String cheese for weight loss.

[LaoTzuMindFu]

Originally Posted by haggardhouseelf

As long as it is organic... I avoid dairy products that have the growth hormones and nasties in them.

Exactly. That is why I only drink Alta Dena milk.

[AnonChick]

The only way you can be assured that your milk won't have rGBH from an injection to the cow, is if you know the farmer personally, or own the cow yourself.

There is no difference in chemical composition between injected rGBH and the rGBH produced naturally by the cow. There is no elevated amount in the milk of a cow injected, compared to the milk of a cow not injected, so you can't even go by "if there's more than there should be, it must be injected stuff."

The certifications have no legal meaning in the USA; anyone can certify that their cows don't have injected rGBH, including farmers who -do- inject their cows with it. And any dairy cooperative can claim that they have only accepted milk from individual dairies that have certified their cows were not injected.

But a cooperative gets their milk from several dairies, and they are all delivered into huge vats, where they are then processed into the finished product (whole milk, skim, ice cream, ice milk, etc. etc. etc.)

If one cow, at one of those individual dairies, was injected, and then milked, and that one cow was one among 50 that were milked for one batch, and there were 5 other dairies that mixed THEIR milk into the cooperative, and each of -those- dairies had 50 cows that were milked, and NONE of them injected their cows...

then the ENTIRE BATCH would be "injected with rGBH." And there exists no test to tell the difference.

I know this, because I used to work for a dairy, when Monsanto first came up with the whole rGBH thing. It was a huge mess, and we had to study the independent research -and- the press releases from Monsanto, -and- the laws, -and- the FDA dairy subsidy code, -and- the veterinary reports, -and- a whole mess of other stuff that came in almost on an hourly basis for weeks.

And still, our competitor insisted on telling people they were able to assure their customers that their milk didn't come from "tainted cows." When in fact, there was absolutely, positively, unequivicably *zero* method for them to know this. They had no way of knowing. Those certifications were worth no more than the paper they were photocopied on. They were totally meaningless because there was no way to prove that the farmers who issued them were telling the truth.

Oh and btw - our competitor, the ones who advertised their milk didn't come from injected cows? They got their milk from the same cooperative we got them from. We refused to make such a claim, because we knew there was no way to tell, and integrity was more important to us than outselling the competitor. Both dairies still exist, both thrive. And both still get their milk from the same cooperatives. The only difference, is that one insists their milk doesn't have any rGBH. The other doesn't make any claims, because there are no truthful claims to make.

[70Ford]

Eat a salad at every meal, even breakfast, if you can. Eat some kind of vegetable. It will keep you regular.
Brush your teeth before you eat. I've tried this. It works. I's horrible, but it works.
Drink a thimble of vinegar if you get hungry. It's a taste sensation.
Or bite a lemon or lime wedge. I usually just eat the whole lemon. Then again, I like lemons.
Protein with every meal can keep you satiated.
Eliminate anything that is processed, as much as possible. In fact, elminate most every carb that is white. Potatoes are Ok with the skin on. Lots of nutrients there.
Some people swear by soups. Soups last about 30 minutes with me - unless they are cream soups, which are basically a no-no. I'd rather eat a boiled/broiled chicken leg and a salad, than soup. Soups usually have a lot of sodium, too.

I personally hate air popped popcorn and can barely eat cottage cheese. I mean, I can eat it. I don't enjoy it. Like those rice cracker diet things. Same for grapefruit. It's tasty, but It's not a lifestyle choice. Ick. Skip the grapefruit and eat some watermelon, cantaloupe or kiwis or something.

Everything is Ok in moderation. A bag of Chips Ahoy! is not moderation.
One cookie won't kill you though.

I once lost 45 lbs in 3 months by just eating:
1 cup of raisin bran and 1/2 cup of milk for breakfast
2 chicken legs or thighs for lunch with a diet soft drink
Some type of boiled/broiled/grilled meat for dinner or beans, with all the salad I wanted with vinegar as dressing. No oil, just vinegar. Maybe a little salt and pepper. I also substituted chunks of brocooli or califlower for the salad from time to time. The salad was all veggie, by the way. Anything that ain't a veggie or (light) fruit doesn't belong in there. Like cheese or ham or croutons.
I ate about 1200- 1400 calories a day. Maybe. This probably wasn't the safest diet on the planet. Sure worked, though.

If you get hungry in between, drink a big glass of water.

I exercised - ran 2 days a week - sprints for ~ 50 minutes - til I puked, sometimes.... and lifted weights 2 days a week.

Those were my "tricks."

[tigerlillydownunder]

I think a stick of string cheese is alright. One stick is pretty satisfying, for me. It's hard to find organic ones though, ive never seen them at a supermarket, only at the farmers market/organic food shops. They go quickly.

Regarding soup, I find that on it's own it doesn't have much staying power, but if I combine it with salad with some chicken or boiled egg it lasts a lot longer. I don't avoid cream soups per se, but I don't add thickened. I've recently excluded all grains from my diet to see if I could ease some of the general blegh that I feel. Still in the trial phase though so the jury is out.

I advocate eating organic as often as possible, which either means growing it yourself, traveling further to buy from farmers markets, or paying higher prices at the supermarkets (but even then I don't trust a label that says it's organic. For starters, no proof, and then it's usually packaged in plastic and/or styrofoam. I fear leaching.). Organic probably won't do anything to facilitate weight loss, but the foods taste better and are better for you. None of that GM crap will ever pass my lips willingly.

[Opsimathia]

Here is a good recipe to use string cheese. You can make it for 1 (if you break it down) or 4, about 160 cals per serving:

Tomato Basil and String Cheese Salad with Balsamic Dressing Recipe

I would cut the olive oil and just use the vinegar unless you need more fat in your day and the fat helps you stay full. Just cutting out the olive oil saves about 240 calories off the recipe. That cuts the serving down to 100 calories each.

I use garlic from the jar, sometimes skip the onion. You can also just have it be super easy and have tomato + cheese + vinegar + italian Mrs.Dash. Just let it soak in the fridge for awhile like you would any pasta salad. (about 30 min or more, it keeps a couple days well)