Michelle’s Loosing Fibromyalgia and Weight Journal

[lmggallagher]

SW: 241.9
CW: 221.2
GW: 150.0
Total Lost: 20.7
Last Week: 223.8
This Week: 221.2
Lost : 2.6 lb

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or 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.
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.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. Eliminate any added oil.
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
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages) . I had a kale smoothie. I know I am not to drink my calories but when I am super fatigued a kale smoothie with chia is my go to reliable immediate pick me up. Thankfully this did not in the least stall my weigh loss this week.
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Again not a possibility - last week I dropped a ceramic canister on my foot. It no longer lives up in a shelf but now on the counter where I can just reach in. None-the-less it damaged two of my toes which I now surmise are broken. They are still very swollen and my foot is turning all those ghastly bruising shades. I hope to be mobile as soon as I can.

Observation for the week -- last week Goose responded to my issue with too much tomato reaction. This week I had a very significant too much cauliflower reaction. I off the cuff explained this last week as gut reactions - but the symptoms of what my gut does not agree with are joint pain symptoms. So Goose explains her wrists react - as do mine, and my, knees, hips and shoulders but not all at once - just one at a time for just a couple of days after the trigger food.

For me it's the types of sugars in the foods I am intolerant too. The worst is a food that contains both naturally occurring fructans and mannitol sugars - such as watermelon. This week I made Mary McDougall's French Vegetable Soup- a huge stock pot full and enough to be weeks worth of dinners for me. I forgot that cauliflower will cause me great pain and sure enough only a cupful of cauliflower (literally a few of florets per bowl) put me out of commission for two days.

A good friend here who became a Star McDougaller let me know about FODMAPS to help discern food intolerances that might be sugars related. Her goal was not just weight loss but reversing psoriatic arthritis. She succeeded by adherence to this WOE and did many food challenges to identify her trigger foods as well.

I think at this point my diagnosis of fibromyalgia may be incorrect and I may be one who because of this diet avoided big flare PsA symptoms - I do not have massive skin plaques for instance. However, I do exhibit all the symptoms in a very low grade way until I encounter trigger foods.

Good progress to everyone and stay healthy - Michelle

[lmggallagher]

Goose and Mark are indispensible for dispensing all their good knowledge in the MWL Weigh-in group!

this week from Goose as I am getting tiny potatoes too!

Re: June 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby wildgoose » Mon Jun 08, 2020 1:31 pm

Lakegirl wrote:
Have tried Jeff’s Chubby Chips, as written, and would highly recommend his method as they were very potato-ey, chewy and also kind of moist if you don’t overbake. Has anyone tried or have any advice about making Chubby Chips with sweet potato or yam? I have some Japanese sweet potato and Hannah yams that I would like to use up. After re-reading the potato comments, if Chips don’t work out, I will probably steam them for a lower calorie count.


@Lakegirl I have done Chubby Chips with sweet potatoes. The orange ones are a little wet and have to be cooked longer. The Japanese sweet potatoes and Hannah yams work very well, I think.

I also do a lot of my chips/fries with pre-cooked and chilled potatoes, of all kinds. I bake or steam a big batch at once, then store them in the fridge to be reheated or made into chips or fries as needed. I think they turn out better than starting with raw potatoes.

My latest way of making potatoes came about thanks to the grocery store. I don’t go inside stores these days, so I’ve been ordering groceries for pickup. That means I don’t get to pick over the bags of potatoes and choose a bag that has the larger ones that I like. Last week, I got a bag of Yukon Golds that had mostly very small potatoes. OK, I needed to figure out what to do with them.

I cooked them in a steamer basket in the Instant Pot, then stored them in the fridge. When I was ready to eat them, I took a few, cut them in half, smashed them with the heel of my hand and air fried them at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. They were thick and came out moist on the inside, much like Chubby Chips. But I liked the rough edges on the top, and the skins were nice too. The idea wasn’t mine — I got it from Tami Kramer (Nutmeg Notebook), who posted a recipe for what she calls Smashed Potatoes.

Goose

[lmggallagher]

I've been doing this long enough to have some observations:

I've lost 20 pounds - oh happy day!
I fall asleep more easily - but still wake up often too early.
I get more deep sleep, but it's variable some nights hardly enough to notice.
I'm still having pain in the area of various joints - shoulder, wrists, knees and hips.
The pain is largely more like ligaments and tendons - a muscular tautness.
Sometimes there are weeks without this joint pain other times it's a new joint every other day.
Different joints each time but no more than two a week.
The pain subsides in two days, always.
This is new for me and happened after being on aromatase inhibitors for breast cancer.
I had all over body pain attributed to fibromayalgia for years before this - but not specific pain in joints.
I have psoriasis like plaques on my legs, arms and back.
Sometimes these plaques just shed en masse when I am feeling great.
When the joint pain is triggered - I notice new plaques almost over night.
I am also having numbness in my left foot which is new and I think swelling of my toes.
I did drop something on my foot that could cause the swelling of course, but the numbness predates that.
I have heel pain in the same left foot.
Weather affects the pain.
I'm wondering if this is psoriatic arthritis?

