Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Jeff is so smart when he recommends cooking extra and freezing in meal sized portions. I haven’t been great at freezing things as soon as they are made so I am going to try to be better about that. This week I’ve pulled from inventory curried chickpeas and rhubarb lentil stew. Both quite enjoyable. I have quite a bit of frozen cilantro so I mixed some of that up with refried beans and salsa. Makes a nice dip for veggies or I just eat it with a fork. I usually top with black olives as well.

I'm here to tell you that cooking ahead and freezing in individual servings portions SAVED me after my knee surgery. My hubby is able to just pull something from the freezer and heat it in the microwave. Once I get back on my feet, I'll do more. Makes life so much easier.

Your frozen meals sound delicious! I love the comfort it brings me mentally to have a lot of food already cooked - whether it's in the fridge or the freezer! Ideally both!

Still enjoying great summer weather. The BC cherries and blueberries have been in stock here so we have been really enjoying those. Unless the kids come over my meals are really simple a huge rice veggie bowl for lunch and often air fried potatoes for supper with veggies on the side. Every week I make salad dressing using white beans and some tahini, mustard, lots of lemon juice and vinegar. I’ve started to add horse radish and that seems to make it extra tasty. My daughter told me of a new way to do potatoes. Cut them into rounds and boil in vinegar and salt until soft. Then air fry as normal. The vinegar really kicks them up to another flavour level. The flavour was even better when the spuds sat overnight before air-frying. I made the buffalo cauliflower dip this weekend, it always a big hit. The sauce is made from beans, potatoes and cashews and Franks.

Yesterday I made a very quick veggie soup, onions, garlic, celery, green beans, cabbage, carrots, oregano and bay leaves. I froze some and the rest will be for preloading this week. I cooked a pot of great northern beans in pressure cooker. Worked out much better leaving the pressure come back to normal on its own as opposed to opening the valve. The leftover bean juice goes into the soup. I will be eating lots of air fried zucchini this week as I have a good stash on hand.

I’m reading 419 it’s quite good. I recently borrowed Where The Crawdads Sing so will start that one soon. Pickleball later today and I have ripe bananas so will bake a couple banana breads. I use the Well Your World recipe with dates for sweetening, I haven’t baked that in quite some time. Guess that’s it for now.

Have a good week!

Erin

Mmmm fresh blueberries. I live in Utah and our soil isn't acidic enough, so we don't have a UT crop of them. But YUM they're good on cereal in the morning. We do have delicious cherries in this area though. Slurp, isn't it wonderful when the fruits start ripening on the trees?

I was tempted to pick a plum off a neighbor's tree when I was out for my walk today. (Up two driveways, and back ) Maybe I'll do it tomorrow

We mostly have just apple trees where I live, but the blueberries come from BC. Guess that’s as fresh as I’m going to get. The rest of the year I use frozen blueberries, not the same but still tasty.

Enjoy that fresh picked plum!

Hi Erin! I added “419” to my “to read” list. Boiling potatoes in vinegar and salt before air-frying them sounds delicious, I have got to try that! I have pre-cooked potatoes before air-frying them which does make them better than air-frying from raw but the vinegar sounds extra good—like salt-and-vinegar chips, yum.

I always like the start of a new month. The days are getting shorter now it seems strange to be getting up when it’s dark. I am really loving my air fryer these days. It is the reason I eat more veggies. For example, I was putting together my big bowl and I realized I had an onion that needed to be used up. So I quartered it and air fried it until it was just slightly brown. Chopped it up and into the bowl it went. Zucchini and mushrooms work great too. It’s because the air fryer is so fast and clean up is easy.

I’ve been trying something new to stop my over eating. I generally don’t plan ahead what I will eat, I mostly just grab what I want. This week I’ve been planning what I will eat for the day first thing in the morning, like actually writing it down not just in my head. It’s working very well as it’s stopped my tendency to just keep eating another thing and another thing even when I feel full. I watched a Chef AJ interview with Dr. Fuhrman and he said it’s never good to get too stuffed. Guess that’s why it’s one of the principles in this program, eat until comfortably full. For me that’s been easier said than done lately.

I have also been much better at not finishing my big grain/veggie bowl. It’s nice to have what’s left later or for the next meal. We will be away for the next bit so planning has also helped with using up the current food stash.

Wishing everyone a spud filled September!

Erin

Happy September!

Seems September brings changes and energy. A little bit of restlessness for me. I also love the hint of cooler air and the onset of Autumn. Here's to a wonderful month!

Hi Erin! Happy September! I am a fellow volume eater for sure. So I appreciated reading about your meal planning, and how that is helping you limit eating that might not be due to actual hunger. My braces are a good deterrent for that right now LOL - I don't like going through the lengthy process of cleaning up teeth with braces after purely recreational eating! Hopefully some of these better habits (substantially less snacking and grazing between meals) will stick with me down the road when the braces come off LOL!

Your air fried onion trick sounds AWESOME!! I have been under utilizing my air fryer, and that is definitely something I want to try!

Are you traveling somewhere fun?

I, too appreciate the cooler mornings and have been getting out for a walk before the heat sets in. I spied acorns on the ground today . I love hearing the crunch when they are underfoot. Looking forward to Fall !

I used our air fryer this week just for potatoes and was thinking that I need to investigate other foods to use in it. I look forward to Delecata squash roasted in that thing and now i am thinking about onions ! I will try onions in the air fryer ! Thanks for the suggestion !

