Surviving Christmas ~ 20 Days

[nicoles]

I started with a few pieces of Sushi, a dab of Wasabi Paste and hot tea. I looked around me, ate slowly and observed. The ratio was about 10 to 1... obese to thin people. (that might even be generous to the thin people) The plates around me... stacked often about 4 " high with food. Some people carried two entirely full plates. I couldn't really figure out if they were just wanting to walk back and forth to the buffet less or if they were afraid the food they enjoyed was not going to be there the next trip up. I went back once for some steamed rice and veggies. I watched more. It was incredible how much people ate. Even more incredible was how fast people gulped food down. They didn't even look up. I was able to really watch people without them even noticing. Many had 3 or 4 soda refills, 4 or 5 plates of food (heaping), and then desserts... often going back for seconds and thirds. There were times when it appeared to me almost like a feeding trough with people rushing to get their fill. There were even small children eating more amounts of food than I have ever seen children eat. I was saddened by how their lives will probably be affected by starting to eat so much, so unhealthy at such a young age. One little boy (about two years old) was laughing and playing with me for almost a half hour and NO one at his table even noticed because they were so busy gulping down copious amounts of food. I couldn't believe that I could interact with the child so long without either of his parents taking notice. It was rather shocking to me. But... their focus was on their food not their child.

This reminds me of the movie "Spirited Away", and especially this scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR6cK62Y8-Y


A kids movie, but that scene is pretty scary for a little kid to watch - it is about the girl's parents turning into pigs because of their gluttony - terrifying for a tiny child!



I am glad you remained in control,PF, and had the opportunity to observe rather than participate.


I was also just like the folks in that restaurant not too long ago - bolting my food, food, food food was the center of everything, panic about not getting enough, etc. Amazing how our perspective changes.

[nicoles]

...The neighbors brought over a plate of homemade treats. I wasn't planning on touching them, but I could not throw them out. Our kids play together and I knew my son would say something. I didn't want to be rude. The frosted sugar cookies tempted me.

Since I am on a movie kick this week - just saw Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and in the movie (this is not a spoiler!) someone comments on how people are more afraid of offending others than of damaging their own health or chances of survival. I find this to be true, and it is a re-learning process to be able to do something that might "offend" in a normal context because it is the right thing for my health. Hope the consequences of it stop with the one morning after, PF.

... I never seem to remember this ick feeling when I am feeling great. But... I am just moving on... eating my oatmeal and blueberries for breakfast and making split pea soup for later. I have good plans for the weekend. Christmas won't be an issue with any need to eat unhealthy. We are just staying home and I am cooking. Onward...

I always forget when I am feeling good, too. That is the most dangerous time, in my opinion, when I am feeling good. I become a mental teenager again, INVINCIBLE in my own eyes. Buuuut, I am not really invincible...And then I regret when I forget and am reminded of how awful I CAN feel, if not for the healthy eating. Glad you got right back on track!

[blue.eyed.mary]

I was amazed by your observations at the chinese buffet. Then I realized, I am one of those people. Loaded food, cant wait to get back.

I am headed for the holiday spreads. I admire your calm and contentment. You dont sound like you are being deprived at all. But sit enjoying your tea. Are there times you struggle even now? Or is it a lifestyle and there is no feeling of being left out?

[Pacificfords]

I was amazed by your observations at the chinese buffet. Then I realized, I am one of those people. Loaded food, cant wait to get back.

I am headed for the holiday spreads. I admire your calm and contentment. You dont sound like you are being deprived at all. But sit enjoying your tea. Are there times you struggle even now? Or is it a lifestyle and there is no feeling of being left out?

I do struggle occasionally, but thankfully not as much as I did before. In fact, I was thinking about it today. There is a point where I calmed down and got rid of the "instant fix" mentality. That was the hardest part for me. I wanted weight loss and good health NOW. I kept jumping around trying to find what would work best/fastest, always ending up back at square one.

I have found that as I conquer each struggle individually, it becomes easier and more natural... less of a struggle. By "each struggle" I am talking about things like gluten, sugar, cheese, oil... etc. There are many things I do not miss at all, and the list of what I have overcome is getting much bigger. Yet... I still have a couple of struggles... oil and chocolate. I know that I need to conquer each of those in order to succeed. I never imagined there would be a day I could not be addicted to cheese, meat and breads, but that day has come and gone and it feels amazing.

So, I have concluded that it is most important to move along slow and steady, not trying to rush myself or do the quick fix.... one struggle being conquered at a time permanently. I have also worked through my "all or nothing" mentality. If I mess up, I don't give in and just go off my plan for a week. I just pick right back up and continue. This has been easier the longer I am compliant because honestly... the longer without the bad foods makes me sick when eating them. I actually went through a phase of adding meat or dairy at least once a week so I would NOT get sick when I ate those things. Crazy how the mind rationalizes things. Watching Forks over Knives and a few other videos solved that issue for me.

