MmmCarb's Good Food Journal

Share your daily McDougall menus and/or keep a journal describing your personal progress.

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Re: MmmCarb's Good Food Journal

Postby StarchBeet » Wed Nov 09, 2011 7:49 pm

I'm beginning to wonder how much of the craving thing is psychological, and how much is physiological. I know that sometimes in the afternoon I have a restless, snacky feeling that isn't quite hunger (if it was hunger, I'd eat some oatmeal or salad). But I don't think it's entirely psychological, either. It just feels like it comes from a deeper place -- like my lizard brain, you know? It just wants me to Eat The Food. ALL THE FOOD!

Yes, I can relate to that. I've been nervous and filing up to soothe myself. I am trying to make it as low calorie-dense as I can since I haven't figured how to detract myself from the poor habit of thinking food is comfort when there are other things missing. To show how nervous I've been I threw-out my back today. I hope this is only a bulging disc and not a herniated disc. This only happened in the past when things were very emotionally upsetting. I've come to see that the body tenses-up during extremely turbulent times because my back goes out just to prove it. There's no fooling your body. Now I will be forced to do next to nothing and not run to get a bite at first sign of feeling over-whelmed, too. Tough times but I'm sticking to whole foods, plant based and hoping I'll figure out the other challenges eventually.
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Re: MmmCarb's Good Food Journal

Postby MmmCarbs » Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:42 am

Broadbean wrote:I'm beginning to wonder how much of the craving thing is psychological, and how much is physiological. I know that sometimes in the afternoon I have a restless, snacky feeling that isn't quite hunger (if it was hunger, I'd eat some oatmeal or salad). But I don't think it's entirely psychological, either. It just feels like it comes from a deeper place -- like my lizard brain, you know? It just wants me to Eat The Food. ALL THE FOOD!

I think I'll check out the Geneen Roth books, too. But sometimes I think that there's an ancient part of myself that's resistant to logic...


I imagine it's a mix of things prompting those weird specific urges to eat. Actual hunger, ingrained habit, addictive impulses, perhaps even nutrient deficiencies. The part where the psychological stuff is interesting to me is looking at my reaction when I set limits on acting on them. After all, I have other physiological urges during the day and I don't thrown an inner tantrum if I can't act on them.

I don't know if it's the same thing at all but your description of the lizard brain EAT THE FOOD impulse reminds me of what I experienced when I had appetite increase as a side effect from some medication. I got the most intense urge to eat, even though I could tell it wasn't at all like normal hunger. It just felt like such a fundamental command from my brain that I had no luck ignoring it at all. It was like eat, get up eat more, sit down, get up eat more. I felt like a puppet!
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Re: MmmCarb's Good Food Journal

Postby MmmCarbs » Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:48 am

StarchBeet wrote:Yes, I can relate to that. I've been nervous and filing up to soothe myself. I am trying to make it as low calorie-dense as I can since I haven't figured how to detract myself from the poor habit of thinking food is comfort when there are other things missing. To show how nervous I've been I threw-out my back today. I hope this is only a bulging disc and not a herniated disc. This only happened in the past when things were very emotionally upsetting. I've come to see that the body tenses-up during extremely turbulent times because my back goes out just to prove it. There's no fooling your body. Now I will be forced to do next to nothing and not run to get a bite at first sign of feeling over-whelmed, too. Tough times but I'm sticking to whole foods, plant based and hoping I'll figure out the other challenges eventually.


Ouch, sorry about your back Starchbeet! I get repetitive strain injury stuff in my arms and hands and it's for sure worse when I'm more resentful and stressed in general.

What do you use as your low calorie density munchie food?
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Re: MmmCarb's Good Food Journal

Postby MmmCarbs » Thu Nov 10, 2011 2:59 am

Well I was pretty proud of myself today for resisting donuts. I went to the office kitchen to nuke a couple potatoes at about 5:30. One of them was so huge it ended up taking like 8 minutes to nuke. There was a box of leftover donuts right next to the microwave! Several good looking ones, too. I took a look and even greedily sniffed them :evil: but I kinda thought oh brother, here I'm trying to look harder at sugar addiction and life puts a box of donuts right in my path. I am *not* falling for this!

I was actually in there for 8 minutes with them and didn't have any. Someone had already sliced off chunks of several, so there was precedent for taking just a tiny bit. But, besides just not wanting to fall for the temptation, I took a second to imagine how I'd feel if I ate just a quarter of a donut. I knew I'd feel unsatisfied because I'd want more! I imagined how I'd feel if I ate as much as I wanted (which would probably be a whole iced donut, then maybe I'd want to come back for a second). I'd feel a bit sick and mad at myself for taking in that many calories of pure junk, plus then what would I do with my 2 enormous potatoes? There was just no comfortable end to the 'eating donuts' story.

