Annette's Journal

[squealcat]

I have been thinking about polenta. Let me know how you liked it.

Also.....I used to have that Joyce Vedral weight lifting book (I think) I liked it a lot and used it for quite a while. I will have to look it up on Amazon to see if that is the one. (maybe we ARE twins !)

I am lucky that my husband makes his own meals. It used to bother me but now I see it is best for me. He likes to eat at such different times from me (breakfast at 11 AM, snack at 4, and dinner at 7:30 ) I would starve waiting for him. Besides, he eats so different from me. I hope you and your husband work things out !

-squealcat

[AnnetteW]

I have been thinking about polenta. Let me know how you liked it.

Also.....I used to have that Joyce Vedral weight lifting book (I think) I liked it a lot and used it for quite a while. I will have to look it up on Amazon to see if that is the one. (maybe we ARE twins !)

I am lucky that my husband makes his own meals. It used to bother me but now I see it is best for me. He likes to eat at such different times from me (breakfast at 11 AM, snack at 4, and dinner at 7:30 ) I would starve waiting for him. Besides, he eats so different from me. I hope you and your husband work things out !

-squealcat

OH, I adore polenta and should cook it more often, yum yum yum. I think the one I have right now is from Bob's red mill, I just follow the instructions on the back. Some will say to add some butter, I just use 1 cup of polenta to 3 cups of water and I do add boullion to the water. Cook then cool in fridge, and later slice and fry up (obviously no oil) in a pan.

My black beans and mango salsa were divine, and then we had steamed cauliflower and carrots for sides. Very yummy.

My husband just likes when I'm "off" a diet, then eating is a bit of a free for all. I just need to take it over and cook what I want, and he can add to it or cook something different.

I didn't start on the weight today, I'm still a bit sore right through the middle of my back from yesterday. I need to do some rolling on my basketball (great for the back).

[squealcat]

I am putting polenta on my list for next week. I have made it in my instant pot (a long time ago) and it is easy . You gave me a good idea.

Also, I looked up Joyce Vedral and yes, I sure did have her book on weight training ! It was long ago. I liked her book and followed it for a long time. We had a weight bench in the garage back then.....memories....

I found a recipe for spaghetti and sauce made in one pot in a forks over knives magazine. I made it today and it turned out very good ! It makes enough to last several days. I will add mushrooms and veggies to it when i heat it up.

I am not copying you, I promise !

-squealcat

[AnnetteW]

@squealcat, copy away all you like, just don't copy my flops, because you know I have lots of those.

Right now I'm totally on that diet high. It's been over a week since I started working on getting back on track. Much more regular exercise with daily walks and now back to some weights is helping me feel good and positive. No alcohol has probably helped the most to be honest. I know it is a depressant and I was feeling so down and bummed.

I'm doing well with MWL, but I have decided to keep in my daily Tablespoon of flax or chia, I've actually just mixed the together and add it to my morning cereal. I also have decided to include a small amount of soymilk in my coffee and oats also. That's pretty much it.

I know I still have to focus on the 50/50 and hunger signals. I think those are my most difficult areas.

I officially started my weights today using the book I mentioned, and it felt good. It also felt weird using light weights, I used 5 lb dumbbells, but it sure will be good for building up all that connective tissue and such. Plus it really was easier on my wonky left elbow and shoulder. I always skip arm work as my elbow will hurt, so going light felt kind of good actually. I charted out a 6 week graph, and hopefully I stick to it, and then after 6 weeks move up to the next phase. That's my plan at least.

I forgot to post my plan for the day this morning.

Plan for today:

Breakfast - Coffee with soymilk, whole grain cereal (wheat/rye/sorghum/br.rice), blueberries, flax/chia

Lunch - medium salad, ww pasta, marinara

Snack- frozen watermelon

Dinner - steamed cauliflower, potato, black beans

Exercise - 3 mile walk, weight

[AnnetteW]

Plan for today:

Breakfast - coffee/soymilk, 4 grain cereal, flax/chia 1T, blueberries
Lunch - salad, polenta, black beans, strawberries
Snack - watermelon
Dinner - potato, chickpea dal, cabbage Indian style

Exercise - 3 mile walk, weights-lower body,

[AnnetteW]

This doesn't happen too often, true hunger. It's almost 5 pm and my stomach is really ready to eat, I have a solid appetite, and I can't wait for dinner. I had an apple a bit ago, it did nothing to quell my hunger. Someone might tell me to go run and eat something really quickly, but honestly, I NEVER eat dinner when hungry, so today I will make sure I do.

I'm doing well right now. It's good to be back on track.

