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LET'S FINISH STRONG! 92 FAT-FREE, OIL-FREE DAYS LEFT IN 2009!

Well, I was wrong about sleeping deep...I woke at 11:00 when my kids got talking and moving around the house (yes, I go to bed before them...not a problem most times) and about 2:00 for no reason, and about 3:45 with some coughing. This tells me that I need to be more active and burn off some of the energy that I have. Once the rain stops, and the ground is soft, I am tackling my garden plots: side yard and back yard. Get them ready for planting next spring.

Took my WO shower and vinegar hair rinse this morning. Feel good. I did use the tiniest bit of lavendar/almond oil (my own blend) and shaved my legs/moisturized my skin. When I woke up this morning and had zero odor on me, and last night getting ready for bed, there was zero odor in my shirt, yet I didn't use alcohol/deodorant when I showered on Tuesday night...this tells me that I really don't need to put rubbing alcohol on any part of my skin! ha! We'll see how my hair feels when it is dry. I certainly got some oils off with the vinegar. But this will be the second go-round without shampoo...huh.

Today's eating plan:

B: rice with veggie soup
L: baked sweet potato with veggie soup
D: Hm. Big green salad and Brazilian black beans with marinated tomatoes *slurp*
S: fruit? Garlic! ha!

Don't know if I'll exercise, per se, but I have so much energy, I am going to take down my basement. There is a lot to do down there, so I'll tackle it this afternoon. I do want to start a regular regimen of cardio, but not while this cold is on me.

Hi,Daffodil I really think I thwarted the flu. It wanted to go into my chest, but I've had only a minimum of coughing for two days. This morning it is pretty much non-existent though I do still have sinus congestion just a bit. Eating garlic really has made such a difference.

Selah, I used to use Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap, but it caused extreme sensitivity to my skin, so that it hurt to even have my clothing touch me. I now use it highly diluted as hand wash in the bathroom. It's cool that it works for you with your multiple sensitivities. And, yes! keeping track of what you eat can be important, especially if you get to a weigh in and haven't lost. You can go back and say "oh, hey. I ate two handfuls of almonds every day as a snack this week..." Also, for me anyway, it helps to see that simple and filling is okay. Don't have to eat an elaborate meal every day.

Hi Paula! Pancake recipe...well, in my case it was just some organic pumpkin pancake mix my sister gave me when she was cleaning out her cupboards. It isn't whole grain or anything. I just used the same amount of water that they suggested for milk, and added a TBSP of flax seed powder to it to substitute for the egg. Go to the food & recipes forum here at McD, and at the top of that forum are two sticky threads that have a lot of recipes from McDougall newsletters. Thanks to Letha, who organized and posted those AWESOME resources. There is probably a pancake recipe there. I don't have them very often, as it is a bread and Dr McDougall recommends eating few breads for maximum weight loss.

I do love Indian cuisine, and I'm working on learning how to use the spices and foods. My daughter's boyfriend assures me, Indian kitchen cooking is quite different from restaurant food: more rice/potato and vegatable oriented, without so much sauce. It's very flavorful and spicy.

you can find a pretty lengthy discussion about the Water Only showering and vinegar hair rinse idea here: http://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13166 Because we're eating such clean, healthy foods, our bodies are not exuding foul odors through our skin. For me, anyway, I smell completely neutral, using water only on my skin, and vinegar in my hair twice a week to de-grease. Nothing for deodorant. It's a very interesting subject, and a lot of people are giving it a try.

ah, but I must get some brekkie and then off to work on another rainy cold day.

bless you all for stopping by!

I hope you have a great day!

Hi toadfood...thanks. Long day, but good. I work with disabled adults, and the young man I was staffing today is very high functioning autistic with slight cognitive difficulties, and is blind. We were accompanying another client as he worked his job putting flyers on doorknobs for Dominos. My client, Mr J, loves to make up quirky dog breeds. For instance, if you cross a chihuahua and a pug, it would be a Chug. Well, today he thought up an amazing breed: a cross between a shih tzu and a poodle.

What would you call such a dog?...a shit poo...we laughed SO HARD and that is part of what made the day good.

But Wednesday night was a hard night. I volunteeer in a group therapy session, just as "leader" and listener, moderator if needed. This week, we found out that one of the guys was found dead in his apartment a few days ago. That was REALLY tough, as some of these fellas have known each other for years. I've known him just as a participant in this group for over a year...sad, sad. Most likely suicide, which makes it harder...

