Annette's Journal

[squealcat]

Yes, I get that too. Friends always say , " You are always ordering the healthy food. You are so good !" I don't really mind. They are good friends. I figure they are feeling guilty and maybe someday they will ask me why I eat the way I do. But really, I feel guilty as well because I have a lot of room for improvement. I need to bring my own dressing and maybe some chick peas for the salad. I am still too "chicken".

Sorry about your expensive lettuce Annette. It couldn't have gotten worse. I hope the visit with your friends was fun at least.

[AnnetteW]

Yes, I get that too. Friends always say , " You are always ordering the healthy food. You are so good !" I don't really mind. They are good friends. I figure they are feeling guilty and maybe someday they will ask me why I eat the way I do. But really, I feel guilty as well because I have a lot of room for improvement. I need to bring my own dressing and maybe some chick peas for the salad. I am still too "chicken".

Sorry about your expensive lettuce Annette. It couldn't have gotten worse. I hope the visit with your friends was fun at least.

Luckily our next big luncheon out next month is at a Chinese restaurant so I'll just do rice and steamed veggie. We also meet monthly at a smaller group. I need to get stronger and just order a tea. I think it will depend on the restaurant. This coming Friday I think it will be Thai, so I might be able to figure that all out ahead of time too. I'm just tired of a sucky salad. I don't mind when they go out of their way and make a lovely salad, I love that....it's the sucky salad that upsets me.

I still have company a few more days. I relaxed my food a bit yesterday, okay a bit too much, and enjoyed some greasy salty chips. Yes, I still love them. All these people who say your tastes change are totally wrong. I haven't had chips in 1.5 years and they are still as tasty as ever. Did have my own homemade veggie burger on a cheap white bun. Made my fatfree vegan brownies for dessert and enjoyed them too. One meal not compliant...and then it's over.

In my opinion that's not the end of the world.

I do find it too difficult to stay MWL, I can do it for a few days, then cheats sneak in. I will get through this month and then not do the challenge on the MWL board. I'll just stick to my combo of SS/MWL and let it be. It feels a bit more stressful than I like worrying whether or not I'll drop a pound or two.

Plan for today:

Break from exercise!!!

Breakfast - canteloupe, strawberries, junk of fresh homemade sourdough (see, I can't resist, made it for my company and I will eat some too)

Lunch - rice, bean soup, salad

Snack - fruit if hungry

Dinner - Not sure yet, guests are all eating meat, so I can eat whatever I like. Thankfully meat doesn't entice me one bit. I hope to keep dinner light, perhaps a potato and steamed veggies, good plan

Goal is to keep food a bit on the lighter side today since I overate a bit yesterday.

[AnnetteW]

It's been a long two weeks, and it comes to an end today. I'll be sad to see my family leave, but glad to have my quiet house back. Also glad not to cook for others, and have all the treats in the house.

I stepped on the scale this morning, it was up 0.4 lbs since last Friday, maybe it will be down by tomorrow's official weigh in, or it might be up...who knows.

I haven't been horrid or anything, but no, I have not been on plan as much as I would like. I also knew I wouldn't be able to stay "perfect." I made sure I always ate a good breakfast and lunch, I did my best for most dinners, and then a few weren't the best. I feel like I was practical. I wish I was stronger, I think it is still a process.

Chinese food was ordered in for a large group last night, and I made a small plate. I even ate meat. I wish I was one of those people who was totally grossed out by meat, I'm not. It still tastes good to me, the texture doesn't bother me. It's just food. I don't think I'll ever be able to call myself a true vegan. I'd like to, but I don't know if it will happen.

I have to keep working on my journey, stay true to the path I'm on, to the best of my ability.

Yesterday during my morning walk it started to rain pretty hard, so I ran. It didn't hurt. My feet were okay, my knees and hips were okay, so I walked and ran the rest of the way back home. Of course it gets me huffing and puffing and I feel like I have a real workout. My shoes have needed to be replaced and I ordered a new pair and will try the walk/run again tomorrow. It will be good for my feet/ankles to build up the strength. Taking longer breaks has helped a lot too. At first it felt like my feet would never stop hurting, a daily walk was too difficult. Even one day off wasn't enough. I took 2 off, and then they were recovered. I guess they are also just building up.

