Grit and Determination

[moonlight]

Day 148 (186 lbs)

I guess the gain after going off the plan a couple of days ago was from sodium. Also, I backpacked yesterday for almost 3 miles. I'm back down to 186. Now I can set my sights on going down! Still celebrating being back in the 180's

Ruff, you are so right. The simpler, the better! Today I picked morels from my woods that I found while backpacking all over my property. I didn't know they grew there. So, for lunch I'm having morels, onion, elephant garlic (from the garden), kale, parsley, tomato, and taters. Yum!!

I've been reading JeffN's posting on BP and foods that are good for reducing BP. Greens. Not surprising. Another reason to eat those greens.

B: 2 small potatoes
L: morels, onion, elephant garlic (from the garden), kale, parsley, tomato, and 2 small taters
snacks: potato from Wendy's ; veggie sushi
D: broccoli, onion, WW pasta, tomato sauce

[moonlight]

Day 149

Today was a 100% compliant day. Very nice! I am leaving tomorrow for a visit to my mother's. I have packed MWL compliant food. I feel very confident that I'll succeed at staying compliant. Funny thing, I have a childhood friend doing the 8-hour drive with me. She is doing some kind of Paleo diet or Adkins....

B: oatmeal and banana
L: rice, beans, and veggies
D: potatoes, broccoli, and beans
snack: popcorn

[moonlight]

Day 154

Good news for me - I've been out of town visiting my mother and family. I was able to eat WFPB every meal! I'm beginning to see restaurants as a challenge - how can I get a satisfying meal and stay on my meal plan. I asked about modifications and got them. I know I had more oil than if I had been cooking it myself, but overall it wasn't a bad experience. I ate at restaurants for four days for lunch and dinner. I don't feel as shy about talking to the server about options. This morning I was up one pound from last week so it must not have been too much oil.

This morning I walked 1.5 miles with backpack

B: bulgur
L: baked potato, brocoli, and black-eyed peas
D: potato, bulgur, peas, and eggplant relish
snacks: popcorn, banana, more potato (canned)
1/2 c chocolate almond milk

[moonlight]

Day 155

Today my weight dropped back to 186. I'm so glad I could go visit family without succumbing to food triggers too much.

B: potato scramble with mushrooms, onion, and green peas
L: oven roasted potato fries with eggplant relish

[moonlight]

Day 160

This week I feel like I've taken a break from dieting and exercising! The last 4 days I've been off the MWL plan for at least 1-2 meals a day. I haven't eaten meat or dairy, but I've eaten higher fat and flour. I'll make a conscious effort to get back on plan. Yesterday I made 4 quarts of chili and today I plan to make a recipe from the MWL cookbook. I'm finally getting back in the mood to cook. Attempting to cook through the MWL cookbook burned me out on cooking for a while. It's been so easy lately to just pull together a meal in less than 10 minutes without a lot of chopping. I'd like to look over my notes from the cookbook, make a meal plan for myself for the week, go shopping, then cook. Now that I'm much more accustomed to eating this way, I may be able to go a whole week on MWL plan - 100% compliant. I haven't made it a whole week since I started in November!

I downloaded Dr. Gregor's Daily Dozen app. It's a nice reminder to eat a balanced diet. It has nuts and more fruits than the MWL plan but it is a nice way to quickly check to see if I'm eating a balanced diet with plenty of greens and fruit.

Using the plantbaseddocs.com website I found a doctor in my area who supports a WFPB diet. I told a friend about it. She acted quicker than me and made an appointment. She loved the doctor! Such wonderful news. My doctor of 40 years is retiring in September. The new doctor is young so hopefully she won't be retiring before I stop needing her. I'm so excited. I don't need a doctor very often but if something did arise I sure would like to have a like-minded doctor. the amazing thing is my husband has agreed to try her. He has some health issues. He recently had blood work done and has some abnormal results. His doctor didn't call him to discuss or recommend that he come back to address the abnormal results. I would love someone besides me try to convince my husband to stop eating meat and dairy. He has always had great respect for his medical doctors.

B: Oatmeal and blueberries
snack: orange
L: chili
snack: popcorn x 2
D: white pasta, tomato sauce, and kale
snack: 2 slices cheese

[moonlight]

Day 161 185 lbs.

Put sweet potato in the oven last night and set the delayed cook time for this morning. I woke up to a sweet potato ready to eat, piping hot. Nice!

Today I have envisioned eating things not on the MWL plan - BUT, I didn't! I was hungry late afternoon, any from the house,,,, I made it until I was home. Yay! I'm down another pound. That really inspires motivation. Last week I just maintained. I'm ready to focus and lose more weight.

B: sweet potato and banana
L: McAllister's Veggie spud (no cheese sauce)
D: chili, bulgur, coleslaw

[moonlight]

Day 164

I'm not feeling too good these days... I've had a very sore neck and back, down my right side, for the last 4-5 days. I think I pinched a nerve in my neck sleeping in a weird position or something. It is finally starting to feel better so maybe I'll start back exercising. I haven't exercised on a regular basis in a couple of weeks, I think, - since before I went out of town for a few days. My diet has been okay. Some days it is really good, then other days I eat too much starch, not enough vegetables and fruit. My intention is to go grocery shopping, have veggies on hand, but then I don't do it and end up eating mostly potatoes, canned corn, and popcorn. Yesterday I went on a short hike in the mountains but the back pain kept me from going on a long hike. I found morels. That was pretty cool.