I just realized how long that answer was to your question. It kind of turned into my journal entry for the day.

[Pacificfords]

My "Aha" moment for the day came from watching a movie that my sister insisted I watch. I posted in the Lounge about the movie. I don't think anything has been so effective in making me "wake up" and go in the right direction 100%. The movie was scary and overwhelming in so many ways. It was also the most valuable information I have heard to date.

The move is Healing Cancer From Inside Out. It really deals with much more than just cancer, but that is the focus and it packs a powerful punch. Knowledge is power. I'm making the final steps today to rid myself of my final little addictions to oil and chocolate. No more. They were occasional uses, but they still have to go for me to really find healing.

[nicoles]

Thanks for letting us know about it, Pacific Fords - I am really interested in seeing the Healing Cancer from The Inside Out ASAP. Anything to help stay on track during the next few days, and beyond!

[fulenn]

Hi Pacific Fords! I've been reading your journal and wanted to drop in and wish you a wonderful holiday! Your insights about eating at a restaurant made me think a lot. This fall I have really looked at what I eat, why, etc., and one thing I have tried to do is not put more than 2-3 items on my plate at a buffet--even good things-- and to make sure that I can see plate all the way around each item. It has really helped. I still take the same number of trips, just eat less and slower. I'm going to go look at that clip that nicoles posted now.

Keep up the great work! So sorry about your feeling nauseous, but at least it is gluten and not looming dialysis issues.

Fulenn

[fulenn]

Since I am on a movie kick this week - just saw Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and in the movie (this is not a spoiler!) someone comments on how people are more afraid of offending others than of damaging their own health or chances of survival. I find this to be true, and it is a re-learning process to be able to do something that might "offend" in a normal context because it is the right thing for my health. Hope the consequences of it stop with the one morning after, PF.

Isn't that the truth? Even knowing what I know, I find myself telling others that it is because my doctor said to do it and I try really hard to not comment on what people say about food and nutrition.

Fulenn

[Pacificfords]

It is Christmas day and it turned out to be a peaceful day at home with me cooking for my own family ~ perfect! I made a Christmas Eve dinner last night that turned out to be fun. My husband grew up having appetizers on Christmas Eve... no actual meal. They just had a table of yummy foods that they enjoyed through the evening. We have typically done that each year so I tried really hard to keep with the "tradition" of our home and still be healthy. I made a salad with spinach, sliced dried apricots, sliced almonds and balsamic vinegar. The combination of flavors were extraordinary to me. I was the only one that ate it. lol... But I also made potato stacks (with a little oil), salsa and corn chips, bean dip and corn chips, cucumber salad with a seasoned rice vinegar dressing and gluten free biscuits. Dinner was a huge hit and I felt so happy to be feeding my family so healthy. No meat, no dairy and a minuscule amount of oil on the potatoes and in the biscuits. I am learning to replace fat, so in the future I will be using the fat replacer and there will be NO oil.

All in all ~ a great holiday. Today is back to normal. I will make a nice, healthy dinner. This week I will be planning, planning, planning... that will be the key in the new year.

I have to say again that watching the cancer movie really connected with me and helped me dig in and realize how important sticking with the plan is. This year will be about making this lifestyle the new normal in my life. I have been meat and dairy free since November. It feels so good. The yo-yo effect is gone. No more looking for that next best thing. I finally found it.

[blue.eyed.mary]

I have to say again that watching the cancer movie really connected with me and helped me dig in and realize how important sticking with the plan is. This year will be about making this lifestyle the new normal in my life. I have been meat and dairy free since November. It feels so good. The yo-yo effect is gone. No more looking for that next best thing. I finally found it.

You have gotten this far in 2 months! Wow, you know that is very encouraging.

I made a salad with spinach, sliced dried apricots, sliced almonds and balsamic vinegar. The combination of flavors were extraordinary to me. I was the only one that ate it. lol... But I also made potato stacks (with a little oil), salsa and corn chips, bean dip and corn chips, cucumber salad with a seasoned rice vinegar dressing and gluten free biscuits. Dinner was a huge hit and I felt so happy to be feeding my family so healthy.

Congratualtions, pacificfords, your Christmas Feast sounds delectable. Color, Texture, pure simple taste from whole foods. I am in charge of making the salad for a Christmas dinner, I am going to use your ideas, sounds yummy and I know my son-in-law loves dried apricots.

Excellent Christmas Day entry.
Thank-you!

