Stephanie's Journal - One Bite at a Time...

Share your daily McDougall menus and/or keep a journal describing your personal progress.

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2/25 Time & Adherence Group - Weekly Food / Exercise

Postby VegSeekingFit » Sat Feb 26, 2022 1:44 pm

Well, I don't have much time today -- so keeping this short and sweet to my weekly group post...

Hi Team Time & Adherence,

I loved reading everyone's comments this week!!! Congratulations all for another week !!!
* Have to +1 on the like for Carol's comments with "Courageous" -- love it!!!
* I am so with Bambi on being eager for the Farmers Market to open. We are almost in March!!!
* Agree with Elsa on the recommendation to re-watch Jeff's Calorie Density. Maybe I will do this weekend...

For this week, I had 5 days with 100% compliance and 2 days where I missed - one miss each on 5 and 7. I am going to work to continue to improve for upcoming week (and started good yesterday with 100% compliance). Have more comments on progress at the bottom of post.

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
:) Yes. I have been eating salad this week as a preload (for B, L, D) since I am mainly eating soup for main lunch and dinner (due to the cold weather). Have also had some cold roasted veggies - delicious!

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches.
Choose fruit for dessert.
:) Yes.
I have had oatmeal with fruit every day for breakfast (again).
I have mainly had Mexi Soup (sometimes over rice or potato) for lunch.
I have had Split Pea Soup for dinner (cannot get sick of this; keep making more).
I have had oranges (Sumo and Cara Cara) or frozen fruit and additional veggies (again).
So, I am pretty boring - all is same as last week.


3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
:D Yes.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
YES, of course. :D

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
:twisted: No, but doing better - only 1 miss.
* I continue to have periodic after dinner mental struggle with the nuts.
* I will work to slightly increase starch at lunch / dinner to head this off. This has helped over the week to keep :mrgreen: at bay!
* Next time that these tempt me, I will wait 10 minutes to be sure hungry and if so, then will eat salad, fruit, and soup or bean burger.
* I plan to continue to record observations of what may have gone on differently if I consume at all this week to help better develop future action plan.


6 Eliminate any added oil.
:D Yes! .

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
:twisted: No.
See #5 above. Comments are same including 1 miss - (except pretzels is :mrgreen: ).


8 Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
:) Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
:) Yes.


10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes, met but less than recent time spent exercising.
* Weather has not been conducive to walking outside, so mainly did indoor pacing and exercise routine!!! :shock:
* Came close to goal of averaging 8K steps / day over the week. Yearly average steps / day exceeds the 8K - which I would like to increase, but waiting for Spring to do so.


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Mark --- THANK you!!! Your question to me last week helped me to identify what all may be going on with my continuing # 5/7 troubles.
"Can you think of any significant-seeming differences between those 4 days and the other 3? Any changes in situation, context, or routine?"
* This made me think that I have focused efforts on tracking food in general (i.e., carrots or cucumbers, potato or rice, apple or banana) --- and NOT enough time tracking what may have caused a non-compliant "episode".
* It is more important for me to get to the root cause of the non-compliance than understand the specifics of the other foods (since they are all compliant / recommended).
* I did not have all of the data points to effectively answer your question for last week (would have been guessing) - so I have started to pay better attention / record these impressions for non-compliance episodes in my daily planner.
* Amazingly enough, I think part of what I hadn't identified before that is a driver with this issue is sometimes not enough starch. For instance, I have been eating soup for lunch and dinner every day (because it is so cold and I love soup). Sometimes, I will have soup over potato or rice - other times just by itself. I think that when I don't eat the soup over something that I may be less than 50/50 starch for that meal. I did find a couple of times when that was at lunch that I am hungrier earlier. I suspect that when I do that at dinner that I leave too much room for to be Pleasure Trapped at the end of the day when my willpower is at its weakest...
* I don't measure anything except for oatmeal that I make bowl by bowl. However, I did a little experiment to consider amount of starch in my soup without the extra rice / potato - which leads me to think that it is low. For instance, roughly 1/4 c. dried split peas and 1 small potato or 2/5 c. cooked beans - based on each of the soups that I am considering all starch (and comparing to veggie / fruit volume).
* Will be making sure to eat a bit more starch with the soup. I don't think I have much risk of gaining weight from this - as I rely on #9 and don't ever like to feel overstuffed.
* This obviously isn't the only issue - I still have to get completely out of the Pleasure Trap!!!

Victory - I lost a lb. this week!!! :) Sorry, I have to celebrate each one... :nod:

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend and upcoming week! Keep going!! :D

Best,
Stephanie
Last edited by VegSeekingFit on Sat Mar 05, 2022 12:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.
"Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path.
Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back." - Martina Navratilova
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Re: Stephanie's Journal - One Bite at a Time...

Postby deweyswakms » Sun Feb 27, 2022 11:27 am

Yay on the weight loss! It's a Big Deal.

Very smart to do some thinking on WHY you have those deviations. I have to be cautious when I am Hungry, Tired, Stressed, Angry = which leads to wanting to soothe myself and how do we do that?! with food. It is 'easier' for me, I know, because I am retired (so no job stressors, which were big); live alone so no others to navigate, and my biggest issue is being 'tired'; well, I am old now and the body just gets tired.

Anyway, onward to Spring!

Marsha
start weight 210 on 7/25/14; MWL recommit 7/2019 weight 197. 6/11/2022 weight 165.0. Height 5'8".
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3/4 Time & Adherence Group - Weekly Food / Exercise

Postby VegSeekingFit » Sat Mar 05, 2022 12:54 pm

Thank you, Marsha for sharing your experience! :) I would bet that some things may be easier (based on individual situation), but some things may be harder.... So, kudos to you (because none of us has it easy)... Happy Spring!

Going to keep this short again today. Has been a rough one - brought my older cat into emergency vet in the middle of the night. She was diagnosed with vestibular disease - which came on quite suddenly. It is heartbreaking to watch her try to move (this takes away all sense of balance)... Will either go away in a few days or may be more serious.

Here is checklist that I will post in MWL forum.

Hi Everyone,

Thank you to Mark, Jeff, Wildgoose for this group. Thank you to everyone for sharing your experiences as we all work toward common goal.

I did better this week with compliance with 6/7 days 100%. Also, feeling good about being able to improve that and meet my March goal of a week of all :-D .

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
:) Yes. I have been eating mainly salad this week as a preload (for B, L, D) - maybe 3 times used fruit.

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches.
Choose fruit for dessert.
:) Yes.
*I have had oatmeal with fruit every day for breakfast (again).
*I have tweaked approach for lunch and dinner a bit as I am confident that I was inadvertently not eating enough starch, with my focus being on soup for both meals in recent prior weeks (because of the cold and because I love soup). User error in estimation... But, lesson learned.
*I have switched one of the soup meals for a 50 / 50 plate - which makes it easy to not make mistake in estimating that volume is equal (starch, veggie / fruit).
*For the meal that I have soup, I have made sure to include a bit extra potato / rice / beans.
* This has helped tremendously in adherence to 5/7 -- and not fighting :mrgreen: each night (and frequently losing that battle).


3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
:D Yes.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
YES, of course. :D

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
:D YES!!!! First time in a long time that I can say that!

6 Eliminate any added oil.
:D Yes! .

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
:twisted: No. On Saturday had a handful of pretzels.
See #2 above. I am feeling good about being able to nip this in the bud and put the :mrgreen: in the rear-view mirror.


8 Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
:) Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
:) Yes.


10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes, met but less than recent time spent exercising (again).
* Got in 3 walks outside! :-D The rest was inside.
* Did not meet goal of averaging 8K steps / day for the week. Unfortunately, had a few lunch meetings (when I usually walk).
*Yearly average steps / day exceeds the 8K - which I would like to increase.


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

The slight adjustment to increase lunch and dinner starch has really made a difference. Thank you, Mark - for pointing me in the direction of reviewing root cause of struggles with 5/7. I had to record this and was really surprised at partial cause.

I still have some Pleasure Trap component, but it is not as strong or as frequent --- meaning, the urge to "nosh" after dinner is mainly gone. Priceless. Outcome - I have lost 2 lbs. this week.

Hope that everyone has a peaceful, happy, and compliant week.

Take care,
Stephanie
"Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path.
Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back." - Martina Navratilova
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3/11 Time & Adherence Group - Weekly Food / Exercise

Postby VegSeekingFit » Mon Mar 07, 2022 9:39 pm

Hi,

Feeling like I do better for accountability by mid-week posting, so here goes...

Going for clean-up of compliance... maybe a Spring cleaning?? :) So, "Clean up on aisle 5 and 7!!!" Much needed and feeling like I can do this. So weird that this bad snacking wasn't an issue for me for first few months (but I have gotten better at other things!)... Think many factors led to my struggles and I am mentally ready to nip it in the bud and physically --- with making sure that I'm not underestimating my starch --- has led to much less bad cravings (and winning the less frequent night-time battles)!!! Anyway, so far so good - have put a clip of days of 100% compliance in (bye bye to you, :twisted: ). One thing that I would note here is that I would choose (if planning) different "misses"... (like, these aren't my favorite non-compliant foods to eat... :mrgreen: ).

