Vanessa's Journal

[vanessa40]

Hello,
I thought the best way to get to know all you wonderful people was to start a journal.

This is something i am not very good at but i thought i would give it a try.
Some people have the gift of gab. I am not one of them so bare with me.

Where to start..
I'm 45 and have to say i feel better now than when i was 25. I have always believed that age is just a number. It is something i have never been ashamed of. Most of my friends would die before they would tell you their age or weight. To me it has never mattered. I think it is all in how you feel.

A five years ago i weighed 220 pounds and at 5'2 that was a lot of me.
I buckled down and cut out all the junk food and sodas. I started with dare i say it Sweating to The Oldies. It was all i could do at the time. Then i started walking..finally after losing down to 160 i started running and lifting. I have ran two half-marathons and a ton of 5-10 k's.

I joined Weight Watchers and got to my Lifetime Goal weight of 120. I am now at 135. I watched Forks Over Knives two months ago and started my vegan lifestyle. So that brings me to now.

I have been looking over this site and reading. This seems like a plan i could really get use to. I need to drop this weight and had no idea it was the fat i was eating that was messing me up. Also all the extra supplements i have been taking. Cutting that out will really save me some money..

Anyway.. I just wanted to say hi and get started. Today is Day 1

[rebecca]

Hi Vanessa,
Welcome So glad you decided to go veg! I'm 40 myself and this WOE has given me so much more energy.
Enjoy the journey!

[blondie]

Hi Vanessa and welcome! I'm 10 years your senior, and feeling younger every day thanks to changing my diet!

[vanessa40]

Hello Blondie and Rebecca
It has only been two months since i have given up meat and dairy but i can already see a difference in my face and body. My skin is clearer and even though i have not been able to workout since Thursday my weight is still the same. On my old diet i know i would have gained.

Day 1 went great. The only problem i am having is giving up the sugar and bread. I have never been a big cheese or meat fan. I do like fish..just salmon but it's not big deal giving that up.
I use to be a binge eater so i know just to keep trigger foods out of the house. So i will no longer be buying bread.
I was looking over a few journals and got some great menu idea's.
I have always loved veggies. I just need to get use to eating rice and potatoes. You know how it is..it has been beaten into our brains by the media that carbs are bad. I had brown rice with my dinner and my husband Steve almost died. He said you NEVER eat carbs after 3pm.
I told him to get ready for the change. i could tell he was happy.

So on to Day 2. I plan on doing some light yoga and lifting today. I also hope to be able to walk/jog on the treadmill later. I have a 5k Halloween run for out local animal shelter this Saturday. So i am trying to get ready for that..

Have a wonderful day

[vanessa40]

I am so happy. I went out and found the Maximum Weight Loss Book. They only had one in Books A Million.
I know what i will be doing this afternoon

[lmggallagher]

Hi Vanessa:

Oh I see now you got the book, YAY! But the link to MWL recipes below is still good, because it has recipes that aren't in the book too!

First, I was already going vegan when I drove an hour to see Forks Over Knives, I am so glad to see in your journal that it was what brought you to this way of eating. All the folks in that movie are pretty much heroes to all of us here!

So your looking for recipes for Maximum Weight Loss program. Debbie did this cool list of all of them! I takes you right to the newsletter that the recipe is from, but not everyone still links. It's enough to get you a good list to work from though!

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10076

This is where I found the soup and stew I tried. The book is a must, I think! I got mine used on Amazon for not too much money, and of course you can order from this website.

And mostly, so glad you're here too, I am a newbie as well! I completely love seeing the weight loss progress everyone has made and more important how healthy we are all getting! Not to mention how good we are being to our planet

Now I will be happily watching YOUR progress too! Now get cooking, hehehehe!

Michelle

[vanessa40]

Hi Michelle,

So far i love the book. It is really helping me get in touch with a few issue i know i have..the biggest one is overtraining. I know it sounds dumb but i always tried to use exercise to fix my bad diet. I would run 4 or more miles in the morning,do yoga and then in the afternoon lift weights. I would spend a total of maybe two hours a day working out. That on top of a low carb high protein diet was killing me. I don't have to tell you i was no a happy person.
Just in the past two days of adding rice and potatoes i can tell my mood has changed. I feel more positive and happy overall. Before i was eating mostly veggies,beans,tofu,bread and oats. I have now cut out the breads.

Thank youfor the recipe link. I need all the help i can get

[vanessa40]

Ok here is my update for today

Meals
I was wondering how many of you still measure your food . I use a scale to weigh my food. Today for the first time i used a measuring cup for my cooked brown rice. I also just put the amount it looked like i normally eat in veggies on my plate. I also used a measuring cup for my beans. I still weigh out 40g of oats to cook in the morning for my breakfast.

