My Daily "Weighing in"

[squealcat]

I was feeling tense about the 4th of July because my children were coming over . I love seeing and visiting with them but always worry about the food. I really don't like to prep food for these things and feel I am not good at it. I leave a lot of the prep to my husband (who is starting to not like all the fuss either). We have hosted SO many grad parties, Christmas and Easter get togethers and I guess we are tired of it. My children don't seem to want to pick it up either. I am concerned that they will never see each other if they don't come here.

What happened is: one son couldn't come with with his family as he was busy with other things, my daughter was leaving the next day on a business trip and needed to pack AND she is the one with the special needs child who requires a LOT of equipment when coming over. I don't blame her for not coming. My youngest son WAS going to come but he was busy packing for a hiking trip to Wisconsin with his fiancé. They left town very early this morning. They ended up not coming either. So THERE !! Nothing to worry about or stress over ! I wasted all that time with worry and it was fine. Only thing was I felt pretty lonely and left out of any activity. Crazy, I know !

I feel much better today and am back to my routines !

Exercise: Took the day off yesterday and today walked 3 miles. It felt so easy and enjoyable !
Breakfast: Oat groats and blueberries. Really not that fond of oat groats but they are ok.
Lunch: very large salad with the usual dressing except I have not made more hummus. I will have to see about that. I will top with garbanzo beans and maybe a little rice and corn
Dinner: steamed veggies and one of the soups from my freezer. I especially like bean soup so maybe that one. I need to make more.

Right now I am relaxing and drinking some green tea. Getting some laundry done and making some tomato sauce to go over spaghetti squash that I just cooked in the instant pot. Right now there are potatoes in that pot cooking. After they are done I will rinse it and cook the tomato sauce by just sauteing the veggies, adding the sauce and heating it up to mix the flavors. Not using the pressure part of it.

Have a good day everyone ! Remember: it doesn't pay to stress out .....it always works out in the end and sometimes surprises you !

-squealcat

[squealcat]

Today I am going to get through the day without falling on my face. The last two days I started out so well (eating- wise) and then indulged because I was hungry. I don't know why I didn't just have a potato or two ! Ahhhhhhh!!!!

Plan for today is a fruit and veggie smoothie (I know, not MWL) . Lunch is bean soup and brown rice with steamed veggies on the side. Dinner will be the spaghetti squash with tomato sauce over and some black beans for the starch. I am not walking today. I did walk yesterday and will probably get in 3 miles tomorrow.

I will get back to my daily oatmeal tomorrow and after that too. I DO love oatmeal ! Sometimes I just have to have something different and then I am fine with the same thing every day.

My new balsamic vinegars arrived in the mail. I will make up a huge batch of hummus tomorrow as I love it on my salads. That hummus together with the vinegar really makes those salads so good !

I have to go soon to watch my grandson. I will be back tomorrow or later today.

-squealcat

[squealcat]

I tried today to have something different for breakfast and had hash brown potatoes with onion, green pepper and mushrooms. It was good but it was not oatmeal. I was missing my oats !

This past week was a disaster weight-wise. I was listening to pod casts from other plant-based people that eat differently from McDougall and I just thought "I want to try that !" Well, I tried it and it just isn't for me. Including nuts and seeks just didn't feel right and because I was thinking that I totally ate off my plan and the resulting gain happened. I hope it is mostly water weight. I will be able to tell in a few days. I even have bags under my eyes !

I hope everyone had a better week and a successful week. I look forward to feeling better very soon.

-squealcat

[Zoey]

Oh dear squealcat, I learned that the hard way, too. I just really enjoy watching different doctors/influencers in the nutrition world, and it got me SO messed up. I don't know why I was constantly seeking inspiration when I already know exactly what works best for me. All those videos and podcasts just really kept me in a a cycle of food obsession. I had to just flat out quit.
Let's have an awesome upcoming week!

[deweyswakms]

It is so discouraging to see the gain on the scales! I do bet part of it is water from SALT. Just double down for a few days and you will see those #s disappear.

Marsha

[squealcat]

So nice to hear from you Marsha and Zoey ! Glad I am not alone !

Today went very well. Weighed myself (just had to see ) and I already lost almost 2 pounds in water weight. I stayed away from all those blogs and things by other plant-based people . I just kept to the simple and delicious . I DO read Esther's facebook thoughts as she is 100% McDougall and is so inspiring.

Exercise today: walked 2 miles and did my stretches. I had a banana before my walk as I was getting hungry.

Breakfast: old fashioned oats and blueberries
Lunch: large salad with my hummus and balsamic vinegar as dressing and I had something else but honesty don't remember what it was. A potato? not sure
Dinner: small salad with same toppings, pear chopped up on salad, a couple of medium-sized potatoes with a little bean soup as topping, finished off with a few delicious Michigan strawberries (yum!!)

