mtns October Journal

[mtns]

My goal for this month are to cut out the stevia that I put in my oatmeal. To stick to MWL totally. I would also like to make sure that I fill up on veggies first before I eat my main meal. I want to cut out a lot of the processed food that I eat. If I am sticking to MWL that will be easier.
I know I suffer from some Candida problems, so I need to stay away from anything that resembles sugar. Stevia has never bothered me, but I want to enjoy how food should really taste. Fruit doesn't really affect me. But I know the added veggies will help a lot.

I didn't do the good for the first day I am sorry to say. I did good all day until my daughters and I went to babysit my nephew. He was so fussy, that we decided to take him on car ride. Well on the way home, a dog crossed in front of us and then the driver who was coming the other direction, hit the dog. It was very traumitizing. I am still freaked out from it. The dog was still breathing when we left and the owner took it to the vet. I am a dog lover, so this killed me.
So I was freaked out and decided to have a small piece of chocolate at my sister in laws house. I had one bite and I threw the rest away. But then I had 2 rice cakes with jelly when I got home. Not good choices. But I am determined to make it work.

E: 1 hr. boot camp class

B; oatmeal with 1/2 banana, stevia

L: hashbrown potatoes with refried beans, salsa, a little avacado, salad with my homemade dressing

S: apple, hashbrown potatoes with my homemade gravy

D: hashbrown potatoes with my homemade gravy, salad with homemade strawberry dressing

S: 1 bite chocolate, oatmeal with stevia and a few raisins, 2 rice cakes with jelly

[mtns]

I didn't end up having my oatmeal without stevia this morning, but plan to tonight. I did have one bite of a gluten free donut, but I am going to give praise to the Lord for helping me avoid the temptations I had at my sister-in-laws. She served up chili which was good, because she made one without meat. But then she had biscuits, which I love, but I passed them by. Then she had cake, I didn't have any of that either.

I am determined that even if I mess up a little that I am going to post everything. But it is nice to remind myself that I am on this food challenge, so when I have had temptations today for even one bite, I remind myself not to do it.

B: oatmeal with 1/2 banana, stevia

L: chili, salad, leftover hashbrowns

S: sweet potatoes with blueberries

D: veggie soup or hashbrowns, salad

S: oatmeal with berries or a little mashed banana for sweetner

[SactoBob]

Posting everything is a great challenge in its own right. It can also help you to stop. I know that my wife's morning cup of coffee smelled particularly great on the first day, but my stubbornness would not allow me to have anything. I was not going to post soy milk and coffee on the first day.

Even if you don't eliminate a problem during the challenge, you will be better able to see it. Good luck - you are on your way.

[mtns]

thanks, for the encouragment, Bob. I love this challenge so far. It really hold me accountable. Like you said," I don't want to have to post it." I have been tempted to eat a few things here and there. I was tempted this morning to eat the crust of my kids bread, then later tempted to have some baked tortilla chips, but I reminded myself that I didn't want to have to post those things.

I did have 1 packet of stevia this morning at my small amount of oatmeal at 5 am. I ususally have a little oatmeal before I go workout at 5:30 am, and then I have some more oatmeal at 8am or 8:30am. This morning at the 8:30 am oatmeal I did not use any stevia, just some mashed banana and it was still very good. I feel good about that.

Tonight is my weight loss class at our church. I am excited I am serving up green smoothie and hummus. It seems to be going well and the women seem interested.

My ususally weigh every day but am going to try to stick with Friday or Saturdays. My weight is still 145.6. Looking for that number to go down. I was going to go for 140 but after reading about lower numbers I think I would be happy at 135.

E: 1 hr. x-biking

5:30 am B: 1/4 c. oatmeal with 1 packet stevia, cinnamon and a few raisins

8:30 amB: 1/2 c. oatmeal with 1 mashed banana

S: small bowl of veggie soup

L: veggie noodle soup, broccoli slaw with my homemade dressing

S: apple

D: hummus with veggies, green smoothie

S: oatmeal with a little cinnamon or raspberries

I can't wait until tomorrow night. I think I am going to try Bob's veggie and squash recipe. It looked so yummy.

[StarchBeet]

Mtns, I saw some of Neil Barnard on PBS this weekend and he mentions stress eating and endorphins or comfort we get from eating. I am very prone to this because my life is almost like never-ending stress. I understand your pain. I also, but didn't witness it happening, saw a large beautiful dead dog on the side of the road Friday. It just broke my heart.

Like Rosie, Marla and so many other wise people here on John and Mary's site say, just get refocused immediately and work on understanding your current situation so that next time you can make better choices and learn from it, when and if you find yourself not able to redirect yourself.

May you find great rewards on your challenge!

[mtns]

Thankyou, Starchbeet. It does help when I am not at someone's house, because I don't have a lot of temptations around me.

My class went well last night. One of the ladies I talked to started eating a salad or an apple before her meal and she said it helped fill her up so she didn't eat as much. She ended up losing 1 lb. last week. She has now lost 3 lbs. and seems serious about changing. They all seemed to like the green smoothie and the hummus and said how much they like the class. It made me feel good.

I did pretty good last night. I ate carrots and hummus and had a little green smoothie. I did have stevia in my oatmeal for snack last night, but it was only 1 packet instead of two.

