Maybe a baby in 2017

[Lyndzie]

Oh man, this has been the craziest week. Starting off, I was schedule to work an extra day, PLUS an all-store meeting at 6:30 am on Tuesday, then my usual Thursday, Friday, Saturday gig. This would have been a little nuts, but manageable, but my husband was trying to solidify the kitchen layout and cabinets for the house he's remodeling and needed my help, and everything had to be ready for plumbing, which goes in today, and electrical, which starts on Monday. THEN, the 4 year old gets croup.

Normally my husband is super tidy, but I came home to a disaster zone yesterday. He's got so much on his plate that the minute I get home he's heading out to work on stuff and coming home after we're all asleep. Thankfully, after touching base with my boss, they took me off the schedule for today.

Tonight is the first get together for my meetup group, Indianapolis Forks Over Knives. I teamed up with another McDougaller, Spiral, to create the group focused on whole foods, plant-based eating. Check it out and join us sometime: http://www.meetup.com/indywfpbno. I'm looking forward to meeting other people focused on healthy living, and especially having some pitch-ins of high carb, low fat food!

This morning for breakfast I had my new breakfast of steel cut oats with bananas and blueberries. It's great because it keeps me full for hours and then I slowly get hungry for lunch, not that immediate "starving" feeling that is uncomfortable and leads to poor choices. Lunch was oil-free fries, homemade ketchup and a chocolate smoothie. Dinner will be a salad from Whole Foods at the meetup.

No recipe to post at the moment. I made chili last weekend that I need to type up. It's not totally salt free, but very low sodium.

[Lyndzie]

Yesterday's meetup was a great success. We had four people who who are WFPB, and four people who are vegetarian-ish.

The part of the meeting that is sticking with me the most is when a woman asked, "What's wrong with oil?" Fortunately DinoDan was there with an answer, but I realized that the whole notion of "healthy fats" was still sticking with some people. For the next meetup I'm hoping to find a small meeting place where we can show Jeff Novick's video on nutrition where he talks about oil not being a health food.

Also, someone was there who sells vegetable pills, which also not in line with the whole foods, plant based diet for a few reasons: 1) get your nutrition from whole foods and adequate sunshine, and 2) only supplement if medically warranted by a health condition. While I think she is truly trying to get improved nutrition, she is misguided. EAT FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. CENTER YOUR MEALS AROUND STARCH.

On that note, I had a perfect day of eating yesterday. Oats and fruit for breakfast, grapes, oil-free fries and ketchup for lunch, and a salad of romaine lettuce topped with rice & beans, pepitas and balsamic vinegar for dinner. It was great, filling, and totally SOS-free! I'm looking forward to having another awesome day today.

Interestingly one of the snippets of conversation was about how we present ourselves in this forum. We don't usually mention the off-plan eating, and just focus on the things we do right. I feel like it's a little disengenuous, but at the same time it might be the right thing to do. I will admit, some days I have something off-plan, such as a little sesame oil on some stir fry, or marinara that had meatballs simmered in it.

On the flip side, though, the vast majority of the food I'm eating is totally in line with McDougall's recommendations: no animal products whatsoever, whole foods, starch-centered, and no salt in cooking (maybe added at the table). Compliance really is centered around what a person's needs are, and I'm pretty happy with my health and weight right now. My goal was to feel comfortable in a bikini this summer, and I can do that proudly (as a side note: what is up with young women today?? I've had two kids, I shouldn't look better than the college students!).

[Lyndzie]

What's the best part about the Super Bowl? The halftime show. And snacks.

I watched about 15 minutes of the game after the kids went to bed, but I didn't miss any snacks! Here is what I made:

POPSUGAR CAULIFLOWER BUFFALO BITES
http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Cauliflower-Buffalo-Wings-35971173
Omit butter. Frank's Redhot Buffalo sauce is vegan, but super high in salt, so use rarely. Serve with Tahini Sauce.