Wish that translated into a 'zero sugary treats' day but it didn't. Several hours later I still had the halloween candy at home after finishing a big dinner. I had one piece. Tried to think what can I do to put some of what I read into practice? Well I tried to just eat the candy more mindfully. What I noticed was well, first off it wasn't as tasty as the image in my head. This is my favorite type, it's a pretzel with caramel and chocolate over it. The caramel was a bit stale or something and actually didn't dissolve very well as I ate it. The pretzel was kinda meh. I had built this up into the tastiest candy bar ever, a wonderful mix of salty crunchy caramelly chocolatey. It was not. Then after I finished it, I had that uncomfortable ultra-sweet after taste that comes with the cheap over-sweet candy bars. I wanted to eat more right away, just to get that taste out of my mouth! How ridiculous, wanting more of a food to eliminate the after taste of the first serving. I didn't have a second one.
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Re: MmmCarb's Good Food Journal

Postby MmmCarbs » Thu Nov 10, 2011 11:45 pm

Tried another mindfulness experiment tonight. I was on my way out of work and there was a whole bowl of salted smoked almonds. Wish I could say I passed em by, but I didn't. I counted out six. I started gulping them down, then reminded myself to pay attention. What I noticed was it's not so much comforting to eat junk as distracting. I had a whole load of work stress at that point. Chomping those nuts really just distracted me from my feelings by introducing some kind of physical stimulation.

Then I was left with the little bits stuck in my teeth, which feels kinda gross, and the aftertaste of the fake smoky flavor, which is also kinda gross. I didn't want that part of the experience at all.

So if it's distraction that's the real payoff, I can get that in other ways.
===============
Tried a banana "shake" with 1 banana, about 2 t unsweetened cocoa powder, and water. Wow!! It was sweet and chocolatey.
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Re: MmmCarb's Good Food Journal

Postby Chile » Fri Nov 11, 2011 7:52 am

I can relate to this eating for reasons other than hunger discussion! My home office is a disaster with paperwork piled up that needs to be sorted and filed. Going and getting food is an easy way to avoid dealing with it. (Don't worry, I deal with the urgent papers, like bills!)

I'm also finding with the cold weather and our COLD house (about 62 right now) that I am craving hot rich drinks to warm up. I need to try some herbal teas as I'm drinking way too much hot cocoa and have slipped back into some coffee, and the winter has only just begun.

Regarding your hashbrowns with ketchup, I found that I liked salsa on my hashbrowns but missed the little bit of sweetness from the ketchup. So, now I mix a little ketchup into a bowl of salsa and dump it on the potatoes. Yummy! (And this coming from someone who used to think her dad was weird for eating his baked potatoes with salsa on them...)
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Re: MmmCarb's Good Food Journal

Postby bunsofaluminum » Fri Nov 11, 2011 10:30 am

hey carbs

Just read through your journal, and I think we have a LOT in common. Those cravings, those trigger foods, those binges!

I also derived some good wisdom from your initial posts about calories and food choices. It's too bad the horrible stuff hollers so loudly, takes us by the collar, shakes us, and forces us to eat it! :lol: :lol: :lol:

keep on going, though. you know this is MUCH healthier than the alternative. :)

and I'm curious what weight you are aiming for, as 117 seems quite slender and slim, unless you're very petite.
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Re: MmmCarb's Good Food Journal

Postby MmmCarbs » Fri Nov 11, 2011 12:22 pm

bunsofaluminum wrote:hey carbs

Just read through your journal, and I think we have a LOT in common. Those cravings, those trigger foods, those binges!

I also derived some good wisdom from your initial posts about calories and food choices. It's too bad the horrible stuff hollers so loudly, takes us by the collar, shakes us, and forces us to eat it! :lol: :lol: :lol:

keep on going, though. you know this is MUCH healthier than the alternative. :)

and I'm curious what weight you are aiming for, as 117 seems quite slender and slim, unless you're very petite.


Thanks for stopping in, buns!

I'm not aiming for weight loss any more. I'm hovering just under 120 at this point at 5'4". So I'm pretty slim now. I'm just aiming to settle someplace, maintain and stop the gain/diet/gain/diet cycle.
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Re: MmmCarb's Good Food Journal

Postby MmmCarbs » Sat Nov 12, 2011 8:06 pm

Chile wrote:I can relate to this eating for reasons other than hunger discussion! My home office is a disaster with paperwork piled up that needs to be sorted and filed. Going and getting food is an easy way to avoid dealing with it. (Don't worry, I deal with the urgent papers, like bills!)

I'm also finding with the cold weather and our COLD house (about 62 right now) that I am craving hot rich drinks to warm up. I need to try some herbal teas as I'm drinking way too much hot cocoa and have slipped back into some coffee, and the winter has only just begun.

Regarding your hashbrowns with ketchup, I found that I liked salsa on my hashbrowns but missed the little bit of sweetness from the ketchup. So, now I mix a little ketchup into a bowl of salsa and dump it on the potatoes. Yummy! (And this coming from someone who used to think her dad was weird for eating his baked potatoes with salsa on them...)


