Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

VegSeekingFit wrote:Hi Silver,

Sounds like you are doing great keeping on!

I like your thread in the recipes section --- great idea!

Hope that you have a great 4th weekend!!! Saw your plans - mine are similar -- chill out, do some random errands, batch cook, hang out at a 4th of July festival.

Thanks so much!

Today's food

• Sourdough bread with jam
• off-plan lunch. Sigh. Having trouble with compliance this past couple days but I think I'm back in the groove. Reminded myself that fried things will not help me get off my heart medication
• bowl of strawberries and mango
• off-plan dinner and snack

Only 1 pot of tea a day! Oh No!

I live on Earl Grey Tea with soy milk (no sugar and none in the milk either). I use real leaf tea and have a proper teapot and do the whole warm the pot ritual. I think I find that the hardest thing about MWL. I drink so much tea and I hate having it black. I do have it very weak though, just a sprinkle (maybe 1/4 teasp) leaves in the pot.

Ruff wrote:Only 1 pot of tea a day! Oh No!

I live on Earl Grey Tea with soy milk (no sugar and none in the milk either). I use real leaf tea and have a proper teapot and do the whole warm the pot ritual. I think I find that the hardest thing about MWL. I drink so much tea and I hate having it black. I do have it very weak though, just a sprinkle (maybe 1/4 teasp) leaves in the pot.

I have a heart condition and I'm a light-weight (one cup of tea wires me) so I have always tried to stick with just my one pot in the morning, and then an iced tea if I'm out to eat or something. I make a proper pot in the morning, warm the pot, etc., but it's a good strong pot. I did go research to see if Dr. McDougall forbids caffeine, and he doesn't, but of course, there are drawbacks to it. I don't do coffee or chocolate or any other caffeine-containing foods (except, I guess, my migraine meds, but when I'm eating well, I have fewer migraines, so there's that).

Told my husband yesterday was a bump in the road, not me quitting. He was kind of hoping that me falling off the wagon meant we would have pastry for breakfast. We're having oatmeal.

Today's food

• tea with soymilk and sugar
• baked oatmeal with dried mango and pecans
• salmas
• Ezekiel toast with jam
• 1 piece of candy
• baked potato with just salt and pepper. Almost put butter on it. Decided to stop trying to add fat to perfectly good food. I like the taste of potatoes; it doesn't need butter.

Body stuff
My stomach was NOT happy with the stuff I ate yesterday when I woke up, but otherwise, I feel pretty good. Yesterday I also did a lot of physical work at my volunteer job and usually that would make me all achy the next day, but not so much, just my hands are a bit sorer than usual.

Hey Silver!

Great job getting back on... Loved your comment about your husband and pastry... BUT you have oatmeal!!!

Thinking it is so key to just making next bite, meal compliant and moving on ...

You're doing awesome!

Best,
Stephanie

Thank you!

Hope everyone who celebrates had a good weekend. I was moderate yesterday (small breakfast, fruit for lunch, small dinner -- not compliant, but small, it was fine) and I'm ready for a non-holiday menu today.

Today's food

• tea with soymilk and less sugar than usual; I'm working on it
• baked oatmeal with prunes
• roasted corn salad
• off-plan snack and dinner -- I'm choosing to see these slips as bumps in the road, but I still really want to figure out how to make them less frequent. Suggestions are welcome. (Being mean to myself doesn't work, I've tried it.)

it was not a holiday weekend of us...but Friday is the last day of term for 2 weeks. NZ has a 4 term year, this is the midwinter holiday and marks the middle of the school year, ens of term 2. sadly your holiday made our news for all the wrong reasons.

Holidays are problematic even for me after 10 years. During the school holidays we will be celebrating our 37th wedding anniversary. I still haven't worked these events out totally. We will be vegan, but we will almost certainly eat out. I know people talk about talking to the chef etc, but this is impossible for socially anxious people, and I am not at all sure it would work here anyway, maybe things are different in America.

But yes, the real trick is getting right back on that centre line right after the holidays....and not let the holidays drift on and on and on......so well done with that.

Ruff wrote: We will be vegan, but we will almost certainly eat out. I know people talk about talking to the chef etc, but this is impossible for socially anxious people, and I am not at all sure it would work here anyway, maybe things are different in America.

