryan at Ryans Incredible World

Pour Some Sugar on Me

Tomorrow I am throwing an 8th birthday party for my son. Today I made a scavenger hunt, wrote clues, printed maps and badges, wrapped presents... and baked a cake. I like chocolate cake. I love chocolate cake. But while I mixed, and stirred, poured and baked, cleaned up, iced and arranged, I did not even lick a finger or nibble a crumb. The cake itself didn't give me much trouble, it was the mini cupcakes I made with the left over batter. I thought I'd freeze them and stick them in the kids lunch boxes every now and then. And they were just sitting there, singing me a little Siren Song, all tiny and chocolate asking to be popped into a mouth. But I zipped them up and popped them in the freezer instead!



Yes, eventually I need to get my kids on the Belly Fat Cure too, but I have always looked after their health and diet much more than my own. So tomorrow I will sit back and watch the effects of sugar on twenty 7 and 8 year olds and know that I survived my first Big Test.

Please check back on Monday when the BFC Thanksgiving Roundtable will be up! Several BFC Bloggers have joined together to post their Thanksgiving ideas and recipes that fit the plan. We look forward to sharing them with you and seeing comments with your favorites too!

The Belly Fat Cure - Carb Swap System

The Belly Fat Cure is a weight loss program developed by Jorge Cruise, of The 3hr Diet fame. The book comes out Dec. 29th, but you can pre-order it now. The program concentrates on reducing your Sugar and Carbohydrate intake significantly, and completely eliminating artificial sweeteners from your diet. You don't count calories or fat, or time in between meals. I am on Week 5 of the BFC and I believe it has changed my life, not just the numbers on my scale! I have lost my cravings, obsessive eating, mood swings between meals and given up a nearly 20yr addiction to diet colas. Oh, and Ive lost 14lbs so far too!

If you pre-order the book now, he will also send you a FREE audio book that will get you started on the program now. (To get the free Audiobook you must email a receipt for the book to 3bfc@jorgecruise.com by November 27th). The Audiobook is a thank you for the pre-order and I think it is a great deal! If you are part of Jorge's 12 Week Live Coaching Class, like myself,  then the book will make a great gift for all the people asking "How did you lose all your weight?" come Christmas time!

If you would still like more information on the Belly Fat Cure you can read a free report here where Jorge goes into much more detail.

Here Jorge Cruise, as keynote speaker, addressing the American Heart Association in May 2009. I found the speech very informative!

Responsiblity

I've had a bad day, with bad news and I let it get me down. Then I reached out to someone who clearly needed help and they pushed my hand away so they could complain some more.

I would like to make a vow to myself right now:
I will not make excuses for my failures. 
If I want something bad enough, I am going to make it happen.
I will not whine like a baby (for more than a few minutes) when things dont go the way they were promised.
And while I can't control everything that happens in my life, I can control how I react to it.

Emotional Eating: 0 Amber: 1

Now bring it on!

Product Review: Clemmy's Coffee Ice Cream

I bought Clemmy's Coffee Ice Cream a few weeks ago and stuck it in my freezer. I wanted to be better on the plan and feel stronger in my resolve BEFORE I opened up carton of allowed Ice Cream. Along with eliminating sugar from my diet, I also want to eliminate obsessive eating. And frankly I was afraid of that Ice Cream!

So now I'm in Week 4 of the Belly Fat Cure and have lost 14lbs and I thought I owed my readers a review of Clemmy's! There is a lot of talk of this Ice Cream on the plan, since apparently it is the only Ice Cream out there with a low enough S/C Value made with natural sugar substitute. A 1/2 Cup is an S/C of 0/1 and it is made with Maltitol and Xylitol. My stomach is also afraid of Maltitol!

This Ice Cream is very hard to find. I drove to the next town, which wasnt too far and a little specialty store to get it. It was $7.50 for 1 Quart, which is pretty pricey.

