Discussion Board

hahaha...thanks Fostermom3.

Oh, I was not happy that day. Happily, I got over it and had some veggie sushi that night Next time, I'm bringing my own food.

I had a nice compliment over the weekend. My BF and I were walking into our local pub and bartender says "Every time I see you, you're looking younger and younger..." Ah, the power of veggies, yoga (and hair dye ) I graciously accepted that compliment.

So, this week's start has been good. My weight remained the same considering my BF was down for the weekend. I didn't eat off plan like I normally would when he is around, but I certainly wasn't complient 100%. Probably the worse offender was a bag of Santino's plain nacho/corn chips (with salsa). Yeah, they have fat in them, about 7 grams per serving. I'm hoping this week, with focus, I can easily slide off a pound or two. I feel optimisitic about.

I'm still digging my breakfast - a breakfast salad:

Spring Greens
Blueberrys
Red and Black Raspberries
A splash or two (or three) of balsamic vinegar

I have a bottle of "pear cinammon" balsamic vinegar that I get local. It's delish!

Anyway, have a wonderful day everyone. Keep on keeping on!

A poem today on my FB feed from the "Elephant Journal"-

I’ve blown you up with fat. I’ve shrunken you down to the bone.

I’ve stuffed you with binges and dehydrated you and purged you out at the gym.

I’ve fed you and spit it out into toilets, trash cans and forest floors.

Fainting, crying, shaking and confessions.

By Alysa Auriemma; shared by Shay

I see many of a reflection of myself here. Over eating, binging, losing weight quickly - putting it back on, working out stupidly... I'm so glad Dr. McDougall has created a commuinty of well-being and provides information on how we can better take care of ourselves. I'm certainly a different person today than what I was a couple of years ago.

Have a wonderful day all...

Missing your posts! How's it going?

I'm here! I'm here!

Been very, very busy with work and summer! Concerts, work, my horse, my parents, time off...lots good (and not so good) stuff going on.

I'll catch everyone up tomorrow...

I will tell you this much...we've been having more catered events at work and I've been bringing in my own stuff for breakfast and lunch. LOL - people got real uncomfortable around me this morning when I ate my "breakfast salad". Silly wabbits...

See you all Thursday

Hey everyone. Sorry I haven’t been on the boards for a while. It’s summer here in beautiful upstate New York and I’m taking advantage of everyone sunshiny minute.

So where to begin…

Eating-wise things have been great. I had sales training here at work this week and brought in my own food even though it was being catered by our in-house food service. I’m glad I did, it was same fat-full, oily, greasy, sugary stuff they like to serve. I got strange looks and comments from my coworkers for eating my stuff, which is fine. I know my yummy food is very good for me. Plus, I know every ingredient that’s in it. Funny, the instructor loved what I was eating. He admitted to being a “health food nut” to me in private. I love us closet-vegans

I feel I gotten much stronger on my own personal stance eating animal products. I just can’t bring myself to do it. Not that I was eating it in the past, I just feel more of an allegiance towards animal free products. I’ve now been saying that I don’t want violence on my plate (hence my personal signature). Funny how I'm turning the page from healthy to ethical...

I had news of a distance acquaintance’s husband pass away last Friday. He was 52. My dad said he was on a job, stood up and fell right over from a heart attack. He was slimmed built and left behind a wife and two young daughters. It’s too bad he didn’t get the same second chance as Rosie got. Real shame… I don't know of his lifestyle, what he ate, if he exercised, dranked, if this was genetic... I keep thinking life is way too short...

My sister was over to visit our parents. She stayed at my house since it’s cleaner and much quieter and less chaotic. I have been mentioning she’s been dealing with stage IV breast cancer in her bones. It’s been almost three years since that diagnosis. She’s been doing very well, she follows a very strong plant based diet. Her cancer-antigen numbers are stable, though they do fluctuate due to colds, infections…overall her doctors are very optimistic. She very much believes in a vegan diet and it has been serving her well.

My yoga is still good, still plugging along. I’ve taken a break from it this week to simply enjoy the weather after work by taking walks and biking. The studio is going to be introducing “Hot 26” classes in which you’ll be doing the same 26 poses one would do in Bikram with a room temperature of 110. I’m used to a room temperature of 92…an extra 18 degrees might be tough for me and quite possibly draining. I’ll let you know if I decide to do this...I don't know how much more I can sweat.

My weight has been steady. Looks from when I really started to focus on this endeavor last November I’m down over 17 pounds. Not bad.

So, to all – keep on keeping on and I’ll write more regularly

Peace out!

