Doctor's Visit

I went to see my doctor yesterday. I've lost 11.5 pounds since October 16 but I wanted something to help me out. I had an appointment at a weight loss clinic but I wanted to check with my doctor to see if the program was a good idea.

When the nursed weighed me, she thought she made a mistake and asked me to jump back on the scale. I thought she forgot to take my height. I'm not sure if she takes my height every time. She rechecked my weight and had a puzzled look on her face. I then realized that she thought she made a mistake.

I talked to my doctor about my diet and what I've been eating. I told him sometimes I was still hungry. (It all depends on the time of the month.) He talked to me about food I should eat and what I should be avoiding. He basically told me to cut out the sugar and the bread. I told him I've been doing that. He also told me to avoid red meat. A steak every now and then is fine. I told him I'm not a red meat eater so I end up eating a lot of eggs. He said that eggs are fine. My last lipid test (in September) was fine and I've never had a history of cholesterol issues.

I listed what I usually eat. The only thing he was concerned about was the agave nectar and the artificial sweeteners. He said even artificial sweeteners induce too many cravings for sugar. I use agave nectar very sparingly when I eat Greek yogurt. He was fine with what I've been doing and thought I had a pretty good start. He wrote me a prescription for phentermine. That's basically what the weight loss clinic was going to give me but for a high fee per month so I canceled the appointment.

He said he wanted to see me in a month. I should be losing ten pounds in a month on the phentermine. I'm not sure if he will give me the full four months because he said that my goal should another ten pounds. I didn't tell him that my goal was probably another 20 to 30 pounds.

I filled the phentermine at Rite Aid and it was only $27.99. I think it's cheaper at other pharmacies but Rite Aid was close to work. Yesterday they were only about to give me three pills so they had me return to get the remainder today. The pharmacist today asked me how it was working out. I told him I only started with half a dose this morning. He asked me if I drank any coffee. I said I had two cups today and was fine. I guess he was a little shocked because my BMI is actually not high enough for phentermine. I believe it's recommended for someone with a BMI of 30 or higher. I'm around 26 so I'm overweight but not overly so.

I noticed I felt pretty good but I was still slightly hungry. I'm not sure if it's because of the half dose or because it's the first day. Hopefully I don't have too much trouble sleeping tonight.

I just tried on my Asian dress today. It fits with some wiggle room. When I first got in early October, the seamstress made the bust area slightly too small -- by about or three inches. It wouldn't zip up. Now it zips all the way up and it is too big everywhere else. I'm bigger up top with almost no hips.

Kimchi and Salted Mustard Greens

Before I write about kimchi and salted mustard greens, I need to do a quick weight loss update. As of yesterday, I'm down 10.5 pounds in just over a month.

I've been craving kimchi. I usually buy a small container at the Korean market but I decided to make my own. I bought the Korean red chili flakes for Korean cucumber kimchi a while back. This recipe is slightly different than most traditional kimchi recipes. It does not call for any glutinous rice flour or sugar. It relies on the natural sugars from the onions and Asian pear.

Kimchi is a great diet food. Not only is it on the list of world superfoods but it's very low calorie and high in fiber. There's a long list other nutrients. Sometimes when I feel a need to munch, I just grab the container and a fork. When I'm feeling a little more civilized, I dish some out into a bowl.

Kimchi

1 head napa cabbage
pickling salt, as needed
water
1/2 cup Korean chili flakes
2 carrot, shredded
1/2 cup daikon, shredded
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, minced
4 green onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 yellow onion
1 Asian or Korean pear

1. Slice napa cabbage into 1 1/2 inch pieces.
2. Dissolve about 1/2 cup salt in lukewarm water. Soak cabbage slices in salt water for 4 hours.
3. Rinse cabbage to remove excess salt then transfer to large bowl.
4. Combine chili flakes with water to make a thick paste. Mix paste into the cabbage, gently rubbing it into the cabbage leaves.
5. Add carrot, daikon, garlic, ginger, green onions, and fish sauce.
6. Blend onion and Asian pear with 1 cup of water and then add to cabbage mixture. Taste the mixture and add more salt if needed.
7. Transfer to a glass jar, packing the leaves down and compacting them together. Pour liquid on top. Make sure to leave about 2 inches of room. Leave on counter for 24 to 48 hours then refrigerate. Kimchi should be ready to eat. I actually like it a little more ripe and leave it in the fridge for a week before eating.

