Mary's weight loss ramblings

[MaryW]

Thanks for the support, Anna Green. I don't know if wine and brownies are good choices though.

[sksamboots]

Mary,

I think you make the best out of each situation, don't dwell on it and move on. Keep on goin lady. I'm so happy your fitting into smaller clothes. I know how exciting that can be, as I just did the same thing. So exciting!! Keep on keepin on

[bunsofaluminum]

ooh! I'm so excited for you, getting into those 22's! yah! Isn't it a good feeling? Makes me happy to read about your Ross adventure, even though it cost you some shineola.

You're doing great!

Heidi

[MaryW]

Goodness! I seem to be getting behind on my posting.

Here's a quick recap of yesterday...I usually struggle on weekends with my food. Either I am out running errands and don't have appropraite foods with me. Or I am home all day and end up either eating non-stop or not at all. I ran to the post office yesterday morning. Next to it was a Chinese place that was already open. All I could think about was buying some steamed broccoli. Yum, yum! But since I'm trying to use the food I already have at home and NOT buy more food, I resisted. Why can't I just steam my own broccoli? Well, take out broccoli is so convenient! Not dirty dishes to wash. But when I got home, I dug a bag of frozen mixed veggies out of the freezer and steamed them in the microwave. Unfortunately the bag came with sauce already added. I ate the whole bag, but there was almost 2000 mgs in it!!!

Here's what I ate. I kinda grazed, so I didn't divide the food into meals:

--Cinnamon Harvest shredded wheat
--bag of Bird's Eye frozen mixed Chinese style veggies
--3 sweet potatoes (they weren't very good...I hope this isn't a taste of the sweet potato season to come!

Free eating-- YES!!!
Day 4 of 100 Days of MWL: almost, just the cereal


Today was another mine field. My mom invited me to Homecoming at her church. And like a dutiful daughter I went. They served a potluck lunch afterward. I took my black beans salad (a large bowl). The social hall was a sea of creamy, cheesy, bread-crumb-topped corningware dishes. I wish now I had taken more food. My mom brought enough food to feed an army, but it wasn't all McDougall-legal. In fact some of her stuff wasn't even vegetarian!I had a small spoon of her broccoli casserole and potato casserole. Both of them had cheese in them. Not as much as everyone else's dishes. But now I can't say I've abstained from cheese for the last 5 months. I'm starting over. My mom also brought some cooked vegetables. And I picked some fresh veggies off a tray and avoided the ranch dressing. I didn't even go near the dessert table. My mom said she made a fresh apple cake, which is the best cake in the whole wide world. I knew if I got within 20 feet of that cake it would reel me in like a tractor beam and I would be helpless. So I stayed on the other side of the room!


I've been avoiding the grocery store all week. But on the way home today, I ended up going into one. And I also vowed not to buy any fresh produce. Alas, I did. The brussels sprouts were on sale! And the cabbage looked so good! And I've been wanted to make ratatouille for a while and you HAVE to have eggplant and zucchini to make it. Right?

So here's what I had today:

Breakfast: Cinnamon Harvest shredded wheat
Lunch: black bean salad, broccoli casserole, potato casserole, corn, raw veggies
Dinner: Simply Potatoes rosemary and garlic red skin wedges (yum!)

Free eating: Nope (dang it!)
Day 5 of 100 days of MWL: Uhhhh....no

[sksamboots]

Mary,

I see you wrote about starting over. I don't think you have to. I would just take what has happened and make the best of it---tomorrow is a new day. You got this. Your amazing and you have the tools in your bag to succeed. You make broccoli sounds so wonderful

[MaryW]

I'm so proud of myself. I actually made hashbrowns for breakfast this morning! No shredded wheat for me today!

Here's what I ate:

Breakfast: hashbrowns (woo hoo!) with Caribbean sauce
Lunch: can of Progresso lentil soup
Dinner: black bean salad, hashbrowns
snacks: prunes, frozen fruit popsicle

Day six of my 100 Day Challenge: YES! I finally got to total MWL. woo hoo!
Free eating: YES! Well, I did go to the grocery store the other day even though I was trying NOT to. But I didn't buy any takeout today. That is a big victory!

