No topic.

[Trinity]

I’m going to try to post every day. I’m at gymnastics right now. The water is out so no one can use the bathroom, which is part of our pre-gymnastics class routine. My older daughter had to run out and use the emergency pull-up we keep in the car. I thought they would close a place if the water was out? I hope I can make it!

So far today I’ve eaten microwaved potatoes (3 times but the third time was just the last leftover from the 2nd) (not that it matters), plus a cup of black coffee and a cup of oolong tea (also black). I also ate a can of NSA green beans with the white bean sauce I made yesterday. I realized too late that I’d added salt so it was kind of a waste of NSA green beans, but it was delicious and a nice change from just balsamic vinegar though I also love that. Later I may have BBQ jackfruit with dip-chip carrots again. Mondays are busy already with gymnastics till 7 and this Monday my son had a baseball game, luckily my husband could come home early, change, and then go pick him up. He feels awkward wearing his uniform (army) off post. I will probably cave and have a couple of drinks. I went to the dentist today (no cavities!) and my teeth feel so clean I hate to start re-staining then with red wine so soon so I’ll have to find something else. 2 nights till Ash Wednesday. Oh! But the point was I don’t have any more potatoes microwaved for dinner. My son forgot his cleats so I drove all the way home to get them for him but I almost didn’t. Next time no way, he can run as punishment from his coach. So I thought I’d have more time. I was going to make Thai Curry Rice but maybe tomorrow, and use up all the frozen brown rice. I love using stuff up. Can’t wait to buy the short-grain brown rice I actually like again.

[Trinity]

Actually it does matter! I was going to eat that last potato even though I was already full, to “use it up” but I just left it (in the covered dish) on the counter for a couple hours and ate it then. Trying to change this: I want to only eat because I’m hungry, not because I’m too lazy to deal with the leftovers.

[Trinity]

March 1, I’m so happy. Things are starting to bloom. No one in my family has a birthday until mid-May. The stinky month of February is over. I did have my typical 2 drinks last night but I did NOT drink today and I already brushed my teeth etc. I want to start the month strong.

I used up the rest of that long-grain brown rice by making Thai Green Curry Rice (yummy but next time I will be brave and use more of the curry paste) and then a sweet-and-salty fried rice type of thing I knew my son would like. It’s just the brown rice with peas and corn with equal parts of soy sauce and maple syrup, some garlic & onion powder and that’s it. I also finished eating the BBQ jackfruit (with carrots) and the white bean sauce (with pasta) so all my too-delicious McDougall food is gone. I had some of the king cake my mom brought us for Mardi Gras which I had planned to do. It tasted better than it looked but was still only okay. My older daughter got the baby but she also saw the crack in the cake from where I put the baby in, ha. The little plastic sitting baby has a tiny hole going from its behind to the top of it head so I guess you could put it on a necklace or something?

[Trinity]

Spring is here! I went for a walk outside and it was glorious. Fasting today (religious reason — Ash Wednesday) so all I have had so far is 4 cups of tea with 2 oz. of unsweetened Silk in each one. I am going to eat a normal dinner tonight of Thai Green Curry Rice for my 1 meal. We’ll be getting home late so that’s easy to pull out of the fridge and nuke. The kids can eat leftovers too; my husband is out of town for one night (yay! TV!) so I don’t feel like I have to “make dinner.” There will be no alcohol later (nothing good is even in the house to tempt me) and I didn’t even drink coffee today either. This morning I vaguely remembered that all tea (black/white/green/oolong) is from the same plant so any kind on an empty stomach is risky so I opted for black tea with Silk. Clearly MWL is not going to happen for me this month. I needed the caffeine too of course though I may have been able to get by with 1 cup instead of 2.

Things like this never last — progress, not perfection — but today at least I hit all my goals. I’m trying to decide if I’m going to do anything special on Fridays of Lent since I already never eat meat.

