SherryW's Daily Journal

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Sherry,

Sounds like you are doing great!!

I can so relate to the jar of roasted peanuts. Also live in household where we are not all McD’ing. There was once some great advice on this forum about trying to think about troublesome foods as a non-food. It’s kind of a mind game which may work or not for you.

Best,
Stephanie

[SherryW]

Hi Sherry,

Sounds like you are doing great!!

I can so relate to the jar of roasted peanuts. Also live in household where we are not all McD’ing. There was once some great advice on this forum about trying to think about troublesome foods as a non-food. It’s kind of a mind game which may work or not for you.

Best,
Stephanie

That's a good idea!

So far, I either just power through and just don't even let my mind consider having it - mostly because I'm still very much an all or nothing kind of person, even though I'm trying to change that. My mind recognizes that any progress is better than no progress, but some part of me will always want to be perfect or not bother (Type A personality I'm trying to turn into a Type B as I get older). And, look where that's got me.

It also helps to watch all those wonderful documentaries out there. I started on Netflix, but it seems like Amazon Prime Video has more. I saw a good lecture from a McDougall seminar last night that featured Dr. Gregor talking about how food can prevent reverse a lot of diseases.

I had never heard this story because I'm just getting into it, but he talked about his grandmother's heart disease. She was basically sent home to die from heart disease when he was about 7. Then went away to get help from Dr Pritikin (I think? Dr Ornish was also discussed) and was out of her wheelchair walking within weeks and went on to live another 30 years.

These are such amazing stories. I've never been all that religious, but listening to these miracles must be like what true believers feel like after a good sermon at church. That's the only way I can describe how hopeful it all makes me feel. I don't have any serious diseases that I know of, but there's been a lot of cancer and Alzheimer's in my family, so I worry about both. Maybe now I can redirect that energy to something more productive.

I do have some very mild anger that it took me until now (age 53) to either find this information or not dismiss it. I'm trying to let go of it because it's another waste of energy. At least, maybe I've made changes that will stick and let me age more gracefully and enjoy the rest of my life more.

And, look at that! A journal entry that's more than my daily menu. I guess I have a lot more energy in the morning.

[Ejeff]

I like to read the success stories here and have also watched Dr, Gregor. So many inspiring stories of people that turned their lives around and got rid of pain.

There are peanuts in my house also. They are planters so there are many bad ingredients. I find I do need crunchy things to satisfy me, sometimes that’s carrots or celery. Often it’s homemade tortilla chips. I love to eat them with spicy salsa.

Interesting that you feel a bit of anger at not having discovered this information earlier. I started 5 years ago and don’t remember feeling that way. I did remember feeling very excited as the weight seemed to come off so steadily and I was eating so much food and enjoying it. For the first time in my life I was losing weight and didn’t feel like I was deprived or on a diet.

My strategy for dealing with cravings is to eat more of the good food. Potatoes or oats. Sometimes I still over eat, but if it’s on approved foods I don’t regret it so much. I always have healthy cookies in the freezer made from just oats bananas and cinnamon. If I can reach for a couple of those it stops me from reaching for peanuts.

[SherryW]

Interesting that you feel a bit of anger at not having discovered this information earlier.

Anger is probably a strong word, but I don't have a better one for it.

It's my reaction to feeling like I've been purposely lied to in some ways about things that affect me very personally.

I'm all for personal choice. It's not like I'm going to go vote for taxes on big soft drinks or anything crazy. But, I think you need information to make an informed choice. In my experience, I was flooded with the wrong information and only stumbled across this kind of thing because I was at home, recovering from surgery, with no appetite, and stumbled across the Forks Over Knives documentary on Netflix after I had watched everything else that looked interesting.

It was like a lightbulb went off and I've pretty much stuck with this way of eating ever since.

If this was a new idea, I'd be like OK - great we've learned this. But, it's not new. Even the documentaries I'm watching are not new. I feel "woke" to borrow a trendy term that I never had a reason to use before. It's a good feeling, but I really wish it had happened earlier. On the other hand, it could have never happened, or it could have happened much later.

