Discussion Board

Hey Carolyn -

thank you for the PMs I completely appreciate your checking in on me!!! It's been a super rough pain patch for me and I have been so exhausted that I haven't kept up with my journal or anyone else's. I hope to catch up on everyone tonight and will write more then!

For sure, I'll be thinking the good thoughts for you as you confront a wedding. This is where I fall down myself, holidays and special occasions. I do really make the best choices I can at events and forgo the obvious temptations - but talk about hard. The blessing in disguise is my gluten and lactose intolerances - I really can't eat things like cake and not deal with many more issues than the pain of the scale.

The other thing that works for me at parties and what not - is Frozenveg's great hint that just look at the temptation and know that it just "isn't food - anymore than the candlesticks and tablecloth". Or something along those lines - anyway that helps me immensely to just run that little mantra through my brain as I am staring down something that I used to love.

OMG, then there is travel too New Orleans - well, I guess they are a little bit famous for restaurants! It's a big city - but I can't imagine the likelyhood of a vegan restaurant there

Anyway, thanks again for keeping in touch - sorry I have been away so long, but I am back now!!!!

Can you say "STRUGGLING"? That is me to a "t" right now. I am struggling with a lot of things - eating right, exercising, getting enough sleep...I am so tired right now that I can barely hold my head up. I think that I may need to go to bed early tonight, and possibly take a sleeping pill to make sure that I can really sleep! I ate horribly over the weekend, and I can really tell!! I am going to have to get myself out of this slump I am in. I just don't feel well, and I have fibromyalgia pain. I am ready to be healthy and more energetic (and hopefully pain free!). Something has got to give, and soon.

Hi Carolyn: Was this weekend the wedding? Did some of that naughty food include sugar. I have slumps with sugar big time and oddly it makes me insomniac too. Oh and did I mention it certainly doesn't help with the fibro.

Not to worry a new week and hopefully a good night's sleep to start it! For us with fibro, that really is, I believe, the key to everything! Stress, bad food choices and so many other things can effect our ability to sleep well and then - for me if I am tired having cravings is a given. Not that I go there often, but I have cravings for sugar when I am bone tired that I never have otherwise. but if I have good sleeep I crave veggies - seriously - go figure???? Yum green beans and like that.

I don't know if this applies to you as well, but regardless if it's the exact same thing or not, I get the place your in and I am pretty sure that sleep is key for all of us!

Breath deep when you are awake and get as much sound sleep as you can nights. Hopefully, you'll be back to your great routine again in no time

Yes, this weekend was the wedding, and yes, I did have a (small) piece of cake and some coke.



That is EXACTLY what happens with me. I have been tired, and not sleeping well, and then I crave sugar and salt and all of the naughty stuff. If I can just get through this by eating well a few days straight, I think I can get myself back on track. I stayed home from work yesterday because I was tired, and had a headache coming on. I ended up sleeping a lot of the day, which was probably what I needed, but then that meant that I couldn't go to sleep until around midnight, and then had to get up at 5:30 a.m.

Anyway....I have planned well for today, if I just don't let myself get off track. I had oatmeal with banana for breakfast, and packed a baked potato and green beans for lunch. I have an apple for a snack, and then plan on having another baked potato with peas for dinner tonight. So, hopefully this will be my first full day "back" on plan.

Thanks for the encouragement Michelle - I don't know what I would do without you!

Carolyn: Funny, I got off the sleep track too yesterday and afternoon nap that stretched into evening and then I couldn't sleep at all last night. I vow to get the sleep back under control because I know for me that is so KEY.

Also, I am making sure I am eating enough and making sure I am in fact satiated. I think if I don't eat enough that sets my body up for looking for energy (usually nutrients ) in all the wrong places. So those are things I am going to be especially attentive to this week.

After this week I want to go back to potatoes - I think you're making a good choice with them - somehow I think they help me sleep better. I may be fooling myself there but they are and Irish girls comfort food, for sure!