The Ice Cream is really good, tastes just like the regular Coffee Ice Cream I remember. It was smooth and creamy. I feel like a while later there was a slightly unpleasant aftertaste. To be honest, I just had two Tablespoons of it, sealed it really well and put it back (way back) in the freezer.

I give Clemmy's Coffee Ice Cream 5 Stars for flavor and taste, but it will not really play a role in my experience on this program. There is no real nutritional value in it and I am really sensitive to the Maltitol. I will stick with my Vanilla Cinnamon Shake if I feel a craving.  I would love to see an ice cream bar made with Stevia in the future. If you know of one, let me know!

Week 4:Weigh In Day

So excited today! I was down another 3.5lbs for a total 14lbs. I think that is a wonderful way to finish the first month on the Belly Fat Cure. If I can keep this up, I will have reached my weight loss goals by the end of the program! I know there will be weeks when I lose less, or nothing, or even experience a slight gain. I will not let these set backs stand in my way! In fact, I honestly believe I have actually already lost these 40lbs and just need to go through the process for my body to realize it. I am nolonger that person who eats obsessive-compulsively.

My new mantra is:
This extra weight nolonger belongs to ME, I have released it. It just will take some time to shed it from my physical body!

I am always excited about class on Mondays with Jorge and to begin Week 5! I hope we get some Thanksgiving ideas! I will be blogging about Thanksgiving recipes here soon. If you have a blog and would like to join me in a Thanksgiving Recipe Roundtable, drop me an email here. The more, the merrier!

I hope you all had a great week on the Belly Fat Cure! Take a minute to leave a comment about your week and if you lost any this week. 

I Can Bring Home the Bacon....

I'm a Mom of 5 and 7 year old boys and I am the person responsible for cooking every meal in my house, except for three. Saturday and Sunday mornings my husband flips pancakes for the kids and he makes pizza once a week. While I totally appreciate that, it still puts a lot of pressure on a person making drastic changes to their own diet.

I'm always reminded of this old commercial when it comes to cooking for my Family. Although the Belly Fat Cure makes me laugh at the "Bring home the bacon" part. I brought home actual bacon for the first time in years this week for this plan!

My husband has been out of town for awhile and just returned today. I loved just cooking for me and kids while he was gone and keeping it ultra simple 'Jorge style'. I realized I was much less stressed and there wasn't such a concentration on food all day and what I would make for dinner.

So, I told my husband that. He said he sees a big difference in me (Hello 4.5lbs lighter than the last time he saw me) and that I seem really happy and motivated "so cook whatever". I made him tuna salad on a whole wheat pita with spinach leaves and a side of cottage cheese, and he loved it! The whole thing was a S/C of 3/2. He even downed the Bug Juice (Jorge's green veggie drink) in a few gulps and declared it delicious! Which of course prompted me to drink mine faster (I had been gingerly sipping it) and say "Yum" a little too forced.

Sure, I think later he snuck something from the kitchen and he was severely jet lagged having just gotten off a flight from literally more than half way around the world. But this is a big victory for me! I had been putting all the "What's for Dinner" pressure on myself all these years, and it was really unnecessary.

Now, before you say "You're Husband is way better than mine, mine would never do this!". First, wait, let me stop laughing... The key was the difference he noticed in me. Not just my weight, which he really claims to notice, but my attitude and devotion to this program. He also works at a company known to serve the best free meals to its employees in the country. He eats a gourmet lunch everyday, so I don't think he is really sacrificing much!

If your partner isn't being supportive of you on this journey to healthier living and weight loss, give them some time. This was a decision you made, maybe with them, maybe with out. Change is scary, people don't like it. But you are doing this for yourself and you can't change other peoples eating habits for them. You can set a great example and impress them with your perseverance and ever slimming body. And if you win them over great, but remember you are doing this for yourself! (However, you can NOT buy those high sugar items and keep them out of the house for the most part. If they insist on having them, maybe they need to make their own trip to the store!)

