10 Day Mary's Mini

[Letha..]

I also want to welcome Desertwind56, Kirstykay, & Silvafox. The more the merrier.

Debbie, that was an excellent explanation of Mary’s Mini. I’m going to copy it and refer to it later when I answer questions about Mary’s Mini from new folks.

Silvafox, I participate heavily on this forum because I find it helps me stay on track. I post in my journal thread every day and I read and post in the MWL thread every day and I have for the past year. I’m also reading and posting in this thread for this challenge daily. I like to read through all the active journals at least once a week and usually post a little something in most of them. I also read at least the first post on most of the threads here. If it’s something that is interesting to me I’ll follow along and I may also add my own two cents. Based on my observations, people who visit and participate on the forum regularly find that it supports them in their efforts to follow the McDougall plan.

How long do you plan on doing rice/lettuce for?

Janluvs2heel, Short answer: I don’t know. Long answer: I love how easy it is. No decisions. Easy prep. Easy cleanup. Easy planning. Easy shopping. Cheaper. BUT… I have 3 spice racks full of wonderful spices I’m not using and a wonderful blog full of MWL recipes that I love and a very long list of MWL recipes I wanted to try out. Plus, I find I have a lot less to talk about on the McDougall board since the only thing I’m eating is rice, lettuce, and apples. I’ve said that I’ll do it until I get sick of it, but that may not happen. For several years I ate the same cafeteria breakfast of hash browns/sausage gravy/Danish/latté and I never got tired of it. Maybe I’ll never get tired of this. I’ve also said I was looking forward to reaching my goal so I could add bread, pasta, nuts, & tofu back into my menu. But now I’m wondering if I could eat this simply forever. I just don’t know yet.
Letha

[janluvs2heel]

Wow, welcome all. You guys have been busy while I have been working. Yes, the more the merrrier.

I am doing fine, but an Orthodontist's office sent over some pastries this am. I dont get it, you would think Drs, DDs, etc. would send some healthy stuff but no. They sure do rant & rave at us about eating too much sugar though. Thankfully I am not at all hungry & the smell did not intice me at all. One of the girls told me, oh, I know you are trying to eat healthier but you wont believe how good these are. I just shook my head & went back to work.

Had Hash browns for breakfast. Lunch, I need to cook some potatoes or I do have my leftover fries I made last night, I could have that with some veggies. I will see how hungry I am when I get home for lunch.

Right now I think I could eat this way for a while. It is strange not being hungry.

[Silvafox]

So, today was half over by the time I found you folks so I'll start MM-ing tomorrow morning.

Now, my next question is, do you cook "enough" potatoes to last through out the day? Do you make different potato things? Do you use ketchup, salsa, mushroom gravy (McDougall style) or do you eat your spuds plain? Do you use just any MWL recipe that is potato based?

I understand how Letha does it, that sounds much simpler...rice, lettuce, apples...I guess it would work just as easily with potatoes, wouldn't it.

Is that wnat the rest of you Experienced MM-er's do?

Sorry if I sound terribly dense...I just need to really grasp an idea before I start running with it.

Thank you,

Debra

[sksamboots]

Hi,

I started today. I'm doing potatoes only. I'll check in here daily for support

[janluvs2heel]

Hi Sksamboots-Welcome. Potatoes are good & hearty & easy.

Silvafox-I use ketchup, if I make oven fries or if I have an extra crispy potato I just dunk it in the ketchup. That is about as creative as I get although I think I might try making gravy. Today at lunch I had my leftover fries & I nuked a bag of the steam & fresh veggies, carrots, broccoli & cauliflower. I ate about 1/2 the bag. I took an apple back to work with me. I notice I am hungrier at work, it is annoying. I had to go back & smell the cinnamon rolls, they kept calling me, but they smelled icky so I am glad that I did that & they are out of my system. And you dont sound dense at all.

Probably just nuke a few potatoes & more veggies tonight. I love the simplicity of this plan.

[kirstykay]

Today was my first official day on MM. I think it went pretty well, not perfect, but I'm getting the hang of it. I had a yukon gold that I nuked for breakfast and I had it with 1/2 can of creamed corn on it because I couldn't do ketchup in the morning. It was yummy. Lunch was tricky because I went out to eat, but I ordered the fresh spinach salad without the bacon or dressing, just the veggies. I should have ordered a baked potato to go with it because I was hungry almost right away...now I understand why we can't just eat vegetables alone. For dinner, I made "Broccoli and Potatoes with Tomato Sauce" from the www.all-creatures.org website that I found on Letha's blog page. What a great resource! I found a bunch of things that will work with MM on that website. I served this as a side dish for my family, but it was my main course...worked out great! I think I can do this for the 10 days! I'm excited to see how much weight I can lose.

Oh yeah, I wanted to ask if anyone has a problem with anemia on this plan? My Dr. put me on iron because my blood work showed very low iron. Has anyone else had this problem? It may be completely unrelated to mwl, but I just wondered what other people's experiences were.

Thanks!
Kirsty

[janluvs2heel]

Here it is Tuesday am. Checking in. I am on plan & staying that way. Last night I finished off my day with hash browns again with veggies. Pretty tasty. I still dont think I could eat veggies for breakfast though.

Debbie, good job in avoiding the Animal Crackers. And see, the girls like the dipping the potato in ketchup. Hee, hee.

Today we have a staff meeting so I will have to make my lunch before I leave. Think I will just nuke a couple potatoes & take some veggies. Maybe spinach & I will take a banana. I have a couple, if I dont eat them soon, they will get too soft for me.

