Ky's Korner

[Kyan]

Have you ever seen any of those commercials where someone hits themself in the forehead and says, "I could have had a V-8"! I had one of those V-8 moments just now. There I was babbling ad nauseam in the Phase II accountability thread when it occurred to me..."Ky, if you are going to drone on and on about your weight and what you ate and what you like to eat and how you think exercise is a cruel form of bodily torture... shouldn't you be doing that in a journal?" And I replied (ok I didn't reply but I thought to myself).... ".....*.... oh... duh!" The only thing I hate about online journals is that they are forever. And I am known to just type whatever comes into my head whether my mind happens to be empty or full... and surely someday I will roll my eyes and be embarrassed at words on the web that seem to linger forever....

Nevertheless ~ here I am.

I'm Kyan or Ky for short... (female since my name could go either way I guess) I'm divorced but good friends with my ex-husband and I'm forty..er....fortysomething. My philosophy in life has always been "Life is short so enjoy it to the fullest" and for me that meant eating good food! Next to sleeping in on weekends, enjoying tasty treats is the best! I'm lucky to have a good metabolism, and I didn't get overweight until I was on steroids for 11 weeks prior to the birth of my twin sons. (Who were born prematurely at 31 weeks. Now they are almost 15.) When my mum would harp on my weight I would tell her that I could see me denying myself all of the good food and eating celery sticks for months on end and then a bus would plow into me as I was crossing the street and I had wasted that time I could have been enjoying myself! ha ha ha ha!!
(And I was half-serious, too! Dieting and exercising isn't my idea of a good time!)

Sadly, my body betrayed me with cholesterol issues. My good is too low and my bad is too high and if that wasn't bad enough I now have sugar issues! My doctor said I HAD to go on a healthy diet and exercise. My happy-go-lucky carefree and fun days were drawing to a close... and that exercise treadmill loomed dangerously close. I had no choice. I had a huge last meal on Sunday night and the next day (February 23rd to be exact) my new life began. And you know what? That phase I wasn't really that hard! And some of the recipes are terrific! (And some are gawdawful!) And I am surviving the exercising, somehow! And I've lost 10 pounds! And it's been an adventure so far.

Since this is not a diet but a lifestyle change for me, I think I am here for life. It helps that my dad went onto South Beach first for his diabetis, and my daughter and her husband are also eating the South Beach way. Our Easter dinner is going to be entirely from South Beach cookbooks except for the honey ham from Hickory Farms. It is our one "splurge"!

My goal is to lose 12 more pounds I think. I'm not sure I can do it, I think my body will decide a little heavier is better, but we shall see.

Some things I have learned so far....

1. Never trust other people's scales. They are evil. Don't even step foot on them.

2. Make your doctor's appointments for early in the morning and wear the lightest clothes you can. The doctor's scales are even more wicked and evil than other people's scales. I think they set doctor's scales to read 10 pounds heavier than you actually are. But that's just my two cents....

3. You can never have too much fresh spinach or cauliflower or tomatoes or red/yellow/green peppers in the fridge or too many onions on the counter.

4. You CAN put too much red pepper flakes on roasted cauliflower.

5. There aren't enough dark chocolate soynuts in those little dinky packages that South Beach makes. These soynuts should be a daily dietry requirement. Last but not least ~ it doesn't make many of those little yummy things to equal 100 calories!
The chocolate raspberry bars are awesome too......

6. Certain ingredients for South Beach recipes are a booger to find!

7. Over 93% of food items at the grocery store are off-limits to someone on the South Beach diet. Especially fast and convenient foods. Did you ever realize how much of our (U.S.) food is BAD for us? wow.

8. It's not much fun eating out anymore. Well... technically the only place I have eaten at since being on the diet is Tokyo Joes. Oh - and Panda Express once, without the rice or noodles. But when you think about going out to eat, you realize that you don't know how they prepare the food or what they put into the food.

9. It's very hard to run errands and be out and about on a Saturday without wanting to buy a goodie somewhere.

10. You think about food a LOT when you are on the South Beach diet.

[wendyaj]

Hey Ky! Welcome to the journaling, but please don't stop raving on the P2 thread! We welcome all fellow slightly-crazed-SB'ers, lol!
It is so good that you have lots of family support, which will definitely come in handy for those family holiday dinners. You will have to let us know how things go.
totally agree with #7... It's practically impossible to find packaged foods that you can eat. which I guess is kinda the point, we are all healthier for it, but sometimes I do feel like I am scanning through cookbooks or magazines and only looking for potatoes (NO), pasta (NO), rice (NO), and cooking time (SHORT). It's been quite the learning experience and there are whole aisles I just have given up on.
What kind of exercise are you doing? I really hope that you can find something that you actually like to do, instead of having to force yourself to do. Is it getting any more fun? Funner? whatever?

