Ejeff wrote:Buns, great going with walking. I agree with you it’s important to treat food intake as though our lives depend on it. That’s very true. And it’s not only that, but the quality of life. Who wants to live in pain everyday when it can be avoided?
I have been enjoying Brocolli Mum’s YouTube videos. I enjoy them because she starts every day with a large bowl of veggies topped with homemade oil free hummus. And she’s full of energy. She’s been motivating me to eat more veggies lately. Perhaps she would inspire you too.
I’m rooting for you!
Erin
PS - If there is anything we can collectively do to provide encouragement or assistance let us know. The discussion boards haven’t been too active, but those of us here on a regular basis want to help others if possible.
Everyone, thanks for posting.
I appreciate it
Erin, what an amazing post. Thank you! It's been a rough several months at this point. My husband is suffering with depression and I match his energy far too much, far too often so I've been battling it as well, though my secret weapon of Gratitude plus eating a decent amount of carbs seems to keep me from going too deep. (I do not get too much sleep. My average is 6.5 hours and some nights I get as much as 7.5 so I know it isn't from sleeping too much.) Currently we're just avoiding each other, he's ticked off at me for something and not speaking to me, and I'm staying out of his space. But it brought me to tears seeing your offer of assistance and encouragement! Thank you SO MUCH. It means everything.
It's July 3, 2023. I have passed my one year mark for my left knee surgery. I've reduced my intake of Tylenol from 3,000mg/day to 2,000mg/day. My thigh muscles are still REALLY tired whenever I go for a walk, but I'm able to do the grocery store or other slow wandering type walking without any trouble.
Let's see here. My response to depression is to eat, so I've gained weight since the surgeries. I stepped on the scale yesterday and wasn't surprised, but I was appalled. I just had pistachios around all the time, butter toffee almonds, junior mints, and other little things you can toss in your mouth mindlessly all day long. Adding salt and sugar to my system on the daily. So now I weigh about 20 lbs more than I did when I had the surgeries. That is, in one year, I piled on 20 lbs. SMH. So now instead of having about 100 lbs to get to my healthy weight, I have 120 lbs to go.
so let's consider today, Monday July 3, 2023 Day One. The day I start over with McDougall.
In thinking about my snacking, especially the toffe almonds, I see that these are the perfect example of the trifecta: salt, sweet, and fat. And it also came to me that this is an ADDICTION. If I was an alcoholic I would stay away from even a sip of beer, right? Addiction. Salt, Sweet, and Fat in combination are proven addictive. Period. I must treat it like an alcoholic staying sober and not have the first almond, or the first Reese's, or the first whatever. It may be edible, but it isn't food and I need to stop putting non-food in my mouth.
I read somewhere recently, when we have cravings for things it's probably withdrawal symptoms. That seems legit, eh? And something to remember. It's going to be a fight to get my mind into this, but I'm setting myself up to succeed. Potatoes in the house, a big batch of rice already cooked, a big bag of salad greens in the fridge, AND I found some decent fat-free salad dressings which is a godsend! some frozen compliant meals, a few McDougall soups still on the shelves...etc. And there is zero junk in the house, except two Twizzlers
Hubby can have those. Actually now that i think about it, I have continued to choose good stuff for my meals. I've just been buttering things. The snacking has always been my downfall.
So. I don't want to think about the 120 lbs I need to lose. That's WAY too much. But I can think about a few daily things.
1) choose fat free for all meals and snacks
2) stand up and move around every hour
3) daily mental bolstering by imagining myself thin and healthy (psychocybernetics...IT WORKS)
These are my daily goals. I can do these. My mind isn't in the game yet, but I can do these three things and eventually my tastebuds will change and I'll start thinking "mmm, potato" when I feel hungry.
thanks again all of you. I haven't gone AWAY away, but I'm coming back
And counting the walk DOWN plus the walk UP, that adds up to TWO BLOCKS!
ate a few tater tots
that was fun. 
