Another of the most common questions I hear from readers about the Seattle Sutton Healthy Eating plan is about food allergies, especially the use of assorted nuts incorporated into the monthly rotated menus.
As I write this, I've just finished eating my lunch, a delicious Caesar salad, which included a container of slivered almonds to sprinkle on top, along with the included shredded Parmesan cheese.
So, to answer this question, let me begin by saying Seattle Sutton and her gang of food menu planners are fond of using nuts with their recipes.
From almond-coated fish fillets to walnuts in salads and pecans in fruit breads, in addition to many of the breakfast offerings, which include flavored-spreads ranging from hazelnut to peanut butter.
The staff at Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating plan and prepare more than 180,000 meals a week in their corporate kitchens based in Ottawa, Ill -- and that's just for Chicagoland -- in addition to the meals generated from three other facilities around the country. It's easy to see while meals must be kept uniform.
Since I was first selected as one of the contestants for the 2010 Seattle Sutton Slim Down Challenge, I've become quite an expert on their menus.
And remember, our contestant group, spanning all ages, dines on the same 1,200-calorie-a-day meal plan of three fresh-prepared dishes during this 14-week contest period. The two glasses of skim milk that must be added to each day's calorie intake accounts for 200 of the 1,200 allowed calories.
For anyone with dairy allergies, soy milk can be substituted.
The contest concludes on April 5.
Seattle told me her menus and meals are carefully tested to create an ideal nutritional balance to assure a proper diet while improving overall health and, if desired, weight loss.
"I have to say that when we're trying new recipes, we do think of what are the tastes and ingredients that will appeal," Seattle said. "For example, personally, I don't care much for mushrooms, so you won't see a lot of the recipes we served featuring mushrooms."
And the meal formulas certainly seem to work.
This week, I had another three-pound loss, as three of my fellow male contestants also tied me with losing just as much for this week.
For this halfway point of the contest, Tim remains in the lead in total pounds lost to date, having lost 38 pounds. I'm in second with my 35-pound total loss.
But for this contest, remember, the folks at Seattle Sutton are factoring the totals to date for our body weight percentage loss, which reveals Paul is still in the actual contest lead having reduced his overall body weight percentage so far by 16.5 percent. I'm still in second with 15.22 percent and now Tim is at 12.79 percent.
For an update of how all of the contestants are doing and their complete biographies, visit seattlesutton.com
Next week, look for a Sunday etc. cover story about the contest, along with details for making the most of metabolism.
And until then, it's just weight and see...
Phil's Progress
Goal Weight: 178
Starting "weigh-in" weight: 230
Weight as of 2/22/10 Monday weigh-in: 195
This week's loss: 3 pounds
Total loss to date in six weeks: 35 pounds
So Who's in the lead just for Weight Loss at Week 7 of the Contest?
1. Tim Gallivan, 51, Aurora, Ill. - - Start Weight: 297 - - Ideal Weight: 185 - - Weight as of 1/11/10 Monday weigh-in: 287 - - Weight as of 1/18/10 Monday weigh-in: 282 - - Weight as of 1/25/10 Monday weigh-in: 277 - - Weight as of 2/01/10 Monday weigh-in: 273 - - Weight as of 2/08/10 Monday weigh-in: 269- -Weight as of 2/15/10 Monday weigh-in: 262- -Weight as of 2/22/10 Monday weigh-in: 259 --This week's loss: 3 pounds
* Total loss to date: 38 pounds
2. Philip Potempa, 39, Chicago, Ill. - - Start Weight 230 - - Ideal Weight 178 - - Weight as of 1/11/10 Monday weigh-in: 218 - - Weight as of 1/18/10 Monday weigh-in: 212 - - Weight as of 1/25/10 Monday weigh-in: 209 - - Weight as of 2/01/10 Monday weigh-in: 204- -Weight as of 2/08/10 Monday weigh-in: 201- - Weight as of 2/15/10 Monday weigh-in: 198- - Weight as of 2/22/10 Monday weigh-in: 195 --This week's loss: 3 pounds