Glad I'm not the only one. It's really important to my mental health not to be "that customer" so I have a personal policy when I eat out to find the best thing on the menu for whatever my restrictions are, and order that. If I want exactly what I want, exactly how I want it, I eat at home. It's not wrong to order something with lots of modifications and stuff; it's just not something I can do and not feel terribly anxious, so it's really not worth it to me. It does mean I know the best stuff to order at every restaurant we frequent in town, though. For example, the American place near us makes oatmeal with the milk on the side for breakfast; and a veggie burger without mayo on a wheat bun is on their lunch menu.

As always, I'm totally up for McDougalling first thing in the morning. The afternoons/evenings are my downfall, but I'm working on it. Maybe I need to start putting my slips in RED so I can try to keep the red out of my journal or something.

Today's food

• Tea with soymilk and a little sugar
• Ezekiel toast and jam
• V8
• salmas

I think some people have had success with slip ups by planning a healthy snack. If you slip in the afternoons, maybe a bowl of oatmeal and fruit can be planned and you eat that when you are hungry.

Another possibility is you are not eating enough earlier in the day so your hunger is building which causes you to reach for food that isn’t the healthiest. Always having potatoes ready in the fridge can help also. A cold potato with some mustard is quite delicious.

Erin

Ejeff wrote:I think some people have had success with slip ups by planning a healthy snack. If you slip in the afternoons, maybe a bowl of oatmeal and fruit can be planned and you eat that when you are hungry.

Another possibility is you are not eating enough earlier in the day so your hunger is building which causes you to reach for food that isn’t the healthiest. Always having potatoes ready in the fridge can help also. A cold potato with some mustard is quite delicious.

Great tips, thanks! I gave it a lot of thought, and I think having food prepped and ready is going to be a key for me. Otherwise, junky stuff is just too easy. I am liking the Forks Meal Planner recipes so far, and I plan to keep trying those until I have a few faves that I can keep on hand all the time, in addition to cooked potatoes and other easy stuff. Today, I made a double batch of baked oatmeal (I like it cold, too) so I can grab it later if I get snacky.

Today's food

• Tea with soymilk and sugar
• boiled peanuts
• baked oatmeal with raisins
• tacos with pea-protein chorizo and salsa (non-fried corn tortillas)
• candy
• moderate but non-compliant dinner
• a couple chips before realizing I was eating them, argh

oatmeal (porridge) is my go to snack as well. I put half a cup of wholemeal oats in a jar, just cover with soy milk or oat milk and pop it in the fridge. Then if I fancy a snack I add a banana or stewed apples or diced dates or whatever to it and eat it straight from the jar. As long as it has had 12 hours in the jar its great, and keeps for at least 3 days (I have never not eaten it by 3 days!). This way I always have a yummy snack whenever I want one.

You could make it with water if you wanted to keep the calorie density down, but I dont need to nowadays, and I am also trying to have more soy milk due to being post menopausal. I still have hot flashes after 12 years, so am trying soy.....

I have to ask: What is salmas??? I have seen that in your journal a couple of times and I would like to know.

I also see boiled peanuts.....do you live in the southern US? Just curious

I have also used oatmeal when needing a little "something" late afternoon or evening. I think making the overnight oats and then adding a fruit before eating is a great idea! I may do that and put it in a pint canning jar or something.

-squealcat

yep, mine is in a pint ball canning jar with the plastic resealable leakproof lids.

squealcat wrote:I have to ask: What is salmas??? I have seen that in your journal a couple of times and I would like to know.

I also see boiled peanuts.....do you live in the southern US? Just curious

Salmas horneadas are the closest you can get to baked tortilla chips these days. And I don't live in the South, but my best friend in high school did, and their sibling taught me to make them.

Blah day, don't care about staying on my diet, but trying to make okay choices so I don't have as much to recover from. Fortunately, I'm also not that hungry.

Today's food

• about 1/4 of a plain bagel, iced tea
• non-compliant lunch
• candy
• literally just lost track of what I ate because I was so busy, but it wasn't too bad. Ended the day with broccoli, I remember that much.