[lmggallagher]

SW: 241.9
CW: 220.2
GW: 150.0
Total Lost: 21.7
Last Week: 221.2
This Week: 220.2
Lost : 1.0 lb

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or 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.
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.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. Eliminate any added oil.
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
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages) . I had another kale smoothie. I know I am not to drink my calories but when I am super fatigued a kale smoothie with chia is my go to reliable immediate pick me up.
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Again not a possibility - I'm having trouble with the toes of my left foot. Not terribly painful but swollen and if I put shoes on I have major tingling and numbness.

Observation for the week -- I have to be more mindful when preparing food. I made a wonderful bok choy stir fry that was spiced up with plenty of ginger and onions. As I have been cleaning my cupboards I've run into jars and bottles of condiments that are still good and never opened. I reached for a low sodium soy sauce I'd just found and splashed it on my dinner without regard to the fact that soy and I don't get along and low sodium isn't the least bit true in the case of this sauce! I'm still retaining water and my blood pressure is up noticeably! Now is the time to weed those bottles and jars with due attention to labels!

Good progress to everyone and stay healthy - Michelle

[lmggallagher]

SW: 241.9
GW: 150.0

Last Week: 220.2
This Week: 218.8
Total Lost: 23.1

Lost 1.4 lb

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or 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.
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.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. Eliminate any added oil.
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
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages)
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Still not a possibility - I'm having trouble with the toes of my left foot. Not terribly painful but swollen and if I put shoes on I have major tingling and numbness. Walking is currently the only exercise that would otherwise be available to me now.

Observation for the week -- Friday mornings are a real treat I stop doing chores around the house (currently cleaning all cupboards, closets room by room (with no place to donate - didn't think that through ) and sip tea while reading all the weigh in posts. I learn a lot and get great motivation from you all! Last week Mark posted he eats his meals from a giant stainless steel bowl - I had to laugh as so do I. I haven't used a plate in eons - unless I am dining at someone's house. I'm currently not dining out Glad Goose's goal weight insights were reposted too. That's been a problem for me and I completely identify with the I reached my goal weight now I can bring some "cheats" back in! I had already adopted the interim goal method without a real nod to the ultimate goal. Now it's like my goal for this week was I can reach the weigh I was when I retired - I achieved that today and that was 14 years back! I also am in a smaller size of pants which is exciting too ( out of the 1Xs yay!). My main goal is to hit a weight where I feel super good. My first McDougall experiment was years back and I got down to around 200 pounds. That is about when I will hit the overweight vs. obese category. I felt so great then! I know I can get there pretty fast once I can exercise again - so I'm hoping for faster healing of these toes!!!

Good progress to everyone and stay healthy - Michelle

[Ruff]

Hi Michelle! Remember me! Tomorrow I am coming back to the McDougal way of life, and its fun to see some old friends still here.

I have a long story to tell, and I have some 'fessing up' to do as well. I shall tell all when I get home and start a new journal, but I just wanted to pop in and say Hi to you first.

Why back to Mcdougal tomorrow? Why not today? Well I am in the bush on the West Coast, we have been here for a week and come home tomorrow. It is over an hours drive to the nearest shop and we have the food we brought with us and that is that. We will be driving back over the Alps tomorrow and I have potatoes at home, so I will have baked potatoes and baked beans for supper, and start again from there.

I am in an upside down house and the living level is at the height of the bush canopy. I am living with the birds! There are also weka (obviously not up here!!!!) running around everywhere as well. You would love it!

I see you are on MWL. I hope it is going well, and that all is as well with you as can be expected in this weird world we are living in right now.

[lmggallagher]

KATIE - KATIE - KATIE ----

Of course I remember you! I'm so glad you are popping back and will be here for another round. Your vacation sounds like paradise to me. I'm thrilled you had a great experience with the weka and the other bird life!

I'm home bound - we are in another lock down. I envy how New Zealand tackled the whole Covid 19 dilemma - we love your Prime Minister to bits! As a matter of fact, a news article this week pictured the countries that had tamed Covid and the ones that were failing miserably. All the winners were women and all the losers were men! I laughed so hard - it was like of course! Sadly, the biggest loser in the world is ours- sigh....

I have so many comorbidities for Covid that I don't venture out at all. Just found out that the people with the most likelihood of entering the hospital are Type A blood and have the worst outcomes. Guess what blood type I am - good grief. My plan here is to get rid of obesity - I have already quashed the pre-diabetes, but recent symptoms lead me and my Primary Care physician to believe I have Psoriatic Arthritis - an immune disorder. No blood test for the diagnosis - it's and observation thing; as I can't go in to see her it's a guess for now - but I have the lions-share of symptoms. My fibro may have been a misdiagnosis all along - or maybe both.