In all honesty, I am convinced that I need to follow MWL Checklist forever to maintain weight / health. And, that's ok - I like the food (OMG, split pea soup!!) I do not think that I can be regularly rational with including non-MWL compliant foods in my eating. Maybe infrequently in a pinch (like restaurant eating, which I do infrequently).... My goal is to manage weight / health (in perpetuity??? ) and I have proven time and again that I can't do this without guard rails.

Had today a 50/50 plate of baby spinach / red lentil chili. Haven't had that since summer --- and it is delicious!!!

Roasted pan of mushrooms and red potatoes on Sunday and then again on Thursday.

Cut up celery, radishes, carrots and put in water for easy accessibilty.

Kept stocked on frozen fruit - tried new (to me) Dragon Fruit.... interesting...

Made a pot of Split Pea soup.

Made a pot of Mexi soup.

Made a pot of Red Lentil Chili.

Made a pot of rice.

One "win" that I have had this week is to not let emotion derail my intent. Have been heartbroken observing / taking care of my sick cat. It won't do either of us any good for me to go off-plan. Doing the best that I can for her (food, water, bring her to litter box). She has a special place in my heart as she is one of only two cats in my life who have "picked" me --- meaning follow me all day, insist to sleep on me, etc. I am right now cautiously optimistic that she will recover. The Vestibular Disease can hit cats and dogs and is shocking in its suddenness... often looks like a stroke. Can be "idiopathic" --- and pet can be ok --- may take a few days, may take longer. My kitty fell off of the couch (her favorite spot) and she couldn't even walk out of where she fell (I moved couch to get her)... She is only walking to litter box now (and stumbles) --- but that is an improvement... Update 3/11: what a difference a few days make. Thankfully, my cat is now doing "cat things" independently. She still can't jump and is wobbly on her feet, but is eating, drinking, walking around. She is on a motion sickness medication that is super challenging to administer.... but up for that challenge.

Wanted to also note --- if you are interested to understand some historic context around current Russian invasion of Ukraine, I would highly recommend the movie "Mr. Jones" which is currently streaming on Hulu and Amazon Prime. Saw it in the theater for International film fest (in 2019 or 2020... with COVID, years blend together). It focuses on Stalin's 1932-1933 starvation / Holodomor of Ukrainians and also highlights the role of the media to report (or not) what is actually happening. Written by Andrea Chalupa (who I LOVE), directed by Agnieszka Holland (3 time nominated for Academy Award - not for this film). Officially classified as a "biographical thriller"... Content warning - it is sad... Update 3/11 These folks are raising funds today to support the Ukrainians and also the independent media who is reporting in Kyiv.

So, I am hoping to update this on Friday or Saturday with rainbows and unicorns... Update 3/11 Well, optimism wins on some of these points --- so, yay to rainbows and unicorns (except for the Eastern Europe situation which is so horrifying...

Below is draft assessment for next week's check-in / assessment. I have deleted the "devil made me do it" on #7... because I am optimistic that it will not be needed!! :-D Update 3/11: YAY!!!! I have first 10 :) week in a LONG TIME!!!! Super excited about that!!!! For next week, going for the same.

--------------------------------------

Hi MWL Team! :-D

Hope that everyone is having a great week!! It is almost time to Spring ahead for Daylight Savings Time. Looking forward to being able to walk again (in daylight) at the end of the day.

Really enjoyed the discussion a few posts back on Jeff's Burgers. These are a staple for me too -- I keep the freezer stocked with them. Love that the template is so easy to follow and tweak to your spice preference. I like to add finely chopped veggies and hot sauce sometimes ... also, these work great as crumbles for in a 50/50 pasta / veggie dish. Appreciate the thought that could use all oatmeal (in lieu of rice + oatmeal) - may give that a whirl this weekend (as I am down to last 2 burgers in freezer).

I am so happy to have FINALLY after MANY MANY MANY weeks achieved 10 :) !!! I so appreciate this group - without which I am not confident that I could have banished the 5/7 struggles that I kept having. Thank you to Mark for continuing positive support and for nudging me to figure out what was causing this issue, to Wildgoose for great posts on "MWL is a choice" and the description of the Pleasure Trap, to Jeff for support of this group, all of the forum materials - especially the awesome Calorie Density presentation and the MWL checklist! Thank you to everyone who participates in this group. Appreciate the sharing and camaraderie.

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
:) Yes. I have been eating mainly salad this week as a preload (for B, L, D) - used fruit a couple of times. Kept in refrigerator carrot and celery sticks and chopped radishes for easy grabbing. Also, have various lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers to add in to make this starter quite easily.

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches.
Choose fruit for dessert.
:) Yes.
*I have had oatmeal with fruit every day for breakfast (again - yes, I am BORING).
*I have continued to be vigilant to ensure that I am not shorting myself on starch to better manage hunger (and keep away the calls of :twisted: ).
*I have switched one of the soup meals for a 50 / 50 plate - which makes it easy to not make mistake in estimating that volume is equal (starch, veggie / fruit).
*For the meal that I have soup, I have made sure to include a bit extra potato / rice / beans.
* This has continued to help tremendously in adherence to 5/7. I still get some nighttime thoughts of 5/7 snack, but am more readily able to control them!!! :cool:


3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
:D Yes.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
YES, of course. :D

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
:D YES!!!!

6 Eliminate any added oil.
:D Yes! .

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
:D YES!!!!

8 Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
:) Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
:) Yes.
As part of my issue with 5/7, I think I may not always be consistent in eating when hungry and I am trying to be more mindful here.
A few times this week, I have felt a little "peckish" and have made sure not to let that get to "ravenous" by eating some roasted potato slices.
For some reason, I don't seem to notice the gray area in between these too.
Let me know if this isn't right approach - it seemed to work for me this week, but I don't want to stray off into left field....


10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes, got in 6 walks outside! Better weather!!!
* Met goal of averaging 8K steps / day for the week.
*Yearly average steps / day exceeds the 8K - which I would like to increase.


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

I am going to quote a bit of Dr. McDougall from MWL book (p. 73)... "The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss works, as long as you follow it faithfully. You can fail yourself. Little lapses can make the difference... You may very well be eating better than ever before, but that might not be enough. Or you may not be eating as close to the rules as you have led yourself to believe."

My victory this week is that I am much more confident that I can manage my way out of the Pleasure Trap and 5/7 compliance issues. This feels really good in comparison to being super frustrated at myself for MANY consecutive weeks (and feeling a bit foolish consuming calorie dense foods). That is priceless. Outcome - I have lost 2 lbs. this week. Over the 3 week period that I have slowly "cleaned up" 5/7, I have lost 5 lbs. and I am likely within spitting distance of "compliant" weight. I know that this will need on-going attention and is NOT a given. So, my goal for next week is also 10 :) ....

Encouraging everyone to KEEP GOING... we can all do this!!!! Have a great week!!

Best,
Stephanie
"Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path.
Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back." - Martina Navratilova
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3/18 Time & Adherence Group - Weekly Food / Exercise

Postby VegSeekingFit » Sun Mar 13, 2022 9:12 pm

Hi,

Still going with the fact that I do better if I post mid-week.... So, here goes...

https://www.drmcdougallforums.com/viewt ... 75#p629913

Above link is to phenomenal post by WildGoose!!! Timely(ish) for me --- and resonates. Like, if you want to keep your weight in maintenance... do what you did to get there. So, I was already convinced of this... (Sad, but true...) I do bid "adieu" to you and you and you...

Amusing to me only... Ode to the Nuts / Nut butters / pretzels (which I have broken up with like a bad boyfriend): (I am trying to amuse myself and will sing this song to chuckle AND to AVOID feeling terrible about myself as I work through this challenge...) -- Thank you to Gloria Gaynor for the song!!! (Hoping not have to sing it too many times, but this is going to be my coping mechanism and thankfully it will make me LAUGH... )
"At first I was afraid, I was petrified
Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side
But then I spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong
And I grew strong
And I learned how to get along
And now you're back
From outer space
I just walked in to find you here with that sad look upon your face
I should have changed that stupid lock, I should have made you leave your key
If I'd known for just one second you'd be back to bother me...
Go on now, go, walk out the door
Just turn around now
'Cause you're not welcome anymore
Weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye?
You think I'd crumble?
You think I'd lay down and die?

Oh no, not I, I will survive....

It took all the strength I had not to fall apart
Kept trying hard to mend the pieces of my broken heart
And I spent of-so-many nights just feeling sorry for myself

I used to cry
But now I hold my head up high and you see me
Somebody new
I'm not that chained-up little person still in love with you "

Prep & Shopping:

I have gotten better at this!! Buying right amounts and preparing essentials that I can easily grab & eat.

