Anne's Journal

[donaldpetemc]

Thanks, Beth. Right now I'm doing very well. Sweet potato and beets for dinner. Pineapple for dessert.

[Starch Chick]

Sounds yummy. So nice your hubby is doing it with you

[donaldpetemc]

Confession time. I've been sick with a sore throat/cough/drippy nose since last Sunday...six days now. A cold is supposed to be over with in 7 days or a week's time, right? So why is it I feel worse today than I did the first part of week? So...you probably know the story...poor me, I feel so lousy, nothing tastes good, so I'm totally off the McD wagon. Not that I've been eating a LOT of food, but just the wrong kind. Best tasting thing so far: pasta salad with a vinegary taste. My husband bought it for me, at my request (my command?) from the deli at the grocery store, and it had oil, but probably no cheese. About all I could taste in it was the vinegar, and it was wonderful. I'm going to TRY to get back on said wagon tomorrow morning. Anyway, I'm just checking in to say I have good intentions and plan to GET WELL and go back to being able to taste McD comfort foods in no time at all.

[donaldpetemc]

I finally got back on track in time for today, my monthly weigh-in day and I'm thrilled to have lost another 7+ lbs. I have not been completely compliant -- there's that matter of a 1/2 gallon of ice cream, served with extra chocolate sauce and nuts every time. I also had a regular visit with my doctor today, and she was quite pleased with the weight loss.

[kirstykay]

Anne,
7+ pounds is AMAZING!!!! I wish my body would release weight like that! WOW! Congratulations! Good momentum moving forward! I'm so glad you're feeling better and back on track!

[donaldpetemc]

Thanks, Kirsty. I feel certain my weight loss will be less next month. It's always faster right at the first. But it's nice to have lost 22 lbs. in the first couple of months.

[Starch Chick]

Congrats on the weight loss

I, too, have problems when I get sick. I am so miserable and I really want my old special friends, usually pizza or ice cream or nachos or all three. I still struggle with this from time to time, so I totally "get it"

Glad you were able to get back on plan and sustain a loss for the month

Keep up the good work

[donaldpetemc]

Thanks for the sympathy, Beth. I think we all struggle with this WOE at times, and those that say they never struggle are lying. I bought some mini pretzels yesterday because it said they had 0% fat. And then I had four servings of them! In one day. It doesn't help much to overeat on good choices...only slightly better than overeating on bad choices. I sometimes think the bingeing yen is the biggest curse I face in trying to McDougall. Today I've promised myself to have NO pretzels.

[donaldpetemc]

Still keeping on keeping on.

[donaldpetemc]

Last night we ate in the new restaurant in our independent senior living complex because we had invited two prospective residents to see our apartment and try out this restaurant. For several reasons the menu is limited in this restaurant, so I couldn't have my usual sweet potato, broccoli, and beets. Instead of the everyone-says-it's-delicious French onion soup, I ordered V-8 juice. I caved for the main part of the meal, having salmon, broccoli, and potatoes. Yes, I could have ordered it and just ignored the salmon, but that's beyond my will power ability. For dessert everyone else chose French silk pie. I hesitated, and then ordered the fruit. I'm posting this not because I'm contrite about not following McDougall but because I'm actually proud that I faced this situation and came out on top with V-8 and fruit.

[donaldpetemc]

I seem to be motivated to write in this journal only when I'm having problems. I do have most days when everything goes well and I'm on track. But yesterday was my husband's birthday, and I had decided in advance to celebrate with him. We had a complimentary pancake breakfast. I was not with him for lunch, but I went through Whole Foods and picked up a noodle salad, a ham sandwich, a yummy dessert, and a soft drink. In the afternoon at a St. Pat's party I had punch and cake, and for dinner we went to a down home restaurant so he could have corned beef and cabbage, and I had my favorite, chicken fried steak, with two margaritas. As I write all this I'm thinking "Whew." That was quite a celebration. On the other hand, my primary reason to follow McDougall is not because I'm ill and trying to solve those kinds of medical problems but because I am overweight and trying to lose weight. Therefore I give myself permission to go off the diet occasionally and am not too displeased if I go off only occasionally. The major worry is giving up, going off completely, going back to eating everything all the time in unlimited quantities on a daily basis for months and months on end. When I think about it, I have never had a stable weight at any point in my adult life. I am either dieting (and losing), which in one way or another means I'm depriving myself of foods I love, or else I am gaining. My regular normal diet includes overeating, constant bingeing, a coping mechanism I apparently learned in childhood and have never found an acceptable substitute. I believe most people have crutches of one kind or another. I wish my crutch were being rigidly and unflexibly following a plan like the McDougall WOE, but, alas, I have not been able to make it so. My only salvation may lie in following the plan most of the time and allowing for occasional "celebrations" such as the one I had this week. March is such a difficult month. We have two birthdays, including my own coming up, and we are going to a wedding the first of April. I hope this month I can end up with at least a slight weight loss.

[donaldpetemc]

I see I have not posted a thing in this journal since last March. Well, folks, knowing me you can guess what has happened. I've been completely on SAD, and the holidays have seen an astronomical increase in my lousy food intake. The 22 pounds I had lost have been regained. Even worse, my physical maladies have gotten worse. I'm in my late 70's, and I now have difficulty getting up from a sitting position. Sometimes I find it extremely hard to roll over in bed. My elimination, both urination and defecation, is extremely bothersome. I'm spending my life in the bathroom, often more than once an hour, and sometimes there is pain involved. I have a shoulder that hurts, a back that hurts, and I really don't want to go anywhere or do anything. Just sit in my recliner and watch TV or read a book. Doesn't even have to be a good book. I have joined a sit and be fit exercise group which meets for 25 minutes or so 4 times a week. My shoulder is killing me during the stretches, but I'm trying to jumpstart the new year. This next year I hope I'll make it farther than March.

[viv]

I really appreciate your honesty. You have a clean slate of a whole year ahead and you can look forward to very quickly becoming pain free and feeling great again. Dairy is especially inflammatory so let that be the first to go. Commit to following the program for one year and if you fall off the wagon one day, so what? Just get back on it the next day. I am sending you lots of good wishes for a pain free and feeling great year, one day at a time!
Viv