But today's eating was all in compliance with my "no added fats or oils" goal, even though I ate a piece of quick bread that my daughter and I baked after I got home from work. And I ran into my first real temptation...I wanted to put butter on that piece of bread SO BAD. I won't be baking quick breads again unless it is for feast times. Seriously, only my commitment to finishing 2009 fat free kept me from putting butter on there. And the "treat" wasn't that good. I mean, it tasted sweet and was warm and all, but when it comes with that kind of temptation, the pleasure of the quick bread was far outweighed by the negative impact of the temptation.

what I ate:

B: veggie soup over purple sticky rice
L: baked sweet potato and steamed broccoli
D: I haven't eaten dinner! oops...
S: brown rice w/bush's baked beans

exercise: I did a heavy duty ab workout with ALL THE COUGHING

seriously, no exercise. I'm frustrated becasue i DO want to get out there and start working it. I've been doing this for 3 weeks and I feel fantastic, except I'm SICK. Have a cough...more of a tickle at this point, just enough to drive me a little nuts, but if I push it in the semi-cold air around here, I could easily drive it deep into my lungs...so I don't push it. I have three garden beds that need digging up, and I really REALLY want to do it...*pout*

i gonna go make some dinner. gonna read everyone's journal and keep myself motivated.

love alla youse!

Heidi

Hi Heidi,

Reading your posts (and everyone's) is so encouraging. I am so glad that you replied to my first post. Thank you so much for welcoming me here. I look forward to getting to know you and others better.

I just wanted to drop by today in your journal and say "hi" I need to lay down soon because I have a back ache, but I must say that I am so sad right along with you that one of the people you cared about may have taken his own life. I have recently lost someone to that type of situation too, so the raw sting is fresh in my heart too.

I'm glad you mentioned exercising. I need to do that too. I have a rebound trampoline but no room to set it up (where there is no nicotine residue). I think by tomorrow, if I make this my goal for the day, I could get it in my tiny bedroom. Agh, I have to go to the doctor, not to see the doctor, but to determine how much they will charge me. It's based on a sliding fee scale. So, I hope I can do both: go to town AND get my rebound in here where the air is best (for this house). It will feel so good to stimulate my thyroid/lymphatic system. I say that because when I have bounced in the past few months, my body is so sensitive that I can actually "feel" something stimulated in my chest region. It feels good to exercise. I "can't wait" to walk in country sunshine!

On the soap subject, I should have specified that I have diluted Dr Bronners quite a bit, to about 2 oz DB to 6 oz H2O. I never use it full strength. But I'm curious now, is there a better selection? I'm certainly open to new products. I've read all the fine print on DB's bottle and can't find ANY qualifying statements to assure me that it kills germs or anything like that. The bottle just talks alot of theology, which I find curious that the company takes their opportunity to "evangelize" on their soap bottle. Oh well...

I hope your kids let you get a full night's sleep To me, this face means "sleeping."

aren't Bronner's soap labels a hoot?

as for a brand of soap, I use no soap at all. Just water, and rinse my hair with vinegar...that is in transition and I don't know if I am happy with how my hair feels. It looks okay, though. but the scalp feels not so clean. Bronner's is a pure soap, though. If you have chemical sensitivities, it's a good choice if you're going to use soap.

I stopped using soap about a week ago, have had three Water Only showers and my skin feels terrific. I don't use deodorant either, and I don't smell like anything. Not perfumey, not odorous. Even my shirts smell normal.

thanks for stopping in!

Blessings, Heidi

yes they are!

Now I figured out what WO means. I could try that...

LET'S FINISH STRONG! 91 FAT FREE, OIL FREE DAYS LEFT IN 2009!

Ugh, I cooked up a big pot of rice yesterday, thinking rice would be my starch for the week...it doesn't sound good AT ALL. Maybe that will change for lunch, but I ain't eating the stuff for brekkie, that's for sure. I'm having oatmeal with a handful of dried fruit and nuts, a sliced banana, and some maple or agave syrup over it.

In fact, I've done so well this past more than a week, really eating nothing off the MWL plan: no nuts, no seeds, no nut butters...I had one piece of whole wheat toast, dry, with my veggie soup the day before yesterday and a small slice of quick bread after work yesterday, but I've been very compliant with the MWL foods, especially staying away from fatty ingredients...

methinks I may "feast" a bit just so I don't get feeling deprived. That is, "feasting" by adding some nuts or other non MWL rich(er) foods.