TAHINI SAUCE
1 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp water

Mix and serve.

TACO DIP - I love this stuff so much.
2 c refried beans*
Guacamole (3 avocados, cilantro, finely minced onion, lime juice)
1/2 Fiesta Lime tofu sour cream (1 pkg lite firm silken tofu, 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 tbsp lemon juice, Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning)
Shredded lettuce
Diced tomatoes
Black olive slices (optional)

1) Make guacamole by mashing avocados and mixing in remaining ingredients.
2) Make tofu sour cream by combining tofu, vinegar and lemon juice in a blender until smooth. Add seasoning to taste.
3) Layer ingredients in a 8" x 8" pan, starting with refried beans on the bottom, then guacamole, then tofu sour cream.** Top with shredded lettuce, tomatoes and olives, if using.

*I strongly suggest you add salt to this. It's a rare treat, remember?!
**Putting the tofu sour cream on top of the guacamole helps prevent browning.

HOMEMADE TORTILLA CHIPS
1 package corn tortillas

Cut tortillas into 6 wedges. Cook in 350F oven for 10+ minutes, until crispy but not burnt. Let cool, the eat up!
Surprisingly, I didn't miss the oil or salt at all. It's really just a vehicle to get the dip to your mouth, anyway.

[Lyndzie]

I finally got sick this winter. After one kid getting croup, then passing it onto the other, and being coughed on for ten days straight, 24 hours a day (because the sick kiddo ends up sleeping in my bed), it's really remarkable that I'm in such good shape. I've had a slightly sore throat and I'm more tired that usual, but otherwise totally fine so far.

I've been staying on course with food. It's so much easier when we don't go out to restaurants. Yesterday I took the ladies to Jimmy John's (it's their favorite restaurant), and had no desire to eat whatsoever. It was really fascinating, but it was no different than being in a hardware store - the stuff there isn't food either. I was still plenty satisfied from breakfast, which is what I think made all the difference.

To follow the format other people use, here is what I ate yesterday:
B: steel cut oats with banana and blueberries
L: refried bean tacos with guacamole, diced tomato, and lettuce
S: homemade tortilla chips and guacamole
D: salad and chocolate smoothie

The plan for today:
B: steel cut oats with banana and blueberries
L: oil-free fries and homemade ketchup
S: Apple and clementines, maybe grapes?
D: salad and refried beans with salsa and guacamole

When I made fries, it's usually about 1.5 lbs of potatoes.

Everyone have a great Thursday!

[Lyndzie]

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Today we're not doing anything too special. My husband has a long day at work, so the girls and I are going to do lunch with my mom, then for a fun treat this afternoon make chocolate fondue to dip fruit in for snack time. Instead of candy, I bought the girls a small craft kit with paint and stickers.

For lunch we're going to a local restaurant that has these huge salad bowls. The V-8 salad is just chock-full of veggies and served with a honey mustard dressing. I just made my Zippy Mustard dressing to bring with me, and have some potato fries cooking in the oven right now to pre-eat so I don't get distracted by the pomme frites with basil aioli on the menu.

Finally everyone has recovered from all the illness, so we're getting caught up on sleep, laundry and house cleaning.

I realized today that I have been 99.9% vegan compliant since Christmas, with the exception being the crust on my husband's birthday blueberry pie. That's a pretty good feat! My goal of having a completely plant-based pregnancy seems totally doable. I know that it's best health-wise, but is really a matter of compliance on my part.

I had a good conversation about how bad oil is for you with a friend yesterday. She's hung up on the idea of needing Omega 3 supplementation and DHA. I think I gave her some good food for thought. She's been following the diet outlined in the book "Medical Medium," written by a psychic that gives medical advice. I know, sounds crazy, but he promotes a vegan diet, so it's definitely a step in the right direction, even if the basis for the advice is "spirit guides."