I'm kind of torn about how I feel, but not really dwelling on it enough to ruin my day.

All that being said, I am going to enjoy a few things off plan tonight during the Super Bowl and then be right back to it tomorrow. So no real log for me today other than I did get in my 30 minutes of exercise and I was down a few tenths of a pound on the scale.

[SherryW]

I didn't do bad last night during Super Bowl.

I passed on the chicken wings, but had a few tortilla chips with queso, some fruit dipped in strawberry/yogurt fruit dip and some raw veggies, about a 3/4 slice of cheese pizza (homemade) and I split a piece of apple pie with my son. Just had water - no alcohol, soft drinks, juice, etc. Not great, but not terrible.

Back on track for today.

Weight - back to about where I was on Saturday, so I lost the little bit I was down Sunday morning, and anything I might have normally been down today.

Beverages - water only.

Breakfast - nothing - just wasn't hungry
Lunch - sweet potato, salad (spinach, red cabbage, carrots, peppers, green onions, red wine vinegar)
Dinner - black beans, quinoa, salad (spinach, red cabbage, tangerine, apple, blueberry, red wine vinegar)
Snacks - tangerines

Exercise - nothing today. I slept a little late, then work quickly took the day, plus I had to go drop my car off at the shop.

GOAL: Go to sleep at a decent time instead of vegging out in front of the TV so I can get up early enough to get 30 minutes of exercise in before the normal day starts.

WIN: I grabbed my husband and son steak and cheese subs from Jersey Mikes, and didn't get myself anything or take a bite of theirs. Also, my husband tried some of my lunch salad and is considering working some of this into his diet. He's not going completely plant based, but maybe eating my way here and there. He always liked fruit and veggies more than I did, but he's stubborn.

[SherryW]

Today was OK. Did a lot of work, but didn't work on what I had planned.

Beverages - water only

Breakfast - beans, quinoa, salad (spinach, red cabbage, apple, blueberries, red wine vinegar)
Lunch - beans, spinach, red wine vinegar
Dinner - quinoa, corn, green beans
Snack - 2 tangerines, sweet potato

Exercise - none

Sleep - stayed up later than I should and didn't get up as early as I'd like.

Win for the day: When we went to pick up my car from the shop, I offered to go with my husband to the nearby fish place. Once I said I wasn't going to get anything especially not anything fried, he skipped the fried fish & fixings and opted for a meatball sub from Subway. Not perfect, but at least not fried. I didn't have any.

[SherryW]

I got off to a late start this morning, so breakfast was a bit off, then I didn't have most of my starches cooked, so catching up on that now.

Beverages - water only

Breakfast - a sweet potato, eaten in the car, while driving - I never made it to my apple
Lunch - black beans, sweet potato, green beans, salad (spinach, red cabbage, pepper, green onions, red wine vinegar)
Dinner - I think it'll be quinoa, pinto beans and broccoli if I get to cooking.

Snacks - no time for any so far.

Exercise and getting up early did not work out - again.

I bought a new pair of jeans today. I was in 16's when I started this, then when they got loose, I pulled out a couple very old size 14's. They were practically falling off me, so I went in with the plans to get some 12's, but they were a tiny bit loose so I tried on a pair of 10s just to see. They fit snugly, so I got they'll probably be just fine within another week.

HOWEVER, I am NOT a size 10. I'm just not. I weight about 168 right now and when I was a size 10 I was far from 168. These are Levi's 505's and I guess they've been vanity sized. I feel like I'm cheating. I think before I gained all this weight, a 10 was when I was about 130-140 or so.

So, if I get back down to around 120 (I'm 5'2"), what the h*** size am I going to wear?

[Lyndzie]

You’ll be a size 4!! Maybe even a 2!

[SherryW]

You’ll be a size 4!! Maybe even a 2!

Now I'm dying to know what my high-school friends who wore 2's and 4's back in the day would wear now.

