Discussion Board

Oh, and sksamboots wrote:

I know! I nearly cried when I started McDougalling and had my first bite of brown rice, after 4 years of South Beach Dieting! And mashed potatoes, I agree with you! But his comfort includes that huge dollop of butter and sour cream on the potatoes, and he wants flavors and textures that a slab or tube of meat can give..fat, mostly!

I figured as much. Has he at least tried alternatives such as earth balance butter or vegan sour cream? Maybe that would be a step in a better direction. I'm not for sure, just a suggestion. What do you think?

OK, still on travel, but have to post these great successes at restaurants: "I cannot have any oil." "We could use a lighter oil, or olive oil." "No, I cannot have any oil." At two different restaurants. Had roasted veggies sprinkled with some herbs--sweet and regular potatoes, carrots, asparagus, etc.--great! Last night at Salt, in Boulder, they had to make me steamed beets, Swiss chard, hubbard and spaghetti squash. You should have seen it--red and green and golden! Beautiful! and fabulously delicious!

Looking forward to seeing the scale when I get home. Except for the disastrous Wednesday (gin & tonic on a very empty stomach!), I have been compliant!

I should have known DIL would know about McDougall! She works for Whole Foods, which apparently sends their staff who need it to an immersion week! (She is slender, so she did not need to go.) She made us an incredible ratatouille, and will give me the recipe today. I watched her cook it, and it looks easy and it was very delicious--and I had given up on ever eating eggplant before this!

Their kitchen looks like mine! I found the rolled oats easily, the organic low sodium veggie broth, the kale and carrots and so on in the fridge, WOW! Both of my daughters-in-law somehow are natural, organic, low-fat gals! I don't know how I managed that, since I did not arrange the marriages!!

Yes, it really helps that they both live in "granola lands!" Oldest here in Boulder, CO, and third in Corvallis, OR--both college towns, both very green, too.

We had such fun at the Farmer's Market yesterday morning -- so many tempting healthy things, but luckily we already had veggies, and I was saving my money for the consignment store. I got myself TWO leather jackets (one red, one black) in a size Medium, TYVM! and other things I needed. One can never have too many turtlenecks when one lives in Alaska!

I'll be interested to weigh myself when I get home. Hope I at least maintained. You never know.

LOL, I fly home tomorrow, so a properly-timed weigh-in (4:40 am, same nightgown, before shower) will occur Tuesday morning! I will probably re-set my ticker to that weight (for good or for ill) that day, too, since it's been a while.

I have been getting recipes from my DIL, for ratatouille, Cubano Black Beans, etc., so I will have something to work on in the next few weeks. She's also showing me how to bake kale chips - right now, which I have been afraid to try, never quite finding a recipe.

Woo Hoo!!! Returned from vacation to see the scale say 156 even! I lost 3.6 pounds on a 6-day vacation!

I am so proud of my restaurant skills and successes, and I love my DIL even more because she heard my no-oil requests and is already cooking just like McDougall anyway.

I love that I could resist the physical impulse of reaching for nibbles, which has just amazed me since I started McDougalling--I have been SO able to resist all the nibbles at restaurants and parties, chocolates in the dishes and fresh quick breads in the kitchen at work, and even at home after dinner.

I am amazed, and can credit nothing so much as the goodness of the food and the health that has resulted from this way of eating! It is so reassuring to me to have the knowledge that I have eaten something nourishing, and that I will have something nourishing later, so I don't have ANY need to stuff myself with what's in front of me just because it's there.

I cannot begin to thank Dr. McDougall, and Mary, and Jeff enough! And I can't thank my acquaintance Carol for sharing that she lost 74 pounds last year on the "anti-cancer diet", which is what led me to the PCRM website, which is what led me (somehow) to this website, and began my journey with McDougalling.

Well, I'd better go get dressed. Back to work again today, and voting first!

Congratulations and well done! You are a great example of walking the talk.

I just read this page of your journal and had to comment! How wonderful about your DIL! And what great success you've had! Congratulations!

Oh yes, re: your kale comment. We normally drag out the bbq grill a couple of times a year, and this year I brushed a whole leaf of kale with lemon juice, then laid it on the grill. Watch it carefully as it will burn quickly. When it starts to cook, pick it up by the stem and flip it over. Very tasty!

i was surprised the other day a walmart....the earth balance is worse than the smart balance light...but then they last 6 months in here anyway since I don't eat it!

Wow! Thanks, Nomikins, Jamietwo, Debbie, and Nancy, all for stopping by my journal!

Jamietwo, thanks so much for the kale tip! DIL make the kale chips and she & I ate the whole bowl. They were much better to me than slimy, hard-to-cook kale! I had a bunch of organic from my veggie box a few weeks ago that I cooked for over half an hour an it still had the texture of rubber bands.