I'm hoping that writing about my down days will inspire me to improve my diet, get back to exercising, and generally have a more uplifted spirit about my health.

Yesterday's food diary (really not too inspiring,,,):
B: oatmeal and blueberries
L: sandwich with WW bread, bean spread and 3 plums
afternoon: 3 potatoes roasted, popcorn 2x's (about 3 cups each time), second serving of popcorn made with melted honey drizzled over it
D: veggie chili and canned corn
late snack: banana
I didn't feel good so I watched TV all afternoon and evening...
a little exercise in the morning hiking

Tuesday's diet - as best I can remember:
kale salad from Panera Bread
veggie sushi and rice paper veggies wrapper
WW pasta, tomato sauce with kale and beans
popcorn
a little exercise Tuesday attending a 30 min yoga class

So, I think this post has helped me. I made a veggie centered brunch. Hopefully I'll get some exercise today as well.

Brunch: Brussel sprouts, onion, zucchini, orange bell pepper roasted, 1/4 cup chili, 1/2 cup bulgur
Snack: popcorn
D: red potatoes, pinto beans, raw veggie salad
Snacks: popcorn, 2 slices ww bread
Only exercise I got today was vacuuming my house. My back is still tender from pinched nerve problem.

[moonlight]

Day 165

I'm hoping for a better day today. Too much low energy leads to overeating for me. The pain on the right side of my lower back, almost feels like sciatic nerve, still hurts some... I'll try a little exercise.
The last few days I haven't gotten much done. The saying "get a life" applies to me! I've been generally surfing the web or playing free cell...

B: roasted potatoes
L: chili with beans
snack: popcorn
D: rice with roasted veggies
blueberries and banana
late late night - a few corn chips

[bunsofaluminum]

That back pain sounds horrible. Radiating all along the side of your body...oof. Not fun. maybe a really good deep tissue massage from a licensed massage therapist...when my scoas muscle went into spasm a few years ago, it affected my entire lower back...but my son does massage, and he knew where to target and WOW did it work.

I saw where you've gotten to 186...well done! I hope the pain doesn't throw you off your hiking training much and you're able to keep going!

[moonlight]

Thanks, Buns, for checking in. Back pain really gets me in a depressed state! It's getting better, but, yes, I've been thinking a massage might work. Sitting in my hot tub makes it feel better but it's been raining for a couple of days and the hot tub is outside. Heating pad doesn't do much. Aspirin doesn't do much either. I've been thinking about going to a physical therapist. My right shoulder slants down, lower than my left shoulder. My backpacking trip is planned for May 18th. Hopefully in the next few days I'll be hiking again.

[moonlight]

Day 166 186 lbs.

I haven't been able to stay at 185 lbs. I go there then right back up. Hopefully that will change soon. This morning I got inspired by reading some of the older threads on the Ask a Star McDougall forum. Today I'm appreciative of this website. So much information! My back doesn't hurt this morning. I want to add light exercise back into my daily life style. Yesterday I moved a lot, trying to make a screen frame for my kale in the garden. Cabbage moths love my kale! I'm almost finished with it. I'm hoping to plant a few things in my garden today.

So I learned from reading from the experts on the Star McDougall site that I need to stop obsessing about how much weight I'm losing. If I stick to the plan the weight will come off. I think I'm obsessing instead of doing!! More veggies, more exercise!!

B: rice with veggies
L: beans with broccoli
popcorn
D: roasted potatoes
blueberries and banana
ww bread 2 slices

[moonlight]

Day 167

Finally I think my back ache is behind me. HaHa! I planted kale in my garden this morning. Using my fitness app I noticed I walked .75 miles gardening.

B: roasted taters
L: rice and garbanzo beans and cucumber
snack: cucumber and sweet peppers
D: roasted potatoes and broccoli
snack: popcorn and banana
late late snacking: garbanzo beans and banana
I woke up with back/neck pain several times. My late night snacks were at least MWL food, an improvement over some late night choices in the past.

[Skyscraper]

I admit I haven't read the whole journal but I flipped through it . Your weight loss has been amazing. You're showing a lot of 'grit and determination' for sure! So I'm sure you will keep making progress. I think it's so cool you have a garden and grow some of your own vegetables.

[moonlight]

Thanks for stopping by, Skyscraper. I'm excited it is spring and time for a vegetable garden! My garden has gotten smaller over the years. I like to grow greens, garlic, onions, okra, tomatoes, peppers, purple hull peas, herbs, and cucumbers. I may grow sweet potatoes this year, but I'm a real lazy gardener so I don't know if I'll get that bed made... I'll be picking my greens from the backyard soon!

I read your journal entries. Good luck with your journey to your ideal weight and ultimate healthiness!!!

I'm slowly settling into this way of eating as a lifestyle rather than a diet. However, I need to lose more weight so I'm trying to stay within the MWL guidelines, which makes me feel more like I'm on a diet. I'm looking forward to being within a normal weight and BMI range, then this will seem more like a lifestyle.

[moonlight]

Day 168 185 lbs. (again)

Yesterday I was very mindful of staying within MWL guidelines. I did pretty good. I ate during the night which I don't think is good but I stayed within the food guidelines. I'm thinking maybe I should change the title of my journal to Queen Whiny!! I feel like a little kid kicking and screaming over not getting my way!

Exercise: 15 minutes on water rower; 30 minutes walking (1 mile)

B:toasted millet with sautéed kale, mushrooms, sweet peppers, and garlic - YUM!
L: roasted Yukon gold potatoes
D: millet and pinto beans and salad
popcorn