Journal of my journey

[Morris]

Sept 22. 2017
My weight is stuck. I am not going to weigh myself for awhile because I am starting to obsess about the number. I already know from experience that the number is only a part of the story.

I decided to add in some strength training to my my workout routines. I am going to follow along with some of my Jillian Michaels dvd. I don't know why I have so many of hers because I really cannot stand the woman. She is so irritating and I find myself wanting to scream: :WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP! Yes, I think she talks way too much and is all about herself. My opinion. But, I keep doing her workouts because I love the 3-2-1 method. ( 3 minutes strength, 2 minutes cardio, and 1 minute abs) It mixes it up enough that I am able to do each segment without feeling like I am going to die.

Success report: I am getting better and telling myself that I really do not need to snack so much. I am utilizing of the Beck Diet Solution's techniques and telling myself that hunger is not an emergency.

It is difficult when going anywhere with hubby, because to him hunger is an emergency. He always says he has toxic hunger and needs to eat something right away. Toxic hunger is Joel Furhman's phrase that is used to describe the awful feeling one gets when the body is finished digesting and starts detoxifying the junk in our system. Well, to allow it to go through the process one is not suppose to eat and allow the body to to what it needs to do because if you eat, then you stop the detox and start digestion again. Hubby thinks that toxic hunger is his cue to eat. I guess that is what happens when you parrot others and not know what you are talking about.

My point of that is when he gets to feeling that way he always wants to go out to eat and then i fall right in line with his thinking and throw my resolve to stay on plan out the window. I am going to go through the Beck Diet Solution 6 week plan and hopefully I will get past the first two weeks. I always stop when it comes to preplanning the night before. Ugh! And I know that preplanning is key to success.

My eating has been pretty good with the exception of the ginger beer and s'mores. But, hey! that is only two items.

[Morris]

September 26, 2017

Well, I reached my first weight goal. Today, I am where I was in my early adult years. Man, I miss those days when my body would hold this weight and not deviate from it. It was constant and consistent back then. Then, I turned 30 and it became a chore. But, I am 59 this year and finally reached it again.

I worked hard to get back down to it and really want to maintain, if not lose a few more pounds in the fat department. I went to a health fair and was told my % was in the acceptable range. 30% acceptable? That is almost 1/3 of my weight in fat. Is it really healthy to be carrying around so much fat?

Here's some numbers:
For healthy body-fat percentage ranges based on your fitness level, follow these guildelines:
Top athletes: 15 to 20%
Fit women: 21 to 24%
Healthy/acceptable: 25 to 32%
Overweight: 33% plus

I want to have the "fit" label, so I am going to aim for 24%. That means I need to lose 6% of my weight in fat. I guess I will have to have the mantra, "the fat you eat is the fat you wear" go through my head.

I will also report, that I am now able to wear the transition jeans I bought a couple years ago. 4 pounds ago, I was not able to get them past my thighs.

[Morris]

Sept 28, 2014

I am on a roll --- since I started this journal I have lost 14 pounds. I am just a wee bit under my first goal weight. But, I am really having to make an effort not to eat junk.

Hubby has developed an issue with a blood vessel and the doctor is not sure what is going on. His blood work always comes back good so he thinks he is immune to any health issues. He is about 100 pounds overweight and has chronic pain. I am hoping that this will be something to motivate him to make better choices in what he chooses to eat.

The meals I make at home are compliant with the Starch Solution but he has a preference for sausages and burgers. I have been attempting to make bean burgers and vegan sausages for him. The bean burgers are still in the freezer but the seems to like the sausages (Brand New Vegan's recipes, they freeze well). These types of food are so expensive if bought. But I cannot find a bean burger recipe that isn't mush. He wants that firm texture so he'll think he is eating a burger instead of refried beans. Any one have any ideas?

I am focusing on eating whole foods - potatoes, carrots, greens, beans and vegetables, I am working on adding in beans. I really seem to be lacking eating beans. I guess I ought to be grabbing one of those bean burgers with each meal. Well, DUH.

