Burdle the Bean Queen is back

[Burdle]

Hi. I'm back on SouthBeach Diet. I was on it in 2004 and lost 60 lbs...then my husband got very sick and spent 6 weeks in the hospital, I lived in his room and the hospital food and stress were terrible for me, I had to go off SBD or starve. The first year during and after his hospitilization, I gained back 20 lbs. Since then I've gained back another 10, so today is my first day back on SBD. I'm vegan and I have very severe food allergies, so being back on SBD limits my limited diet even further. My allergies (and life) effect my skin and brain function, so life isn't easy. I'm home all day and I believe I gained back the last 10 lbs. from eating corn, mostly popcorn. I have only 2 grains I can eat, brown rice and corn, so now I'm down to just brown rice. I can also eat quinoa (a seed, not a grain), and I have limited veggies and fruit. I'm 62 years old, and my cholesterol and triglycerides are up from eating dairy last year when I had severe stomach problems. I stopped dairy last month. Fortunately, those problems are gone because of an Australian allergy treatment I've been doing since last January. I still have many veggies and fruits to be treated for, so I'm hoping soon to be able to eat a wider variety. No, I don't live in Australia, I'm in the USA. I'm still eating my world famous (LOL) pizza beans daily with no ill effects. Many years ago I worked in healthfood stores for 8 years, and because of my allergies have learned alot about health and survival. The good news: my husband is still around looking forward to retiring in a few years. I expect to slowly lose weight on SBD since I can't do Phase 1. I am starting on Phase 2, as I did the first time I was on SBD. I'm off now to see my doctor for treatment of berries, I haven't been able to eat them for about 2 years, so I hopefully will be able to again. Frozen raspberries and blackberries were my fruits of choice on SBD. I'm sure there are very few SBD'ers left on this forum from when I was on in 2004, so I'm hoping to make some new friends and learn about the changes to SBD over the past several years. Burdle the Bean Queen

[Magna]

Welcome back! Your bean recipes are still in use as a valuable resource. All the best as you continue your SBD journey!

[Burdle]

Today is one week back on SBD and I'm down 3.8 lbs., mostly around my middle. I'm pleased with my progress. I didn't expect to lose much more than this by starting on P2. My expectations aren't too high for the next several weeks, I expect to lose 1-2 lbs. a week at most. I'm hoping to lose a bit slower this time around than I did my first time on SBD, I had lost 50 lbs.then in about 8 months. I didn't look too well when I neared my goal, too much s/f candy, I was gray and pasty looking and my family kept telling me to gain some weight back. This time around, no s/f candy, no s/f anything. I don't do well with artificial sweeteners and I don't like stevia. I have 1/2 tsp. agave a day by eating one of my almond agave cookies. Altho I could eat more and still follow the guidelines because the cookies are so small, I'm not doing too well with nuts, I have a virus that feeds on nuts, so I learned early last week that I can only eat a small amount every day, and almonds seem to be the best for me. The virus causes depression, and it difficult to stick to SBD if I'm depressed. My hunger has dropped off greatly, day 1 I wasn't hungry at all, ate lunch 2 hours later than usual. Day 2 I started getting a bit hungrier. I am only having one snack a day mid afternoon, my diet isn't varried enough to have another, so it is usually some fruit and the one almond cookie. My dessert at night is usually a piece of fruit. I am eating 3 servings a day of fruit, 2 of brown rice, and the rest veggies besides the one almond cookie. I frequently make a small pot of veggie soup which seems to be more satisfying than 1/2 c. of rice and a pile of veggies, I have that for dinner. I keep organic frozen veggies around which work well for making a quick pot of soup. I also have been making my pizza beans out of frozen baby lima beans instead of dried limas, less starchy and I tolerate them better than dried beans. I put one serving of those in my soup. Lunch is usually a big bowl of veggies with 1 or so ounces of rice cheese and a piece of fruit. I had quinoa twice this past week, too. I have pizza beans or frozen peas once a day, usually at dinner. Breakfast is a serving of brown rice and some berries, frozen strawberries or raspberries with a small amount of unsweetened rice milk. I've been weighing myself every day, altho I know it is not recommended. If I don't I lose my focus. I have, however, only been writing it down once a week (LOL).
I'm planning on posting my journal once a week to keep me focused on SBD.
Burdle the Bean Queen
150.2/146.8/120