Do they go 00 after 0, or start having negative sizes?

You'd think they'd just start to disappear.

[Lyndzie]

Yes, they go down to 00. Then you end up in the kids section, LOL.

[SherryW]

Yes, they go down to 00. Then you end up in the kids section, LOL.

Thankfully, the chances of that happening for me are pretty low.

Today's meals:

Beverages - water only

Breakfast - sweet potato & broccoli
Lunch - quinoa, peas & carrots, salad with spinach, tangerine, blueberries, red wine vinegar
Dinner - pinto beans, quinoa, spinach, red wine vinegar
Snacks - apple, tangerine, small handful of raisins

Exercise - of course not.

After my experience with the size 10 jeans yesterday, I tried on the size 16s that were snug when I started WFPB back in November. They were very loose all the way around, so I've lost several inches off my midsection. That's good, and I feel better than when I started, but I don't think I've wrapped my head around the weight loss yet, which is really weird. The scale says I've lost a little more than 30 lbs over the past year - but I don't look any different to myself even if my clothes are fitting different. Very weird. Maybe it's just my mind making sure I don't get over-confident and ruin a good thing.

[SherryW]

I've had a couple off days. Today was more to plan.

I didn't do anything really bad. There was a blueberry bagel for dinner Friday evening while the power was out since cold beans/quinoa/veggies wasn't all that appealing at the time. And, some homemade bread the next day plus a diet ginger ale. Not bad, but not on plan. The scales still say I lost a pound, so I guess it wasn't too bad.

Weight - 167.2 (in about 5 more pounds, I'll be out of the obese category for my height!)

Beverages - water only

Breakfast - sweet potato, peas and carrots, broccoli, apple
Lunch - pinto beans, quinoa, salad (spinach, red cabbage, pepper, green onion, carrot)
Dinner - pinto beans, quinoa, apple, tangerine
Snacks - tangerine, grapes

Exercise - treadmill, 2.5 mph, 12 minutes

Goals for the week
Exercise - at least 10 minutes a day, first thing in the morning, to get a habit started
Sleep - be in bed, with the TV off by 11:30 PM and up by 6 AM, again, to make it a habit

[SherryW]

Weight 166.7

Beverages - water only

Breakfast - sweet potato, salad (spinach, blueberries, tangerine, red wine vinegar)
Lunch - pinto beans, quinoa, peas and carrots, salad (spinach, red cabbage, apple, red wine vinegar
Dinner - handful of raisins
Snacks - frozen pineapple

I felt like I ate enough to stay satisfied, but that doesn't look like a lot. That's why this diary is good. Hopefully, it'll keep me from getting too extreme and taking things too far. I kind of do that - moderation is not my thing.

Exercise - treadmill, 2.5 mph, 13 minutes
Sleep - not on plan

[SherryW]

Weight 166.7

Beverages - water only

Breakfast - sweet potato, apple
Lunch - pinto beans, quinoa, salad (spinach, red cabbage, peppers, green onions, carrots, red wine vinegar)
Dinner - corn and green beans
Snacks - frozen pineapple

Exercise - treadmill, 2.5 mph, 13 minutes
Sleep - sleep at 11:30 PM, up at 6:50 AM - better, but not where I want to be.

[deweyswakms]

It's my reaction to feeling like I've been purposely lied to in some ways about things that affect me very personally.

Hi I have been reading your journal, you are doing all the right things. I am impressed with your dedication while also being so busy with work and family. This whole new way of eating has educated all of us about nutrition and what our bodies really need. I don't think we were purposely lied to (well maybe now as the meat and dairy industries fight to keep their market share). Science constantly changes and new data comes out. And it is always hard to remain open-minded and take in new information.

Soon you will relax the vigilance to counting calories and relying on won't power to 'power' through your days, once you can trust that this really does work. Meanwhile, look at some of Jeff Novick's videos; he's so good, about calorie density. Dr. Lisle is also good.

Keep going; you are getting it! Marsha