[Morris]

October 2,2017

No idea what I weigh today. I spent a couple of days with a friend of mine and we were away for a couple of days. We ate fairly well for the most part of the weekend. Only ate out 2 times. I feel i did fairly well. We brought along some food to eat for breakfasts and dinners.

I found some Sweet Kale salad mix from Costco: broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, cabbage and a few other things I cannot remember right now. It was really good warmed up a bit and mixed with oatmeal. Too often we think oatmeal needs to be sweet, but i think I'll be buying this mix more often, it'll add more variety to my greens.

I notice it has been going on 3 years since I started my journey. One thing I noticed is that my hair color seems to be coming back to its original color. I asked my friend if it was my imagination and she told me no, because the last time she saw me my bangs were almost all grey but they aren't now. WOW! This makes me curious to see if the grey hares will go away if I keep at this diet.

Has any one had their grey hair go away eating this?

[Morris]

Oct. 3, 2017

Well, i am up a pound again. But, not to fret. I am in that range where I'll be going up and down. I am at my setpoint that was establish as I was growing up and in my early adult years. Funny, how back then I never noticed the up and down because my weight was always consistent.

This past weekend, I went to a festival where there were a lot of people and I came to realize that yes, we do have an obesity problem. I hadn't really seen the reality of it until this weekend where I could observe so many people all at once. How do we get out it?

Every where you go, there are choices to make and temptation to resist. The other day, my son-in-law took his son out to eat at Pizza Ranch. He took a picture of the 8 year old's plate -- full of vegetables. He ate a plate full of vegetables first. Then had a slice of pizza and a dessert pizza. My son-in-law said the photo was a "make Grandma proud moment!" and it was. I am so happy he makes healthy choices. But then, he is dye sensitive and has some very negative consequences whenever he eats anything with dyes. No dyes also means no eating a lot of overly processed foods.

My daughter seems to be overjoyed with the Big Food companies are now making junk cereals without food dyes and are using natural colors and she is so excited to feed her son junk cereal now. I remind her that it is still junk.

It takes so much time to make the switch to eating healthy, but it is so worth the effort. How does that saying go? Eat crappy food -- feel crappy. So true. Once we went to Wendy's with my grandson and he told me the next day that he did not feel good after eating that deep fried food. We should all have an 8 year old's wisdom.

Yesterday, i ate:
Coffee
Tomato sandwiches (not really compliant: white bread and mayo)
Quinoa and Brown Rice, the rest of the tomato and Sweet Kale mix (just the veggie portion)
Sweet potato brownie cookie.
Marzipan bar (1/2) -- had some self control, only ate half of it
Peanut butter Chocolate chip Lara Bar
OJ

Sat down to eat 2 meals, the rest was in snacking mode -- I see I have something to work on.

[Morris]

October 4, 2107

I blew it. I went out to eat yesterday for dinner and had no regard to what I was eating -- 3 pounds heavier today and bloated. Let that be a lesson to me.

'nuff said for today

[Morris]

Oct 12, 2017

So much devastation happening around the country. I have no words. I am glad to hear that the McDougalls are safe.

I was doing great until I went out to eat with my parents. It must have been the oil because I couldn't seem to stop eating afterwards. Fortunately, I resisted buying junk and pigged out on corn, potatoes and carrots. I tried to eat a chocolate bar from the s'mores fixings but couldn't do it. I never realized how nasty those Hershey's bars tasted. I think my s'mores days may be over now. Yeah!

I am slowly getting back on track. I think that when I go out I'1ll need to order a la carte so i'll have a bit more control over what I am eating.

I am tired of using the excuse that it is so hard because I have no support. We went out to eat with my parents because I went over to help them with their garden and my mom told my hubby that she could fix lunch for him, but had no idea what to fix for me. Really? I learned to eat from the garden because my parents always had a garden. I eat food, real food, mostly plants. Why is it if you don't eat meat, people seem to think you have limited selection in what to eat?

I have found that since I eliminated meat from my meals that I am eating more of a variety of dishes than ever before. Some say pick a few dishes and rotate them. What? and miss out on trying new combinations of flavors. Hmmmmph...

