Grit and Determination

[moonlight]

I bought The Pleasure Trap as my reward for my 15 pound weight-loss mark. I'm currently reading The Starch Solution (my 10-pound reward) but when I'm done with it, I'm starting on that next. We can do this!

Yay! I've read the MWL book a couple of times. It inspires me evry time. I'm looking forward to the Pleasure Trap. I think it will be nice to have it as a reference, too.

I like that you have rewards for your weight loss goals. I do that, too. The spiralizer I recently purchased was one of my rewards.

[Idgie]

Buns, if I eat any more greens, I may TURN green!!

[moonlight]

I love going to the garden to pick my veggies for my lunch. It gives a new meaning to working in order to eat. Today’s lunch consists of cucumbers, tomatoes, okra, green bell peppers, and kale from the garden. Yum!

Program outlined in the MWL book, page 60.

Eliminate All Animal Foods

Eliminate All Oils

Eliminate All High Fat Plant Foods

Eliminate All Flour Products

Eat Whole Grains and Potatoes
quinoa; potato; corn
Eat Legumes
chickpeas
Make Green & Yellow Vegetables 1/2 to 1/3 of meals
quinoa and garden veggies
potato and zucchini and cucumbers
summer squash soup
Eat Uncooked Foods (Vegetables)
cucumbers and tomatoes
Restrict Fresh Fruit: 1-2 Ser/day; Avoid Dried Fruit, Fruit Puree/Juice

Use Simple Sugar Sparingly

Make exercise a part of each day
trimming lawn with weed whacker 45 minutes; 30 minutes on WaterRower

[Anna Green]

I love picturing you going to your garden. It's inspiring. I think I'm going to grow greens this fall. I want to grow the pretty colored chard, kale and romaine.

A pic of your garden would be nice.

[moonlight]

Hi Anna,

Greens are pretty easy to grow. I get such a kick growing the food I like to eat. I hope you get the opportunity to do the same.

I would post a picture but I don't have an online site to post from and I understand that's what's needed to post pictures on this website.

Thanks for dropping by! Wish I could share some of my veggies with you.

[moonlight]

Program outlined in the MWL book, page 60.

Eliminate All Animal Foods

Eliminate All Oils

Eliminate All High Fat Plant Foods

Eliminate All Flour Products

Eat Whole Grains and Potatoes
potatoes
Eat Legumes
chickpeas
Make Green & Yellow Vegetables 1/2 to 1/3 of meals
zucchini, kale, carrots, and tomatoes with potatoes
Eat Uncooked Foods (Vegetables)

Restrict Fresh Fruit: 1-2 Ser/day; Avoid Dried Fruit, Fruit Puree/Juice

Use Simple Sugar Sparingly

Make exercise a part of each day
30 minutes on WaterRower

[moonlight]

Today I realized I finally have the HOW to eat on the MWL plan, what's easy to prepare and have ready. Now, I am focused on the willpower and drive to just do it consistently. Step by freaking step I am confident I'll get to a place where I feel that I am following this meal plan closely with only a few exceptions on very occasional special days. I ate at a restaurant last night. Without giving it a thought I ordered my meal with no cheese or animal food of any kind. It did not feel like a struggle to decide no cheese.

Program outlined in the MWL book, page 60.

Eliminate All Animal Foods

Eliminate All Oils

Eliminate All High Fat Plant Foods

Eliminate All Flour Products

Eat Whole Grains and Potatoes
quinoa is the day's starch
Eat Legumes
kidney bean and chickpeas
Make Green & Yellow Vegetables 1/2 to 1/3 of meals
B: quinoa, kidney beans, and veggies
Eat Uncooked Foods (Vegetables)
large salad for lunch and dinner (going on trip, car food!)
Restrict Fresh Fruit: 1-2 Ser/day; Avoid Dried Fruit, Fruit Puree/Juice

Use Simple Sugar Sparingly

Make exercise a part of each day
30 minutes on WaterRower

[Idgie]

That's a great milestone! It's starting to become second nature for you!

[moonlight]

Hi Idgie, thank you for the kind words. I'm very cautious about my routines and habits. They could get derailed so very quickly. Hopefully if I can keep up the good habits they will become second nature - probably in a year or two. I'm excited, though! It feels great to be finally getting a better perspective on why I'm doing this and having the real desire to want to eat this way. I have lost a pound this week (177 lbs.). I was hoping for more but it seems I don't lose more than a pound a week, with some weeks 0 lbs.

