MMXI = 2011

[McDetermined]

Just saw your layered lentils w/lettuce recipe. Sounds great! I, too, love the taste of lettuce and warm grains/beans.

I tried a variation of a lentil recipe I found on the boards. It was rockin' good! Here it is in case you still have lentils left:

2 cups veg broth (low sodium)
1 onion, chopped small

Bring to boil.

Add 1 cup rinsed lentils and simmer on low for 50 mins., covered w/ the lid vented a little.

Then, stir in 1 - 1.5 tablespoons curry powder.

Add two 1-pound packages frozen cauliflower florets. Continue simmering on medium with the lid on, stirring occassionally. You don't want to put the heat up too high because it can burn w/ the curry in it. Cook until cauliflower reaches the desired doneness.

I love this over potatoes or rice!

Hope this weekend finds you in more positive spirits!

[Veg]

Thank you for the recipe suggestion McDetermined. I'll have to give it a try. I went to the store yesterday and bought a bunch of McDougall instant cups that were on sale. I have no idea if they're good or not, but they should help in a pinch on those work days that hunger hits me while the vending machine is leering at me.

[Veg]

I have a cold or I'm allergic to dogs now.

[Veg]

Well it wasn't an allergy to the dog I was watching for a family member. The dog is gone now. By Sunday I started losing my voice. Monday and Tuesday I called in sick to work because it was getting worse.

It's been awhile since I've been this sick so I tried all the medicines at the store to see what worked because I'd forgotten what I take for when I get this bad. I've never lost my voice before like this.

By Wednesday I had bronchitis and an ear infection. By Thursday after the doctor the sore throat and painful lungs started to lift but I'm still recovering from the beat down I've taken with this cold. I've coughed up lots of good gunk. Even got that piece of oatmeal that was stuck in my nasal cavity last week out finally.

My voice is coming back though my doctor says to keep resting it and get as much rest and fluids as I can. I'll have to go back to work this weekend and if I'm not better by then I know what medication to take so I can go to work and function some what.

So I've been dealing with laryngitis, pharyngitis, bronchitis, an ear infection in my right ear and a nasty wicked cold that I thought would turn for the worse since I was mainly eating a liquid diet and wasn't getting better. I also wasn't hungry because of the medicine I think. It gave me nausea. Sometimes this felt like allergies because of the watery itchy eyes and scratchy throat and coughing and sneezing. Ugh. Misery.

It's almost the end of the month in a few days and I can say I think Feb is a scrap. I failed to make much progress. I'm going to weigh almost the same but I am interested to see if the measurements changed for the good or worse or stayed the same.

March is when Spring starts coming around here. I'm feeling positive about getting out of the house with the spouse and being more active and making some progress. I hope I'm feeling a lot better by then and over all this sickness.

[Veg]

This is the first day I am starting to feel better. I realize Feb isn't a total scrap. I did make a baby step or some progress. I remembered that for the entire month I didn't have any coffee with cream. I'm over that now. Next month I'll work on no soda. I've had 3-4 days of straight headaches and I think that's because I've been so sick and I haven't been drinking soda so it may be caffiene withdrawal headaches. Today there is no headache so far and I may be past it now and able not to have it successfully in March and the rest of the year.

[Dechen]

You are doing great with eliminating one thing at a time. Very sensible.
I only have a couple of cups of coffee a day and I surely know when I have more because I get the mother of all headaches.
Good on you for pacing yourself.

[Veg]

Thanks Dechen, I didn't really plan it that way to do it one at a time. I actually had many things on my plate to accomplish but didn't stick with all of them. However, I did stick with some of them and giving up the cup o' morning drip was my success for Feb.

The larger battle is giving up soda next month with a house of soda drinkers but I'm already at a good start with several days of being sick and not drinking it already. I do the shopping so no one has bought any and brought it into the house though there have been several requests. I wonder how long I can put it off until they stop noticing and asking for it? The caffine headache did come on again tonight for the 5th day in a row without it and I took an asprin. I was worried I was going to have a stoke from the brain pain.

Also for dinner tonight I had one of the McDougall Soup Cups called Black Bean and Lime and I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. I'm writing it down here so I remember later that it is one I'd buy again. I also liked the Hot and Sour soup cup and the Chinese Noodle Soup Cup but the Black Bean and Lime was the best that I've tried so far.

Still haven't had any of these done but need to remember them for the doctor's office:
weight, bp, cbc, liver function test, ekg, echo cardiogram, ect.

[Veg]

Finally my weight dropped into the next set of 10's which is a great start for March! It started after I stopped the fiber cleanse I was doing so there might be something to that. I still have two month left of the internal cleanse so I'm unsure what to do. I want to see the weight drop but I spent the money on three months of internal cleanse product. With two months left and already knowing I'm not dropping weight taking the fiber I'm a little conflicted. I stopped taking it while I was sick because it was too much to keep up with. Plus I thought if I'm pumping myself with all this good stuff why am I getting so sick like this now? I know it takes time to rebuild the nutritional reserves. I wonder now how long from when I feel better to when I can start exercising regularly without risking a relapse in health.

