Latest news with #Kaylin
The Irish Sun
06-05-2025
- Health
- The Irish Sun
I went from a size 22 to a 6 and shed half my body weight WITHOUT resorting to fat jabs – 2 simple tricks are key
A WAITRESS lost a whopping eight stone with two simple tricks - after her "spirit was crushed" when a customer told her she'd "doubled in size". Kaylin Gealy, 28, says she piled on pounds while working as a waitress at Advertisement 9 Kaylin Gealy, 28, before her weight loss Credit: Kennedy Newsand Media 9 The waitress took advantage of free meals from the Italian restaurant she worked at, often eating family-sized pasta dishes Credit: Kennedy Newsand Media 9 She lost a whopping eight stone with the help of simple tips Credit: Kennedy Newsand Media 9 Kaylin ditched fizzy drinks and tried to stay active during her work breaks Credit: Kennedy Newsand Media Kaylin went from 10.7 stone (150lbs) to almost 17 stone (237lbs) after indulging in rich pasta dishes daily. The 28-year-old said she would take home "family-sized" dishes at the end of her shift and would eat them all by herself, accompanied by sides and desserts. She hoped that But Kaylin was reduced to tears when a customer turned round to her on shift one day in October 2019 and told her she had "doubled in size" - even going so far as to show her an image of herself from the year before. Advertisement Kaylin says she was left "shocked" by the comment and knew in that moment she need to make some changes. The 28-year-old had also been told by her doctor she was obese. She used the hurtful comment as ammunition to start her weight loss journey. Kaylin switched to an office job to keep away from the temptation of free meals and vowed to make healthier food choices. Advertisement Most read in Diet & Nutrition She also "I'd been working everyday at the restaurant so I was eating seven Italian dishes throughout the week," she said. I lost 98lb on Mounjaro but it's surprise side benefit that's been life-changing "Usually at lunch time I would have a sandwich or a burger but then at the end of the night I would also get a family-sized meal. "The restaurant had dishes on the menu that were pasta-for-two and I would get the meal that was made for two people and I would bring it home and eat it all to myself. Advertisement "I might get a soup or a salad with it, extra garlic bread, and if there was a good cake in the dessert cooler then I might bring a cake home with me too. "I wouldn't get home until 11pm so I was eating so much food right before bed - and it wasn't healthy food. 9 Kaylin was shocked by a comment made by customer about her weight Credit: Kennedy Newsand Media 9 She switched jobs soon afterwards to avoid the constant temptation Credit: Kennedy Newsand Media Advertisement 9 She shed five stone in the first year Credit: Kennedy Newsand Media "I wasn't thinking about nutrition - I was just thinking about the fact that the food looked delicious and I just wanted all of it." The lifestyle change resulted in Kaylin losing a whopping 8.2 stone (116lbs) in the space of two years - with five stone (70lbs) of the weight loss shed within the first 12 months. Kaylin's weight dropped from 17 stone (237lbs) to 8.6 stone (121lbs) at her lowest. Advertisement Kaylin - who now works as an asset management specialist - now maintains her weight at around 9.2 stone (130lbs) and says she "feels like a whole new person". Kaylin, from Greenville, South Carolina, recalled the hurtful incident that kicked off her journey: "One of my regulars who would come in everyday for lunch asked me if I was taking any medication. The NHS 12-step plan to help you lose weight FROM faddy diets to dodgy detoxes - most of us have heard it all before when it comes to weight loss. But burning fat can be easy and mostly free. In fact, the NHS has a whole load of medically-approved tips for weight loss and shedding body fat once and for all... Don't skip breakfast Skipping breakfast will not help you lose weight. You could miss out on essential nutrients and you may end up snacking more throughout the day because you feel hungry. Eat regular meals Eating at regular times during the day helps burn calories at a faster rate. It also reduces the temptation to snack on foods high in fat and sugar. Eat plenty of fruit and veg Fruit and veg are low in calories and fat, and high in fibre – 3 essential ingredients for successful weight loss. They also contain plenty of vitamins and minerals. Get more active Being active is key to losing weight and keeping it off. As well as providing lots of health benefits, exercise can help burn off the excess calories you cannot lose through diet alone. Drink lots of water People sometimes confuse thirst with hunger. You can end up consuming extra calories when a glass of water is really what you need. Eat high fibre foods Foods containing lots of fibre can help keep you feeling full, which is perfect for losing weight. Fibre is only found in food from plants, such as fruit and veg, oats, wholegrain bread, brown rice and pasta, and beans, peas and lentils. Read food labels Knowing how to read food labels can help you choose healthier options. Use the calorie information to work out how a particular food fits into your daily calorie allowance on the weight loss plan. Use a smaller plate Using smaller plates can help you eat smaller portions. By using smaller plates and bowls, you