I'm pleased to be consistently now back under 150. Now I need to focus on that 145 number, and get under that. A bit at a time, a small number, no big numbers for me. I will also get back to my journal and my daily plans.

Since I started the MWL weigh-ins for this month, I'll finish up the month, but I won't do it next month. MWL is just too restrictive for me, and since it is supposed to be for those following MWL, I will bow out. But I'll continue my own official weigh ins in my journal.

Plan for today: UPDATED AS COMPLETE

Breakfast - coffee (I need to work this out again), soymilk, oats, apple, flax/chia (2 T total)
Lunch - large salad with veggies and 2T raw sunflower seeds
Snack - watermelon
Dinner - potato, steamed broccoli, red lentil gravy from Easy cookbook (something new to try)
Exercise - probably none today, have a funeral to go to

[Ruff]

Hi Annette, I remember Dr McD saying something once about the good thing about MWL is that when people fell off it, they tended to fall off onto the regular programme! which was fine! So I wouldn't worry about mixing SS and MWL.

I have been McDougalling for years, and then fell off by adding butter, eggs and oils, (but strictly vegetarian) which while it was OK weight wise, seems to have stuffed up my health, sadly. Which is why I am back.

But really I am commenting about your running. Another runner, and another runner with sore feet! When I started running I didn't do Couch to 10km, even though it has all those apps and support groups and things. I did a plan made up by my ultra running daughter. The problem with C210KM is it is not really aimed at us older folks, and even the younger crew often have trouble with the big jump in the middle and fall off the plan, so I am offering you my version.

Rule 1. Never run more than 2 days in a row BUT never rest more than 2 days in a row. Commitment and flexibility.
Rule 2. Do not move to the next level until you can do the one you are on properly. If you can't manage the run distance walk it and try again the next time.
Rule 3. Adjust time and distance to fit your locality (like the size of your block, oe local park....but only by a few minutes. If necessary walk to the park and walk home as a warm up, cool down)
Rule 4. Stay on each level for at least a week, and as long as it takes (it took me 3 weeks to manage level 3)

Method.
Level 1. Walk 5 minutes. Run a minute, walk a minute for 20 minutes. Walk home
Level 2. walk 5 minutes. Run 2 minutes, walk a minute. for 20 minutes. walk home.
Level 3 walk 5 minutes. Run 3 minutes, walk a minute for 20-25 minutes. walk home (this was my worst level)
Level 4. Walk 5 minutes. Run 4 minutes, walk a minute for 30 minutes, walk home.
level 5 walk 5 minutes. Run 5 minutes, walk a minute, for 35 minutes. walk home.
level 6. walk 5 minutes. run 6 minutes walk a minute for 40 minutes. walk home.
keep going until you can run 10 minutes, walk a minute and are out for about an hour.
enter a 5km race and call yourself a runner!!

have fun!

[AnnetteW]

Thanks Katie, that looks like a good guide to follow. I will see about putting it in my phone on the timer, I guess it's an interval timer. I used to have a gymboss, I have no clue where it disappeared to. That routine looks about like my level, I probably didn't run more than 1-2 min at a time anyway. I also have no plans on attempting to be a real runner, but sometimes I can use a bit more than just walking. Something for me to play with at least.

I'll report back tomorrow.

Food today was good, I enjoyed what I ate, wasn't hungry and have felt satisfied.

It's not that I fall off of MWL, it's just a little too restrictive. But when I consider restrictive being that I want a bit of soymilk or ground chia/flax, I kind of think I'm crazy to worry about that. I'm also not sure I consider that enough to stay off of the MWL weigh-in board. I will think about that for next month. I pop up and down and all around all the time though.

Tomorrow I'm going out for lunch with friends, the restaurant is Thai but the menu is quite extensive. I'm planning on having sushi. I'm sure they have a nice vegan sushi.

My house is quiet again with my company gone, two weeks was a bit much.

[AnnetteW]

Jun 26 - 151.4
July 3 - 151 (down 0.6 lbs)
July 10 - 148.8 (down 2.2 lbs)
July 17 - 148.4 (down 0.4 lbs)

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. I really don't like this one. I tend to plate my food, and take the amount I think I need. Yes, for dinner I will often have a salad first, but not if I had a large salad at lunch.

