Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Oh my, I hate eating out multiple times in one day. And just two days in a row is really difficult. I keep track (in my mind) so I pay a bit of extra attention as to how careful I have to be.

It really is the worst.

Hopefully you get a smiley face tomorrow!

August MWL Countdown
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Middle of the night eating binge got me last night... I haven't done that in long time. I went to bed early because I was craving food and trying not to eat anything else. I woke up about 3 hours later and ate too many crackers... My husband had left the crackers in a place where I could easily get to them..... They are gone now.

I still can't exercise due to the surgery last week. I'll be happy when I can be more active. Yesterday I made two soups that are very good. I also cooked up some rice. Today I will work on getting some veggies prepped for ease access. I'm hoping tonight's cram circuit challenge is successful!

moonlight wrote:...
Middle of the night eating binge got me last night... I haven't done that in long time. I went to bed early because I was craving food and trying not to eat anything else. I woke up about 3 hours later and ate too many crackers... My husband had left the crackers in a place where I could easily get to them..... They are gone now.
...

hello
technically, this is a violation of the eat when hungry guideline
which, predictably, resulted in loss of control over the key point of the program:
"what to eat".
the problem is the crackers, not the eating when hungry, whenever that is
if you had eaten a mwl compliant meal, itd be a smiley not a frownie
despite the eating happening at night
ive woken up and eaten at night many times, it is what it is
but its gone from grilling meats at 3am in the moonlight
to a half-cup of wheat berries/oat groats, some water
and alls well

Good point, foodie. There have been times when I eat MWL compliant food in the middle of the night. Those pesky crackers. I hate them being in my house.... I hate not having control over them, too. Oh well, life ain’t always gonna go my way ——— it does enough of the time, though. Thanks, for your comment.

August MWL Countdown
24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

I'm realizing I need to have more prepared dishes to eat. I plan to work on that today.

moonlight wrote:August MWL Countdown
24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

I'm realizing I need to have more prepared dishes to eat. I plan to work on that today.

Good morning, you are so right about batch prepping food and veggies ahead of time. For me, it is the key to my success. It is easier for me because I am just cooking for myself! There are some easy things that can be prepped ahead of time, and thank goodness for my slow cooker! I am debating getting an InstaPot.

deweyswakms wrote: I am debating getting an InstaPot.

I’ve been debating that, too. What do you want to cook in it?

I’m appreciating this lentil tomato soup I made the other day. Very tasty. It’s from the Diet for a Small Planet cookbook.

August MWL Countdown
25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Yesterday I resisted the urge to do the little cheat thing. Progress in the making.

Breakfast: oatmeal and apple
Lunch: lentil tomato soup, red potatoes and veggies steamed with honey mustard dressing
Snack: too much watermelon....
Dinner: sweet potato and okra
Bedtime snack: blueberries
Midnight snack: potatoes

I have an Instant Pot and I use mine mostly for beans.But there are a lot of other functions. The multi one has a function for making yogurt, it has a slow cook function. JIll Nissinow has recipe for making cake. It is such a great appliance. I heard they now have a crisp tray so that things can get crispy. I so under used my appiance

Nancy, thanks for your input on the Instant Pot. I use my crock pot for beans. Years ago I used a pressure cooker. It was nice to have but I don't really miss it. I've read a couple of articles about IP vs Crock Pots. Until my Crock Pot dies, I think I'll just keep it to the one appliance. I cook potatoes in the microwave. It works fine for me. When I have time I will oven bake potatoes because I like the texture better, but most of the time I'm fine with microwaved potatoes. They are more moist, like they have been steamed instead of baked.

Again I woke up during the night to eat. I didn't eat enough starch yesterday. I filled up on watermelon about 7:00. I had dinner about 9:00 but I wasn't really hungry so I didn't eat much. At 3:00 in the morning my stomach was hungry. I had left over potatoes.

I'm thinking about starting my exercise routine today. I feel fine from my surgery. I don't see the doctor until Thursday but I think it would be okay to do light exercise. I'm ready to be moving around more. I feel achy from all the sitting around.

My intention is to make some kind of casserole today to have prepared.

August 26 27 28 29 30 31
July---

From the looks of these two months (in smiley face status ) July may have been a better month for me. I am still trying for a month of 90% smiley faces. It doesn't hurt to dream, does it?

August 27 28 29 30 31

It's a little hard to look at the past on my calendar but it encourages me to improve.... I'm getting back to just eating MWL food. I'm planning to hike today so maybe I'll be able to up my smiley face to green.

For my hike I made potato salad with lots of carrots, celery, scallions, and a red jalapeno. I've been enjoying a honey mustard dressing lately. A little honey mixed with mustard, crushed garlic, some kind of liquid, and a little tamari. Yum.

I hope my hiking partner doesn't leave me hiking alone... I kind of dread the struggle when I haven't exercised in a while but I look forward to getting going again.

