New Year, New Me!

[nomikins]

Brilliant insights and observations. I'm very proud of you!

I really liked your comments that 1: being a little hungry for a while won't kill you. And 2, uncomfortable feelings won't kill you. You don't need to "redirect" yourselft to food because you are feeling a certain way, in order to distract yourself from whatever it is your feeling. This is a huge breakthrough!

I strongly urge you to read Geneen Roth's book, Women, Food, and God. It may give you further insights. It was a powerful eye opener for me for some things.

Keep on keepin' on!

[fulenn]

I also enjoyed your post. Wonderful! Your 2nd point speaks volumes to me--I can come up with TONS of reasons that I'm not losing weight, but because of what I am eating? I like your get-real no-nonsense attitude.

Fulenn

[kirstykay]

Thanks Nomikins and Fulenn! I was honestly surprised at how much insight I gained from this "experiment." I appreciate your comments and encouragement.

I enjoyed my first meal last night. I should have taken a picture of it because it was so plain and so little food, but it felt like a FEAST to me. It consisted of fresh watermellon and mixed greens, about a 1/2 cup of each. The sweet, juicy watermellon literally burst into my mouth and made my tastebuds actually tingle! The greens were crunchy and a mixture os sweet and bitter. I mixed them together after the first couple of bites, and it tasted like a gourmet salad! My dh and son were laughing at me because I was enjoying such a simple meal so completely!

I was hungry when I got home from the gym later that night so I had 3 big, juicy strawberries, and experienced the same exhilaration! That was enough to satisfy me and I went to bed happy!

I have a plan today to make a simple vegetable soup and eat small amounts of it as often as I want. I'll post the recipe after I make it. Knowing that I can have it as often as I want makes me feel calmer about my fear that I will just want to eat and eat and eat will be unable to limit my consumption. So far, I haven't felt that way, but it's a fear of mine, and I've read stories of people who have fasted and then ruined everything by binging afterward. That really does a number on your system, and can atually be harmful to your body. So I am happy to have a strategy to guard against allowing that to happen.

[janluvs2heel]

KirstyKay-
Congratulations on your weight loss & ending your fast. I just wanted to tell you, in 1979, I went on a dr. supervised protein sparing fast. It was basically a liquid diet, but I had to pour in this vile looking & tasting liquid protein into water 4x's a day. But I did it, all the time cooking for my family & working, etc. I did it for 4 mos. I finally had to break the diet because it was causing me some problems. I started off with bland veggies, then went to poached chicken with veggies. This was 1979. Anyway, I had a lost a lot of weight. Unfortunately I did slowly put the weight back on because I wanted to be cured of gaining weight. So I figured I could add stuff here & there. Wrong!! Anyway, it is hard to fast for all that time & then not get back into eating but I think you will have success. Sometimes there is just that mindset that yes, you can do it!! I had it at the beginning of my fast & I did the hard part I thought. But for me, controlling my eating has always been very hard so it began years of struggles. I have been lucky in a way that I have kept my weight "reasonable" in that I have not gone over 235 lbs. Not saying that is a good weight but I could easily see myself eating to 300+ lbs. Now I know that is not going to happen.
I see that you joined the Excursion. I am enjoying posting my food even though I have been eating pretty much the same things as I was before. However I do feel lighter this week, I can't explain it so maybe I was a little more willing to add a small something here or there, when I wasn't writing it down? I am not sure & I was losing weight, but whatever, it is working for me.

[Dissolution]

Congratulations on completing your juice fast, it was very interesting and insightful. I wanted to share with you a post I found on this discussion board, posted by someone named Purdy a few years ago. I think you learned it on your own, but I thought Purdy put it well.

Oh my, all those years you've been missing a essential ingredient in life, the joy of being hungry.

I almost never eat unless I am hungry. I love to be hungry....or should I say I enjoy having a slight edge on my desire to eat. Hungry is a negative word for most of you.
To me, having a edge on my desire to eat food...a mild hunger.... is absolutely essential before I eat. I will go out of my way to avoid food after lunch just so I won't ruin my dinner "hunger"....

