Bunso Personal Challenge

[bunsofaluminum]

Well, I sorta went emotional the past few days and ate for comfort. A lot on Sunday (bread, Justin's hazelnut cocoa spread*, almond ice cream, and of course buttered popcorn) and a little bit on Monday and Tuesday (yesterday). Won't go into the reasons for the emotional turmoil, but it is now over, and things are back on track.

*Justin's. It is a hazelnut cocoa butter, in the same aisle as nutella, but the main ingredient is hazelnuts, whereas the first ingredient for Nutella is sugar. Justin's has a thicker texture, and a much better flavor. It is my go-to fatty comfort food. And it's too expensive to have around the house all the time, so it really is a good comfort food. Just for those days when eating something decadent out of the jar is called for. Delicious on a good artisan bread

I'm trying to remember the exercise I had for those three days.

Sunday
three hours of bawling my eyes out hahahaha. (hey maybe I lost some water weight)
a total of about half an hour of short walks between calls at work

Monday, March 30
15 minute walk around the workplace during lunch break
short walks and stretches between calls


Tuesday, March 31
20 min walk to the post office and back
20 min walk after work
20 minutes of yoga for balance and flexibility

So I consider the days off plan, but I also see it as a blip which i am quickly correcting. Maybe today will be a new day one. I made it seven days, before eating those funeral potatoes, and the food out at Olive Garden.

April 1
DAY ONE

Exercise:
75 minute walk at the park
100 pushups (off the park bench, four sets of 25...NOODLE ARMS!)
40 situps
10 inclined chin ups
Yoga for balance and flexibility

B: oatmeal with banana, cinnamon, cocoa, and berries
L: dal and cauliflower; rice
D: Moroccan sweet potato stew
S: chocolate

[sksamboots]

Back on plan. Keep on keepin on

[bunsofaluminum]

April 2

DAY TWO

Exercise: 50 squats at my desk, and a few easy walks around the place between calls.

B: pile of spinach and rice with seasonings
L: dal with roasted cauliflower YUM I could eat this dal EVERY day.
D: moroccan sweet potato stew

[bunsofaluminum]

April 3

DAY THREE

Exercise:

I did laundry. It's been a real lazy day.

Food:

B: rice and two fried eggs
L and D: a huge meal out with a friend. Higher fat than i ever should have, and I also ate dessert, Not on plan at all,, but no animal protein.

Today a fellow i chatted with briefly at the laundry room, at my apartment complex, sent up a plate of food. It was potato salad, bbq'ed burger, and two pieces of bbq chicken. Oh, and beans with cooked ground beef mixed in.

*sigh*

I didn't have the heart to tell him I don't eat this stuff, and thanked him. I had a bite of the potato salad. SALTY! Put the meat in a baggy (my daughter will eat it, or I might toss it tomorrow. I just had to get it put away quickly, because LORDY the aroma was so tempting. It was so nice of the guy to send up a plate. Just plain old generous. He tootles around in a scooter chair and that's what we got talking about.

so...I pretty much blew it today. maybe the fact that I didn't eat again after lunch, to make up for the big time calories...blargh.

[bunsofaluminum]

April 4
DAY FOUR

Exercise: danced around the house; deep housecleaning (I am getting ready to move yay! to a better place yay YAY! for lower rent yayayayayayaaaaaay!

B: oatmeal with cinnamon and cocoa, berries, 1 TBSP brown sugar
L: saute'd cabbage with dal YUMMYEEEEEEY!
D: I ate a late lunch so no dinner
S: an apple and a KIND bar (nuts, so off MWL)

Tomorrow is Easter. I want to find a blue candy robin's egg. One. So i can have my blue lips that I have EVERY Easter. And I'm off to dye eggs with my grandkids,

Life is good.

[Nean]

Happy Easter Buns!

[bunsofaluminum]

April 9

DAY NINE

I've been so busy with several things. My love life has been a bit unsettled recently, but my guy and I had time on Easter to really talk, FOR REAL, indepth, heart to heart. It was wonderful, and I'm excited about where we are going and the loving energy that has sprung up between us.

Also, getting ready to move, I've been gathering boxes (the very boxes that Life, the Universe, or Everything has laid in my path. Seriously... a dozen boxes at work, just there by the recycle waiting for me? wow) and signing papers and finding some good furniture at reasonable prices. (leaving behind the little couch that has been shredded by cats, and my old recliner)

Eating has been okay, though I know I've gone off plan probably at least one time every day. *sigh* This is the mistake with allowing oneself a "feast day" candy treat: The addiction of sugar kicks in HARD once you have even a piece of it. So my robin's eggs, making my lips blue with the grandkids....that was way fun...and now I've got sugar cravings to deal with again.

Exercise:
20 minute walk to Costco (uphill almost the whole way) and 20 minutes back (uphill a little bit of the way)

Food:
B: a banana, a bowl of oatmeal with cocoa, cinnamon, berries, and honey. YUM
L: a black bean burger with the works. YUM YUM
D: hummus, sugar snap peas, saltines.

So you can see, this isn't really MWL. Maybe I'm not doing it at all. I haven't been able to stick it for more than a few days. We'll see. The scale is sticking, and not going up. I am eating slowly, and stopping when full...because over eating even these wonderful healthy foods WILL be too many calories. Slowing down and savoring...

well, anyway. It all takes a mind that is "in the game" and I think mine is not entirely. Maybe that will change.

blessings, Heidi

[bunsofaluminum]

So this feels like it is over. I haven't stuck with my challenge, for several reasons, and this will be my last post in this thread. The longest I went was seven days, right at the beginning. It reversed a GAINING trend, and restored my energy thank goodness, but it hasn't been enjoyable. As I disciplined myself to forge forward, with the thought "but it'll be over soon and just wait till you see the results" Well, that's diet mentality, and that isn't a good place to be, and i never was fully committed or I'd still be going strong, right? Since Easter, I've stepped off plan once a day at least. Not outrageously, but not MWL.

The one thing that I am doing consistently, is eating mindfully. No matter what I choose, I am slowing down, chewing every bite, turning off the internet/TV, putting down the book or magazine, and savoring my foods. Eating until I feel satisfied (not over full) and then stopping. I realized, when I couldn't stick with my challenge for more than a week, that my mind was not in the game, and my tastebuds, (appetite) was guiding my choices, rather than whether I felt hungry or not. This has been the fact whether eating 100% McDougall/MWL foods, or non-McDougall "treats" BTW. Whatever I have eaten, in the past year, I have over eaten.

Hopefully, slowing down and eating with gratitude and appreciation...and enjoyment...will change me and I can go forward with a different relationship with food. Don't get me wrong...I won't be eating animal protein or saute'ing stuff in fat, but if I'm out with friends and there are non-McDougall things on the table, (chips and salsa; fries; dessert) I am well aware that I will have a taste or two. That is just a fact of life at this time.

So, if I can slow down and really taste it, and stop when I feel satisfied (which happens after just a few "chips" or only a taste of "brownie") (seriously, try chewing a bite of brownie thoroughly and tasting it fully...you won't need or want much) I think I will be eating as healthy as I am able AT THIS TIME. Maybe full bore McDougalling will be my standard again some day. But in the meantime, I WILL be eating starch based, McDougall friendly foods...and I won't be turning down the occasional treat. My man likes to take me out to eat, and I want to eat out with him...so I think i have found a way to do that once in a while without sabotaging myself completely, and also without creating a fuss about what the chef prepares for my plate.

And with that, this "challenge" is over.

Best to all. I will check in at the journal page now and again.