I think I'll start something in the crock pot for dinner so when I return from my hike I'll have something to eat. Sweet potato chili perhaps... That sounds good. I have some dried black-eyed peas. I don't think they need to be soaked before cooking. Greens, sweet potato, onion, peas, bell pepper, a can of tomatoes, and spices.

August

My August looks about the way July looked. I'm getting about 50% of my daily goals achieved. This is not the time to give up. I'll make another calendar for September and aim for 80% or better. I have been listening to several lectures by Dr. Lisle. I appreciate his approach. Something he said that made me feel good about tracking my progress on this daily calendar is that keeping track to know what you've done is a good thing. I got discouraged this past week when JeffN asked us to stop the CRAM circuit thread. I disagree with his assessment about how we were interpreting the concept. I think we were all trying to curb overeating and the occasional cramming or binge eating. Maybe he didn't really look at the posts close enough, I'm not sure. I respect his request. I appreciate this website and will abide by the rules. That said, I will continue to monitor my evening habits of overeating when I'm not hungry.

I have been eating non-compliant food some the last week. I'm trying to tweak my approach so I can get closer to 80% MWL (as Dr. Lisle recommends as an appropriate goal). I'm going to focus on the basics: have food ready to eat, which means planning, shopping, and prepping; exercise daily; and be aware of thoughts related to craving. I need to be aware of thoughts telling me I need to eat something when in reality the thoughts are really about cravings. I'm going to start another evening eating extinction curve calendar for evening snacking. I think I was on the path of reducing the habit. So, my checklist for a successful day will include eating 100% MWL food, exercise, eating 50% of lunch and dinner in non-starchy vegetables, limiting fruit to 2 servings. I like September. It feels like a transition month from summertime to fall; from vacation to school. For me, it will be my transition from wavering to steadfast MWL lifestyle.
September 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
EEE Curve 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

My motivation has been waning, actually for the last year. I lost enough weight that I feel better so the motivation to stick to the plan has lessened. This is frustrating because I do want to lose more weight and get to a healthier BMI. The last few days I've been listening to Dr. Lisle's lectures. Here are some of my take-away thoughts:
Conscientiousness and motivation drive success. Regarding motivation, there is a cost benefit analysis going on in my head. Is it worth it to make the effort required to stay on the diet? With regard to desire to stay on the diet; planning, environment, and education help tremendously. Read and study to determine the best thing to eat, make out a menu, shop, prepare. Have food readily available for meals. There are plenty of good resources for this. Make every effort possible to setup the environment for success. For me, keeping trigger foods out of sight and inaccessible is key for my home environment. My husband keeps his snack foods in another room. I would have to break so many of my rules to actually go get the snacks that I don't do it and most of the time I don't think about it. I mostly avoid eating out. This strategy works for my lifestyle now but I think at some point I need to focus on making better decisions in a restaurant. Being careful with getting enough sleep and not being stressed helps with staying motivated. Educating myself on diet and on psychological issues is helpful. From listening to Dr. Lisle's lectures I'm seeing misconceptions that I have, as well as, understanding human instincts and motivational drive. Focusing on the fundamentals, such as making checklists, keeping a record to hold myself accountable, making sure I am rested, doing my chores of shopping and cooking, are all part of being conscientious of what it takes to succeed. Exercise is very important to help with weight loss, too. It cannot be the sole mechanism for weight loss but it contributes. It also contributes to a sense of wellbeing. I feel better when I get a moderate amount of exercise. All of these issues drive my "internal audience, i.e. my self-esteem". If my internal audience is happy, I'll be happy. If I'm happy, I'm more motivated to keep trying to eat a healthy diet and have a healthy body.

September 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
I didn't get in exercise yesterday but I followed the MWL diet plan.
EEE Curve 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
I gave in and had a snack mid-evening and again at bedtime...
Today's Food Intake
sweet potato (3/4 lb cooked) and banana (1/4 lb)
small piece of cornbread and lentil soup; potatoes and green beans
bulgur (1/2 cup) and spinach
chili with bulgur
watermelon
popcorn
more bulgur
two slices of bread

September 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Yesterday I wanted to snack all day. I was watching the US Open most of the day so watching TV probably contributed to the cravings. I stayed with MWL food until the late evening, then had two pieces of toasted bread... Geez, I'll be so happy when I start exercising again! I have an intention to do that today!

Exercise: gardening - hoeing. Finally I get a litle exercise

Food Intake Today:
sweet potato
bulgur, spinach, small amount of homemade hot pepper jelly
watermelon
chili with bulgur; cucumber salad; rice
garbanzo beans and pasta
blueberries

September 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Finally, yesterday I managed to only eat MWL approved food and I exercised. Those are my goals now. I'm going to forget about trying to not eat after dinner. Maybe I can address that another time. I just need to focus on the food. I didn't overly stuff myself so I feel good about how the day went.

Exercise: Rowing

Food Intake Today
oatmeal with an apple
sweet potato w/ a small amount of hot pepper jelly
white potato and salad
baked potato fries with ketchup
watermelon

Not enough veggies today!