Discussion Board

Kelly and Mtns, Thanks for your feedback!

Kelly, thank you for those prayers! I will write them down and pray them regularly. I believe there is power in prayer! They are so beautiful and perfect for what we're facing!

Mtns, how did your experiment work? Sounded like a great idea!

I had a great weekend...pretty quiet around here and was able to get some things done (and get the house cleaned, which it really needed). I'm enjoying having our son home. Daughter will be home later this week, so the whole family will be together for several months. That will be really nice. It will also take some getting used to, with schedules and meals, etc. But I'm looking forward to it. I have to just make sure that I don't let everyone else's "stuff" get in the way of what I need to be doing!

I'm actually down a couple of pounds this weekend! So I'm really happy that my new determination is paying off!

I have seen this verse before, but was reminded of it this weekend, and want to keep it in the front of my mind this week as I am making choices about food:

Deuteronomy 30:19
"Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!

May we all choose LIFE this week!!! Happy McDougalling!!!

Good Morning. May 1st. Thank you Kirsty,&KK. Wonderful posts.!Will cling to that bible passage.A friend loaned me The China Study and Reversing Diabetes,though I already read the China Study;I re-read it completely....No way around getting better except this woe.It was my a-ha moment...So today May 1 its JUST DO IT.! and use the rubber band before eating! Great idea! RAS

RAS- So good to hear from you! I've been wondering how you are doing!!! I like it: May 1st -- JUST DO IT!!! You are right, there is no way around it. If we just surrender to the process, I think we will be much happier and, of course, healthier!!! Best wishes to you for a great month!!!

May --- I love a new month and the opportunity to follow my goals toward health and toward "Finishing Strong." I am energized and excited to make great choices today!

I feel like there is some kind of a switch that has flipped in my head where I just won't tolerate anything less for my life than following an excellent diet (MWL) and making choices that promote a healthy and whole future for myself and my family. It's just not an option for me to eat food that is "NOT food to me!"

No more messing around. No more excuses. It's just not worth it! Those voices in your head tempting you to eat off plan and damage your health have NO real power over you! We all get to decide what we will choose...LIFE or death!

Let's go, McDougallers! Let's just do this thing!!!

Hello ladies, while I do not know any of you personally yet, I just want to let you know that reading your posts today really touched me. I'm doing okay as far as weight loss, however I have really been struggling in my head the past few weeks with lifelong well established habits of eating for the wrong reasons. I searched the discussion board today on "emotional eating" and landed on this series of posts. I have been discouraged thinking that the way my head looks at food may never change, and just really wondering whether I can ever make the changes I'm enjoying now to be permanent.

I do see some changes, such as a major change in how I view cheese. I thought I would always be a huge cheese addict, and would struggle with this the most. In the past few weeks, cheese all of a sudden looks like a handful of pure fat, and just doesn't appeal to me. Kind of weird, I know, but this is a good thing . Hopefully it will extend to other trigger foods.

I really appreciate the many references to books to read, great Bible references that are helpful, and your own wise observations. This is encouraging, and I'm looking forward to reading and thinking and hoping that this WOE can become a lasting change, both physically and mentally.

Enjoy your week -
Laurie

Veganlady,
Thanks for introducing yourself. I'm glad you found some encouragement here. I think one of the best things about this forum is realizing that we are not going through all of this alone. We all have our own journeys but they intersect in meaningful ways. It's nice to "meet" you!

I'm glad you're having success in your weight loss, and it sounds like you are changing in other ways as well (the way you see cheese). I think that story is proof that we can make permanent changes, not only in our bodies, but the way we think about food, too!

Of course, not everyone who struggles with their weight is an "emotional eater." But there are several of us here who know that we are battling a food addiction that is both physical and emotional. We are here to support and encourage one another and to learn together how to overcome it. I believe there is power in belief, and half the batttle is not getting too stuck in our own heads and just believing that this WOE really does work and will facilitate permanent change.

I'm glad you're here. I look forward to getting to know you better and hearing more about your journey.

Just saw this quote and I can't get over it!

It is by prayer that we couple the powers of heaven to our helplessness … and make the impossible possible.”

– O. Hallesby

We're going to pick my dd up from college today. She just finished her Junior year, and will be home all summer. It will be nice having her around...can't believe she's going to be a senior, and then...who knows????

My struggle this week has been with my time. I need to take control of what I have to do and make a conscious plan so that I get everything done and don't feel like things are out of control. When I feel out of control, I tend to eat. Also, when I feel like too many people are demanding my time from me (which happens every summer), I start to want to overeat...I am recognizing this tendency and putting an end to it.