So I'll be making easy, straight forward dinners now and I'll let you know how it goes when I serve him eggs and sprouted bread toast for dinner... with bacon of course. dada dada

Don't Mind Me, I'm Just Feeding My Bugs

Mr. 3 Hr Diet himself, Jorge Cruise, gave my blog a little shout out this week and I thought that was amazing for him to do! I did the happy dance through my house and had a smile you couldn't wipe off, even if you tried (and some tried that day)!

If Jorge can do that for me, then by gosh I can drink that Bug Juice (yep, that's what I'm going to call it) for the Belly Fat Cure. Yes I can. That same night, he made up a special Prebiotic Vegetable drink that was a serious neon shade of green and looked none too appetizing. But Jorge said that the good bacteria in your gut needs good veggies to feed off of to survive.

Having been a dedicated fan of the Sucralose and Coke Zero for many years, I figure my little bugs are in pretty sad shape. And I believe if you are going to do something you might as well do it right! And the truth is, if I have any little bugs in there left, then they are starving!

The next day I got a tweet from my BFC Twitter Buddy Dave and I went from just thinking about making it, to sticking it all in a blender!

Here is the recipe for Jorge Cruise's Prebiotic Drink aka Bug Juice S/C 0/0 (per Jorge):
2Tbsp Chia Seeds (see below)
1 UnPeeled Cucumber
2 Stalks Celery
handful of Spinach fresh leaves
2 cups water

I drank the first 1/4 none to happily and sat looking into the glass for a bit. It wasnt the taste, so much as the texture. So I added more water and that made all the difference. I also added a very tiny amount of Sun Crystals, like a pinch. It was really not bad at all and I can see having this regularly, if I've been low on my veggie in take.

Just a note on the Chia seeds: I don't know what they are or where to get them and it sparked lots of fun "Cha cha cha Chia!" comments on twitter that day (okay, most of them were my comments). But I do know he added them for fiber. So I added ground Flax Seed which is about the same fiber 4grams for 2 Tbsp. If you don't have either of them, that is fine too. Getting caught up on details like that can sabotage your good intentions.

I was able to find the Chia Seeds on Amazon, you can order them here. Apparently they have lots of great attributes aside from fiber. I can't wait to try them! (They also sell Chia Pets at Amazon)

Week 3: Weigh In Day

I have just completed Week 3 of Jorge Cruise's Belly Fat Cure. I lost 1lb this week. But mostly, I want to tell you how GOOD I feel. I mean, I feel GOOD! I have energy, I wake up early, I'm not groggy all day or grouchy with my kids over homework and dinner. I really do feel good. See look, I'm smiling right now (I really am).

But this diet isn't a Feel Good Program or Let's Make Amber a Nicer Person by Christmas. No! I signed up to lose weight damn it! But wait, or is it...?

I am an emotional eater. I know that, but I don't really know how I know that. I know I'm not eating because I'm hungry. I eat regular healthy meals... and then make brownies after the kids go to bed. I'm not crying while I do it, in fact I'm rather happy thinking how great they will taste. Or when my kids were younger and I would finally get them down for a nap, I'd run downstairs to my pantry and scan it for the highest-sugar/worst-thing-for-me/make-me-forget-the-last-hour snack. Or last year scavenging through my son's Halloween candy, picking out all the mini chocolates, eating them one after the other and hiding the wrappers. So I'm emotional/stress eater, maybe a binge eater to boot.

Not once, not even once, on this plan have I felt that need. The need to eat something sugary or wasteful. To drown out an emotion with food. To punish my body for letting me down, by putting junk into it.

So even though my loss was less than stellar this week, in fact it down right sucked, I still feel GOOD. And I now know feeling good is going to take me to the end and keep me from making poor choices. Those 40lbs do not belong to me any longer and they are going to melt right off and I will not put them back on.

See, I am smiling right now (I really am!)

Imagine Yourself Thin...

Watching a few of Jorge's empowerment videos tonight. He says you should picture yourself at your goal weight and do it in detail. What are you wearing, what does your face look like, you eyes, your overall demeanor?

I always think of myself at age 21 when I think of myself being thin again. But I am not 21 anymore and I need to remind myself of that! I am 40 and a Mother and my body has changed. Let's face it, even 40lbs thinner I won't ever be that girl again!