* Total loss to date: 35 pounds
3. Paul Quaglia, 40, Westmont, Ill. - - Start Weight: 200 - - Ideal Weight: 158 - - Weight as of 1/11/10 Monday weigh-in: 192- - Weight as of 1/18/10 Monday weigh-in: 185 - - Weight as of 1/25/10 Monday weigh-in: 179 - - Weight as of 2/01/10 Monday weigh-in: 176 - - Weight as of 2/08/10 Monday weigh-in: 172.5- -Weight as of 2/15/10 Monday weigh-in: 170 - - Weight as of 2/22/10 Monday weigh-in: 167 --This week's loss: 3 pounds
* Total loss to date: 33 pounds
4. Michael Koch, 41, Spring Grove, Ill. - - Start Weight: 219 - - Ideal Weight: 180 - - Weight as of 1/11/10 Monday weigh-in: 215.5 - - Weight as of 1/18/10 Monday weigh-in: 209.5 - - Weight as of 1/25/10 Monday weigh-in: 207 - - Weight as of 2/01/10 Monday weigh-in: 204 - - Weight as of 2/08/10 Monday weigh-in: 199.5- -Weight as of 2/15/10 Monday weigh-in: 195.5 - - Weight as of 2/22/10 Monday weigh-in: 195 --This week's loss: .5 of a pound
* Total loss to date: 24 pounds
5. Denise Akande, 50, Hazel Crest, Ill..- - Start Weight: 201 - - Ideal Weight: 145 - - Weight as of 1/11/10 Monday weigh-in: 188.5 - - Weight as of 1/18/10 Monday weigh-in: 184.1 - - Weight as of 1/25/10 Monday weigh-in: 184.5 - - Weight as of 2/01/10 Monday weigh-in: 179.9 - - Weight as of 2/08/10 Monday weigh-in: 178.4- -Weight as of 2/15/10 Monday weigh-in: 177.7- - Weight as of 2/22/10 Monday weigh-in: 180.6 --This week's loss: GAIN of +2.9 pounds
* Total loss to date: 20.4 pounds
6. Andrea Lasticly, 46, Flossmoor, Ill. - - Start Weight: 201 - - Ideal Weight: 168 - - Weight as of 1/11/10 Monday weigh-in: 197.8 - - Weight as of 1/18/10 Monday weigh-in: 196.7 - - Weight as of 1/25/10 Monday weigh-in: 194 - - - - Weight as of 2/01/10 Monday weigh-in: 191.8 - - Weight as of 2/08/10 Monday weigh-in: 189.8- -Weight as of 2/15/10 Monday weigh-in: 187 - -Weight as of 2/22/10 Monday weigh-in: 184.7 -- This week's loss: 2.3 pounds
* Total loss to date: 16.3 pounds
7. Linda Russell, 50, Palatine, Ill. - - Start Weight: 155 - - Ideal Weight: 130 - - Weight as of 1/11/10 Monday weigh-in: 152 - - Weight as of 1/18/10 Monday weigh-in: 151.2 - - Weight as of 1/25/10 Monday weigh-in: 148.4 - - Weight as of 2/01/10 Monday weigh-in: 147 - - Weight as of 2/08/10 Monday weigh-in: 143.1- -Weight as of 2/15/10 Monday weigh-in: 139.9 - -Weight as of 2/22/10 Monday weigh-in: 139.2 --This week's loss: .1 of a pound
* Total loss to date: 15.8 pounds
8. Heidi Wolfrom, 23, Chicago - - Start Weight: 187- - Ideal Weight: 140 - - Weight as of 1/11/10 Monday weigh-in: 185 - - Weight as of 1/18/10 Monday weigh-in: 180 - - Weight as of 1/25/10 Monday weigh-in: 179 - - Weight as of 2/01/10 Monday weigh-in: 177.3- -Weight as of 2/08/10 Monday weigh-in: 179- -Weight as of 2/15/10 Monday weigh-in: 175 - - Weight as of 2/22/10 Monday weigh-in: 175 --This week's loss: 0 pounds
* Total loss to date: 12 pounds
9. Donna Nelson, 64, Bloomingdale, Ill. - - Start Weight: 194 - - Ideal Weight: 135 - - Weight as of 1/11/10 Monday weigh-in: 190.6 - - Weight as of 1/18/10 Monday weigh-in: 189.2 - - Weight as of 1/25/10 Monday weigh-in: 188.6 - - Weight as of 2/01/10 Monday weigh-in: 189.2 - - Weight as of 2/08/10 Monday weigh-in: 184.4 - -Weight as of 2/15/10 Monday weigh-in: 182.5 - - Weight as of 2/22/10 Monday weigh-in: 181.8 --This week's loss: .7 of a pound
* Total loss to date: 12.2 pounds
10. Martha Ibarra, 61, Chicago, Ill. - - Start Weight: 215 - - Ideal Weight: 166 - - Weight as of 1/11/10 Monday weigh-in: 214 - - Weight as of 1/18/10 Monday weigh-in: 210 - - Weight as of 1/25/10 Monday weigh-in: 212 - - Weight as of 2/01/10 Monday weigh-in: 209 - - Weight as of 2/08/10 Monday weigh-in: 210 - - Weight as of 2/15/10 Monday weigh-in: 204 - -Weight as of 2/22/10 Monday weigh-in: 204 --This week's loss: 0 pounds
* Total loss to date: 11 pounds
* Check out next week's Update to see how all of the contestants measured up for Week #7 of the Seattle Sutton's 2010 Slim Down Challenge! And remember, the final winners will be determined by total amount of weight lost, based on body weight percentage.
