Hello fellow travelers!!! WOW I am so grateful for a nice, even keel, steady week. No major hurdles or obstacles and WOW is that nice!! I need to remember to be more grateful for these kinds of days and weeks.
1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Yes for lunches & dinners, like my usual3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
6/7 (one meal included a higher sugar item than my normal) Also, I focus on reduction, not elimination.4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes6. Eliminate any added oil. Yes
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
6/7 – one meal included a more calorie dense item than my normal (same as #3)8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Yes9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Still working on understanding and responding appropriately to my hunger / satiety feelings. I am also recognizing a soft, yet persistent voice in my head that keeps telling me there is something wrong with me for the volume of food that I like to eat, and do eat. I'm not sure what to do about this little voice, but I certainly can't allow it to derail me by promoting a belief that I am broken - I know that won't be helpful. 10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
7/7 over 10,000 steps. 2 Silver Sneakers classes at the gym. 2 rebounding workouts. My knee has been giving me trouble for the last couple of days, so I haven’t been on the rebounder or doing as much outdoor walking as I would like.Victories: I’m happy with my food choices this week, and with my overall progress with exercise. My weight is slowly coming back down and I hope to be back inside my goal weight range in the next week or two.
Comments: Stephanie, I'm really glad to read your cruise food question, and to see the responses you have gotten so far. Great food for thought. I don't have any cruise plans on the horizon, but historically I have LOVED cruises and hope there are some out there in my future! So I am paying close attention here!
Wishing you loads of fun, and also wishing to be packed in your suitcase!
Concerns:
Questions: I had to take antibiotics (of course – frown face) after the periodontal procedure. My guts felt awful. Per Dr. Lim and Dr. McDougall, I don’t take any supplements under normal circumstances. I have been taking a pre/probiotic daily since I finished the antibiotics. I’m curious what others do after a course of antibiotics. My guts are feeling better, and I also feel like my cravings for sweets, etc. are normalizing. I suspect the cravings may have been due, at least in part, to the gut / antibiotic thing, but am curious what others think and have experienced.
Thank you ALL as always for everything you share - I learn so much being part of this group. Mark, Goose and Jeff, thank you for your tireless efforts to help us all stay on track and keep learning and growing in this way of life!