Don't feel bad about the cake at the wedding - I don't know how you bow out of the tradition of sharing and not go there.

Hey, ditto on your being there for me!

Carolyn, oh wow, you are doing so good! I understand so well, as we just had a family wedding to, and I had to have a pc of that cake! oh well, back on track for me too! But on the good side, I was going to make up a batch of cupcakes and or make them vegan, and did not have the time for it, and decided to never use the mixes, and so will donate them.
Keep on this WOE!

Thanks Michelle and Carolynne. It is nice to know that others understand my struggles.

I just finished "hell week" at work (my busiest week of the year). Actually, the past couple of weeks have been crazy, and I haven't been eating well. But, I am back today, and am going to genuinely try to do my best. However...

Although I ate on plan all day, I did have a piece of cake tonight. Today is my 19th wedding anniversary, and our youngest made us a lemon cake to celebrate. So...I couldn't not have a piece! Lol. Back on plan tomorrow - I am really going to give it my all, as I have been absolutely miserable the past few weeks. I have discovered for an absolute fact that eating off-plan causes me to have a lot more fibro pain, and disrupts my sleep. I had been feeling so well, and then fell off plan and into the pain and bloating and miserableness of the SAD.

Once again, I am starting over. But, at least I am still trying I guess. I bought healthy groceries, and am trying to drink lots of water as well. I leave for New Orleans in a few weeks, and would love to be at a lower weight by then. I am going to try to do the DDP yoga workouts every day as well, so that should make a difference as well (as long as I stick to my plan!)

So...here's to eating better and feeling better!

Carolyn -

Cheers to the eating better and feeling better and I am so glad your "hlel week" is done!

Boy, is it ever true that we have extra added incentive to eat on plan - the return of pain and back to poor sleep - just isn't what we want to do at all.

I have to say this though - we have a cattle prod telling us to get back on plan, others have the fear of let's say another heart attack - all this sure makes me respect the folks who are just doing it because they know it's the right thing to do for so many ethical reasons.

I have a camping trip to the mountains planeed for the end of this month and I am looking to have gotten under 200 by then. So we are kind of on the same goal right now - loose weight for our trips. Lets get on that and JUST DO IT

Last week didn't work out well for me food-wise. Unfortunately, hubby had a rough week, and then he is a bad influence sometimes. I have no willpower, so I really need to find a way to say "no" when presented with bad choices.

So...it is what it is. I am starting fresh tomorrow, and am making a commitment to myself to go 100% for the next 3 weeks. I have felt really awful the past couple of weeks - same old issues - IBS, Fibromyalgia pain, bad allergies, not sleeping well, etc. I am tired of feeling yucky all of the time - something has got to change. I can't keep going in this cycle of doing well, and then falling WAY off the McDougall wagon, and feeling awful again. Hopefully this will be the time that this WOE really "sticks" with me!

Hey Carolyn -

I flunked the say no yesterday - I thought it was a tiny thing that wouldn't get me. I finally remembered at the Farmers Market yesterday the guys with the great veggie dips oil free -gluten free -vegan all of them - were serving the samples on little pieces of wheat pita. I was listening so hard to the igredients of the spreads that I didn't say hey I can't have the pita!

I feel terrible today including a headache and tummy ache of the kind that screams WHEAT. But we can say no and just stop and think a bit about how the food choices are directly connected to the pain and discomfort we have. I try to think of this as a silver lining to compliance that these tother poor McDougaller's don't have the instant benefit of.

I finally got my dear friend Phyllis to connect the dots and she has in a big way. She was looking at this like a diet that I could sneak on a bit here and there. So, I have put emphasis on the pain connection and all the symptoms that have gone away from not eating the way she does normally.

When we went to Santa Cruz she had checked out restaurants we could eat at and when I said I'd still have problems with the food - she didn't try to cajole me into picking from the menu anyway, as she usually does. She even gave me compliments on what I brought for myself and made the statement "Great, this way you won't hurt yourself eating and we'll get more walking in!" and so we did!

