Goals for this week:
1) Eat only the recommended foods Mostly... another occurrence of the NOT recommended 5/7 items - same things... continuing to work on this... Getting better with eating potato first and using positive self-talk instead of becoming discouraged.
Was able to "fight off" two other occurrences with the potato.
2) Exceed steps from this week ... Yes!!! Exceeded step goal by 2K per day.
3) Relax!!
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Favorite foods I have made this week:
Split pea soup is my comfort food. I eat this in ridiculous amounts, but that is ok because I eat when hungry and stop when full. It has a load of carrot / celery / onion / potato and is quite thick. One food that I cannot get sick of. I cook this with garlic, smoked paprika, rosemary ... Super delicious and I can make another pot even if blindfolded...
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
I made pasta this week. A couple of times I included a smashed up frozen Jeff Burger with the pasta. Also roasted mushrooms and onions. Covered with tomato sauce. I had some salad as well to make this 50/50.
I am super excited that now the weather is ok for my BFF to walk with me. Going tomorrow !!! YAY!!!!
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On my way home, was thrilled to see that Farmers Market was opened (a week earlier than I thought). Scored a bunch of delicious produce that is now mainly eaten!!!
Was DELIGHTED to see my comment on McD 12 Day featured in the email mailing this week...
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Below is weekly Behavioral Assessment that I will post to MWL thread.
Hi Team Time & Adherence!!!
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Hope that everyone is having a great week!!! Was super excited last week to find the local Farmers Market open - and scored some great produce - including screaming ripe strawberries and flavorful bell peppers. Also, green leaf lettuce, shitake mushrooms, onions (red, yellow, green), yukon gold potatoes, broccoli, skinny asparagus... lots of delicious stuff!
1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
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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.
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Still following similar routine and batch cooking potatoes, rice, beans, split pea soup, sloppy lentils, pasta.
Made a huge Pyrex of roasted veggies from Farmers Market. Cut them super small - skinny asparagus, green onion, red bell pepper, shitake mushrooms... YUM! Will try a different concoction this week.
Keeping ingredients ready to grab in the refrigerator makes it simple to assemble a compliant meal.
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.
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4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
YES, of course.
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5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
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Getting better with eating potato first and using positive self-talk instead of becoming discouraged.
Was able to "fight off" two other occurrences with the potato.
Considering below questions from Mark to help to nip this in the bud.
Am completing a "mindfulness" web-course in my work health app --- which had a relevant point on the "Thinker" and the "Doer" parts of your brain and how they aren't always working in a synchronized fashion.
Mark Cooper wrote:I would encourage you to make this a series of questions, (Why am I feeling a desire to eat these specific foods at this particular moment? What am I feeling in my body? What will happen if I do or don't eat them? If I eat something else instead? How would I describe my current context?) that you pose to yourself. What does your intuition reveal to you about this? I think you are doing an exemplary job of working through these challenges in a considered, informed fashion. Keep at it!VegSeekingFit wrote:Still not sure why I am so attracted to dry, salty, calorie dense foods
Also, I keep trying here... Taking a portion of Jeff's quote from a reply to Cindy on a different food item --- but I think the concept is relevant to me here as well... Thinking that little "cheats" can easily snowball. I have done that experiment before - so aspiring for 100% going forward!
JeffN wrote:
Remember, little indulges turns into big set back over time. That is how it starts.
We can do better!
Jeff
6 Eliminate any added oil.
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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.
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8 Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
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9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
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Again, I snacked about 5 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.
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* 7/7 days walked outside. One of the days was with a hooded sweatshirt, parka, umbrella....
* Exceeded my steps goal by 2K steps / day .
* I still need to prioritize resistance training and becoming at least a bit more active.
Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
Thanks, Mark for sharing the Compliance on a Healthy Diet thread. Like others have commented, I found this impactful in many areas and is information that I will continue to reference. Noella mentioned the Self-Efficacy concept / factor in success and I also find this intriguing and wonder how to build skills in this space (or are they inherently present or absent?)... Carol highlighted the larger issue of public health and how change can be introduced. Thinking that it would be lovely if environment was more supportive of healthy eating with more choices of the recommended foods.
Bambi - Congrats on awesome doctor visit!!! You are doing great!!!
Rebecka22 - I so agree with you on it being simpler to put together compliant meal with a blank plate - instead of trying to make a non-MWL dish compliant. You are on fire with 10 / 10!!!
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Carol - Your congee sounds really good!! If you are looking for other breakfast ideas, I have found that I do best with a bit of legumes included --- for instance, I will have a salad, fruit, and potato with a bit of smashed Mary McD beans or split pea soup.
CindyD - Hi - I am in IL too!!
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Gimmelean - Your food always sounds so delicious!!!! Thanks for sharing these ideas!
Noella - thanks for sharing your travel tips! It sounds like you are doing great!
Huge thank you to Mark, Jeff, Wildgoose and all participants!
Hope that everyone has a wonderful and compliant week!!! I can't believe only 1 more check-in and we are already to JUNE!
Best,
Stephanie