Discussion Board

Hello all!

Where to start? I am an early forties female who has been fat all of her life. And to be honest, I have only made an effort to change that once in my entire adult life so I don't have a lot to say in terms of prior good/bad acts. Portion control and being hungry all the time (well imagine that when you are eating all the wrong "healthy" foods) were the factors for failure in that case. But now! I can eat my potatoes without restriction and I am no longer hungry! Could life be any better? I think not.

So I am not entirely sure what sorts of things I want to share about this "new way of doing things" (soon to be "just the way things are") but I have been encouraged by reading a variety of the journals on here. Variety is the spice of life when it comes to sharing journeys and we all have slightly different ways of presenting the same outlook so I reckon the more the merrier!

I am open to folks reinforcing the principles of the programs if I post something that doesn't fit (general, MWL, Mary's mini) and would like to request links to the info you cite so I can read the items I missed or haven't gotten to yet! Thanks in advance for that.

Let's start with meal plans for today.

B: Potatoes (pre-cooked and dry fried to make hashbrowns)
L: Red Lentils Balls, lettuce, tomato, lemon
carrots, celery, cuke slices
D: Home fries with ketchup (potatoes baked in the oven with nutritional yeast/herbs de provence/cayenne coating)

Sometimes I make my own ketchup but not today. I am aware of the danger condiments can present and will assess where they fit in eventually but for now I still using them.

I also would like to share the recipe for the red lentil balls as they so yummy! The original recipe was very easy to adapt (basically omit the sauteing and drizzling oil) and I was pleased with the results.

Turkish Red Lentil Balls

If you can't find harissa (a North African chili paste), substitute any of the chili-garlic pastes you find in the grocer's international aisle.

Start to finish: 1 hour

250 ml (1 cup) uncooked red lentils, rinsed and drained

125 ml (1/2 cup) fine bulgur, uncooked

Omitted: 30 ml (2 tbsp) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped

15 ml (1 tbsp) harissa (red chili) paste ( I used Sambal Oelek)

15 ml (1 tbsp) ground cumin

3 scallions, finely sliced

45 ml (3 tbsp) finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Omitted as well: 3 ml (3/4 tsp) salt

Ground black pepper, to taste

Boston or butter lettuce, torn into 30 pieces (each 5-by-5-cm/2-by-2-inches)

Lemon wedges

In a medium saucepan, bring 625 ml (2 1/2 cups) of water to a boil. Add lentils and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 15 minutes. Mix in bulgur, cover pot and remove from heat. Let mixture rest until residual liquid is absorbed by bulgur, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium skillet over medium heat, saute onion in water until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Stir in harissa and cumin, then cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes more. Transfer to a mixing bowl and set aside.

Once lentils and bulgur are cooked (the mixture should be moderately moist like dough), add to reserved onion mixture along with most of the scallions and parsley (reserving just enough for garnish). Season with salt and pepper, then mix well. The lentil mixture should resemble thick dough. If it still seems too damp, add more bulgur and let mixture rest until bulgur is no longer hard, about another 15 minutes.

Keeping your hands wet, mould about 15 ml (1 heaping tbsp) of the lentil mixture into football-shaped balls. Place each ball in one of the lettuce pieces and arrange on a serving platter. Garnish with remaining scallions and parsley. Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing.

Makes about 32 lentil balls.

Okay I think I have created a sufficient wall of text for a first post ... enjoy the day folks and thanks for making it this far!

Hey you,

Glad you are here. Look forward to following your journey

Good day all!

sksamboots Thanks for the welcome.

While things got switched up some yesterday, everything was still on plan. I didn't end up making the red lentil balls but rather stumbled across this recipe and tried them instead. They are a tasty burger but the baking method failed completely in my opinion. Stuck completely to the parchment so I cooked the last two in a nonstick skillet after they had been in the fridge awhile to set up. Much better! I ate them inside "lettuce buns" with tomato slices, mustard and ketchup. Undecided at this point whether I would remake them as I have other recipes that are sturdier to work with. Any who ... wow ... that was a ramble first thing.

Challenges and the small victories

Yesterday I was craving something sweet after my lunch. This is not uncommon for me. It was a nice day out and it triggered the ice cream response in my brain. Now I wanted Haagen Daaz ice cream bars! I put on my shoes and headed out to the store. As I was walking down the street I was thinking about my sweet craving and the tasty treat about to be mine. I know, I know ... sweets are my largest challenge. I then asked myself if ice cream was what I really wanted and more importantly, did I want to feel the "icky" afterwards? I realized in that moment that I was more interested in the idea of having ice cream. I arrived at the store and picked up two cans of pineapple instead. Victory! What a change in thinking! I came home, ate one entire tin and put the other in the fridge for later and there it sits for the next sweet attack!

