Robin's Journal

[RobinInAL]

Like many people in the forums, I've been lurking on the site for a long time. I've given half-hearted attempts at McDougalling, but it never seems to last long. My health issues are not serious -- yet -- but as they continue to pile up, I've finally had to ask myself, "How sick do you have to get before you're willing to commit yourself to this way of eating?"

So here I am. And I'm hoping that keeping this journal in a public setting, I can feel that I'm being held accountable for what I eat. If I know I'll need to come back here and share my choices and challenges, I'll think twice before eating something off-plan.

I am committed to following the regular McDougall plan everyday for the next two weeks.

I hope in that time, I can start seeing changes in my health. I'm not expecting miracles -- it took me years to lose my health; I won't become healthy overnight. But I've read amazing stories from others in these forums and on the Star McDougallers page to know that this WILL work as long as I stay committed.

My journey begins now...

Robin

[veggiemamma56]

HI Robin..I am sort of new here myself.

Been on and off vegetarian for years..Happily, I do love vegan food. I love this way of eating for life.

You will see results and when you think of all the good food out there and yummy recipes here and on the web. the offerings are almost endless )

Good luck.

[RobinInAL]

Thanks for the encouragement, veggiemamma!

Starting weight: 216.8 lbs. Down from my all-time high of 230, but definitely not where I had "planned" to be by this time when 2011 first started. Yesterday went well. Work was chaotic and stressful, but I managed to avoid the desperate run for fast food at lunch. I had a frozen Amy's vegan meal still in the freezer, so I ate that. Afterwards, I did the numbers and found it was 24% fat! Uh, no more of that.

The drive home was another challenge. I passed every fast food chain at least once; most of them twice. Even though I told myself in the car before leaving work that I had a great, tasty meal to prepare at home, the cravings were crazy. I just kept telling myself, "Yes, you're hungry, but that's good. Yes, the meal at home is going taste just as good or even better than that junk food. No, boiling pasta is NOT that labor-intensive and you still have plenty of energy to fix a healthy meal." I made it home, had my healthy meal, and didn't have to deal with the guilt of eating junk on my first day. Whew!

I can see already that preparation is going to be key for sticking with this WOE, and one of my biggest challenges. I often tell myself in the evenings, "Oh, I'll just get up a little earlier and put something together before I leave for work." I'll even have it planned exactly what I'll prepare. But then morning comes, and either laying in bed an extra 15 mins is more important than fixing lunch, or even though I still have time to fix something, getting to work early seems to be a far better use of my time. I'm finally admitting to myself that that just won't work for me. I MUST prepare my food the night before, or it's just not going to get done. It's not like I can't make extra of my supper that night -- I love soups and salads during the colder months, and those are usually more than one meal worth's of food.

I wonder though if it's just a reflection of the bad habit I've developed of not taking care of myself. It's little things (almost embarrassing things) like, not using lotion on my legs after my shower and then fussing about how dry and itchy my skin is. Waiting until my toenails are scary long before trimming them. Not emptying the trash can beside my bed until it's overflowing. Any single thing isn't that big of a deal, but taken together, they show a pattern of not taking care of myself. I'd like to change all that. I'd like to spend more time and energy doing the little things to show myself that I care, that I'm worth the effort. How I got to this point doesn't matter. What matters is what I'm going to do to change it. And I'm starting with planning healthy meals for myself, preparing as much as possible in advance, and then following through with the plan. I don't expect to be perfect, but every step forward is improvement.

Robin

[lmggallagher]

Hi Robin:

Saw your post on the Excursion and you are off to a good start, yay for you! I really related to the list of little things that you haven't found the energy for in past and how they stack up on you. Well, on us all. I have ben McDougalling on MWL for just a couple of months -- and I have to tell you things changed rapidly for the good for me, especially my energy level!

I sleep much better for one thing, so that lazing around in bed has gone to past tense and things that would have been one thing more I was too tired to do are getting done now. It really amazed me that I was jumping out of bed two hours earlier and getting a lot more done with my time in the morning, like my exercise for one!

