Starflower’s Journey to Health

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

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Re: Starflower’s Journey to Health

Postby Starflower » Sat Sep 24, 2022 1:38 pm

Very belated thank you, Stephanie!

Life happened, but I’m here to try again. Looking back, maybe MWL wasn’t the best place for me to start. Maybe halfway between MWL and the Starch Solution would be better. I need to go with a few really simple rules and make them part of who I choose to be.

1. I don’t eat animal products of any kind.

2. I don’t eat high fat foods.

3. I don’t eat when I’m not hungry.

Starting today. Right now.
This journey is one of constant small adjustments. Nothing is ever static, no matter how long you've been eating this way. If something isn't working, you tweak it and make small changes until it works better.
- Wildgoose
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Re: Starflower’s Journey to Health

Postby VegSeekingFit » Sun Sep 25, 2022 6:41 pm

Hey Starflower!!! :) :-D

Great to see you back!!! Life gets in the way all of the time...

Wishing you the best with your plan!!!

If you post here, I bet there will be folks to support you!!!

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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Re: Starflower’s Journey to Health

Postby Starflower » Mon Sep 26, 2022 6:15 am

VegSeekingFit wrote:Hey Starflower!!! :) :-D

Great to see you back!!! Life gets in the way all of the time...

Wishing you the best with your plan!!!

If you post here, I bet there will be folks to support you!!!

Best,
Stephanie


Hi Stephanie!

Thanks for welcoming me back! It feels good to start again. You’re right. Life always happens, so now is as good a time as any!

You have beautiful pictures in your journal. Lots of inspiration there!

Wishing you the best!
This journey is one of constant small adjustments. Nothing is ever static, no matter how long you've been eating this way. If something isn't working, you tweak it and make small changes until it works better.
- Wildgoose
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Re: Starflower’s Journey to Health

Postby Ejeff » Mon Sep 26, 2022 7:41 am

Starflower, good for you to just keep going. :-D Anyone can have great success with the McDougall plan. It takes time and adherence. One day at a time. If you have a not so great day, just put it behind you as quick as you can and just keep going.

I have found the best success when I have a super clean kitchen inventory. When there is nothing off plan to tempt me, making the healthiest choices are just that much easier.

You got this!

Erin
"The more disciplined your environment is, the less disciplined you need to be. Don't swim upstream."
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Re: Starflower’s Journey to Health

Postby Starflower » Mon Sep 26, 2022 8:01 am

I spent some time this weekend thinking about my attempt to follow MWL last June. Life happened, but that isn’t the whole explanation. Looking back, it was pre-loading and eliminating some foods that are allowed in the regular McDougall program. So even my three rules might run into trouble because of eliminating foods that - for me - are important, like tofu. That makes me think that following the Starch Solution, with an abundance of low calorie density vegetables in simple recipes, is my best choice. Kudos to those who can follow the stricter MWL. For me, slower and simpler is better.
This journey is one of constant small adjustments. Nothing is ever static, no matter how long you've been eating this way. If something isn't working, you tweak it and make small changes until it works better.
- Wildgoose
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Re: Starflower’s Journey to Health

Postby Starflower » Mon Sep 26, 2022 8:08 am

Ejeff wrote:Starflower, good for you to just keep going. :-D Anyone can have great success with the McDougall plan. It takes time and adherence. One day at a time. If you have a not so great day, just put it behind you as quick as you can and just keep going.

I have found the best success when I have a super clean kitchen inventory. When there is nothing off plan to tempt me, making the healthiest choices are just that much easier.

You got this!

Erin


Thank you for your encouragement, Erin!

That’s a really good point. I’m off to my pantry to fill a bag of not compliant food to donate to the local food pantry.

Wishing you the best!
This journey is one of constant small adjustments. Nothing is ever static, no matter how long you've been eating this way. If something isn't working, you tweak it and make small changes until it works better.
- Wildgoose
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Re: Starflower’s Journey to Health

Postby VegSeekingFit » Mon Sep 26, 2022 7:53 pm

Starflower wrote:
VegSeekingFit wrote:Hey Starflower!!! :) :-D

Great to see you back!!! Life gets in the way all of the time...

Wishing you the best with your plan!!!

If you post here, I bet there will be folks to support you!!!

Best,
Stephanie


Hi Stephanie!

Thanks for welcoming me back! It feels good to start again. You’re right. Life always happens, so now is as good a time as any!

You have beautiful pictures in your journal. Lots of inspiration there!

Wishing you the best!


Hi !!! :D :-D

Thanks for that!!! I like what you said about cleaning up non-adherent stuff too!!! That is awesome!!!

