My Daily "Weighing in"

[bunsofaluminum]

I just read my last entry and I see that it was a week ago. Well, I have not done well. Gees ! one slip and it lead to a bigger slip and now I am right back to where I was before !! I have just read over what my friends wrote in their journals. Always so encouraging !

The 7 days following Mary's Mini still stick with me. The ease of it and the fact that there just didn't seem to be many rules. I like that ! I was even able to do just one fruit a day and that was something that amazed me ! Expanding into more foods led me to eat even more foods and I have gone WAY over ! I really have to figure this all out !

I will think about it and get back here later.

-squealcat

It's easy to get triggered. One bite of something off plan can wreck an entire week. Yay for Mary Mini's!

[Lizzy_F]

Hi Marilyn! It was nice to see you join the MWL tribe for September!

I too find this easiest following a really simple menu plan. I LOVE food and LOVE variety, and I appreciate that there are ways to stay compliant and have as much variety as we can manage! But for some reason, I find the planning and food prep process to be much more anxiety provoking when I've tried to do "more" with variety. I find it mentally soothing to just keep it simple. I have a few meals that I love, and I just keep 'em on repeat. It's working right now and I am very satisfied eating simple potatoes, so I'm gonna keep doing it! I hope you find your own groove too. Batch cooking potatoes, and the microwave are my best friends.

Wow 17 grand kids!! That must keep you jumping! I would have to start my holiday gift shopping in February!

Wishing you a starch strong weekend!!!!

[squealcat]

Thank you Buns and Lizzy for visiting my journal !! Hope you and everyone are doing well this weekend !

Exercise today: I walked over 30 minutes with my granddaughter today. I usually walk alone but today was a treat ! The granddaughter stayed overnight with us and she then said "yes" when I invited her to walk with me ! Now almost 10 years old, she kept up just fine !

Breakfast: a peach, a mix of cabbage and steel cut oats with salt and pepper on top (something new for me ). Was very good and was filling.
Lunch: large salad with balsamic vinegar and a little tahini for dressing
later afternoon: was hungry after church so had a banana and then a Japanese sweet potato
Dinner: veg soup followed by a yellow potato with mustard and then a peach

All done eating. I may have a cup of decaf tea in a bit but that is all. This is my 2nd day following MWL. I know, I had tahini but I measured it so as not to overdue it and will gradually try to wean myself off it. No other fats but that.

On to tomorrow ! I feel good about following MWL !

-Marilyn

[Lizzy_F]

Hi again Marilyn! Believe it or not I have yet to try cooking steel cut oats! I love old fashioned rolled oats and can’t wait to try steel cut. I already have some in my pantry! Instant pot? Stove top? Crock pot? What do you find easiest/ best?

Your walk with your GD sounds so nice, as do your meals today!!!

[squealcat]

Instant pot steel cut oats : pour 3 cups of water into your instant pot. Pour 1 cup of steel cut oats over that water but DO NOT STIR it ! Just put the top on and cook at high power for 3 to 4 minutes and let the pressure come down naturally. that is it ! Doesn't take long at all. I think the reason that you are not suppose to stir it is because it can burn. It will be all mixed and cooked after 3 or 4 minutes. That is about 4 servings. I refrigerate what I don't use, add a little water to my next serving before heating it up.

I love both old fashioned and steel cut oats. I also like oat groats but not as much as the others.

This is day 3 on MWL. No exercise today. I got up later than usual and then got lazy.

Breakfast: steel cut oats with ..... apple and cabbage. (sorry, I forgot for a minutes )
Lunch: large salad, balsamic vinegar for dressing, black beans and rice on top ......delicious ! I think I had a banana after that
Dinner: steamed broccoli, large sweet potato and some pineapple

That's my day !! Sundays are my lazy days. I worked on some Zentangle drawing today. Very relaxing ! Also listened to a Chef AJ interview of Justina F (can't remember her last name). She was trained by Dr Lisle and is full of good advice.

My brother just texted me. He is in the hospital for chest pain. He feels fine now. Hope his tests come back ok. He is staying overnight and will have other tests tomorrow (maybe an angiogram or something ...or stress test ).

Glad I started back with MWL. I was starting to feel kind of hopeless even though I know that is not true. That feeling has not completely left me but it will as the days go by.

-Marilyn

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Marilyn!!!

Your food always sounds great!!! Exercise too!! Awesome that you had your grand-daughter over (sounds super fun)!!!

I hope that your brother is ok...

I understand what you wrote about hopeless feeling... Glad that you also have a feeling that this is not true!!! You are doing amazing things... you already have --- and you have more goals... There is always hope. Just keep going!!!

