Mary's Mini with beans

[simoncat]

Hi, KA. How did the Yuca root dish turn out? As far as the baby shower, you did great. Hope you got a lot of yard work done.

Well, I weighed myself and the scale at first said, "Err" and then after I stepped on it, said 149!! I am happy, but I have to be careful, it can fluctuate. However, I hardly ate anything yesterday because my stomach felt kind of queasy.

Today, I felt better and here is my menu:

Bfast: yam
Lunch: an apple with a green salad
Dinner: green salad w/ peppers/carrots and 1/3 garbanzo beans

I am not having snacks these days. I am experimenting to see what happens. I took a 3 mile run today and like you, was out in the garden. I felt like I had too much to do and almost forgot to eat lunch!! We'll see what happens.

[simoncat]

Hi, KA. I have off work today and am planning to get a lot of housework done. I don't know if that will be my only exercise, I'll see how energetic I am after it's all done. I would rather be weeding out in the garden, but it's raining out and I don't feel like getting wet. Even if I wear a raincoat, I seem to get wet when I'm out there.

Anyway, I weighed myself this morning and I was 148.5!!! Well, my theory seems to be right (for me anyhow). I remember when I was in high school, at one point I started losing a lot of weight and I wasn't even trying. I realized that it was because I had stopped snacking between meals. I have a friend who eats all day long and is really skinny, but I think everyone is different. I wonder if it has something to do with insulin resistance. It seems to me that when I snack I get hungrier. I read a book about hormone leptin, that kind of went along with this. Anyway, I am going to try to keep it up.

I went with family to the movies last night. I give myself a pat on the back because my daughter had a large popcorn and was sitting next to me and I did not have any.

Well, here's the plan for today:

Bfast: Oatmeal with prunes (no fake milk)
Lunch: Green salad with mango/garbanzos
Dinner: Stir fry veggies with black beans

Oh, my daughter did the Ticker Factory thing for me here. I am not very computer-savvy, so I'll have to figure it out.

Hope you are doing well.

[kittyadventures]

Hi Simoncat.

Well the yuca thing was a bust... as the taste is okay but it is very gelatinous.. and not a great texture, at least to me.

IF I do have it again I think I would just cut it into cubes (small cubes and add it to stew type dishes which seems to be the more traditional way to eat it.

Also you need to cook it a long time At least 45 minutes to get it to the point you can mash it.

So I am not so sure I will be making it again.


I am glad to get back to the beans today I didn't lose any weight over the weekend.

so todays menu is

Breakfast oatmeal and an apple

Lunch
Black chili beans and mixed vegetables and a garden salad

Dinner
large salad with cherries, saturn peaches, cuccumbers, radishes and romaine letuce
Pinto beans 1/2 cup


I find that the snacking between meals is a hinderance to weight lose. Also it keeps your blood sugar up especially if you have insulin resistance.

I find that I usually lose weight then get stuck for a bit then more weight lose.

Also the weekend Zumba class was fun and different but I suck at all these dance steps.. so instead of swimming this afternoon I am going home to practice some zumba basic steps I found a video on line.

I think IF I work on A few every couple days I will be not so Klutzy when I go to class... At least I tell myself that in my brain LOL

The garden is coming along nicely I will be rototilling the veggie beds this afternoon.

[kittyadventures]

Today so far.

Breakfast: Plain beans, and a Fruit Salad of saturn peaches, red seedless grapes, cherries and lettuce.


Lunch: spicy pinto beans with mixed vegetables, garden salad of tomatoes carrots cuccumbers and lettuce

dinner : I am undecided at this point and am considering a macaroni salad as it is very warm today.

I didn't get a chance to weigh myself this morniong. Keep fingers crossed for it to be down tomorrow.
Exercise will be swimming for an hour. With more gardening and also a bit of work on clearing out our back porch room. I have been working on this off and on for a bit now... it is a collection of books and stuff and I have been going through them to sort for what to save and what to donate to the library.

[simoncat]

Hi, KA. Sounds like you have been doing a lot. Are you catching on to the Zumba? My daughter is trying to teach me the piano and she says that a lot of it is muscle memory. Maybe, that is the same with dancing.

Anyway, I had to substitute today; it was like keeping animals in cages!!! ! Sometimes I get more tired after being with them than I do after doing a 6 mile run!!!

I weighed myself and it's still 148.5 which I am okay with. I walked and gardened yesterday and cleaned house. Today I might take a break.

My menu today is as follows:

Bfast: oatmeal/banana
Lunch: salad greens with orange (I'm experimenting) & sunflower seeds (I know this isn't completely MWL, but I wasn't having any starch here)
Dinner: Normandy veggie mix with yam

I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope that you are down 2 lbs!

[kittyadventures]

Hi Simoncat.... what is normandy mix?