Meals

B-Oats,berries
S-Banana
L-potato,broccoli,squash,kidney beans,spices
S-Apple
D-Brown Rice,kidney beans,broccoli,romaine,lite soy sauce,

Exercise
30 minutes walk/run on treadmill
My calf is feeling better so i think i will be able to go running in the morning

I use a FitBit to track my steps and calories burned each day

Steps-11,450
Calories Burned-1624

Here is the link if you are interested in the product. I love it almost as much as my Garmin 305 i use for my run.

http://www.fitbit.com/

[carollynne]

Welcome aboard!! You will find us all here very informative, dedicated, and helpful types. It was written down somewhere I was reading on line, that the McDougallers are a more intelligent than the rest of the bunch. We do all the research and then incorporate into our lifestyle too.
Your exercise program is very impressive. wow!
Good luck and again, welcome to the McDougallers here!

[lmggallagher]

Hi Vanessa,

I completely get the over training! I seriously crushed my ankle and was in physical therapy for over a year. I didn't know it but the guys I was working out with were injured from Oakland Raiders and SF Warriors. They were coaching me along and giving me their training routines, so I was running, swimming and doing weight training. I didn't stop until I was seriously underweight and now I can't believe I was such a bean pole.

Well, now I have lots to loose, but I have noticed to that the starch is really helping me too. My mood has always been good, but I have sleep disorders and haven't dreamed in years! All of a sudden I a dreaming like all night long. I hear that's really good for your mental health. So I am sure we are both getting improvements there too. Cool huh?

Glad you have the book now, not all these recipes are making my favorites list, but they all have potential - I know the nutrition is in there so I am glad to tailor them to my tastes! Lot's of folks put one's they love on and other folks come up with their own, like eri's sweet potato/pineapple dessert. I have got to try that.

Take care now & don't over do! - Michelle

[landog]

I was wondering how many of you still measure your food .

No need to measure your portions!
Check out Jeff Novick's forum and start learning about calorie density.

Good luck!
-dog

[blondie]

Hi Vanessa,
Glad you got a copy of the MWL book -- I just started following MWL recently - -was doing the regular plan.

The only measuring I do is measuring 1 cup of dry oats and 2 cups of boiling water for my breakfast. You don't need to measure portions because the calorie density of this food will keep you losing, as long as you stay on-plan. My breakfast everyday is oatmeal and fruit, but for my lunch and dinner I try to make sure I get about 1/2 veggies / 1/2 starch.

[vanessa40]

Thank you all so much for the information and i did look over Jeff Novick's forum for a few minutes before i went to bed last night.
I need to read up on the vitamins and supplements. I take a multi,calicum,
CQ10,Vitamin B-12,fish oil.
I did stop the fish oil a few days ago.

I felt a little bloated last night. I think it is from the beans. I am not use to eating them or maybe i had to many. I need to get use to eating this way but i am feeling better overall.

Time to head out for my morning run. It is harder to motivate myself now that it is getting colder. Right now it is 42 degrees. My hands and toes get cold so easy....BBBRRRRR

[vanessa40]

BBBRRR
Just got back in from my morning run. I really have to push myself when it is cold outside but if i don't run in the morning by the afternoon something has come up and i don't have the time.

Weight-133.8

Today's Run

3.12 miles
38 minutes..Yeah i will not be running the Boston Marathon anytime soon
Calories Burned-308

I have planned out my meals for today. I'm going to take it a bit easy on the beans


M1-oats,berries
M2-oats,berries
M3-romaine,potato,broccoli,black beans
M4-apple
M5-broccoli,brown rice,veggie burger

[vanessa40]

Ok i had to rework my meals. I went a little overboard with the beans yesterday(i see now that you should only have a cup a day) so i had some tofu at lunch instead of the beans.

After reading some of the material here(i am part way through the book) i see that supplements and vitamins are not needed..except for B-12.
If that is wrong please correct me.

I use to take a whole box full of pills and protein powder to make shakes.
I see now that we don't need all the protein is was lead to believe i needed. At another site i use to chat at they said you needed 1 gram per pound of body weight. A friend of mine is now having issues with her kidneys and does not want to believe it is from the supplements and protein. She does bodybuilding/ figure shows. I know that people only hear what they want to so she knows how i feel and i have let it go.

I want to say again how much i love this site. You all have helped me so much in making this change. I am feeling so much better now.