Ky's Korner

[Kyan]

Hi Lake and Kuki! It sounds like the three of us like the same kind of chicken recipes! I'm going to make that stuffed chicken next week I think. MAYBE this weekend - I'm not sure yet.

It was another good Beachy day. I made turkey stacks for Breakfast - had leftover chicken and creamed spinach for lunch and pork chops, brown rice, sweet potatoes and peas for dinner. I wanted to have something Beachy for dessert but time got away from me and it's now time for bed - I don't like eating that late at night.

There was an interesting interview in the Denver Post this morning about Barry Fey. (Barry Fey is an American rock concert promoter based out of Colorado who is best known for bringing prominent music acts to the United States for the first time.) He was asked to name the thing he loves the most and he said food. In fact he mentioned his love for food repeatedly. Here is are parts of the interview: (BH is the person doing the interviewing.)

Rock 'n' roll impresario Barry Fey says no to drugs, yes to food (Title of the article)

BH: Your weight went up and down.

Fey: I went from 320 to 198 to 312 to 197 to 302. I was actually 165 until I ate lunch one day.

BH: What is it about food with you?

Fey: It tastes good, it doesn't talk back. It used to be the most important thing in my life. I used to go to bed thinking about what I was going to eat in three days.

BH: Who or what's the greatest love of your life?

Fey: No question. Food.

I read that article and thought - OMG I can SOO relate to him! I LOVE food! I think about food all of the time. I don't eat it for comfort or because I am bored or stressed.... I love the different tastes and textures!! I just love to eat! It's hard to learn to eat to live..... rather than to live to eat.

sigh.

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[ladybugmom]

It is wonderful that you feel that way about food. I am a bit of an emotional eater. I swear I need CEA meetings, Cookie Eaters Anonymous, where the cookies addicts go! But there is nothing wrong about just loving the tastes and textures of food. You should. The question is, why do you feel that it is detrimental to you?
I love different foods, and if I do not cook in such a way that I can really enjoy my food, I fall down, hard. I cannot diet, dieting sucks, majorly. Dieting has lousy food, no taste, and no indulgence. Bring on the pizza, cookies, and soda! Bad, I know, but in trying to change how I see food, I have gone from one extreme to another. From dieting and having a very strict beachy menu, losing weight but feeling deprived of the basic pleasure of food, to just trying to enjoy the journey, be positive, and let it come, losing pretty much nothing. I fell down both times, yes, plenty happened in between, but it my approach did not work. I have to enjoy the food, but eat in a balanced way. I have to limit certain intakes, but keep flavor and impact. And, I cannot let that nasty little monster I call a scale determine my day, but, I have to listen to it as well, at least a couple times a week.
Try this, if you want to. Think of what makes you the happiest and most satisfied food wise. What is it? Is it something you consider cheating? Try listing out your cheat foods, convert them, and have them as a standby. I need the ability to have pizza, a burger, fajitas, things like that. But, where pizza used to be the first step off the proverbial diet cliff, I figured out that cauliflower crust pizza, I can pick it up, it tastes good, I get my fix, and feel better about it. Fajitas, I finally figured out that for me, beans cause major cravings, all I want is tortillas and chips to go with it. Got rid of them, and can actually enjoy the meal, even in a restaurant, and not be in agony over the chip basket.

Whoops, sorry, really long post in your journal. I ramble big time!! Shutting up now! Have a great weekend Ky! But have fun with your food, without feeling guilty okay? It's more fun that way.

[Kyan]

Christin!! You can write as much in my journal as you want - I loved reading what you wrote! I thought about what you said... my number one FAVORITE thing in the world (well...food/beverage-wise) is Mr. Pibb/Dr. Pepper - whichever. I LOVE soda! But the caffeine kills me, the sugar kills me - and I think diet soda is bad for you - so that is out. I really don't have any other weakness... I just like to eat TOO much! I hate to feel hungry and I love eating! lol

I loved your ideas about how to have your pizza fix! You mentioned Mexican food - I do like that too, but the majority of it is bad for you. I can't believe how fattening Mexican food is! Actually the Chipotle's are pretty healthy eating - if the calories didn't add up so fast!