I am lacking beans and greens in my choices. So, I need to work on including them in all my meals. It helps me stay fuller longer and gives me the strength I need to say no thank you to junk food.

Sometimes, my motivation comes from watching my hubby and his choices. I don't want to end up like that. He has chronic pain and is overweight. That was my story at the beginning of this journal. I was overweight and had aches and pains. Now, I am at the high end of the BMI but in the normal category. But now I read this from the Jeff Novick thread:

"Impact of Overweight on the Risk of Developing Common Chronic Diseases During a 10-Year Period Arch Intern Med. 2001;161:1581-1586

Conclusions: During 10 years of follow-up, the incidence of diabetes, gallstones, hypertension, heart disease, colon cancer, and stroke (men only) increased with degree of overweight in both men and women. Adults who were overweight but not obese (ie, BMI 25.0 to BMI 29.9) were at significantly increased risk of developing numerous health conditions. Moreover, the dose-response relationship between BMI and the risk of developing chronic diseases was evident even among adults in the upper half of the healthy weight range (ie, BMI of 22.0-24.9), suggesting that adults should try to maintain a BMI between 18.5 and 21.9 to minimize their risk of disease.

I am hovering in the 22 range. Looks like I need to get a bit more serious about watching what I am eating.
From calculator.net, my ideal weight ought to be:
Based on the Robinson formula (1983), your ideal weight is 126.8 lbs
Based on the Miller formula (1983), your ideal weight is 132.1 lbs
Based on the Devine formula (1974), your ideal weight is 125.7 lbs
Based on the Hamwi formula (1964), your ideal weight is 124.6 lbs
Based on the healthy BMI recommendation, your recommended weight is 111.2 lbs - 150.2 lbs

Wow! I am within the range on the bottom one, but need to work on getting down to those other numbers. -- Skinny jeans here I come.

[Morris]

Oct 13, 2017

Well, I see that I am coming up on my 3rd year anniversary for this journal. That is encouraging because much of my postings have been expressing frustration on not being able to stick with a plan any plan. But, here I am at almost three years and I am sticking with a plan, the Starch Solution; even though I may not be 100% compliant.

That is encouraging to me to realize this. There have been setbacks and failures, (and mean failures) to adhere to the plan, but I keep coming back to it. But then, since I keep coming back, it really is not a failure, but rather just a bump in the road, a step back, but not a getting off the path completely.

I guess my point of this post is that I am still moving forward.

What I ate yesterday:
oatmeal with pineapple, blueberries and flaxseed
No-tuna salad (chickpea) sandwich with Tomato Vegetable soup with kale
Curry Carrot Kale Soup made with other veggies. (a bit too much curry powder, a bit spicy but edible)
and my bad- pepsi float with cherry frozen yogurt

[Morris]

Oct 21,2017

I am 1 month shy of my 3 year anniversary for my journal here. And how many times have I posted that I could not stick with a program, any program. I'd start something, quit, restart. But, I am still posting which means I have not quit. Yeah Me!

Slowly and quietly, I am seeing other people being influenced by the whole food plant based diet. I had a get-together with an old friend (over 50 years) and we reconnected a couple years back. She went home with a copy of The China Study. I am having a few people ask me for recipes. And my mom makes comments on my healthy eating (If she only knew how much I went off plan, she sees some but she sees the effort and makes veiled comments that I am in better shape than the rest of my siblings.

I am slowly getting off my dependence on thinking I need to have the junk food as a quick fix for grab something quick. Fruit is just as quick as a bag of chips.

I am just under my first goal weight but above the Miller formula. I am hanging out here for a while. I have been doing a lot of yard work so I have been more active than usual, but was still trying to get some running miles in because we have had some beauuuutiful weather for October - still short and t-shirt weather. But that changes today.

My granddaughter had been talking about baking a cake for her friends birthday and that gave me a craving for chocolate cake. I gave in and made the Engine 2 Adonis Cake - a healthy version of the Whacky Cake. It is my go-to whenever I want a cake now. The traditional cakes taste nasty to me now.