Loving seeing all the videos people are posting on YouTube of the Advanced Study Weekend. I so look forward to the day I get to go.

Off to lunch! Best to you all!!

[Lyndzie]

I haven't written in a while, not because I've fallen off the wagon, but because I don't have much to report. I started using Cronometer, and I love it. It's been a week now, so I've got a good idea of how my diet averages out. Jeff Nocivk posted some great information about figuring out how much calcium is necessary on a plant based, low sodium diet. Turns out sodium consumption impacts calcium (either absorption or secretion, I forget at the moment, but either way the calcium is not staying in). Who knew?! Also, oranges are surprisingly high in calcium as well.

I'm hitting my folate target of 400 mg. I'm averaging 470 mg, which is not the recommended 800 for pregnant women, but I am comfortable with where it stands, especially when put in the perspective of the rest of my diet. That, coupled with no family history of neural tube defects, and two healthy pregnancies already (which I didn't start taking a prenatal before conception because I wasn't trying to get pregnant), and I was definitely not eating this well back then.

Iron has been below target. This morning I made my steel cut oats and topped them with blackstrap molasses and banana. Usually sweetners cause me to crave more sweets, so I'm just trying this out to see if I do ok. This afternoon will be the moment of truth!

I'm shocked at how much protein I eat. I don't eat a ton of beans, yet by lunch time, I've usually hit most of my amino acid targets. It's great to have that confirmation that this diet covers all the bases. My macronutrient ratios are averaging 12% fat, 12% protein and 75% carbohydrate. I feel good, and the food tastes good (I've also been picking up a new Mrs. Dash seasoning whenever I wander through a baking aisle, so those have been fun to experiment with as well).

I'm making red beans and rice for dinner tonight. I've not had "real" red beans and rice, but this tastes good. Not much of a recipe, but here is an outline:

RED BEANS AND RICE
Onion, diced
Celery, diced
Green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb dried red kidney beans, cooked (reserve cooking liquid)
Cajun seasoning, to taste
Liquid smoke, to taste
Hot sauce, to taste
Long grain brown rice, cooked, for serving

Sauté onion, celery and pepper. When softened, add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add cooked beans, Cajun seasoning and some reserved cooking liquid, and simmer until done to your liking. Mix in liquid smoke, if using. Serve over brown rice wit hot sauce.

Yesterday I made a batch of ketchup, and picked up Mrs. Dash garlic and herb seasoning, so lunch today is fries! I hope you all have a great day today, and Mardi Gras tomorrow.

[Lyndzie]

Kinda baby related info:

Today I went to the OB/GYN practice that I want for back-up care should I need to do a transfer (aka home birth not going well and headed to the hospital via ambulance). It's the same practice most of my friends use, mostly employs midwives and is conveniently close to my home. It was awesome. The nurse-midwife I met with had her last two kids at home, so she was completely supportive of being complimentary/back-up care in an emergency. It's so great to have such a warm welcome. She said they would be happy to preform my ultrasounds and any lab work, and I can come in for the regular 10 visits that most patients have, or just a few to keep in touch.

We're not in baby-making mode yet, just getting my mental planning in place.

My blood pressure was 98/54. I weighed in at 112.8 lbs, which is pretty much what I expected, and is my pre-babies weight. It is a little disheartening (is that the word?) that I am so diligent about my eating now just to maintain this weight, whereas before I was drinking every weekend and going to restaurants regularly.

[Lyndzie]

Oh man.

I knew that I shouldn't eat any sweetners or flour products.

Then I ate them anyways.

Not huge amounts, but a tablespoon of molasses on oatmeal for breakfast. Then some whole wheat pita bread and hummus. A bite of this, a bite of that...

Next thing I know, I'm having one of those insatiable hunger episodes when I am a bottomless pit and no amount of food can bring respite. Then, once that calmed down, the craving came, relentless thoughts of chocolate.

Some lessons are learned many times over.