I don't know why I like these photos of Star Jones. I'm not a black women, was never as large as she got and have never been in a feud with Barbara Walters or Rosie O'Donald. But I love how she looks in these photos. She looks like a smart women. She has curves. A small waist, but hips and a bust. She can wear a belt, and smile while doing it! She looks happy and like she could take on the world. "Move on over, I'm coming through!" Not overtly sexy, but she looks GOOD! Glue my head on this and lighten up the skin, and I want that!

I know, I know! She had gastric bypass and then plastic surgery to put those curves back into place. I know! But still, this is how I picture myself. I'm not going to look like a Victoria's Secret model, so I won't bother putting those pictures up here (Sorry to my few male readers). Maybe I should have loftier goals, I don't know. I'll work on that...

How do you picture yourself when you meet your weightloss goals?

Product Review: Dark Chocolates

 My favorite part of the Belly Fat Cure is that chocolate is included in the plan! I love chocolate, but have never been into Dark Chocolate. I know now that my taste buds were trained to like the super sweet sugars in everything and I could never appreciate the complexities of Dark Chocolate until now! So Im going to review for you some of the Dark Chocolates allowed on Jorge Cruise's Belly Fat Cure that I have sampled.

Be forewarned though, if you are just now eliminating Sugar from your diet, you may not like the taste of Dark Chocolates that do not contain a Sugar substitute. If it tastes bitter, then leave it for awhile and come back to it after another week. Dark Chocolates are meant to be savored and nibbled, not scoffed down like a Snickers Bar. Enjoy!

Green & Black Organic Dark Chocolate 85%:
Where: Whole Foods
Taste: I really like this chocolate. It is not too sweet, but is rich and smooth. Jorge and team mention this bar in one of the first videos and I love that it is organic. It says "12 Pieces per Serving", but those pieces are very small. It is one of my favorites!
S/C: 12 very small pieces are 6/1

The Dark Chocolate Lovers Chocolate Bar:
Where: Trader Joes
Taste: It is very smooth and has a fruity taste. It has three half bars inside. I found this when I got a clerk to help search the store Dark Chocolate low in sugar. She got a Jorge lesson as she helped me look and found this fabulous bar!This is my favorite so far!
S/C: 2/3s of 1 bar is 6/1

Lindt Excellence 85% Cocoa:
Where: Target, Safeway and other stores
Taste: A little bit bitter, but much lower in Sugar and Carbs than the other bars. I think it has about half the Carb, even though the S/C for one Serving is the same. It is widely available, so its easier to find. Don't be discouraged if don't like this bar and think all Dark Chocolate is exactly like this. Also, come back and give it a try after you've been off sugar for a longer time. Your taste buds will adjust and you might find you like it more then! I find it the least indulgent.
S/C: 4 squares are 5/1


Ghiradelli Intense Dark Midnight Reverie 86% Cocao:
Where: Target and other stores
Taste: I did not find this bar bitter, like I expected. It has a complex dark taste and needs a moment to "warm up" in your mouth. It claims to have fruity undertones, but I haven't noticed that. I have only had one square of this bar so far. My husband, who does not need to diet, prefers this one.
S/C: 6/1


Simply Lite Dark Chocolate:
Where: Trader Joes
Taste: This bar is made with Maltitol sweetener and helps give it a much sweeter taste than other Dark Chocolates. Because of that, there is no Sugar to count on the BFC. It tastes more like a lighter Chocolate Bar, or like someone who has never enjoyed Dark Chocolate hopes it would taste! Maltitol can upset your stomach, so if you haven't had it yet, try just a small piece the first time. I hear that Dove also makes a similar SF Dark Chocolate that may be more readily available to those of you without a TJ's near by.
S/C: 0/1

I also noticed that pretty much every one of these had 5Grams of Fiber per serving, which is an added bonus! Enjoy a few squares of Dark Chocolate next time you have a craving!