Feeling good an positive today, have good food ready to eat, and going to have a great weekend.

Here's to a Happy McDougally weekend for all!!!

Good job recognizing the pattern. This is what boundaries are all about. We like feeling needed and we never want to say no to people who "need" us but, in the long run, you aren't helping anyone when you hasten your own death. They'll find a way to get their own stuff when you're dead by 50 so why not start now and you can live to be 100!

I have the same problem. When I am running all the time and things are crazy, I may not eat as much, but then when it comes nighttime and I just want to relax, the first thing I think about is eating to relax, which is really stupid. I do better when there are healthy food options for me to choose from when I am running all the time. My favorite is sliced roasted sweet potatoes. I do agree learning to say no sometimes is a good thing. It is much better for our health. Hope you all have a great weekend.
I prayed for you this weekend that it would be great and that God be glorified in our eating this weekend.
Kathy

Kelly,
As usual, your words of wisdom cut right through to the real issue for me...that is my addiction to pleasing others. You are right, of course, and this is one of my many layers that need to go through a process of healing. I find boundaries difficult. You hit the nail on the head. They don't need me as much as I think...they've done fine at college on their own. Maybe my need to be needed is what needs to change. My schedule will still be altered by my youngest son's summer plans, but the other two are pretty independent and I need to start learning to parent my adult children in a different way...Actually, I'm sure they will appreciate that as well. Thanks for your insight and making me think differently about the situation.

Kathy,
Thanks for your prayers! I'm touched that you thought to pray for me. I had a really good weekend. I like the sliced roasted sweet potato idea! Actually, that sounds really good right now! I have several in the fridge that I think I'll stick in the oven later today. YUM!!!

I am doing really well with eating. We had a very busy weekend, but I managed to stay on track and it felt really great! I have a mindset that eating off plan is just not an option, and it is working. I do better this way, drawing a line in the sand and not allowing myself to entertain the thought of off plan foods. Even yesterday, I made fat free vegan brownies for my family to celebrate everyone being home, but I wasn't even tempted to eat them. I was happy to make them for the family, and that they enjoyed them so much, but didn't feel the need to indulge. It was very empowering.

My goal this week is to get all my workouts in no matter what anyone else needs me to do. So far, so good. I got up and got to the gym first thing this morning and it felt really great.

Hope everyone is having a great start to a new week!!

Good job, Kirsty! I wouldn't know a boundary if it bit me on the back porch so you're not alone there. I tried the "not food" thinking today. I got to work and realized I had no coffee in my office. I don't usually drink more than one cup a day and that's at home before coming to work. But, today I felt chilly and kinda tired and I just wanted a cup. Anywho, I decided to walk over to the main building where the coffee shop (and dreaded Canteen) is and automatically I started craving a scone. That coffee shop doesn't even have good scones. I kept telling myself, "scones are not food, scones are not food." and then I imagined myself sitting at a restaurant trying to eat the table cloth. I read in someone's journal once that eating off-plan things are non-food just like the napkins or the table cloth. For some reason I got the image in my head of her trying to eat the table cloth because she was so hungry and everyone around her would stare with mouths agape. I've tried to hold onto that mental picture and this morning it helped. I just bought the coffee. I can't wait until this gets easier. I know I'll continue to struggle but it will get easier. You've shown me that.

Oh, yesterday I went to the final 5K race for Girls on the Run and the Ronald McDonald house. The Girl Scouts must have been one of the sponsors because there were boxes upon boxes of Girl Scout cookies for the runners. I don't mean closed boxes. I mean giant bins of Thin Mints for the grabbing. Thin Mints have ALWAYS been my Achilles heel. I seriously could have eaten 100 of them if I had wanted to. I knew I would regret it. I knew it would set the day off to a bad start and who knew how long it would take to snap back. I am proud to say I did NOT have a single Girl Scout cookie. Those little heroin peddlers will NOT be the death of me!!!!

Way to go to the both of you!!! My hardest part is when I make something vegan healthy like chef a.J's brownies or something else for my kids, I always have to have a little taste. Of course that taste ends up being one or two of them. I made gluten free cupcakes for our mother/daughter tea and I ate 1/2 of one. Thank goodness I stopped there. I am so glad you did so well over the weekend. Both of you keep up the good work. I do agree that I need to think of not eating off the plan as not an option.
Kathy

Kirstykay, I'm just popping in to say hi. Glad you are doing so well! Have you posted photos yet???

Looking forward to an update. Hang in there, Kirsty!