Discussion Board

169.8

When we were kids we sang "There once was a man named Michael Finnegan, he had whiskers on his chin-agin...along came the wind and blew them in agin...poor old Michael Finnegan...Begin agin."

Enough said...Begin Agin.

In the spirit of Phililppians 4:8, I hope to keep my mind focused on the positive and looking forward, not looking back like Lot's wife who turned into a pillar of salt. Life moves forward, so not worrying about past failures...putting them behind me and moving on. It's my time to feel good. Lately, whenever I eat off-plan food, I feel so awful...I think it's just that my cholesterol is really so so high that I feel that blood getting sluggish. It's an awful feeling. So, here we go Christine, I hope you don't mind if I copy your idea of putting the weight at the top, it will be encouaging to see it go down. No certain time frame here...hope to get down to 135 pounds and then maintain.

Not only that but being in California you have a responsibility to show that Californians can do anything!!!!
f1jim

LOL...thanks Jim!! Yep...got to represent for California!!!

Day Uno:

L: 3 Bean chili...my oh my I love my chili, i had 2 bowls and carrots and green beans

Plan:
D: Rice/zucchini/salad/carrots/green beans/almonds (2 oz)
Ex: Walk 2 miles
S: Cut up fruit: Pear, and jujubee.
If I vary from this plan I will come back and edit, but I'm excited and doing well at this point, so I think I will be just fine.

yes, you can do it!! congrats to you!!

OK Lori, Let's get er done. Onward and downward...once you start seeing that scale move you will know your on your way and things will start lookin' up. You can do it my friend!!

I am at the Deli as I type, and I have not eaten anything off plan. I made up some banana ice cream, and when ever I start to eyeball junk, I eat the nanner-scream. It seems to be working thank goodness. We will do this... we will succeed.

Thanks Christine and Carollynne..it means alot to me that you stopped by to cheer me on! Christine...great idea about the banana ice cream...how do you make that? How did it go for you at the deli today? I imagine that is a pretty tough environment to be in!

I did not eat a thing bad. I got off early so I could finish my room but I am so tired. I am going to have to muster up all my effort to get anything done right now cause all i want to do it sleep.

The banana ice cream is easy. Peel, cut and freeze some bananas. In a food processor or really good blender. Put banana in and give it a whirl till creamy...you can add stuff to it like Cocoa powder, vanilla, smidge apple cider vinegar (I have not done this but people seem to like it) honey. PB, careful on this one.....this is how I like it though but I don't over do it, maple syrup...other frozen fruit. I like it kinda chunky. I freeze it again cause I don't like the mushy texture. Too much banana makes my tongue raw for some reason.

Oh I love Michael Finnegan! LOL Now I have an earworm! hahahaha!

good to see you back! I'm rooting for you along with everyone else.

Hi Lori,
Thanks for inviting me to your journal. You can always uninvite me if you ever think that would be better for you, and with no hard feelings.

I have had a chance to go over all of your posts. I've also looked at your before, and more before pictures. I think that you will soon feel better, and be even more attractive, than you were in the earlier pictures at the lower weight.

One of the first things I did was look at your weight over time. The issue is more lifestyle than weight, but weight gives a great idea of whether you are doing the lifestyle right. You are about the same weight now as you were in February, which to me indicates that you are following a lifestyle that would sustain your current weight long term - something you want to change.

I saw many things in your diet - the usual suspects actually - that could be improved upon. If you wanted more specific comment, I am happy to do that. We could do it here, in my blog, or by email as you pleased.

Here might be inspiring to others - you ARE going to succeed. But there is a question about how others might view your success with the approach Jeff advocates. I don't know how "thick" your skin is. You seem pretty open and confident, but it is up to you. Doing it on my blog would be great - I can delete any untoward comments. Doing it by email is easy and would be private for you. It's all up to you.

I don't do PMs, but you could always reach me through my friend f1Jim here. I always get encouraged when I see somebody who wants to succeed and is willing to change, and that is how I am feeling now.

Day Dos... 169.8 <--not so thrilled about that!
Hi Bob, thanks so much, yes, I'd love any help advice you can give....here is fine...I figure it might help others who are having similar problems but don't post and prefer to just read along. I figure I'm not that unusual!!

I got the book you recommended and I've been just gobbling it up so to speak, that is Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman. It's so interesting, and I think I see my exact problem..fighting the wrong battle. Is that what you see? I think I'm addicted to the rich American food. Which explains why...a while back I posted about not feeling well, having a McDonald's hash brown and suddenly feeling way better...now it all makes sense to me. So...I need to let myself maybe not feel so good for a while, knowing that my body is repairing itself and that I will be just fine in the end. As for the True hunger/toxic hunger...wow...I think I am only familiar with the toxic hunger...so that is going to be so interesting to find out about and see how that feels.

I got to school today (I'm a teacher) and I was thinking about how I would need to really buy alot of produce to do Fuhrman's 6 week program...and I walked in and someone had brought in the most beautiful apples for everyone...it just seemed like a good sign that I need not worry, I will be able to get what I need.