But wait a minute. If I examine this, what is the craving? What is turning me off? Rice? or that veggie soup? huh. If I think "Rice with veggie soup" it sounds yucky. If I think "Rice with black beans and marinated tomatoes" it sounds yummy.

It's the SOUP! i've been eating it for three days, and I'm sick of it. and I'm craving creamy...and black beans have a very good creamy texture...

well, then.

B: Oatmeal w that stuff I mentioned
L: rice with black beans and marinated tomatoes; steamed broccoli
D: rice with Asian style stir fry veggies (I'll make it saucy! slurp)
S: garlic; fruit?

and I think I'm going to make some of that chocolate chili from the recipes link...that sounds pretty good. I've got some tofu I could add for a little bit of richness, and make just enough for one dinner, me and the kids, and one lunch to take to work, so I don't eat rich foods for a lot of meals, but do "treat" myself so I can stay with this.

my hair looks good and feels not so good. My scalp,that is. My hair doesn't feel greasy, but my scalp feels heavy or something. I might try baking soda in tomorrow's shower.

still coughing, and some sinusy but it's better today than it was. Keeping on with the garlic. It's really cold here, so I'm still not planning on heavy activity outside...I may just tackle my boxes of books in the basement. Get that room rescued and nice. That's where my piano is, I should have it nice so I'll go play more often. After work, anyway. wishing I could call in even though I've gone in every day, feeling sicker than I do today.

oh, well. time to eat Brekkie.

later, gator!'

now I'm wondering what MWL means.

What's the garlic and fruit snack about? Do you eat them together? how?
Thanks for sharing.

btw: I love black beans and tomatoes. I just had some a few days ago. It's tomato harvest season and I've grown mine organic!

Enjoy your day. I raised my kids doing the type of work you do. I can imagine you stay busy

that means Maximum Weight Loss. If you go to the ForumIndex, you'll find a forum on MWL. I'm off and on with it, but more on now than I was at first. It's just a way of eating less calorie dense foods that are still McDougall "legal" but have a lot of fat or are just dense. You stay away from those, you'll lose weight faster.



I've got this cough, it is nowhere near as bad as it could be (I have had bronchitis and my family gets lung illnesses easily)...It stays less severe because I fight it with garlic. I just chop up a whole fresh clove of garlic very fine, and swallow it without chewing or anything, washing it down with water, many times per day. I know that the garlic keeps the cough from getting as bad as it could be. In fact, I started feeling this on Monday, and today is Friday and it's almost over.

Yeah, my marinated tomatoes will be from my garden, organic. Just picked yesterday! yum...and now I gotta go put that together.

blessings, Heidi

Hope your feeling better. The beans/rice/tomotoes sounds great. My new favorite tomoto is the grape tomoto..I never thought I liked them before but I have found they make a nice sauce. Your doing great. !!

well, it's been another day on plan, except I ate one macaroon that probably had sw. condensed milk and maybe egg white. It was so sweet, and had an artificial flavor to it. Another "food" that I can put on my "used to enjoy, but now it's yucky" list. (along with donuts)

Brekkie was oatmeal with fruit and nuts; coffee

Lunch was Brazilian black beans and marinated tomatoes over rice. YUM

Dinner. I made that yummy vegan brown gravy with chopped up mushrooms added, and had it over rice, and then had some more over boiled red potatoes! and a serving of California Broccoli Salad with my own homemade non-fat vegan coleslaw dressing over it.

HOMEMADE NON-FAT VEGAN COLESLAW DRESSING
1 c honey
2/3c.apple cider vinegar
1/3 c. strong mustard

2-3 Tbsp of flour
1 tsp. celery seed

whisk together the first three ingredients. This is classic 321 Dressing, but it needed to be creamy for coleslaw. So, put the flour in a sauce pan and let it get hot. Heat up the dressing for 45 sec in the microwave. Gradually pour the heated salad dressing into the heated flour. It will thicken instantly, and there you have CREAMY 321 dressing.

add the celery seed. pour over broccoli or cabbage for cole slaw!