[jsl]

Even the best of us get sick, and this year has been particularly bad for lots of people!! So don't beat yourself up about it. I had it for about a week, but my hubby, who doesn't eat quite as well as I do, had it for 2 weeks AND got pneumonia...

And I like that you realized February is not a scrap! Getting rid of coffee is a huge step. Sometimes we have to look for other milestones than just weight loss...that will come...in time...(gotta remind myself of that!)

Keep it up!

[Dechen]

Soda, I am glad to say is not soemthing we have bought for a long time but it is a doozy to give up. I would just not buy it and they will stop asking for it eventually. Tough love lol. My hubby is giving up coffee and his 'soda at work' up for lent. This is a man who drinks 2 pots of coffee (at least) instead of just 2 cups. I just know he is gonna end up with a crippling headache. I also know that, once it is Easter he will make up for it big style. Go figure!

But you, you are doing great. Keep being kind to yourself with the McDing and you will see results.

[Veg]

Feb - 1
I'm 41 lbs away from my goal.
Measurements 44, 38, 48

March - 1
39.5 lbs away from my goal.
Measurements 43.5, 37, 48

I was surprised to see I did lose some inches with the little weight loss. I know where my weight leaves from first and where it leaves from last now.

Looking in the mirror this last month I've felt that there has been some change in my looks. It's difficult to explain but I feel that the way I carry my weight has changed. Perhaps it's age and I'm less tone and more flabby? It seems to me I look thinner though it's not a big drop in weight. Or it seems the weight hangs now instead of being evenly proportioned? It's very subtle but I can tell a difference and I'm not certain how to explain the change. I'm not sure I'm ok with it either. It has also occurred to me that maybe it's my perception that has changed.

I really want March to be more productive. Now that I've given up coffee for the last month I really hope that giving up soda this month makes more of a difference.

I plan to continue and finish with the rest of my internal cleanse. It's not fun pumping myself with the stuff. I think cleaning my house isn't fun either. However, the final result is what it's all about. I was warned that even with an internal cleanse I may get sick if I didn't take it easy. I didn't think I was that strict but I guess when you're body is toxic and your changing your way of life with diet and doing an internal cleanse you may get sick all at once by pushing those toxins out.

I'm considering a lot more alternative health things then I've ever considered before. I still have about two months left worth of the stuff and I paid good money for it. The directions say to give yourself a break between months but I've given myself over the five days off it recommended because I was so sick. I must be crazy to consider finishing the cleanse, right? It recommends eating a healthy diet with it. You are cleaning your insides out after all so why put junk back in you when you're cleaning it out. I think I better get this over with and complete it though and see how I feel about it at the end of it all.

[Veg]

Sorry I didn't mean to not reply to you Jenni and Dechen. I sorta got wrapped up in my train of thought. I want to say how proud I am of my fellow McDer's and how well they are doing. Thank you for all your support.

Today I woke up really tired. I mean really tired. I could barely open my eyes tired. My spouse said I looked like a little kid waking up because I could hardly open my eyes. I had plenty of disturbed sleep though. They made me a coffee to jump start me which sort of helped, I think. First coffee in a month but didn't want to back track the rest of the month. It wasn't as good.

I've printed out my daily schedule from Microsoft Outlook and I'm micromanaging myself. I'm going to work on my sleep hygiene and go to bed and wake up at a regular time. I'm thinking 12 am to 8 am is a good schedule though some days I wake up after five hours of sleep. Last night I found myself waking up like that and then telling my spouse that "the best advantage was the other side" of the bed meaning stop snoring in my ear. It's funny when I think about my choice of words while half asleep telling my spouse to face the other direction so I can go back to sleep and then listening to their humorous half asleep reaction. "Grumble, rumble, best advantage, what do you mean best advantage, over there, flip, flop, plop, Zzzzz..."

I've selected M-F for some exercise and W-F my spouse is going to join me for an hour in exercise. They have committed to being my workout buddy. We're going to either go for a long walk, hike or bike on those days so that we will get at least three days a week of exercise. Monday and Tuesday, because of my work schedule, I'll do a stationary machine at the house since there are several to choose from. Sometimes I feel like we should setup a home gym area but first we'd have to make room somewhere. Which would require getting rid of a lot of things to make the space.

We also went to the store today. Of course not all of it is for me. Tonight they wanted tacos for dinner. I had mine with beans, a side salad and some cut up cantaloupe from the store. They wanted to put shredded carrots on their tacos which I found odd and they all commented that it was normal. Go figure? I must be out of the loop or they were messing with me. It seems to be their favorite thing to do lately.

