Well, here I am in the home stretch of induction. I have to admit that I have nto kept it as "clean" as I could have, yet I still lost weight. I have had very little problem with appetitie: basically, I eat when I am hungry and stop if I am full, and if I am not hungry, I don't eat. There were a couple of times ther where it got really dicey, and I munched-out on cashew nuts just to avoid driving to the store and buying cookie dough and eating it out of the tube!

Throughout the week, I've discovered something about myself...I really, really, REALLY love olives! There is a grocery store by where I work, so I will sometimes peak in there to see what LC yummers I can get, and lo, and behold! There, staring at me from the corner of the deli was an olive bar, stocked full of yummy stuffed olives, olives with chilie flakes, marinated mushrooms, roasted red peppers, real mozzarrella cheese balls...Wow!

I have now been able to enjoy a few olives (usually about 5 or so, with some mozzarrella and a slice of red bell pepper) as a snack, or sometimes as a light lunch. I had forgotten how much I loved olives, b/c I was told to stay away from them when I was on a low fat diet, and get this, to substitute them with pretzels!! Pretzels!! Good Grief...there is nothing in pretzels but...well, carbs and icky fats! How can someone say that a pretzel is better for you than olives?
I will never understand that. But, in the meantime, I will continue to enjoy my olives!

Olives are one of my favorite LC snacks. The gourmet kind from Wild Oats or whole foods. A couple of those big babies and I'm good to go. I also put olives on my salad almost every day--the little stuffed green ones.

Like everything else--don't overdo. But they are legal, tasty, and nutritious.

I find one jumbo black olive will stave off my hunger for 30 minutes, three is good for over one hour good when I get hungry before bedtime.

Yeah, I remember the the advice: "Its better to eat 40 bagels than one large croissant that has 300 calories, 17 grams of fat and 85 milligrams of cholesterol." What they don't say is one large bagel = 3 slices of bread or 300 calories.

I like stuffing a little cream cheese in the jumbo olives. Just a few is all I need. YUM!!!

That sounds GREAT!!! Thanks for the idea!

I like taking kalamata olives and feta and tossing them togehter and then I throw a bunch of garlic, olive oil and greek herbs/spices into the magic bullett and blend really well. After that I warm up a very small pan (single serving egg) and I pour the garlic, evoo spice mixture and let the garlic start to brown (about 3 minutes) and then I pour it over the feta and olive mixture while its still hot and mix it all really well and the feta melts just a tiny bit and it has this great flavor. Its great to eat warm or at room temp. I usually serve it with chicken and mixed greens.

Journey, what a great recipe! I'll have to try it this week.

I do this with feta cheese (or at least I did before I stopped eating dairy all together). Yummy!

Take that olive and feta mix and use it to stuff a boneless chicken breast or thigh- then saute. It is amazing!
I also use spinach, feta and garlic. The olive,feta and garlic is my fav.
E

Queen sized olives stuffed with a clove of garlic. YUMMMY

My hubby makes a dish with the feta and olives. He takes chicken breasts and marinates them in italian dressing (the kind you mix with oil and vinegar yourself) then sautes it along with green and red peppers and onion. Once that is done he tosses in fresh tomato chunks and the olives at the end to warm them a little and sprinkles feta on top. MMmmmm delicious! He used to serve it on a bed of angel hair pasta, now it's a dish all by itself with maybe a salad on the side.
Gosh, I really miss the feta! LOL