My plan is to start the 6 week plan tomorrow. My birthday is in a week, but it's my birthday so I figure I can say no cake this year please...just presents...lol Also encompassed in the 6 weeks will be Halloween, which is really not my fav. holiday anyway, and Thanksgiving...but Thanksgiving will be towards the end when I am stronger, plus..honestly...I don't like turkey...it's the rolls that will tempt me and the desserts. But there is no time like the present, I certainly do not want to wait until the new year to start...with my cholesterol as high as it is, seems imperitive not to put this off.

My weight was the same today as yesterday which disappointed me a bit, but not worth dwelling on too much...it's gonna go down!

B: Oatmeal with 1 walnut, pear and jujubee (these are a chinese fruit, not a candy)
L: carrots, green beans, grapes, 3 bean chili
S: small candy bar and diet pepsi... just being honest
D: (Plan) Rice/beans/salsa, nutritional yeast/kale salad
Ex: Walk 2 miles with the Bear/Gym for 20 minutes of cardio on the treadmill.

169.0 going down!!!

Day Three...Whew...what a busy day!!

B: Oatmeal with a walnut, pear, jujubee
L: Carrots, green beans, 3 bean chili and apple
D: Rice/salsa/beans/ arugula salad with almonds / pear and jujubee
Ex: Walked 2 miles

I have been reading Eat to Live and I think the basick idea is to fill yourself up with fresh fruits and vegies...well twice as many vegies as fruits maybe and then also all a serving of whole grains, and a cup of beans, and sometimes an ounce of nuts. If I'm understanding it correctly the idea is to fill the stomach up with nutrient rich food so that one is not hungry for junk food, and also it kills the cravings because of the nutrient density of the food.

It was a good day, almost too busy for me to be "bad" but...I was prepared beforehand with a good supply of food so that really did work out nicely.

Lori,
You are really getting it, and it is going to pay off. It is the same thing that Jeff talks about with his plate test, and Dr. M talks about when he describes the MWL diet.

You are going to eat a certain amount of food each day to satisfy your hunger. If that food has a high overall calorie density, you gain weight. If it has a low calorie density, you lose weight. Jeff has this covered very well in his DVD on calorie density.

So any time you are satisfying your hunger drive with low calorie density foods, you are going to be satisfied, yet still consuming less calories than your body needs to function at your level of activity. The difference is made up by burning fat. That is why every improvement you can make to your diet by substituting a lower calorie density food in place of a higher one is important.

You will see a lot of posting on esoteric subjects related to weight loss, but as Jeff explains it, the fundamentals are almost laughably simple. And when you see people who are obese and not headed towards good weight loss, the answer is always (if anything is always I guess) the same. The calorie density is too high, and or people are eating when they are not truly hungry. That is another subject address by both Jeff and Dr. Fuhrman and even Dr. McDougall when he talks about "the volume eater" (me).

The hard part is not understanding the simple fundamentals, but tackling things such as cravings, adherence, underestimating deviations, conquering social situations, vacations, stuff like that.

I'll leave you with a post from Jeff that comes from his favorite threads, listed at the top of his forum. You should probably read them all. But he has extensive experience helping people get healthy. I asked him to list his top reasons for people failing to get to their goals. This is his list.

Hi Lori...Looks like your doing better. All you needed was a helping hand up and you found that in Bob. The best part is I am getting the help I need too just by following your thread. You are going to look and feel great by the Holidays...Yeah!!

I think the battle for me, is how I deal with thoughts of "bad" food. Can I get past eating them so I can get one step closer to having the cravings dissipate or give in, prolonging my serenity? I know when I get a notion of a certain food, my thoughts are consumed by it. I am getting much better at getting past it these days.

Glad to see your happy.

Hugs to you today!! You are doing it and will continue!! it just works for us mcdougallers and all the support you need it right here on the boards.
have a good day!

168.4 going down!!

Day Four

Non compliant: small chocolate bar

B: Oatmeal with a walnut/ pear and jujubee and a few carrot sticks that did not fit in my lunch container
L: Carrots/green beans/apple/ 3 bean chili
D: Plan Brown Rice/steamed vegies/almonds...2 ounces
Ex: 6 miles of walking! Lots of walking at work today as I was teaching on our "lower" field which is 1/4 mile away.

Thanks Christine and Carollynne

Christine I really do think it is the key for us...to part from those foods...it's really difficult to do...I need a plan of attack for cravings.

Bob, I'm wondering...what is the plate test??? My goal is to not stray from this healthy plan again...I'm going to listen to the pleasure trap link and try to think of a battle plan for cravings. Thanks for this post from Jeff also...I can see myself in some of these particularly 1, 2, and 3. But now the battle begins with these 3. Thanks so much for helping me learn what to do to succeed.

Sometimes I have this feeling like...if I dont have this chocolate bar I will die...I know this is truly silly, but this is sort of what is going on in my head. So I think I need to maybe prove to myself, that no...actually I will be just fine!! And soon...way better than just fine!