South Beach Dieters Group Meet Here!

[irislady]

Sheila,
I'm so glad that you didn't have any damage to your house or trees. I'm very sorry, though, to hear that your mom is in such poor health. I hope the medications can help her. It's very hard to focus on things like eating habits when you're facing such major stresses.

Deb,
I know what you mean about Feb. being too far away for it to be your goal. Can you set smaller, shorter-term goals for yourself, like for example, 5 pounds by mid-October? Then when you reach that decide on another short term goal.

My sister and brother-in-law sell authentic British style fish n chips at most of the major Scottish festivals up and down the east coast and even as far west as Chicago. I bet the Highland Games fest. you're going to next weekend is the one they're going up to NH for. My brother-in-law is British. He was a chef and worked on Carnival Cruise Line for a while. That's where he and my sister met. Since then he's worked for some major NJ restaurants, had his own English speciality foods shops & restaurant and ran a catering business. Now they mostly do just the fish 'n chips.

Tami,
Do you remember the name of that magazine? I've found 2 I like. One is Low Carb Living and the other is Low Carb Energy, (I think). Both had lots of helpful hints for nearly all the Low Carb diets.

I helped myself and DH today by sending home all the most tempting "not allowed" and "very limited" foods with my daughter and son-in-law who were here for the weekend. I'd rather they didn't eat so many carbs either for health reasons, but since they're still so thin and active I didn't press the idea. It's really something you have to decide to do for yourself.
Shae

[WeirdEyes]

Thanks Shae for the well wishes for my grandmother. :)

Deb, it is better to have Skim Milk with your ff, sugar-free pudding than 2% milk. ;)

[adoptmom]

Wow! The scottish highland games sound really cool! I wish they had stuff like that around here. Our kids would flip.

The magazine I found was Low carb Energy I think. It was really great.

Started phase 1 yet again today. I have no other things going on for at least a month so I'm going to do it.

Today so far I've had a low carb bar and 2 cheese sticks for breakfast :p , and a grilled chicken caesar salad from McDonalds for lunch. I'm making catfish nuggets for supper but I bought almond flour and I'm going to dust them with that before frying them in a bit of canola. I'm going to do Fried Green tomatoes the same way. Probably not the best phase 1 menu but I've been promising the kids catfish and fried green tomatoes for 2 weeks.

Tami

[debinnh]

Thanks for all of your ideas. Today was a good day. Breakfast: spinach/egg and lean sausage scramble. Lunch: mexican salad with lettuce, tomatos, cheese, chicken and a dressing made of avacados, salsa and some light sour cream. Dinner, chicken cooked with onion pepper pinapple in its own juice and carrots over 1/4 c rice. Dessert: low carb ice cream.

Tomorrow's plan: scrambled egg for breakfast w/ V8, lunch ckn cesear salad, dinner swordfish steak and stringbeans. Maybe a sweet potato. Snack laughing cow cheese on cucumber slices.

The fish and chips at the highland games sounds like a better choice than the haggis pie! I have to miss Friday's games due to the business trip, but my husband will go watch the sheepdog trials. Very cool to watch, just like in the movie Babe. No pigs though! I like the music and watching the strong man games. I hope so see more of the dancing competition this year too.

[irislady]

Sheila,
Sorry, I meant your grandmother. I must still have my mom on my mind.

Deb,
I think B-I-L and sister do meat pies and scones as well for that festival since it's such a big one. Their fish n chips are incredibly good. I'm not sure if they'll be the only fish n chips vendor at the games. Sometimes there are 1 or 2 others at some of the festivals.

I've got 3 Australian Shepherds so would LOVE to see the herding competition. One of my Aussies has great herding instincts, but the other 2 don't. We had a Shetland Sheepdog that would try to herd anything and everything. We had 2 cats back then and she was always trying to move them from place to place. Usually didn't work...
Shae

[WeirdEyes]

Shae, that's okay. I knew what you meant. ;)

Deb, I LOVE the Highland Games!!! I try to go every year. We have a Shakespeare Festival that features plays that are wonderful. The grounds around the Festival are beautiful and that is where they have the Highland Games. I'm a big freak for anything Scottish...even though I have no Scottish heritage. I just love their way of life, attitudes, and such. I can't wait to actually go to Scotland in 2006! :D

I've recommitted to SB today. I've been so bad the past few weekends. I just can't seem to stick with it on the weekends. :o

[adoptmom]

Irislady-
I also have a Aussie and she is an amazing herder. She can whip my flock of goats into shape in no time. :D She annoys the kids though because she trys to herd them. We're trying to train her for agility dog events because she loves to fly about the yard.

I'm really going to work hard for the next 12 weeks. I've set some goals and I'm busy formulating a couple more.

Here's what I have so far:

By December 20
Goal 1- Run 5 K
Goal 2 - Lose 15 pounds

I'm still working on goal 3. I'll keep you posted.

Tami

[WeirdEyes]

Beth, I just got the e-mail of your little dog. He is sooooo cute! What is his name? Or is it a girl?

