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It helps that we enjoy our meals outdoors every day. We love the sunshine, the views of the mountains, and the temperatures ranging from seventy-five to eighty degrees. Sometimes we cook burgers and Italian sausage on the grill, which is totally keto and lots of fun. I enjoy my meats with lettuce, cheese, homemade catsup, brown mustard, and onions. Sometimes I add bacon. Also, I'm finding lots of uses for turnips. They make an excellent, low-carb substitute for potatoes, and in my opinion, taste much better than cauliflower. My favorite recipe is Turnips au Gratin. Turnips work well in this recipe, maintaining that potato crunch and perfectly accompany the cookout items. Of course, we add all types of vegetables and salads. Tonight we'll use some very nice avocados we found at Costco to accompany a pork asada bowl. That should be delicious. So, I guess what I'm leading up to is the idea that ambiance matters and the keto items must vary, else the keto diet becomes drudgery, and you can't let that happen. I realize that we're very fortunate to reside in beautiful places, but cookouts can happen anywhere, as can candlelit dinners and picnics. Actually, some recent studies demonstrate that ambiance affects food desirability and might make choices more delectable. Moreover, the perfect ambiance may help individuals maintain diets, including keto, by connecting the meals with enjoyable places and experiences. Therefore, eating locations, temperatures, and lighting all contribute to meal enjoyment, and it is essential to treat yourself to the best possible mealtime climate. Begin by planning how and where you will have your meals. If you don't have time to do this planning daily, do it all over your available time, and execute your meals in ways that are lovely and enjoyable. Menu variety matters, as does the location of your meals. Even the lighting can take you away from the drudgery and bring you into a relaxing, satisfying mealtime event. I suggest investing in battery-operated candles to accompany meals so that even though they might take place in the same space every day, they make the space as perfect as possible. I read lots of input from people beginning keto who quickly become discouraged or develop cravings. I submit that most of these feelings come from a lack of planning and surroundings. Keto success depends upon menu variety and meal ambiance, and thus, requires thought and effort. My advice is to do everything you can to enjoy the keto ride!
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While we're in Hawaii, we try to frequent several excellent restaurants. My favorite is behind our house on Po'Kai Bay called The Beach House. It has beautiful sweeping Bay views and a menu filled with savory main course meals, appetizers along with fresh salads that are Keto friendly. While the presentation is lovely, the dining is casual, so the diners are comfortable in casual attire. Local bands perform live music on weekends, usually playing Hawaiian favorites and songs from the sixties and seventies. We're comfortable having wine with our meals because we only need to walk less than half a block home rather than drive. However, we don't often go because, as you might imagine, it's pricy. Last year our son took us to a Korean BBQ that we thoroughly enjoyed. For a moderate price per person, they provide "all you can eat" meats that we barbequed over a cooking apparatus in the center of the table. My only disappointment was that they didn't offer any delicious Korean soups that I enjoy, but I survived. We also like to go to a dim sum restaurant located downtown in Chinatown called Mei Sum Dim Sum. I can eat several menu choices but avoid those wrapped in carbs. Sometimes, I simply remove the covering and eat the insides. There is a Pho restaurant in Kapolei that serves terrific chicken curry, but Steve is unhappy with it because he thinks it uses flavor enhancers that cause him to feel bad, so we rarely eat there. I've also mentioned that we like to eat at Spinners, a café located at the marina down the street from us. It is very nice for breakfast, but most menu items are carb-loaded, so it is a big treat for everyone but me. However, I can order the various available proteins and always enjoy my meals there. Mostly, though, we enjoy our meals at home. To begin with, we have a fabulous view of the mountains from our lanai. They are part of the Waianae Kai Forest and Mokulaie Forest Reserves. These two mountains differ tremendously, as one is part of a desert-like climate and the other, a rainforest. We sit at our outdoor dining table, enjoying the gentle breezes blowing off the mountains while eating homecooked meals that, of course, are keto-friendly. I'm thinking about creating recipes similar to those popular on the islands, excluding poke. Steve loves poke and can walk next door to the store to buy it fresh anytime he wishes. I'm not interested in raw fish, and never will be, but I'm thinking of trying to make lomi salmon just to see how it works out. I'm also going to try a few Hawaiian recipes where pork is center stage. While pork is not a meat that I commonly use, I'm going to try a few things with it. The first one I intend to try is laulau, pork wrapped inside leaves and slow-cooked. Then, we'll try kalua pig. Sounds awful, right? But I understand that it's another Island favorite. Finally, we'll try to make a carb-friendly loco moco. That means I've got to figure out how to create brown gravy and a good substitute for rice. I'm really looking forward to getting some of these items going. I'll let you know how it works out!