If I make a mistake and eat something in the afternoon.....within a few hours of dinner, then my dinner is so diminished in enjoyment.

Can I say it again, I love my "hunger"......
People who snack or eat all these mini meals in their efforts to avoid gaining weight, absolutely ruin their appreciation of eating because they never allow themselves to be ready to eat a full satisfying meal.

Gosh, it would be like expecting to have sex at 8:00 PM but then going out and doing some sex-snacking at 4:00 in the afternoon......
Whats that going to do to that 8:00 pm encounter.... certainly won't be the same...
Hmmm? good analogy? not so sure???

Anyway, I love to allow my desire for food to grow over the hours between lunch and dinner.
Now, there are times I will have a small after noon snack with tea, but normally if I do that at 3:30 pm, you won't find me eating dinner until 9:00 pm or later.

If you allow yourself to get that "edge" in your desire for food, soon you begin to cherish it....and even take steps to avoid ruining it with snacks and the like....

OK.......Thats what I like.....

Oh one last thing. When you always feed your system, when not needed, you totally screw up your body's sensing system. That natural ability to listen to your body.


Last edited by Purdy on Tue Dec 30, 2008 6:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[kirstykay]

Jan, Thanks for sharing your story! Wow! Four months! That's amazing. I appreciate your insight and the warning about "gradually letting things back in." I think that's key for all of us. Isn't that always what eventually goes wrong? You really hit the nail on the head! Thatn is what has stalled every diet I've ever gone on, and then I just get discouraged and quit! Even McDougalling...my weight loss stalled for several months and no, I didn't give up, but boy was it discouraging! I think it's interesting that I never gave up, come think of it! I think it's because I KNOW in my heart that this is the last "DIET" I'll ever go on. Getting past the "dieting" mentality is what turns it into a lifestyle. And being honest about full compliance is what makes success possible...Anyway, thanks for sharing your experience. I'm glad you're having success with the excursion!

Dissolution--Thanks for that quote! It is very insightful! I have never thought about LOVING my hunger! That is an interesting perspective, and it totally makes perfect sense. I know that I am no longer AFRAID of my hunger, and I could see developing a "love" for it. Food does taste better when you're really hungry, so I get her point. It's a way of increasing the pleasure in an appropriate way! Wow, I'm going to have to give this some thought. I can already feel myself welcoming my hunger, and that's the first step.

[kirstykay]

First full day of eating went really well. My tummy was grumbly when I woke up-audibly hungry! I ate watermellon and grapes for breakfast, got full very quickly, worked out, went to Target, and by the time I got home I was REALLY hungry. I ate about a cup of soup that I had in the fridge (cabbage garbonzo bean from fat free vegan site). Again, filled me up quickly, and I was really glad to have something I could just grab and eat. I got really tired in the afternoon and took a long nap...I haven't done that in ages. Still full when I woke up and by the time dinner rolled around. I made my vegetable soup that I plan on eating mostly this week. I like to call it refrigerator soup because I clear out my fridge when I make this. This time, I used all the veggies I still had left from juicing. Here's what is in it:

cabbage
tomato paste
fresh green beans
swiss chard
2 onions
ginger
carrots
celery
zucchini
cauliflower
broccoli
water
Italian seasoning blend
black pepper
parsley

I had some for a late dinner once I got hungry and wow! yumm!

So, the things that surprised me are how quickly my hunger came back and how quickly I get full and stay full.

We're going to visit my son for family weekend today thru Sunday. I've packed my soup, pears, grapes, strawberries, salad, potatoes, roasted cauliflower, and baby carrots in acooler to take if there isn't anything for me to eat. We requested oil-free vegan meals for the banquet on Saturday, so we'll see...they said they would give us steamed veggies and rice. The only other problem I can imagine is when we take our son out to dinner...small college town, not a lot of restaurants to choose from. I am prepared to go without eating if there are no choices for me. I'm sure I can always get a plain salad at most restaurants if nothing else...We're really looking forward to seeing our son!