[Lyndzie]

So today I am restarting the "no flour, no sweetners" rule.

Yesterday I made the new Engine 2 pizza crust with homemade pizza sauce, avocado, sliced olives, artichoke hearts, diced bell peppers and sliced tomatoes. It was good, but I ate 3/4ths of it, and wasn't full (a "serving size" is 1/6). In honor of Pi Day, I also made a crustless blueberry pie with crumble topping, and had two servings of that, too, with a scoop of Coconut Bliss ice cream each time.

Interestingly, I wanted to eat all day. Even though my food quantity was ridiculous, I logged it all in Conomoter and was short of meeting multiple goals. This totally illustrates the concept of calorie rich and nutrient poor, and also explains the feeling of hunger while my stomach feels full. My body knows that it doesn't have all the vitamins and minerals necessary to function it's best, but nothing I was consuming was fulfilling those needs. It was different than having blood sugar spikes and drops, because I still feel full this morning yet want to eat (I'm going to wait until lunch because there is no space!).

I usually hit all my nutrient goals. Yesterday I was deficient in B2, B3, B5, Vit A, Calcium, and Potassium, while being waaaaay over on calories, total fat, saturated fat and omega-6. Also, yesterday was the first time I did not get all of my amino acids - I was low in lysine.

Last week for work I packed a simple lunch that worked really well and will repeat it for the three days I work this week. For lunch it was 1 lb plain boiled Yukon gold potatoes. They fit perfectly in my 4 cup bowl (and my stomach!). I topped with Mrs. Dash Table Blend and black pepper, people actually asked me what I was eating because it smelled so good! I also packed a salad of romaine lettuce, radicchio, diced cucumber, and mustard tahini dressing. I need to eat more vegetables, and this was a good start.

Another thing I am doing well is coming from a place of mindfulness and observation. Instead of feeling like I've fallen off the wagon and I've failed when I've had less-than-ideal eating, I actually look at what I ate and how I felt, and what I would like to change. It's something I read about with helping people quit smoking and only started doing when I started tracking my food on Cronometer. People have different experiences with the program. I find that it is very helpful in that it reinforces everything that Dr. McDougall teaches about eating starch with fruits and vegetables.

Hopefully I can take the next few days to get back to where I want to be. I've really enjoyed reading other people's journals and learning from their experience, so hopefully someone can learn something from me, too.

[Lyndzie]

Looking at the past few posts shows a theme: struggling. And it has continued.

I hit "rock bottom" on Friday. I caught my husband's sinus infection and just did not have the strength to resist my old comfort foods. What are my comfort foods? Not chicken noodle soup or mashed potatoes or mom's home cooking.

I smothered a French baguette in expensive imported blue cheese.

Last time I had dairy was Dec 25th, so it was a three month streak without any animal products, and I will look at this as a success as opposed to a failure. And, also as a learning opportunity to see how I felt and what I can do differently in the future to stay on course.

What I found so interesting about the experience is that the food was so calorie rich that I didn't actually feel hungry later on, but still wanted to eat. It reminded me of the advice, "If you aren't hungry enough to eat an apple, you aren't hungry." It also explains why people get stuck in the pleasure trap, because I obviously wasn't hungry enough to eat an apple, but I'm sure I could have had some pizza or cookies or chocolate. It kinda sucks to wait for hunger to return, but that's the price to be paid for over-eating.

Yesterday and today will be spent getting back on track. I need to go to the grocery and am already battling with myself about buying pita bread. I have been tracking my food in Cronometer still, disasters included, because honesty and accountability need to continue even when I'm not staying on plan. Those calorie rich foods are also nutrient poor, so I'm missing my targets.

I watched Doug Lisle's talk about personalities, and it really made a lot of sense to me. I am the kind of person that is very open to new experiences, which is probably why I even entertain the idea of eating this way, but also leads me to seeking new foods, which then gets me caught up in the pleasure trap. I picked up the new Forks Over Knives magazine and found quite a few recipes I want to try, so hopefully that helps me stay on course.