We've arrived at our home in Waianae, and it's beautiful here as usual. Temperatures never exceed 80 degrees and rarely drop below 70 at night. We're very comfortable and already enjoying a stricter diet. It seems a little easier to eat less when the weather's so beautiful. Both of us are snacking less as well, and Steve has discontinued the persistent grazing he does when trapped inside by the weather. I'm sitting on my lanai as I write this entry and have a fabulous view of the mountains. One mountain, covered with a rain forest, stays emerald green and misty year-round. It sits behind the other, a desert mountain that is golden brown with blotches of lime green this time of year due to the rains. My mango tree looms large over our little beach house and yard, protecting both from the rising sun. While I continue to take weight loss seriously, I'm trying to remain free from stress. The contentment I feel sitting within this gorgeous space is hard to describe and certainly promotes a healthy mind. Also, during the holidays, I remembered how good it is to laugh. We watch Planes, Trains, and Automobiles every holiday season because it is filled with timeless hilarity, and we did a lot of laughing and talking with visitors. So, as usual, this holiday was filled with laughter from several sources. According to the Mayo Clinic, laughter is one of the best ways to improve health. It oxygenates organs, soothes tension, and relaxes the stress response. I sometimes forget how great it feels to have a good laugh. Several things have made me laugh lately that I will share. My biggest laugh came from this short film my son sent me called "The Offensive Translator." I think he and I have the same sense of humor because I usually laugh at the things he thinks are funny. In honor of Betty White, who I think lived a remarkable life, I'm linking an SNL skit called "The Census Taker." I think you'll enjoy this as well. One of my favorite comedy actors played Niles on Frazier, and I'm linking one of his funniest performances. Be sure to try to watch the entire thing. It will make you laugh out loud! The week before we left was particularly stressful because the bay overwhelmed the seawall along with our neighbor's properties, flooding the houses and destroying some of their outdoor structures. One neighbor lost an outside wall to their home, and another lost part of a patio to a sinkhole created by a powerful undercurrent. Steve and I removed the bulk of the water from our friend's home because they have difficulty traveling from Canada to Birch Bay due to Canada's COVID rules. They finally made it just before we left, so I'm hoping things go well for them. In the meantime, we look forward to the months ahead of us in Hawaii and then in Birch bay during the summer. We are blessed.