E: 1 hr. boot camp-I made up my own

1 B(6:00am): 1/4 c. oatmeal with 1 packet stevia, cinnamon and a few rasins

2 B: 1/2 c. oatmeal with 1/4 packet stevia, raspberries

L: big salad, hashbrowns with refried beans, salsa, and a small spoonful of tofu sour cream( I totally did not think about it), 2 spoonfuls of leftover hummus

S: apple or sweet potatoes with blueberries

D: I am excited to try Bob's squash, beans and veggies dish over rice

S: oatmeal with mashed banana and cinnamon

[SactoBob]

I hope that you like the squash dish. I think you will. And great call on the tofu sour cream. One purpose of the challenge is to raise the consciousness of things we do on autopilot. The toughest habits to change are the ones that you don't know about.

The smoothies are an interesting issue. Jeff does not like them. Dr. Fuhrman does like them, although I am not sure that he advocates them regularly. It might be interesting to eat the greens themselves for a week in lieu of the smoothies and see if there is a difference. I suspect that the greens would promote weight loss better than the smoothies, but who knows. I definitely believe in looking carefully at anything you do regularly, because a problem there will be a big problem.

[mtns]

I ususally only do the smoothies now 2 times a week. I thought I would cut down on them to see if that helps. I loved the veggie, squash, bean dish. I did it a little differnt, because I ran out of thyme. I added a spinach herb mix that I have and it has some dill in it also. I really liked the flavor of it. My kids weren't too sure of it as that don't like squash. I made them eat it just with one piece of squash in it. I thought it was yummy and have some leftover for me for dinner tonight.

I feel good about my eating. I have been good about watching every bite that goes into my mouth. I haven't been perfect on the stevia sweetner, but I am slowly cutting down quite a bit. I was tempted to eat a rice cake today, but chose not too. I am trying hard to listen to my body and only eat when I am hungry.

E: 1 hr. x-biking

1B: 1/4 c. oatmeal with a few rasins, cinnamon and 1/2 packet stevia

2B: 1/2 c. oatmeal with 1/2 packet stevia, 1 cut up banana

S: 4 slices of cooked sweet potato

L: big salad with homemade dressing, hashbrown potatoes with refried beans and salsa

S: either sweet potatoes with blueberries or an apple

D: leftover baked veggies and squash, sweet potato

S: oatmeal with cinnamon

[SactoBob]

That sounds great. And if you are modifying Farley's recipes, that is exactly what she does. She is always looking for a way to make it more convenient, more nutritious, or tastier. She has a lot of fun trying new things.

It sounds like the food is getting better. One thing you might try that is recommended by Jeff and Dr. F -
Start each meal with something very low calorie density - l like the salad or a soup. The more you tip the scale towards the green and yellow veggies, and away from the starch, the faster you will lose weight.

[mtns]

I have been trying to start my meals with soup or salad. I was so proud of myself, I made grilled soy cheese sandwiches for the kids last night for dinner. I almost always eat the crust of my sons grilled cheese or at least have a half. I didn't have any, not even a crust. I made up a vegetable soup and ate that with some sweet potatoes. It was so good and filling. A lot more filling than grilled cheese.

E: 1 hr. weight lifting class, 35 min. elliptical

1 B: 1/4 c. oatmeal with 1 packet stevia, cinnamon, a few raisins

2B: 1/2 c. oatmeal with 1 packet stevia with 1 chopped up banana

L: leftover veggie soup, salad, and a few sliced baked sweet potatoes

S: apple and some hashbrowns

D: stirfry over rice

S: oatmeal with a few raspberries

[landog]

I made up a vegetable soup and ate that with some sweet potatoes. It was so good and filling.

Great! Good work!

[mtns]

I have been doing good with the challenge. I haven't been as good on the stevia, but I am cutting back quite a bit. So I am working toward it. I am so glad it is Friday.

E: 1 hr. x-biking

B: 1/2 c. oatmeal with 1 banana, 1 packet of stevia ( I used to have 2 packets, so this is better)

L: leftover veggie soup, big salad

S: apple, maybe some potatoes if still hungry

D: sweet potatoes or potatoes, baked veggies

S: oatmeal with cinnamon

[to_our_health]

Hooray for you! I know what a struggle it's been for you to stop with the little of this and little of that, so this is huge! Each day should get better and better...and you'll have your own story to tell, especially to your class!

[blondie]

Sounds like you're doing well! Keep up the good work!

[mtns]

Just a quick post today. I am in pain. I think I hurt my back the other day when I was lifting weights. I have an old back injury. I hurt my back when I slipped and fell on ice nearly 2 yrs. ago. Since then, every now and then if I am not careful, I have some pain. I still worked out today, but I think it made it worse.

I slipped last night and ate 3-4 bites of gluten free peach cobbler last night. Plus I had one slice of homemade pizza. I plan on staying on track. I want to make it and prove to myself that I can do this. I have never followed through with goals like this.I want to be able to do this.

I am going to weigh myself in a little while, hopefully to see some weight loss.

We are going out with my daughter and her husband today, kind of like a double date. We are going to see the movie "Courgeous" which I am excited to see and then going out for Japanese food.

1B: 1/4 c. oatmeal with 1 packet of stevia, cinnamon, a few raisins

2 B: 1/2 c. oatmeal with 1 packet of stevia, 1 banana

L: salad

S: sweet potatoes

D: probably veggie sushi, steamed rice

S: oatmeal if hungry