[Trinity]

So it turns out that last night I did end up eating the rest of my son’s rice as well (classic: I made a recipe he liked and ate ONCE before not liking it anymore) (and he’s 12! When does this end?) but it was less than a bowl. So it’s like I had 2 smaller meals at the same time that didn’t add up to a full meal so still within the fasting guidelines for the day (drinking liquids, even milk, doesn’t count). Everything else was as I said yesterday; this was the only addition.

My youngest woke up with a fever of 103 today so no school for her and we’re laying low. I am walking around the house for 30 minutes for exercise today—lame but it “counts.”

[squealcat]

Trinity: I, too always wonder what to do on Fridays since I don't eat meat anyway. Ash Wednesday was tough for me because it is hard to not eat between meals . I am going to just eat three meals tomorrow (Friday) as a fast since not eating meat is no problem for me. I will see how it goes because, as I said, not snacking is a tough one . But that is the point, right?

-squealcat

[Trinity]

Squealcat, that’s a great idea! I’ll do that today. There’s no reason why I can’t limit myself to only eating 3 times. I’m a grazer and have been ever since college so it will be a challenge. Yes: I actually think it’s easier on Ash Wednesday/Good Friday to just not eat, period, until dinner which is what I’ve been doing the past few years. Cups of tea with (soy)milk help get me through. The hard part then is limiting dinner to the size of a regular meal though…anyways. Thanks for the suggestion!

Yesterday: 2 bites of white rice, some fruit, the rest of the Thai & sweet-and-salty fried rice, a couple raw vegetables, a couple bites of plain Israeli couscous (not whole-wheat). Also 1 cup of black tea with 2 oz. unsweetened Silk and a ton of other cups of tea (oolong and green). I was so sleepy yesterday starting around 5 pm. So far 3 days no alcohol & 2 days no coffee.

My son actually got to play left field in his game last night and also got an RBI (though it wasn’t a hit). He was so happy. All his hard work is finally paying off. I was sorry to miss it but had to keep the youngest home. No fever today but she’s coughing her head off so we’re going to keep laying low.

My plan is to write down what I eat the day after. There’s something about putting in writing “I have eaten this today” and later eating something else out of pure rebellion.

[Trinity]

Yesterday: I did eat only 3 times, not counting a couple bites of white rice from making my daughter’s lunch in the morning which was before I decided on the only-3-meals (thanks Squealcat). She ended up coming home with an earache before lunch, ha (she’s fine now). So first I ate microwaved potatoes; 2nd MWL-style because I knew it had to last me: minestrone soup, potatoes and vegetables with balsamic, some fruit. For dinner I ate more potatoes, vegetables, & fruit and also the rest of my son’s lunch, couscous with tomato sauce, which he didn’t eat much of because the microwave at school didn’t work. Also many cups of tea—so sleepy again—for combined 3.5 oz. soy/almond milk. I did eat more than I needed to at dinner due to finishing up youngest’s dinner.

I can’t believe trying to get off 1 daily cup of coffee is so hard. And I’m replacing it with tea!

[Trinity]

Yesterday: 2 oz. unsweetened Silk in a cup of black tea, a Belgian waffle with maple syrup (went out to brunch with some people. Should have gotten the veggie burger but I thought it’d be weird but then someone else got a salad), fruit, shirataki noodles (gross—never again), balsamic vinegar, nutritional yeast, maple brown sugar instant oatmeal, raisins, potatoes, vegetables. The noodles/oatmeal/raisins were in hopes that things start to get moving at the other end. Stopping alcohol and coffee and fasting all at the same time have presumably caused a slowdown.

My daughter got this hydraulic robotic arm for Christmas (which she specifically asked for) that a kid is supposed to put together by themselves. It is really hard. She and her brother made a valiant attempt but the goal today is (for me) to finish it.

[Trinity]

Woo hoo! Completed robot arm. It works (pretty well). Also helped my son go through his drawers that were stuffed with clothes. Getting stuff done!