[bunsofaluminum]

way to go Mary! congrats on sticking to MWL plan yayayaay!

mmm, I want to hear about your ratatouille. I bought two eggplants today, so I'll have to find something to do with them...or, shucks, it'll have to be baba ganoush again! hahaha!

keep on doing what you're doing...I think it's terrific!

blessings, heidi

[sksamboots]

Mary, how do you make your hashbrowns?

[MaryW]

My favorite ratatouille recipe is from children's author Daniel Pinkwater. I first saw it in a book called something like Cooking for One. I think all the recipes came from famous people, but i could be wrong. Anyway, I found the recipe on a website, so I don't need the book anymore! (most of the recipes were NOT veg friendly) It's super easy and good. (of course leave out the oil) Here is the link:

http://www.pinkwater.com/pzone/diet.html

For hashbrowns, I use storebought ones. The ones I made yesterday were Simply Potatoes which I find in the refrigerated section of the store. These were the shredded ones. They make a few other kinds. I especially like the rosemary and garlic wedges. Yum! I also buy frozen hash browns, the cubes, shreds or the cubes with peppers and onions (Oreida or store brand). I make them all the same way. I heat the oven to 400 degrees. I put the hashbrowns on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for 30 mins or so until they are nicely brown. I like my foods pretty brown. And sometimes I forget them, and they get REALLY brown! I usually turn the wedges, stir the cubes, and flip the shreds. Add sauce and devour.

[MaryW]

Just a quick note on my food today:

Breakfast: potato
Morning snack/early lunch: potato
(meeting messed up my schedule)
Late lunch/afternoon snack: potato from Wendy's (after meeting)
Dinner: the last of the black bean salad heated up as soup

I had a bit of an issue this evening. The black bean soup was very good and filling when i ate it, but I was soon hungry for something else. As I contemplated yet another potato, I found a small container of kalamata olives I bought on clearance a few weeks ago. I thought I could resist, but I eventually gave in and ate some. Then some more. Then the whole thing! My only consolation is that it was a small container. But I know if it was a larger container, I would have eaten the whole thing anyway. I felt awful. Not sick, but guilty. Or sick with guilt. So to help balance out all of the olives, I steamed some frozen asparagus. If only I had eaten the asparagus to begin with and left the olives alone!

Day 7 of my 100 Day MWL Challenge: dismal failure (well, maybe not dismal, but still not good)
Free eating: no, dang it! I blame the stupid meating. I had another can of soup, but I wasn't where I could get to it. oh well

My weight plummeted earlier in the week, but now it is slowly starting to come up. This is a normal fluctuation and I know this. But I think I'm using that number on the scale as an excuse to eat off plan foods (like those razza frazzin olives!). I'll try again tomorrow. Baby steps, baby steps.

[MaryW]

Oops! I fell asleep last night before I could post anything. I was very proud of myself yesterday. I had to run some errands on my lunch break. I was sorely tempted to stop for some broccoli and rice. But I remembered the potato and can of lentil soup that were waiting for me back at the office. I have a package of gnocchi at home, and I really wanted to eat it when I got home with lots of spinach and tomato sauce. Of course, it's not MWL. So instead I had brown rice with lots of spinach and tomato sauce. It was pretty good!

Let's see if I can remember what I ate.

Breakfast: potato
Snack: potato
Lunch: potato, can of lentil soup
Dinner: brown rice and spinach covered in tomato sauce

Free eating: YES!
Day 8 of my 100 MWL challenge: YES!

[bunsofaluminum]

well, as I read your journal, and came to today's foods, what was I eating?

a pile of brown rice, with spinach and (tomato based) veggie soup...not just PRECISELY identical, but close enough it made me laugh. I made a pot of rice yesterday, for eating through the rest of this week. I'll have to try that spinach and tomato sauce trick. It really has gotten to the point where it better be simple or I'll stray

thanks for the idea, Mary!

blessings, Heidi

[MaryW]

It seems like simple is all I can manage these days! I used to love to cook! I don't know what happened. Now I only want what is the easiest to fix. For a long time, unfortunately, the quick foods I turned to were high fat and highly processed. But I'm getting more into the swing of things. Foods can be quick and easy, yet low fat, nutritious and high in fiber.