The two canning jars contain the kimchi I made and the plastic tub is from the Korean market. I used slightly less of the chili.

While I was making kimchi, I started craving salted mustard greens. I tried making it with turnip greens because that's all I could find at the grocery store. It didn't taste so good so I went our to the Korean market and picked up some Chinese mustard greens. Grandma usually makes this with a variety of flowering mustard greens that she grows herself. It has a slightly more bitter taste. I prefer the Chinese mustard greens because of the crunchy thick stems.

I know there are several recipes out there. The Vietnamese version is more of a pickled mustard green because it uses vinegar and some sugar. The version I'm making only uses salt, water, and some glutinous rice.

Salted Mustard Greens

1 head of mustard greens (approximately 3 pounds)
pickling salt
water
2 tablespoons glutinous rice, boiled with 1/2 cup of water and cooled

1. Cut mustard greens into bite-sized pieces.
2. Lay the mustard green outside for several hours until wilted. (I put it on a baking sheet lined with a cookie rack.)
3. Once the mustard greens are wilted, transfer to a large bowl. Add about 1/2 cup of pickling salt and mix to distribute. Let sit a few minutes and then gently massage the salt into the mustard greens.
4. Add boiled rice and mix together. (Some people prefer to push the rice grains through a mesh strainer and create a paste. Others simply add the rice grains whole. Grandma always added the rice whole.)
5. Pack mustard greens into glass jar. Pour any liquid into jar and then top off with water. Taste and adjust salt if necessary. The mustard greens should be fairly salty or it will rot.
6. Let jar sit out on the counter for several days. The number of days depends on the the temperature in your house. I made this on a Sunday and it didn't sour until Thursday. When I watched mom and grandma make this back in July, it was ready in about two days. Refrigerate once the greens are sour.

On the second and third day, I thought I had ruined it and the greens would rot and liquify in the jar. Then on the four/fifth day, it magically turned into the nice crunchy greens that grandma used to make.

Once the greens are sour, you can use them in scrambled eggs, stir-fries, or as a side condiment to grilled meats. To make the condiment, scoop out some mustard greens into a bowl and mix in sliced Thai chilis, ginger chiffonade, chopped cilantro, and MSG.

Before wilting in the sun:

After wilting in the sun. It probably could have used a few more hours in the sun but unfortunately my balcony started getting too shaded.

Salt the greens. I use canning and pickling salt because it doesn't contain iodine or anti-caking additives. The additives can cause cloudiness or darkening of the food or liquid. I think maybe the reason why grandma's salted greens are darker than mine is because she likes to use Morton iodized salt.

After salting and gently rubbing, the greens should be pliable.

Pack into a jar and add more water and salt if necessary. I didn't completely cover with water but by the next morning, water continued to leach out of the greens and the greens wilted even more.

Bread

Someone suggested that I try to Kroger brand Carb Helper bread. I read good reviews about the bread and how some people were heartbroken when Kroger discontinued it for a while. The bread is relatively affordable compared to other low carb bread on the market (which currently isn't many).

I've been eating the Sara Lee Delightful Light Whole Wheat with Honey bread mainly because I get two slices for about the same calories as a regular slice of another bread. It's only slightly less caloric but my main problem is wanting two slices to make a sandwich and it's tough to find two slices of whole wheat for less than 100 calories. Sometimes I will use only one slice and fold it in half when I want just a little snack.

So what I'm looking for in a bread:

- Get two slices for 100 calories or less. It doesn't matter if the slices are thinner but I don't want to be the one slicing a slice in half to get two slices.

- Affordable. Hey it's bread. Flour is cheap so I can't justify paying more for bread than I do for meat.

- High in fiber. Because staying regular is goof.

- High in protein. Protein is your friend.

- Taste. It must taste good because it will be a rare treat.