Yesterday: a cup of black tea with 2 oz. unsweetened Silk, and the food I ate was potatoes, fruit, vegetables, balsamic vinegar. Not listing teas I drank black (oolong, green). Kid leftovers that I ate: waffles (McD but white flour), maple syrup, and a mandarin orange gel fruit cup. Those things are great for kids because all the ingredients are vegan, but it also has the “gel” so it’s almost like eating dessert (almost). My 4-year-old always thinks she wants one because the older kids like them, but she won’t actually eat it though I let her try one every once in awhile.

6 days no coffee, 7 days no alcohol. Tomorrow I have a physical type thing at 11:20 so today my plan is only potatoes, fruit, and vegetables with balsamic vinegar. I want bloodwork done and I hope they don’t forget. I’m assuming I’ll have to fast for 12 hours and no caffeine in the morning is going to suck. I haven’t been to the doctor since my 6-week checkup after my youngest was born so I figured it was time.

[Trinity]

Yesterday was a struggle. My husband woke up before 4 am, ran on the treadmill, showered, left for his weigh-in, and came back before I finally dragged myself out of bed at 6:10 after therefore being half-awake since 4 am. I really wanted coffee BUT not the day before a physical especially since it’s been a week. I also really wanted to celebrate with a drink (or 2) that night since he was in celebration/feast mode after having passed his weigh-in, but I didn’t, and I was so tired anyway. I did manage to eat exactly as planned: tea with 2 oz. unsweetened Silk, potatoes, NSA canned green beans, balsamic vinegar, an apple, some NSA canned corn—namely, no added salt. A couple of times I had a weird thing happen where I felt sort of faint/lightheaded/dizzy/sweaty, and hungry, like either a low blood sugar or low blood pressure type of thing, once around 5 pm (eating an apple helped) and then once when I was walking (really slow) on the treadmill around 8:30 pm after which I ate some canned corn with balsamic vinegar. I never eat after dinner because I sleep better, and I wasn’t limiting food at all yesterday so I don’t know what was happening. It was a familiar feeling but one I haven’t had in awhile. Must be a small spell of low blood pressure. This doesn’t usually happen to me anymore but sometimes when I get up too fast from bending down I kind of black out and have to hold on to something until I can see again (not like pass out or fall down but I just literally can’t see for a few seconds). Weird but not really that big of a deal. I did drink a cup of oolong before the 5 pm “spell” so maybe the crash after the caffeine? Who knows. Or cares, I guess.

I did message my provider yesterday to discover as predicted they did not have me down for labs. They also wouldn’t add them in case the doctor had additional labs they wanted to do after my appointment so that made sense. So I am not fasting today. Whew.

[squealcat]

I gave up coffee maybe 8 years ago. So hard !! I wanted to have coffee every morning but I persisted . I have to say that it was a good 3 years before I didn't have that yearning for a cup ! So just a warning but also encouraging you to keep it up ! Now I am able to have a cup of decaf every once in a while when I go out for brunch with friends. I am very sensitive to caffeine now and sometimes I have decaf coffee when eating out and I still get a buzz and funny feeling. There are restaurants that I eat at that I just stick to water or tea. There is still a little caffeine in those decaf cups of coffee.

Good luck to you on your quest ! I also never drink alcohol either unless my husband and I go wine tasting. Then I do have a little taste just to see what the different flavors are but never get tempted anymore with that.

Now I wish I could give up cookies and never what one ever again !

-squealcat

[Trinity]

Wow, Squealcat! I am really impressed. I’m hoping I can quit coffee indefinitely. I really do like tea better. And I’m just not ready to try to get rid of all caffeine though I’ve had phases where I successfully did. Alcohol is actually harder. It’s a little break for my mind in the evenings that I definitely miss. My husband and parents and everyone drinks. Actually, I get the sense that my mom is not too happy I gave it up for Lent now that we’re close by and see each other more often. She’s given it up for Lent before but not this year because she says she doesn’t abuse it. We’re going to their house this weekend but I plan to stay strong. I may eat some (non-McD) sweets instead which I technically did not give up for Lent, but which I try to never eat anyway due to McDougall (not that I succeed very often).