I got my instant pot out and cooked 3 Japanese sweet potatoes and a couple of Idaho potatoes. Those potatoes were big and I had to add minutes for a second round of cooking. Never had to do that before ! Tomorrow I have to wash and cut up some peppers, cucumbers and kale. I will probably cook up brown rice too to finish off my weekly starches.

That's it for now. Looking forward to this week!

-squealcat

[squealcat]

I just read the first page of Frozenveg's journal. Wow ! I think reading this will be better than reading what other plant based influencers have to say. I have read her story on this McDougall site but didn't know she had a journal. Her story really has spoken to me as it sounds so much like mine. I started out at about her weight and (I think) we are about the same age. I am half way through my weight loss journey and her journal starts at her half-way point. She also struggles as I do with urges and her husband doesn't eat like her . I wonder how she is doing now?

I made up some steel cut oats and brown rice today so food is all prepared for the week. I had made some tomato sauce and it will not be eaten by a week's time so I froze it and labeled it : Tomato Soup ! I think it will work well as a soup ! I also have some spaghetti squash.....not sure it will freeze well. I will look it up.

This is another dull Sunday. Too quiet ! My husband is content to just watch golf and baseball on TV and takes naps. I took a walk this morning and watched my favorite CBS Sunday Morning show at 9:00. There was a good part on Lou Gerig's disease. I always like to watch things about health (and disease ). Also a good part about an artist I have never heard of but she does beautiful work!
So, I did some reading, closed my eyes for a bit and now I am here at my computer. We will go out to eat in an hour so that will make the evening go smoother. Oh, I should pack my lunch for tomorrow too.

That is about it for today. I know I should do something so my Sunday is not so dull. I remember my mom saying that Sundays were hard for her too. Wish I had called her more on Sundays. If I wasn't working, I liked my quiet Sundays back then .

-squealcat

[squealcat]

Exercise today: Walked one mile and did my stretches. I usually do some yoga before bed trying to get rid of this tendonitis or whatever it is. So far my leg is much better so I continue with the yoga.

Breakfast: steel cut oats and strawberries
Lunch: large salad with my hummus and balsamic vinegar as dressing, large Japanese sweet potato
Dinner: had one banana when I got home from watching my grandson, then later had spaghetti squash with tomato sauce and veggies over it. blueberries for dessert ! Oh, forgot I also had a potato with mustard and hummus on top as I needed more starch for dinner. I briefly thought about toast and margarine but tossed that aside !

I am joining with some former work friends for lunch in a couple of days. Italian restaurant . I will have to look up the menu. Maybe salad, maybe whole wheat pasta. I am sure I can make it work !

Not much else for today my friends!

-squealcat

[squealcat]

Exercise today: Walked 1 mile, did my stretches and will do some yoga stretches tonight before bed.

Breakfast: steel cut oats with blueberries (those blueberry skins really stick between my teeth !)
Lunch: large salad with my hummus and balsamic vinegar, large Japanese sweet potato (not cooked very well in the center) I also ate two or three of my granddaughter's veggie sushi
Dinner: steamed veggies, large baked potato, corn on the cob

Now, before and during dinner I messed up. I had a banana after getting home, then saltine crackers, then peanut butter then 2 slices of bread with margarine, then margarine on my potato , then blueberries with sugar on top and a little almond milk. I tried to tell myself it was my birthday and I could eat what I wanted.....not true. I really didn't want all that extra stuff !

small things I am doing to help me progress:
-at least a mile walk on the days I watch my grandson
-come right home after watching him....no stopping at the store or drive-throughs
-brush my teeth after dinner (this is new).....I am going to do that right now even though I messed up.

-squealcat

[squealcat]

Exercise: walked 1 mile and did my stretches. I also plan to do a few yoga stretches before bed

The three things to help me on my journey :
-walk 1 mile on the days I watch my grandson : done
-go home right after watching him to avoid stopping at drive-throughs:
-brush teeth after dinner: done

Not sure what happened. I had my day all planned and then BOOM! I just couldn't get the urge out of my brain. I did stop and get take-out today and regretted it even as I was eating. I am forgiving myself right now. I am human. I was not hungry but ate a small dinner (potato) and then went upstairs and brushed my teeth. I must say, the thought of eating a banana crossed my mind but I didn't want to ruin my cleaned and flossed teeth. I will hold onto this new routine I am creating !

Plan for tomorrow: walk after waking up (3 miles hopefully), take a shower, leave to meet up for lunch with friends. If I have time I will eat breakfast first. I looked at the menu. They have salads, minestrone soup, pasta and plain sauce. I can ask if they have whole wheat pasta. I could just have a bigger bowl of soup. If I have breakfast just prior to leaving I can just have that bowl of soup. My purpose is to see my friends and visit. Haven't seen them in a very long time!

