Jan 09 "ON PLAN PLANNING TO STAY THAT WAY" MWL

[Letha]

Welcome aboard MrsIrishOD, Seallen, Faith, FreedomHDD, Fulenn, Dallasmom, Topview1, AffectedMango, & Toadfood. Eight more group members brings us to 24 (plus Faith in the cheering section). It’s particularly exciting to see so many folks posting for the very first time in this thread.

Feel free to start using this thread to talk about your preparations. Have you cleaned out your cupboards? Have you told your families or will you let them be surprised when you serve up dinner on January 1st? I’ve been doing this for a few months so I don’t have any non-McDougall food in the house. I do need to reorganize my cupboards a little bit though. I think I could send the muffin tins, cake pans, mixer, & rolling pins out to the garage. Talk to you soon.
Letha

[aliceszanto]

Hi, My name is Alice and I have been on a weight loss journey starting October 2006. A friend of mine was becoming a Vegan and it took me a while, but I eventually tried it and loved it. I started at 265 and got down to 204. Unfortunately, I broke my leg and had to depend on others to make my meals and pretty soon, I was addicted to sweets and fast foods. Still vegan of course, but cheating a lot with milk chocolate and finding that I ate more chocolate during stress. A week ago, I decided to go back to basics and try the MWL plan. After reading on this board, I decided to try Mary's Mini as a starting point. I am finding a lot of freedom on it. No measuring, No calorie counting, Feeling Full. Eating when I want and enjoying the food I eat. Can't beat that. I plan on poking my head in here and checking in for January. I'm looking to the end of January to decide if this is the Vegan plan for me.

[Babstitches]

I kind of started this week, my body was rebelling against all the junk I have been eating lately. I have not told family and probably will not, hubby works night shift so he really won't know. My only "sin" is that I drink diet cokes and I have such a problem giving them up but I am resolved to do this and get healthy.

[kpolninja]

I'm so in. I'm taking the semester off from school to work on me right now. I'm back from my vacation (Disneyland!) and although I ate a lot of cotton candy, soda, and fries (it was more important to me to eat vegan (ethics) than healthy) with all of the walking and my use of moderation I managed to still loose .4 pounds. I'm not down to my lowest before all of the final papers ruined my diet, but I'm close. I have a killer cold right now too so that just destroys my appetite.

I HAVE to get into shape for my trip this july so I'm in it for the long haul. I've told my husband and my family that the next 6 months are going to be all about me as far as food and excercise are concerned. They are going to be my top two priorities.

My man gained weight on our Disneyland trip so hopefullly he will join me in this weight loss adventure, but honestly I can't worry about him.

[Faith in DC]

Alice
That's the nice thing about all of McDougall's plans, no weighing and measuring. Eat until comfortable.

Thanks for including me in the cheering squad. I always wanted to be a cheerleader and never made it.

I started on Sunday to get back to it. Since this is just an ongoing process for me, there wasn't much I had to do, except freeze the cookies and Fresh apple cake. Of course, I did dig out a portion of cookies after I froze them on Saturday. So I may need to go a step farther. I've been eating healthy this week, and getting all kinds of veggies in. They had a two lb bag of green beans on sale. Darn that's a lot of green beans. I've been adding them (and spinach) to my WW pasta and marinara. Tonight I'll sneak them in burrito insides. Going to Moes. I've had my huge salads at lunch.

OH and I'm armed with fresh veggies for NYE. Go away two pounds that visited me for Christmas. Take along some friends.

[seallen711]

Hello everyone,

I'm planning to do Mary's Mini with potatoes, though I'm not starting until thursday. I have a question...I have a ton of green peas and corn and broccoli in the freezer-I know broccoli is a freebie but what about the peas and corn. They are starchy so do I need to be worried about measuring them and how much I am eating? Of course I realize that compared to all the other SAD crap I eat, they are way healthy, but because they are starchy should I limit them more? What do you guys think? I'm not particularly interested in counting or serving sizes, but I do want to do this the right way.

Sara
Stats- 5'3"
172.5 lbs

[aliceszanto]

Thanks Faith! You look so cute in your outfit, too!

My motto is: I am in charge of my body. I am no longer going to let my sweet tooth run my life. I am in charge of my body!

Sara, I read into it that you really need to stick to one starch on the mini. If you wish, we could exchange ideas on what we are eating. I am doing potatoes as well.

I just got a grill and a panini maker. I have been experimenting with hash browns. I made some killer one's I couldn't have with lots of oil and gave them to my non-vegan son. He said they were delicious. I tried some on the panini maker and without oil, they are a bit dry but very nice and crispy. I also made french fries in the oven. Yum

I am also liquefying my salads and adding a little fruit to sweeten them. That way, I don't have the fat. It's called "green smoothie". I have a Vita-mix, so it's very easy to do. This helped me a lot when I lost weight the first time.

[Mrs. Doodlepunk]

I have a question...I have a ton of green peas and corn and broccoli in the freezer-I know broccoli is a freebie but what about the peas and corn. They are starchy so do I need to be worried about measuring them and how much I am eating?