I admit that meat is no issue for me as I don't like the stuff and haven't since I was a child. Unfortunately for me I grew up in a family that hunted so we had meat all the time! Ugh.

I had been naturally eating less dairy as I got older. I have no idea why but it was working out in my favour when I found this way of eating! Butter and ice cream are my two biggest challenges with the changes. Butter was easier because it my mind it doesn't fall into the dairy category but rather the oil camp so it was one of the first things I ditched. As we see from above, ice cream still haunts me and I reckon it will for a bit longer but I am trying to treat those wants like the cravings I got when I quit smoking. Each day a little less pressure!

So on that note, here is the plan for today. We'll see if I can stick to this or if I need to start recording the next day after it is all said and done.

B: potato hash browns, ketchup
L: two patties, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard, carrots, celery, cuke
D: potato wedges with ketchup

Enjoy the day!

Yesterday went fairly smoothly. I didn't have any cravings to deal with so that was a nice break for the day.

I did end up changing the meal plan (no real surprise there!!) so I have decided to record my food choices after I have consumed them. The only change was to the dinner plan. I had two of the black bean patties with a cabbage slaw of sorts on the side. The slaw was sliced cabbage, grated carrot, diced celery and red pepper with a bit of mustard and ketchup for the sauce. Worked out well.

I am going to try to weigh myself but once a week on Sundays. This is proving to be a bit of a challenge as I seem to be obsessed with watching the numbers now that they are moving in a downward direction. I have managed to stay off the scale the last two mornings but with great effort I tell you! I feel totally silly for even saying that is one of my challenges but there it is.

I think even more important to me than being able to eat my potatoes is not being hungry. What a beautiful thing! I used to think there was something wrong with me as no matter what "healthy" options I chose, my tummy was not satisfied for very long. I used to look at others who ate similarly to me and wonder how they were making it through the day without the nagging rumbling. Perhaps they aren't. All I know is that I was not interested in being hungry so I made sure to fill the gap. After reading a bunch of info here, I realized what was actually going on with the food in my body. Lo and behold, I can make choices that will keep the hunger monster at bay for longer and even when I do get hungry now, it feels different. Not quite as intense and it doesn't feel like it is controlling me. Not sure if that quite makes sense but there you go.

My body is continuing to thank me every day for making the switch to this way of eating.

And with that, have a fantastic day everyone! Time for taters!

Welcome.

Rosey Thanks for the welcome.

Quick meal report for the day lest I forget!

B: banana
L: brown rice congee, lettuce, tomato, carrots
D: home fries with ketchup, carrots, celery
S: can of pineapple

Happy birthday to me!

My birthday gift to myself this year is my change in eating habits and the celebration of health to come from doing so. I admit that I did contemplate doing a feast day but when I really thought about it, I venture to say it would cause a derailing of the success so far and I am already hooked on that so ... perhaps next year when things that are new now have become the way things are.

Thanks to anyone who has ever posted about the absolute importance about being prepared while making this transition! I have read so many times on this board about being prepared for events/days that you know might give you issues so yesterday I took care of a few things to help with any challenges that might arise today. I baked some potatoes and sweet potatoes. I also chopped up some potatoes for home fries. I made some more bean burgers and cooked them so they just need a reheat. I have recently learned that it is the main part of the meals that will set me back in terms of reaching for the wrong thing (just making observations on my own behaviour as I change the basics of my eating) so that's what I focused on. Whew!

At this moment in time, I feel confident about the day. During the course of writing this entry I have decided that I will celebrate the occasion with some first of the season cherries! I have been holding off buying them since these ones are always so expensive but not today.

Have a great day folks!

HI, you are doing so wonderful!! a very welcome to you and you are indeed doing great!
loved your first recipe too. I will have to try it out!
What a wonderful birthday present you gave yourself when you stayed on this WOe and were successful all day! Your body is better for it!

Good day all!

carollynne Thanks for welcome.

I have not written anything in my journal for the past few days but rest assured it's not because I haven't anything good to report. I am not sure keeping a journal is the right course of action for me in the end. I have created an artificial pressure around the whole thing so for now I am declaring this thread dead. There are a variety of different ways I can interact with the community here and I will continue to do so on that level.

Thanks again to all of you for whom keeping a journal works as the stories are a great source of inspiration and information!

Enjoy the day everyone!

Oh darn, i just discovered your journal and now you aren't going to keep it any more!



But of course you must interact in the way thats best for you. You are off to an awesome start, so I wish you very much success!