My Daily "Weighing in"

[squealcat]

I bought another "Sugar Kiss" melon !! I wonder how much longer they will be in the store?? So sweet and juicy and consistently good !

Another challenge today while at the store but I quickly put an end to it and just ended it ! I look forward to the day when this is easier.

I cooked up a double batch of steel cut oats today along with Scarlet Runner beans. I am not used to those beans but heard they are good with brown rice so that is my plan for those babies ! They are really pretty and HUGE ! Cooked up nicely too ! I will have some tomorrow !

I got my flu shot and covid booster today. My arms are not even sore (yet )! Glad to have that done ! Other than all that, I was pretty lazy today. Tomorrow will be more productive !

Hope to see some of you on the Time and Adherence board tomorrow ! My week was a LOT better than last week but still needs improvement.

--Marilyn

[VegSeekingFit]

Hey Marilyn,

You are making me super jealous with your " Sugar Kiss" success in finding these melons!!!

Loved what you posted about your book club... sounds really fun!!! I've done a few --- none currently, but you inspire me to either start or seek out one...

Anyway, see you on the thread tomorrow. Hope that you have an excellent weekend!!!

By the way, YOU are inspiring!!! You have achieved a ton already... yes, we can all do more... but please try to not sell yourself short...

Cheers,
Stephanie

[Lizzy_F]

Hi Marilyn! I need to snag a sugar kiss melon before they are gone. I have been SO INTO THE WATERMELON that I have to be careful how much other fruit I buy! My hubby is a low carber, so I am the only one eating the fruit and it's very easy for me to go overboard and buy too much! Anyway...

Congratulations on your strong week!!! I really do find it helpful to have the MWL group for accountability. It's a great checklist and I'm learning to look at it in a "progress, not perfection" sort of way.

Thank you so much for your book recommendations! I was able to put the electronic version on hold through the library, so I look forward to reading it when it becomes available to me. It sounds really interesting from your description.

Wishing you an awesome day! I need to go Google "Scarlet Runner Beans."

[Lizzy_F]

Hi Marilyn! Your comment about the WW charms made me !!! What is it about those cheap little charms that I find so captivating??? HERE is definitely where my support system lives. Here and the 12-day program graduate support mechanisms that are formally and informally going on. The WW meetings are a bit of a novelty, and I know that will wear off pretty quickly. If I were not in the right frame of mind, I could get lured off the track there. So it's only fun to go to 1) see some friends, as you mentioned, 2) collect the cheap but fun little charms , and.... I don't know what else, really. Remind myself about the dangers of the Pleasure Trap I guess.

Anyway, I hope all is well in your world! I'm just spudding along as usual! A lot of people would probably be bored with my simple meals, but I love potatoes and simplicity, so it works for me. Veg soup, steamed veg, potatoes, fruit. Done. If I'm feeling really fancy, I'll make some smashed beans or lentils or something to put on top of my taters. Otherwise, ketchup works. Done.

Well - I'm sorry to ramble on in your journal! I just think it's cool that we are both WW lifetimers, and both have some facination with those charms!

[squealcat]

Oh, Beth ! You are so funny !

I haven't been here in a few days. I got thrown off a bit because I had to get up early a couple of days to run over and pick up my granddaughter and take her to school. WOW ! I am not used to using an alarm clock and not used to waking up so early ! It is only one hour earlier than usual but it really threw me off ! I still feel foggy-headed ! I should be fine tomorrow.

Because of feeling tired and off schedule, I still had trouble with my Wednesday at my daughter's hour. Now, I did not get into their snacks so that was a win. I did have a salad I didn't like then on the way home went through a drive-through and got things that were not good for me to get. It all ended that day though so that is good. I am eating well today. Finished off a couple of things that will go bad soon. Grocery shopping tomorrow. I plan to get out in the morning after my matcha tea and breakfast. I can walk after I get home. I am trying to shop when my brain is the strongest so I won't get tempted. Those treats don't sound good early in the morning so I will see if shopping earlier will help with that.

Any way, I am tired and look forward to sleeping tonight with NO ALARMS ! I just feel best when I wake up naturally. I really don't sleep late, I just sleep later than 6:20 AM.

Food today: steel cut oats and mango, large salad and sweet potato, tomatoes and brown rice and beans followed by apple.

See some of you on the MWL board tomorrow (I still call it that, yes I do !)

-Marilyn

[VegSeekingFit]

Hey Marilyn!!

Glad you liked the split pea soup!!! I am with you on liking to get up without alarm... normally do and then it goes off as I am up and about...