Made:
*Jeff Burgers --- Kidney and cannellini beans with (1 can each) with 2 cup oatmeal ( I didn't have rice prepared, and saw this in the MWL dialogue), 4T. tomato sauce, handful of red onion and handful of frozen corn, small can of mushroom pieces & stems, hot sauce. Super delicious!! My son liked too!! (Still have no problem cooking in Foreman grill - with however I play with this recipe-- just a bit of patience to make sure fully cooked!!!)
*A few big pans of roasted potatoes - cut lengthwise; nice!
*Big pot of Longevity Soup -- no starch, but can add later if not for preload (used frozen and fresh veggies)
* OMG - got honeydew & Athena melons ... cut for later ( have been missing melon!!)
* Cut up radishes, celery, carrots and put in water for easy access + other raw veggies
* Mary McD Smashed beans in crockpot
* Split Pea Soup
* Red Lentil Chili
* Pots of rice

Positivity:
* I have gotten better at incorporating #1 and #2. I think this is why I have to watch starch to make sure enough. Have never been as good at buying, prepping, eating veggies / fruit. My perception of "starch heavy" sometimes may not = reality. Need to take this forward. Need to walk the middle line - never thought I could be veggie / fruit heavy ... So , watching...
* Talked myself into walking yesterday in super cold weather. I really didn't want to, but put on so many layers and it was fine!!!
* Did NOT eat any bad snacks last night. Regular scenario with son / husband going wild on my bad boys (oh, well ... I broke up with the dry and salty stuff...)
* Have made it one more week without caving to :twisted: on 5/7 - so 19 days without


Other:
My cat med routine is a bit crazy .... but she is doing well!!! :-D Hard because she is tiny!!! 5.5 lb. cat --- Minnie (only small cat I've ever had... usually they are big!!! )!!! :D So, meds come where they are "scored" at half and I am trying to half the halves and then make her take them... huh... I've got a syringe (not with a needle) to put meds in and try to pry her mouth open. Still working --- but she is on to me!!! So ridiculously happy that my little cat is doing better!!! NOW she is doing much better and off her meds!! (just when I got stealthy at administering them... )

Hope that everyone is having a great week!!! :-D


Below is last week's checklist that I will copy for Friday / Saturday Behavioral assessment. My weight stayed the same at 121.

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
:) Yes. I mainly ate salad this week as a preload (for B, L, D), but also used fruit or soup a few times each. Various raw veggies are stored in refrigerator for easy grabbing. Made a pot of Jeff soup without starch which is delicious. Also, have a selection of fresh and frozen fruits.

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches.
Choose fruit for dessert.
:) Yes.
*I switched out my standard oatmeal with fruit for breakfast back to a potato waffle and a bit of smashed beans with fruit. Wanted to change to more savory, but also was thinking that I will need in near future a morning meal that I can consume a bit faster -- as will likely need to return to the office shortly (for limited # of days). Also, reminded myself that I can switch between days and don't ALWAYS have to eat a string of the same breakfast.... :shock:
* For lunch and dinner, I usually have one meal with a starchy soup center (sometimes with a bit of extra rice / potato) and one 50/50 plate (generally with rice, beans or potato, beans) and some delicious roasted or raw veggies and fruit.



3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
:D Yes.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
YES, of course. :D

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
:D YES!!!!

6 Eliminate any added oil.
:D Yes!

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
:D YES!!!!

8 Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
:) Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
:) Yes.
I continue to be mindful to not let myself get hungry, which can come on fast and furious. This week, I snacked 4 times on a few slices of roasted potato when I began to feel hunger (maybe "less" hunger than I would use to trigger a meal).
I think that this has really helped me to crawl out of the 5/7 :twisted: ditch.


10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes. 8)
FINALLY!!! Nicer weather!!! Ditched the hiking boots and some of the fleece!!! Got in 7/7 daily walks - roughly an hour each.
* Met my step goal


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
* I have continued to stay free of problem 5/7 items :twisted: and feel more in control of my choices
* It's been 19 days since I consumed any of these. I am working to make that a bigger number of days, but trying not to feel pressure toward perfection which may not set my mind up best for long-term success. Taking it one bite at a time...
* It takes a lot of mental energy to remove self from the Pleasure Trap. I'm hoping to avoid that trap in the future (but its potential always lurks).
* Will be looking into additional coping mechanisms to help overcome future hurdles.
* I feel lighter on my feet when walking... it may just be joy at actually enjoying the weather... :lol:
* Weight is same as last week.

Thank you, Mark, for your awesome support and feedback. Your responses to all participants always include important information that we can all take forward on our journeys.

Hope that everyone has a fantastic first week of Spring! Best wishes on moving forward with your goals. Onward...

Cheers,
Stephanie
Last edited by VegSeekingFit on Sat Mar 19, 2022 6:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
"Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path.
Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back." - Martina Navratilova
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3/25 Time & Adherence Group - Weekly Food / Exercise

Postby VegSeekingFit » Sun Mar 13, 2022 9:12 pm

Hi,

Continuing with the thought that I do better when I post more than 1X per week...

So, still steering clear of the dry, salty, calorie dense 5/7 items. Take that... :twisted: MADE it through the week - CRAP free...

It is getting easier (like not a head to head wrestling match each night). Thank goodness. So, I take that as a lesson to NOT include these items EVER EVER EVER... I am not rational with them and I don't want to have to de-Pleasure Trap myself again. Also, in all honesty --- these seem like things to eat for Maximum Weight Gain... UGH!!!

Tried to think about this Cost Benefit Analysis that Doug Lisle refers to in a lecture... so, for past 4 weeks where I have cleaned up the CRAP - have lost 5 lbs (while on a plateau or "behavioral equilibrium"). Updated - now this is up to 7 lbs. in 5 weeks... imagine, what a little bit of off-plan snacking can do... All attributable to these - haven't changed anything else (except, eating some roasted potato slices for snack if I get kind of peckish)... and maybe walking a bit brisker (since no ice / snow), but not farther... However, I would go further and say that it would be 40ish lbs... because these are a gateway to all of the dry calorie dense items... So, BYE BYE !!! (Don't let the door hit your a$$ on the way out... )

I am not a volume eater, but maybe a "bad choices" / Passive Overconsumption of Calories type of gal... :eek: Seriously, do not like to feel stuffed, never felt the need to clean my plate in my life, not much of a "seconds" eater, etc...

Anyway, going with continuing to do all of the Checklist cleanly, but not going for perfect (i.e., not sure I could in restaurant, etc. -- just no more Pleasure Trap crap). Saw posts today on fruit. Well, heck - I'm not changing anything there at this point --- going with that I don't eat copious amounts of fruit or binge on fruit. I do eat more than Mc'D's 2/ day... (usually include some in each meal)... Maybe I could be "binge-ish" at a party or something where this is the only food item that is compliant?? Well, that is rare, so I think I have bigger mountains to address (I cannot imagine that my weight problem relates to fruit and I don't have bad sugars or triglycerides....)

Lazy Girl Lunch (had a few such lunches this week - easy, peasy):
Piles of Romaine Lettuce & carrots
Sumo orange
Roasted potato with garlic salt...

Made:
Pans of roasted potatoes
Pot of Mary McD Pinto beans
Pan of roasted mushrooms
Pan of other roasted veggies
Pot of rice
Red Lentil Chili (another good 50/50 plate with baby spinach or lettuce)
Split Pea Soup (every week, can't lose it, love it)
Cut MELONS!! Got a jumbo cantaloupe on sale and an even bigger honeydew... In melon heaven...
Cut carrots, radishes, celery, bell peppers

Have seen a "non-recipe" for Spanish rice in the rice cooker (like add canned tomatoes, spice, onion, bell pepper). May give that a whirl this week. I need to buy some NSA Rotel when I go shopping and maybe just use the rice + canned spicy tomatoes... it is an experiment...

Ridiculous thing... So, company I work for is encouraging peeps to come back to the office (for flexwork, a couple days a week mainly). I thought this was an April Fool joke .... BUT no... THey will be having "bring your dog to work" on a couple of days a week... I am so curious how this is to be implemented (on so many levels). Heard that this is all the rage at some tech firms too. Guess I should get that rescue dog... (kidding, I didn't because of my older cat.... but.... hmmm... ) :shock:

Had 2 days this week almost approaching 70!!! :cool: Walking with no fleece and in sun!! I'll take it!!!! Now Saturday, it is 30 and snowing... Boo to the cold!


Here is weekly behavioral assessment that I will post to the Time & Adherence group. I lost 2 lbs. this week - at 119 (rounded up...)

Hi Team Time & Adherence, :)

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
:) Yes. I mainly ate salad this week as a preload (for B, L, D), but also used fruit or soup a couple of times each. Various raw veggies are stored in refrigerator for easy grabbing. Also, have a broad selection of fresh and frozen fruits.

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches.
Choose fruit for dessert.
:) Yes.
*I have eaten a bunch of different breakfasts this week - from potato waffle, to split pea soup, to beans and nuked yukon golds with a bit of salsa. I always start with a salad and add a bowl of fresh melon. Delicious!
* I have eaten a simple "Lazy Girl Lunch" a few days this week. Start with a plate of Romaine leaves and other raw veggies then fruit and roasted potato slices.
* For dinner, have enjoyed a few times Red Lentil Chili 50/50 with lettuce with a fruit starter. Sometimes other veggies also and / or potato slices.
**** I have followed the recent dialogue on fruit and I have read all of the various background threads to keep this guideline in perspective. Understand that Dr. McD restricts fruit to 2/day for MWL. I have not prioritized reducing my fruit at this point (not eating "copious amounts" or binge-ing), but will keep this in mind as a future opportunity. Should I be "unsmiley" for this point on the checklist?? (But I kept it smiley for now, since I feel like I am "within the spirit" of the guidelines (while still exceeding this threshold, but not looking to "cheat"?)