[Lyndzie]

Life has been so crazy for the past couple weeks. We moved into a house under renovation that does NOT have a kitchen yet! While packing up, and then after moving in, we had many meals out of the house. My eating slowly devolved from WFPBNO to just vegan to including cheese and oil. That slope is mighty slippery! I am so grateful for my local WFPBNO group, though, so even when compliance isn't going well, I'll be around people who eat this way seemingly effortlessly and gain some tips and motivation to get back on track. Even my mom, who thinks I'm nuts, was encouraging, and reminded me that we always get back to healthy eating, even after we stray a bit.

And I'm back! I decided to do a Mary's Mini with potatoes. Yesterday was day one, and went well. I have a microwave, Instant Pot and utility sink, so simple meals are a must. The kids can happily live off of PB&J and applesauce, but I don't do flour products (bread), sugar (in jelly), and minimize nuts (peanut butter, of course). Potatoes are easy to make in a batch, reheat as needed, filling and delicious.

Yesterday's food:
B: russet potatoes and bbq sauce, green tea
L: russet potatoes and salsa
S: fruit - bananas, blueberries, raspberries
D: salad - romaine, raddicchio, cucumber, and radish with tahini mustard dressing

Today will probably be the exact same thing, maybe with different fruit for snack. I'm not trying to lose weight as much as get back on track with healthy eating. I'm not sure how long I'll do this, but I probably won't have a proper kitchen set up for another couple weeks, so this will be fine until that happens.

I'm excited about the challenge of working within this framework. Potatoes are great because there are so many varieties. I'll do Yukon Golds one day, and probably some different sweet potatoes. I'm trying to steer clear of salt and sugar, but a little might be included for sauces. I like orange sweet potatoes with boiled mushrooms and steamed broccoli. Hopefully doing the different potatoes isn't too much variety for a "proper" Mary's Mini, but I am trying to get it to suit my goals.

I hope you all are doing well and staying the course!

[Lyndzie]

My Mary's Mini-ish is going well. Apparently fruit was part of the original mini, but is no longer recommended. I'm going to keep fruit, though, since weight-loss isn't my primary goal. My goals are, in order: 1) compliance (no cheese or oil, minimal salt and sugar), 2) ease (no kitchen!) and 3) simplicity (no thought!!).

I got off Cronomoter because I was choosing my dinner based on what it dictated me needing as opposed to just eating real food. I've learned a few things from it, like stir fry is a good idea, and mushrooms are awesome, but getting back to just eating whole foods is my focus.

MY MARY'S MINI-ish FOOD
Wed 4/5
B: Russet potatoes and caramelized onions
L: Yukon Gold potatoes and BBQ sauce
S: Apple, grapes
D: Yukon Gold potatoes and Tamale Place salsa

Thurs 4/6
B: Yukon Gold potatoes and Tamale Place salsa
L1: Yukon Gold potatoes and BBQ sauce
L2: Yukon Gold potatoes and BBQ sauce
D: My Favorite Salad, and another Yukon Gold potato and BBQ sauce

Fri 4/7
B: Yukon Gold potatoes and BBQ sauce
L1: Yukon Gold potatoes and pico de gallo
S: Apple, banana
L2: Yukon Gold potatoes and BBQ sauce
D: My Favorite Salad
S2: Orange Sweet Potato

Dinner on Thursday night was at my mother-in-laws. I brought my own dinner. Everyone else ate a small Paleo-style wrap, while I had this HUGE salad and potato. It always boggles my mind that everyone in the room struggling with their weight is trying these terrible diets and I eat these large plates of food and am the trimmest. I guess it's my genes, right?