Cooking and keeping up with all the Holiday things to be done is a little challenging for me right now. Yet, I am still keeping up, because I have some easy FAST fall back meals I don't mind eating over and over again temporarily.

Anyway, I don't mean to go on and on about me, I just want you to know that some of the things your describing, we all completely relate to! But what is completely cool, is the challenges just kind of drop to the wayside and you get into such a rhythm with this program. Best of all it's watching your health and energy return - and this progress is FAST - it's not just seeing the numbers on the scale decrease!

So congrats on your posted weight loss and welcome -- Michelle

[Rosey]

Welcome Robin. HUGS!!!

[veggiemamma56]

Hey Robin..how are you doing?

Hope you are well. I am trying to stay focused and eat right..a few slip ups but everyday is a new day!

[RobinInAL]

Wow, I knew it'd been a while since I'd posted, but didn't realize how long! Thank you, everyone, for dropping by.

Last weekend I was cleaning out a box of junk I'd found, and there was my packet of Weight Watchers material, including my weigh-ins. That was back in 2003. I had gone from about 150 to 130, but I couldn't maintain it because in my mind, I was always thinking about how much "bad" food I could get away with using my allotted points. Definitely not the right mental state for staying at my goal weight!

One thing I do miss though was the weekly weigh-ins and meetings. It was tough facing up to the scale sometimes, but it kept me focused. And being able to meet with so many others who were traveling down the same path was wonderful. I felt I was in good company. I think that's why I keep coming back to these boards -- the inspiration, support, and camaraderie of all the folks in this community, working towards similar goals of good health.

So new plan -- I will weigh in every Friday and I will read/post at least once a week. My version of the weekly meetings I enjoyed previously.

Today's weight: 213.0 -- down 3.8 since Feb 1.

Preparing meals and following the program was easier this week. I made it a priority, for one. Planning ahead for not only meals, but snacks too. With this WOE, I find that I get hungry again sooner, so snacks are important to keep me from running for the junk food.

One of the problems I've always had is that if I get the impulse or craving to eat something, I *HAD* to eat it. But I'm starting to find that I can talk myself out of most of my unhealthy impulses/cravings. For example, I love the Broccoli in Garlic Sauce at a local Chinese restaurant. Loaded with oil, of course. I got the idea in my head last night that it would be a great treat for my lunch today since it's been a while since I had it. I mean, my mouth actually started watering! And then just a few seconds later I thought, "Maybe there's a recipe online that I can modify instead..." Sure enough, I've found several recipes, and now I'm looking forward to trying them out to see if I can create a healthier substitute. I'm amazed that I was able to do that, channel my craving into something better for me.

I'm just a little bit more hopeful now that I can get healthy again.

Robin

[kirstykay]

Robin,
I can TOTALLY relate to feeling absolutely compelled to follow my cravings...and also learning that there are ways to quiet them. Great job finding a strategy that works for you. What a great idea! I'm glad you're here. I've found that this place offers excellent support, even more than my weight watcher days. There are many here who will hold you as accountable as you are comfortable with, just let people know what you need.

Also, I wanted to let you know, in case you didn't that there is a weigh-in group where we all report our weight on Fridays and Debbie tallies the results each week. That's also a great place to get accountability and support. Here's the link to that thread: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=27435

You are well on your way to finding the weight loss and health you desire!

Peace

[RobinInAL]

Thanks KirstyKay! I'll check out the weigh-in thread.

Today's weight: 214. Up a bit, but I'm not too concerned. TOM and all. I haven't been eating too awful -- ate out with friends a couple times -- but I've been starving all week it seems. I've amazed myself at the amount of food I've packed away. Part of it might be those cravings working their way out of my system. If I'm craving cheese, it really doesn't matter how many apples I eat, it won't satisfy the craving. Eventually it seems to go away though. That's good.

The one thing I seem to have down pat is breakfast. Oatmeal with just a touch of brown sugar every morning. It's simple, it's tasty, and it's fast. The only problem I run into is fixing it and then forgetting to eat it once I've started working. Good thing it still tastes pretty good when it's cooled off to room temp.

Robin