At my doctor’s appointment yesterday the nurse couldn’t figure out how to measure my height—she asked me what it was, and I asked her to measure me, and she never even came up with a number, ha. I was eye-level with 116 cm while she was trying so I have no idea what was going on. Then she wrote my weight on the scale down wrong (even after saying it aloud) and I tried to correct the doctor when he came in but all he cared about was that my BMI was less than 25 which is understandable I guess. And all I cared about was that the doctor’s scale was in line with my scale at home (which it was). I still have a few more pounds to go before my pants fit like they should. Oh yes, my BP was 96/71 so that was pretty wild.

Foodwise, after eating some salty tomato sauce on couscous I almost treated myself to some chocolate when I was distracted by a phone call, then had to go get my daughter from preschool, so I never ate it! This is quite possibly a first. I was definitely going to have some and was even deciding which kinds but managed to be distracted for so long the craving passed. Just like they say will happen! Amazing! Otherwise I also had: tea, 2 oz. unsweetened Silk, a leftover potato, corn with balsamic vinegar, white rice, fruit, maple brown sugar instant oatmeal (for something sweet instead of chocolate, yay), Red Lentil Chili, corn tortillas, vegetables, nutritional yeast, taco sauce, refried beans, gravy, 1 Diet Coke. Most of this stuff was small amounts of leftovers from the fridge. I air-fried the corn tortillas and ate them with the refried beans mixed with taco sauce and nutritional yeast which was pretty good. I definitely feasted and wasn’t that hungry for dinner so I just had some steamed broccoli with (McD) gravy and some salad.

[Trinity]

I woke up this morning and thought it might be Friday. Not quite but close.

Yesterday: tea with 2 oz. unsweetened Silk, couscous with tomato sauce (oil-free), balsamic vinegar, white rice, fruit, maple brown sugar instant oatmeal, Red Lentil Chili, corn tortillas (air-fried crunchy), salsa, green beans with mustard.

I’m ready to get back to potatoes and green beans. I’m already getting “c” thanks to the no-fiber white rice, couscous, and corn tortillas despite the other stuff. This journal is really helping me realize/solidify some ideas that would have sort of just briefly floated through my mind otherwise.

In other news, my husband brought home an 8-pack of some sort of microbrewed beer yesterday because he “needed” it, and left for an 8-day work trip this morning. He’s driving so I hope he brought it with him because otherwise it’s going in the pantry to get nice and warm and unappealing. Luckily it has some form of the word “tropical” on it (tropicali? Something like that) which makes it not so tempting. I was reading another old thread last night and Grammy Ginger says to herself: “Poison.” Chocolate is poison, beer is poison. A little strong but I need whatever it takes for me to not consume these things.

[Trinity]

I was reading back through my journal from the beginning which really is helpful! And I want to note that yes, exercise is important and it burns calories (though probably not more than 100 per day, though don’t quote me on that number, I’ll have to do some studying of Jeff Novick’s threads to get a better understanding of this) and that I have exercised every day since starting this journal. And almost every day before that, as I just add a little, “Exercised.” in my food journal I keep on my phone. Now, that said, the bare minimum I count as “exercised” is walking for 30 min., even at the 2.3 mph I’m doing on my treadmill now to multitask before my day gets super busy (1 basketball game, then 1 baseball game, husband out of town and going to parents’ tomorrow). But I’ll start putting a little daily note too that I exercised. I need to get myself back on my mini-stair-stepper which really counts because I actually sweat. Also that one Friday I was feeling really bad (sudden cold/flu symptoms) I only walked around my house for 14 min. but then did 46 min. the next day—nerd—yes I am.