For Part 2 of my Chocolate Review and EVEN MORE dark chocolates allowed on a low sugar diet plan click HERE!

   

Product Review: Uncle Sam's Cereal

I have learned that getting your Fiber in is really important on any diet, but especially one so low in Carbs. Jorge Cruise recommended a product to us called Uncle Sam's Cereal and Oatmeal. I have not found the oatmeal yet, but my local Trader Joe's and Lucky both had the cereal, so I snapped it up!

This is an easy way to get in your fiber, which in turn gets your system moving and eliminating all that False Belly Fat. This fantastic product has an S/C Value of 0/2 for 3/4 Cup and has 10 Grams of Fiber. This sweeps right through your system and gets you moving. If you are having a problem with constipation or your weight loss has slowed, but sure and find Uncle Sam's Cereal and add it to your daily counts.

Remember, no milk is allowed on the Belly Fat Cure, since it has loads of Sugar. You could have this as a normal cereal with the Unsweetened Almond Milk. I have it dry, a 1/4 Cup once a day. But if I've missed a meal somewhere in the day Ill replace it with a whole serving of 3/4 Cup. You could also have it over the Fage Yogurt or a Protein Shake.

Because if it 0/2, you have to plan for it and make sure you don't go over our Carb count for the day.

Uncle Sam's has a great crunchy taste and contains Whole Grain Wheat Flakes and Flax Seed. I was surprised to find the Flax Seeds in it, since they aren't on the photo on the box, but I love them! The cost was $2.49, which is very reasonable for a cereal.

I have Uncle Sam's Cereal 5 Stars and highly recommend this become a staple product on your Belly Fat Cure diet!

Chocolate and Coffee

This describes my week

Cinnamon Vanilla Shake

Okay, you're on a diet and there is nothing fun or sweet to eat. Right? Wrong! I have been making a variation of this shake for a few weeks and I have grown to really love it! Granted if you were on a high sugar diet yesterday, you may think this is a little dull. But if you are doing the Belly Fat Cure and have been on it for at least a week, you will find this to be the Most Delicious Shake EVER!

Cinnamon Vanilla Shake: 
Put this in your blender and blend until all the ice is crushed:

• 1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder (Make sure to check the Nutritional values and find one that will come out at as S/C 0/0 and does not contain artificial sweetener)
• 1 Cup Vanilla Unsweetened Almond Milk (Unsweetened is the key)
• A few ice cubes (More ice makes it more like Ice Cream, less makes it a creamy drink)
• A shake of Flax Seed Oil (If you dont have this, that is okay, just makes it healthier)
• A few shakes of Cinnamon 

This is such a nice evening snack to have on the days I need it. Sometimes I think all day about this shake!

Do you make a great protein shake too? Leave comments on your concoction to share with others!

Just a Note: Protein powders can be expensive, $20 and up. But remember they make dozens of shakes. They are available everywhere: grocery stores, pharmacies, health food stores, etc. I found mine at RiteAid and they had a sale with lots of selection Buy 1, Get 1 Half Off. So I stocked up a little!

Jorge recommends Jay Robb Whey Protein powder as it uses Stevia. If you know of another brand that uses Stevia, please leave a comment below!

 

Sweet Tooth, What Sweet Tooth?

Today on twitter a friend asked me a question about the Belly Fat Cure. She said "What do you eat to cure your sweet cravings?" And that really got me thinking... What happened to my sweet tooth? I used to have one...

Let me say, just to be clear, I was a total Carbaholic! I sought out sweet things like cookies, Coke Zero, brownies and high carb items. They were my comfort food. I didn't really eat them in the presence of others, I preferred them in private. But I feel those cravings are gone, or at least on their way quickly filing their way out the door of my life.

I know this to be true since my husband is out of town and Im doing even better on the diet this week! Usually I eat like a Frat Boy stuck in a Hostess Cupcake Factory while he is out of town. But not this time! In fact I was relieved to not have to make normal meals each day. I can try some of Jorge's recipes that are simple and eat dinner when I'm hungry instead of when my man manages to make it home.