3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
:D Yes. I haven't eliminated, but reduced. I do use some garlic salt on potatoes at times. I don't generally use sugar, but did have 1.5 T BBQ sauce with some potato slices once this week which was a nice "treat".

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
YES, of course. :D

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
:D YES!!!!

6 Eliminate any added oil.
:D Yes!

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
:D YES!!!!

8 Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
:) Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
:) Yes.
I continue to be mindful to eat when hungry (before becoming super hungry).
This week, I snacked a couple of times on a few slices of roasted potato. Next week, I will 50/50 the potato.
The potato has been a nice crutch to help me to crawl out of the 5/7 :twisted: ditch.


10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes. :)
* 5/7 days walked outside about 45-75 min each day (did take 2 rest days, 1 was a rain out where I paced inside)
* Just missed my step goal by about 400 total steps - BOO to me - should have monitored this better!!


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

* Please see comment on #2 re: fruit.... :)
* Feeling better each day on ability to adhere to #5/7
* Still worry about coping mechanisms for future Pleasure Trap encounters. Will work hard to try not to be discouraged and to nip it in the bud as quickly as possible (before it becomes ingrained).
* My personal impact of a "justa" (to borrow from Wildgoose) - my "justa" handful of peanuts or pretzels (or both :twisted: ) bad habit that sneaked in... By cleaning this up about 5 weeks ago, have lost 7 lbs. in that time (when I had been in "behavioral equilibrium")...
* HMM... so not worth it to me -- and I will try to remind myself of this before consuming any non-recommended items

Elsa -- I love your questions to self!!! I may borrow your approach for formulating some questions for when I may be considering any non-recommended food item.... :!: Thanks for posting again that lasagna recipe -- and glad it worked out well for your group!!!

Bambi -- Congratulations on your awesome results!!! Woo-hoo!!! :)

Rebecka -- I can so relate to your comment about being able to have more resolve with an "end date". Trying to wrap my head around not having an end date for compliance ... or I know where that will end up for me... Keep going!! :-D

Carol -- You are a MWL hero for keeping on as you are going through the moving stress!!! Think how much easier it will be when you are "re-settled"!!! :) I like your "seafood diet" description....

George -- Congrats on your excellent progress!!!

Gimmelean --I totally agree with you on "with this structure I know exactly what I need to change which helps eliminate guilt tripping because guilt is counter productive." I have a really hard time with that part of it. It sounds like you have some great coping structures. Wishing you well in moving forward this week!! :-D

Thank you to everyone for this community!!! We are small but mighty!!! :-D Extra thank you to Mark, Jeff, Wildgoose for all of the support.

Hope that everyone has a wonderful week!!! Best wishes to all as we work to build behaviors to support lifelong weight maintenance. Don't forget to eat your starch and get some sunshine!! :-D

Cheers,
Stephanie
Last edited by VegSeekingFit on Sat Mar 26, 2022 10:39 am, edited 3 times in total.
"Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path.
Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back." - Martina Navratilova
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Re: Stephanie's Journal - One Bite at a Time...

Postby Trinity » Thu Mar 24, 2022 7:34 pm

Hi Stephanie,

I just read your (most recent) journal! Your dedication is inspiring. I’m going to go back and read your other one. I just love reading people’s journals here—it’s like having plant-based friends. Your food gives me a lot of good ideas. So cool your husband eats brown rice and your son (in college I think?) goes for hikes with you and eats your food too! I’m glad your kitty is doing better. We had 2 cats who each died a different horrible expensive death, one of which I was even giving insulin shots to because he was diabetic. No more pets for me sadly but I enjoy other people’s. Anyway, keep on keeping on, you are doing great and doing it incredibly consistently!

Trinity
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Re: Stephanie's Journal - One Bite at a Time...

Postby VegSeekingFit » Sat Mar 26, 2022 9:43 am

Trinity wrote:Hi Stephanie,

I just read your (most recent) journal! Your dedication is inspiring. I’m going to go back and read your other one. I just love reading people’s journals here—it’s like having plant-based friends. Your food gives me a lot of good ideas. So cool your husband eats brown rice and your son (in college I think?) goes for hikes with you and eats your food too! I’m glad your kitty is doing better. We had 2 cats who each died a different horrible expensive death, one of which I was even giving insulin shots to because he was diabetic. No more pets for me sadly but I enjoy other people’s. Anyway, keep on keeping on, you are doing great and doing it incredibly consistently!

Trinity


Hi Trinity,

Thank you so much for your supportive comments!!! :-D Nice to "meet" you in the journals.... If you slogged through this journal, sorry... know it is long-winded and a bit boring!!!

Sorry to hear about your kitties.... I know how hard that is. We also had a diabetic cat that needed 2x/day insulin and another who needed IV fluids for kidney failure... :cry: Also, I get that enjoying other people's pets... :-D

Wishing you all the best on your McD journey!!!

Best,
Stephanie
"Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path.
Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back." - Martina Navratilova
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4/1 Time & Adherence Group - Weekly Food / Exercise

Postby VegSeekingFit » Sat Mar 26, 2022 11:00 am

Here is April Fool's Day checklist!! :eek:

For this week, still keeping focus on saying no to CRAP.... :!: Update: YES!!! Still clean on 5/7!!! Victory: told my husband last night to PLEASE keep pretzels from underneath my nose because they smell good. He says they smell like nothing... :shock:

I will 50/50 any potato slices that I am snacking on with raw veggies or fruit. Update: Well, I totally forgot to do this. I only ate the potato slices for snack once. I ate most of them with my meals!!! Will shoot to 50/50 any snacks.

I am in search of NSA Rotel to try rice cooker experiment. Update: Could not find NSA at store I went to. I bought the salty version and am now feeling like I shouldn't make it with all of the salt. Boo!!! However, also bought a "new to me" split lentil / rice product from the International Market. I am going to try using this first and I will keep checking the store for NSA Rotel.

I will watch my step count so that I don't miss my goal by something that I could do in 10 minutes or less!! :mrgreen: YES! I made up for shorting steps last week with an average 10.1K for the week. Continuing through April to keep the 8K as a goal.

I will walk outside even though the weather just went cold again. I can wear extra fleece. Just do it! 8) Yes! I did walk outside most days. Some walks were shorter than normal because of another week of periodic fire drills at work with a lot of meetings being scheduled when I normally take lunch (and walk). Fire drills are starting to become to me like "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"...

I am going to investigate the new McD MWL mini-course. I have asked some questions and had answers... I have not yet registered, but leaning toward doing so.

Below is weekly Behavioral assessment.

Hi Everyone!! :)

Happy April!!!! Was going to say something about April showers bringing May flowers... and we do have some crocuses coming up; however, still SNOW here in Chicagoland (with a dose of hail one day).

Thank you, Mark, for answering my questions on the lasagna. I am going to experiment and will circle back... :-) Maybe poor cooks should closely follow recipes... :!:

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. :) Yes. I again mainly ate salad this week as a preload (for B, L, D), but also used fruit a couple of times. I have a broad selection of veggies and fruit prepared for easy grabbing. I have enjoyed trying 2 new (to me) items this week - black radishes and Hami melons. Both were delicious!!!

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches.
Choose fruit for dessert.
:) Yes.
*Using lots of raw or roasted veggies and fresh or frozen fruit for one half of plate.
* Ate many potatoes for other half of plate.
* Also made (surprise, surprise) - Split pea soup, red lentil chili, pots of rice, pot of Mary McD black smashed beans
* Wonderful tweak to Sloppy Lentil Joes (recipe on this website) - made them sloppier and used red lentils... will likely always be making with red lentils now. If you use the recipe on the website, you can omit the sugar and soy sauce (and also mustard). Still tastes delicious.


3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
:D Yes. I haven't eliminated, but reduced. I do use some garlic salt on potatoes at times. I had 1T of California Balsamics Teriyaki with roasted veggies one time for a "treat".

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
YES, of course. :D

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
:D YES!!!! Have continued on the clean path with not losing to :twisted: -

6 Eliminate any added oil.
:D Yes!

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
:D YES!!!! Same as 5. Yesterday, my husband had a great big bowl of pretzels that he had basically under my nose. I asked him to please move them as they smelled good. I did not consume any.

8 Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
:) Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
:) Yes.
I think 9 is underrated!!! Going to continue to focus on being consistently mindful here.
I did have one dinner where I ate a bit past the mark. I think I was eating faster than I normally do. Easier to scarf down potato slices than hot soup.
This week, I only snacked once on a few slices of roasted potato. I had intended to 50/50 this and forgot. Next week, I will 50/50 the potato (if I snack on any).


10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes. :)
* 6/7 days walked outside. A couple of the walks were just at 30 min due to work conflicts with walking time.
*I am continuing to pace around inside periodically. I am liking this habit. My husband still finds it weird.
* Exceeded my step goal by 2K miles / day (to make up for a weak last week).


