Discussion Board

Hey, lookin good. I don't know about you but the exercise really helps me with motivation to make better food decisions. When I exercise I don't want to mess up the progress by eating crud. Plus eating better makes me feel better when I exercise.Anyway, good for you.

Hi everyone. Well, I have been rocking the exercise -- have been to the gym every day this month, including today. I wake up, put on my gym clothes, feed the cats and off I go. The gym is in my apartment building, so I have no excuse. Then I eat breakfast, shower, get dressed and go go work. I've even been waking up relatively early on the weekends and exercising. I'm planning to give myself a (non-food) reward at the end of the month.

With the food, not so much. I'm mostly eating McDougall, but with VAD slipped in here and there. And you know what? When you exercise a lot but don't eat right, you don't lose weight. Which I want to do. So.

January has been the month of exercise. I guess February will be the month of food (and continuing the exercise, of course -- I'm addicted now). At one time I was thinking I would give myself a (non-food) reward with every 5 pounds I lost. Now I'm thinking that doesn't make sense, because I can't control how much weight I lose -- I can only control my own behavior. So instead, I'm thinking a (non-food) reward for every month of daily exercise, and a (non-food) reward for every month of McDougall eating with no cheats. So at the end of February I should get two rewards!

I like it. A reward for amount of TIME you are on track.

My brother has always said, when he exercises, he is much less likely to eat crap, so I'm thinking you are on the right track, for sure.

Exercise every day! You go!!! So what's the two rewards gonna be?

Hi gang. The rewards are big-hole beads for my bracelets. I have two bracelets, I decided one is for exercise and one is for food. So I have a little silver turtle (because slow and steady wins the race) heading my way as a reward for going to the gym every day in January.

I am still rocking the gym. I took 4 days off because I was sick, but got right back on track. The food is still not so awesome. I have a fridge full of yummy on plan food, but I am still eating a lot of off-plan treats. My weight has been staying the same -- so at least I'm not gaining. I haven't even been checking my blood sugar.

A year ago I was getting rid of all my fat clothes. Today I am bigger than I was when I bought those clothes. But I'm having trouble finding the motivation to commit to the plan 100%.

Hi debbie, thanks for the support. Yes, together we are a perfect McDougaller!

Last week I made a commitment to myself to really focus on the food. I decided I would start on Valentine's Day (yesterday) and this would be my gift of love and caring to myself. So far, so good. I'm doing what has worked in the past, which is MWL with up to 100 calories of sugar (mostly in the form of hard candy) allowed per day.

Yesterday:

Breakfast: homemade baked beans
Lunch: tomato-rice soup, small baked potato
Snack: baked sweet potato
Dinner: baked potatoes, split pea soup
Sugar: about 85 calories

Today so far:
breakfast: split pea soup

I've been trying to up my veggie intake by adding frozen chopped spinach to all my soups. I love it and it means there is always some green veggie in these bean and grain heavy meals.

The tomato-rice soup is from Veganomicon and it's delicious. It has roasted garlic in it, and white beans, so when I add spinach it has all the four vegan food groups in it! Yum!

Well, this week has gone great so far, and it's showing in the weight release (I haven't updated my ticker yet; will wait until Monday to do that). Still hitting the gym every day, but taking it a bit easier because I'm having some foot and leg pain (I asked my doctor for a referral to a podiatrist; now I just need to make the appointment). Food has been great. Now here comes a three day weekend, which gives me plenty of time to shop and cook. Go me!

This has been a great week. I just updated my ticker -- almost 10 pounds released since I last updated in January, and most of that was in the past week or so. My fasting blood sugar today was 113, which is a big improvement for me.

Yesterday's food:

breakfast: barley, green beans, gomasio
Lunch: baked potatoes
Dinner: sloppy lentil joes from Caldwell Esselstyn's book (my partner ate these with whole wheat rolls; I just had them plain)

Yesterday I cooked: 5 pounds of baked potatoes, sloppy lentil joes, baked beans from the pcrm website (in my slow cooker), and a variation on the split pea soup from the last McDougall newsletter (mine is with urad dal, since I had some that needed to get used). I'm also working my way through a big pot of barley I cooked a couple days ago, and still have some cabbage soup from last week. So that plus assorted veggies will be my food for the next week or so.

You are doing so great!! Congrats on your comeback! I'm so impressed by all your cooking, I am wondering what gomasio is?? Anyway here's a high five ^^ for your super job!!!!!

Glad to hear you're doing well,Toadfood! Keep it up!

Love your food, toadfood. Congrats on your 10 pounds released!!! Great going! I can feel your enthusiasm!!! Keep it up, it's contageous!

Thanks for the support, everybody! Gomasio is a Japanese condiment -- ground sesame seeds with sea salt. I make it myself in my spice grinder and sprinkle it on rice and veggies. Yum.

I'm continuing to do well, going to the gym every day, sticking to McDougall 100% (my own combination of regular plan and MWL -- I don't eat flour products, but I do use almond milk, occasional tofu, sesame seeds, and raisins). Over the weekend I made lentil soup with lots of veggies, and I'm having a friend over for lunch today to share it with me. She is a fishatarian, not a McDougaller, but I think this recipe has good crossover appeal. It's the French Lentil Soup with Tarragon and Thyme from Veganomicon, adapted to eliminate oil and reduce salt, and with extra veggies added. For dinner I'll probably have barley and some cabbage soup.

This is week 4 of 100% compliance. I find that promising myself a reward for a full month of 100% compliance is really helping me stay on track, much more than promising myself a reward for losing a certain amount of weight (which is outside of my control anyway). I'll think of eating something that wouldn't be terrible but is not on plan, like a piece of bread, and then I think "No, if I eat that I won't be 100% compliant and won't get my reward." It's amazing how much these silly little rewards motivate me.

Well, I just completed 4 weeks of solid compliance, and I am feeling really good. I released about 12 pounds, and my fasting blood sugar has gone down significantly. Last night I put the first bead on my McDougall bracelet. On to the next four weeks!

Well done!!! Keep going and put many more McD beads on your bracelet!

Thanks for the support, Dechen. It means a lot.

The last few days have not been good foodwise, and I've had a bit of a setback with my weight, but today I am back on track. I really need to do some thinking about eating in social situations, as that's what started me on the wrong track. I had a friend over for lunch and made a nice McDougall-friendly salad. I had bought a loaf of bread to serve -- well, my (skinny) friend ate half a slice, and over the next few days I ate the rest of the loaf. She had brought a box of vegan cookies (even though I told her not to bring anything) and to be polite I ate two -- well, they were really good and I ended up finishing the box after she left. Then the next day I really went off the deep end, binging on chocolate that wasn't even vegan. Day after that I had some cookies full of trans fat, and some fried food -- that spiked my blood sugar, yay! But today I'm back, and I'm committing to 100% compliance (which for me includes up to 100 calories of a sugar treat) and to posting here every day.

Today's exercise: 40 minutes on the elliptical trainer
Today's food:
Breakfast: overnight cereal (rolled oats, almond milk, raisins, cinnamon)
Lunch: curried split pea soup with carrots, sweet potatoes, and spinach (from McDougall newsletter)
Sugar treat: 100 calories worth of jelly beans
Dinner: broccoli, brown rice, gomasio
Snack: brown rice, chick peas, tikka paste