What i have been eating is:
oatmeal with fruits: apple, pear, blueberries
Soups, using the potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic and kale from the garden.
Curries, mostly from Vegan Richa's recipes (I love her recipes)

My bad have been graham crackers (I am now not liking the s'mores after I attempted to eat the Hershey's bar by itself and realize how gross it really tastes.) and still grabbing potato chips when dehydrated -- I need to learn when dehydrated to drink water not eat salty oily chips. The good news is that I did not finish the bag. (I have what i call open bag syndrome and always (in the past) could not stop eating until the bag was empty, no matter what size bag. i stopped buying the big bag of chips for that reason. No control = no buy.

[Morris]

Oct 22, 2107

I went to help some of my sisters and brothers clean my parents yard yesterday. It took about 4 hours but the yard sure did look nice. At least I thought it did, but one of my sisters kept contradicting me saying we won't know how it'll look until spring. But, hey, the areas we did had been neglected for a couple of years because my parents weren't able to do what needed to be done. My dad is a proud man and does not like to admit that he cannot do things for himself. However, he is coming to the realization now that his body is not as young as it used to be.

For lunch, my mom made soup, but she forewarned me that it would not be compatible for me. So, I brought my own lunch. Not the best, (i.e. no veggies), Lentil Madras from Tasty Bites and Black Quinoa and Brown Rice -- both were prepared meals that i bought from Costco. They were not compliant in that there was added oil.

As a thank you, my parents took us out for dinner and we went to a Mexican Restaurant. I ordered the vegetable fajita and asked them to water saute the vegetables and no seasoning. They obliged and it was delicious: onion, green bell pepper, carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, and potatoes. It also came with refried beans, mexican rice, lettuce, guacamole. i forgot to say no dairy so I had to pick off the cheese. The sides were good even though not all compliant.

It got me thinking about how so many that are following the WFPB WOE feel like the odd man out, but my family did not pay any attention to what I was eating and made no comment. But then again, I made no comment as to what they were eating.

I found it interesting how my brother who has developed some serious health issues and is supposed to be on a diet to lose weight commented on how he eats a lot of things off his diet plan. Food has such a hold on so many people, just as the food industry intends.

When i was attempting to follow the Beck Diet Solution, one of the first exercises was to come up with advantages for losing weight. (I changed that to eating healthy) One of my reason for wanting to eat food, real food, was so that I could free myself from the sugar, salt, and fat trap. It is so subtle that many do not even see the snare even after they are caught up in it. But, then, too many just don't care.

[Morris]

October 24, 2017

Is it possible to crave curl-ups - you know the exercise. I am attempting to add some strength training into my routines; so I have been attempting to do some of the Jillian Michaels routines. Now, it seems like my body is craving ab workouts. What a weird thing to crave, huh?

I binge a bit last night on non-compliant food, but was able to stop myself before I emptied the bag. Hubby put his chips where I will see them. i think it was because I told him I was not going to use my cash for his chili dog. He is passive aggressive like that. My binge was most likely emotional eating. I have a lot of frustration again.

I am trying to be creative with the garden harvest: carrots, potatoes, onion, kale and garlic is what i am trying to use up. So, I am eating Creamy Curried Carrot soup (onion, garlic, carrots, potatoes, cashews and kale). I am putting carrots and potatoes in everything (or so it seems).

[Morris]

October 30, 2017

Well, my weight is holding just under my first goal weight. This is a good thing considering that I really went on a binge for a couple of days. Chips and white bread. I am so glad that most candy tastes nasty to me now.

I am working on eating more fruit and drinking more water. I really lake in the water intake. I get dehydrated and crave salt, hence I eat chips. But this afternoon, I was listening to a you tube video with Rodney Beaulieu (he's the one that tried the 10 day McDougall program and his pain from arthritis went away. Unfortunately, he did not stick with it, he said it wasn't for him.) But, to get back to the point, this message I heard today, he was talking about water and how most of us do not drink enough water. He went on to say how he was reading a book from someone (I don't remember who at the moment) and how he used water to heal chronic diseases. It got me thinking that there must be something to the water fast I hear about.

[Morris]

Nov 1, 2017

3rd year Anniversary of my journal -- note to self: See you can stick with something.