What's In My Cart
Bleach: $1.25
Coffee Filters: $1.62
Soda: $ .78
Soda: $ .78
Grated Parmesan Cheese: $1.98
Apple Juice: $1.70
2.09 lbs Red Grapes: $3.51
1.75 lbs Black Grapes: $4.34
Dressing Bread we use as Crutons: $1.98
Sharp Cheddar: $2.85
Whole Wheat Pita Bread: $1.18
Whole Wheat Tortillas: $1.58
V8 Juice: $1.86
Apricot Juice: $1.61
Q-tips: $ .98
1 Green Bell Pepper: $1.78
0.32 lbs Broccoli: $ .31
4 pk Romaine Hearts: $1.98
Cilantro: $ .58
1.36 lbs Roma Tomatoes: $1.74
1.22 lbs Asparagus: $2.78
Green Onion: $ .98
Radish Bunch: $ .68
1.20 lbs Red Apples: $1.18
1 lbs Strawberries: $2.48
0.13 lbs Ginger Root: $ .32
Kale: $1.78
2.89 lbs Bananas: $1.42
3.76 lbs Cantaloupe: $2.56
Mezzetta Peperoncini: $2.13
1.91 lbs Pears D'Anjou: $1.30
1 Red Bell Pepper: $ .68
0.47 lbs Navel Orange: $ .32
Cauliflower Bunch: $2.98
2.11 lbs Red Onion: $1.43
Roasted Potato Mix: $. 78
3.17 lbs Steel Cut Oats: $2.73
6 Small Lemons: $1.68
Salsa Verde: $2.86
Bulls Eye Original BBQ Sauce: $2.09
Butterscotch Pudding Mix: $ .78
Chocolate Pudding Mix: $ .78
Strawberry Shake Mix: $ .78
Banana Chocolate Shake Mix: $ .78
Frozen Lemonade: $ .82
Frozen OJ: $1.28
Frozen Fruit Punch: $ .77
Frozen Mango Orange Juice: $ .82
Frozen Pineapple Strawberry Juice: $ .82
Frozen OJ: $1.28
Frozen Pink Lemonade: $ .82
Ice Cream: $3.68
1 lb Extra Lean Ground Beef: $4.48
Taco Seasoning: $ .74
10 pk Taco Shells: $1.12
Aveeno Cleansing Bar: $2.63
Colgate Toothbrush: $2.52

[frozenveg]

Wow, that is quite a shopping list!!! I am always blown away by the prices you list, but we've already talked about that. Alaska, what are you gonna do?

I hope you have perked up and are not so tired! I wanted to let you know I wasn't ognoring you, but I stopped getting email notifications of posts to your journal--it's weird that way, and I have to go through the journal pages searching for folks I follow. I got a little worried that I hadn't seen your posts, and here you are, posting away!

Here is to a great march for you! (And I will be trying right with you--I haven't made any weight loss progress since the first of January, and I'm getting antsy about it.)

[Veg]

I didn't realize we could subscribe to journals until you mentioned it today, frozenveg. I'll have to do that so I can get the emails from the journals I follow when others post as well.

Today I feel like I've been in the kitchen all day washing fruits and veggies and preparing them for easy consumption during the week. We needed to go grocery shopping. I'm afraid though we may have bought too much and things will get lost in the fridge with this many hands at the house moving things around and then they will spoil before we eat them.

When writing out what we bought I was amazed at the disparity in the price of the products from what I thought they cost to what they ended up being. Usually I watch the monitor ring them up to check the cost but this time I was the bag person while the spouse paid.

I see that some items from the vegetables went up very high while some items from the fruits were surprisingly low for this time of year. It's good I'm cataloging this here as it's giving me an idea how it goes. Last month we did go over our budget by about $150 on food. Some of this is the rise in prices while some of it is less eating out and more eating at home. March will give me a better indicator of if this is going to be trend and if we need to adjust the budget accordingly and save less money then we had planned each month.

After Feb I am considering tomatoes for sure, green and red bell peppers, chives, green onions, lettuce, potatoes and mint for our first small garden this year. Still considering what else at the moment but getting excited it's getting close to when we start preparing our gardens.

[carollynne]

MMXI Hey I love these photos you are taking of the food. Very cool thing to do!! Thanks.
You are doing great. We (2 sons and myself) all hate the vegan cheese too. The sons bought it and tried, but but soon it was apparent that no one wanted to finish it off.
Oldest son last night, made up a vegan lasagne, with the white flour noodles... but it also has zucchini slices, and also bocco meal starters, for some soy protein, and the cheez was a nice recipe that called for pureed cashews with more tofu and the juice from a can of sauerkrat!! The sauce was his own, as he loves to make his own tomato sauces, and this one was a pizza sauce, so it was nice and thick. I have yet to try it, since he made it last last evening. It has a lot of tofu and really not on the MWL plan, but may have a small portion as a treat myself. I am doing so well, that I almost hate to mess up even the tiniest bit...
My other, youngest, son loves his potato and cabbage stuff so your recipe sounds great to me.
thanks for the pix!! Cool beans here!