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

In my opinion, the "emotional" side of this process can be especially challenging - like jumping through a fiery hoop. I am looking to build a skillset to tackle in a positive way future non-compliant episodes. I need to plan that these will occur because I know that I am not perfect! Visualizing next steps required --- for instances like when Mark reminds participants to be kind to themselves / treat yourself gently, etc. Sometimes easier said than done - especially as it seems that tendency seems to be to treat yourself more harshly than we would ever treat a good friend or family member. In this regard, thinking to change "self-talk" --- As Pink would say... "Change the voices in your head.... make them like you instead! "

For example, if I had in fact consumed any pretzels (from 7 above) --- I am going to choose to reframe my mental outlook to Option B instead of standard Option A.

Option A - Stephanie, you idiot!! You have ruined over a month of "clean compliance". Why would you think that you could do this anyway? (Feels guilty and disappointed in self, eats remaining pretzels and starts downward spiral of continuing to eat off plan... )
Option B - Take a breath. Dust yourself off. Put down the rest of the pretzels. Nobody is perfect. You have an opportunity to make the next best choice. (Throws pretzels in the trash, watches a sitcom, gets back to eating recommended foods in recommended fashion...)

This Week's Outcome: I am somewhat astonished to have lost 2 lbs. this week --- which makes 9 lbs. in 6 weeks -- attributable to cleaning up 5/7. I certainly didn't plan to "experiment" in this way, but I will say that the results are very informative and will be motivating to me in the future to continue to NOT choose to consume these food items. Not worth it to me.

Thank you, Mark / Jeff / Wild Goose for this forum and all of the support that you provide to each of us.

YAY to each participant for moving forward with positive changes!!! Appreciate the inspiration and community in sharing the journey. Keep going!!!!

Best,
Stephanie
"Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path.
Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back." - Martina Navratilova
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4/8 Time & Adherence Group - Weekly Food / Exercise

Postby VegSeekingFit » Sat Apr 02, 2022 12:00 pm

For this week, focusing on:

1) Keep clear of 5 / 7 problem foods. YES!!!
2) Think more of coping strategies / how to reframe mindset to use as needed. Yes, Mark's comments to me in last week's MWL thread were very helpful and resonated. I have been working to think of how to consider this journey more data-driven - implementing changes as issues arise. This will also help me to get back onboard right away if any slips. I think that this is my highest area of risk and I will continue to work to avoid "value judgments" / self-recrimination, which create my own "fiery hoop" and are not helpful in getting back on track.
3) Try to get in a walk with a buddy. This is somewhat weather dependent. Got in a long walk last week with my son who was home for the weekend. Weather is not nice enough for my friend to walk... Soon!!!

Was breezing through my own journal and I saw some topics that I have dropped. Want to remember following for exercise:
1) 15K in November (plenty of time) - recruit buddies
2) Actually get treadmill this year!!! Before it gets cold!!! (Need to finish decluttering)
3) Consider opportunities for racquet sports - I haven't gone yet to the Open Pickleball --- review whether other options exist Have found a tennis lesson opportunity that I am considering... still more research to do here
4) Really should implement regular strength training...

Sample Meals from the week:
Friday
B - Bell pepper, carrots, radishes - PL
Hami melon & Cantaloupe
Split Pea Soup - 50/50 with above
L- Romaine, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, black radishes - PL
Frozen berries 50/50 with Sloppy Lentils & potato slices
D - Frozen berries - PL
Split pea veggie soup - 50/50
Well, that is a lot of split pea soup, huh??

Had a different lazy girl lunch that was super easy and delicious...
Romaine and carrot sticks (plain, on a plate) - PL
Rice and roasted mushrooms (both ingredients that were batch cooked in fridge) - 50/50 added a spray of Bragg's (still on my bottle from last summer when I was freaking out on #3)

Made Gimmelean's Kitchari - half recipe - in the crock pot. Very aromatic!! Had to purchase a few spices -- so now can always make again. Like this template.

Made my steps goal because I got a bunch of steps in early in the week. Had a short and limpy walk on Wednesday -- wrenched up my knee somehow and maybe was ill-advised to walk, but actually it felt a bit better toward the end. Took Thursday and Friday as "rest days" without a walk because I have a healthy respect for listening to pain... (and have a 2x rebuilt patellar with no appetite for going for 3x )...

Weight is same (rounded, was a fractional loss...). I have also decided that I can now become detached from this number. BECAUSE.... I fit into my "goal jeans"... :-D So, I will just focus on the 10 pt Checklist AND not over-complicating AND working on positive self-talk / thinking of strategies to get right back "on" in the case of a slip.

Following this week's Behavioral assessment that I will post to weekly Time & Adherence thread.

Hi Team Time & Adherence,

Hope that everyone is having a lovely weekend!! We had snow on the ground (again) this morning in Chicagoland. Some spring flowers continue to bloom - so there is that!! It has been a bit loud as our street is under construction and there is a big ditch at the end of everyone's driveway (makes it fun to carry groceries in...).

Thinking this April thread is phenomenal!!! Appreciate everyone's comments and sharing!!! We have so much to learn from each other and from Mark / Jeff / Wild Goose responses to each of us.

Did anyone else make Gimmelean Kitchari recipe? I did make it in the crockpot with carrots, mushrooms, onions --- and found it very aromatic!!! Will definitely use this template again and now own all of the required spices!!! :-D

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. :) Yes. Mainly salad - a couple of times fruit. I preload B/L/D consistently. I am really loving Romaine and bulk carrots right now - can't seem to get enough of them. I also have several other veggies prepared for easy grabbing. I have fresh and frozen fruit to also incorporate easily. I bought 2 more Hami melons last week because they were so delicious!!! Also, I am trying frozen Dragonfruit from Target for the second time. I can't decide how much I like it, but it is the most beautifully colored fruit!!!

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches.
Choose fruit for dessert.
:) Yes.
*Using lots of raw or roasted veggies and fresh or frozen fruit for one half of plate.
* Ate tons of potatoes for other half of plate.
* Made - Kitchari, Split pea soup, sloppy red lentils, Mexi soup, pots of rice
* Roasted shitake and portabella mushrooms a couple of times
* Roasted baby bell peppers (you do not even have to do anything but wash them and throw them on parchment paper) - thinking would be super delicious with hummus / bean dip for a MWL approved snack


3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
:D Yes. I haven't eliminated, but reduced. I do use garlic salt at times on potatoes. I did use a few sprays of Bragg's - especially nice on rice & roasted mushrooms.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
YES, of course. :D

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
:D YES!!!! Good news ... the cravings / desire / thoughts to consume these have been pretty non-existent this week!!

6 Eliminate any added oil.
:D Yes!

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
:D YES!!!! Same as 5.

8 Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
:) Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
:) Yes. I didn't stuff or starve.
Thinking to myself that this is "getting in tune with your hunger drive"... :lol:


10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes. :)
* 6/7 days walked outside.
* Made my steps goal because I got a bunch of steps in early in the week.
*Had a short and limpy walk on Wednesday -- wrenched up my knee somehow and maybe was ill-advised to walk, but actually it felt a bit better toward the end. Took Thursday as "rest day" without a walk because I have a healthy respect for listening to pain... :shock:
* I may need to substitute stationery bike and / or push ups and planks for the walking for next week- will see!


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
Mark THANK YOU --- 1000X for your excellent advice last week. It means the world to me and it helped so much! I have been thinking of how to reframe in my own mind --- this journey as more data-driven - implementing changes as issues arise (and observations are collected). This will also help me to get back onboard right away if any slips. I think that this is my highest area of risk and I will continue to work to avoid "value judgments" / self-recrimination, which create my own "fiery hoop" and are not helpful in getting back on track.

Everyone - We are all "Stars" in Training!!! Keep going on the path to health!!

Cheers,
Stephanie
"Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path.
Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back." - Martina Navratilova
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4/15 Time & Adherence Group - Weekly Food / Exercise

Postby VegSeekingFit » Sat Apr 09, 2022 10:56 am

Hi,

This week I am focusing on:

1) DO TAXES - completely - this weekend. (Not MWL, but I have been avoiding and they aren't filing themselves... ) Well, I still have 3 days...

2) Follow MWL checklist with no overcomplicating and considering strategies for dealing with slips (thinking that I will journal some times when I have either avoided doing the "wrong" thing and / or when I have done the "wrong" thing and been able to quickly get back on track. Also improving "self-talk", etc. Yes!!! Had an "epiphany" that I DO have skills to build on to keep this more data-driven (and avoid self-recrimination). Felt like the girl who was looking for her glasses all afternoon when they were sitting on head the whole time... So, I have 30+ years experience being involved in projects of various size / timeline / complexity in many different roles. Often I am accountable to keep morale up / ensure teamwork and cooperation. Rules - breathe, check your emotions at the door, always assume good intent, etc.... :) Thinking to frame continued following of 10 Point Checklist as a project in hypercare mode.... :lol: This I can relate to and work to be successful in "keeping on"!!!

3) Determine how to exercise - get back into - dependent on status of knee. Knee is fine now. Was able to start back with walking last Saturday without pain. Glad to not have to resort to alternative exercise!!!

Saturday - I am making Split Pea Soup in the crockpot (SURPRISE!!!)... but I went all crazy and used yellow split peas...
I will also be cutting carrots, celery, radishes and storing in refrigerator in water.
I bought 2 melons yesterday (honeydew & cantaloupe) that I will cut up.
Bake a sheet of roasted potatoes.