2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert. Yes, but I don't eat fruit for dessert, I eat it with breakfast or as an afternoon snack. I have never been a dessert person. My meals are all easily 50% veggies

3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them. I still add some salt, but yes, it's still greatly reduced.

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Not this past week, I ate some Chinese takeout.
One meal only and I kept my plate small

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).Nope, I continue now to add a small amount of chia/flax to my morning oat (my gut likes it) and I had sunflower seeds on my salad one day. And I have soymilk in my morning oats also.

6. Eliminate any added oil.I didn't add oil to my cooking, but I ate takeout one day.

7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. I think I met this one, I didn't bake bread so I didn't have it to eat. Though store bought bread products were in the house, I didn't eat them.

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).I had some beer one night when we had all the kids over for a party. Beer doesn't trigger me, wine would. No wine allowed in my house. I obviously didn't need the beer.

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.This is getting easier and easier. I'm not munching just because. No scouring the house for munchies.
I've pulled out a carrot a time or two, I love an unpeeled carrot.

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).I continue to walk, but the heat slows me down. It's been a busy 2 weeks with company here.

Thoughts regarding last week - Company in the house for 2 weeks definitely made things more difficult. Though I was not fully on plan, I was more on plan that I realized. I just ate my food, my own food, but other things snuck in a few times. I'm looking forward to getting back on plan. I also know I like to "treat" myself and though I started to give up coffee (yet again) I went right back to it. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling, tea doesn't do that. I guess it's a bit of a buzz...ha ha, I can only fool myself so much. I don't need to be perfect, but I have to keep working at it.

[AnnetteW]

I did my first official "run/walk" this morning and it went quite well. Much better than I even imagined. Seven weeks of very regular walking has actually made a difference in my feet and ankles, though I guess I wasn't actually realizing it, until I took those running steps.

I actually have a plan and will follow that schedule that Katie gave me and see how it goes. I'll try not to be too ambitious, my goal is to build up my foot strength, build up my bones. I do not need to become a real runner...lol.

I ordered new shoes a few days ago, now I really need new socks too.

Plan for today - Has been completed and updated

Breakfast - coffee/soymilk, oats, banana, chia/flax
Lunch - out with friends, Sushi and small salad
Snack - frozen watermelon
Dinner - rice, Indian style cabbage/carrots, bean soup
Exercise - my walk/run was 2.3 miles, upper body weights, walk with the dogs
Goal for the day - to not overeat, I need to get back on track as much as possible.

[AnnetteW]

Did my official 2nd run this morning, and it was harder than the 1st. My legs, I guess, are still in recuperation mode. I will plan to go again on Tuesday morning, then probably take 2 days off. Since I have no life right now, I will try to get on a solid weekly schedule.

Plan for today:

Breakfast - coffee, oats, blueberries, chia/flax blend, almond milk
Lunch - planning on a large salad with add ons
Snack - frozen watermelon, what else
Dinner - Indian which will include a dal and veggies, and either a rice or potato dish
Exercise - run, upperbody weights

[jan_npr]

Hi Annette,

I sure relate to you having company. It's tough not to beat ourselves up over those "non-compliant" meals. I like Dr. Lisle's approach to aim for 80% compliance. Much easier and then we can feel better about our efforts. Have you seen how he suggests tracking it meal by meal for a week at a time. I've never tried it but might be interesting.

We are hosting a family birthday and it will be takeout Lebanese food. They have vegan options but won't be what I am trying to do with MWL. Maybe I'll try having a couple of baked potatoes beforehand to subdue my appetite. My weight was up this week so I'm not doing well enough.

Have a McDougally Day!

[Ruff]

Did my official 2nd run this morning, and it was harder than the 1st. My legs, I guess, are still in recuperation mode. I will plan to go again on Tuesday morning, then probably take 2 days off. Since I have no life right now, I will try to get on a solid weekly schedule.

Your legs will certainly feel it at the beginning, and normally the 3rd run is the worst, and then it starts to improve. Of course there is another '3rd run' every time you up your level! I think you are doing brilliantly. Its not easy to start running at our age, it takes longer for the right muscles to build than it does for the youngsters!