may be able to gradually get used to eating smaller portions without going hungry. It takes about 20 minutes for the stomach to tell the brain it's full, so eat slowly and stop eating before you feel full. Don't ban foods Do not ban any foods from your weight loss plan, especially the ones you like. Banning foods will only make you crave them more. There's no reason you cannot enjoy the occasional treat as long as you stay within your daily calorie allowance. Don't stock junk food To avoid temptation, do not stock junk food – such as chocolate, biscuits, crisps and sweet fizzy drinks – at home. Instead, opt for healthy snacks, such as fruit, unsalted rice cakes, oat cakes, unsalted or unsweetened popcorn, and fruit juice. Cut down on alcohol A standard glass of wine can contain as many calories as a piece of chocolate. Over time, drinking too much can easily contribute to weight gain. Plan your meals Try to plan your breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for the week, making sure you stick to your calorie allowance. You may find it helpful to make a weekly shopping list. "I told her that I wasn't and she told me that I'd doubled in size from the year before. "When she told me that she pulled up her phone and had a picture of me from the year before - she was trying to show me visual proof of how much weight I'd gained which wasn't very nice . Advertisement "That was the moment where it crushed my spirit and I decided to make a change. "I was so sad. It felt like all of the music and all of the sounds around me stopped. I was very shocked. "The next week I left my waitress job and got a job in an office setting because I knew that I needed to not be around food the whole day." Start small Kaylin overhauled her lifestyle and started calorie counting, made healthier food choices, swapped fizzy drinks for water and used her breaks in the office to go for a walk. Advertisement After shedding 100lbs, Kaylin dropped from a size 22 to a size six in jeans - from an 18 to a two in American sizing - and from a size XL to small in tops. Kaylin said: "I feel like a whole new person. "Instead of wanting to stay in and watch movies and eat takeaways, I'm always wanting to go explore. "I love being active and it's amazing how much energy I have now - I didn't think it was possible. Advertisement Just do one little thing each week. Maybe the first week you stop eating the cookies and the next week you add in a walk Kaylin Gealy "It's also so much easier to shop. I enjoy shopping - I'm not scared about going to try things on and them not fitting. "I can typically find more cute options as well. It's just easier to find clothes now." Kaylin urges anyone else at the start of their weight loss journey to start with small swaps and stay consistent. Kaylin said: "I would say just start with small changes and let them accumulate. Advertisement "Be as persistent as you can. You don't have to go in full force at the beginning. Every little change will add up to a big change. Read more on the Irish Sun "Just do one little thing each week. Maybe the first week you stop eating the cookies and the next week you add in a walk. "Stay consistent - you can definitely do it." 9 Kaylin advised others to start small Credit: Kennedy Newsand Media Advertisement 9 'Stay consistent - you can definitely do it,' she added Credit: Kennedy Newsand Media
Los Angeles Times
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles is a pickle city. Where to find pickle bagels, fried pickles and pickle nachos
Did social media videos of ranch pickles, chamoy pickles and glickles (pickles with edible glitter) make pickle lovers out of all of us during the pandemic? Or did TikTok just give the existing pickle heads a new outlet for our pickle flags to fly high and wide? Today's collective pickle obsession was probably brought on by a little bit of both. If the Big Dill World's Largest Pickle Party were a thing when I was younger, it would have been better than Disneyland. For the uninitiated, it's an annual pickle appreciation festival that started in Baltimore in 2019. This year, there are events planned for Dallas and Baltimore. Imagine pickles on and in offerings that include pizza and egg rolls, a world pickle eating championship, brine chug challenge and unlimited pickle sampling. 'I think social media just exposed all the pickle lovers,' says Scott Kaylin, owner of Kaylin + Kaylin pickle shop and Topped pickle restaurant at the Original Farmers Market. 'Obviously it's creating some new ones but I think overall, there have always been pickle lovers, and social media is just exposing pickle lovers to different things.' Kaylin + Kaylin has nearly 2 million likes on TikTok and thousands of followers. It's also one of the most frequented vendors in the Original Farmers Market, with customers who line up for the $3 pickle flight at the tasting bar. You choose five flavors, then spear your sample spears with a tiny wooden pick. I tend to resample the spicy garlic dill, horseradish and spicy honey mustard with each visit. The flight was actually a pandemic-specific business model that turned into a genius marketing ploy for Kaylin, who opened his pickle business about a month before the COVID-19 shutdowns of 2020. 'I went to the health department and told them I was an essential business,' he says. 