Have a great day everyone!!!!

[kirstykay]

How do you cook your hashbrowns without oil? Do you use water, non-stick cooking spray? How long do you cook them on top of the stove? Thanks for any advice!
Kirsty

[Letha..]

Morning all. I’m still doing Mary’s Mini with rice, lettuce and apples. Hoping to be down another few pounds on Thursday.

How do you cook your hashbrowns without oil? Do you use water, non-stick cooking spray? How long do you cook them on top of the stove? Thanks for any advice!
Kirsty

Hi Kirsty,
Here is the Mary McDougall recipe from the March 2007 newsletter.

Hash Browns

Preparation Time: 2 minutes
Cooking Time: 15-20 minutes
Servings: 2

4-5 cups shredded potatoes

Preheat a non-stick pan for 30 seconds, then add the potatoes to the dry pan. Flatten slightly, cover with a lid, and cook over medium-high heat for 5-8 minutes before turning. (Fresh shredded potatoes will cook faster than frozen shredded potatoes.) Then turn over and cook for another 7-10 minutes on the other side, turning as often as you like for even browning.

Hints: Shredded potatoes may be purchased in supermarkets and natural food stores, either frozen or fresh. Check to make sure there are no added oils. Or you can easily shred your own potatoes using a food processor. Chopped onions and peppers also make a delicious addition to Hash Brown potatoes.
============

There is also a good thread about cooking hash browns in a Forman grill or waffle maker. Here’s a link.
http://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewt ... highlight=
Letha

[desertwind56]

Checking in

I stayed on plan yesterday. I'm down another .4 pounds.

I'm concerned that I might not be eating enough calories. I plugged my best guestimate of what I ate into CRON-o-Meter, and it was not much calorie wise. So today, I'll measure everything and get a more accurate count.

So far today I've had two cups of hash-browns and half a tomato. But, that was two separate meals for me. I've been trying to relax and eat slow. I tend to want to hurry and eat my food before it jumps of the plate and runs away. So, when I eat nice and slow, I hit "comfortably full" before I eat very much.

I buy the boxes of frozen hash-browns from Costco. It has 3 large packages in the box and I cook up 1 package at a time. I have a huge non-stick pan, and I cook using water instead of oil. This time I added onion, bell pepper, zucchini and mushrooms. Top with some fresh chopped tomato and some hot sauce. YUMMY!

I never made the roasted potatoes, carrots and onions yesterday. Had too many leftovers to finish. So I'll get that made today.

Connie M.

[kirstykay]

That recipe helps alot. Mine were kinda mushy and I like them crispy. I think I used too much water and stirred the too much. I like the idea of adding the veggies, too.
kirsty

[Silvafox]

Okay, you all are amazing...I mean...I lasted until about noon today. When DH left I finished off the (fat free/sugar free) oatmeal "cookies"...and then had two slices of bread. One would think somoene MY age could stick to "just potatoes and veggies" for at LEAST one DAY!

Sigh...

On the up side, I'm checking in...I thought that might help my state of mind.

8 (

[kirstykay]

Silvafox,
I'm new at this, and today was more difficult for me than yesterday, too. But I want to encourage you not to give up. When I feel like I just want to quit, I read some of the stories from the "star McDougallers" and then I remember why I'm doing this. It helps me believe it will really make a diffierence! I KNOW it will...it's just a matter of sticking with it...we can...many have... You can! So just start from right here right now, and make the next best choice. I will if you will!
Kirsty

[sksamboots]

Day one of Mary's Minis for me:

Breakfast/Lunch: Veggie Soup ( I made a big pot last week before I started Mary Mini's so I'm trying to finish the pot) In the future I plan just to have a potato
Dinner: Hasbrowns

It was a hard day. Tired and cranky. my dear dearest husband tried to get me to go out for pizza but I declined. I just made myself very full with hashbrowns. Feeling full and better. Hope it gets easier.

[janluvs2heel]

Well, I am pretty proud of myself. Not only did I have the leftover cinnamon rolls that were brought in yesterday lurking in the lunch room but another dr's office brought Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Coffee. One for each of us. It sure smelled good & it was pretty chilly in my office area, very, very windy today but I didnt drink any. I opened one to see what was in it, & of course there was whipped cream. Then another girl made a big chocolate cake & of course because her 4 year old son has a problem with chocolate, she brought it to work. Why, why, why did she even make it then? I didnt know what it was until she lifted off the foil cover. And on top of that, we had to have another stupid staff meeting so I had to bring my lunch. But guess what, I had a potato, creamed corn over it, which was actually pretty tasty & some baby carrots.

So that was my day. Fortunately I am doing MM because it really takes away my appetite. Tonight I think I will have another potato & the rest of the creamed corn & I bought some peppers, red, yellow & orange, maybe I will cut up some rings to add some color.

And then the new assistant & I almost got into it after lunch, we were still in the back, she made mention of the fact that I dont eat meat. Well, neither do I she said. I am like what did you just eat at lunch? Oh, it was chicken. And see, I dont have a weight problem, that is what she told me. I mean she hasn't looked in a mirror lately I guess. I said well, it isn't always just what you look like in the mirror, ha,ha, of course, she is perfect. It was all I could do to contain myself.

The good news is, even though I hadn't planned on weighing myself before next Sunday I couldn't resist this am. I am down to 219 so that leaves me just 4 lbs before I hit the 20 lb mark. A molehill but it is progress.