[Burdle]

Today is the beggining of week 3 for me, and I can't believe I plateaued on week two, but not surprising with the holiday weekend. I only ate SBD safe foods, but I ate too much fruit, and I made peanut agave cookies on Saturday and ate twice as many as I should have. We received a box of Harry & David pears as a gift, and I ate 3 of them this past week, and they were giant pears and oh, so delicious! Over the past 2 weeks I ate out in restaurants 3 times and had a family party yesterday with all kinds of unfriendly foods, and I didn't eat any of them, so overall, I think I did well. At one point during this past week, I was down a half a pound more than I am now, but I started a new probiotic on Friday, and I'm not sure how well I'm doing on it, so that could cause a slight gain...or just too many yummy peanut cookies I'm not downhearted, just a tiny bit disappointed. I plan on doing better this week, for sure!
Burdle the Bean Queen
150.2/146/2/120 and counting...

[Burdle]

I'm a little less disappointed today. I'm down 1 lb. I was so very careful Sunday and yesterday, with success. I even ate out yesterday lunch, just ate veggies and a little fruit, buffets are rough on me since I don't eat any animal protein, and they certainly don't serve plain beans or brown rice. The rice was white, and the beans were either high sugar baked beans or high salt spiced beans, and I don't tolerate salt very well. I did take a piece of apple pie and ate no crust or the tickened sauce around the apples, just the cooked apples. I'm sure they had a bit of added sugar, but not much, they were tart apples. The only fresh fruit was canteloupe, honeydew, both hard like hockey pucks, or strawberries that were mushy. Sunday was rough because of all the desserts at my brother's house. I helped plate the desserts and didn't even lick my fingers! Hurray for me!!! Not one crumb passed these lips. I have to bring with my own food when I eat there, his family are heavy meat eaters, and other than green salad and green beans, not much for me. I discovered this weekend that the taste of peanut butter lasts 2 hours in my mouth and makes me feel like I've eaten much more than I really have, so 1 tsp. on the tongue is all I need, maybe twice a day. Previously, I couldn't have it in the house, I would eat it with a spoon right out of the jar and eat way too much. Changing my bad habits is so important to me. In the middle of the afternoon when the terminal munchies strike, I've started drinking a big mug of water, waiting 30 minutes, then have an afternoon tsp. of peanut butter. I'm so determined to drop another 25 lbs., or close to it. 20 would be fine, too. I think it will take me until late spring to lose it, and that is fine. Maybe this time I will keep it off.
Burdle the Bean Queen
150.2/145/2/120 and counting...

[RedRox]

Hi Burdle and welcome back! I don't visit here too much anymore but always nice to see a familiar name from the "old days"! hope all is well and all the best to you in 2012!

[Burdle]

Hi, RedRox. I thought it was you! Glad to see you dropping in. All is well, or as well as I can expect in my very complicated life. I've become a great-aunt 4 times since I was last active here. Wow, how time flies by! Happy New Year to you and yours. You've made my day, thanks!
Burdle

[Burdle]

Beginning of week 4 today and I didn't lose an ounce this past week. I also didn't gain, which is even better. I cheated on Friday. We had company and I bought a carrot cake at Trader Joe's for dessert. Only half was eating, none by me. DH and I agreed to throw away the remainder, but I cleared off the frosting first and ate it. Good thing it was a small cake and only frosted on top. I've lost and gained back the same one pound over and over again the past week. I had the feeling I shouldn't re-start SBD until after the holidays, but being on SBD kept me from gaining anything, and 5 lbs. lost is so much better than 5 lbs. gained! I do feel thinner, my clothes aren't as tight, and except for Friday's slip, my cholesterol and triglycerides should be going down. I ate at restaurants 4 times over the past 3 weeks, and other than a tbs. of thousand island dressing and some well-drained cole slaw each time, I stayed on SBD when eating out. I've discovered over the past several weeks that altho I've had allergy treatmens for several foods, I still can't eat them. I have pretty poor digestion, so it isn't all allergy. The Bean Queen can only eat a few types of beans, how sad! I will still continue to get treated for foods as the more I'm treated, the better I feel overall. This morning I will get treated for apples and pears. I've walked on the treadmill every day but 2 over the last 3 weeks for a minimum of 30 minutes each time. I've never done that much before. I'm up to 2.6 mph which is fast for my short legs. I'm reading several books on G.I. and diabetes. I don't have diabetes, but I know my bloodsugar spikes with sweets, and I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic years ago. The more I read, the more I know that SBD is the w.o.e. for me for the rest of my life.
Burdle The Bean Queen
150.2/145.2/120 re-started 12/12/11