Wishing you the best!!!

Cheers,
Stephanie

[Lizzy_F]

Hi Marilyn! Your simple food sounds totally delicious to me! I have really come to appreciate simple food on this journey, and it seems to be working! I hope it works just as well for you - no reason to believe it won't!

Thank you for posting your steel cut oats recipe/method. I'm going to give that a try when my current batch of pre-cooked oats runs out.

Thank you again for The Great Alone recommendations!! I posted a stream of consciousness about some backwoods Alaska stuff I find interesting in my journal with some links - check it out if you are interested! I'm an Iditarod jumkie!

I bought some beginner supplies for Zentangle a long time ago, and have never devoted the time to sit down and get started! This winter I need to move that up my list. I feel like I don't have a creative / artistic bone in my body and I've been told Zentangle is a great creative outlet for people who feel this way about themselves. Would you agree?

Hope you have an awesome potato / starch strong day!!

[Ruff]

Hi Marilyn. How is your brother doing? Does he follow a plant based diet.

I hope he is feeling better and out of hospital now.

[squealcat]

Yes, Zentangle can be done by anyone ! It is really just using . ) _ and S shapes . Take a beginner class if you can but otherwise there is a lot on YouTube and other places. I would like to be a person who draws a bit every day but so far that has not happened. I have been doing the project pack 17 this past week and am working on that. Maybe I can get to be that person though.

No, my brother does not follow this way of eating. I did send him a video a while back about milk (I think it was Dr McDougall ) and it made a slight impression but it didn't keep. He is home now. His stress test results came back good but he still has to see a cardiologist. There must be some sort of cardiac thing going on. Will see ! I also know that just because these tests come back ok doesn't mean there is no gunk plugging up his arteries. He just told me that he does not want to go through what our mom went through (by-pass surgery, stents, carotid artery surgery.....). This has made me think about things more as well.

Exercise: I walked for 30 minutes today. So much cooler outside !! I will maybe walk a little longer tomorrow !

Breakfast: I made an instant pot oat breakfast. Carrot cake oatmeal with steel cut oats, shredded carrots, and pineapple....lots of cinnamon too !
Lunch: large salad with balsamic vinegar as dressing. I put a cup of brown rice on top along with a half cup of black beans. Same as yesterday. Kind of like a sushi bowl ?
Dinner: steamed broccoli and a bowl of whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce and maybe something else??? It was from the freezer.

I have a huge stock pile of stuff in the freezer and most of it is veggie soups. I am starting to thaw and use it up because I want to make some other things....just easy throw together things. I have to be in a certain mood to make something more complicated.

That is it for today. Another good day. Another quiet day but that is ok. I hope to walk a little farther tomorrow but also I want to work in the garden.....the weeds are calling me !!

thank you all for your encouragement and support !!

-Marilyn

[squealcat]

Exercise today: walked 4 miles plus a little more. 10,800 steps. I also challenged myself to do a little more during the day so I walked up and down our stairs 3 times extra.

Breakfast: steel cut oats with pineapple and carrots mixed in . I ate a banana before my walk. I get hungry but don't want to fill up with breakfast before my walk so a banana works just fine.
Lunch: large salad with balsamic vinegar and then a cup of brown rice and half cup of black beans on top. This is really good and I had it for maybe 3 days. I am ready for something different though.
Dinner: tomato and cucumber first as a preload, then mixed veggies then air fried potatoes. Dessert was pineapple

Great day today. It was day 4 for me. Not 4 perfect days but pretty good days ! Tomorrow I go to my daughter's house. Always a challenge for me. I have to pack a lunch that I know will be enough to fill me and enough to satisfy me taste-wise. It won't be perfect but it will be enough to keep me out of their snack food. Wednesdays are always a little bit of a challenge. I think they may be getting another nurse for Felix so then I won't have to go there every week (just go as a substitute or to watch him and his sister if my daughter and her husband want to go out together ). Well, will see how tomorrow goes. I think it will be just fine !

-Marilyn

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Marilyn,

We are none of us perfect... Anyone who is should announce themself!!

Keep going --- you are doing great!!

Cheers,
Stephanie

[squealcat]

Day #6

Exercise: I walked for 30 minutes today.

Breakfast: my carrot cake oatmeal made with carrots , pineapple, cinnamon and steel cut oats
Lunch: large salad with balsamic vinegar and lots of veggies, a large Japanese sweet potato
Snack: small bowl of potato and corn soup that I just made
Dinner: preload of tomato and cukes, bean soup over cauliflower rice, banana

I had all my food ready to take to my daughter's house today and she texted me that she was working from home today and I did not need to come over. What?? I always get a bit tense when I go over there because I don't want to eat all the wrong things and over-eat. My worries were eliminated ! I put my Boca burger back in the freezer and put the bread away (yes, I was going to eat that for lunch....better than eating from their snack cupboard ) and ended up having a very great eating day !