I want to make steel cut oats and then mashed potatoes tomorrow.

Dinner tomorrow will be large salad and rice with beans and fruit.

I have had too much fat today.....yuk! A little too late but I wish I hadn't eaten what I did. I want to feel good about my day today and now I just feel sad. Planning for tomorrow gives me hope though. I know I can do this!

I will read more of Cloudy Rockwell's journal now.

-squealcat

[squealcat]

Exercise: Walked one mile then the rain started.....did a couple of stretches

Breakfast: old fashioned oats and blueberries
Lunch: met with friends and had lunch "out". I was proud that I had a bowl of veg soup and a salad with NO cheese and No dressing. I brought my own balsamic vinegar and used that....no one noticed
Dinner: Not sure yet but I have steamed broccoli and cauliflower and cooked (cooking right now ) yellow potatoes and thawed out some bean and cabbage soup so that may be dinner

As proud of myself as I was, I became hungry a little while ago and ate a peach and banana. Then I went to the cupboard and had a couple of other things too. I am stopping right now. This is still a lot better than the last few days. I plan to make my days better and better as far as eating. Hope I can get in more walking tomorrow. I was not expecting to run into a neighbor today. Talking with her delayed my walk and by the time I got back to it the rain started. It was a downpour a little while later.

My first two little changes only pertain to Mon thru Wed but the third is brushing my teeth and flossing right after dinner and I will get that done today. I will add more small changes as I think of them. New routines that I can put to use to bolster up my health.

-squealcat

[squealcat]

Exercise: walked 3 miles, stretched afterwards, a little yoga stretch before bed

Breakfast: smoothie with just greens and a little fruit
Lunch: large salad with my hummus and balsamic vinegar for dressing. Tried a little sauerkraut on top just to try and it was pretty good. Only needed a little to add flavor. Also a half of a Japonese sweet potato
Dinner: steamed veggies (broccoli and cauliflower), brown rice, tofu (had to use it up) , added a peach for dessert

New evening routine: brushed and flossed my teeth after eating (YAY! ) I like this routine SO much ! It is a little awkward to get upstairs after eating but it is not hard....just discomfort because it is new. When it is time for bed? awesome that I am almost all ready except for PJ's !

Tomorrow I plan to make my oatmeal for the next 3 or 4 days and maybe mashed potatoes too. Will look at it more in the morning. I like to have things ready to heat up for meals.

Visit today with my youngest son and his fiance. Wedding plans are going forward ! We have to come up with a list soon. That will be the tough part. Can I get through one more wedding???

-squealcat

[squealcat]

I am still struggling. I plan what I am going to eat and set some guidelines for myself and then go ahead and break all those guidelines and eat "whatever" !

I was watching my grandson today and brought my usual salad with balsamic and my hummus. I ate that. I also had pea soup with cauliflower. Then (against my guidelines ) I got out some bread and vegan butter and had two slices of that along with some other things. Instead of driving right home I stopped and got something else.....(not going to say what). I am just having an attitude problem and don't want to wait out the urges to eat....I just want to eat what I want to eat. I sound like an angry toddler !

Typing this up makes me think a little bit about all of this. The adult part of my brain needs to take over now. I will do all of this tomorrow and hopefully not pay attention to the toddler part of my brain.

The only thing I did according to plan was walk 1 mile this morning. Let's do better tomorrow, OK?

-squealcat

[squealcat]

Exercise: Walked 3 miles and did my stretches

Breakfast: steel cut oats and dark sweet cherries
Lunch: large salad with my hummus and balsamic vinegar
Dinner: cauliflower, summer squash soup, brown rice and lentils

I got the urge to eat out of control today but managed to have a few chips and some crackers. I just let the urge go and stopped. Learning to do this is at the top of my list right now. I know that staying away from those fatty, salty foods will be tough at first but will get easier as time goes by.

Oh, I forgot to brush my teeth right after dinner yesterday. I am NOT going to forget it today! That is also a change I really want to make a habit/routine. It feels like such a drudgery to brush teeth right before bed when I am the most tired! (I do it anyway but really like to get it done earlier.

I know I will have a gain (again) tomorrow for the MWL weigh-in but I will just get it over with tomorrow morning. This coming week I will work on those eating urges and also the 50/50 plate (which I think will be very helpful ).

-squealcat

[deweyswakms]

Boy, I hear you on the 'salty' snacks. They are my downfall. It's true, you can't have just one. Even one of those small bags = weight gain for me, even if it is water weight. Then another day or two of compliant eating to get rid of it. I HOPE I am off that roller coaster because it is tiresome.

I have had recent success with guideline #2. Hope it works for you too.

Marsha