[Burdle]

I just realized that today is my 8th anniversary of SBD. 8 years ago last week, I met a very unusual elderly lady the moment we started moving into a condo. She was sitting in the lobby watching us move in. She was friendly and quite personable. The next day, she handed me a copy of the SBD blue book and said 'please read this book, I need help starting this diet'. I read the book in one day, and a few days later, she and I started SBD. We would go out to lunch together frequently and eat the SBD way. She moved away 18 months later, 20 lbs. lighter, and she remained my most excellent friend until 2 years ago when she passed away. We moved out of the condo a few months later. I will always thank her in my heart for directing me to this w.o.e. I learned so much that first year, spend hours every day on this forum learning and helping others. It was a most satisfying time in my life. Back then, this forum was extremely active, you can tell by how many old posts were written back in 2004-05. I made some good friends back then and one or two are still around helping others. I still miss you, Natalie, and always will.
First time around: started 1/4/04 at 182, made it down to 122, goal was 120.
This time around: started 12/12/11 at 150.2, at 145.2 now, goal still 120. Hope I make it this time, and keep it off!
Burdle the Bean Queen

[Burdle]

Today is 4 weeks that I've been Beachin' it, and I'm down 6.6 lbs., not bad for the second time around and starting on P2. It has been a rough week, tho, I've discovered that if I eat brown rice more than once a day, I don't lose anything except my patience. I cut back to once a day in the middle of this past week, and lost over a pound in a few days. I wasn't counting rice milk or rice cheese as rice, and I should have. I dont' have rice milk every day, but most days I do. Even tho the rice cheese is considered a protein, 6 gr. per ounce, it is still made from rice. I'm eating 1/2 C. of organic brown rice for breakfast along with either 1/2 C. rice milk and berries, or marinated artichoke hearts and marinated mushrooms, I make them myself. It tastes more like lunch or dinner, but I have to eat something! My lunch is usually veggies, mostly raw, and rice cheese, and dinner is usually a big bowl of cooked veggies with rice cheese. Yesterday I ate brown rice twice, had my dad over for lunch and made a pot of ministrone soup with brown rice instead of pasta, put back on .6 lbs. I also eat very low sodium and if I don't, I gain weight and my nose cracks and bleeds. Saturday I ate at a buffet and had some yummy fresh greenbeans that had a little soy sauce on them, and up my weight went. I know it will come off in a few days, so I'm not worried. 2 wammies in 2 days, I have to be more careful. I also eat 3-4 servings of low GI fruit every day...I have to eat something besides veggies. I've been making my own cranberry relish with a little agave nectar. I keep them very tart and enjoy it on top of a peach or pear half for dessert. I also eat an apple every day. I made bean cookies out of chana dahl this past week and they are quite good, I ate 3 of them for lunch the day I made them, what a treat! I keep them in the freezer so I have to plan to eat them, and I only take out a few. I'm also eating 1-2 servings of beans a day. Once in awhile, I have quinoa, but I'm not doing so well with it. I drink a lot of water. I'm also walking on the treadmill every day and last week, we had such amazing weather here in the Chicago area, I also walked outside twice. I'm hoping to do it again this week, it is supposed to be 52 here on Wednesday, what a crazy winter! Last year, we had already had 3 major snows by now, this year, only 2" so far and much warmer than usual. This will change, Thursday it will only be in the 20's. Brrrr, I hate winter.
So, now that I'm starting week 5, I'm hoping to lose a pound a week. If I don't, I'll be happy as long as I don't gain any back. At that rate, by summer, I should be close to where I want to be with my weight and my cholesterol and triglycerides should also be back where they should be. I've been doing SBD chemical-free, eating mostly organic, and feeling much more centered this time around than 8 years ago. I think I lost weight too fast that time, this time, slow and easy. My clothes are a bit looser and I wore a blouse on Friday that I haven't fit into for about 6 months.
Obviously, I know I'm not following SBD completely, I just can't with my food sensitivities. Many of my food problems are not allergy, so the treatments I'm doing frequently don't do what I'd like them to do, and every treatment makes me feel a bit better. I'm not vegan by choice, it is by necessity. I'm hoping one day to be able to eat an egg, or a piece of fish. Ahhh, daydreams!
I'm journaling for myself, I didn't do it first time around on SBD. I'm finding it helps me keep my focus, and is good typing practice (Is typing considered finger exercise?).
Burdle the Allergic Bean Queen
150.2/143.6/120 restarted 12/12/11

