Discussion Board

This is a repost from something I put up this morning on Roberta's Corner:

I decided back in January that I was going to post what I eat every day for 1 year; I have been very successful at doing that, but I had not really taken a good look at WHAT I was posting. I began that process this morning. I only looked through the end of May or so, but it turns out that I have a real thing for flour. If you had asked me, I would have said that I only eat flours very occasionally, but it turns out that I eat a lot of pizza, tortillas, wraps, sandwiches, rolls, and pasta. It has me wondering how much of my weight problem is these processed flour items that I don't weigh or measure, I just eat them because they are fat-free, oil-free, sugar-free, etc.

As I looked over my meals, they don't seem all that bad to me. They tend to be on the McDougall plan. But guess what? A lot of it, especially those pesky flours, are supposed to be special, not common. I began following SactoBob's blog at the beginning of October and began eating what I now call Farley's Bowls about 1.5 weeks ago. They are non-processed, which for me includes no flours. Yummo!

My weight has fluctuated around the same 15 pounds or so for the entire time that I have been posting meals, so something is obviously not working. I am going to take a bet that this is it.

I don't know how this is going to turn out, I am really hoping that the combination of continuing to plan ahead (I began doing that in March) and planning to eat Farley's Bowls will be what my body is wanting. I know that right now I am afraid to take a bite of something that is not in the bowls and that I woke up this morning beginning to really feel better. I have been sick recently and was not feeling better up through last night.

So here I am. I am planning to continue posting until January 22nd--my 1 year--and I am planning to eat Farley's Bowls. I hope this is the end of an old addiction.

Fulenn

Great observations. You have discovered the perfect reason to journal. The look back is as good as the info you gave daily and the fact you could see that trend in your posts is insightful. Farleys food is excellent. I have first hand knowledge of it. Her and SactoBobs meals are tasty and healthy. You are in good hands with those recipes.
f1jim

Thanks, Jim. The meals that I have been fixing are just like the ones on SactoBob's blog--salad, brown rice, a few beans, some veggies, walnuts, and a sweet potato. I have been eating oatmeal for breakfast with berries on top. I have even put them in a bowl! The weight has been falling off for the past 9 days and I have not been actually hungry at all. What I HAVE felt is the compulsion to eat, a drive that has nothing to do with my stomach.

I almost forgot: I tried Farley's roasted veggies last night, but without the wine, and they were wonderful! My taste buds really are changing.

Fulenn

Fulenn,
I'm so glad to read your post. I have realized the same thing lately! until September my weightloss had been pretty static. I, too made the observation that I am addicted to flour and had been fooling myself into thinking that I was following MWL, but the whole time allowing myself bread, tortillas, pasta, etc...and then being frustrated that the weight wasn't going anywhere! I know I was dealing with a true addiction! I am excited for you, and look forward to seeing your new determination pay off!

Fulenn,

I think what you've discovered is a practical application of Calorie Density.

If you have not already viewed Jeff's lecture on Calorie Density I recommend it highly.
http://www.drmcdougall.com/store_calorie_density.html

Congratulations on taking the time to do the self study required to make real change.

Vic

Thanks for commenting, kirstykay and Vic. I am feeling much better today.

I ate oatmeal with fresh strawberries and walnuts for breakfast. Just 3 nut halves crushed and sprinkled. Then I was in a hurry at lunch, so I had a sweet potato. Turns out I felt full and good with it. I was not very hungry today, mostly I just wanted to sip on ice water, so I did.

I just ate dinner: a bowl of mixed lettuce greens, brown rice, beans, strawberries, sweet potato and walnuts. I feel full now. I ate a lot less food than I did yesterday volumewise. It is interesting that the calories aren't that different since the volume came primarily from veggies and greens.

I still have 4 sweet potatoes in the refrigerator that I cooked yesterday, several more servings of brown rice, and have my pressure cooker on right now fixing christmas lima beans.

And the weight continues to fall off.

Fulenn

Today has been a good one so far. I had oatmeal, strawberries and walnuts for breakfast; brown rice, beans, sweet potato, and strawberries for lunch. I posted a sort of vague plan for this evening for DH's birthday dinner out, now I have looked at the menu and have a solid plan. I will order a plain tossed salad, bowl of steamed brown rice, and a sushi roll with cucumber, carrot, and rice in it. We called the restaurant and they will bend over backwards to accommodate just about any diet necessary, so I feel confident about what I will order. If there is a problem, I just won't eat it. Someone else on the boards posted in the past couple of days, one of the Star McDougallers, that they got the mindset that non-McDougall foods were not food, just like the candles and linens were not food, and they were not going to start gnawing on the decorations just because they were hungry. I really like that way of thinking and am going to begin telling myself that, too. I didn't quote the person, just paraphrased, but you get the idea.

Fulenn

Dinner was good! I drove thru Wendy's and got a baked potato as my schedule changed late this afternoon. At the restaurant, I had the salad and the sushi. After over 1.5 weeks of eating only plain whole food, the sushi tasted amazing.

I am still not hungry and am glad to know that there is somewhere besides Wendy's that I can get healthy food.

Fulenn

I am going to try spacing my meals a bit differently today. I have found that I eat my breakfast at work RIGHT before going on the clock, sometimes even finishing it mid-morning between projects. So I have not really been hungry the past 2 days. I am going to take my oatmeal again and a bottle of water and not eat lunch at noon, but wait a couple of hours and see if I am feeling hungry then. If I actually get hungry, I'll be sure to have a baked potato with me. I just feel like I am always eating and eating and a lot of it is by habit.

By now it may be obvious that something has triggered this change in me. I don't want to detail it on a public forum at this point, but for a health reason that occurred 2 weeks ago, I have no intentions of quitting eating like this. I HAVE to make it work. It is almost funny to me that I have done this for 2 weeks with good motivation, but it has taken a huge scare to make it happen. I am dissapointed that I didn't just do it on my own. At least I am doing it. I MUST do it. Please keep supporting me; I don't tend to ask, but the cheering really makes a difference!

(Raising my imaginary glass: Here's to the next 2 weeks!)

Fulenn

Good luck the next two weeks! It often takes a crisis or a scare to snap us into shape. Hope you can resolve your health issues swiftly.

Go heavy on organic veggies. Always helps and never hurts!

Thank you, Nomikins! You are right on the veggies, I need to be eating more and I could at dinner. I'll swing by the store and get some this afternoon so I am eating more that just greens. Which I love, but I should have more variety.

Fulenn

Thanks, Blondie. That is so true, we are definitely in the same boat. I'll keep reading others experiences and seeing what they have done.

Fulenn

Things are going well on the food front. It is becoming a habit now to make a salad, throw rice and/or beans on top, a few veggies and a potato, then eat. Oatmeal is working out well for breakfast because it has such minimal preparation. I haven't done much experimenting with spices and flavors, maybe later.

Fulenn