Keeping with the habit of weighing in and reflecting on Fridays... I have lost 1.1 lbs this week. Not bad, not the typical results from a MM, but pretty good, considering. I have 5 days left, if you count today. So far this month I have lost just over 7 pounds...totally worth it, and more than that, it has helped me tremendously in terms of seeing what I've been getting wrong and fixing it. I am not tired of potatoes yet, but I want to go back to MWL anyway. I will just have a focus on potatoes because they are just so darn satiating! And I LOVE them. I've enjoyed so many different ways of cooking them, and will continue to do so! And can I just say...cheeze sauce!!! It is a complete game changer. I will put my recipe here for my own sake, mostly, because I've taken a few different recipes and perfected it to my taste preferences. This makes 1 quart that lasts me a week, typically (unless I make cheezy hasbrown casserole too often, and then I have to make it twice).
Kirsty's Kitchen Cheeze Sauce4 cups diced potatoes (peeled unless using golds)
1 cup diced carrots (or baby carrots)
1 cup cooking water
3/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp minced onion
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp liquid smoke
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp seasoned salt
Place potatoes and carrots in a pot with a steamer basket, adding 1 1/2 cups water to bottom of pot. Steam until potatoes and carrots are fork tender. Combine remaining ingredients in a high speed blender. Add potatoes, carrots, and 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Blend until all ingredients are well mixed and very smooth, scraping down sides as necessary. YUMM!!!!
Note: To make a spicy Queso, reduce water to 3/4 cup and stir in 1 can Rotel tomatoes with green chilies after blending. To make Chipotle Cheese sauce, stir in 1 Tbs Chipotle seasoning aft.er blendingThere, now I have it in a permanent place. I love this cheeze sauce over broccoli, on baked potatoes, in hashbrown casserole, broccoli rice casserole, mac 'n cheeze, twice baked potatoes, burrito bowls... it just adds so much flavor and makes me really happy!
I got some grief from the admins on the MM fb page because they said this isn't compliant with a MM because it's not "boring" enough. I would have to agree. It's NOT boring, but I disagree that it is not compliant. ALL the ingredients are compliant, so that makes it compliant in my book. The other thing I KNOW about myself is that if I don't like my food, I go looking for treats. Maybe some people respond to "boring" but not me! Especially when doing a longer MM. I can understand if it was only 10 days, but sheesh, a month is a different story. I didn't get kicked out of the group, but I feel like I was walking a fine line. I'm happy to be going back to the MWL group with a new mindset and focus, and I am happy to be expanding my food choices just a bit. I will happily comply to 2 fruits a day after having NONE for a whole month! But I did learn about myself that if I wasn't in the mood to eat a potato, I wasn't hungry! That is my litmus test because I could easily have eaten fruit many times, but I didn't - that wasn't an option. I think this is the most valuable lesson I'm taking away from this "experiment." And the other thing is that I have a clearer understanding of what it feels like to be satiated and still be in a calorie deficit. I am getting to know my body and appreciate it. I am learning to work with it instead of feel like it is my enemy and completely unpredictable.
Julieanna Hever said in one of her livestreams that weight loss is totally predictable. That really intrigued me because I have felt like it's a complete mystery. I have though a lot about that statement. She also said we have to "decouple" exercise and weight loss. To see weight loss as a temporary state of being, lose the weight, and then work on building strength and fitness. It's an interesting concept but also confusing to me. Maybe I can ask Jeff Novick to comment on this. I am afraid that doing this creates a "dieting mindset" instead of a changed lifestyle. Besides, with T2 Diabetes, I HAVE to exercise. Exercise is like "natural insulin" according to the Mastering Diabetes experts, and that has been my experience. Plus, I do believe exercise helps get me into a calorie deficit. Also, I don't think someone like Julieanna who has never been obese has any understanding of just how sedentary I can be if I don't see daily movement as non-negotiable. Plus, it's my understanding that obesity shuts down the mitochondria and exercise turns them back on. And without those little fat-burners working away in my cells, fat loss is MUCH more difficult. Anyway, I am not giving up my daily morning and evening walks because I think they help tremendously. I am waiting to do intense strength training until I get much closer to my goal, however.
Okay, this is long enough. I'm very encouraged and excited to keep going on this journey and actually make it to the finish line...even if it takes me another year to do so.