I asked my sons the other day "Have you noticed Mommy doing anything different lately? Something I used to do and don't now?" And immediately my 7yr old said "You don't drink your Cokes anymore". They notice this, because they beg for them "Please Mommmmmm can I have one too". Id say "No you can't, they are bad for kids". Truth be told, they are bad for us all. I can tell Im setting a better example for them now. So funny how as Mothers we look out for their health, and just ignore out own.

I'm not going to lie, the first week or so doing the Belly Fat Cure I stumbled a bit. Trying to find foods I liked that were allowed and I concentrated too much on trying to replace the foods that I had eliminated. I am in Week 3 now, and feel much more comfortable with the plan and the choices I make. Cravings are gone now. They really are! I don't go to bed hungry and I'm not starving or really denying myself. I am simply making different choices.

To learn more about how artificial sweeteners read my Week 2 Blog Post, the book Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills and of course pre-order Jorge Cruise's book the Belly Fat Cure

Product Review: SoBe Lifewater

I have never been one to consume lots of liquid calories. I never understod why people would drink water that had calories in it or regular soda when you could have diet! I loved the diet soda, especially Coke Zero. But that is a habit I've officially broken and it would be nice to have a fun drink every now and then. On the Belly Fat Cure diet Jorge Cruise recommends SoBe Lifewater 0 Calorie drink.

First, you have to be very cafeful which SoBe drink you choose! I have twice gotten the wrong ones and not all are Belly Fat Cure approved. SoBe Lifewater with PureVia is the one you CAN have. It has a white band around the top and says "0 Calories". It is made by Pepsi and says it is sweetened naturally. Looking at the label it is a S/C of 0/1 per serving and there are 2.5 servings per bottle. But even if you had the whole bottle it is still a 0/1!

The first time I tried it the drink was not cold and it just tasted like very watered down Kool-aide. I was just starting the diet and eliminating sugars and was used to a super sweet tastes. I bought one of each flavor, even flavors I didn't really think I would like and put it away in the refrigerator.

Since then, I grab one if I'll be in the car for long periods and haven't had lunch yet. They take up one of my precious Carb Servings so I don't want to waste those! I have grown to really like these drinks as a special snack! The longer I do the Belly Fat Cure the less sweetener I need to make things taste sweet. (Have you all noticed that too?)


I am not having these with meals or drinking them like water or Gatorade. I usually have half a bottle and save the rest for another day or time. My favorite flavor so far is the Black and Blueberry. Other flavors in the 0 Calorie line include: Yumberry Pomegranate, Fuji Apple Pear, Mango Melon, Acai Fruitpunch.

 I don't taste anything artificial or chemical in it. Just a light sweetness. I found my SoBe Lifewater at Target and they were 10 for $10 on sale. Usually they are more like $1.29. They are also available at Amazon and Costco has them in a large pack with three flavors.

I am giving SoBe Lifewater 0 Calories  5 out of 5 stars! A nice sweet treat when you really need it, available nationwide and fairly low cost.

Tracking Your S/C Values on the Belly Fat Cure

It is very important to track your Sugar and Carb intake, or S/C Values, while doing the Belly Fat Cure diet. The first few days I thought I didn't need to, how hard can this be right? Once I started, of course I was over and forgetting food items and under counting them. I did the Atkins Diet in the past, so I was really familiar with Carb counts and thought this would be easy to remember. But on Atkins your Carbs and Sugar are counted differently (minus Sugar Alcohols from Sugar and subtract Fiber from Carbs) and basically you want to stick to 0 or 20 tops . But the BFC is more generous, so you do need to keep track.

Jorge provides a Tracker that you do on paper (it can be found HERE). Writing it down on paper seems so 20th Century, so I decided to automate mine. I built an Excel spreadsheet that is pretty complex, lots of lookup tables and calculations. I entered in all the foods I eat frequently and their Sugar and Carb servings. Then I made up a weeks worth of columns so I can just start typing the food name and it fills everything in for me and totals up my day so far.