I also made: many pots of rice, roasted mushrooms, Sloppier red lentils, Mexi Soup (remembered the corn this time and used cannellini beans)...

My weight went up a lb. (rounded). I am still going with goal of fitting into my pants - and I still can! :eek: However, I will continue to weigh in on Friday mornings. Mirror test = I could still lose a few pounds... Real goal is to be able to maintain behaviors to maintain consistent weight / health -- so the number on the scale doesn't matter so much (as long as I can fit into pants!)....

Below is this week's assessment that I'll post to MWL forum.

Hi to All!!! :)

Hope that everyone is enjoying the weekend! We have daffodils galore :cool: and 3 bunnies that are playing / hopping over each other in the backyard. Spring has sprung!!!!

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. :) Yes. Still consistent here. Making this a habit that is easy to continue with various easy to grab veggies and fruits that I love. Still mainly salad - a couple of times fruit. I preload B/L/D.

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches.
Choose fruit for dessert.
:) Yes.
I continue to make the same food / recipes and I am not bored of them.
I like to make "lazy girl lunch" with using items that I have batch cooked or prepped and just arranging them on a plate. I really like rice and roasted mushrooms 50/50!


3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
:D Yes. I haven't eliminated, but reduced.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
YES, of course. :D

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
:| I had a slip here with my ex - peanuts. It does give me an opportunity to practice positive self-talk. Will not be letting this become a habit. Dusting off and continuing on....

6 Eliminate any added oil.
:D Yes!

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
:D YES!!!!

8 Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
:) Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
:) Yes. I didn't stuff or starve.


10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes. :)
* 6/7 days walked outside.
* Exceeded my steps goal by 1.3K steps / day.
* My knee is better. So relieved not to have to do alternative exercise.


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

I meet with my fellow November 2021 McD 12 Day Alumni each week (which is awesome). Have always shared that I participate here in this thread and that it is the best source of MWL information and support. Did a "walk-through" of Mark's opening post this week to show the resources shared and what the group is about. Also, showed how to navigate the forums (which can be confusing to folks - as it isn't like a "feed").

Thank you, Mark for your continued explanations of "assessment" vs. "judgment". Has helped me to refresh my mindset - especially as it relates to eating "off-plan" items and getting back on track / planning how to handle the next time. I had an "epiphany" that I DO have skills to build on to keep this journey more data-driven (and avoid self-recrimination). Felt like the girl who was looking for her glasses all afternoon when they were sitting on head the whole time... So, I have 30+ years experience being involved in projects of various size / timeline / complexity in many different roles. Often I am accountable to keep morale up / ensure teamwork and cooperation. Rules - breathe, check your emotions at the door, always assume good intent, etc.... :) Thinking to frame continued following of 10 Point Checklist as a project in hypercare mode.... :lol: This I can relate to and work to be successful in "keeping on"!!!

Hope that everyone has a marvelous week and successful practice in the MWL behaviors!!! Rock on!

Cheers,
Stephanie
"Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path.
Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back." - Martina Navratilova
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4/22 Time & Adherence Group - Weekly Food / Exercise

Postby VegSeekingFit » Sat Apr 16, 2022 10:43 am

Happy Earth Day!!! :)

Working on this week:
1) Avoid "off plan" food (you know who you are) Successful except 1 instance. Working on this.
2) Continue mindset of "Project Pants" Hypercare... to follow 10 pt. checklist AND NOT complicate AND assess (not judge) Yes!
3) Yes, I still have to do the darn taxes :cry: Yes. On time. :) I make this a fire drill every year. I loathe doing the taxes and they aren't really all that time consuming, etc. Just wish they self-filed... (and I did do a stint in tax prep a LONG time ago and TOTALLY hated this on several levels)...

On Friday, met up with extended family at a pub for dinner (Calamity Jane's). I haven't gone out to eat much since COVID... In order to avoid a "calamity", I had looked at the menu and found that there was really only 1 potential choice that was MWL adherent - the garden salad (nix the cheese and the croutons). Most options were fried bar food, cheese, meat. Most of these would not tempt me ever... but things like tater tots or fries.... hmmm.... So, I made a pot of Sloppier Red Lentils and ate a good clip of that with rice before going. I also packed a banana, carrots & baby cukes, roasted potato slices, a container of smashed beans -- to stash in the car just in case. I ended up getting the garden salad (which was really just lettuce + 2 baby carrots + 2 strips of green pepper + 1 grape tomato) and I put A1 sauce on it (so, I guess demerit for #3). Had a great tune socializing. :D

Pretty much ate the same as in prior weeks.

LOTS and LOTS of potatoes. It is astounding how many potatoes I eat.

Made a pot of 50/50 pasta with 2 types of mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes. Was delicious and super-filling. Haven't had pasta for several months (just was eating more soup / chili in the super cold weather)... I also have to say that it is super-satiating and I overplate (and can't finish).

Found a delicious bag of frozen fruit at the Target / Good & Gather brand. It sounds a bit hoity toity --- Antioxidant blend, but who cares what it is called --- super high recommend - ridiculously good.

Still super loving plain old Romaine lettuce and carrots. Can't get enough of these. Weird? :lol:

Still super loving Split Pea Soup, Sloppier Red Lentils, roasted mushrooms, fresh melon!!!

Looking forward to when Farmers Market opens here --- 5/18, I believe is the date.

Did implement Mark's suggestion from last week. I call it Hypercare Observation Log. I am doing this in my written journal where I keep my food and recipes (HA!) that I have made. I don't write any amounts -- just actual food that I have eaten (sometimes will say -- HUGE plate or Small plate --- otherwise, usually I plate comparable-ish amounts). I have not weighed, measured (except to make grains, beans, recipe), counted ANYTHING in this journey. I like that!

Thinking for next week will post on Emerging from the Rabbit Hole - Lessons Learned / Recap from the year of MWL. I intend to continue to follow this WOE / process of checking against the 10 Pt. Checklist. There are some habits that I think are firmly ingrained and others that I want to continue to practice more. I feel like (and I may be wrong here... just thinking of me personally) --- that the more times that you execute the behavior, the more ingrained that it will become.

Below is last week's assessment that I will update on Friday or Saturday.

Hi Team Time & Adherence!!! :)

Happy Friday and hope everyone is having a great week!! Love reading everyone's journeys --- so, THANK YOU for sharing!!! Keep going!!!

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. :) Yes. Still consistent here. Making this a habit that is easy to continue with various easy to grab veggies and fruits that I love. Still mainly salad - a couple of times fruit. I preload B/L/D. And yes, I still love the finger food salad concept --- and mostly just pile the veggies on a plate and eat without dressing.

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches.
Choose fruit for dessert.
:) Yes.
I continue to make the same food / recipes and I am not bored of them. This week I did make a 50/50 pasta that was delicious!!!
I like to make "lazy girl lunch" with using items that I have batch cooked or prepped and just arranging them on a plate. This week I did Jeff Burgers and roasted potato slices (with salad pre-load and 50/50 with fruit and roasted veggies).


3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
:? I will ding myself this week for a restaurant outing where I did have a compliant garden salad, but then used A1 sauce for a dressing (no balsamic vinegar and I didn't tote a dressing).... The A1 is a super-fail of Jeff's label reading guidelines with heinous amounts of sodium that is like almost 20X sodium (or 5X if used as a condiment). Don't check my math - it is rough... Not going to be a problem next week and I can bring my own dressing for future. Complete anomaly. Not an on-going issue.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
YES, of course. :D

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
:| Again, I had a slip here with my ex - peanuts. So, in the spirit of review / options for better future outcome.... I am trying to understand what my issue is here. Obviously, I could be more successful if these were not in my house (but I don't live alone -- and not planning to as a solution!! :-D ). I have been even more unsuccessful in trying to modify behavior of my spouse than self (meaning for him to hide these, not change his eating).... :eek: (I give up there...) We have all kinds of non-MWL food in the house --- and only 3 items have ever been an issue for me. 1 of the 3, I have successfully been able to put in category of "not my food". I aspire to put the peanuts into this category as well (TRYING!) I think that there is some bratty part of my brain that fights with the other part of my brain that intends to eat on plan. Most times the logical (non-bratty) side wins. This is always at night and when my husband is eating them.... Envy??? I don't really know... I am trying to frame it like WildGoose said in some post like "MWL is a choice".... So I am choosing (brat) to be off plan. Any ideas????

6 Eliminate any added oil.
:D Yes!

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
:D YES!!!!

8 Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
:) Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
:) Yes. I didn't stuff or starve.
I did go back to maybe 3 times non-meal snack of roasted potato that I didn't 50/50.


10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes. :)
* 7/7 days walked outside.
* Exceeded my steps goal by .6K steps / day.
* Found a local PickleBall club that I am thinking to join. They mentor newbies.