Hi Chile,
Winter is tough, it makes me crave heavier food and just want to lounge around. I like the ketchup & salsa idea. They can both get a bit monotonous on their own.
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Re: MmmCarb's Good Food Journal

Postby MmmCarbs » Sat Nov 12, 2011 8:23 pm

I'm hanging in there. I had another weird little candy binge. It's like part of me knows I'm trying to clamp down on that habit, and it was just waiting for a moment of weakness. Then I did ok with cake and pie day at the office (they do this periodically, it's an assortment of cake, cheesecake, etc). I had just a few bites, then later ate 3 bananas to try and fill up so I wouldn't go back for more (I've been known to go back for 2nd and 3rds when they do this). Managed to get out without any more.

Ate good stuff otherwise, then today I really really crave bread products. I had some fat free cornbread (from a mix, not vegan), but it's disappointing to look at the calorie density and serving size. I ate a quarter of it, wasn't that full at all, and it's 360 calories. If I ate that much in potatoes or bananas I'd be a lot fuller.

Also got some whole wheat flour. I'm going to try making blueberry pancakes. Haven't made vegan pancakes before, I plan to just sub water for buttermilk. Hope they turn out.
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Re: MmmCarb's Good Food Journal

Postby Chile » Sat Nov 12, 2011 8:42 pm

MmmCarbs wrote: Also got some whole wheat flour. I'm going to try making blueberry pancakes. Haven't made vegan pancakes before, I plan to just sub water for buttermilk. Hope they turn out.


Try my pancake recipe. The key to replacing buttermilk is adding lemon juice or vinegar to soy milk. It makes it curdle and thicken just like with dairy milk and is a perfect buttermilk sub in baking.
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Re: MmmCarb's Good Food Journal

Postby MmmCarbs » Sun Nov 13, 2011 6:33 pm

Thanks for the recipe Chile. I didn't have any soymilk so I just went ahead with plain water. Definitely wasn't as fluffy as a normal pancake but it was ok.
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Re: MmmCarb's Good Food Journal

Postby MmmCarbs » Tue Nov 15, 2011 3:09 am

Well I've had to change tactics. Trying to control my intake of the forbidden foods was making me obsessed and nuts. The harder I try, the more obsessed I get, and the more I eat when the moment of weakness finally comes.

I'm finding it's more helpful to un-forbid the foods. It really helps to tell myself I can have as much of that food as I want, whenever I want it. Thus I don't have to eat it now. I don't have to eat it because it's there. I don't have to eat it because it's at the office or someone else's house and I don't get this at my house. I don't have to eat it because I'll never get to eat this anymore once I finally "get it" and the plan clicks for me 100%. I don't have to eat it because I only get it during holiday season. I can go buy this food any time I want. I can fill a cupboard with this food and eat it night after night after night. Really I can! Paradoxically, when I give myself permission to eat the food, I find I don't have to eat it.

And it helped to ask myself, if I could truly eat any food without gaining weight, what would I eat? Would I stuff myself with pizza and burger and fries meals night after night? No I wouldn't because those foods give me a tummy ache, and an uncomfortable overfull feeling, and sluggish energy levels for hours afterward. I (used to) eat them because they're fast and easy, they're initially tasty (hit the spot when you're hungry), and maybe I kinda like the anaesthetized state. The entire experience of eating heavy food isn't pleasant though, if I really pay attention to it.

I have to set myself free, and I hope I end up eating mostly whole plant food. I hope I have enough foundation in meal ideas and food habits from this plan that it becomes a big part of my repertoire. I hope my natural weight isn't significantly different than where I'm at now. I hope I don't find that what I really want after all is animal parts and fatty food (yuck!). But I'm done trying to force myself to adhere tightly to a plan.
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Re: MmmCarb's Good Food Journal

Postby bunsofaluminum » Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:54 am

wow, i hope you don't REALLY eat cupboards full of the SAD stuff! :lol:
I can see your point, though. Permitting yourself to do what you don't want to do is a level of self-acceptance WITHOUT WHICH it is impossible to change.

Maybe this method will be a change point for your food choices :) I'm rooting for ya!

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Re: MmmCarb's Good Food Journal

Postby janluvs2heel » Tue Nov 15, 2011 9:49 am

I have also tried allowing myself to "get control", not with too much success. But it was always when I was in the throes of SAD so dont know if it would work for me on McDougalling.

I do sometimes tell myself that I can have the food tomorrow if I start craving something & that seems to help & usually by the next day, I dont want it. Maybe that is a similar thing?

I have been craving free for a while now & it is really nice. I have always felt like a slave to those cravings & felt like I had to give in, but now I am finding that they are becoming less frequent & almost rare, which is really nice.

Sometimes it is just finding what works for you. That is why I dont care how long I have been here, Rome was not built in a day, was it? The longer I am here, the more I learn. :nod:
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