When I come home from shopping, I enter in any new items into my lookup table. If I don't do it right away, I may to lazy to do it later and under count. I also think the BFC is like Atkins where it is very improtant to stick with it and not go over your numbers. You cannot follow the diet all day, and then have a Coke or a Candy Bar. NOT EVEN ONE! It ruins the whole day, possibly the whole week. That was my experience on Atkins, and I believe the BFC is the same way.

On the Belly Fat Cure you can have 15 Grams of Sugar a day. You can also have 6 Servings of Carbohydrates. A Serving is considered 20 Grams. So essentially you can have 120 Grams of Carbs. But you shouldnt do that, you go by servings:

Initially I thought Sugar would be my problem. But once you get the hang of the diet, then Sugar really isnt a problem at all. My Sugars stay really low actually, many times I still have 8 or more left at the end of the day. If I have Greek Yougert or Dark Chocolate then those, so far, are the only food items I have that bring the count up. Carbs are a different matter. I have to keep a close eye on them!

Here is a sample day:

You'll see, Im out of Carbohydrates even though I didn't do anything crazy! I had even made two slices of bread for lunch and decided to leave one off, since I know I always run out. But my total Carbs Grams is only 74.

I would really encourage you to track your meals, in detail with any diet and keep track of what you eat. Its good practice and makes you think about what you are putting in your mouth! You can download and use a copy of the Me & Jorge Tracker HERE.

Product Review: Zevia Cola Root Beer

I am just beginning Week 3 of Jorge Cruise's Belly Fat Cure and wanted to try and add in a few sweet tasting items. Zevia is the only cola that is "officially" BFC approved I've heard Jorge say. That is because it is all natural and is sweetened with Stevia and Erythritol (both natural sweeteners). I think the main reason there are only a few products that use Stevia is because it has only been approved by the FDA for use in the US for less than a year. Count on there being more Stevia sweetened items in time!

I purchased a Six Pack of the Zevia Root Beer at Whole Foods Market. They also carried the flavors called Cola, Orange and Twist. Zevia also makes the flavors Black Cherry and Ginger Ale, but my store did not carry them. I wasnt really interested in the other flavors, so I just got the Root Beer. (Amazon carries all the flavors!)


I like Root Beer, but it can be an acquired taste. It was not overly sweet tasting, but it was not bitter at all either (some think Stevia is bitter). I would say it tasted a lot like Root Beer's I've had a microbreweries. It will be great for a snack in the evenings, when I used to have my Coke Zero. But I'm not looking to "replace" my old habit and don't really want something that I feel the need to have each day. This was a nice, sweet, flavorful cola that I can have a treat every now and then.

I used to have 1-2 Coke Zero's each day, for many years. But have given up that habit on the BFC. Jorge encourages you to give up those artificial sweeteners, along with lots of real sugar, and he has a really good argument! So I did it, cold Turkey! I think Ive been off of artificial sweeteners for 2 full weeks now.

I would give Zevia Root Beer a 4 out of 5 stars! It has 0grams Sugar and 10grams Carbs for an S/C Value of 0/1.

Week 2: Weigh in day

Weight was down 3.5lbs today! I really was shooting for 3lbs, I did great on the diet this week. I finally got my "system moving" again, but not as well as it should be. I can only improve from here! That puts me a 6.5lbs from start of the program. (I also lost 3lbs on my own before the program officially started with the limited information I had on the Belly Fat Cure).

Jorge released our Week 3 menus and materials already and I am really looking forward to tonight's call with him. Im also excited to see if those people who lost large amounts last week did that again. So exciting! If they can do it, I can do it, and if I can do it, you all can do it too!

I did realized after seeing a early release of Jorge Cruise's Belly Fat Cure on one of his videos that the material he is giving us is straight from his book. Just the pages printed.

I hope you all are doing well on your weight loss plans! I'm going to be doing lots of product reviews this week, including Clemmys Ice Cream, Zevia Cola, SoBo, Protein Shakes and taste testing Dark Chocolate Bars.