[loserwant2b]

Wouldn't it be great if there was a South Beach restaurant! (I've actually thought about it - I'd call it "The Beach House" and have quick fast foods and nice formal dinners - but you need Money to do that stuff! Hmmm wonder if South Beach would sponser it??)

Hi Ky - welcome to Journalling. Rant on - and on - forever or not. We love it! (BTW - you can edit your own posts anytime! )

On your things learned list - I recognize #1 , I laughed at #4 because I remembered reading it 'over there'. And the rest are all too true and way too funny!

Looking forward to watching your journey

[Kyan]

Blackberry Banana Breakfast Smoothie.

That was on the menu for breakfast this morning. Fresh blackberries and bananas... wheat germ...and plain yogurt. (And a tablespoon of Splenda). The plain yogurt was actually GOOD in this smoothie. Here I said I would never like plain yogurt - and I did! I made half a batch and it didn't quite come to the top of my glass. I drink it down.. and liked it a LOT... except for the few blackberry seeds I spit out. I look at the calories even though I don't count them.

100.

Hmmm. OK, I can live with 200 calories - if I make up the other half of the recipe. So I make myself another blackberry smoothie and chug it down. THEN and ONLY then do I notice that the recipe says it makes FOUR servings and it's 100 calories per serving. :::Thud::: I ate 400 freaking calories for breakfast in two glasses of smoothie? That really stinks.

Not to mention that after a little bit I feel OVER full. I skip morning snack.

Lunch was BBQ beef/pork both - all SB allowed - with coleslaw on top. (Bunless). Awesome, by the way. I forgot to eat afternoon snack.

Dinner will be Moroccan chicken (and it smells AWESOME), long grain and wild rice, and Edamame with scallions and sesame - the Edamame recipe is from the Orange SB cookbook. The morning smoothie was from the Summer SB cookbook. (I have all of the SB cookbooks.)

Wendy - you asked what I do for exercise. What is this word, "exercise?" It sounds evil.
Seriously... maybe if I get an IPOD it will go better. There is nothing worse than trudging on a treadmill at a Rec center in dead silence watching a person walk by now and then...zz..z..z.z..z...z..snore....
I wipe sweat off of my forehead and read the digital numbers in front of me for excitement and tell myself "OK Ky, you are a third of the way through so far..."

Howeversome...!! I've been reading journals and seeing what some people are doing - the TRAMP workout? How freaking fun does THAT sound? And I used to like Aerobics about 20 some years ago! I just need to find some classes to attend I guess. Only... I HATE going into a class where I can't do anything yet because I am new and all these skinny little women who never had kids can get through an entire routine without hardly breaking a sweat. I want to slink back out the door and never come back!
I will work on this. Maybe the accountability thread would be a good place to confess how exercise-challenged I ~ might POSSIBLY...PERHAPS.... MAYBE... .... (OK, am!)


2B - I LOVE your idea of a South Beach restaurant! How cool is that? Sadly, the majority of people out there aren't enlightened like we are, and they prefer to eat chemicals and bad fat and sugar. It would be hard to compete with an Outback or LoneStar.

That is one thing that bothers me about restaurants. You don't know what fat they use to cook their food in or WHAT they put into their food. I looked up Boston Market and it said they do not use trans fats in NEW YORK. I guess we have to assume they do in the rest of U.S.?? How sad is that?
Not that it matters. There isn't a lot we can eat there, anyway.

[Kyan]

I should have taken the user name "Munching Maniac". Then I could call my journal "The Munching Maniac's Mumblings"! ha ha

I wish someone could explain to me how people can eat those miniscule helpings and not be hungry.
I'm starving! I make the recipes in the South Beach cookbooks and they SAY they make four servings....:::::snort:::::: Yeah right!

Breakfast was fine. Two paper thin slices of canadian bacon and one egg over medium. 6 oz of V-8 and a large glass of water. With a vitamin for dessert. My grocery store was out of my usual brand of canadian bacon so I bought the store brand stuff. NICE quality and very tasty - but like I said, thin thin thin!

I made it until snack time easily - one lf string cheese. The low fat string cheese is 10 times better than the full fat stuff!