Plan for today:

Breakfast was - coffee/soymilk, 4 grains cereal, strawberries, flax/chia

Lunch was- cucumbers, cooked beets, air fried potato fries, ketchup

Snack was- large apple

Dinner - pasta with marinara and veggies, tossed salad

Exercise - 2.5 mile walk

[AnnetteW]

June start weight - 156
June 12 - 154 (down 2 lbs)


1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. I do this occasionally, most the time I just plate my meal

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've definitely paid attention to at least 50% veggies, except for breakfast.

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. This has been fine. I have no added sugars, I think I had honey a few times earlier in the week with my oats, but that is now gone. I've been eating a different cereal in the morning the past few days and salt doesn't feel necessary (as opposed to oats that taste like glue without salt)

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Check!!!

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).I went back to a bit of soymilk in my coffee for now and 1 T of ground flax/chia in my morning cereal. I'm fine with this at this time.

6. Eliminate any added oil.Check !!!!

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. I had a couple chunks of my delicious homemade sourdough bread one day, and corn tortillas, that's it

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).No alcohol, YES!!!

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.I'm trying to eat a bit smaller meals to feel hungry, and doing well. I'm starting to get a bit of hunger before dinner now.

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).Daily 3 mile walks and have started back to weight workouts

~~~~~~~~~~~
I did track calories for a week or so, and was probably around 1300-1600. I definitely flushed out some fluid, my stomach got flatter. My bowels/gut finally feel normalized again, but I had to add in my bit of flax/chia and a small amount of acacia fiber. I also will start adding a bit of wheat bran to my morning cereal. I tend towards loose stools and the fiber helps me with that.

A few days I had a bit too much fruit in the house and overate on that...but seriously, it's summertime and fruit is delicious.

I'm feeling good and back on track. At this time I will keep my 1/2 cup of soymilk in my diet (in coffee and cereal total for the day). I had no other nuts/seeds, no alcohol...I feel good about my choices. I will never be a diet perfectionist. The moment I try is when I mess up.

Goals for this upcoming week are to really focus on my hunger signals and to continue with exercise, start adding a bit more stretching in also.

[AnnetteW]

Today I had:
Breakfast - coffee/soymilk, 4-grain cereal, blueberries, fibers/flax
Lunch - white pasta with sauce and lots of veggies, tossed salad
Snack - a mango...then a large apple
Dinner - dal, potato pancakes (Indian), no veggies
Exercise - 3+ mile walk, upper body weights, dog walk

All in all a good day. I did a little running during my morning walk and I didn't die. I'll start adding a bit of it to help work on my bone strength. As long as things don't hurt, my poor little feet namely.

~~~~~~~~~~

A friend, who is also doing McDougall, read through some of my journal here today. I directed her to the forums, told her I was easy to find (face and name are real). She said she learned a lot about how we are so different, and why I struggle with things that she doesn't struggle with. She can go in 100% and follow something to a Tee and not veer off track. I on the other hand struggle to stay on track, need a little more variety and change. I also do not do well being told what to do.

If you tell me to do something (like follow MWL 100%) I can guarantee that I will do anything and everything not to do it. I don't follow a list, I don't follow directions (sometimes I do), and it's just the way I am. Just as it's the way SHE is.

It was a bit of an eye opening discussion we had and I think we both learned not only a bit more about each other, but also about ourselves.

[AnnetteW]

Plan for today (totally up in the air still)

Breakfast - coffee/soymilk, 7-grain cooked cereal, flax/chia/bran/acacia (my fiber mix), blueberries

Lunch (out today) - edamame, side salad

Snack - fruit of some sort

Dinner - no plans as of yet

Exercise - take a break from my morning walk, lower body weights, dog-walk tonight

[AnnetteW]

Went for my lunch out and had a very shabby side salad with edamame, I was still starving afterwards. Got home at 3 pm and started to devour the house. Note to self: next time remember to bring a baked potato along.

I had some yummy fresh sourdough bread, well, as fresh as can be considering it came out of the freezer, but oh so good. Then I had dal and potato pancakes from yesterday.

Dinner was a salad with some cooked mung beans on top, corn on the cob and one slice of air fried potatoes, I just wasn't so hungry.

I did make some rice milk to try tomorrow, in my coffee and on my cereal. I know it will be fine in the cereal, the coffee...we'll find out. I used just cooked rice, nice and soft, and blended it in the vitamix. I also added some maple syrup and vanilla and a few sprinkles of salt. It tastes quite good I think. And no fat, unlike the soymilk.

I hope it passes the taste test.

No exercise today, I was just physically tired. So today was my rest day.

On to tomorrow.

[AnnetteW]

Though the rice milk tasted pretty darn good, I wasn't satisfied with it. I don't know what it was, perhaps just the pure "sugar" aspect of it. I decided I will stick with my soymilk for some coffee and a bit in my cereal and not fret over it.