[AnnetteW]

Your legs will certainly feel it at the beginning, and normally the 3rd run is the worst, and then it starts to improve. Of course there is another '3rd run' every time you up your level! I think you are doing brilliantly. Its not easy to start running at our age, it takes longer for the right muscles to build than it does for the youngsters!

Wow, you are totally right. Today was #3 and it was even worse yet. But I did it, and that's what counts.

Hi Annette,
I sure relate to you having company. It's tough not to beat ourselves up over those "non-compliant" meals. I like Dr. Lisle's approach to aim for 80% compliance. Much easier and then we can feel better about our efforts. Have you seen how he suggests tracking it meal by meal for a week at a time. I've never tried it but might be interesting.

I don't beat myself up enough, I just kind of let it slide and not worry about it. I should worry a bit more. I do enjoy listening to Dr. Lisle. Meal by meal, I'm doing a darn good job. Occasionally an Off snack pops in (nuts for instance) or I have a few favorite eating out places and then I enjoy my meal, but it's not like I'm eating a burger or fries.

~~~~~~~~~~
Weight seems to be holding fairly steady in the 149 range. I really need to do some work to see it drop. It's so easy to eat at "equilibrium" and it feels so good...lol.

Today I go back for my follow up appt with my new doctor, will report later.

Plan for today:
Breakfast - coffee/almond milk, multigrain cereal/banana/almond milk
Lunch - needs to be a large salad of some sort
Snack - frozen watermelon
Dinner - homemade pizzas, I need to think on this one a bit
Exercise - walk/run (completed), upper body weights

[squealcat]

How do you freeze your watermelon? Do you put it on a tray to freeze individual pieces or just put the whole container of watermelon in the freezer ? Do you blend it up or just eat ?

-thanks !

[AnnetteW]

How do you freeze your watermelon? Do you put it on a tray to freeze individual pieces or just put the whole container of watermelon in the freezer ? Do you blend it up or just eat ?

-thanks !

I cut it up into chunks about 1" large and put it in a quart sized ziplock bag (use good quality ones). Then I freeze. Since it's usually a fairly solid chunk when frozen, I wrap the ziplock bag in a thick dishcloth, place it ontop of a wooden cutting board, and smash it with the flat side of the meat tenderizer/hammer thing. Then I unzip and pour into a bowl and eat...and I freeze, and by the time I'm done I'm usually wrapped up in a warm robe or go sit out in the heat.

[AnnetteW]

My Dr. appt went well. We discussed a lot of things and worked out a plan for me to work on. My lipid panel is awesome, but I still have issues with high blood pressure and also my blood sugar numbers are a bit too high for his liking, suggesting some issues there, and insulin resistance, etc. We really talked about foods to help with blood pressure, not only sodium, things like lots of different greens. We went through a lot of information.

We also worked out a chart about where I'm coming from (my start) to where I am now (I'm about half-way there) to where I want to be (my goal.) Which is why I am seeing him, I'm sort of stuck right now.

My primary food focus is to get off of coffee and to also really work on the sodium. Most of the rest of the food is pretty good, he knows I will never be a 100%'er. He also discusses extending my "fasting" window a little bit.

Really we just talked a lot and I have an appointment is 2 months, so I would really like to see my numbers and weight drop by then.

Plan for today:

Breakfast - green tea, push off till later, whole grain cereal with fresh blueberries, chia/flax
Lunch - really need that salad, so salad with lettuce and arugula, potato, other veggies
Snack - tea with friends, watermelon when back home
Dinner - corn on the cob, beans, veggie of some sort
Exercise - need a bit of a break, a very short session on the elliptical (working on building that up), weights

[squealcat]

I cut it up into chunks about 1" large and put it in a quart sized ziplock bag (use good quality ones). Then I freeze. Since it's usually a fairly solid chunk when frozen, I wrap the ziplock bag in a thick dishcloth, place it ontop of a wooden cutting board, and smash it with the flat side of the meat tenderizer/hammer thing. Then I unzip and pour into a bowl and eat...and I freeze, and by the time I'm done I'm usually wrapped up in a warm robe or go sit out in the heat.

...Thanks Annette ! I have some chunks in the freezer right now !

-squealcat