[bunsofaluminum]

Kirsty, I love that plunge at the end of your graph! woot!

Proud of you for doing that juice fast, and very excited for you, seeing the weight drip off of you, and how you are planning and taking food along for yourself while you are away from home! Keep on doing this, and you will get to your goals

blessings, Heidi

[kirstykay]

Heidi, Thanks for your encouragement! Yes, it felt so good to take charge of the trip and know that I wasn't going to go off plan no matter what! AND IT WORKED!!! I was WAY over-prepared! I took way too much food, but that was because I really didn't know what my options would be once I got to campus. Turns out, next time I don't need to bring nearly as much! The best part was the car ride. I've always associated car trips with needing to snack, and usually those snack foods are processed foods. This time, I decided, it's a four hour drive, I don't HAVE to eat...my whole mindset was different. I did end up having some soup that I brought in an insulated mug, and an apple (which tasted like heaven...honey crisps, yum!!!) but only because I got truly hungry, not because I just "felt" like eating. It was GREAT!!!

Once we got to campus, we were able to find food that was on plan...dinner Friday night was brown rice and sauted vegetables with terryaki sauce. Had some grapes back at the hotel. Breakfast at the hotel in the morning was plain oatmeal made with water and another delicious apple. Lunch was at Cracker Barrel (my son's choice), and I was worried, so I was willing to not eat if necessary...turns out they had a delicious (and huge) oven baked potato and I had a side salad with no dressing...and some grits with nothing on them. The waitress said they made those with only water and no butter. For the Family weekend Banquet on Saturday night, I had called ahead to request a no-oil vegan meal, so I skipped the buffet line, and the caterer had a beautiful plate prepared for me with brown rice, a baked potato and steamed veggies! I also had some plain salad and fresh fruit from my husband's plate!

Sunday brunch we ate in the school's dining hall and I had a HUGE plate piled high with spinach, romaine lettuce, garbonzo beans, beets, peas, carrots, broccoli, green onion, cucumbers, mushrooms and no dressing. I am most surprised that I can eat salad with no dressing and truly enjoy it! On the way home in the car, I had another delicious apple and some baby carrots.

Overall, I am thrilled with how the weekend went. I feel like my digestive system is back to normal and I am eating really well! I have gained 4 pounds, but I think that is a combination of water and having solid food in my system again. I'm a little sad, but not really worried about it. I do have some fear that I will keep gaining more weight now that I'm eating again, and that's messing with my head a bit...but I'm committed to staying on plan and trusting the program!!!!!

[SactoBob]

Kirsty -
I think you are right about the added weight coming off a fast. That is to be expected, and what I experienced too. It's great that you are experiencing different behaviors and sensations that are so much healthier. I hope that is something that will have some staying power and really make a difference for you. It's also good mentally to know that you could take on such a challenge and succeed. That's the kind of discipline that will carry through to this phase, where you are establishing a healthy eating plan.

[Rosey]

Sounds like you had a fabulous trip. HUGS!!!

[Chile]

Kirstykay, I'm sorry to be so late in answering your question. Life's been crazy and busy lately.

Here's a thread from the Recipe Forum that included a number of congee recipes. I've never tried to make congee from brown rice. Since it's a rare occasion that I make it, and mostly when one of us is sick or having extensive dental work, I've used white Thai Jasmine rice. PM me if you want that recipe.

[sksamboots]

Hey you,

I've been lurking. Not much to say when you are doing so well! I just wanted to comment on the weight gain. I forgot to tell you! Yes, the weight gain is natural and because you started to eat again. It happens to most people I know who go on/off a fast even if you go back to a plant based diet. In all my fast I always ended up gaining back a half or a little weight. Rest assured. Okay ((HUG)). You did fantastic over the weekend. I know it feels so good!!

[Anna Green]

kirstykay, I've been reading your journal back a bit. Thanks for sharing your insight and experience. It is so helpful to me and I think it must be for you. Way to go!

[fulenn]

Sounds like you had a great time visiting your son. I think it's great that you prepared so much, but even better that you won't have to next time.

Keep it up!

Fulenn