'They told me I could stay open, but I couldn't sample.' Offering shoppers free pickle samples is how Kaylin attracted most of his new customers. 'I thought, how do I function?' he says. 'If I create a plate, it's not a sample. I took the opposite of the Costco model and was probably the first person to ever charge people for samples.' Last year, he sold 43,000 pickle flights. I was personally responsible for 30 of them. In August, he opened Topped out of a 200-square-foot space near the north end of the market. The business was directly inspired by the pickle creations he sees on social media, offering pickle sandwiches, pickle chips dressed like nachos and flights of stuffed pickle mini boats. Unsurprisingly, the flight of mini pickle boats is Kaylin's bestselling item. And the pickle topping people gravitate to the most is Flamin' Hot Cheetos. On a recent visit, I order a flight with a cream cheese, lox and everything bagel seasoning pickle boat; a tuna salad pickle boat and a peanut butter and Nutella boat with crushed pretzels. The latter is exactly as advertised, with smooth peanut butter and chocolate hazelnut spread becoming one in the center of a scooped out pickle with salty pretzels crumbled over the top. It shouldn't work, but it does. Full disclosure: When I was 5 years old I told my parents I wanted to live in pickle land, a place I dreamed up where inhabitants ate all sorts of pickles for breakfast, lunch, dinner and all snacks. My never-ending quest to fall deeper into the pickle rabbit hole that is Los Angeles led me to the bar at Belle's Delicatessen, Nick Schreiber and J.D. Rocchio's bagel pop-up turned full Jewish deli in Highland Park. Here, you can order a pickle martini (a full sour in martini form) and sip it alongside a plate of fried pickles. 'Fried pickles in and of themselves are a kind of drinking snack,' Schreiber says. 'In a Jewish deli you eat pickles, but fried pickles are something we had seldom seen in the deli sphere.' Belle's fried pickles do not shrink into dry, shriveled raisins in the fryer. There isn't too much batter and it doesn't separate from the pickle. Schreiber uses a mixture of cornmeal and tapioca flour to create a light, crisp golden shell that fuses to each pickle chip. And he's using a pickle with high nostalgia marks for any Angeleno. After sampling dozens of pickles for the dish, he and Rocchio settled on a pickle from Chicago Pickle Co., which is actually a division of Vienna Beef. 'Theirs was the best we tried by a long shot,' says Schreiber. 'One of my reps told me that the garlic dill pickles at Jerry's Famous Deli were these pickles and I was like, 'say less.' ' The fried pickles are finished with a sprinkling of ground caraway seeds, giving each briny, acidic chip some deep sweet and spicy notes that will bring to mind your favorite toasted rye bread. On the side, there's ranch packed with as many derivative onion flavors as Schreiber could manage, including green onion and onion powder. And the slice of lemon on the plate isn't just a pretty garnish. 'We actually do encourage people to squeeze the lemon over the pickles for what we call the kosher calamari effect,' says Schreiber. 'Between the cornmeal, the lemon and the briny acidity, it's giving calamari.' At the Fat & Flour location in Culver City, there is evidence of owner Nicole Rucker's love of pickles all over the bakery and market. Pickle ornaments dangle from a display during the holidays, there are jars of pickles in the fridge to purchase and pickle hats. A bumper sticker reads: 'I'd rather be leaning over the sink eating a jar of pickles.' 'Last year, pickles started to crest in popularity on the internet,' says Rucker. 'Everything became like pickle girl content. I'm not really sure who started that but it just became like pickles were in the zeitgeist again in a different way.' In January, she created the pickle bagel. 'We started offering this bagel menu and top of mind, was my love of pickles,' she says. 'I just really like pickles and thought what would be better than regular cream cheese? If we put pickles in the cream cheese. And it was very good.' The pickle bagel is built on a Jyan Isaac Bread bagel of your choice, toasted until both the bottom and top are crusty. It's smeared with a whipped cream cheese that's been mixed with dill, a little bit of fresh garlic, chopped pickles and a splash of pickle juice. A ribbon of sliced cucumber is splayed over each half with more dill, some flaky sea salt and red pepper flakes. You get the briny bite of a good pickle with the freshness of raw cucumber over one of the city's best, airy, crunchy bagels. The first iteration of the pickle bagel was made using a brand called Hot Girl Pickles. 'We switched over to using Grillo's pickles in the cream cheese because the Hot Girl Pickles are not available to use right now,' says Rucker. 'If I wasn't using Grillo's, I'd use the Bubbies ones, which are also very good. I'm entertaining new pickles.' My pickle-centric interview with Rucker ended with us both browsing pickle merch on a website she turned me onto called Faire. I've got my eye on a pickle bookmark and stickers that read: 'just a girl who loves pickles.' 'Life is hell,' she says. 'But there is still fun stuff going on. ' I couldn't agree more. And for those who might appreciate such statistics, the words 'pickle' and 'pickles' appear a total of 75 times in this column.