- Easy to find. I don't mind driving out of my way once in a while but an ideal bread should be easy to locate. I'm not paying $7.99 per loaf and then also pay for shipping or wait until I go home to bring back a few loaves at a time. I want to be able to drive to a store to pick it up when I'm feeling like some bread. Storing 6 loaves in the freezer doesn't make much sense to me either since I've never been able to eat previously refrigerated or frozen bread before. Bread is something you eat fresh -- meaning in a few days.

- Whole grain.

- No High Fructose Corn Syrup. Ideally the yeast should be fed with honey or molasses but I'll settle for evaporated cane juice (or sugar).

So below are the stats for both bread. Same calories but Kroger is slightly better in terms of fiber and protein.

Kroger:
Serving: 1 slice (28g)
Calories 45
Total Fat: 1g
Total Carb: 7g
Fiber: 3g
Sugars: 0g
Protein: 5g

Sara Lee:
Serving: 1 slice (22g)
Calories 45
Total Fat: .5g
Total Carb: 7g
Fiber: 2.5g
Sugars: 1g
Protein: 3g

Sara Lee also has HFCS which I am not crazy about. Pepperidge Farm also makes a light bread but it also has HFCS. Anyone have any other recs? Something that is easy to find? I went searching for the Julian Bakery Smart Carb 1 bread at Vitamin Cottage today without any luck. I think I have to venture out to a different VC to find it (or wait until I go home in a few weeks and bring some back).

Now a review of the bread. I think it tastes fine. I had a slice with natural peanut butter and sugar free blackberry preserves and another slice with almond butter (ground in store by Vitamin Cottage) and sugar free blackberry preserves. The bread is slightly spongy if that makes any sense. I think it's the corn starch used. The texture of Sara Lee is more like real bread. Sara Lee is marketed as a lower calorie bread; not a low carb bread.

Remember that South Beach is not a low carb diet. But I try to make a conscious effort to limit my carb intake and would rather get my carbs from beans, veggies, and nuts. South Beach is also not a calorie counting diet. I know other people have lost weight even without counting their calories but for me, it doesn't work that way. The only way I lose weight is limiting the calories I take it. It's simple math. 3,500 calories is a pound. If I cut out 3,500 calories from my diet, I lose a pound.

Then why am I doing South Beach? Well...because I love sweets and bread. I love carbs. To keep myself from eating too much, I must restrict the things I love. I've never been much of a meat eater but by forcing myself to eat more meat, I am eating to stop my hunger. Plus it keeps me full longer. When I eat tons of carby food, I eat and then I get hungry so therefore I eat some more. It's a cycle. I find that by eating more protein, I eat less because I stay full longer.

So why eat bread? I can't stay on Phase 1 forever so I must add back in fruits and grains. Whole grains are good for you. Before when I ate bread, I chose mostly the variety made from white flour. The dense whole grain stuff was only purchased for the BF.

So the quest for the perfect bread continues. For now, either one will work fine.

Day 4: South Beach Phase 2

I've been hovering at the same weight for the past few days. I know I should be grateful that I haven't gained any weight back since I started adding back a few whole grains but it's difficult to accept it after such rapid weight loss. The pace during Dukan Phase 1 and South Beach Phase 1 is very encouraging.

I've had to remind myself that I probably loss quite a few pounds in water weight and with adding back some whole grains, my body is probably starting to re-store the glycogen and water and I'm still actually losing real weight but putting back on some of the water weight. Hopefully after I get past this, the weight loss will be a steady two pounds per week.

With more food options, it's easier to eat more calories. I had one slice of light whole wheat bread with natural peanut butter and sugar free, high fiber strawberry jam. PB&J never tasted so good. Remember I'm the girl who used to cringe when the BF ate PB&J on whole wheat bread. I have always had PB&J on white bread.

I've been trying to limit myself to maybe one or two servings of Phase 2 food per day. I haven't upped my dairy intake either. I felt pretty comfortable with about 1 cup of dairy per day and didn't feel a need to increase it.

I have been eating a lot of beans lately. Last Friday I cooked up about 3 pounds of dried pinto beans and froze them in 3 cups portions for different recipes. Today I cooked some up Charro style with a little bacon and chorizo.