Also, I made a big pot of chocolate chili and let it simmer all afternoon. That will go well with all my rice I made.

tomorrow I want to make an aloo gobi for at least one meal. Chili and rice for everything else.

someday I'd like to figure out just exactly how cheaply I am feeding my family and me. Even eating expensive rich foods, I have always been a real frugal home cook. Food expenses were always under $500 a month, with five people at home. That's what cooking from scratch, using whole foods, and buying in bulk will do...now that I'm leaving out the rich foods, it has to have gone down.

hoping and praying for very good, uninterrupted sleep tonight and more energy tomorrow.

LET'S FINISH STRONG! 90 FAT FREE, OIL FREE DAYS LEFT IN 2009!

Doing good today. Slept in and had to make a dash to get to work, but thankfully I had a sweet potato and an instant split pea soup cup which were good for brekkie.

Lunch was purple sticky rice with chili YUM! This is a 16 bean soup mix, and i made it into a big batch of chocolate chili yesterday and it turned out really good. The recipe calls for orange peel, and I threw about twice the called for amount and it is SO good that way.

Dinner, I promised the kids a non-bean dish, so I'll make aloo gobi and have some of that along with a bowl of the chili.

activity: I harvested/trimmed back the fennel in the front yard. Got at least two cups of fennel seed. I'm planning on tackling a big patch in the backyard, to get ready for making a garden next year, but gonna listen to "This American Life" and play Bejeweled Blitz first There's a LOT of digging involved, as I"m uprooting many perennial plants that are overgrown. It will be SO good for me. I'm feeling like I'll be up to it for sure.

Shower today included a BS rinse on my hair, but it has left it feeling quite greasy. I like the texture and it has brought out a flippy little curl in the back of my hair but it feels greasy. And my face feels dry. But my skin feels so good, and I smell fresh.



blessings, Heidi

Hey you,

Your doing great. The menu sounds good

Yesterday was a terrific day. The awesomest news of all is the birth of my baby grand daughter Nadia! My DIL went into labor at 10 pm, and Nadia came into the world at 3:39, weight 7 lbs...well, 6'15.7"...:):):) gonna go visit after church (they live in SLC, we live 45 min north in Ogden, UT) My son phoned last night at about quarter to eight to let me know...I was up coughing at midnight, and praying...and he was home feeding dogs this morning at 6:30 when I texted him to see...yaaayayaay! I'll take pics.

My food was all on plan. That chili is really good. Very filling. I am so glad I made a big pot, cuz now I can just grab the storage container and bring it with for food out of the house today.

I got an awesome hour long workout, digging up roots of unwanted plants, and cutting back the four o'clocks out my back door. Seriously, when i was done, I felt like I'd been in a Body Pump class at the gym. There is so much still to do in my yard, I can get that hour long workout three times a week until the snow flies for sure. And I want to get three beds ready for a garden next spring, so I'm going to be busy. The woman who planted this place, used all perennials. It might have been just lovely while she was here tending it, but it's been a few years since anyone who cared was here, so the place is literally a jungle. I have my work cut out for me, but the food is energizing me and I can do it. I'm keeping an image in my head, of a sweet garden full of fresh veggies for me to make into food by this time next year. The goal: making my own food and being just a little bit independent of agribusiness. Litereally feeding myself and my kids.

FINISHING STRONG! 89 FAT FREE DAYS LEFT IN 2009!

Today's plan includes taking my big container full of chili, and some potatoes I boiled, and some I baked. That'll do for food. Maybe I'll bring my homemade coleslaw dressing and fix everyone a fat free broccoli salad...

brekkie will be oatmeal with an apple cut into it, cinnamon, maple syrup, and a little handful of nuts/dried fruits (It's actually kirkland trail mix with raisins, dried cranberries, dried blueberries, almonds, pistachios and walnuts. All raw. No salt)

Lunch will be chili and potatoes.
Dinner: chili and potatoes.

activity: Recovering from yesterday's full body workout! ha!

I've also been viewing some videos (you can download individual lectures from the DVD's for a few bucks) and getting eddicated.

Life is good.

Congratulations Heidi on the most recent addition to your family. May you enjoy many wonderful McDougall meals with your new granddaughter in the coming years.

I can totally understand what you are saying about making your physical exertion amount to something. I can’t wait to see photos of your garden next year. I’m also interested to hear how your no soap experiments evolve over time. Hope you’re having a great weekend.
Letha