Also, I have also written down my plan for the day (as far as eating is concerned). I just quickly jot down my food for the day on a post-it-note. Nothing detailed but just a quick list of my foods. It helps me and keeps me from wandering and guessing what to have.

Have a great weekend !

-Marilyn

Hi Lizzie. We travelled to BC in the little convertible car so it was a driving trip. BC is such a beautiful province so many lakes and vineyards and lovely hikes. It was extra fun as we went with my son, daughter in law and 9 month old grandson. It was so awesome to spend so much time with the little guy, I feel like I really got to know him so much better. He’s just started to crawl so that’s fun to watch. We also met up with our youngest daughter and her husband for some hiking and a day at the beach in Kelowna. Then we did our annual camping trip with my family and sisters family. We don’t go too far, but it’s nice to spend time together walking and playing games.

I saw in the MWL thread Mark posed a question about success. I’ve been thinking a lot about this. For me right now success is eating some off plan foods and not feeling guilty about it, but getting right back to the healthiest eating as soon as possible. While we travelled it was a lot of restaurant eating. I definitely could have made better choices. When I say off plan I don’t mean I started eating dairy and meat, but I did have far too much oil and processed junk food.

Now that I’m home, I have gone right back to healthy eating and it feels very good. Yesterday I steamed lots of kale in the microwave for a couple minutes and I topped that with Chili. It was so good, i really enjoy the chewiness of the kale and it’s a great way to get some extra greens in. I’m planning to make some frittata type muffins that I saw on Simnett Nutrition YouTube. They look quite tasty. I made my own chickpea flour by grinding up the raw chickpeas. Probably easier to just buy the flour lol.

Outdoor Pickleball will end soon, guess I will play indoors although I don’t enjoy it as much.

Erin

Hi Erin! It sounds like you had a wonderful time with family! Your grandson sounds adoreable - what a fun time in his life to spend time with him! It sounds like you were also enjoying very beautiful scenery!

I like your take on "success" and some of the things that means to you. I really have to work on stepping away from "all or nothing' thinking, which has historically caused me a lot of trouble. I too want to have confidence that some off plan thing isn't going to derail me - that I can live life and just get right back on plan. Your example of restaurant food (even compliant food - which probably still has added oil) is a good one - that is the type of thing I mean by "life."

Hope all is going well as you get back to your regular "at home" routine.

Hi Erin!!!

OMG !!! Your BC trip sounds awesome!!! I've only been to Vancouver once for a couple of days --- and it is totally somewhere I LOVE LOVE!!!

Ejeff wrote:
I saw in the MWL thread Mark posed a question about success. I’ve been thinking a lot about this. For me right now success is eating some off plan foods and not feeling guilty about it, but getting right back to the healthiest eating as soon as possible.

Always love your posts!!!

And, yes 100% agree with you here... there is nothing good to come of feeling bad about yourself...

Hope that you have an awesome week!!

Cheers,
Stephanie

Everything is going quite well. Weather still beautiful so I’ve been trying to take advantage of the lovely days with walks and of course my favourite sport. The trees are just so beautiful with the yellow and red leaves.

It’s that time of year when squash and sweet potatoes are on sale, I’ve stocked up and will bake and freeze most of it. I have been enjoyIng spaghetti squash with many other veggies mixed in and was using it as a meal and also a preload. I am finding that generally planning and writing down what I eat is still working well as it helps me use up my inventories. Yesterday I made black bean mushroom Chili so will be enjoying that for a few days. I really love the overnight oats, but read what Mark/Jeff posted explaining how they are much more calorie dense so I will have those less frequently. I’ve cooked up a big batch of steel cut oats now. I should try eating those cold with my fruit as I’ve never done that I always reheat them.

Thanks for you comments Lizzie and Stephanie. I always enjoy reading your journals too.

I feel happy I have gotten back into a small weight routine. Three days a week, trying to build arm and shoulder strength. Starting very light trying not to aggravate my February shoulder injury. Also back on my spin bike which is in the basement for some quick cardio.

Sometime people talk about how in order to have success in weight loss you need to know your why. My deep down why is to avoid cancer as both parents died from it far too young. My more immediate why is I absolutely love being pain free. Almost every time I’m at the Pickleball courts there is some conversation about people’s arthritis pain and such. It’s quite sad that most people talk about the arthritis as an inevitable part of aging. Of course I feel like shouting out from the rooftops that it’s the food. I don’t as people love their meat and cheese so much they cannot imagine life without them. I can squat and move very well and I hope to be able to keep doing so for the next 30 years at least. I can walk up hills and not get winded. How great I feel every day is my why. I also don’t find it difficult to eats plants only. I made some air fried potatoes yesterday and the outsides were a bit crispy while the insides were so soft and creamy. How can any tastebud not enjoy that as opposed to a chunk of chicken which tastes like rubber unless it’s smothered in a sauce? Anyways I feel great and wish my fellow players, family and friends could enjoy optimum health too. I guess it’s all about priorities and health is at the top of my list.

Hope everyone has a great day and your why makes your food taste that much better!

Erin

Hi Erin!

I want to thank you for sharing on your "why"... Reminded me how important that this is ... I loved Mark's questions on success that you mentioned... and had some "why's" there... but, yeah... there are some deep-rooted emotional why's for me too... This actually does keep me on course...

I relate to your experience with your parents. And, your own now "why's"... Anyway, appreciate that you shared and thinking about this a bit,,.

Hope that you are having a great October!!!

Best,
Stephanie