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woot! I took down a major monster today, for at least an hour of exercise, good, hard working, productive activity! First exercise in about a week...

that is, I cut down to knee height, a brambling rose that was completely dominating the corner of my front yard. I was astounded to find it only has four main stems (thick as my wrist near the base)...that thing had pushed up on the eaves and grown between the eaves and the rain gutter, and was sending out tendrils above the roof and into the hawthorne tree in the neighbor's yard. There were canes on this baby thick and long and straight enough to be walking sticks, and tangles that took many little cuts to unwrap them from each other, so I could fit them into the garbage bin. I filled the garbage bin and piled a man-high pile of brambles off the side of the driveway, waiting for the landlord to come up and haul it away.

It was overgrowing my front deck, the walkway to the backyard gate, the rose hedge that borders my yard in the front, and as mentioned, pushing up on the eaves and completely blocking the guest bedroom window. That baby came DOWN this afternoon! yah!

Other "real things" I did today:

explored several grocery stores for spices to be used in my Indian Cooking Adventure. There are two very well-stocked Asian markets in town, and i liked them both. Neither of them had Indian items specifically, but of course the spices are the same. So I found tamarind paste, cumin seed and coriander seed (way cheaper than the brand names in supermarkets)...black sticky rice, yellow dal and split mung beans but no black dal. I also now know where to get star anise but didn't buy any since I have anise seed at home. At any rate, once i get a handle on Indian cooking, I'll have a lot of options for Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Korean cooking, when the time comes. In the regular store I found a microwaveable Pav Bhaji, mustard seed and tamarind pods that I don't know what to do with, now!

did a thorough scrub down of my kitchen countertops, including moving microwave, toaster and coffee maker, all my cookbooks and putting away stuff so the counter top is shiny clean now with no clutter at all

swept all floors including moving furniture. And here it is, 4:45 in the afternoon, and I don't need a cup of coffee...huh.

What i ate:

B: corn tortilla veggie wraps
L: saag aloo with all the correct spices
D: Hmmm. Dunno yet. Prolly caramelized cauliflower and some veggie barley soup. edit I did eat some LO soup, and caramelized cauliflower/broccoli combination...mmm! the broccoli crisps on the ends of the florets, and that makes it extra yummy!

S: sesame cookie that I bought at the Asian food market. Three ingredients---sesame, sugar, peanut. It was good, and only about 240 cals (I had two servings) with only 20 cals of fat

This feels really good. Clear headed, alert, and energetic. NIIIIICE!

oh, yeah! oh, yeah! I'm doin it, uh-huuh



five pounds, I'm doin it...oh yeah, oh yeah!

woot! Not only losing weight, but feeling fantastic and energetic

Today's plan:

B: rice with the rest of the leftover soup over it
L: big green salad w/321 dressing (I really need a salad today slurp)
D: hm, maybe red lentil stew a la Letha's Blog.
S: ??? snap pea pods and grape tomatoes!

Exercise: 30 minute walk; prolly some exercise at work job coaching someone. and whatever I feel like doing! yah!

blessings, Heidi

Hey Heidi,

I'm so glad your feeling so much better. Brings a smile to my face

today was a terrific day...oh, wait. First I want to report another change that I'm finding. That is, I no longer need a cup of coffee in the afternoon! Hey...and, this is also new: two nights this week, I've been still going strong, alert and energetic, an hour and a half past my usual zonk out time. 9:00 is my usual zonk out time, but the past two nights I've stayed up until after 10:00, and getting up easy and nice usually before my alarm at 5:00...NOT my usual speed. And this, without an afternoon cup of coffee! I like it. A Lot.

Today I've had a headache, though, so I'll hit the hay at 9:00 and get my full allotment of sleep.

Now. Today was a terrific day, including a sliver of b-day cake from a co-worker's party. SLIVER, meaning 1/4 inch thick by 1.5" tall and 1" long. But it was still a terrific day, and that piece of bday cake was part of it. mighty sweet but made from scratch>>>less additives.

Brekkie: purple sticky rice with dried fruits and nuts on top mmmm
Lunch: huge green salad with all kinds of vegs, a spoonful of purple sticky rice and an adaptation of 321 dressing.
Dinner: Oh YUMMY! I made a crockpot quinoa and red lentil stew yum yum yum. I don't know if it's Indian or not, but it has all the Indian flavors. http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/vegetari ... l-stew.php

I adapted the above recipe by using a TBSP of coriander seed instead of cardamom pods, which I don't have in my kitchen yet. A bowlful, with half a fresh garden tomato chunked on top...oh, baby that's GOOOOOD *drooling icon* so good, i ate three bowls of it! and am JUST RIGHT

S: some purple sticky rice, grape tomatoes, baby portobellas, and cauliflower bits which I ate while watching Hell's Kitchen on HULU. hahahaha!