This past week was the best week I've had since I started tracking each guideline. 100% compliance on 9 of the guidelines. My goal this week is to eliminate all flour products. The bread is now gone from the house. It was a huge trigger for me and I bought it. No excuses that it was my husband's food.

Program outlined in the MWL book, page 60.

Eliminate All Animal Foods

Eliminate All Oils

Eliminate All High Fat Plant Foods

Eliminate All Flour Products
bread AND pasta
Eat Whole Grains and Potatoes
quinoa and potatoes
Eat Legumes
chickpeas
Make Green & Yellow Vegetables 1/2 to 1/3 of meals
yes, every meal
Eat Uncooked Foods (Vegetables)
quinoa salad with lots of veggies
Restrict Fresh Fruit: 1-2 Ser/day; Avoid Dried Fruit, Fruit Puree/Juice

Use Simple Sugar Sparingly

Make exercise a part of each day
30 minutes WaterRower

[moonlight]

This morning after reading Sue's post in the Riding the Wave thread, I read up on suggestions for building new habits. It was very useful. A few things I learned: it's helpful to derail an unwanted habit and create a window of opportunity for the new habit; repetition is key to forming a new habit; have context cues to trigger the habit (being mindful of cues that trigger unwanted habits), I think this was under the topic associations; and implement rewards, the reward draws you back to wanting to do the habit again. I also liked Idgie's comment to just say to yourself "That is not on my meal plan" for thoughts about eating something off limits. There is a habit to develop here. The habit of saying this every time the thought arises to eat something not on the plan.

Yesterday I was reading about calorie density and another aspect of trying to eat lower calorie dense foods came to my attention. Calorie density can change for one food, depending on how it is prepared. Rice dishes made into congee are lower in calorie density than steamed rice, boiled potato is lower in calorie density than roasted potato fries. Keeping this in mind, I plan to add more dilute preparations of the starches I eat. This morning I had potato sautéed with veggies in broth. I only put one potato in the pan and I was completely satisfied. Usually if I eat roasted potato fries I want 1 1/2 to 2 potatoes.

This is a picture Amy put in the July MWL thread. I love the bright colors and the message!


Program outlined in the MWL book, page 60.

Eliminate All Animal Foods

Eliminate All Oils

Eliminate All High Fat Plant Foods

Eliminate All Flour Products

Eat Whole Grains and Potatoes
potatoes and quinoa
Eat Legumes
white beans
Make Green & Yellow Vegetables 1/2 to 1/3 of meals

Eat Uncooked Foods (Vegetables)

Restrict Fresh Fruit: 1-2 Ser/day; Avoid Dried Fruit, Fruit Puree/Juice

Use Simple Sugar Sparingly

Make exercise a part of each day
30 minutes of WaterRower

[bunsofaluminum]

Mmm, rice congee! I went to see Princess Mononoke on the big screen yesterday. Amazing how much more detail you pick up...and one of the details was a rice congee that someone made for the hero of the story. As he was ladling it into bowls I thought "if I were to do an animation of rice congee, that's what it would look like" which set me up for wanting some. And now you mention it. coincidence? I think not

time to make some rice congee!

I do like that about calorie density: Cook it in water, and reduce the density. That's why pasta can be part of the plan. Cooked in water makes it lower in calorie density.

[moonlight]

Hi Buns,

Rice congee still doesn't sound appetizing to me but I'm getting close to giving it a try, mainly because I've read about your love it in more than one post. Yes, the calorie density concept just got a little more meaningful for me. I'm going to steer away from all the roasting of veggies and start steaming or cooking in broth or making soup. Try that for a while.

BTW, I love your tangles you posted. Beautiful work! I'm not so talented but I still enjoy tangling. I'm going through the books I bought making one tile of just one design. I tried mixing it up but got kind of frustrated with the ugliness of my finished designs. Your work is an inspiration!

[moonlight]

Yesterday was a really off day for me. I think the problem was not being prepared, going to a restaurant that wasn't good for MWL compliant eating, and being hungry. Today I'm struggling but at least I'm staying on MWL compliant food. I just don't have much energy or desire to cook. I've had a baked potato and cooked squash today and it now 4:30. I've been gardening this afternoon and freezing zucchini. I know I should eat more but just not feeling it. I've got a baked potato already cooked.
Program outlined in the MWL book, page 60.