Then at lunch I ate most of a chicken breast (Moroccan chicken, left over from last night!) and about 3 tablespoons of wild rice and a nice big helping of edamames with scallions and sesame. I was still hungry so I made myself a salad with spinach leaves, some plum tomato slices and some pine nuts. Balsamic vinegar dressing - only a little. Then I made myself a second spinach salad exactly the same as the first. And I made sure I picked every little pine nut and tomato speck and lettuce bit out of the bowl. That's so sad when you are practically licking your dishes off to get the last bit! I swear I ate every grain of rice from my plate both last night and today!

Then I was starving at snack time so I ate two Kavla crisps spread with natural peanut butter and about a quarter of a granny smith apple on each crisp.

Then I was starving at dinner time so it was SUSHI and spring rolls in peanut sauce and edamames. Hey, if everyone else I know on this forum is going to cheat, I'm going to have my day in the sun! It was AWESOME and I only feel a little bit guilty.

I also ate a chocolate covered soynut pack and a chocolate raspberry covered bar - both South Beach.

Tomorrow I will weigh 2 pounds more and I will hate myself.

My exercising today - I walked from the parking lot into Tokyo Joes and then back out to the car again. I also went up and down the basement stairs about..um... maybe 9 times during the day.

My stomach hurts.

As Scarlet O'hara once said..."After all, tomorrow is another day!"

[GrammaKD]

Ky,
This journey is gonna be just too much fun! Your list is hilarious, I so identify with most of your points and the restaurant idea...if anyone lives in a big city I just bet a SB-friendly joint would make it. Thing is, many who know nothing of SB or any diet for that matter but really want to eat more healthy would try it, like it and tell others....the snowball effect, right? After all, we'd only make the good recipes, not the gawdawful ones you so lovingly mentioned!! OK...so who's going to go for the small business loan and where's the location of the soon-to-be Beach House? I'm selling up and moving there, pronto and hey! I'm a great cook and may even apply to work for ya Waiting tables...not! Need a younger gal for that, better yet, let the men serve us, right!

Well, welcome aboard; write your little heart out and yes, the edit button's there anytime you feel the need! Keeps us from making a complete ________ (you fill in the blank) out of ourselves Nice feature, huh!!? Will ck in on you soon. And seriously, I believe God's gonna bless your efforts to please your Mum by losing weight....bad me, I gotta straighten up soon. Giggling my way outta here, GrammaKD aka Kathy

[Kyan]

Last night I had a great surprise! A really nice pm in my SB mailbox! You can never have too much encouragement and NEVER have too many SB friends!


I almost didn't write in my journal today. I really don't want to put into writing...er...typing... when I stumble. Oh I don't mind falling on my face now and then... but two nights in a row is rather weak and pathetic. So with flat nose (from falling onto said face) I sit here writing with shamed face how I cheated yet again.

The morning started out promising enough. Two slices of thin thin canadian bacon and two eggs over medium. A string cheese, 2 ounces of V-8. I was in a hurry this morning as I had an important appointment clear across the world and very little time to get there. I didn't want to drink too much because my bladder is the size of a soybean. Hence the 2 ounces of liquid. That was to wash down the eggs. I really make terrible over-medium eggs. I usually break the yoke and they always end up kind of dry.

Lunch was an adventure. Black soybean tostadas with goat cheese. It was from the Quick South Beach cookbook and of course was phase II. The ww tortillas kind of got over crispy in the oven, but it was still edible. I got the bright idea to use spinach leaves instead of lettuce, and although my daughter loved these things, I can only say they were "ok". I might make them again someday. Dessert was a SB chocolate covered soybean package.

My kids made chocolate cupcakes today, and stuck jelly beans on top of the icing. I didn't eat a single cupcake and I didn't sample a single jelly bean. I thought I was doing ok until dinner time arrived and I realized I didn't have a single thing in my kitchen to make a quick dinner. Meat was all frozen solid, no head of cauliflower to make a soup with, nothing yummy to put into a salad, not even a tomato.

My ex-husband took the boys to baseball practice (they make up a third of the team, ha ha!) and when he brought them home I offered to take them to get some take-out. The boys and their dud all got Panda and I had Tokyo Joes again. Sushi, spring rolls and edamame. I shared quite a bit of my sushi though, so at least I ate less than last night! Then I had a chocolate raspberry bar (SB) for dessert.

I'm kind of depressed, so maybe that is why I am sabotaging myself. Tonight I just don't care.

[GrammaKD]

Ok Lady Ky, I have this thought to share---This new way of living (eating, planning, etc) will not be rushed simply because we demand it.

