Starflower’s Journey to Health

[Starflower]

Tuesday and Wednesday were mostly on plan despite some challenges. Today’s food was potatoes, kale, black beans, mixed vegetables, rice, peas, tortillas, Wasa, almonds, hot sauces and mustard.

Starflower’s Intermediate Checklist. (10/10)

1) 75% minimally processed starches. YES

2) 25% fruits/non-starchy vegetables. YES

3) Eliminate animal foods. YES

4) Eliminate fake meats and cheeses. YES

5) Eliminate added oil. YES

6) Two servings of higher-fat plant foods. YES

7) Limit added sugars and salts. YES

8 ) Avoid liquid calories. YES

9) Eat when hungry until comfortably full. YES

10) 30 minutes of moderate exercise. YES

[Starflower]

Today’s food was potato vegetable stew, tortillas, rice, grape preserves, Wasa, almonds, hot sauces and mustard.

Starflower’s Intermediate Checklist. (9/10)

1) 75% minimally processed starches. YES

2) 25% fruits/non-starchy vegetables. YES

3) Eliminate animal foods. YES

4) Eliminate fake meats and cheeses. YES

5) Eliminate added oil. YES

6) Two servings of higher-fat plant foods. YES

7) Limit added sugars and salts. YES

8 ) Avoid liquid calories. YES

9) Eat when hungry until comfortably full. YES

10) 30 minutes of moderate exercise. NO

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Starflower!!!

Hope that you are doing amazing!!!

I love ❤️what you mentioned a couple of posts back about making this way of eating a natural part of life being the most important thing. Yes!!!

Wishing you an amazing week!!

Best,
Stephanie

[Starflower]

Hi Starflower!!!

Hope that you are doing amazing!!!

I love ❤️what you mentioned a couple of posts back about making this way of eating a natural part of life being the most important thing. Yes!!!

Wishing you an amazing week!!

Best,
Stephanie

Hi Stephanie!

Thanks! You had a good week last week, especially with two restaurant lunches. Compliant except for a little avocado isn’t bad at all! It was still McDougall compliant. Way to go!

Wishing you a wonderful week!

[Starflower]

I’ve been having trouble controlling the total amount of high fat foods in my meals. Maybe I need a stricter program, for a while at least. Maybe permanently. It may be easier to cut them out entirely so I don’t have to try to track the amounts. One of the best things about this program is not having to track or count things. I will test it out through Thursday, and if I’m comfortable with it, join the MWL group.

[Starflower]

Today I went through my pantry and refrigerator, looking for all the non-compliant foods that might tempt me. I finished some, froze some, and gave away or discarded some. There should be only MWL compliant foods available to me tomorrow. I read the MWL orientation links and watched Jeff’s calorie density video.

[Starflower]

Today’s food was completely MWL. I’m not a volume eater at all, and I don’t tolerate large amounts of vegetables very well. Having a pre-load and a 50/50 plate of food with enough starch was too much at one time. Staying away from higher fat foods completely was not a problem.

(10/10 of the MWL Checklist)

Breakfast - applesauce, corn & asparagus

Lunch - cauliflower, beans & rice & cauliflower

Snack - pear & corn

Dinner - spinach soup, pasta & carrots

I forgot that the pre-load and 50/50 plate gave me trouble when I started my journal last year. That was the second reason I switched to the regular program. My painful digestive tract is reminding me very pointedly. I don’t think another day is needed to decide. I’ll just stay with the regular program and eliminate the higher fat foods. None is easier than limiting them.

[Starflower]

Learning what doesn’t work for me brings me one step closer to what will. Patience.

Thank you, Stephanie, for sharing this in your journal.

[Starflower]

Today’s food was the regular program, minus the higher-fat foods. I did 30+ minutes of exercise.

Breakfast - beans & tortillas

Lunch - rice & vegetables

Snack - pear & tortillas

Dinner - potatoes & spinach

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Starflower!!!

Great way of looking at things... From your comment above: "Learning what doesn't work for me brings me one step closer to what will. Patience." I ❤️ this!!!

Good job steering clear of the higher fat foods --- I need to do this too --- personally have no "off" switch!! HA!!

Wishing you fantastic week!!!

Take care,
Stephanie

[Starflower]

Hi Starflower!!!

Great way of looking at things... From your comment above: "Learning what doesn't work for me brings me one step closer to what will. Patience." I ❤️ this!!!

Good job steering clear of the higher fat foods --- I need to do this too --- personally have no "off" switch!! HA!!

Wishing you fantastic week!!!

Take care,
Stephanie

Hey Stephanie!

Thanks! I hear you about no off switch lol! Glad to know I’m not alone!

Wishing you a wonderful week!

[Starflower]

From the MWL thread regarding adherence fatigue - much appreciated!