Sara, I think peas and corn are OK to just eat. I think you shouldn't worry about them at all.

What I do with peas is use them in a salad, I run hot water over them and dump them right in with the rest of my stuff. Corn sometimes too, but corn gets used mainly in soup and stews.

Faith posted a killer recipe once for a salad with black beans and corn, I think it had green chilies in it too. Do you remember that one, Faith? I lost mine. It might have had rice in it too.

This is the don't worry, eat and be happy diet. As long as you are following the MWL guidelines of eating lots of stuff like tomatoes, zucchini, broccoli, onions, etc., and about a third of your food is starch, you will lose weight. You will be able to tell as you go if you are eating too much starches and then you will be able to cut back. The important thing is to eat when you are hungry and not feel like you are not getting enough to eat!

[Sandra]

Hi everyone,

I'm in as well. I've sort of slipped the last couple of weeks and I'm getting sick of it. Imagine that. Not that I've done anywhere as bad as I once would have, but I was so tuned into what I was eating for so long that it was a relief to let loose and not have to try so hard. It is still hard for me to actually cook things (arthritis issues). However, not paying attention is what got me where I am now in the first place!! The encouraging thing is that I have lost enough weight over the past 6 months (around 30 lbs) to be now starting at my lowest weight in over 15 years! Ha... I'm still in the high 200s! So... everything is down hill from here. SO, I guess thursday is the 1st and my starting weigh-in date for myself. Thereafter it is day by day. I'm glad to be in your company..

Sandra

[LauraA]

Hi Everyone - Our group is really growing. Our official starting date is Thursday, January 1, 2009. Thursday is also our official weigh in day for those of us who choose to weigh in. If you want to weigh in, then on Thursday you can post your weight, or how many pounds you've lost this past week (unless you're just starting), and how much you want to lose. I'm very excited about this new year of healthy eating, because I've done really well in November and December. I don't really see this as a challenge, but more as a group to check in with and to help us all stay on our plans. Some of us have different plans - a few do Mary's Mini, and some to MWL part of the time, and some do it all of the time. We're just here to support each other. I don't discuss my plan too much with family and friends, unless they ask. One of my daughters did ask me about it, and has started MWL herself. I often try to reply to other people's posts, and I haven't done well with that lately. We've had a huge amount of company, and everyone leaves on New Year's Day, so I'll have a little more time. Welcome all, and thanks to Letha and others for making everyone feel so welcome. Take care, LauraA

[Twinkle]

I have been a silent member of MWL for a while.I would like to join the group.I am planning on starting with Mary's Mini and then moving on to MWL.I have been a vegan most of my life so that should not be a problem.However I am addicted to tea with milk so that is going to be a challenge.I have just started exercising 3 times a week.What does everyone else do for exercise?How do you stay motivated to work out?
Also I would love to learn some new recipies with potato-my chosen form of starch.Very excited to be here and hoping to reach my goal of loosing 30 pounds.

[Mild Oats]

I'm in, and I promise not to disappear as I did in December (visiting my sister was fun, but calorie-potent). Hitting the grocery store today and starting tomorrow!

[afreshstart]

Hi everyone!

I was amazed to come back from the holidays to find three pages already on the January thread. Welcome everyone! As far as eating is concerned, I'm just going to forget all the junk that went into my mouth over the past several days and get right back on the wagon with this January challenge. I'm back in my own home, cooking my own meals, with my very own MWL groceries. Nothing can stop me now!
S gets back Friday. I will be so very glad to see him, to talk things out and figure out where we go from here. Since he's been gone, I felt like the stress of everything has been pressing down on my shoulders and seriously hindering my mood. Just realizing that he will be back in just over 48 hours, I can already feel my spirits lifting.
Eye appointment today, unpacking to do, and then I'll be looking forward to taking the dog for a good long walk this evening.
Have a great new year everybody!!!

[cowgirrlup]

I'm in! I have been sick off & on for a few weeks..not the flu, but an ulcer type problem...and its cuz I sampled many things over the holidays that my body just cannot deal with....bits of dark chocolate, lots of peppermint, vegan ginger cookies, vegan pizzas & vegan pasta dishes with soy cheese (never again) tons of things with roasted & raw garlic and coffee all day long...

I swear I was afraid I wasn't going to die soon enough...my stomach muscles still hurt to the touch...

So I am back on the wagon...no caffeine, no garlic, no spicy tomato dishes, no soy cheese, no dark chocolate and no peppermint, no ginger....

Give me bland for a while, but count me in!

[jrobin633]

I'm BACK. This is my third (and hopefully) final time to come back to McD to loose the 30 lbs that keeps coming back on. The last time I lost was 3 years ago and it has slowly come back due to my arthritis problems that I am having since I no longer exercise. SO COUNT ME IN. I cant wait to cook some stuff I love tomorrow (New Years Day). Thanks for being here for the support. Judy