So, to keep spirits up while I can't go afield - I am hanging bird feeders and planting plants (through mail order) to attract, birds, bees and butterflies. Yesterday my bush fuchsias both bloomed and on the spot I got a hummingbird. My Cousin (here putting up a hand railing for my front steps) just happened to be lunching on the deck next to the fuchsias and I was inside behind the glass sliding door having a chat with him - when he realized a male hummingbird was hovering over his head.

Right now I have a feeder out the window and all six portals are full of Oak Titmice and Chickadees. So I am not seeing the exotic birds like you, but I will not be doing without any at all.

I hope you will journal - as opposed to just "lurking" as we all delighted in reading your writings. So glad to have you back!!!!!

[Ruff]

I know how lucky we are here in New Zealand. basically life is back to normal within the country (unless you work in the tourist industry of course, when things are grim). The only difference is the closed boarders. Basically you have to go into government isolation for 14 days on arrival. But for the rest of us, sports, pubs, life is as it always was, you can hug a friend again!

Im glad you are getting some bird time. Im trying to attract silver eyes, but not having much luck. We have loads of sparrows, and green finches, and sometimes gold finches. we also have several Piwakawaka after the flies in the compost heap, including a black one, which is not common. I remove the lid so they can get the flies. And we have a song thrush who comes and wallows in the bird bath daily, and smashes the water all over the place and I have to fill it again for the little birds!

[lmggallagher]

Hey Katie: My Cousin Mike is here from Wisconsin - he is doing chores and projects for family members in the area and building me hand rails or my front stairs. That will be a huge help when I am having pain problems. but as soon as he is gone today I will dig out my New Zealand bird book ( I bought it when you started dropping all these exotic creature names around here) and look up all these birds you are mentioning. that will be my big treat of the day after all the chores I have to do while Mike is here being industrious!

I had a huge laugh about you accommodating flies for your birds. My neighbors would throw a fit if I did that. We live too close together and everyone is in one's business over everything now because we are all home and kind of grumpier than usual

When I compost I do a 14 day method that heats up spectacularly so it's too hot for flies anyway. Yet, if I could attract exotic bird life I'd take the heat from those neighbors

[lmggallagher]

Maximum weight loss has been side stepped spectacularly for the last couple of weeks due to the biggest pain flare of all time. I have mentioned that it is likely that I have Psoriatic "Arthritis - I won't know for sure until I can go in person to see a doctor for diagnosis. However, my video conference with my current primary care did confirm that all my symptoms sure fit that possibility.

What happened this last bit of time is the pain centered in my back and them my right hip. Usually, it's one joint at a time but this was massively limiting my mobility. I spent one day in bed dreading the pain that I'd have to endure to get the few step (with cane) to my bathroom. I have just a couple of steps between levels in my house but the kitchen is three stairs down to the dining room and kitchen that was unbearable. I made but two trips a day - one to bring up one McDougall oatmeal and fruit (my food for the day) and the second to bring up my pitcher of water for the day. I wasn't hungry for an entire week and the first days I had to force myself to get through the oatmeal cup! that lasted a week before the pain released some - but moved on to other joints and was equally painful just different. It also never left my back until this last few days.

This hasn't happened before - it's usually one joint and just two days worth of pain going up in level and easing down again over that time. I read NicholeS' diary here of her battles with this and I remember on this WOE she still had big flares until she conquered it. I am a bit afraid to reread it and remember how bad it could be for her. I will of course but I think it gets worse before it gets better. Somehow I wonder if it's the metabolic changes of weight loss that contribute. Like do we flush toxins as we do lose and then re expose ourselves to some of the trigger culprits that caused the auto-immunity in the first place.

I'm going to do a consultation with True North - I have already decided that their water-fasting program is my best hope. I will ask a million questions and try to reserve a spot for future - if Covid ever let's us function in the world again.

In California we are back in lock down as we spiked again. I am so sad that people let bars and restaurants open again - the government should have just covered business payrolls so we wouldn't have to go though this. We have family in Denmark that was affected briefly - one, a doctor, was trained for Covid response had to move away from her family for a period - never was activated because it was over and done there before she could be needed. They paid companies their payroll so everyone could be kept onboard for reopening and it will cost them far less and the economy will not be starting up from a minus too big to dig out of in a decade. Not to mention that health coverage is for everyone in Denmark regardless of status. The US sucks - but that is just my two cents.

but I digress from my recent experience - it's behind me but the weird eating brought massive cravings when I was ready to eat again. I lost 7 pounds while in flare and gained it all back in three days of terrible craving satiation in the last few days. What a mess - more on that later.