This morning was Turkey Stacks.... lunch was leftover dinner from last night... and I ALMOST went out to eat and got Sushi - but managed to force myself to cook instead! I made African Red Bean Stew (a South Beach dish) and roasted Kale. It seemed like everything was against me. I opened up the broccoli to put into the stew - and it was SOOO freezer burned that I had to throw it out. I rummaged through the freezer to see if I had more broccoli - are you kidding? Of course not! I looked over the other (also old ... I mostly use fresh veggies since I started the Beach) veggies in the freezer and decided to use lima beans. That was kind of stupid since there are already two cans of pinto beans in the stew - it's just double beans - but I do like lima beans and it ended up tasting very good! Then my kale was all wilted and limp and gross! I decided to use it anyway... and it tasted pretty good, too. I like roasted kale because it reminds me of potato chips in a way. The stew has peanut butter in it - and who doesn't love peanut butter? Fresh strawberries dipped in dark melted chocolate chips for dessert!

Oh and hey - my weight is still steadily going down! I sure don't LOOK better, though! I need to get my fat little butt cheeks to the GYM! Although it's not my butt that's the problem.. it's the gut! I hate the gym. I think it hates me back.

[Kyan]

Okayyyyy...... not so Beachy of a day. We have an annual tradition every December where my daughter and her husband and I go Christmas shopping for our Christmas family (people who otherwise wouldn't get a Christmas) and we have fish and chips for lunch and we reminisce about our trips to the U.K. where the fish and chips are good in England but Scotland has the best food - including bangers and mash - which is supposed to be a traditional English dish but the Scotts make it so much better! But bangers and mash aren't Beachy either.

We also always get a Starbuck's coffee halfway through our shopping.

At least dinner was good- leftover creamed spinach (South Beach) and African red bean stew.

The shopping was SOO much fun! We had a single mom and her four year old son. We got the mom a bunch of cooking stuff (measuring spoons, spatula, big slotted spoon, cooking gadgets) silverware, nice mixing bowls with covers, a plunger and a nice gift certificate to Target. She ASKED for the cooking utensils and the plunger. We got the little guy a couple of transformer figures, a playdoh set, a set of four Pixar Car puzzles, a basketball and hoop set, a Connect Four game, some nerf disk guns, a NICE winter coat, a batman hat and gloves, a pair of pants, a pair of jeans and an awesome shirt! I think I left out some stuff. We then bought him a coloring book and crayons for Christmas eve - and we also bought each of them a coffee/cocoa mug and some hot chocolate mix with mini-marshmallows for Christmas eve as well. (We do that every year for every family we get!) I also burned four CDs of kid's music for him, since his mother said he loves to dance. A children's Christmas CD, a pirate CD, a jungle CD and a CD filled with songs boys like - monster trucks, super heroes, sports, race cars, train songs, etc. and my daughter is going to sew them some blankets. They give you a strict price limit for your gifts - so that other people don't end up with just a couple of small things and some people get tons of stuff. It's soooo hard to stay under the limit! (And we always end up going over a little!)

Oh - I also bought some junk to put in my kids' stockings. Target has the best stocking stuffers!

[Kyan]

Woohoo!! ::::doing the Snoopy dance::::

So I got up this morning and I was DOWN another half pound!! The scale at the gym gave the exact same reading, so apparently the fish and chips and coffee didn't do any harm! I am soooo psyched.

I did an hour of interval training on the Dreadmill at the gym today. I could hardly walk when it was over... I kind of hobbled and wobbled through the slush and snow to the car to head on home. That gym is sure filled with skinny people! I mean S K I N N Y!!

I made up my menu for the next week... there's going to be some great stuff! Greek Sloppy Joes over orzo with feta, turkey/grape/pistachio salad and apple walnut muffins, a couple of different steak dinners and garlic and thyme chicken. I can't remember what else. Lots of veggie side dishes, too. I LOVE veggies! I can't believe how many people post on the Phase 1 board that they hate vegetables. The only veggie I don't like is okra - and that's probably because I only had it fried. I think I like all of the rest! Oh - I hate canned spinach. Ewwww. Actually I don't really like ANY canned vegetables. But SOME frozen and any fresh - awesome! This week is green and yellow beans with walnuts, summer squash with asiago cheese and pecans, roasted tomatoes, roasted broccoli, sweet potato fries and lots of peppers and onions. Mmmmmm!!