[debinnh]

We aren't Scottish at all, I'm German and Irish, Hubby is Polish and Ukranian. We just like the games. My son says he wants a kilt. They used to have the games at Loon Mountain ski area, which they say was more authentic, with the pipers marching down the mountain for the parade of Clans, just like coming over the Highlands in Scottland. Unfortunately the venue is too small now, so they are held at a fairgrounds. The fairgrounds stadium barely fit all of the marching bands.

I have committed to losing 5 lb by Oct 19, my birthday! I was doing fine today until they brought out the cookies after lunch. I had only one, but it was a big chocolate chip oatmeal one. Oatmeal is good, right? ;).

[adoptmom]

Oatmeal is great! (At least according to the folks at Quaker Oats. :D ) Hopefully it was at least a stellar cookie. It would be depressing to have one and not have it be outstanding.

I tried to make low carb brownies to take camping with us. The brownies were ok and used melted, unsweetened chocolate. However, the low carb icing was FOUL! I bought a different kind of cocoa powder than I normally buy and it is the worst. I didn't know cocoa powder could go rancid but that's what this tasted like. I threw the whole can away when we got home and fed the brownies to the fish. :( Next time I'll make an icing of cream cheese and splenda and skip the cocoa altogether.

Tami

[PGcruiser]

Night All and good luck tomorrow:)

[nosnobunny]

I haven't been doing so well lately. Last week-end was an Italian wedding with lots of pasta. :eek: At least I danced some of the calories off, but not enough. Sunday we had company for dinner. When I'm in charge of the menu, I can keep things under control so it wasn't too bad. Ran out of meds and my Dr isn't too quick to fax a new Rx to the pharmacy and I'm all puffed up. :( Life's got to get better soon. I'm even desperate enough to "consider" exercise. :D

Yes she's cute Sheila. He's a she and her name is Sushi. 4 pounds and h*ll on wheels. :D

Beth

[WeirdEyes]

Beth, yes she is adorable and I like her name. ;)

I did very well with my eating yesterday. I also did my WATP 3 Mile DVD. I actually didn't get to sit down until I went to bed last night. I hate that! On Wednesday I get my 2nd steroid injection for my back so at least I'll be able to stay in the bed Wed. evening and not have to cook or clean. DH has been working 12 hour days so he hasn't been able to help me cook. You know it's bad when your 16 y/o son offers to help you do whatever you need doing. :D

Have a great day! :)

[nosnobunny]

Good luck with the injections Sheila. They didn't work for me. All they did was make me fat. :(

Beth

[adoptmom]

[quote name='WeirdEyes'] You know it's bad when your 16 y/o son offers to help you do whatever you need doing. :D
:)[/QUOTE]


Shelia,

This isn't bad! This is great! You've obviously raised a son to be consciencous and who understands that he's a contributing member of the household instead of someone who gets catered to every day. Those are fabulous life lessons that will serve him well in the future. :D There are alot of kids out there now who could use a few lessons from you.

Tami

[WeirdEyes]

Beth, thanks for the good luck wishes. This is my 2nd round of epidurals and the last ones worked so I'm hoping this round will also. I think I gained about 2 lbs from the last one, but it quickly came off. I'm sorry yours didn't work. What are you doing now for your back?

Tami, my son is very lazy, but he has certain chores that are his. If he doesn't do them, he's in trouble. He is very caring though and when I'm very tired or in pain (from my back), he will offer to do this or that. We've always made him be a contributing member of the household because it is his house also and we all have to do our part. When my step-son lived with us, he was the same way. However, by looking at his college apartment, you'd think that he was never taught how to clean. It is SCARY!! :eek:

[nosnobunny]

I had some pretty extensive surgery last year. The best thing I ever did. Plus I'm now 2 inches taller. That allows for a bit more weight. :D

Beth

[irislady]

Sheila,
Hope the epidurals give you relief. I was always too chicken to try them and suffered miserably. I am actually starting to notice some improvement with my sciatica after losing 9 pounds and doing my exercises more regularly. Hooray! I've also neglected my irises for awhile. I'm sure all the bending to pick off or cut back leaves contributes to the back pain. I try to remember to bend correctly, but don't always.


My son took me out to a pizza buffet place last evening since my daughter-in-law had an evening meeting and my husband was out of town. I ate the toppings off of 4 pieces of pizza... no crust. I was up a pound this morning, tho. I think maybe from all the sodium since 2 of the pieces did have sausage and/or pepperoni. I had been avoiding fatty, processed meats and extra sodium.

Shae

[adoptmom]

[quote name='WeirdEyes']
Tami, my son is very lazy, but he has certain chores that are his. If he doesn't do them, he's in trouble. He is very caring though and when I'm very tired or in pain (from my back), he will offer to do this or that. We've always made him be a contributing member of the household because it is his house also and we all have to do our part. When my step-son lived with us, he was the same way. However, by looking at his college apartment, you'd think that he was never taught how to clean. It is SCARY!! :eek:[/QUOTE]

LOL, I'm sure if he had a reason (like a girl coming over) he'd know exactly how to clean. We used to go visit a friend of my husband who lived on campus at Purdue. I'm not the neatest person in the world and I have a very high tolerance for clutter but OMG! :eek: What a pig sty. I was always afraid for my health over there. :D I never did eat any food substance that was in that apartment. LOL There were some awesome biological warfare specimens growing in various corners though. All it needed were the haz mat team.