[Burdle]

I'm giving up trying to lose weight right now, it just isn't in the cards. I had a bad week last week, didn't feel well most of the week, my potassium level must have crashed and I could barely walk the stairs. I had been walking on the treadmill before eating breakfast, apparently not so good for me. I started eating 1/2 a banana every day and that has helped, but I'm not doing so well on them. I'll get tested and treated for banana next week. It seems that everything I eat bothers me in one way or another, so I'm doing my best to stay low GI and not worrying too much about how much I eat, just being careful of what I eat. I've replaced most of my grain (brown rice) with beans and that helped. This morning I baked a batch of carob chana dahl cookies, most excellent, and had a few of them for breakfast. I cleaned up the dirty dishes, went to Trader Joe's to do the week's grocery shopping before the rain turned to snow (didn't quite make it home before the snow), and when I put some stuff away in the cabinet under the kitchen sink, found it under water. We need a new garbage disposal, ours has a hole in it, probably has been leaking for about 2 weeks. That will be done tomorrow...good thing my brother is a professional handyman. Last month, he had to put in a new kitchen faucet for us, the old one started leaking, and after he put in a new cartridge, it leaked even worse. I'm tired of cleaning up water where it doesn't belong. I wish he could fix me...
Burdle the Sad Bean Queen
150.2/143.8/120

[wileybosco]

Sending a warm hug Burdle! Hang in there!!!

[Burdle]

Thanks, wileybosco. I could use one. We got our new disposal and are now nice and dry. It is also very quiet, which is an improvement over the old one. I'm just waiting to see what breaks next.
I found out yesterday why I have been feeling so bad lately. I had my allergy treatment for peanuts, peanut butter and peanut oil, and I've been severely reacting to the molds found on peanuts. I got treated and felt better withing a few hours. As soon as the leg cramps go away, I'm hoping those were from peanuts, too, I'll try going back on the treadmill. I've been watching what I eat and don't feel that I've gained back all that I lost (all 6.6 lbs.). I'm trying to eat low GI, but I've had to go back eating air popped popcorn, it is the only thing I've found to keep me regular. I've been putting a tsp. of canola oil on it (butter would certainly taste better) to lower the GI. I guess I'm eating more on P3, which is ok. I'm still avoiding sugar, wheat and dairy, so eventually I'm hoping to go back on P2, with popcorn. I'm allergic to flax, psyllium, aloe, etc. so I don't have much choice.
At least things are looking up, I'm feeling better, the sun is shining, and I'l get my exercise today by vacuuming. How fun!
Burdle

[vickil]

Hi Burdle, I am one of the '04 bunch. Remember me? I have a similar story...lost 50 lb. in 04-05, dad passed away, gained it all back, yo-yoing ever since. Been through divorce and job loss also and had my 50th birthday last year! But I'm back on the beach and just completed P1 (although my GI doc would not have been happy with me, I need fiber!). Since I need fiber I eat lot of beans and folks I am here to tell you, this lady's pizza beans are TO DIE FOR!!! I make 'em from scratch, with the carrots and onions and chopped tomatoes. Yum, yum! Welcome back my friend! Good luck!

[Burdle]

Thanks, vickil, of course I remember you! Welcome back. Nice to hear from an old friend. Sorry to hear about your sadness, it effects us so much. My mom passed away 3 years ago and I'm taking care of my 96 year old dad, also quite stressful. I gained back most of my '04 SBD loss from my husband going into hospital in '05 when I almost lost him. The good news: You and I made it thru the stresses of life, and hopefully will continue to do so.
I've been making pizza beans lately from frozen lima beans instead of dried ones, I find them a bit easier to digest, altho much more expensive, about 4X as much. Check out my posting in the recipe section here about chana dahl, really low GI beans. I've been baking using them, plus cassaroles. Very inexpensive with a very mild flavor.
Burdle the Bean Queen