[ladybugmom]

Ew Yuck! Do some people actually eat canned spinach? (Shudders at the thought!) Veggies are so yummy. But so many people only eat canned veg and have never really explored the wide wonderful of veg. Congrats on the half pound!! Very awesome, so is your tradition for a Christmas family and the day that goes with it. I think things like that are important. You are way ahead of me in the menu planning department! I am drawing a complete blank on food. I don't really have to cook for everyone do I? Though I think I need to fix some bruschetta burgers with sweet potato fries soon ! Have fun on your Monday!

[Kyan]

Hey Ladybug! What are bruschette burgers? I've never heard of them! Are they good? I made ground pesto pork burgers stuffed with mozzarella cheese which are great!

I tried to upload a Garfield cartoon today to this journal and finally had to give up. It's just not happening!

OMG I made the BEST bean soup EVER today - from the Super Quick South Beach cookbook. I can't remember the exact name, but it's something like white bean and escarole soup with shaved parmesan. I substituted fresh spinach for the escarole (which I couldn't find!) and it was soooooo good! I will DEFINITELY be making this soup again soon! (Plus I have a huge honking block of parmesan cheese to use up!)

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[ladybugmom]

Bruschetta burgers are really easy. Form your hamburger patties and put them into a hot skillet. Sprinkle the raw side with Italian seasoning and garlic powder. Flip when half done. Season that side, add a slice of provolone, Swiss, or any white cheese, more Italian seasoning, add a couple slices of tomato or a bit of diced tomato, more Italian seasoning. Cover and cook until the hamburger is done. I served it over a bed of greens with a few sweet potato fries. Really yummy!

[Kyan]

Oh that sounds SOOOO good! I am going to have to try those!

I'm really proud of myself! Tonight one of my twins made chocolate chip muffins... and I actually picked one up and almost took it to the table with me... but then I put it back down in the muffin pan. YAY for me! Another totally Beachy day!!

Still need to work on portions, though.


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[lakegran2]

You are doing soooo well,but I know what you mean about portion control
Doesn't the bruchetta burger sounds great ...I have no ground beef but I think I will try it w/ a boca..over spinach mmmmmmm
Thanks ladies

[dene]

Hey Ky,

Congratulations on turning down the muffin. We went out of town overnight Friday for my granddaughter's state gymnastics meet and I was good with my food. Yay. I posted on the BL thread on Friday. I can't believe the finale is Tuesday!

[Kyan]

Hey Dene!

I should check my journal more often - I was surprised to see you here!! I just don't feel that I have anything really newsworthy most of the time!

The finale was great!! I think more people lost weight this season than any other season. I remember some people who looked like they had lost nothing at the finale. Remember those twins - their color was brown. They lost like diddley squat! What an inspiring show, regardless of it's flaws! I wish my ex could get on the show - everyone would love him!! I heard the rules were that you had to have 100 pounds to lose, and I think he weighs about 240-245?? and he's 5' 7" tall - I'm not really sure he has 100 to lose. But he's super friendly - he'd make everyone laugh and smile... he'd cry at all of the right places... and cheat and eat anything he could find in the cupboards. He'd be a hoot at the temptations as he mowed his way through everything there! I like my ex... but they would have to send him home after the first week or two. I can't see him doing ANY of the exercising. Bob would put him on the Dreadmill and he'd keel over after 2 minutes.

As for me, I'm still Beaching along here. I had a major hiccup last week when four chocolate cupcakes with M&Ms on top disappeared and I couldn't find where they went.... it's POSSIBLE they went down my throat but no one can prove anything.....

[dene]

I'm struggling with candy this week. Ugh. Lots of stress, which makes me eat, eat, eat, too. I'll be all right, but I have to keep my eye on the goal and not get sucked under and flounder around like I have been. Nibble, nibble.

My DH walks with me and is at a good weight. I tell him he needs exercise for his heart and stuff, even though his weight is good. He teases me and pretends to yell at me like Bob and I just tell him to forget it, I'm not scared of him. Ha.

[ladybugmom]

Morning! I second the hiccup, GF Oreos. But at lest we are still trucking along right? Enjoy your weekend!

[dini]

Hey there Ky, I know it's been a while since I've been around but wanted to stop in and say Hi! I'm glad you're still at it, you've got more strength than I do!!

I started a new plan yesterday, monitored by a physician, low calorie low carb that was recommended by my OB since we've been TTC for 15 mo now and no success and now I'm having lots of other female issues. It's drastic but maybe that's what I need. Anyway, I am hoping to stop in and post on my journal even though it's a different type of plan because I love the support I get here.

Hope you are having a great holiday season, and I feel ya on the candy thing