You know the program, you have the tools to live it and you ARE. A slip isn't the end of your world, its a slip, nothing else. Be kind to yourself BUT not enabling. Do all you know to do to make this work---plan ahead according to your family's schedules, shop ahead so as to have quick ingredients to throw together, and try hard to carve out some down time for yourself to think, regroup and be you. We play so many roles in life that sometimes, we never getta be our real selves. Our real self is who needs this SB program so don't allow your life to be so busy that you're filling everyone else's expectations and not taking care of you...the lovable, fabulous, magnificent Lady Kyan!

Now, say, I DO CARE, I DO CARE, and I LOVE MYSELF enough to CARE DEEPLY. Here's a huge bear hug and a special prayer. GrammaKD

[Kyan]

Aw, thanks Gramma!!

I'm on SB for life since this isn't just a diet for me. I won't give up. I just get discouraged!

[Kyan]

What a Beach of a South diet day!!

It started with breakfast. I was going to have oatmeal because I am tired of canadian bacon and eggs but then I realized I was having bread for lunch and noodles for dinner ~ having cereal for breakfast is way too much. I know me, I would gain 3 pounds.

So I sliced some garlic and browned it with some pine nuts, tossed in some spinach leaves until they wilted and then ate two poached eggs on top. Er.... I cook poached eggs with every bit as much talent as I cook over-medium eggs. I ended up with two egg yolks surrounded by a little white. All of the rest of the whites foamed up in the water. I added vinegar to the water too... and slid the eggs in one by one from a bowl.... whatever. How freaking hard is it to cook EGGS??? I am egg-challenged. Anyway, the breakfast was good, and I had a big glass of water. And a vitamin for dessert.

Morning snack was a low fat string cheese. I like those things.

But lunch.... ugh. I made cream cheese and cucumber and watercress sandwiches on multi-grain bread. I even cut the crusts off since I am not crazy about bread even when it's Wonder bread or other nasty stuff like that. I had to choke it down with lots of water and then I was still hungry. There is NO WAY I am going to gain more tonnage by eating something I didn't even like in the first place, so a second sandwich was out! I made a salad instead.

An hour later I was literally STARVING!! I ate a chocolate raspberry bar and felt a little sorry for myself.

I LOVE food. I LOVE to eat. To me, a happy life is filled with lots of good food. This food I am eating lately is not very good or fun. I want fun. (Well... the chocolate raspberry bars and chocolate covered soynuts are definitely fun!) But the black soybean tostadas (oh please! How could anyone call a whole wheat tortilla a "tostada"?) with goat cheese and the cucumber and cress sandwiches and hot tofu scramble and some of the other stuff is not making my taste buds scream "Whooopieee!"

During my pity party this afternoon I gave this whole SB thing a lot of thought. I am not quitting, so that wasn't the issue. I came to the most amazing conclusion.....

I asked myself - "If you could eat ANYTHING you wanted right this minute - what would you have? What do you miss?" And you know, I don't miss anything, really! I couldn't think of a single food I wanted to eat that I am not allowed to have.

IN FACT..... those chocolate cupcakes from yesterday were sitting on a dish on the counter all day long, and I wasn't tempted for one second.

Then really... I guess it's just a matter of wading through all kinds of recipes until I can come up with a nice collection that I DO like!

So, having survived this beach of a day, I came to dinner. On the menu was peanut chicken with noodles. The noodles are Soba noodles, which are made of wheat. See my thoughts on bread above, to find out my affinity for wheat. Not to mention the problem with the natural peanut butter. The recipe calls for 1/3rd cup of it. So you chisel it out and cram in into a measuring cup.... then scrape it out into the bowl where it sits in a big mound of peanut... stuff. And the recipe says whisk it with the other ingredients. So I am whisking away in a frenzy so that I might somehow turn this gob of peanut butter sitting in rice vinegar and other oils into a smooth mixture when I suddenly realize - "HEY! This may very well count as my exercise today!!" At least my arms got a workout! And when my mood brightened up, the peanut butter smoothed out... and all was well.

I learned that one package of Soba noodles makes a whole lotta noodle!! Next time I will only cook a bit of the package.

And as for the dinner? It was GREAT!!! This recipe came from the Quick South Beach cookbook. I will definitely make it again! It was EASY too!

Drawback? As usual, Dr. A. THINKS his recipes feed four people, and that is definitely hilarious. I barely have enough left over for lunch tomorrow.

I was going to abstain, but the dark chocolate covered soynuts are calling my name.

Oh yeah.... and I weigh a pound more. I now weigh 3 pounds more than I did on Sunday. Bah! Maybe my eyes were blurred from sleeping in or something and I read the scale wrong. That happens.