On this past Wednesday, a combination of powerful northwest winds and a very high tide flooded the homes along the shore of our beautiful bay. Water also ran along the roadway and into cabins next to us that sit close to the ground. Just as a thirteen-foot so-called king tide approached, the winds picked up and began blowing water over the sea wall and into the homes. It was astonishing to see water come over the tops of the house in front of us. Because we're usually out of here by this time of year, we've never experienced flooding and hope we never experience it again. Steve and I removed seven inches of water from our neighbor's home. They live in British Columbia, and crossing the border into Birch Bay is problematic because of Canada's many requirements related to COVID testing. We hope they can get here soon to assess the damage and remediate things. We want to see them before we head to Hawaii. Next Sunday, we will leave for Waianae, Hawaii. We're anxious to get to the sunshine and mild temperatures waiting for us on the island of Oahu. This change is an adjustment for me. Our Birch Bay menus are quite different than our Waianae menus. First of all, I don't have all the kitchen appliances there that I enjoy here. That's not a big problem because I can still buy my favorite things from Costco, and I cook less there than I do here. We eat out more in Hawaii, so I'll choose restaurants that accommodate my keto-style diet. We also do a lot of cooking on the grill, and grilled items are almost always keto-friendly. We are taking seafood with us, including salmon and crab, so I'll have plenty of choices for meals. Then, of course, there's our old stand-by, cabbage. It is available everywhere, and so we'll continue to make our large containers of slaw and serve it with chicken, ribs, and fish. Of course, we'll start our workouts right away, beginning with joining the Mililani YMCA to use the pool and special exercise equipment. We're anxious to do some golfing again, and I'm looking forward to visiting some of the beautiful public courses available to us other than West Loch Golf Course, the one we usually visit. I'm also hoping to do some more hiking around Oahu. The places I intend to hike eventually are linked here. Of course, I hiked Diamond Head when Jake and Harald were married because they held their wedding ceremony on Diamond Head beach. It was stunning! We love being in Birch Bay and Waianae for different reasons. Each place offers so much, and we enjoy exploring both. We're learning new things all the time and hope we remain healthy enough to enjoy both places for years to come. That means I need to maintain my weight because that impacts everything else. Even with the pounds I've lost so far, my blood pressure has improved and will continue to improve with every pound I lose. It's still a VERY slow process, but I'll continue healthy eating. I'm still feeling a little sad about the flood and how it impacts my neighbors. We're very fortunate because our home sits on higher ground specifically to accommodate such an event. However, I still feel very sorry for everyone who faces this problem. The following is a poem I wrote about our Bay and my first experience witnessing it explode the way it did:
Birch Bay There was a little Bay, providing gentle waves all through the season while we boated. The crabbing was good...it was very very good, but in winter the waves became horrid! I recently viewed an older CBS Sunday Morning prime time special called "Forever Young." It aired on November 29th, and it's well worth watching for several reasons. Interestingly, it verifies a few things I'm trying based on my own research, including the benefits of fasting and keto. Of course, I'm not trying to stay "young," but I'd like to stay healthy and, if possible, reverse damage I've done with gluttony, a poor diet, and lack of exercise. I recently dodged a bullet, insisting upon a colonoscopy that resulted in the discovery and removal of two large precancerous polyps. Health-wise, everything else seems good, though borderline, according to blood work. I must lose more pounds to control blood pressure, blood sugar levels, and cholesterol. However, it is also essential to monitor my thoughts as well. I must maintain a healthy outlook. One of the interviewees shown in the special said that negative thoughts shorten one's life. That really stuck with me because I tend to revisit the past, and it's not always positive. I'm much better than I was, but I still have lapses. Emotional obsessions focusing upon regrets, bitterness, anger, envy, and jealousy impact health. How does one begin controlling emotional health? We can start by letting things go, particularly those things we cannot control. We all know that. The question is, how to do it? Sometimes one needs to change their emotional map. If you've spent time languishing on a path of resentment, you must replace that path with another that is fruitful and positive. Begin to intervene the moment the mental journey starts by creating a new branch in the path leading in a positive direction. Reinforcing the positive with real action is very helpful. For example, when thoughts turn to self-recrimination and regret over past mistakes, replace each with positive actions that compensate for those regrets. First, of course, identifying the specific regret is essential. If you cannot change things, or make up for them, try to find another way to compensate or somehow "make amends." If you regret something that you failed to do for your child, for example, correct it by providing the same to a child in need at a shelter or a school. Making amends is a central part of the "Twelve Steps and Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous." In my view, these steps guide new path-making when old emotional maps dead-end one's life. Although I am not an alcoholic, I find the AA teachings along with the Serenity Prayer very beneficial. Oh, by the way, eating compulsively is an addiction, so the twelve-step program helps expose and alleviate the issues driving the compulsion. The traditions and steps help remove life's stumbling blocks, emerging primarily from negative thinking. Our ability to apologize and communicate honestly without blaming others for our mistakes is indicative of emotional growth promoted through the twelve steps. Here's to finding new ways of thinking and living on our pathway to improved health.
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