2020 MWL Musings

[MaryP]

Yay! I had a big loss this week: 5 pounds. Some it was probably water from my trip. I couldn't weigh myself last week because I had no scales. I weighed on Tuesday. So the loss was since then.

I am back on track this week except for exercise. Got back to that today. I feel really good and am confident that I will be under 200 before the end of the month. When Ihit 190, I will be the lowest I have been since I got married 50 years ago. I am really happy!

Weight: 206
Loss: -5 pounds
Planned meals:
1st Meal: salad, mashed potatoes with gravy, Brussels sprouts
2nd Meal: salad, mashed potatoes with gravy, mixed vegetable medley
Exercise: 1 hour water aerobics

[kirstykay]

WooHoo! Congratulations! That's awesome!!

[MaryP]

Thanks, Kirsty Kay! I'm doing a Mary's mini with potatoes. I haven't eaten many potatoes this year but I decided to do a mini month with potatoes. So my plates are half potatoes and half veggies. Makes cooking easy. I alternate with vegetable soup that has potatoes in it. I've only had to cook 3 times this week. Loving it!

[MaryP]

Did well with exercise today. 1 hour of water aerobics and 30 minutes of laps in the pool. Glad to be back to some exercise.

What I ate today:
1st meal: salad, mashed potatoes and gravy with a steamed vegetable medley
2nd meal: baked potato with a steamed vegetable medley
Snack: baked potato and mustard
Exercise: 1 hour warer aerobics, 30 minutes laps in pool

[MaryP]

I forgot to post yesterday. If went well. As I had to be out most of the day, I got up early and went for a walk. Beautiful day yesterday, although cold in the morning. Went for a shorter walk in the evening when it was a lot warmer.

What I ate yesterday:
1at meal:salad, baked potato, vegetable medley
Snack: baked potato and mustard
2nd meal: salad, baked potato, steamed veggies
Snack: half a sweet potato
Exercise: 1 1/2 hours walking

Today is Monday. I woke up late. Must have been all that exercise I did yesterday. I went to the pool even though I was late for water aerobics. It feels like I only have energy for exercise, meal prep and eating. Then I'm tired all day! I went back for a second round of aerobics because I was restless.

What I ate today:
1st meal: salad, sweet potato, vegetable medley
2nd meal:salad, sweet potato, vegetable medley
3rd meal: sweet potato, vegetable medley
Exercise: 1 1/2 hours water aerobics, 30 minutes laps

[deweyswakms]

Bravo Mary on the weight loss. It's fun and satisfying to hit the #s! I can tell that you are going to achieve your goals. I too love swimming and water aerobics but have fallen away from it. That changes this week as I got rid of an obligation I didn't want and will use that day to get back in the pool!

Marsha

[MaryP]

Marsha, I always said in my last lifetime I was either a fish or a mermaid! I've always loved being in water. I've been doing water aerobics for about 8 years. It's my favorite form of exercise. These days I am trying to broaden my horizons and do other things, too. I'm in the water 4-5 days a week. I'm also walking and doing a senior exercise program that has light aerobics with weight and resistance training. I try to do at least a hour a day of something. Makes me feel better!

Thanks for stopping in and commenting.

[MaryP]

Forgot to post yesterday.

What I ate:
1st meal: salad, sweet potato, steamed veggies
2nd meal: salad, sweet potatoes, steamed veggies
Snack: baked potato with mustard
Exercise:
Stationary bike: 20 minutes
Aerobics: 1 hour
Walk: 35 minutes

[MaryP]

I'm tired tonight. I woke up early, too early to get up and had a hard time getting back to sleep. I'm off to bed after I write this.

WhatI ate today:
1st meal: salad, sweet. Potatoes and steamed veggies
2nd meal: salad, sweet potatoes and steamed veggies
Snack: baked potatoes and mustard
Exercise: 1 hour water aerobics and 20 minutes stationary bike

Good night!