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Thank you, Mark for this comment last week. I am glad to hear that you have noticed this skill transferability thing too!! Very helpful!!! I am totally moving forward with what you suggest here --- but calling it Hypercare Observation Log!!! :lol: I think that this will be invaluable. Am tracking all exceptions including the why and the how (to avoid). Love this thought, Mark.
Mark Cooper wrote:VegSeekingFit - Isn't it fascinating how often skills we associate with our work or career would be quite applicable and useful to our efforts at "lifestyle development," but it doesn't occur to us to apply them? ;) I've noticed the same thing myself. Framing your efforts here in the context of project management or facilitation seems like it could be very practical, relatable and emotionally grounding. I'm glad you felt successful in avoiding self-recrimination this week. Another exercise worth applying to the "slip" with peanuts (or other similar challenging instances) - try an "after-action review;" look at what happened, why it happened, and how it might be avoided or made to happen more successfully in the future. I think deep learning can happen within the context of struggle; challenges present us with ways to strengthen and fortify our practice going forward, and that has value. Enjoy the spring weather and have a wonderful week!


On Friday, met up with extended family at a pub for dinner (Calamity Jane's). I haven't gone out to eat much since COVID... In order to avoid a "calamity", I had looked at the menu and found that there was really only 1 potential choice that was MWL adherent - the garden salad (nix the cheese and the croutons). Most options were fried bar food, cheese, meat. Most of these would not tempt me ever... but things like tater tots or fries.... hmmm.... So, I made a pot of Sloppier Red Lentils and ate a good clip of that with rice before going. I also packed a banana, carrots & baby cukes, roasted potato slices, a container of smashed beans -- to stash in the car just in case. I ended up getting the garden salad (which was really just lettuce + 2 baby carrots + 2 strips of green pepper + 1 grape tomato) and I put A1 sauce on it (see #3). Had a great time socializing. :D

Wishing everyone a wonderful week!!! Eat your starches (and veggies and fruits)... Hopefully, we all get some sunshine.

Cheers,
Stephanie
"Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path.
Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back." - Martina Navratilova
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4/29 Time & Adherence Group - Weekly Food / Exercise

Postby VegSeekingFit » Fri Apr 22, 2022 5:50 pm

Hi,

Goals for this week:
1) Eat the recommended foods in the recommended fashion... (yes, only the recommended foods - there are a lot of them!) :) Yes, I managed to do this for the week... I guess my potato snacking a few times wasn't PL & 50/50 - so opportunity there that I am deferring until I have #5 under control...
2) Going for all :) -- have another social event this weekend and believe me, will be packing some food for car and eating beforehand Yes, I ate before the event. Just delayed it an hour so that I could eat right before leaving. I did NOT look at any of the food displays and successfully stayed on track.
3) Continue to review the PickleBall club -- and maybe just sign up -- why not Did not yet
4) Do an Emerging from Rabbit Hole posting for about 1 year of MWL checklist following (imperfectly) - maybe recap + Lessons Learned.... Thinking about this....

OMG --- the ducks have come back!!! I LOVE them!!! Super cute to watch!!! They are splashing in the puddles from today's storm... (It is kind of hilarious that my hubby gets annoyed by them.... so while I am excited he is BLAH BLAH...)

Loving the spring flowers and birds!!! It is making the walking even more cheery. I have spring blossom tree envy. :eek: We lost some rhododendrons a couple of years ago --- so now I live vicariously through others blossoms.... We still do have a couple of flowering trees / bushes, but they aren't as pretty as the rhododendrons.

Below is my checklist that I will post to MWL forum.

Hi Team Time & Adherence :)

Happy weekend!!! Tomorrow is May Day!!!! Seems like April flew by.

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. :) Yes. Still consistent here - mainly salad. I preload B/L/D.

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches.
Choose fruit for dessert.
:) Yes.
I continue to make the same food / recipes and I am not bored of them.
I keep the recommended foods readily available for quick and easy incorporating into meals.
I did snack a few times on potatoes and did not 50/50 them.


3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
Yes, reduced not eliminated. Used a little seasoned salt on potatoes at times. That was really it for the week.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
YES, of course. :D

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
:-D Yes, Mr. Peanut didn't get the better of me this week. As this is a high risk checkpoint for me, I am greatly appreciative of Mark's thoughtful feedback last week and have given this a lot of consideration. Including responses below.

Mark Cooper wrote: In relation to the inclusion or elimination of peanuts, I have a few more questions. Looking at those 3 non adherent foods that are continuously present in your environment, and are proving to be a challenge now, or have in the past, how are those foods different from the rest of the "all kinds of non-MWL food in the house"? What did the process of successfully putting one of those foods in the "not my food" category look like? Is that food different in some way from the other two that still prove tempting? Are there any situational or environmental differences in the relation between those foods and you vs. all the other non adherent "noise" in the background of your environment? Watching your spouse eat them, I imagine right next to you, is something contextually important, I would expect. Would it help to plan, in advance, an especially appetizing adherent dish or snack that you can have ready, and enjoy at the same time your husband has his peanuts? If you can, try, in every way feasible, to minimize your reliance on willpower. Wishing you the best; your Hypercare Observation Log (Love it! :lol: ) will help you get this figured out in time.

Mark THANK you for this extremely thoughtful (and thought provoking) insight. Really helps to have this "food for thought". Have been reflecting here and this angle of dissecting the problem has allowed me to brainstorm some potential risk mitigation strategies that I will log...

First, had a couple of "A-HA" moments.
* For purposes of me cleaning this up, I am extremely lucky that my husband isn't a junk food vegan (or even following the regular McD plan) --- or there could be a lot more items to dodge!!!
* You have already given me ideas in past several times--- like clean up your environment, if you can't remove from the environment - insert obstacles to make difficult to access, eat recommended food in recommended fashion when hungry, etc.

All of the "other" non-MWL items in the house don't bother me at all (and I don't bother them). They are either:
1) Items that repulse me (primarily dairy products, including even junk food or some random canned goods like Spaghetti-O's) OR
2) Items that I have no interest in (primarily enriched flour products or juice or dry cereal).

I was able to put peanut butter into "not my food" category by having a cooling off period and removing it from the house. My son eats this and he doesn't live with us - so I was purchasing it for him when he came home and then sending back leftovers with him when he went back to school. After Thanksgiving holiday, I realized that I forgot to send it back and it sat in the refrigerator. Have kept a jar stocked in back of refrigerator ever since - for convenience since he sometimes doesn't give notice before coming home (and he eats this every day).... Has not bothered me one bit --- but, nobody is eating it right next to me either.... (SO! this is the one important contextual difference between this food and the other foods....)

I think that you have imagined the slip up / environmental scenario of the other 2 foods quite accurately... :lol:

I like your suggestion of having a "special" adherent snack prepared in these cases and will use this. I always have roasted potato slices and rarely use condiments -- so for special, will add 1T of BBQ sauce for dipping and 50/50 with a frozen fruit that I love.

I also have thought of better framing a request /discussion to please not consume these right next to me --- (It is like poking the bear...) ;)

A few months ago, was on a call when a fellow McD'er was discussing a very similar scenario that she was facing with her spouse and non-adherent foods. So, she threw his junk food away!!! :D She said that she had bought him a lock-box and if he couldn't use it then that was his problem, not hers. He was quite surprised when this happened, but sounds like he didn't make that mistake again. Unfortunately, this isn't quite my style --- but I keep thinking it sounds pretty effective...

6 Eliminate any added oil.
:D Yes!

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
:D YES!!!!

8 Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
:) Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
:) Yes. I didn't stuff or starve.
I am still periodically (a few times a week) snacking when hungry on roasted potato that I didn't 50/50. This is kind of my crutch to avoid issues with 5.


10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes. :)
* 6/7 days walked outside. (Severe rainstorms one day kept me to pacing inside the house and also went to a couple of stores.)
* Exceeded my steps goal by 1.9K steps / day.


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

I am so excited to be celebrating on Monday my 1 year anniversary of following the 10 Pt. Checklist. Over this year, my health has significantly improved and I have gone from feeling "down and out" to calm and hopeful. It has been a definite learning process to both understand and effectively incorporate the 10 Pt. Checklist into daily life -- and I am sure much more to learn and experience. To commemorate this milestone, I will be having soup, salad, fruit, and potato (not necessarily in that order).

This group has been such an integral part in my journey and I want to thank especially the moderators - Mark, Jeff, WildGoose - for all of their support, time, kindness, patience, sharing. Much gratitude ---- THANK YOU!!!! :cool:

Also, thank you to every participant walking the path. I learn so much from each of you and am happy to not feel lonely in learning and practicing these habits. I think that we can all succeed - keep going!!!

Looking forward to moving onward to another year of reclaiming my health --- Time & Adherence...

Cheers to all of you and hope you have a wonderful week!!!

Best,
Stephanie
"Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path.
Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back." - Martina Navratilova
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5/6 Time & Adherence Group - Weekly Food / Exercise

Postby VegSeekingFit » Sat Apr 30, 2022 10:58 am

I am not feeling like typing much anymore today.... :)

Quick thought - Split Pea Soup makes for an excellent breakfast choice. I had that a few times this week - preceded by a finger food salad and usually a bowl of honeydew melon. Not sure why I can't get tired of this soup... must have eaten 5 quarts of it this week...

Complaint - so sick of the news feed on the browser. I don't usually ever click on anything --- but wonder how many people truly care less about what is up today with Elon Musk (searching for vomit emoji)...