Now about that little piece of cake. If it had just been a junky snack at the center, I would have passed. And, if it had meat or cheese in it, I would not have partaken. But, it was the cake of a friend of mine, and another friend of mine baked it and brought it in, and I wasn't going to leave myself out of honoring that simply because I gave up sugar months ago, nor because I have now given up other unhealthy foods.

...because this is a lifestyle change and not a diet, a taste of b-day cake is not "forbidden." In fact, I don't like food rules. I'm going to eat what I like, and I LIKE this starch based way of eating. I can see myself doing this for the rest of my life, because I haven't forbidden myself from having animal products. I have no rule against eating meat or eggs or dairy...I can have them any time I choose...making them forbidden just sets me up for cravings, and who need that?

I choose this not because it's going to help me lose weight (I will lose all of the weight I need to lose, and I won't have to fret about it or set any goals beyond a weight range that the government or insurance companies say is healthy)

I choose it because I feel fantastic eating these foods. I had a brief detox time in the summer when I started in on the big green salads every day, and since that cleanse was done, I have had a few opportunities to put bad food in my mouth. I've chosen bad stuff a couple of times but every time the thought comes: this is poison. this will make me sick again. And it just never gets beyond one taste or less. That earlier cleanse was about cutting out sugar,and eating more raw.

Now I've gone through another, deeper cleanse that involved my joints and a more intense lethargy and feverishness, which was about getting the dairy, meat, eggs and other such out. I'm in a much better place physically than I've been in a long time, especially with the IBS which really did affect so many aspects of my life...I know that I won't go back to eating in such a way as to sap my energy, bring back lethargy and apathy, or send myself to the toilet a hundred times a day. Detoxing is no fun, and now i'm on the other side, I am not about to eat stuff that will reintroduce those very toxins into my system.

so, of course the weight will come off and that's very cool indeed. but the fact is,I'm doing this because doing it makes me healthy and part of healthy is comraderie with friends and co-workers, and that means that today I had a bite of birthday cake

A good day today

Today's food:
B: brown rice and purple sticky rice w/rice milk and cinnamon sugar; apple; banana; cup of coffee
L: quinoa and red lentil stew over a baked sweet potato
D: premade pav bhaji over purple sticky rice
S: two handfuls of popcorn at work

the only food off plan was the pav bhaji having butter in it. I didn't realize until I started looking at recipes online, that butter is a standard ingredient in pav bhaji. When I looked at the ingredients list...sure enough. Butter. 1t was 15% fat But MAN that was good! I love the hot and tart of it. I want to find Pav Bhaji masala powder so I can make that myself sometime.

exercise: nope.

Activity: cleaned out and organized food cupboards at work; scrubbed kitchen at home.

Going to make samosa filling, but not for samosas...I will just have it over baked potato or rice, and why not. Or, wrapped in a wheat tortilla. Or wrapped in a corn tortilla, for lunch or dinner tomorrow. Or both. love samosas

Hi - it is great that you are feeling so great and doing so well. I like your attitude. I really like remembering that this is not a diet, and realizing that we actually like and choose to eat this way - not something that we just have to do! Take care, LauraA

Yesterday was good.

Brekkie: three pancakes w/sliced banana and maple syrup
Lunch: veggie stew and corn bread
Dinner: samosa filling over purple sticky rice
S: cauliflower florets, grape tomatoes, a Nature's Valley nut bar (all nuts, a little bit of sugar/syrup to hold it together)
after dinner, I was still hungry, so I made a plate of noodles w/chopped fresh tomatoes, basil, oregano and balsamic vinegar over the top.

Exercise: no...I have got to get on that. I feel better now, but I got sucked into Internet Land and couldn't get out

Activity: cut back some more roses, different from the monster bramble rose I chopped down on Tuesday. Still worked up a sweat and moved my body.

Looks like I've been skipping salads lately. Eating lots of starchy foods, but not enough vegetables. Okay, back to At Least One Great Big Green Salad Every Day.

Also, I got craving popcorn (popped in a pan in coconut oil, and with butter of course! ack...) so I made that plate of noodles and tomatoes, and read some of the links at Jeff's forum about oil. That changed me around right quick.

Today. Going to work, and then down to SLC for a trip to the Indian food market.

B: boiled potatoes w/quinoa and red lentil stew topper
L: big salad and purple sticky rice
D: something to use up the last of a stack of corn tortillas. Something like Mexican lasagne?

now, off to work!

