Finding my Groove

[JeffN]

]In one of Jeff's classic posts, he explains that following the Healthy Eating Placemat will yield meals with a calorie density of under 400 calories/pound: https://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=429308#p429308

Just to be clear....

The Healthy Eating placemat is just a guide and the resulting calorie density of the meals based on it can vary depending on how you follow it and to what extent, (Soup, salad and/or fruit pre-load, the exact ratio of the plate, the starches used, the non-starchy vegetables used, whether dessert is included, body weight changes, activity levels etc.).

The SNAP meals are set up so that if you follow the template, your meals will be about ~300-400 calories per pound but again, there are a few variable involved that could modify it.

In Health
Jeff

[Marla]

Thank you for making that clear, Jeff. The Healthy Eating Placemat seems like a flexible tool that can be adjusted as needed to meet individual needs and health goals. Brilliant!

I don't know exactly where my long-term "sweet spot" is going to be with regard to the starch/vegetable ratio, preloading, whether I'll be able to include some some higher fat plant foods or flour products occasionally. I'm planning to fine-tune as I get closer to goal weight and then maintenance.

The pattern I'm following right now is producing good weight loss results, thanks to fully embracing the 10 Point Checklist, Healthy Eating Placemat, and Principles of Calorie Density. So I'll keep following it and see how I continue to do.

[JeffN]

[Marla]

Yesterday's food:



1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes. At lunchtime, my kale salad wasn't big enough to count as both a preload and the non-starchy vegetable component of the 50/50 plate, so I added an apple at the beginning of the 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.
Yes

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.
Yes

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

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes

6. Eliminate any added oil.
Yes

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.
Yes

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Yes

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Yes

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes, about an hour (combined total) on treadmill and exercise bike

Thoughts:
I have containers of green salad already prepped in the fridge, but I was having lunch at a friend's house and I didn't want to bring one of those salads because they take too long to eat. Massaged kale salads take less time to eat because the massaging softens the greens and reduces the volume.

Looking ahead, I have not one, but two Thanksgiving meals and a birthday/anniversary to navigate in the coming days. My son will not be joining us on Thanksgiving day, so we are having a pre-Thanksgiving with him on Sunday. I will cook compliant dishes for myself and my husband, and some non-compliant dishes for my son, and he will supply his own main course. On Thanksgiving day we are going to my dad's (no other family, just the three of us) and I will probably make the same compliant meal again. My dad says he will eat my mashed potatoes, but will put butter and salt on his. Other than that we'll be eating separate food.

Then a few days after Thanksgiving, it's my husband's birthday AND our anniversary (on the same day -- we got married on his birthday). He has already requested his favorite meal for that celebration, a spicy tofu bowl that is not MWL-compliant because it has tofu, and the tofu is in a sauce that has reduced-sodium soy sauce, brown sugar, and sesame seeds. The base of the bowl is kale and brown rice, and it is oil-free. We used to eat it all the time, but haven't had it in about 10 months because it is higher in fat, salt, and sugar. For his birthday "cake" I'll either make a compliant baked treat of some kind, or a nice cream cake. I made a miniature chocolate nice cream cake on a date-nut-oat crust for my own birthday in September, and it was delicious and very pretty.

I'm not opposed to the idea of "feast meals" if they are truly only a few times a year, but this year I really want to keep my indulgences to a minimum, and above all, I don't want to let the whole season turn into one long feast! So far, so good.

[Marla]

Today's food:



1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes (counting steamed vegetables for this at dinner)

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.
Yes

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.
Yes

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

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes

6. Eliminate any added oil.
Yes

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.
Yes. My dinner had some nutritional yeast in the recipe which I am aware is processed and calorie dense; however, I used it sparingly for flavor, which I think is permitted on MWL.

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Yes

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Yes

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes, exercised an hour (combined time) on treadmill and exercise bike.

Thoughts:
Over the past 8 months or so, somewhere along the way, I stopped snacking between meals. My meals are filling, and I don't get hungry until 30-60 minutes before my next meal, and if I do have a situation where my next meal is delayed, I just wait. I've also stopped almost all "recreational eating," although maybe my usual fruit dessert is recreational since I am not actually hungry when I eat it, and I tend to eat it while watching TV. But in my mind dessert is part of dinner; it doesn't feel quite the same as the between-meal snacking I used to do. Not eating between meals is a big change, and it's weird that I didn't try to make it happen or even notice it happening.