[WeirdEyes]

Beth, I've had three doctors tell my that my condition is not bad enough for surgery yet, but I'll definitely have to have it in the future. I'm glad you've done well. :)

The epidural I had yesterday KILLED me! It is still killing me. I have a heating pad on my back/butt right now. The pain is running down my leg. I don't know how long I'll be at work today because the only relief I get is when I lay down. What gets me is that the first one was a breeze and I couldn't even tell that I got one except that my everyday pain was better. :rolleyes:

Shae, I've lost a little over 50 lbs and my back problems have not improved much at all. My family practice doc put me on a new drug this week that is for epilepsy, but is also for nerve pain. I am hoping it will work, but the pain management doc told me that it takes a while for it to start working. He said it was better than taking all of the pain meds I take. I totally agree cause I HATE taking pain meds. I'm glad that your weight loss has helped your sciatica. :)

Tami, when we delivered furniture to my step-son's apartment, he was at work and his girlfriend was there. I told her, "This place is a pig sty." She said, "I know and I've cleaned the kitchen. It took me 1.5 hours to clean it because it was so disgusting." The kitchen is tiny so I can imagine how dirty it was. Poor girl, I bet she cleaned the whole apartment. I called my step-son a couple of days later and told him what a pig sty it was and he said he didn't think it was that bad. :rolleyes: Kids!

[nyer]

[b][font=Comic Sans MS][color=darkorchid][/color][/font][/b][b][font=Comic Sans MS][color=darkorchid]Shelia...when our kids are teens, they always have a different opinion from us on what clean means. My son was a super-slob when he was young and now he is very neat and likes everything super clean. Talk about a complete change. My daughters were always neat and clean and now as adults, they are even more so.[/color][/font][/b]
[b][font=Comic Sans MS][color=#9932cc][/color][/font][/b]
[b][font=Comic Sans MS][color=#9932cc]I hope your back is better soon. My DH has severe back problems and sometimes it rules our lives. [/color][/font][/b]
[b][font=Comic Sans MS][color=#9932cc][/color][/font][/b]
[b][font=Comic Sans MS][color=#9932cc]Rose[/color][/font][/b]

[nosnobunny]

Sheila, I know what that nerve pain is like. Absolutely awful! :( I hope it's died down a bit today. Funny thing is that the one thing I couldn't do when it kicked up was lay down. :confused: I'm one of the lucky ones because I was accepted into an experimental program with some very new technology. Just call me the bionic woman. ;)

Beth

[irislady]

Sheila,

Do you have a ruptured (herniated) disk or degenerative disk disease? Mine was a rupture. A chunk of disk broke off and damaged the sciatic nerve. My surgeon was stunned that my gp had not made the diagnosis immediately. Fortunately, I did have the surgery before the piece severed the nerve entirely. My new internist prescribed an anti-seizure med, too, the last time I saw him. The one he prescribed was Neurtontin. I read all the literature and decided not to use it. The "brain fog" they describe concerned me since I drive my granddaughter from school regularly. My daughter is on an anti seizure med for migraines, and she said it took months for her brain fog to improve. The drugs are supposed to be quite successful for treating long term sciatica even tho that is not what they were designed for.

Beth,
What kind of back surgery did you have? I lost half an inch with mine... darn means I need to weigh less.

When I have a flare up of really intense sciatica a cold pack sometimes helps more than the heat. I never know which one will help til I try. It worsens immediately if I pick the wrong one. During my physical therapy they often used both... but I don't remember which one they did first. Part of my p.t. was walking on a flat surface several times a day for 10-20 mins. at a time.

DH has his check up tomorrow. We will be very interested to see what affect, if any yet, SBD has had on his cholesterol levels. Maybe after just 3, almost 4 weeks, it hasn't had time to make an improvement, but I do feel we're on the right track. Anybody had reduced cholesterol levels after SBD? At least his weight is down about 8 pounds.
Shae

[nosnobunny]

I had a disc removed, decompression and fusion using an experimental procedure not allowed in the US using stem cells. After 25 years of pain, I am a new woman. :D Taller too. ;)

Beth

[WeirdEyes]

Well, I guess we should call this the Back Problems Thread instead of South Beach. :D Lets see...I have degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, and 4 bulging discs. What fun! I went home early from work and drugged myself up and finally got some relief. I am now in a drug induced fog so if you can't understand what I'm saying, you'll understand. ;) Shae, I am on the Neurtontin and I HATE how it makes me feel. I've only been taking one at night and that's ALL I'm going to take until it doesn't make me feel like I'm in a fog. Also, one of the side effects is increased appetite and Lord knows I don't need that. Needless to say, I probably won't be refilling the script.

I hope all of y'all have a great day!