Any book recommends? I have a few going... Freezing Order is a non-fiction by Bill Browder that reads like a fiction suspense / thriller... Still making my way through Atomic Habits...

Anyway, just wanted to say "hi" and you are doing great... just keep on!!

Best,
Stephanie

[squealcat]

Yes ! I am doing great and feeling great !

I walked for at least 30 minutes today then worked a bit in the garden. Cut down my peonies to get ready for winter, pulled some weeds, etc.... Once my wheelbarrow is filled, I am DONE!

Breakfast was old fashioned oats and mango. I made some steel cut oats for the next 4 days so that will be tomorrow's breakfast. I listened to a Chef AJ interview of Ann Esselstyn today and she puts mango on her rice and beans ! I may try that !
Lunch was a large salad with my broccoli sprouts on top, hummus and balsamic vinegar. My newest bottle of vinegar is cranberry. Will see if I like it. I just finished off the fig balsamic and it was very very good ! I had mashed potatoes after that .
Dinner was a couple of tomatoes from our garden , steamed brussel sprouts and then pea soup....oh, a pear for dessert

I forgot that I had a couple slices of Sugar Kiss melon after lunch. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water !! I can't believe they still have in in the stores !

I am currently reading : A Woman is No Man . It is kind of a sad book but quite a look into traditional Middle Eastern culture surrounding women where the parents look for a husband for their (usually teen) daughter to get her married . Warning that there is some abuse (not described in detail ) . It shows changing values as time goes on and secrets revealed about the characters etc. I have about 60 more pages to read . This is a book club book and the next one is called Dear Edward . I will try to sneak in another book before the next book club book.

This week I am working on following MWL a little better . I still use my habit tracker checklist that I got on Amazon. Preloading before meals is a tough one for me so that is what I work on this week. Also binge eating is another thing....it can throw me off for DAYS! I am trying to ride out the urge to eat those rich foods because I k now that if I feed that urge then it will just take longer to get past it. Today was a good day !

-squealcat (Marilyn)

[Lizzy_F]

Hi Marilyn! I hope you have had a good week! I wanted to let you know that the "Woman is No Man" book came available this morning through the library, so I downloaded it and will start it once I finish another book I am reading. I hope to finish the other book this weekend or Monday latest, so I'm looking foward to comparing notes!

It sounds like you have to cope with a fair amount of "temptation" around your house. That can be so hard. I have to deal with my husbands many kinds of nuts, and avocados, and that type of high fat food around here. But I am SO GRATEFUL that he no longer eats any sweets because those foods were totally my binge foods! The struggle is so real. And it's easy for other people to say "if it's in your house, it's in your mouth, so don't have it in your house" if you live alone or if everyone you live with is totally on the same food page. But that is just not the reality many of us live with. I say all this just to say I feel you on the struggle!

Let's go to Stephanie's house and eat all her luscious looking food!

[squealcat]

Yes, I still have a lot of trouble binge eating. We don't have a lot of "junk" food in our house but there is still granola, toast, peanut butter etc.....I have been working to get passed it . I meditate and use mindfulness practices. I make small changes, small habits. One is that when my husband leaves the house I make a cup of decaf tea and sit down and read or something....just a quiet time for me. When the house is empty it is hard for me to not look around for food. I am trying to change to another routine and this works a lot of the time.

I made a pot of ratatouille and baked a spaghetti squash to have for dinner. I had forgotten how delicious that is ! I have put some in the freezer. I think it will taste good on pasta too ! I need to make it more often ! Because we are going "up North" tomorrow, I have not cooked anything else. I bought too much salad stuff and am afraid it will not be good when I get home. I guess I am just worried about the spinach. Cabbage and kale should be fine.

Have to go ! Have a good week everyone !

-squealcat (Marilyn)

[squealcat]

We got back from our little color tour in the more northern part of our beautiful Michigan peninsula. The colors are so beautiful this year ! One of the best I have seen ! It rained a bit on the last day but we didn't care.

Back to McDougall eating today ! Back to walking too ! Those four days seemed like mostly sitting days and I was getting fidgety. I am not an active person but I have gotten so used to walking almost every day and being more active even in our house....Sitting in the car with a little walking downtown and at a park just didn't seem like enough. My husband has blocked arteries in his legs so it is painful to walk far for him. We used to do some trail hiking etc. but no more.

exercise today: I walked for over 30 minutes. I want to work back up to an hour. Should take a couple of weeks to get there, maybe less. If I work in the garden after my walk then I stick to the 30 min. walk.