[GrammaKD]

Hey Ky, Your day wasn't too bad, over all. I've said it a lot because for me, it's true--I have to have variety in this new WOE and I do spend quite a lot of time searching out recipes online. I just posted next wk's menu w/ ingredients if you'd like to have a peek. Maybe you'll see something there that tempts your taste buds. What type foods (meats, veggies, etc) do you like best? What foods/flavors do you NOT like? I'll ck thru some of my recipes and see if I can come up with anything that might help you out. I'm not working outside the home anymore (exc when we have DJ and that's WORK inside the home!!) so could make time to locate some dishes for you to try, if you like.

Hope your Saturday brings you something SB yummy to munch on, GrammaKD

[Kyan]

Hey, THANKS Gramma!!

My problem isn't having enough new recipes to try... it's just a matter of weeding through them and keeping what I like and tossing what I don't. So much of this is new to me. I had never tried asiago cheese or goat cheese before. Never had black soybeans or soba noodles or Kavla crisps. I read a recipe and it sounds pretty good so I give it a whirl - and I either love it or hurl!

[GrammaKD]

LOL on your hurling or loving the new recipes! I posted this on my journal and then thought I'd better repost here; thought you'd get to it quicker.



Ky, I do peel the sweet potatoes and can imagine the peel getting 'stuck' on the way down Not a good feeling but yes, they're delicious. Makes me feel like I'm cheating!!

Easter Sunday---dd and I have planned something totally different than my other 50+ yrs' Easter dinners. We're having Chicken Marinara w/spinach cheese tortelini (?), roast asparagus & yellow peppers and an orange mousse for dessert. Healthy and tasty, at least it sounds so as of right now. Of course, dh is getting a big Dove chocolate bunny in his basket which stinks of fabulous genes. Seems he can eat all those extras and still stay normal wgt. He loves SB though and how he feels eating the foods I've been making these last months. I'm way-blessed to have his support AND his liking the foods; I don't have to make two dinners like some do.

God's taken care of the 'loop' I was thrown. So glad; I don't like feeling the feelings that washed over me today. Wore me out! Have a super-Saturday!

[loserwant2b]

You know Ky - I have SOOOO much fun reading your journal. You are truly talented at creative writing. (BTW So are you Gramma!)

Anyway - a couple things from up in the journal - #1 - what is the TRAMP workout?? #2 the "Munching Maniac's Mumblings" is equivilent to M & M's - not south beach allowed - but funny as H - E double toothpicks.

On the Peanut Butter battle. When you first buy the peanut butter - heat the jar in a pot of water that you brought to a boil. (Place jar in pot after off burner) Wait about 30 minutes and shake vigorously. Then open and stir (I use the handle side of a wooden spoon). Once thoroughly mixed - store in the fridge. When needing to measure - use a LARGE measuring device. (A four cup measuring pitcher works) Fill with COLD water - add a few ice cubes if needed and let sit a few minutes -then remove cubes and drain to a 2 cup level. Scoop out small globs of PB and drop into water until the water level reaches the appropriate level when the PB globs are submerged (need 1/2 cup PB - water at 2-1/2 cups) The oil in the PB will keep the water from penetrating and you can dab the droplets with a corner of a paper towel if it'll affect the recipe.

[Kyan]

2B - it sounds like good peanut butter advice, but I can't do that with my peanut butter. The peanut butter I buy is simply ground peanuts put into a thin plastic tub the size of a cool whip container. Because it is nothing but peanuts, it doesn't get the plethora of oil that other natural peanut butters do, but it's still as hard as heck to dig out of the tub and spread.

When I used to measure out the old nasty kind of peanut butter (that tastes so good!) I would use my Wonder Cup from ... oh hell.... who is that home sales group that sells kitchen stuff.. mostly pizza stones? I can't think of their name. And also, doesn't "Wonder Cup" sound like a bra? But it worked great to measure crisco and peanut butter and mayo and stuff like that.

My problem wasn't measuring the goop, it was getting it to smooth out in the recipe.

Hey 2Be, you have got to try this recipe, if you like peanut butter and noodles and cabbage and stuff. It was terrific!!! Let me know, I will copy it for you if you want to try it.

ALSO....... :::::DRUM ROLL:::::: I just weighed myself and I am back DOWN 2 1/2 pounds! So now I am only a half pound more than I weighed on Sunday! YAHOO!! I wonder if the sodium in the Tokyo food caused that problem just like the sodium in the Mexican food made Gramma blow up?

unless Gramma's problem was just gas and she deflated..