We ate lunch out and though I kept it vegan, there was some fat and salt. It was a new Mexican place, kind of like Chipotle. I had a salad with black beans and a bit of rice and other veggies and salsa and guac...and some chips (darn...)

And in the afternoon I had frozen cherries, and then a big bowl of watermelon.

Dinner was brown rice, dal and a corn on the cob.

So honestly, not the worst day, but not on plan either.

Exercise was a 45 min walk this morning, and then a sauntering dog walk this evening.

So basically 2 weeks back under my belt, that's all good. No alcohol and cravings/desire for it are well gone. Obviously I still don't have will power at a restaurant, but I was okay with my choices.

I sewed a dress today and I look like a fat frump in it. Little things like that definitely motivate me. I want to sew cute clothes and look good in them.

Looking forward to another week.

[AnnetteW]

A little bit of negativity is sneaking back in...makes me feel like I'm some sort of a mental case.

Restriction messes with me, and though someone else might view MWL as not being restrictive, the moment you say I can't have something, well, heck, I want it even more.

Yesterday I just packed the food in. I also made vegan sushi for dinner which is quite yummy and the blast of flavors makes overeating so easy (and fun, I won't deny that.) A little bit of avocado and chopped raw almonds in some of the sushi is super tasty too. And of course the soysauce.

And then boom, the body retains water, I'm up too pounds and my ankles hurt when trying to walk.

Oh well...if that's the worst thing I ate, it's not the end of the world. I understand the concept behind making food less exciting, but it sure isn't as much fun.

That aside, today is another day and I am thinking about my tentative menu.

Plan for today:
Breakfast - coffee/soymilk, 4-grain cereal, canteloupe
Lunch - whole wheat pasta, marinara, cooked veggies
Snack - frozen watermelon
Dinner - spring rolls (have to figure these out)

Exercise - 2 mile walk which wasn't all that pleasant

[AnnetteW]

I envy those who can commit fully and not be swayed by the brain. The little devil on my shoulder is also so strong, I guess he's my pleasure trap.

I really do want to lose weight and I want to be healthy, but I want things that are bad for me. And seriously, the things that are "bad" aren't really even bad. I fell into the almonds and dates yesterday after dinner....AFTER dinner. I never eat after dinner. Why was I wanting them?

All the talk is about calorie density, eat more veggies, more veggies, more veggies....I really think the fat wants in my diet. Sometimes I think I'd had more control allowing some nuts/seeds. Perhaps I'm just fooling myself, I don't know.

I'm still having so much bloating problems, my stomach looks 7 month pregnant by the evening. Maybe something I am eating IS causing issues. I don't quite understand the whole FODMAP thing, and I have tried to not get drawn into something new, just follow the McDougall plan.

I know I eat too much quantity-wise, that whole weight of the food thing. But then when they show calorie density and say you can eat 4 T of peanut butter (400 calories) or all these potatoes, and which would make you more satisfied, I can't help but think that peanut butter would satisfy me better. Why is that?

It's like I don't believe what "they" are saying, or more likely I just don't want to believe it.

I'm just feeling a bit lost right now. I don't like thinking about food all the time, I just want to eat.

Plan for today:

Breakfast - coffee/soymilk, 4-grain cereal with blueberries, a bit of salt (sorry, can't stand the glue flavor) and stevia, and a splash of soymilk

Lunch - plan is a nice salad with some mung beans, need more starch too

Snack - probably watermelon, I'm overeating the watermelon right now

Dinner - having family over for Mexican. I'm making black beans and will have them with either a spanish rice or corn shells.

Exercise - feeling lazy

[AnnetteW]

Once again @JeffN put me in my place, over on the MWL check-in board. I will focus one meal at a time...I have to not overwhelm myself.

Just had lunch -

Nice large salad with added corn and cooked mung beans. Dressing was a fat free one from Sprouts, I thinned it out a bit. I will be hungry in about 1.5 hours, that I know, even though the salad was large.

Need to go prep my dinner, we're having a taco spread. I will make perfect black beans and also a nice spanish rice, and eat them with a small salad.

[AnnetteW]

If it takes me posting 3x a day, so be it...I need to figure myself out.

I ended the day strong. After lunch I later had my bag of frozen watermelon. Then later I was feeling munchy again. That's the thing, I'm not necessarily hungry, just bored and "munchy", peckish if you'd like. But I resisted and then ate a light dinner, because I was able to, a salad, black beans and my spanish rice. And I tend to be well controlled after dinner, it's just that mid-late afternoon time that tends to overwhelm me.

Oh, and I did weights...

Tomorrow is another day, I will focus on one meal at a time, and my one afternoon snack, which right now, being summertime, will be fruit.