Hi Heidi,
Your menus look yummy. I can’t wait to get down to my goal weight so I can include more regular plan food on my menu like corn bread and pancakes. Let us know how your Mexican Lasagna turns out.
Letha

Heidi,

Your doing great as always. Keep on keepin on

oh, what a flop yesterday turned out to be. I ate vegetarian. didn't fall off that wagon, but I'm never eating at an Indian restaurant again. The OIL! OH. MY. WORD. And it gave me the worst gas and heartburn. This was after shopping at the Indian market, and I got some pointers from my girl's boyfriend, but a lot of what he advised me, I've already seen in online recipes (I'm finding that the Indian cookbook I have, includes fats and oils in every recipe)

but now I have hing (which is asafoetida) and pav bhaji mix and cardamom pods, and a lot of other stuff, so I'm ready to start playing.

so, I guess it wasn't a total flop. I just wish i'd planned my eating more carefully. Indian restaurants are OILY. Just so ya know.

Ah, and lest I short change myself, I was active yesterday, playing with my mom's dog. She's so strong, and we played tug of war so I really had to get my whole body into it, and got my heart rate up real good.

today, what I want to do is curl up and stay in bed (because, wow, I'm so surprised, I'm fighting a headcold which my kids have and I don't want but I can sense it sneaking up on me, and I'm feeling sorry for myself because it's only been about a week since I was aching all over and feeling exhausted and miserable, and I wonder what on earth is going on, that I am being slammed physically so much. It's like NON STOP and i'm tired of it.)

but what I will do is go to church because I get to teach sunday school today. Thankfully, my own kitchen is ready for me to make easy, McD compliant meals, so I think today can be a better day. And I need to think about how I'm going to stay on track, even when I'm away from my own kitchen.

B: seven grain hot cereal w/sliced banana and maple syrup
L: aloo gobi and a large salad
D: an eggplant dish maybe ratatouille over potatoes not pasta

blessings,Heidi

okay, I'm glad I went to church. I went in cranky and came out refreshed. It was even good hanging with the little kids (I forgot how... little....little kids are!)

I've also made two decisions today (Well, one is from yesterday, and the other one I just now decided)...

first, I am joining in LauraA's "Let's Finish Strong: X Days to the end of 2009" with one thing, and one thing only: No Added Oils. That is, I might or might not follow the MWL plan, but I am definitely NOT going to put anything in my mouth that has been cooked in oil. After yesterday evening's gas and heartburn. which I am sure came from the oily Indian restaurant food, I am ready to call it completely quits on that JUNK FOOD that they call "oil"...

Secondly, I have decided to try the WO method of skin cleansing. Water Only. LauraA is also doing that, and I've been following the discussion over in the Lounge http://drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic ... sc&start=0

and reading about the surface oils and squalene that are a natural barrier against germs and other "attackers" that come against our bodies, and how soap destroys that "sealant"...and after sniffing my own self to see if I smell bad after NOT putting on deodorant today (and not showering) (and I smell fine. Not a hint of odor on me at all, anywhere)...I've made up my mind to start using Water Only on my skin.

Also, I will only rinse my hair for tomorrow's shower, since day after tomorrow is my day off and if my hair is greasy on that day, it doesn't matter. This is an experiment. The hypothesis is: Eating a healthy plant based diet causes the human body to exude less obnoxious aromas than eating a diet with animal products included.

and I'm gonna find out if my hypothesis holds water.

updates to come!

Hey you,

I'm excited to see how your experiment works. I've been reading the thread over there and have started washing my hair with apple cider vinegar--i was really suprised by how good it works. I'm with you on the challenge, it sounds really good to me. I've been a little "loose" by eating Vegan cookies...You've inspired me to make the last 90 or so days on plan.

hi boots

Yeah, I remember you mentioning the apple cider vinegar for your hair. It'll be interesting to hear how that goes. I'm looking forward to giving it a try. I worked up a sweat making my bed, still no odor, but I think I'll take my shower tonight: no soaps, and only rinsing my hair...AND no lotions on my legs. (I'm thinking about this vial of almond oil I have...and the lavender essential oil in the medicine cabinet...if I feel dry, I might rub that stuff in)

thanks for dropping by. Your encouragement is so appreciated!

blessings, Heidi

with the apple cider vinegar...used to use white vinegar when I was a kid.

The only "smell" problem I notice is onions and garlic coming from me...but then I eat a lot of it! Has to be washed off daily! We usually go over and take a shower in the the afternoon,since I work with my plants and get hot...so we are clean for the evening! it is hot here so we collapse about 3:00 and need to go over and get wet!

hi nancy

I remember using vinegar rinse when I was little, if we wanted our hair to be super shiny. I also remember conditioner when it was called "creme rinse" lol

and, with that, I'm going to grab a cup of vinegar and take with me to my evening WATER ONLY shower! I'll rinse my hair w/the vinegar, and see what happens.

blessings!

Heidi