Last night for dinner I had a noodle casserole

Vegetable Noodle Casserole Recipe

1 cup dry shaped noodles of your choice. (I choose glutenfree rice noodle penne's)
4 cups chopped vegetables of your choice. (I used 2 cups
corn, 1 cup yellow onions, 1/2 cup celery, 1/2 cup carrots.)
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
1 sprinkle or about 1/4 teaspoon of tarragon. (Careful to not use too much this herb has a strong flavor and a little goes a long way. IT has a lemony basil flavor)
1 cup milk of your choice ( I personally like almond or soy, but oat would work and so would rice milk)
2 tablespoons of cornstarch for thickening.


Cook noodle to al dente
while noodles are cooking steam/saute vegetables and herbs. make sure carrots and celery are not too crisp but to your preference.

drain noodles
add to vegetable saute.
add milk,
add cornstarch to a bit of water and stir till disolve and then stir it into the caserole.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

heat till bubbling and milk is thiickened. Serve with your choice of fruit or salad.

[kittyadventures]

Sooo today I am solidly on 172 so i count that as a 1/2 pound lose and Yay teh needle is moving down again.

Todays menu
Breakfast:
Pinto beans and a mixed fruit salad of lettuce, red seedless grapes and red apricots...this was a new item in the grocery store so I got them to try, they are a beautifle redish purple and the flesh is a redish apricoty orange very pretty and the little bit I had was a tangy sweet taste will give more fo a review of them after i eat them.

Lunch is the spicy black bean chili with mustard greens.... I love the combination of greens and beans and am ashamed to say this is the first time I am indulging in this taste treat for the whole bean mary's mini. I should have added them sooner

I am also having a garden salad of lettuce, carrots, cuccumbers, grape tomatoes, and cauliflower. One of my favorites.

Dinner is to be taco salad, We have been having some real summer weather of 90 degrees and so this will be a lovely refreshing dinner.


Exercise is a double whammy of swimming and Zumba.

I have learned 3 of the steps so I hope to not be so klutzy today.
If I could actually dance I might feel different about it... everyone else seems to love it.

As to swimming I got at least close to 80 laps which is a bit over a mile of swimming. in my one hour wrokout . I am planning on keeping a better count today.

Swimming is one of those exercises you can do pretty much till the day you die... It works out all your muscles, is easy on your joints and burns as many calories as if you were running. IT is great for your core(tummy muscles)

Simoncat how often doyou run your three miles?

[simoncat]

Hi, KA. Normandy Veggies are a frozen kind that I get in a big bag at Cosco. It has cauliflower, carrots, broccoli and some other things in it. I like it because it's quick and I don't have to cut anything up.

Your noodle casserole sounds good. Speaking of noodles, have you ever tried the Engine 2 Diet's lasagna? Someone posted something about the Engine 2 Diet book in the "Lounge" here and I told them that this was a really good recipe. Some other people said you could get the recipe online. You might want to check the thread. I love it and am thinking I might make it either for Christmas or Thanksgiving this year. However, I won't put soy in it as it really doesn't need it. You won't be disappointed It's great. It has cashews on top, but maybe when my weight is down I'll have them again.

Well, I am really amazed I have lost another 1/2 lb and am at 147.5!! Wow!! I've never lost weight this fast and I guess it's the 1/3 starch thing and 2/3 salad. However, although I am excited about it, I know that my plateau number has always been 145 lb.

As far as exercise goes, I can't really afford to go to the pool and I have always loved running and walking. I have been running for 33 years, so I think my body is used to it. I am lucky to not have knee problems, etc. I run soft-footed and I think that is why I've been able to do it for so long. Likewise, I have only once done a half-marathon and realized quickly that I never cared to do a full one. I don't think I am built for it and have a lot of other interests besides running. I run 1 to 3 times a week and walk on other days.

Wow! You are really something with swimming though. I love the breast stroke, but am horrible at the crawl. When I go to a place up in Canada with my family, I swim the length of a lagoon (breaststroke) out into a lake. It is beautiful and peaceful and I know what you mean, you feel great. I wear my wetsuit and probably look ridiculous, but the wolves and deer don't laugh (or maybe they do!!) Keep it up.

Today's Menu:

Bfast: Oatmeal/small mango
Lunch: 1/2 small yam and salad greens/peppers
Dinner: small blackbean/rice burger (I made and keep in freezer)
salad greens with herbs from garden/carrot/onion/peppers /celery Peppermint Tea (from garden!)

Oh, and congratulations on the loss!

[eaufraiche703]

it sounds like you girls are doing great with your food plans and enjoying sharing your experiences and all, but...

no offense, but you know you're not doing a "mary's mini," right?