[Ruff]

oh Michelle, I'm so sorry about this flareup, its sounds dreadful. I think a trip to True North is a good idea, if you can manage it. What are they doing about Covid? I have read so many good things about their programme, and so many success stories. I hope you can become one of them too.

I shall see if I can remember how to post photos here, and then I can try and take some of the birds for you. Although so far today I have only seen seagulls!

[lmggallagher]

SW: 241.9
GW: 150.0

Last Week: 218.8
This Week: 217.6
Total Lost: 24.3

Lost 1.2 lb

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or 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. Major starch cravings over came me coming out of the on-going pain flares I had.
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.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. Eliminate any added oil.
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
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages)
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Still not a possibility - I'm having trouble with the toes of my left foot. Not terribly painful but swollen and if I put shoes on I have major tingling and numbness. Walking is currently the only exercise that would otherwise be available to me now.

Observation for the week -- I haven't logged in the past 2 weigh-in days because I have been in a MAJOR pain flare the likes of which I have never experienced. My weird traveling pain issue that goes after ligaments and tendons usually attacks only one joint at at time. Not so this time! Week before last it hit both my back and right hip - I was barely able to get out of bed for the pain of moving and getting to my kitchen which is on a different level of my house was unbearable pain for the three - yes, just 3 stairs, I had to navigate with a cane. Luckily, I had no appetite and survived on a McDougall oatmeal cup a day and/or a lunch cup added to that for dinner. As soon as that pain started to subside usually taking two days but this time a full week additional joints in opposite shoulder and elbow joints flared. Easier to get around but hardly getting any sleep still for the pain. The appetite came back last week and was driven by massive cravings for starch - so though I lost over 5 pounds during the worst of this I gained most of it back. I'm not holding myself to account over this - it was what it was. If this is Psoriatic Arthritis as my Primary Care and I suspect - I recall that Star McDougaller and forum friend NicholeS had some of these major flares too before the PsA just went away altogether. I need to get into her diary and see what her journey to losing PsA was all about - but not this week - it's a bit to fresh just yet

Good progress to everyone and stay healthy - Michelle

[lmggallagher]

Yum ....

MartiB - That looks like a pretty great week! Since smoothies aren't recommended, does that seem like something you would be willing to eliminate from your routine? One possibility for a ranch-flavored dressing - Jeff's Creamy Garlic Dill Dressing with some adjustments to the herbs and spices -

JeffN wrote:
Creamy Garlic Dill Dressing

1 Can Eden Foods No Salt Added Butter Beans, drained (save the drained bean liquid).
4 (-6) Tbsp bean liquid
2 (-3) Tbsp plain vinegar or balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
1/2 (-1) tsp garlic powder
1/2 (-1) tsp dried dill weed

Blend in food processor or blender till creamy.

Adjust the amount of bean water & vinegar/lemon juice to the consistency you like.

Adjust the amount of garlic & dill to the flavor you like.

Any white bean will work but I find butter beans make the creamiest dressing.

P.S. 1 can beans is approximately 1 1/2 cup cooked beans.

molly25 wrote:
That garlic dill dressing looks awesome. I'm thinking you could change up the spices and come dangerously close to it tasting like a ranch dressing (onion powder, parsley flakes, black pepper, keep the dill in there).


Yes. Many people have done this and think the very same thing.

[Ruff]

You dont need your bird book...all I have seen this week (apart from garden birds) is seagulls !! I need to get fit enough to do the estuary run and then hopefully I will have some more interesting birds for you.

[lmggallagher]

Sorry I am late signing in for the weigh in - time got away from me this week altogether. My to do list is running my life and looks like I am going to have to set alarms on my watch to make my commitments

I wanted to post though because I did gain weight this week and this makes me confront the bad habits head on!



SW: 241.9
GW: 150.0

Last Week: 217.6
This Week: 218.0
Total Lost: 23.9

Gained: 0.4 lbs

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or 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. I'm snacking on fruit and carbs and not eating right. While my cousin is on hiatus from his projects here ( which I have task assignments for too) I am doing some batch cooking to over come the "fast food failures" I just described.
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.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. Eliminate any added oil.
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
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages)
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Still not a possibility - I'm having trouble with the toes of my left foot. Not terribly painful but swollen and if I put shoes on I have major tingling and numbness. Walking is currently the only exercise that would otherwise be available to me now.

Observation for the week -- My health is better except the problematic toe. I tried to go back from sandals to shoes and couldn't walk on that foot for a day afterwards. No idea what this is - but likely a PsA symptom as there are "digit problems". I ate better this week towards the end. I found that when my cousin is here working on my projects I eat at his break times and really just snack on fruit or carbs. Once he went on project hiatus I started loosing again - BUT - the poundage from bad eating doesn't show up on me until later so I got away with it last week and it pounced on me this week.

Good progress to everyone and stay healthy - Michelle