Breakfast: steel cut oats and fruit
Lunch: large salad with some of my homemade hummus, tomatoes, peppers, a few slices of fennel . I used cranberry balsamic vinegar for dressing. I also had a Japanese sweet potato
Dinner: I made a smaller salad to start off but I am really not very hungry since I ate lunch later. Saving the salad for tomorrow. I cooked 2 oz of chick pea pasta and had ratatouille on top (it makes a really great pasta topping and aside from the chopping, it is pretty easy to make ). I had an orange after dinner .

Feeling a little tired after our vacation but did some laundry etc. to catch up and grocery shopping. That's enough ! I can tell I had way too much salt the past few days...my ring is tight and I am constantly in the bathroom today getting rid of all that water I retained !! I always thing I use more salt than I should but then when we eat out ....wow ! food when eating out is so salty !! I am glad to be back home using the salt shaker a little after my food is cooked.

Hope everyone here is doing well !

-squealcat (Marilyn)

[Lizzy_F]

Welcome home! I can't even imagine how beautiful it must be in the north woods right now! Sounds like you had a wonderful vacation! You are so right about the salt. I feel guilty sometimes about using the salt shaker, but MAN I am so far from where I used to be in the salt department! Sounds like you are doing really well with your excercise and feeling some extra energy. That is so encouraging! I really want to get my exercise way more consistent.

Hope you are setting up for a nice weekend!

[squealcat]

Thanks Beth for visiting !! Yes, I was curious about my weight gain and loss after all the restaurant-eating that we did. I lost 3 pounds over-night from my high weight after vacation !! I guess I really don't use much salt during the day....maybe at dinner time. I don't put salt on my oatmeal or at lunch when I have salad.

exercise today: walked 1.5 miles and then worked in the garden ...getting it ready for winter.

Breakfast: steel cut oats and a pear
Lunch: large salad with my hummus and balsamic vinegar for dressing. I put cut up purple sweet potato on top of the salad
Dinner: smaller salad, broccoli, then a pasta tomato sauce type recipe that I made and had frozen

I cooked up some beans that I got through the bean club I joined. I think they were called Mother Stallard beans (or something like that). They tasted really good ! Some of the beans did not cook up as well as others...never had that happen before. Tomorrow I am making chili with them so will cook them a bit longer then. I am excited to use the chili powder that came in my last shipment. The chili is supposed to be a summer time chili as it has zucchini and corn in it but I will make it anyway . Pretty sure I can get summer squash in the store.

I have had two real good eating days with no binging or over-eating. I woke up with a headache this morning that felt like a migraine but it is gone now. Usually my headaches last two full days. I haven't had one in a very long time. I guess this one was because of some crazy food I had this week. Well, I am done with all that now. Hopefully it will be a very long time until another headache comes my way once more (maybe never ).

So, tomorrow is chili-making day and I also want to make a potato soup. Been thinking about that all day so potato soup making will be tomorrow or sometime early next week. I want to be prepared with some good food for the week.

-Marilyn

[Anna Green]

Hi. What is the bean club? Congrats on the progress!

[squealcat]

The bean club is through Rancho Gordo . I had ordered beans through them once or twice and found out about their popular bean club. You have to sign up and wait to be invited. I think they can only have so many members. I finally got an email this September. I had to wait maybe 2 years. When you are a member they send you 6 bags of different heirloom beans and one surprise. This last box was a type of black beans, cranberry beans, french lentils, some beans that look like lima beans , another small red bean and these multi colored beans that I used to make the chili. They also send recipes in a newspaper-like pamphlet. Sorry, I don't remember the names of all the beans. I like to try new things and I like beans ! This quarter's surprise was their chili seasoning. I made the chili from their pamphlet and it was very good ! It was the beans, veg broth, chili seasoning, onion, garlic, corn and zucchini (McDougall approved !!). They have a private Facebook group too that you have to be approved for (only bean club members ). The next box will come sometime in November I think. I thought I would keep it up for a year. I am sure I will have leftovers to last a while. Look them up and see what you think of their beans ! It seems like a nice company with lots of information. I mostly make my bean recipes from the Vegan Under Pressure cookbook leaving out the oil, of course.

I walked my 1.5 miles today and ate well. Ended up with two bowls of that chili. I am thinking of making some brown rice and pouring that chili over the rice ! Sounds good to me !

-squealcat (Marilyn )

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Marilyn!

Your trip up north sounds great!!!! Not sure where you went --- just to share that we used to go all of the time to Watersmeet area -- Ottawa National Forest / Sylvania Wilderness area. Beautiful all 4 seasons, but especially fall...

Your bean club sounds so fun --- and great opportunity to try different ones!!!!

Hope that you are having a wonderful week.

Take care,
Stephanie