Consistency and persistence seems to be my key for not quitting even if I seem to veer way off the path. It is really easy to turn around. Whenever I walk in the woods and go off the trail and it seems I am getting too far in the woods, I'll turn around. However, I never seem to follow the same path out as I took going in. I can never seem to find my exact way back out and end up creating a new trail.

This reminds me of when we first bought our property and it was all woods, there was a trail cutting across. I went off the trail to explore and after about 10 minutes, I was ready to go back. I decided to find the trail I came in on. However, no matter which direction I went, I ended up walking in a circle. I was lost on in the back end of our property. (Not really lost, I knew where and how to exit, but I could not find where that trail was.) I ended up hiking through all the brush to find my way out.

This experience gave me a reality check on how easy it is to get lost in the woods. Also, whenever I go off trail in the woods and can never find the exact path I took in for the way out. So it is in our dietary information, there is so much information given to us. All are like trails going into the woods. Once you take a trail and decide you don't want to go that way, you may end up lost in the forest of information with no clear trail out.

I am so thankful for all the resources on this sight, my clear trail to eating healthy. Whenever, I get off the trail, I seem to find my way back, even if I do some meandering through some brush, eventually, I find my way back to the path.

What I have been eating:
Mixed grain cereal with fruit (berries and pear) and cashew/hemp milk
Spring mix

Salad: romaine, spring mix, cucumber, green pepper, tomato
Sweet potato soup (onion, celery, carrot, sweet potato, broth)
Lentils (onion, green pepper, celery, carrot)
Roasted Veggies: butternut squash, carrot, potato

And for dessert:
Happy Herbivore's Chocolate Mug cake, made into cupcake size (1/3 of size)
Cherry chocolate chip frozen yogurt -- my bad

My weight is holding. I'll either need to up the non-starchy veggies or exercise. I am just a tad below my first goal weight.

[Morris]

November 2, 2017

I am getting back on track again and I feel so much better eating food, real food. In the back of my mind, I have those numbers of the ideal weight that I posted a while back. I am only less than 3 pounds away from the higher of those listed (the Miller formula). I am curious as to whether or not I can actually drop to those other numbers. I only did once in my adult life and that was when I did a Jonny Bowden Paleo type where there was so much elimination of food that all I was eating was animal product and low starch vegetables. Hubby ended up with kidney stone after kidney stone that I came to the conclusion that way of eating was not really good for a body.

Hubby has determined that meat + cheese is what caused the stones. My way of eating now is give me starch and give me more starch. Hubby says he cannot eat grains because grains will cause him to gain weight, he even says this when I don't prepare grains because we are eating so many potatoes, corn and beans.

I have come to the conclusion that one will believe what they want to believe no matter if it is true or not. Calorie density is the key to losing or gaining weight. Eat on the low end and you will lose, eat on the more dense end and you will gain. It is really that simple.

What I am eating:
coffee
Smoothie (fruit and greens)

Lentils with Country Blend hot cereal mix (cracked wheat, rye, wild rice and flax seed)
Salad: romaine, spring mix, Sweet Kale Salad (from Costco: broccoli, cabbage, kale, chicory, pumpkin seed, craisins)
apple

Exercise was 3.1 miles on the treadmill. I have ifit compatible treadmill and am going to do a 5k in each of the states. #1 Alabama is finished. 32:42 minutes

[Morris]

Nov 6, 2017

This will be a quick post -- I seem to be finding a pattern of me going off plan and then not posting for a bit. I think it's because I need to recover from it all. The other day, I had to go to town and did not have time to eat before I left. I did well the first couple of hours, then at the last stop, Walmart, the chocolate donuts called my name. Of course, I did not buy one, I bought the box, the one with the mostest in it. 7 donuts. I binged throughout the rest of the day.

I think it caught up with me. I am a couple pounds heavier now and am working on getting back on track. It seems easier to get back on track. For one thing, my digestive system did not care for those donuts and excuse me for TMI -- but those things shot right through me.

My potatoes, peas, carrots and butternut squash never tasted so good now.

Happy Starchin'