When I was a new McDougaller I remember taking food with me everywhere I went. I even had a little picnic kit in the car, with a can opener, a plate, a bowl, a knife, utensils, and some spices and hot sauce and ketchup. That was so I could pull a meal together from the grocery store, on the go, if I had to. I guess I was really afraid of being out somewhere and needing to eat and not having a healthy option. Or maybe I was worried I'd be tempted to grab fast food if I didn't have something healthy with me at all times. I did that for a few years, and I remember the picnic kit stayed in my car for even longer, until I eventually realized that I hadn't used it in forever, and cleared it out. Thinking about this reminds me that I need to do whatever seems necessary at the time to help myself stay on track, and those strategies may be different at different times in my life.

[VivianS]

VivianS November 21,2020
Marla, you are so right about not going back to calorie rich food! I heard Dr. LISLE talking about that on YouTube yesterday.
Jeff Novick's placemat is etched in my brain. I think it is why I have had any success with this program ...along with reading the checklist daily and puzzling over whether or not I'm actually doing what it says. I have discovered errors long after I thought I had been compliant.
Your taco soup looks like a winner! Since I am in control of the peppers and spices, maybe I won't have to wonder after I swallow one bite if I will be begging for a glass of milk to put out the fire in my mouth, esophagus and stomach. My brother put cayenne pepper in a dish prepared by someone else. I was his victim. I don't trust other people to prepare food that won't hurt me. I, too, have been carrying my food with me for a long time.
I was surprised to learn that there is a forum for maintenance. I really have not spent time on the www.drmcdougall.com website. Trying to use the Internet with this Android phone makes me think bad thoughts. I'm surprised this phone has survived as long as it has. I'm sure 5 G will mean death to it.
I admire the variety of dishes you have, but one famous chef said that variety is the death of a diet. Like you, I am rethinking variety in the soup, salad, and main dish arena, but I am grateful for lots of different fruits.
I think you are following the winning formula. Continue being true to yourself. The truth sets us free!

[Marla]

Hi Vivian,

Congratulations on your success so far; it sounds like you are doing really well following the placemat guidelines and refining your understanding of what is compliant. I too have had the experience of realizing that something I had been eating wasn't actually part of the program. It's all about moving forward and making the best choices you can.

I think the question of how much variety is optimal for staying on track, is a highly individual matter. Personality is probably a big part of it. If you've watched Dr. Lisle talk about the perfect personality....well, I don't have it. I'm very open and very agreeable. The openness makes me more drawn to variety, and I start to have trouble with adherence if I make my diet too boring. At the same time, variety does cause a person to eat more, so I don't want too much variety. I find that boring breakfasts and lunches, and more exciting dinners, works for me. And I will say that my diet has gotten simpler over time, and the simpler it has become, the healthier it has become.

I'll share my Taco Soup recipe. It's quick and easy in the Instant Pot. It's also spicy the way I make it, but of course one can adapt the spices to their comfort level.

Taco Soup

1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 15-ounce can fire-roasted, no salt added tomatoes
1 15-ounce can no salt added black beans, rinsed and drained
1 ½ cups corn (fresh, frozen, or canned no salt added)
1 cup red bell pepper, diced
1 cup green bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
One batch no-salt taco seasoning (see below)
2 ½ cups low-sodium vegetable broth
¼ cup chopped cilantro for garnish
Lime wedges

Optional toppings:
Avocado
Soy yogurt
Chopped red onion
Chopped green onions
Chopped tomato
Sliced Jalapeno
Baked tortilla chips

Place all the ingredients in the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 6 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally.

Use a hand blender to partially blend the soup. Do not completely puree it –pulse a few times to create a thicker soup base, but leave it chunky.

Serve in bowls, by itself or over cooked brown rice, with a squeeze of lime and a handful of chopped cilantro.

No-salt Taco Seasoning:
1 Tablespoon no-salt chili powder (see below)
½ Tablespoon cumin
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper

No-salt Chili Powder:
4 Tablespoons paprika
2 teaspoons oregano
2 ½ teaspoons cumin
2 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
2 ½ teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 ½ teaspoons onion powder

[Marla]

Today's food:



1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes

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.
Yes

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.
Yes

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

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes

6. Eliminate any added oil.
Yes

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.
Yes

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Yes

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Yes

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes, exercised for an hour today.

Thoughts:

Still not loving my big salads without a creamy nut-based dressing, but I'm going to persist and see if I can make my taste buds forget about that dressing after a while. The vinaigrette I've been making isn't bad. It's balsamic vinegar, mustard, orange juice, and a few herbs. I don't like any of the bean-based creamy dressings I've tried, don't like thick gloopy dressings, don't like hummus-based dressings, don't like salsa on salad, don't like overly sweet dressings, don't like naked salads without dressing. (Yet?)

I got a new 3-tiered storage basket for my fruit, sweet potatoes, and winter squashes. The fruit was always overflowing the fruit bowls, and the sweet potatoes and squashes were being stored in a cardboard box in the workout room. Now they're in the dining area in this nice roomy organizer. This makes me happy!