I really love nuts but I've been limiting myself to just one serving per day. If I have peanut butter then I don't eat mixed nuts or pistachios. Peanuts are a legume but for this diet I count it as a nut because of the high fat content. I didn't realize nuts were so calorie d

Day 2: South Beach Phase 2

Breakfast: 2 slices turkey bacon

Lunch: 2 slices CPK whole wheat the Works pizza
Snack: Mixed nuts
Dinner: Chicken and asparagus stir-fry
Dessert: 1 % milk + sugar free chocolate syrup

Now planning what Phase 2 food I will eat tomorrow on Day 3.

Stirring Peanut Butter

Growing up, mom used to buy the large glass jars of Laura Scudder's peanut butter. This was the kind that kept separating so peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were always a pain. I still remember sitting on the ground with a dinner knife, stirring and stirring. It required more stirring because my mom loved buying bulk and always bought the super-sized jars.

Mom eventually started buying Skippy at Price Club/Costco and life was good. No more sitting on the ground stirring. I don't know why mom switched. Mom discovered Price Club (pre-Costco) when I was in my early teens. I don't think think Price Club carried Laura Scudders. I always thought Laura Scudders went out of business and that's why it disappeared from our pantry.

So my view on peanut butter has always been Skippy = Good and Natural = Pain in the A$$. So I've always stuck with JIF or Skippy in the Super Chunk varieties. In recent years I've been buying the Skippy Natural -- Chunky for me and Creamy for the bf. The last time I did South Beach, I found Peter Pan made a no sugar added variety.

This time around, I went looking for peanut butter. I read all the labels and they all had sugar. Even the 12 jars of Skippy Natural I have in the pantry had sugar. So I resigned myself to buying Adam's natural peanut butter. When I bought it I knew what I was getting myself into. I could see the layer of oil at the top of the jar.

It wasn't until I opened the jar and had to stir it when the memories of the little girl sitting on the ground, stirring Laura Scudders natural peanut butter came back. I made a mess. Oil dripped down the sides of the jar onto my hands. After I was done stirring, I closed up the jar and scrubbed it down with soap and hot water.

I later read that there's an easier way to remixing the oil back into the jar -- simply store the jar upside down in the pantry and if you remember, alternate turning it right side up and upside down every few days. Why didn't I know about this trick earlier? For me, it's not the taste of natural peanut butter that bothers me, it's just the stirring thing. I know it's more a psychological thing for me. It's like how I can only eat PB&J (or PB&H(oney)) on white bread. BF eats is on wheat and I always cringe. In an effort to be somewhat healthier, I started buying the Sara Lee whole grain white as a compromise.

The other day I was at a different store and checked out the peanut butter selection. Right next to the Adam's was the Laura Scudder's. I bought it because I'm nostalgic. I read the label and saw that both were made by Smucker's but they looked different. I know Smucker's also sells their own brand of natural peanut butter. I wondered why they sold natural peanut butter under three different names so I looked up the history.

It appears that the company started making natural peanut butter under the Smucker's name in 1978. Laura Scudder's was purchased in 1994 and Adam's in 1997. Adam's peanut butter company was started by Rex F. Adams in 1918 in Tacoma Washington. Laura Scudder started her food company in 1926 in Monterey Park, California. She pioneered the whole packaging potato chips in sealed bags thing. She didn't get into the natural peanut butter business until the late 1950s. The company has been sold several times and was purchased in 1994 by Smucker's. Is Smucker's trying to buy the natural peanut market? There are many local and store brands but it appears that Smucker's has a fair share of the national market.

I now have both brands in my pantry. We'll see what I like better.

Day 1: South Beach Phase 2

I'm still on the diet but I've been really busy at work and I didn't have anything interesting to report.

Today is my first day into Phase 2 of South Beach. I'm not planning on eating everything on the Phase 2 list right away. When you start Phase 2, you need to be careful and try out just adding just one serving of legal carbs per day and slowly increase it.

We're planning on going out for 5 grain pizza today so that will be my one Phase 2 carb.