I've settled into a nice pattern. I'll include russet potatoes as soon as the stove is in working order, because I prefer those baked. I picked up a bag of frozen hash browns to try out as well. I've been cooking a whole 5 lb bag of Yukon Gold potatoes in the Instant Pot for 10 minutes, then store in the fridge and reheat as needed.

My favorite salsa is from a restaurant called The Tamale Place. They make everything from scratch, and while their tamales are quite good, but their salsa is incredible. I'm going to call them and see if they will make me some without salt, because it made me so, so thirsty!

EDITED TO ADD: sweet potato for snack #2 on Friday night. After I wrote this post I got hungry, and the point of a mini is not go be hungry, but eat until comfortably full and satisfied. I had just made some sweet potatoes for my husband, so I went ahead and ate some since it was McDougall compliant, easy, and simple.

[Lyndzie]

Obviously, health is my #1 reason for following this way of eating. With cancer, diabetes, stoke, hypertension, high cholesterol and heart attacks on both branches of the family tree, I feel pretty motivated. The fact that animal welfare and the environment are positively impacted are bonuses. This falls under the theory of everything, that one answer solves all problems.

I had been vegetarian since 1997 - 20 years! I started because I wanted to fit in with the cool crowd at school, and it just suited me. I pretty sure I'm the only one who stuck with it!

I wanted to bring up two things I learned recently about the animal industries that gave me pause. Being vegetarian and not directly consuming dead animals, one would think that they are not contributing to animal cruelty in the same way as the average SAD eater, and while much less harmful, consuming eggs and diary are not completely without consequence.

To produce eggs, hens are needed. To get hens, eggs are hatched, of course, and about 50% of them are male. You'd think they would just grown the males for meat, but egg laying chickens are not meaty, so instead they throw live day-old chickens in a grinder. This sounds insane, because it is, but is totally true. NPR had a story about it. I could not believe how nonchalently they just stated the facts. Technology is currently being created to sex the eggs so early that they could still be sold as eggs, but it's not in use yet.

For dairy production, to get milk from a cow, lactation must be induced. Cows lactate after the birth of a cow. To continue lactating, they must give birth regularly. What do you do with all those extra cows being born? You'd have to eat them, of course! Otherwise we'd have gazillions of cows roaming around.

Such a bummer to think you are making the better choice just to find out that you are part of the industry.

MARY'S MINI-ish FOOD
Sat 4/8
B: Yukon Gold potatoes and caramelized onions
L: Yukon Gold potatoes and BBQ sauce and salad and ginger kombucha
S: Chocolate smoothie and dates
D1: Yukon Gold potatoes and pico de gallo and ginger kombucha
D2: Yukon Gold Potatoes and pico de gallo

Edited to update food.

[Lyndzie]

MARY'S MINI-ish FOOD
Sunday 4/9
B: Yukon Gold potatoes and BBQ sauc
S: Apple and cranberry kombucha
D: Yukon Gold potatoes and homemade pico de gallo

My keyboard needs charging so I'm pecking this out on the screen. More thoughts when I have a proper keyboard.

Monday 4/10
B: potatoes and BBQ sauce
L:Apple, sugar snap peas, Jimmy John's sandwich
S: dates and chocolate smoothie
D: dates

[Lyndzie]

Not a "true" mini, but still, my pants fit better and I'm completely satiated. Still can't find cord for keyboard to charge.

Tues 4/11
B: hash brown potatoes and ketchup, green tea
L: Ginger kombucha, sugar snap peas, potatoes and BBQ sauce, clementine
D: salad, tahini dressing, banana
D2: banana, potatoes and TP salsa

Wed 4/12
B: hash brown potatoes and ketchup
L: russet fries and ketchup, sugar snap peas
S: Apple and banana
S2: cold fries
D1&2: potatoes and TP salsa

Thurs 4/13
B: big chocolate smoothie
L1: Apple
L2: potatoes and TP salsa, green goddess smoothie
S: Apple and watermelon
D: potatoes and pico de gallo