[VivianS]

VivianS November 22, 2020 Sunday
Thanks, Marla, for sharing your thoughts on variety and I agree. I like variety, too. Tiredness always wrestles me back to simplicity. I read your taco soup but it is way too complicated for me. My mother made tacos when I was a child. She used a seasoning mix from the grocery store. Since then I have had an ulcer and I will risk pain if I get too adventurous. About 1 drop of Louisiana hot sauce is about all I can tolerate so today when I made my version of taco soup, I added my drop of hot sauce and mixed it into my serving. I made the soup without seasoning.
I used frozen corn in the soup and put the cut off kernels from 2 boiled ears of corn on TOP of my soup. I really loved corn tortillas, so the boiled corn produced the strongest taste of corn for me to register "TACO" in my brain. I love brown rice, but CORN is what I was craving for the emotional connection to my mother, so I used corn instead of brown rice. I really am grateful to you for suggesting the soup. I am used to the idea that I must adapt any recipe for my own taste and health conditions. Isn't it grand that this diet gives us so much freedom to suit ourselves and still be within the 10 point check list?
As to personality, Pastor Rick Warren, author of THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE, said, "God uses imperfect people because there are no perfect people. "
I think you are a smart shopper. You solved your storage problem of fruits and vegetables beautifully with that 3 tiered bin in the dining room. I admire you photography and computer skills.
I use a modified 10 point checklist for #7 because as GROWING A PEAR wrote just listing or reading the names of those foods is tempting. So rather than get stirred up myself or tempt others, I don't allow myself to go there...those dry, refined foods, but look instead at the real whole food like CORN. That food satisfies me without making my stomach/ guts hurt or making me fat with bad companions like oil, sugar, and salt. Your photos do bring good, inspiring images to mind, too. As a man thinks in his heart, so he is. We have to think of the good foods that nourish us.
I have been investigating foods that keep our bones strong. In particular I was looking for sources of phosphorus. Cronometer indicated that white potatoes are my best source now. What a surprise! Variety is important to get all the nutrients we need. I have started eating potatoes even though I don't like them. Without a sprinkle of salt, I wouldn't eat them. I'm glad the MAXIMUM WEIGHT LOSS CHECKLIST allows for a sprinkle of salt on top of our food.
I have a sister with Alzheimer's disease. She has always refused to eat anything green. She's nearly 90 but she's not really herself. I don't know what causes Alzheimer's disease, but I do know that her broken hip had something to do with her poor diet. I would like to avoid osteoporosis and broken bones. Eating potatoes looks great in comparison to the suffering from having weak bones.
You are doing a good job on leading the cage through the holidays and into a bright, healthy future, Marla!

[VivianS]

VivianS, again 11/22/2020
I meant" leading the CHARGE" through the holidays. I made a funny but apt typographical error when I posted "leading the CAGE through the holidays". I suppose some people do feel caged by eating meals of tempting foods with annoying people during the holidays. We can choose to eat our own foods. We can give that easy answer Dr. Lisle recommends when quizzed about our food, "It works for me." I always remember the answer my diabetic uncle gave when urged to eat a special holiday dish, "I don't eat to please NO body but MY BODY!" A lot of Nobodies could derail us from the 10 point checklist, but that is our plan for health.

[Daydream]

Marla,

I still enjoy seeing the pictures of all the food you eat each day.

Still not loving my big salads without a creamy nut-based dressing

About salad dressings: I've tried all sorts of expensive flavored Balsamic vinegars and I've also made various salad dressing recipes and discovered I actually love Napa Valley Naturals Grand Reserve Balsamic Vinegar (4% acidity). I put that on my salad with nothing else and enjoy it that way. I buy it at Whole Foods but it is available at other stores too. It's this one:
https://products.wholefoodsmarket.com/p ... ars-a1d8bc

I've tried Jane Esselstyn's 3-2-1 salad dressing and I didn't care for it.

I like your new 3-tiered storage basket!

[Marla]

VivianS, I'm so glad that you were able to make a taco soup that pleased your palate and helped you feel that connection to your mother as well. Food is so much more than just fuel, isn't it? I absolutely LOVE your uncle's response to anyone trying to push unwanted food! I'll be interested to know if your feelings about potatoes change the more you eat them. Truly though, there are so many wonderful foods on this plan that we don't have to eat things we don't like. But I have found that the more times I try a food, the more likely I am to begin enjoying it. You might surprise yourself.

Daydream, thank you for the suggestion! I have some Napa Valley Naturals and I do like it. I use it on my steamed greens sometimes. Sprouts often has it on sale. What I'm finding lately (since I stopped the creamy dressing) is that if I make sure to include flavorful items like fruit and roasted beets on my salad, and try to get some of those on my fork with each bite, it helps. I'll try just a drizzle of Napa Valley Naturals and see how I like that.