And Nancy, I agree about the butter substitutes. (Sorry, sksamboots, but to me, all fats are pretty bad, and fake fats are probably worse.) DH knows how to eat well, but he is dealing with a lot of stuff, and as I know oh so well, no one can really make the decision to make the big change but oneself. I had to come to a place where I could not get any rest from the pain, I was disgusted and disappointed in myself and in food in general. I used to see food as an enemy! I was never going to eat a potato, corn, oatmeal, peas, limas, etc., ever!

Onward and upward. Work is crazy, and next Sunday is our annual fundraiser called "Secrets of the Chefs." I, as Finance, always collect the money and stay in the front area, so avoiding the food is never hard. This year, DH doesn't even have to bring me plates--I will have my little red potatoes and little tomatoes, and water!

Wow! 154.4! 1.6 pounds since Tuesday--I am boggled and happy!

Stayed out too late at karaoke last night and now I'm tired. Freezing rain and dangerous driving to work this morning, too. Better get alert!

YAY you!

Thanks, nomikins!

I just spent about half an hour in this journal, listing, among other things, my Thanksgiving menu, and when I hit "submit" it was gone. Grrr...I must have taken too long.

So -- once again! We just decided yesterday (she decided) that my only, dear daughter is coming home to live with us in January! We hope she can get a better job than she has in Chicago, and start grad school, without all the day-to-day worries about supporting herself. She is my best friend and we have always gotten along well, She and her dad are too much alike and fight like cats and dogs, but they adore each other. She's been gone and living as a grown-up for 7 years, and we have been empty-nesters happily, so there will be some adjustment!!!

So--on to my Thanksgiving menu. DD will be home for 6 days, and we are also having our best friends, so there will be 5 of us. Menu so far: Turkey, stuffing, my whole-berry cranberry sauce with orange and cInnamon (perhaps cut back on white sugar and supplement with dates), Chef AJs cranberry relish with dates, Waldorf salad (apples, celery, possibly grapes, walnuts with vegan dressing that I have to try next week), lettuce salad, mashed potatoes (white), green beans (need ideas for these), and yam-pineapple dessert. I also want to try Chef AJ's Black Bean Brownies, so that is a lot of food, but not crazy!

My feast on this day will be a small scoop of the stuffing (from inside the turkey), the walnuts in the Waldorf, and the sugar and extra fruit. AND any wine we might have!

OK, trying again to not lose this...

OK, the event went pretty well. There is always at least one weird difficulty at the end, and this time it was one charge slip from a group of 6, which went missing, and I only have his last name. Luckily the chairman was in that group so I can figure out who it is from him; then there was the bidder on the Super Bowl Party who thought he was bidding on Super Bowl tickets (!!!). Again, the chair knows the second-highest bidder and we can get that from him.

I seem to have gained about 1.4 pounds (158.--not surprising considering the 2 glasses of wine and 3 pieces of chocolate. (Also on Saturday, I had 1/2 glass of the Chocolate Fakeiatto I made Ted, and there is a lot of sugar in the Wild Rice-Cranberry dish I was trying out, Saturday.) I ate cherry tomatoes and 3 cooked red potatoes for the food, but the stress does always get to me. Oh well, onward and downward.

Today's food: B: oatmeal with a bit of granola, L: roasted vegs over brown rice, cherry tomatoes and and apple. Dinner: more roasted vegs and the wild rice-cranberry mix (but it's got a bunch of sugar, so I need to watch it).

I keep meaning to get to this journal and never do--not enough minutes in the day, and too many distractions. And sometimes it's easier to read than to compose words.

But one thing I wanted to mention in here was that I took two plane trips in the last two months, and WOW was it a lot easier, since I was thinner! I went to the bathroom back in steerage, and only lightly brushed people's elbows, etc. instead of getting personal with every single shoulder and elbow as I walked by. I could easily get my carry-on from the floor in front of me (to eat my cooked potatoes and tomatoes, etc.!!), and on top of all that, my clothes in my suitcase were smaller and lighter! And I'm not even done losing weight yet! I know I don't even need any motivation for this way of eating, this time, but my motivation on the last-ditch effort of the South Beach diet was "lighter luggage." And now I've done it, without even needing the boosters and reminders. This is the right way to eat. I have no doubt and no desire to eat any other way.

I love my new (used) red leather jacket--I wore it again today.

I am looking forward to losing more. I need to get back in my kitchen and get to cleaning out the fridge. Having folks over tomorrow and Buster is making gumbo--offered to make me some non-fat, and to try a non-fat roux. That I want to see! (Browning whole wheat flour dry?) I told him flour wasn't MWL...

Wow, just got an ankle-twisting charley horse! What's that all about? First time in over a year!

Oh, we got the carpet today, so the Wii is working!!! I got on to hear it tell me I'm overweight!!!! In my jeans, after dinner!! No more "that's obese" for me!!! I cannot wait to get back on it tomorrow morning!!!