Now is the best time!!! :cool:

Glad you are here and wishing you the 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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Re: Starflower’s Journey to Health

Postby Starflower » Tue Sep 27, 2022 4:26 pm

Thank you for your encouraging posts, Stephanie! This forum is quiet, but very helpful and welcoming. Best to you! :)

I was surprised by how little I needed to give away. There’s some meat and cheese left for family, but I’m vegan so leaving that alone isn’t hard. Nobody uses oil. I used up two things that were open, so now there are only good choices left. I want keep it that way!
This journey is one of constant small adjustments. Nothing is ever static, no matter how long you've been eating this way. If something isn't working, you tweak it and make small changes until it works better.
- Wildgoose
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Posts: 361
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Re: Starflower’s Journey to Health

Postby Starflower » Fri Nov 25, 2022 8:41 pm

Life happened. Celebrations happened. Thanksgiving happened. I’ve learned a few things and made more than a few mistakes. I need to get this right because my health is suffering. Today I got my pantry cleaned and listed out my favorite simple starch-based recipes. I never get tired of leafy greens and potatoes, made lots of ways. There are plenty of both in the house. I have lots of vegetables, beans and some tofu, white rice, and pasta. I really don’t like brown rice anymore. That should be a good start and let me avoid temptation in the grocery store for a week or more if I cook ahead. I decided to avoid the scale and concentrate on eating well. If I follow the plan, my weight will find a healthy level. I want to focus on health and aging well.
This journey is one of constant small adjustments. Nothing is ever static, no matter how long you've been eating this way. If something isn't working, you tweak it and make small changes until it works better.
- Wildgoose
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Posts: 361
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Re: Starflower’s Journey to Health

Postby Starflower » Sat Nov 26, 2022 1:12 pm

I started cooking ahead for the week this morning. I’m making some thick vegetable soup, and baking some chickpeas with chili spices. I made enough bread with masa and herbs for two or three days. It’s a good start. I need to bake some potatoes later.
This journey is one of constant small adjustments. Nothing is ever static, no matter how long you've been eating this way. If something isn't working, you tweak it and make small changes until it works better.
- Wildgoose
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Posts: 361
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Re: Starflower’s Journey to Health

Postby Starflower » Mon Nov 28, 2022 8:17 pm

My food choices over the weekend and today were almost all compliant. I took a brisk walk and stretched today, and made lentil soup for tomorrow. I decided to try weighing myself, only on Sundays, just to make sure I’m not overeating. Recognizing the satisfied, but not too full, point is a challenge. Step by step!
This journey is one of constant small adjustments. Nothing is ever static, no matter how long you've been eating this way. If something isn't working, you tweak it and make small changes until it works better.
- Wildgoose
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Posts: 361
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2022 10:18 am

Re: Starflower’s Journey to Health

Postby Starflower » Tue Nov 29, 2022 7:20 pm

Today my food was completely compliant. I overate at dinner, but at least it was compliant food. I had tea with soy milk, 3 tortillas, half of a sweet potato, a rice cake, pasta, corn, lentil stew with noodles, lettuce, rice and navy beans, green beans with onions, about 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds, some nutritional yeast and some mustard. That was three meals and a snack. Wow, that sounds like a lot!

I walked for 30 minutes and did some stretching this morning. I want to add 30 more minutes walking daily in the afternoon. Feeling better already!
This journey is one of constant small adjustments. Nothing is ever static, no matter how long you've been eating this way. If something isn't working, you tweak it and make small changes until it works better.
- Wildgoose
User avatar
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Posts: 361
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2022 10:18 am

Re: Starflower’s Journey to Health

Postby Starflower » Wed Nov 30, 2022 9:17 am

Staying away from the scale is going to be hard. I weighed myself every day for a long time. I made it a few days at least. This morning my weight was down a pound since Sunday! That feels good!
This journey is one of constant small adjustments. Nothing is ever static, no matter how long you've been eating this way. If something isn't working, you tweak it and make small changes until it works better.
- Wildgoose
User avatar
Starflower
 
Posts: 361
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2022 10:18 am

Re: Starflower’s Journey to Health

Postby JeffN » Wed Nov 30, 2022 9:27 am

Starflower wrote:Staying away from the scale is going to be hard. I weighed myself every day for a long time. I made it a few days at least. This morning my weight was down a pound since Sunday! That feels good!


The main issue with weighing every day is that there are daily fluctuations that can be caused by many fleeting things (mostly fluid related). Second, people let the number make oe ruin their day when our real goal is sustained behavior change over time. I wrote an article on this and recommend weighing once a week. However, for those who want to weight once a day, to use a seven (or 10) day rolling average as that will smooth out man of the fluctuations. There are websites and program out there that will do the calculations for you and I am told it is easy to set one up in Excel.

https://us4.campaign-archive.com/?e=&u= ... 3d3faad0b3

In health
Jeff
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Re: Starflower’s Journey to Health

Postby Starflower » Wed Nov 30, 2022 9:34 am

JeffN wrote:
Starflower wrote:Staying away from the scale is going to be hard. I weighed myself every day for a long time. I made it a few days at least. This morning my weight was down a pound since Sunday! That feels good!


The main issue with weighing every day is that there are daily fluctuations that can be caused by many fleeting things (mostly fluid related). Second, people let the number make oe ruin their day when our real goal is sustained behavior change over time. I wrote an article on this and recommend weighing once a week. However, for those who want to weight once a day, to use a seven (or 10) day rolling average as that will smooth out man of the fluctuations. There are websites and program out there that will do the calculations for you and I am told it is easy to set one up in Excel.

https://us4.campaign-archive.com/?e=&u= ... 3d3faad0b3

In health
Jeff


Thank you, Jeff! I’ll go read it right now.
This journey is one of constant small adjustments. Nothing is ever static, no matter how long you've been eating this way. If something isn't working, you tweak it and make small changes until it works better.
- Wildgoose
User avatar
Starflower
 
Posts: 361
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2022 10:18 am

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