My refrigerator, like my kitchen is tiny. The freezer is positively miniscule. A few bags of frozen this and that and it is full. I'm not eating bread these days (MWL) but I have a loaf of Ezekial bread that is taking up valuable space. Maybe after I reach my 100 days I'll eat bread again. But right now, that loaf of bread really irks me! Anyway, I was digging around the other day and I found some packs of frozen brown rice from Trader Joe's. I had bought them several months ago, but never tried them. Well yesterday I hauled them out. it was this frozen rice that I had with my spinach and tomato sauce. Today, I heated a bag with raisins in the microwave at work for breakfast. It would have been better with some cinnamon or something, but I didn't have any.

When I got home tonight, the gnocchi were calling me again. But I resisted! Alas, I went by the grocery store on the way home from work. (I've been trying to reduce my grocery buying and use up the food I have at home.) My main purpose was to buy some fruit, which I am almost out of. But I did buy some refried beans. I LOVE refried beans. The fat free ones of course! So instead of the gnocchi, I had a can of refried black beans with jalepenos with frozen corn and chipotle salsa. I heated it all up and smushed it in a bowl. Divine!

Here's what I had today:

Breakfast: brown rice with raisins
Lunch: brown rice with a can of minestrone soup
Snack: chile spiced mango (from TJ's, so good!)
Dinner: refried black beans, corn, salsa

Free eating: almost! just the refried black beans were newly bought
Day 9 of 100 day MWL challenge: YES!!

[MaryW]

Today hasn't felt very successful. I am off work today, and I've been at home. Home all day with that pack of gnocchi. I couldn't resist anymore! I cooked up some tomato sauce, threw in the gnocchi and chowed down for lunch. Now I feel stuffed. But it's been hours since I ate lunch and I'm not hungry. Usually I get hungry every 3 hours like clockwork. I won't eat much for dinner, if I eat at all. Just some steamed veggies I think. And plenty of water.

Tomorrow is sure to be stressful. I have to work and then we are having a family birthday dinner for me a few other family members. I'm sure there will be lots of discussion of my weight loss and my eating habits and the food I bring. I don't enjoy the attention. Sometimes it just feels critical, not curious or concerned. And my brother has told me he's giving me a cat. He's trying to get rid of his kittens, but I don't WANT one. Even though my mom told him I was interested. I've told him I'm not interested, but I'm afraid there's going to be a scene. So, stress at work and stress at home. Yay. Aren't Saturdays supposed to fun?

Weigh in update: 1.6 down
Free eating: Yes, so far
Day 10 of 100 day MWL challenge: errr...no

I don't know why i am so freaked out about the gnocchi! They are not MWL, but they are not poison either! Just potatoes and flour. And I made sauce out of salt-free crushed tomatoes. So they were a fairly healthy choice. I guess I'm just disappointed that I gave in.

[MaryW]

I forgot to post my food:

Breakfast: roasted fingerling potatoes--first time I ever tried these, very good!
Lunch: the aforementioned gnocchi with homemade tomato sauce oy!
Dinner: haven't gotten there yet, but I thinking some steamed veggies, or maybe just some fruit. That gnocchi is really sticking with me. I won't want to eat for days!

I finally caught an episode of Dr Oz. He's talking with 2 overweight sisters who have stalled in their weight loss. He figured out their basal metabolic rates. That reminded me that I hadn't looked at any calculators for a while.

Here's a BMR one:
http://health.discovery.com/tools/calcu ... basal.html

My BMR at my starting weight of 315: 2173.2
My BMR at my current weight of 267: 1964.2
That's a difference of 209 calories

So what does that mean? Well, I don't know. I will have to start eating fewer calories as I lose more weight. Will my appetite naturally adjust? I've been averaging about 5 pounds per month for the last 9 months. So that's about 1.25 pounds per week. That's a nice steady weight loss. Maybe a little slow for us impatient people. But since I've been maintaining that steady weight loss for months, I must be naturally eating less. So I guess I'm on the right track and I shouldn't stress so much!