Eliminate All Animal Foods

Eliminate All Oils

Eliminate All High Fat Plant Foods

Eliminate All Flour Products

Eat Whole Grains and Potatoes
Potatoes
Eat Legumes

Make Green & Yellow Vegetables 1/2 to 1/3 of meals
potato and summer squash
Eat Uncooked Foods (Vegetables)

Restrict Fresh Fruit: 1-2 Ser/day; Avoid Dried Fruit, Fruit Puree/Juice

Use Simple Sugar Sparingly

Make exercise a part of each day
gardening
SUNDAY
Eliminate All Animal Foods

Eliminate All Oils

Eliminate All High Fat Plant Foods

Eliminate All Flour Products

Eat Whole Grains and Potatoes

Eat Legumes

Make Green & Yellow Vegetables 1/2 to 1/3 of meals
lunch and dinner were in restaurants today. I did not make good choices, especially for dinner.
Eat Uncooked Foods (Vegetables)

Restrict Fresh Fruit: 1-2 Ser/day; Avoid Dried Fruit, Fruit Puree/Juice

Use Simple Sugar Sparingly

Make exercise a part of each day

[VegSeekingFit]

This morning after reading Sue's post in the Riding the Wave thread, I read up on suggestions for building new habits. It was very useful. A few things I learned: it's helpful to derail an unwanted habit and create a window of opportunity for the new habit; repetition is key to forming a new habit; have context cues to trigger the habit (being mindful of cues that trigger unwanted habits), I think this was under the topic associations; and implement rewards, the reward draws you back to wanting to do the habit again. I also liked Idgie's comment to just say to yourself "That is not on my meal plan" for thoughts about eating something off limits. There is a habit to develop here. The habit of saying this every time the thought arises to eat something not on the plan.

Yesterday I was reading about calorie density and another aspect of trying to eat lower calorie dense foods came to my attention. Calorie density can change for one food, depending on how it is prepared. Rice dishes made into congee are lower in calorie density than steamed rice, boiled potato is lower in calorie density than roasted potato fries. Keeping this in mind, I plan to add more dilute preparations of the starches I eat. This morning I had potato sautéed with veggies in broth. I only put one potato in the pan and I was completely satisfied. Usually if I eat roasted potato fries I want 1 1/2 to 2 potatoes.

This is a picture Amy put in the July MWL thread. I love the bright colors and the message!

Hi Moonlight!

I agree that the creating new habits discussion is so key! Also, calorie density. I think I watched Jeff N's presentation 3 times this year.... Learn (or catch?) something new every time. Love that pic Amy posted!! (Great Scrabble word too? ) You're doing great!!

Thanks for your help on those Thai hot peppers a couple of weeks ago. What a crazy, but wonderful plant... I think I have 100 of them growing on the smallest veggie plant I've ever had - but they do pack a nice punch....

Cheers,
Stephanie

[moonlight]

I've really taken the last few days off from following the MWL diet. Today I'm ready to get back to it. I do this occasionally. I'm not going to stress over it. I think I just need a break from working on the willpower 24/7. I didn't go just completely nuts with taking a break. I just ate some refined carbohydrates and a little cheese. Maybe I will suffer from withdrawal but I was already suffering from stress related to the pressure I put myself under to try and follow the diet. That's my thoughts about it anyway. I'm sure a behavioral specialist could give me better alternatives. Funny thing, I'm reading the Pleasure Trap. I guess I haven't gotten to the part where I've learned anything new that will help me stay on this diet!

Program outlined in the MWL book, page 60.

Eliminate All Animal Foods

Eliminate All Oils

Eliminate All High Fat Plant Foods

Eliminate All Flour Products

Eat Whole Grains and Potatoes
brown rice; sweet potato; popcorn
Eat Legumes

Make Green & Yellow Vegetables 1/2 to 1/3 of meals
Breakfast 2 cups cooked veggies and 2 cups brown rice
Lunch 2 cups sweet potato, salad, squash, eggplant, and onion sautéed
Eat Uncooked Foods (Vegetables)

Restrict Fresh Fruit: 1-2 Ser/day; Avoid Dried Fruit, Fruit Puree/Juice

Use Simple Sugar Sparingly

Make exercise a part of each day


TUESDAY
Eliminate All Animal Foods

Eliminate All Oils

Eliminate All High Fat Plant Foods

Eliminate All Flour Products

Eat Whole Grains and Potatoes
oatmeal; popcorn
Eat Legumes

Make Green & Yellow Vegetables 1/2 to 1/3 of meals
Yes for one meal
Eat Uncooked Foods (Vegetables)

Restrict Fresh Fruit: 1-2 Ser/day; Avoid Dried Fruit, Fruit Puree/Juice

Use Simple Sugar Sparingly

Make exercise a part of each day