BambiS — Congratulations on your upcoming 2-year WFPB anniversary! You've learned a lot and made good progress.
One of the important points you've discovered is the difference between MWL and WFPB in terms of your goals and your health. You're well on your way to establishing an individual "Sweet Spot" that will lead to your being able to have a way of eating that will serve you well for the rest of your life.
Rebecka22 — Good for you to not give in to temptation, especially in times of stress.
Kids always present a challenge. There is only so much you can do. At age 5, your daughter is still under your influence and control a great deal, but that will diminish as she gets older (as you've found with your older kid/s). Kids are surrounded by stuff that is Calorie Rich And Processed (aka CRAP), and they're influenced by their friends (and, unfortunately, their friends' parents) who consume it without a care in the world.
I look at my grand-Goslings' food in horror. Their mom is conscientious but overworked and stressed. Their dad is the primary caregiver, and he's a classic junk-food junkie. So there's not a thing I can do about their diet but distract and dilute, on those occasions when I'm with the kids. I feed the youngest avocado, one of his favorites, and hope that fills him up so he only eats one hot dog later instead of two. When we go out to an all-you-can-eat buffet, and he's gobbling mac and cheese, I have a plate of raw veggies between us that I've cut into bite-size pieces. Eventually, there are little hands dipping into that as well!
You can't forbid or rant against the CRAP -- that will only make her want more, as you pointed out. But you can make the good stuff attractive and readily available (snack bags for those minefield events?), model the behavior that you want, take great joy in your food and let the kids see you doing it, and fill the kids as full as you can with nutritious food. Don't skimp on the starches and higher-fat plant foods. Fruits and veggies are great, but active kids also need extra calories. If they don't get them from nutritious food, they'll get them from CRAP.
Starflower — Good job in navigating the Pleasure Trap with reasonable success. Having extra starch in some meals might have actually worked in your favor, keeping you away from the real problem areas. And you have another chance to refine your technique and strategy next week.
Finding good spices can go a long way toward making food tasty and exciting, as well as adding variety. Smoked black peppercorns sound really good!
Hope your foot wasn't too badly hurt and that you are on the mend!
Hjklost55 — Well done for posting, even with a report of being off the rails. Yes, it's easy for bad eating to sneak back in (that's why they call it the Pleasure Trap), and the cravings get worse the more of the CRAP that you eat. It's a myth that you can kill cravings by giving in to them, as you well know.
You have the right idea. Refocus, move forward. One choice at a time, one meal at a time. If you ever eat something that's less than ideal, make sure that the
very next bite is something health-promoting. Don't listen to that little voice that says "oh well, I've blown it, so I'll eat what I want for the rest of today and start in again tomorrow."
Don't restrict, especially the starches. If you're comfortably full, it's easier to resist the cravings. Eventually, they'll go away, and you'll be back in the groove again. Stay with the checklist. Think behavior, not food. Keep things as simple and easy as you can (you want to make good behavior easy, less-than-optimum behavior much harder).
Looking forward to hearing from you again next week. We're all here for you!
Gimmelean — That "one day at a time" strategy for managing the candy at work seems to be working for you. Keep it up! Inching toward a "yes" is just fine. I remember thinking of the snack tray in the break room at work as "clutter" rather than as something that might be eaten -- it helped.
I had never heard of giambotta. Sounds tasty! I'm a big fan of both slow cooking and the Instant Pot. Maybe once it gets cooler, I'll see what I can do with the giambotta idea.
Enjoy the figs while you have them. It's only once a year for a short time.
VegSeekingFit - You're doing a fantastic job, Stephanie. Varying your exercise is always good, and you're right -- it's good to have options that don't put stress on sore feet.
You're working your way into a pattern that works for you long-term. That's just what I did -- cut back on the preloading, adjusted the ratio of starch to non-starchy foods on my plate.
I love those smashed pintos of Mary's. We use them for everything. The Gander makes sandwiches with them. We both use them to top Chubby Chips or steak fries (with chopped scallions or salsa). They taste good cold, spread into celery! And of course, they make fabulous burrito bowls.
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Love the comments about autumn that many of you included this week. Fall is my favorite season. I can't wait for the cool, crisp weather and the changing colors.
In the meantime, we're due for a heat wave here in the Midwest. It happens every year, especially in August, but I'm not looking forward to it at all!
I find myself using the same strategies to address the heat as I do to work my food and behavior program.
- Plan in advance. Don't get caught without the means to comfortably get through the day (or the week, or longer!). That might mean going to the grocery store, or preparing food for the freezer, or making a menu for the week (or, in case of surviving the heat, going to the library to stock up on reading for when I'm not sticking one little feather outside the house!).
- Consider the worst-case scenario, and how to cope. Our power grid is terrible, and I know just where I'll go if we lose power and AC here. Likewise, I know just how to maneuver around a social eating situation, or how to respond to one of my more obnoxious family members who always has something pointed to say about "that stupid diet." I know where the pitfalls are, where I'm vulnerable, and how I'm going to deal with any of it. And if something comes up that's totally unexpected, I know I have the skills to figure it out.
- Know that the "finish line" can move. The weather forecasters say the heat will start breaking after a week. I can hang on till next weekend, but I've also seen where the heat is stronger than the forecasters and can last for days (sometimes a whole string of days!) longer than predicted. If it's hotter for longer than I expect, will my worst grumpy Goose tendencies come out, or will I start thinking about "treats" to make myself feel better? It's the same with challenges to my program. Maybe the cravings don't go away as fast as I thought they would. Maybe a sniff of hot pretzel in the mall hits me harder than I thought it could (gee, you mean I'm not immune by now?). Maybe the meal that used to hold me so well for hours just isn't working any more (what's up with that?). Flexibility and a healthy dose of humor is the key.
- Don't push for perfection. Be willing to let some things go. Don't sweat the small stuff. Literally for me, in the case of the heat. I know I shouldn't start a big project, even in the air-conditioned indoors, that will be too taxing or too likely to create a strain. I won't decide that now would be a great time to clean the basement. Bad weather puts stress on humans, even when they're sheltered from it. With the food and the checklist, I focus on the basics. Don't try to improve everything at once. Drop back to really, really simple meals that are easy to fix and that don't require a lot of thought. Ask for help and support if I need it, and let family or friends pitch in (the Gander always tells me when it's time to put my superhero cape in the washing machine and not wear it for a while -- I usually get the hint).
McDougall/MWL applied to life, life skills applied to McDougall/MWL. This program calls on lots of "regular" skills that we already have, and it also develops some new ones that extend far beyond the realm of food and health.
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Hope you all have a good week. I've enjoyed my time as your facilitator, and I hope Mark has had a restful and relaxing trip. He'll be back next week for the last check-in of August.
Goose