[Pacificfords]

Mary ~ it took me a year to get past the yo-yo of wanting to find something better. I have been flirting with McDougall for over a year, but I am dealing with other health issues and found many road blocks. First, watching Forks over Knives in November really pushed me into getting settled in McDougall. Then I watched the Eating video by Mike Anderson. Those both helped so much, but I still had challenges. Now, after watching the Cancer Movie... oh my gosh. I feel totally IN. I am connected and it was like a complete "Aha" moment for me.

I found a link to the movie online that is free for anyone that is interested. I posted it in the other thread too. I hope EVERYONE will watch it. It is just over two hours and worth every single second.

http://www.theopensource.tv/mike-anders ... 563d3.html

[blue.eyed.mary]

OK, a year sounds more like what I thought it would take me...but hoping for 2 months! Slow and steady; sound like you are in a good place! The struggle to overcome your inclinations paid off with what you choose to eat, I bet has also paid off in other areas of your life too. It is cool how that works.

[Pacificfords]

OK, a year sounds more like what I thought it would take me...but hoping for 2 months! Slow and steady; sound like you are in a good place! The struggle to overcome your inclinations paid off with what you choose to eat, I bet has also paid off in other areas of your life too. It is cool how that works.

I really think it would have happened much sooner for me if I had been open to information and learned more. I had never even really heard of Dr. McDougall before last year. That seems kind of amazing considering I tried every single diet, but I never wanted anything "extreme" so I simply ignored this information for years and attempted things like weight watchers and atkins, over and over and over. Getting sick put a whole new light on things. I had tried so many other things and I wanted something that actually worked. I lost 100 pounds on fad diets and also lost my kidney function. I just didn't know about this stuff. I didn't take the time to listen and learn. My sister kept handing me things to watch and read. I guess it finally connected for me. I think that the movies helped more than anything because they were so full of information from so many different sources. It just kind of brought it all together for me.

[Pacificfords]

Well, there are just a few days left of this year and I am astonished at how my eyes have been opened to new things this past several weeks. Of course, I wish I had known all of this information sooner, because I feel like I have wasted so many years in bad health, but then I had to stop and be honest about my actions. It happens when we are ready for it to happen. In spite of the great new information of the past weeks, I am still fighting addictions that I can't seem to let go of. It is no longer meat - I have finally kicked that addiction for good. It is no longer cheese or diary - I have kicked that one too. Now I am seeing that I can't seem to let the oil go. I got rid of the butter which was easy (I won't eat diary and I won't use margarine). Yet... I still have canola oil in my cupboard and use it occasionally. The consequence of this... weight gain. I feel pretty good, but not great.

So, this week is about getting rid of oil and breaking that addiction too. I want to move into the new year ready to embrace this lifestyle 100%. I have watched my weight drop (when I first started this 20 day journal) and was strict... to watching my weight creep back up (when I started adding just a bit of oil back in for holiday "fun" like making some popcorn on the stove or baking and not knowing how to really replace the fat.)

I'm ready for the next step. I feel like I have approached it in such a great way this time - dealing with one solid issue at at time for good, instead of trying to do it all at once and overwhelming myself. I never imagined I could break an addiction to cheese. I am still amazed at that one. There was a time in my life when I was low on resources and I literally ate: rice with cheese and butter with salt and pepper - every single day and it was my comfort food. Cheese was a daily staple in my diet for so many years. It still feels like comfort food in my mind, but I have not been tempted to eat it in weeks and weeks.

Comfort food for me now seems to be soups... with lots of potatoes and seasonings, but I am finding that I don't find as much "comfort" in food as I used to either. I am learning other ways to find that comfort in life and replacing the habit of eating when I want to make myself feel better and just eating when I am hungry. Hot tea helps a great deal as well.

I am hopeful to reach my goal weight in the new year... more hopeful than I have ever been in my life. I made a dinner last night for my family for Christmas - black bean and sweet potato enchilada casserole. I made a tofu mock sour cream to go on top. I totally expected my husband to hate it, as he seems to hate most of what I have been making recently. To my surprise... he gobbled it up. He had no idea how healthy it was. I think that over time, slowly, my husbands tastes are starting to change. That makes me SO happy. He enjoyed dinner so much and ate and ate and ate it. He even asked me NOT to tell him what was in it because he didn't want to ruin it. That was an interesting comment to me. It was an oil free dinner with amazing flavor. I felt hopeful.

[fulenn]

So glad to hear about your husband eating the dinner and loving it! It seems that so many people think healthy food=tasteless or bad tasting food. He is learning otherwise, thanks to you.

You can do it with the oil. I know for me my big challenge was the dairy, so I think the oil will happen for you.

Fulenn