Thanks for the update. Congrats on how great you're doing! I have a question about your sister. Did she start with plant foods after her diagnosis or was she already eating a healthy diet?

You would never know looking at my sister she has what she has.

She’s always been slimmed built, hovering around 125 lbs, wearing size 4 – 6s. Semi-active. Prior to this diagnosis, she basically ate the “smart” SAD. Low-fat dairy products, lean proteins (chicken, fish…) – very “weight-watcher-ish”. I used to eat this way, too, till…

So when she was diagnosed about 2 ½ years ago a doctor her husband works with told both of them to pursue a vegan diet. (Her husband works with very forward thinking technologies for diabetes, prosthesis and such. This doctor consults with his company and runs in the same circle of McDougall, Estelyn and Campbell.) They immediately hopped on, her cancer antigen numbers dropped…and then they rose when she changed her diet to become a “junkfood vegan”. She started to eat processed vegan foods out of convenience (Kashi brand cereals, frozen foods…) after which she’s now pretty much whole foods. Lesson learned.

She was at Dana Farber in Boston this month, the docs there are very pleased with her prognosis. No new inflammation and there is healing in her bones. She had an MRI to diagnose pain which came down to pulled lower back muscles. (She got the yoga lecture from me) She is on bone building medicine and now they are considering another estrogen blocker.

=====

So, we went to one of our local fairs yesterday. The weather was perfect and we had a GREAT time, except…

I walked out of there with such a pain in the left side of my tummy. I tried so hard to eat on plan. I think the high fat content got to me. I had a greek salad with falafel. Salad dressing had oil in it, the falafel was deep fried. Oy. Then a couple bites of fried dough my BF got and a sip of his vanilla milk shake (really, only a sip – I can’t handle dairy). I had stabbing pains till bedtime. Now I know why I don’t eat this crap anymore.

A cow was giving birth while we were there. There was such crowd watching. I had to leave, the ethical vegan in me was starting to kick in. All I keep thinking how these two animals are being exploited and how these people watching are going to grab a cheeseburger and milkshake later in the day and give no thought to the animals that gave them that meal.

So, I'm finishing up my breakfast salad, yoga tonight...I'm looking forward to a good stretch and sweat this afternoon

Keep on everyone!

That's called "McDougall Revenge"

Hello everyone!

A year ago this time my mother was in the hospital after having a mild stroke. She called me on my birthday (the 4th) to call 911. I was in one county, her in another. My county’s 911 did a great job patching me down to her county’s and getting an ambulance out to the house.

As you all know, we’ve been dealing with the damage of her stroke. It’s AWFUL to see vibrant people go through all of this. This is one of many reasons why I eat the way I do and why I practice so much yoga. There is no reason to end up my like my mom.

~~~~~

On the flip side, my dad is doing so well! I’ll be accompanying him this Saturday to his fire department's 75th anniversary cruise around Manhattan. He's been a member for 73 years (he joined when he was 18 and is now 91). I'm not planning on making a fuss about the food, I'm pretty confident they'll have something there for me to eat (or drink )

This is one of those times where I say "it's about the people, not the food".

I hope all of you have a great day and week. It's been rather uneventful on my end. I'm just keeping on here...be well all!

Happy Friday All.

Just checking and letting you all know things are going very well.

This weekend my BF and I are attending a small dinner party, I'll actually will be cooking for it at the host's home. I'm planning on bringing my own recipes and ingrediants and make some salads, dips and salsas. The host was planning on serving salmon and risotto with butter and cream (oh my!) and that's when I stepped up to make some yummy vegan food.

I really did not make to make an issue on what eat / don't eat - but I haven't had butter in MONTHS!! And salmon was never, ever something I ate. Since the host is my BF's friend, I asked him to step in and mention my food preferences. I really did not want to insult or be rude to our host - and, thankfully, so far so good. I'll let you know how I make out.

Next Tuesday we're having a health fare at work. There will be testing done for cholestrol, sugar levels and osteoporosis (sp). I've signed up. My last cholestrol check was 139 back in Feburary, 2012. I'm real curious to see my numbers are.

My dad's dinner cruise was very, very nice. I ate minimally. Oh, the food was awful. Chicken wings, swedish meatballs, cheese. Dinner was steak or salmon or shrimp or chicken. I asked for a plate of veggies, which really confused the wait staff, so I ordered the same thing my dad wanted, steak. I gave him the steak off my plate and just nibbled on the veggies - which were over seasoned and oily. I really didn't care. My dad was so happy to see his old friends and NYC. It was really worth it.

So, to all - have a great weekend and I'll chime in next week. Peace out!