Irritated to say the least

I noticed that an "acquaintance" posted on Facebook today that she was giving up carbs for the new year in an effort to lose weight. I was intrigued. Yay for her! I read through the comments that people left for her and they were all negative! You know the usual comments of "that's so unhealthy", "your body has to have carbs", "people who do that fail everytime". UGH. I left a comment congratulating her on a good choice and that it was quite healthy, my dr had recommended to me to eat this way, and I'd lost 42 lbs. so far. Needless to say the ugly comments continued to her. Yes, my comment was completely ignored by everyone. She stated she was simply replacing rice, potatoes, bread with salad.  A great start I thought!

People just annoy me with their ignorance. I really should just let it go. The people who say these negative things and refuse to encourage her, in my past experiece, are people who don't want you to succeed.  And we've all got those kind of people in our lives...who for whatever selfish, self-centered reason try to help us fail.

"It's so unhealthy". Seriously? You should read some medical literature before you start making broad comments like that. Eating all those sugar and starch carbs are definitely NOT healthy. "Your body has to have carbs". Umm, hello. What do you think fruits, veggies, and milk are? yeah! And we eat alot of those on low-carb. "People who do that fail everytime". Oh Please! Look up some statistics, honey. 95% of ALL people on ALL diet plans fail. Seriously.  One oft-cited study has found 95% of people who diet to lose weight put it back on within two to three years. Some subsequent studies have ignored this finding, but none has set out to challenge it.  In a study published in 2003 in the journal Pediatrics, researchers at Harvard Medical School found that adolescents who dieted put on more weight than those who did not diet over a three year period.  Bottom line to this: It's not easy making lifestyle changes, but yes, it is possible!

I just had to vent alittle here and get out the frustration. I can remember a time when things like this would have sent me into a "tizzy" and I'd find myself compulsive eating and/or overeating.  Not any more. Comments like this just make me smile and look down at my shrinking belly. Yeah. And it actually encourages me to keep eating low-carb. :)

Meal Plan Jan 1-7

Sunday:
B: veggie & cheese egg white omelet
L: cauliflower cream soup
D: Mashed cauliflower, 5 veggie "meatballs" w/cheese

Monday:
B: veggie & cheese egg white omelet
D: (Afternoon tea) she-crab soup, pan seared scallops salad w/champagne vinaigrette, 6 shrimp salad on cucumber, 2 pieces spinach-artichoke-parmesan on LC bread with smoked salmon, 1 LC scone, 4 LC coconut macaroon cookies, 1 pc LC cheesecake

Tuesday:
B: veggie & cheese egg white omelet
L: 1 c dreamfields pasta w/olive oil & garlic, 2 quorn "chickn" breast cutlets
D: mashed cauliflower, 5 veggie "meatballs" w/cheese

Wednesday:
B: veggie & cheese egg white omelet
L: lentil soup
D: chinese buffet

Thursday:
B: veggie & cheese egg white omelet
L: broccoli/cheese soup
D: blackened tilapia, salad, cup of winter squash soup

Friday:
B: veggie & cheese egg white omelet
L:  salad (mixed greens, cheese, olives, tuna pouch, italian dressing), strawberries
D: Crab-stuffed tilapia, broccoli, salad (lettuce, cheese, onion, ranch)

Saturday:
B: veggie & cheese egg white omelet
L: Mashed cauliflower, pistachios, mixed fruit 
D: pasta salad (dreamfield's pasta) w/veggie "pepperoni"

Weight Loss report!

I am happy to say I lost almost 20 lbs in the past two months of eating low carb!! That means I've lost a total of 42 lbs!! Woo-hoo!! I am sooo amazed.

Happy 2012!

A new year is always so exciting to me. It's like a fresh slate, a start over. It seems like anything is possible and I always seem to feel inspired and hopeful as I look over the coming year. For 2012, I am hoping to be in better health. And to continue my journey towards being alot healthier than I have been in the past year. Part of that is weight loss, but unlike most people (which I count myself as in the past) who dream big, only to crash a few weeks, or maybe a few days later, I want to continue on what I have started.

After being diagnosed as a diabetic last year, and after much lecturing from my Dr how I should have gastric bypass surgery and I know she means well, but no, that's not for me....I embarked once again on the low-fat/calorie counting adventure...determined that this time was going to be last time. Although I have said that many, many times in the past. And so I did. For about 5 months, I starved myself and counted calories. After having metabolic testing done, I did find out that after years of yo-yo dieting my body has decided that it maintains my weight at a bit under 1700 calories a day. Now if I was to confess my body weight, you would be amazed. ;) My dietician could not believe it. She said with my weight I should be able to eat 2200 calories a day and still lose weight! Oh no. Not me. :( So I kept count 1200 daily calories and that gave me 1 lb a week weight loss. I honestly don't know how I survived this for 5 months.

My Dr kept telling me I was one of those "carb sensitive" diabetics. I eat the carbs and my blood sugar goes sky high. I eat veggies and salads and my blood sugar is happy. After 5 months of starving and only losing 22 lbs, I finally decided to listen to her and quit eating the bread, potatoes, rice, and all those yummy flour products. The result? Blood sugars are once again in the "nice" range & I lost 20 more lbs in only 2 months!! What's even better? I'm not hungry all the time! Am I eating one of those crazy low carb diets? Not exactly. I call it a "low-ER" carb diet. I'm actually vegetarian and I don't eat meat (beef, chicken, pork, etc) but I do eat fish. (No I'm not one of those crazy PETA vegetarians...I just can't digest the meat and tried to start eating fish a few years ago with success). I eat ALOT of veggies and salads with my soy protein and fish. So while I can't claim it as a "low carb" diet (most of those people only eat 25 carbs a day) I do call it a "low-er" carb diet since I eat about 50 - 75 carbs a day. With weight loss success!!