Happy thought - Birds!! Had a close sighting of a blue jay on my deck this morning. Beautiful!!! Continued on with the bird watching this week. Also saw some cardinals, woodpeckers, nuthatches...

Going to do the shopping today. Thinking to go to the International Market for the best produce selection. Ended up going to WFM instead. Was wanting some frozen mango and dark cherries that they don't have at International Market...

Keeping it short this week. Managed to avoid any contact with the peanuts. Going to continue to steer clear of them.

Lost 1 lb - at 117 (rounded up). Can still fit into my pants - so all is well. :lol:

Below is my checklist that I will copy to MWL forum.

Hi Fellow MWL'ers!! :)

Hope that everyone is having a great week! Happy Mother's Day!!

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. :) Yes. I consistently preload B/L/D. Have been enjoying Romaine lettuce, persian cucumbers, rainbow carrots, tomatoes of all sorts, radishes, bell peppers. Also fresh and frozen fruit.

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches.
Choose fruit for dessert.
:) Yes.
Lots of potatoes, rice, starchy soups, beans, Jeff burgers 50/50 with roasted veggies, salad, fruit.
Made simple meals and kept prepared ingredients easily available.


3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
:) Yes, reduced not eliminated. Used a little seasoned salt on potatoes at times. That was really it for the week.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
YES, of course. :D

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
:-D YES!!!!!!!!! Successfully steered clear of the peanut. Ridiculous though it may seem, I think my long-winded post about this last week helped me keep clean!

6 Eliminate any added oil.
:D Yes!

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
:D YES!!!!

8 Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
:) Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
:) Yes. I didn't stuff or starve.
I snacked a few times when hungry on roasted potato that I didn't 50/50.


10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes. :)
* 6/7 days walked outside. Day I missed had an appointment at lunch when I usually walk.
* Exceeded my steps goal by 1.9K steps / day (same as last week, which seems like I may be sand-bagging on my goal).


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Thank you, Mark for sharing your experience with removing certain foods last week. Very helpful.

Everyone, thank you for sharing your progress!!! Wishing you all much success at continuing to build healthy habits.

Have a spectacularly starchy week!!!

Best,
Stephanie
"Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path.
Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back." - Martina Navratilova
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5/13 Time & Adherence Group - Weekly Food / Exercise

Postby VegSeekingFit » Sat May 07, 2022 10:12 am

Hello,

Goals for this week:
1) Keep clear of the nuts Update - 1 occurrence... :oops: Will put details in Assessment...

2) Get 7/7 for exercise Update - Yes!!! So, I am like Goldilocks this week with the weather. I love to walk outside - and I am at lunch time walking which I really like and worked great for cold weather. This week went from 40ish wearing turtleneck and hooded sweatshirt to 90ish searching for summer clothes / melting!!! I still walked, but was a bit less duration... Looking for the 60's and 70's that were skipped (oh, that will come this week). I would have walked more inside with the heat, but for 2 of the 90ish days, it was 87 in house as hubby was not wanting to turn on the air (because we will need to go back to heat). This topic I thought quite worthy of a discussion and we did ultimately turn on air. I can't sleep well when melting!

3) Relax & unwind :cool: I was not off work this week. Goal was mainly to continue to avoid too much exposure to news and to spend time outdoors and enjoy the spring weather. Also, have been attempting to meditate.... :eek:
Anyway, am very grateful that following this 10 Point Checklist has helped me in general to feel more calm / hopeful / in control of situations. Today / Friday the 13th!!! received the most scathing work email that I have received in my career (and I have been around the block a time or two...). This was the first message I opened this morning and was for a project that I am not on and for a function that I am not in... but someone knows that I know something about a certain system (was also addressed to another team member). Anyway, took a breath and looked to find the right party to respond to this, let the powers that be know that someone was pretty unhappy (justifiably),and ensure that other team member that this was addressed to didn't respond. In the interim, this message was escalated far and wide and high (to folks who don't know that I'm not on the project or have accountability - meaning my name is mud)... Connected with the appropriate owner (who may have made a mistake, but did not deserve this message either)... Had my boss communicate the issue / ownership / impact (small, person who did this is an "Issue Maker")... Was a bit exhausting in between meetings this AM. Had planned to do some independent work in the PM, but opted to just take it off instead. Self-care... I took a nap and then did some magazine reading (Audubon, Birds & Blooms, Prevention, Women's Health)... Prior to MWL 10 Point, I expect that my heart would have been racing, but I was able to sleep / now journal and move on...


Yesterday night we had a lot of bat action outside. It was exciting to watch!!! There were several bats flying overhead eating bugs. Pretty cool to watch. I still watch the birds too!!

Thinking to plant a few annuals either this weekend or next. Our lilac trees are blooming and they smell amazing. Also, these attract beautiful butterflies.

I am looking forward to next weekend being able to go to the Farmers Market!!! Have been keeping my meals super simple, but do like to find different produce choices that may be excellent!!!

My weight is exactly the same to the tenth of a pound with last week. My weight is 1.6 lbs. above what I declared way earlier a good weight for me. I am fine with what it is or if it decreases is also fine. My goal is to maintain the weight which I expect to be able to do if I maintain the behaviors which I intend to do. I can still fit in my pants... So, all is well and I continue on with doing what I did to get here.

Below is my checklist that I will post to MWL thread.

Hi Team Time & Adherence,

Hope that everyone is enjoying their week and their food!!! :-D We've had crazy weather in Chicagoland with temperatures moving from the 40's to like 90. Expected to rationalize (60's/ 70's high) in the upcoming week. I am all in for that!!!

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. :) Yes. I consistently preload B/L/D. Have been enjoying Romaine lettuce, persian (or cocktail) cucumbers, rainbow carrots, tomatoes of all sorts, radishes, bell peppers. Also fresh and frozen fruit. This week I have loved Galia melon and frozen mango and frozen dark / sweet cherries. They seem almost too good to be compliant... :)

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches.
Choose fruit for dessert.
:) Yes.
Still following similar routine and batch cooking potatoes, rice, beans.
Made simple meals and kept prepared ingredients easily available.
Loved a "summery" plate of Mexican salad. Put corn, rice, smashed beans (Mary McD recipe) on half the plate and then romaine, tomatoes, red onion on other half of the plate. Added some NSA salsa and TB of taco sauce. Super delicious and filling.

Also loving super simple meal of Romaine, carrot, other raw veggie pre-load with roasted potato slices and fruit 50/50. All ingredients are in the refrigerator to make this a "go"!!!



3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
:) Yes, reduced not eliminated. Used a little onion salt on potatoes at times. Also, had 2 TB BBQ sauce once with Jeff Burger / roasted potatoes. That is sugar based on the brand that I picked up at WFM which is low sodium (I tried to find the best product using Jeff label reading guidance). I didn't use sugar on anything else this week (rarely do).

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
YES, of course. :D

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
;) Well, there was one occurrence where I fell short on 5 and 7. The usual suspects for me under similar circumstances. I do aspire to remove these items from my "food for me" list. I am trying to incorporate concepts that Mark Cooper has successfully done with changing mindset here. I do believe that I have slow incremental forward progress, but am not quite there yet.
Learnings:
1) I did eat potato slices roasted first.

2) These didn't really taste that great to me, but not tasting bad either. (good for not Pleasure Trapping me here, where I am not great at climbing out). 3) Still not sure why I am so attracted to dry, salty, calorie dense foods... Boo!
4) Better self-talk and laughed to think about how to avoid next time. (so, this is priceless... laugh!! but TRY to understand and overcome)
5) Next time, I will go for a second of the potato slices instead of caving to dry, salty, calorie dense CRAP.
6) I believe that I can do this. If I did it with peanut butter, I should be able to do it with anything.
7) I would feel much better to report a "clean" checklist. But this is the reality.... So, yeah...

6 Eliminate any added oil.
[b] :D Yes!


7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
:| See #5.

8 Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
:) Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
:) Yes. I didn't stuff or starve.
Again, I snacked a few times when hungry on roasted potato that I didn't 50/50 or pre-load. I am not prioritizing changing this yet until I am a bit more secure feeling on #5/7. But, yes -- I do intend to eat the recommended foods in the recommended fashion...


10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes. :)
* 7/7 days walked outside. I walked less steps than past 2 weeks due to HEAT. :shock: I can't believe we went from 40ish to 90ish in the same week. I am looking forward to next week getting more steps / time walking outside.
* Exceeded my steps goal by 1.1K steps / day (less than prior 2 weeks).
* I still need to prioritize resistance training. I have this on the future list to do.


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

One non-scale victory that I have recently noticed is thicker hair!!! Yes!!! Woo-hoo to this....

I have a huge amount of gratitude for this group. I can't effectively articulate how much Mark, Jeff, Wildgoose have helped me to find my way. It is the long way for me, but I'll get there!!!

Not only do I learn from every participant's comments, but also I am inspired by all of the success on this Board. It is simply incredible!! So go back to Carol's / Carwex comment a month or two ago... We are all stars in training!! Keep Going!!!

Thank you to all moderators and participants! You are transforming lives! Hoping that everyone has an excellent week!!

Cheers,
Stephanie
"Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path.
Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back." - Martina Navratilova
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VegSeekingFit
 
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