Now, today I made a chowder from Well Your World. It was their potato and corn chowder. All were "toss in the pot" ingredients and just frozen potatoes, corn and soup veg mix along with veg broth and spices ! It was delicious !! They make it on the stove but I cooked it in my instant pot. I have no room in my freezer so that big batch will last me all week ! I really don't like to take the time to cook so this was right up my alley ! I have made the potato leek soup from Forks Over Knives and I think I can pretty much duplicate it using frozen veggies except for the leeks. Now, the chowder recipe asks for plant milk but I am sure you could skip it. It will be nice and thick though so you may have to add more broth. Not sure.

Tomorrow is the last day before MWL check-in. I am happy so far with this first week. The pre-load is one of my problems but using raw veggies works for me.

-squealcat

[squealcat]

Day #7 of my MWL week is complete. I am the rare person that does not eat after dinner. I guess it is just how I have always been. Don't eat popcorn or snacks at the movie theater either.... So I have just finished dinner so my day is done. YAY! As I have said, it is not a perfect week. I will keep tweaking it !

Exercise today: walked 2 miles pretty easily. Along the way I chatted with a neighbor that I have not met and we had a very nice talk ! One of the plusses of walking in the neighborhood !

Breakfast: I had a banana before my walk as my stomach was growling. After that walk I had old fashioned oatmeal with a mix of blueberries and pineapple.
Lunch: large salad (gotta get my greens in ) with balsamic vinegar as the dressing and a bit of tahini , then a big bowl of potato and corn chowder (my husband made some hot sauce today so may try that on top of the soup tomorrow )
Dinner: cauliflower rice, mixed vegetables, a small amount of beans and a couple of potatoes. Couldn't finish it ! I did have some cantaloupe though after that.

My Amazon order came today. Got another habit tracker pad to keep track of my MWL 10 points. I have almost used my last one up . I also got a copy of Tiny Habits ! Can't wait to dive into that one !

Not much else for today. I am trying to declutter a bit and the dining room is looking a lot better. I have a new crop of broccoli sprouts going (reminding myself to rinse and drain it when I am done here ) I like using sprouts....usually in my salad but I have been known to put it in my oats too or just munch on a bit by itself !

Have a good day ! See some of you on the MWL board tomorrow or Saturday !

-Marilyn

[squealcat]

Exercise today: Walked 3 miles this morning (YAY!) and then worked up a sweat in the garden pulling weeds and trimming branches.

Breakfast: steel cut oats cooked with shredded carrots and added pineapple and cinnamon
Lunch: large salad with balsamic vinegar , big bowl of potato corn chowder (I actually had the chowder first because my husband was using most of the kitchen to make his soup. Had the salad after the counter was cleared off )
Dinner: cucumber followed by a veggie burger on a bun (oops !) also had cantaloupe

Funny how having that bun got my brain fired up and I started thinking about other food. I stopped myself by thinking "the kitchen is closed now". It has worked so far. I am pretty sure, calorie-wise that I am OK but boy, it is crazy how a little bread gets the brain all crazy again. I am trying to be the observer looking at myself objectively. Keeping my head on straight.

-Marilyn

[VegSeekingFit]

Exercise today: Walked 3 miles this morning (YAY!) and then worked up a sweat in the garden pulling weeds and trimming branches.

Breakfast: steel cut oats cooked with shredded carrots and added pineapple and cinnamon
Lunch: large salad with balsamic vinegar , big bowl of potato corn chowder (I actually had the chowder first because my husband was using most of the kitchen to make his soup. Had the salad after the counter was cleared off )
Dinner: cucumber followed by a veggie burger on a bun (oops !) also had cantaloupe

Funny how having that bun got my brain fired up and I started thinking about other food. I stopped myself by thinking "the kitchen is closed now". It has worked so far. I am pretty sure, calorie-wise that I am OK but boy, it is crazy how a little bread gets the brain all crazy again. I am trying to be the observer looking at myself objectively. Keeping my head on straight.

-Marilyn

Hey Marilyn,

Loved what you said for your goals in Time & Adherence Group!!!

I FINALLY found a Sugar Kiss cantaloupe here!!! OMG!!! In love!!! Best cantaloupe ever!!!

What are you reading??? I am in Stephen King "Fairy Tale"... and a few more...

Unsolicited advice.... If you eat the bread... move on... and think how to avoid in future...

Best,
Stephanie