 Hopefully one day I will be able to eat the yummy carbs again, but for me it will be awhile. I'm actually "enjoying" this low carb food and wonder if I will ever be able to eat the  normal "carb" diet again.  I wanted to share today about a simple tea I had at home and it was all low-carb goodies. yes, I'm so proud of myself. LOL.

My husband bought me a 3-tier tray that I had seen for Christmas. I can't find alot of my tea things since we moved. I think most are still packed in storage! So while I do have trays, I didn't have one at the moment. We were sitting at the table on New Year's Day and he asked what I was going to do with it. Well use it of course! So while he went out on a service call, I decided to have "afternoon tea" ready when he came home. Talk about surprised! :) It was an impromptu tea and I really enjoyed it.  I felt inspired! It was afterall the first of the year when all things seem possible. So I thought I'd give it a try and see about having one every month. Life is too short to live without tea parties, right? :)

So I thought I'd share my little impromtu afteroon tea on New Year's Day! Since I grew up on the Eastern Coast, I should tell you we always celebrated holidays with fresh seafood. I guess I haven't outgrown that because I still do the same even though I live 350 miles inward now in the mountains.

Wishing you a healthy and happy 2012 & year full of inspiration and creativity!

have a TEA-licious day!

SHERI

Shall we start with Pan-Seared scallop salad with champagne vinaigrette & she-crab soup? The salad was featured in this month's issue of Tea Time Magazine.

My new 3-tier tray with lots of goodies!

On the bottom we have Shrimp salad on cucumber, spinach artichoke spread with smoked salmon on low-carb bread, and my low-carb cheesecake looking yummy in the background. ;)

The middle tray I tried out a new recipe for low-carb mini scones. Actually not bad!

Yummy cheesecake with strawberries

coconut macaroon cookies

And tea of course! I love these cups. The dinner set is very precious to me because they belonged to my Irish grandmother. I always loved having tea in these with her.

Christmas success!

I did make it through Christmas and the holiday season with NO sugar or flour. I am amazed.  Really. You have no idea what an accomplishment this is for me.  I've really been thinking about how we place so much emphasis on the food associated with holidays. And really, what for? I mean it's only one day out of the entire year. So I didn't eat "traditional" foods for Christmas. Did it change the meaning of Christmas? Oh sure we have "memories" and "feelings" tied to certain foods, but I'd rather be losing weight and be thin. What good are memories if I'm dead? I'm headed that way sooner than later if I don't lose the weight.  Sometimes I just have to be blunt with myself. Sugar-coating never got through to me.

So the Christmas menu was grilled salmon (roast for my husband), green beans, faux-tatoes (yeah you know I love that mashed cauliflower!!!), cranberry sauce, mushrooms stuffed with spinach-artichoke-parmesan and garnished with smoked salmon. All legal and all low carb. And of course for the holdiay we had Sugarland Cellars Cherry-Kee wine.  For dessert? Fresh mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries) with real whipped cream. IT. WAS. AWESOME.

Did I miss the traditional foods and all the sweets? Nope. I can honestly say that too. I'm quite proud of myself for staying on track. I mean really....if you can make it through the holidays, the rest of the time should be a breeze!!

Recipe: Asian Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp fresh ginger root , grated
2medium garlic cloves , minced
5 cup low sodium vegetable broth
8 oz fresh portobello mushroom , sliced
1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp sesame oil
1 pinch salt (to taste)
2 tbsp fresh chopped green onion

Directions:
1 In wok or medium saucepan, heat vegetable oil over medium high.
2 Add ginger and garlic. Stir fry 30 seconds.
3 Lower heat to medium. Add mushrooms. Stir fry 2 minutes.
4 Add broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes.
5 Add rice wine and sesame oil. Stir well. Season to taste with salt.
6 Garnish with green onions. Serve.

Nutrition Facts:
Makes 6 servings
Serving Size: 1 cup

Amount Per Serving
Calories 55
Total Carbs 5 g

Dietary Exchanges:
1/2 Fat, 1/2 Vegetable

~~dLife.com~~

Recipe: Low Carb “stuffing” (VEGETARIAN VERSION)

Ingredients:
2 cups diced cooked chicken (WORTHINGTON CHICK’N)
1 pound pork sausage (PROSAGE)
2 large stalk celery (chopped)
1 green onion (chopped)
1 jar mushrooms, drained
4 lg. eggs (1 c. EGG BEATERS)
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 oz. Cheddar Cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt (I didn't add any)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced, optional (I didn't add any)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp sage (depends on taste. I start with a small amount, taste the mixture and then add more as needed).

How To Prepare:
Brown the “sausage” with the onion and celery. Add sage and mushrooms. Place in a 2 qt. casserole dish. Mix in "chick'n" and cheese. Beat eggs, cream, seasonings and parsley, if using. Pour evenly over meat mixture.

Bake at 350º 35-40 minutes until set in the center and nicely browned. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. I scooped it with a large serving spoon just like regular stuffing because this was more a casserole than a quiche like the original recipe was.

Number of Servings: 1 cup
(Makes a nice 2-qt casserole)

Carbs per serving - include all nutritional information if known:
Per 1 cup serving: Carb: 1
Preparation Time: 10 minutes or less
Effort (Easy, Average, Difficult): Easy