[Marla]

Today's food (Pre-Thanksgiving celebration with immediate family):



1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes for breakfast and lunch, no for dinner.

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.
Yes. Dinner was maybe a little less than 50% non-starchy, but was close enough

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.
Dinner had some added sodium, but I was able to keep it minimal. The mushroom gravy had 2 tablespoons of low-sodium soy sauce (an ingredient I don't normally use) in the whole recipe. The rice pilaf was cooked in low-sodium vegetable broth. Cranberry sauce (from Trader Joe's) had sugar and I only had a spoonful of it.

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

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
There was a cup of soymilk and a tablespoon of ground flax in the creamed corn recipe. No other high-fat ingredients.

6. Eliminate any added oil.
Yes

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.
Yes, avoided eating these though I made them for others.

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Yes, decided not to have wine with dinner and had iced hibiscus tea instead.

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Yes

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes, did 45 minutes on treadmill.

Thoughts:
One Thanksgiving meal down, one to go! This one was for me, my husband, and my adult son. I feel great that I was able to keep my meal nearly MWL compliant. The creamed corn recipe was new to me, and I won't make it again with the ground flax in it -- it didn't look very nice due to the brown flecks and overall unappealing color. But it did taste good. I think it would have been perfectly fine with just the sweet corn (partially blended), onion and garlic, and a little soymilk. The gravy was very tasty and was made with mushrooms, onion, garlic, and potato, cooked together and blended. Although I don't normally use soy sauce, I decided to use some in the gravy because it was too bland without it, and it was a special meal. Dessert was delicious -- just sweet potato, banana, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla blended into pudding, topped with "whipped cream" made by blending canned pears, vanilla, and a pinch of guar gum (for thickening).

On Thursday we have Thanksgiving with my dad, and I plan to make lentil loaf, mashed potatoes, smoky green beans, possibly creamed corn again (without the flax), possibly sweet potatoes, and a mix of steamed vegetables. And some kind of fruit dessert, probably with the pear whip on top.

I hope everyone else who is celebrating Thanksgiving this week is feeling ready with a healthy plan! We can do this!

[Marla]

Yesterday's food:



1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes for breakfast and lunch, no for dinner. I had soup available, but completely forgot until I was halfway through my meal already.

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.
Yes

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.
Yes

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

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes

6. Eliminate any added oil.
Yes

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.
Yes

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Yes

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Yes

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes, raked leaves for 2 hours. That was a workout

Thoughts:
That was the last of my batched lunch salads. Now I'll make a batch of non-starchy vegetable soup that will last me about 6 days. Alternating between soup and salad for the non-starchy vegetable component of my lunches keeps me from getting tired of either one.

Alcohol (in the form of wine) was a contributor to my weight issues during the 5 years I was off track and struggling to get back on. I'm not sure where I'd put myself on the addiction spectrum with regard to alcohol. I didn't drink enough to say I had a "drinking problem," but I definitely had a habit that took some effort to break.

I haven't touched alcohol in months, and I've kept it out of the house. My husband had to join me in abstaining, because there was no way it was going to work for one of us to be teetotal and the other to still be having wine with dinner every night. I know we are both much healthier not drinking. Anyway, there is wine in the house right now because of the holiday, even though I chose not to have any on Sunday and I will probably also choose not to have any on Thursday. Last night I noticed that I was thinking about wine and feeling a little irritated. It wasn't exactly a craving, but it was a little itch in my brain that was unpleasant. I will be glad when it's out of the house again. I like drinking iced tea made from Good Earth Sweet and Spicy caffeine free tea -- it's quite sweet without adding any sweetener. It's very cinnamony which is odd in an iced drink, but I've come to enjoy it a lot. We also got a Sodastream, and we make a fresh bottle of sparkling water every evening which I drink with lemon or lime wedges. Those two beverages helped me kick the wine habit.

[Marla]

Today's food:



1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes

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.
Yes

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.
Yes

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

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes

6. Eliminate any added oil.
Yes

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.
Yes

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Yes

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Yes

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes, did an hour (total combined time) on treadmill and exercise bike.

Thoughts:
Tomorrow I'll be prepping a lot of the food for Thanksgiving, whatever can be made in advance. Since I am schlepping everything to someone else's house, I'll need to be organized and bring as much already prepared as I can.

I batched my oat groats and my lunch soup and roasted sweet potatoes today, so I won't have to do anything for breakfast or lunch for a while.

I think that taking a photo of everything I eat, and knowing that I will be posting it, is helping my adherence. I'm glad I decide to journal like this through the holiday season (and maybe beyond? Who knows!)