[squealcat]

Mary P. , I am mostly eating potatoes as well this week. I knew I needed to do something different and so potatoes are what is happening ! I am eating regular potatoes and sweet potatoes as well as salad, steamed veggies and a little balsamic vinegar on my salad. Making it simple is working for me. I hope you have found it helpful as well.

I am not sure how long I will do this so am taking it day by day. Are you doing this for 10 days? I have to think it through a little more. Maybe 10 days for me on potatoes and then see how I am feeling. It definetly has helped to not have a lot of choices !

Best of luck to you on your journey !

-squealcat

[MaryP]

Hi Squealcat. Just fininished ten days on the Mary's mini. I started out with potatoes and then switched to sweet potatoes. I have been monitoring my blood sugar, which is why I switched to sweet potatoes. They are lower glycemic. My plan was to do just potatoes and non starchy vegetables for a month but I am stopping and adding beans back into my diet as they are even lower glycemic. My ultimate goal is to get rid of my medications. I'm not there yet, though.

The 10 day mini was a success. I lost 8 pounds. Part of it, I'm sure, was water weight from traveling. We came back from Honolulu and our flight from LA to Chicago was cancelled twice. We spent 24 hours in the airport. That's never good for circulation.

I have always had good success doing the minis. This last summer, I alternated eating different starches for a week at a time. I tried potatoes, rice, corn and quinoa. Potatoes have always been my favorite. I did minis for a couple of months. In a row.

Since starting with MWL monthly weigh-ins in January, my meals have gotten very simple. I like the concept of the 50/50 plate. I usually have a Starch and a mixture of lightly seasoned veggies. I alternate that with vegetable soup that I add my starch to. I also try to eat a salad before every meal. Both of these points have kept portions in control.

If you need to talk to anyone about the mini, I am always here.

[squealcat]

Mary, I had type II diabetes (my doctor says I still do) and I got my A1c down to normal by losing weight and eating McDougall-style. My doctor is very pleased but warns that if my weight climbs and I start eating a lot of junk food again then that type II will return. I also was able to decrease my blood pressure med and come off the statin that I was on. So, just the lowest dose blood pressure pill, a B12 and vitamin D (during the winter) is all I take. I am sure that if you persist and eat the way you are doing right now you will get rid of those meds too !

I am hoping that eating mostly potatoes and veggies will help me change my ways of wandering to foods that I should not eat or should cut way down on (bread is one of those). I really think it is helping. It alleviates the choices in my day and thus it is easier for me. I will continue this for a while.

I guess that I, too, am adding beans to my day as I add my homemade hummus to two or three meals each day. I do like beans !

good health to you !
-squealcat

[MaryP]

Thanks, Squealcat. I have high hopes that if I lose enough weight and am able to maintain, I will also get off meds. I did the mini to reset after vacation. Eating very simply helped me to refocus and rededicate. It seemed to work. I lost the water weight from traveling and I am back on track with my eating. Over the past 10 days, I lost 8 pounds. I'm happy.

[MaryP]

Weight: 203
Weight loss this week: 3 pounds
Weight loss since January 1: 20 pounds

What I ate today:
1st meal: salad, rice, lentils, mixed vegetables, lentil soup
2nd meal: salad, sweet potatoes, vegetable soup with lentils
3rd meal: vegetable soup with lentils

I went to a birthday party at an Indian restaurant where I knew everything would have oil in it. I made the best choices I could. I filled half my plate with dry salad, and half the rest of the plate with rice and lentils and the rest with vegetables. I stayed away from the creamy foods, ate no appetizers, bread, dessert, nor birthday cake. I feel good as I love Indian food and in the past would have had two full plates of the food. And there were three cakes including a chocolate fudge cake with a chocolate mousse filling. In the past, I would have eaten a huge piece! I have no history of staying with a healthy way of eating for longer than 2 months so this is virgin territory. I pray for the strength to never go back to eating the way I used to. I want to live the remainder of my life eating to live, not living to eat. Oh, and I had a great time at the party with all my friends!

[Ejeff]

Great job at the restaurant! Eating out is always tough for me, but you made great choices. I admire that.