So, I am thinking this might work for you as well - in communicating with the DH, maybe?

Thanks Michelle - maybe that would help. He knows how much the "bad" foods upset my stomach, but I have neve talked to him about the added pain aspect. I have gotten so used to hurting, that I think he tunes me out most of the time!

I did have sort of an epiphany yesterday though - all along, I have been looking at the big picture of needing to lose around 60 lbs. It has been very overwhelming to me! I weighed this morning and was at 178 (4 lb gain from my lowest a few weeks ago). So, I decided that instead of reaching for that big goal, I am going to reach for a smaller one. I want to lose 8 lbs by the end of the month. Then I want to lose another 10. Then after that I will set another goal, probably just taking it 10 lbs or so at a time. If I can keep reaching my goals and then having that sense of accomplishment, eventually I will be where I want to be. Also, I am not going to set myself an "ideal weight" goal right now. When I feel that I look good and feel good, I will be satisfied. If I continue to lose weight after that fine, but if not, that will be fine too. I just need to get to that point where I feel comfortable with myself, and then I will not (mentally at least) try to push myself beyond that - I will just work at maintaining and continuing to make this way of eating a permanent lifestyle choice.

Right now I just feel that although I need to work at being really 100% compliant, I am going to try to approach it for the health benefits, and not push myself so hard to reach some perfect goal weight.

Carolyn, I didn't realize you are from Texas, too, so Howdy!
Small goals are good! And 8 to 10 pounds a month is perfectly doable with good compliance.
Good luck to you! B

Thanks Blue! I am not from Texas, but I did graduate from Dallas Christian College. I actually live in Illinois (and always have). I appreciate the comments though - for some reason I seem to need a lot of encouragement, so I love it when people post on my journal!

Carolyn: My bad for starting the rumor you live in Texas - I just kind of had visions of you Blue & Fuelenn getting together for potluck! Well you will be going south soon to the land of Mardi Gras. gosh, I hope I haven't confused that too!!! I have to look up Dallas Christian College - I think a friend graduated from Miami College in Ohio apparently up around there folks lure you in thinking your going to be in someplace altogether different!

So sending you big -

ENCOURAGEMENT

no matter where you reside!

Hey Carolyn:

I am back because I took time to read how you are setting your goals right now. That is a huge change from looking at the total amount to loose ( we have just about the same amount to go, BTW).

I kind of did the same thing; I figured -- based on what I was loosing at the start -- that I could take off 2 pounds a week and I set goals according to this. This would still be what I always hope for - but due to the fibro recently (and oh so many other things) it's been out of my reach, for now.

I also realize that by itself the fibro can be a huge weight loss enemy - not saying this to discourage you one little bit, but here is the deal I made with me -- aim for being completely compliant, loosing the pain again and hope for the weight loss to be part of that package.

Thing is it's completely possible for the fibro itself to adjust your weight during any given week. I am pretty sure that that's what is going on with me, because I am actually being much better with the MWL then I was when I was loosing consistently. Not that I wasn't trying to be right on target then, I've just learned from others and based on that tweak, tweak, tweak until it works just right for me too.

This picture isn't like real appealing, but it reminds me that weight gain and bloating are symptoms of fibro and not always in our control. I have a bunch of these symptom charts up on my journal, they keep me from feeling down when I have tried really hard and haven't moved forward as much as I think I deserve for the effort.

Each of them show me that our symptoms include: weight gain, bloating and cravings for sugar and salt that are out of the ordinary. Importantly these keep me from being discouraged, if I don't make that 2 pounds a week. I give it everything I can everyday, but I am not going to get down myself over some stuff I can't completely control. That's why I am sharing this with you. Okey, dokey!!



It can mess with our weight, but we are messing with it to get rid of it altogether - I think we will prevail overall - but it's vaguely possible that we may have to be more patient than a lot of other folks.

That said, I think YOU can make those goals - this is just here for any weeks you just might come up a teeny bit shy.