For me, adherence fatigue and decision fatigue go together. Minimize one, you minimize the other. I thought about this when yesterday didn’t go so well.

A tradesperson who had been scheduled for day before yesterday didn’t show up on that day, but he arrived unexpectedly yesterday. That pushed back all of my plans for the day (and I am notf good with having my plans changed at short notice). Hence I was a grumpy Goose by late afternoon, with chores undone because of the change in plans, rushing to get the bathroom cleaned (another of my least-favorite chores) before the end of the day. I was tired and cranky, with a sore back and nothing planned for supper — an open invitation to the little imp on my shoulder to say "oh, just order from [fast food place that delivers] and be done with it."

Now I had a Decision to make: plan and cook supper, or order in? Reaching for the app on my phone would have been easy, but… I had deleted the app for that fast food place, and for the delivery service, months ago. So I achieved one objective, make the bad decision harder. That gave me just enough time to engage the rational part of my brain and figure out a fast, minimal-work, healthy supper. However, I was still grumpy and still thinking in the back of my mind how much better that unhealthy fast food might have tasted. That’s adherence fatigue.

Today will be better. I cut the decision process way down. Made a SNAP meal (beans, brown rice, tomatoes, onions, broccoli, garlic) and divided it into microwaveable dishes. Cleaned and prepped a fruit mixture for dessert. Voila, supper solved. No decision fatigue, because there’s no decision to be made. Minimal adherence fatigue, because there’s no residue from a potentially bad decision cluttering up my brain. Simple, straightforward, stress-free compliance. With the added advantage that tomorrow is taken care of too, because SNAP meals make lots of leftovers.

None of this is new. It’s the same advice that’s been posted here over and over. Figure out what MWL food you like, learn simple techniques for cooking it, plan, and keep a clean environment as much as possible. Make the right decisions easy, make the wrong decisions hard. And minimize the amount of decisions you have to make. Get in a deep grove and stay there. If you stray, get back on track right away, without drama. Make adherence automatic. Thinking about too many options tires your brain, so structure your adherent life so you’re thinking far more about life than about adherence.

All of this develops over time, of course. And time is cumulative, even if it’s not consecutive (so if I have a less-than-ideal day yesterday, I have a better day today, and even my worst days now are immeasurably better than the "normal" days I was having years ago).

Goose

[Starflower]

After two weeks away from the forum, when things didn’t go quite as well as hoped, I’m back and determined to get and stay on plan. I didn’t like being off plan and am relieved and comfortable having only my compliant foods.

To get to where I want to be, I just re-read ‘The McDougall Program’. Now I’m reading ‘The McDougall Program For Maximum Weight Loss’, which will be followed by ‘The Starch Solution’. I need to re-read them periodically to help me navigate the difficult patches.

Yesterday and today have been completely compliant. Eliminating high-fat foods is proving to be easier, and I feel better without them now. I also need to eliminate added sugar completely.

10-Point Checklist for The McDougall Program (Sat., 5/27)

1) 70 - 90% minimally processed starches. YES

2) 10 - 30% fruits and non-starchy vegetables. YES

3) Eliminate all animal foods. YES

4) Eliminate fake meats and cheeses. YES

5) Eliminate any added oil. YES

6) Limit intake of all higher-fat plant foods. YES (eliminated)

7) Limit added sugars and added salts. YES (eliminated sugar)

8 ) Avoid liquid calories. YES

9) Eat whenever hungry until comfortably full. YES

10) 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise. YES

[Starflower]

Exercise didn’t get done today. I need to plan time for it better, especially on weekends.

10-Point Checklist for The McDougall Program

1) 70 - 90% minimally processed starches. YES

2) 10 - 30% fruits and non-starchy vegetables. YES

3) Eliminate all animal foods. YES

4) Eliminate fake meats and cheeses. YES

5) Eliminate any added oil. YES

6) Limit intake of all higher-fat plant foods. YES (eliminated)

7) Limit added sugars and added salts. YES (eliminated sugar)

8 ) Avoid liquid calories. YES

9) Eat whenever hungry until comfortably full. YES

10) 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise. NO

[Starflower]

Today was very good. My only slip-up was some rice crackers with sesame seeds in the ingredient list. It was the last one listed, so not much.

10-Point Checklist for The McDougall Program

1) 70 - 90% minimally processed starches. YES

2) 10 - 30% fruits and non-starchy vegetables. YES

3) Eliminate all animal foods. YES

4) Eliminate fake meats and cheeses. YES

5) Eliminate any added oil. YES

6) Limit intake of all higher-fat plant foods. YES (see above)

7) Limit added sugars and added salts. YES (eliminated sugar)

8 ) Avoid liquid calories. YES

9) Eat whenever hungry until comfortably full. YES

10) 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise. YES