(just kind of want to provide another voice to this in case there are some newbies watching your posts....)

mary's mini experiment involved choosing a starch as the basis for dietary intake for 10 days (this is a starch based diet program - starch as in potato... rice.... yam). her thinking was that with menu choice restriction, one would only really eat when hungry and then until satiated....

that said, it sounds like you are doing a super job with your diets!

OK... carry on!

[simoncat]

it sounds like you girls are doing great with your food plans and enjoying sharing your experiences and all, but...

no offense, but you know you're not doing a "mary's mini," right?

(just kind of want to provide another voice to this in case there are some newbies watching your posts....)

mary's mini experiment involved choosing a starch as the basis for dietary intake for 10 days (this is a starch based diet program - starch as in potato... rice.... yam). her thinking was that with menu choice restriction, one would only really eat when hungry and then until satiated....

that said, it sounds like you are doing a super job with your diets!

Yes, we did a Mary's Mini and KittyAdventures is still doing a bean one (for the most part). We had just finished one 10 one and I decided to do something different. If you read the posts, I am doing the 1/3 starch and 2/3 greens. I asked KA if I could stay with her even though I wasn't MMing and she said, "okay". Perhaps we should change our "title"??? I don't really care. . . .

OK... carry on!

[eaufraiche703]

you're doing a great job basically and getting great results... and that's the most important thing...

plus... it's fun to read your posts!

[simoncat]

Oops! That came out kind of wrong. I do care, but I don't mind moving the post and calling it something else. What about you, KA? We could call it the "2 Kitty Cats" . Ha, ha!! Just kidding. You can call it anything you like KA. It's up to you either way.

[kittyadventures]

LOL of course you are right trechnically I did not do a true mini as I did have a few other meals which were not bean centered.
but all in all I am quite happy with the results as I have had my weight go down and I am feeling pretty terific. But I am looking forward to Saturday as I have several things I want to try out next week including Jeffs veggie burgers but they have several different starches in them.

Simoncat, I am all for switching to a new journal on Saturday Morning. And "The Two Cats" Is the perfect title for it. I will post my final stats on here Saturday morning and we can start the new journal then... Yay! We can talk about what ever we want to then. As if we haven't done that already on here LOL.


Todays stats. Weight the same.

Breakfast:
A banana (I had beans with me but I really wasn't hungry at all and should have not even bothered with the banana but I hate to get to that point when your blood sugar drops, and you can't seem to eat enough) So I will be eating an early lunch .. as soon as I get the hungry tummy signal. I suspect around 11 or 11:30.

Lunch:
Greens and chili beans.

Dinner:
More greens and chili beans
with some watermellon for dessert.

Yesterday I swam 50 laps, Zumba'd for an hour... I actually did better this time over all so I may stick with teh zumba thing

Then walked with my friend for about 45 minutes.

Today I will be doing the same swiming Zumba and a walk.

[simoncat]

Hi, KA. "The Two Cats", Ha! Ha! I like that. Wow! With all the exercising you are doing and how you are eating, you must be losing like 5 lbs; I am not kidding!!! Way to go!!

I think you are right about not eating in between meals. It really seems to work for me too. I have a book called, "Mastering Leptin" and it talks about it. Apparently, for some people, when they eat between meals it messes up a hormone called Leptin and messes up their metabolism. It's pretty interesting.

Anyway, I didn't do real exercise yesterday nor the day before. So today. I am going to weed in the garden and plant just a few more things. I hope to go walking tonight. My husband twisted his knee and hasn't felt like walking on it, but I'm hoping it's better and he can dome with me.

I'll have to try those bean burgers of Jeff's. I make some from an old recipe I have and usually use black beans, rice, oatmeal, carrots and shredded squash. I sometimes add a little gf flour to make the stick together and they are pretty good.

Well, I am at 147 today, but I'll admit my scale couldn't make up it's mind between that and 147.5. Thus, I chose the smaller # to make me . My menu plan today is as follows:

Bfast: oatmeal/banana some rice milk (very little)

Lunch: salad greens incl. kale/lettuce/peppermint/marjorum/parsley and small mango and red pepper

Dinner: Asian Stir Fry Mix with baked potato with nutritional yeast onions and balsamic vinegar spritzed on it

Sounds like you are doing well with your Zumba. I hope my piano playing gets better. (It's embarrassing to admit that a 5 year old can play better than I can. )

Well, better get weedin'

[kittyadventures]

Oh She is the perfecrt age.
I am going to scan and send you a duet I played with my daughter at about the same age. We played it for her piano recital complete with our own words we added to the song.
IT is a really fun and easy duet. (for you) and challenging for her.


I think it was called the doggone blues. I will find it tonight.

(Note: I suck at playing the piano... because I get nervouse and totally screw it up LOL) My girls piano teacher, encouraged parents to play with their kids for the recital... I was the first to do it.. and I have to say it really was so much fun.