Buns Again

[moonlight]

Hi Buns,

I thought about you today while I was at the art store. I bought a zentangle book. It looks like big fun. I bought some fancy (not too) colored pencils, too.

[bunsofaluminum]

Hi Buns,

I thought about you today while I was at the art store. I bought a zentangle book. It looks like big fun. I bought some fancy (not too) colored pencils, too.

Oh yay! you're going to have fun! Zentangle is absolutely my favorite free time activity! do a search on FB and you'll find lots of groups where people can display their art. Fun! What book did you get?

I was thinking about you too, actually, with this MWL template for my daily eating! I copied the MWL guidelines from that page in the forums, then applied it to yesterday's meals.


Here is yesterday's food:

B: cooked grapenuts and berries
S: saltines and sliced carrot
L: lentil stew over rice
D: soba noodle soup w.vegs
S: white bread toasted w/pea puree spread

Program outlined in the MWL book, page 60.

1. Eliminate All Animal Foods

2. Eliminate All Oils
(possibly oil in the ingredients of the bread I ate) but I didn't add any fats or oils TO my foods
3. Eliminate All High Fat Plant Foods: Nuts, Nut Butters, Seeds, Seed Butters, Avocados, Coconut, & Olives.

4. Eliminate All Flour Products
ate bread and saltines
5. Eat Whole Grains and Potatoes
white rice but whole wheat bread
6. Eat Legumes
Lentils and rice
7. Make Green & Yellow Vegetables One-Half to One-Third of your meal
asparagus and cucumber w.lunch; stir fry vegs w.dinner
8. Eat Uncooked Foods
raw cucumber and carrot slices
9. Restrict Fresh Fruit to No More Than Two Servings a Day, and Avoid Dried Fruit, Fruit Puree, and Fruit Juice
Berries, One serving at breakfast
10. Use Simple Sugar Sparingly
half a tsp in my tea 2x throughout the day

Get some exercise
moderate walking, about 2,500 steps. Oh...wait! my resistance bands! I did a few trial exercises with each level. so...

Hey! This might actually get me closer to full compliance. Thanks for the great idea, Moonlight!

At the end of the day, though I felt fully satiated, My Fitness Pal wouldn't let me load my diary because of too few calories! LOL so I toasted a couple pieces of bread and spread some of that delicious pea puree spread from Forks Over Knives PLT samwich recipe. It is DELICIOUS! And that got my calories over 1,100 for the day.

Here's the thing. If I did three or four days in a row of really low calories, THEN My Fitness Pal should give me the heads up. There is nothing at all wrong with having the occasional low calorie day. Once a week? Couple times a month? Actually, it's similar to really maxing out the cardio, getting your heart rate WAY beyond the max for your age for just a little bit. The extra burn amps up your calorie burnage, and I think bringing in quite a low calorie count helps your body release fat as well. But this habit of freaking out when my calories are below 1,000 calories for ONE DAY? Puhleeze.

Which also brings up the value, or lack thereof, of tabulating calories. It takes you outside of your actual need. I didn't NEED that toast and pea spread, though it tasted good and I didn't end up feeling stuffed or anything. I would have been happy ending my intake at the mid 900 calorie level. Similar to a few weeks ago when I made kelp noodles, which have 3 calories per serving, but they really are filling. Nicely suited for a late meal. But My Fitness Pal wouldn't let me log that day's diary with that few calories.

I started a thread on the Menu forum, back in January. Tracking my overall meals helped me see my pattern of eating off plan on the weekends. But that didn't get the weight loss moving, so I decided to look at my caloric intake...

My eyes were opened quite nicely. No more imagining that some foods have zero calories. E.g. a handful of cinnamon bears, and realizing it's 500 calories or really seeing the calorie impact that my beloved extra dark chocolate has...well, I may give up cinnamon bears forever, but the chocolate? I used to indulge in a few squares every day. Then I moved all sweets and treats to only the weekends, and chocolate tastes SO MUCH BETTER when you've gone many days without having any. So I was eating a full bar of extra dark chocolate over the weekend. Half on Saturday, half on Sunday. Until I saw the calories, and especially the fat percentage AND some of it sat fat! And I cut the servings in half. One Saturday I didn't even HAVE any chocolate and I have half a bar sitting at home, left from this past weekend, when I took in so much less than usual. So counting calories has helped me see just what impact each food has on my overall eating, and that's good. It has prompted me to adjust things a bit, and that's really good. I'll probably continue with it for a while, but I must say "pshaw!" to the little "lecture" My Fitness Pal gives me when I have a low calorie day. If my energy is high, and I don't feel hungry, why should I feel obligated to have a snack JUST in order to raise my calories for the day?

Still having that sensation of food not being all that interesting. I mean, I'm getting hungry, and I'm eating, and food tastes good when I eat. Dal especially is a current favorite! yum! I'm fixing food and parceling it out to individual meals. But seriously, I can't think of anything I've GOT to have. Cravings are gone.

Now I've got to think about my resistance to consistent exercise.
this is THE area where I need to improve the most. With a foot that is pretty much out of commission, and dr's orders not to walk or run as my main exercise, I have to use non-weight bearing exercises for my cardio. Swimming is great and I've been in the water several times this month. A commitment to every other day would be GREAT. Also, just got some resistance bands and will use them. I can do all of those exercises off my feet. But again, the COMMITMENT. I've simply got to get it in my head that 30 ish minutes of moving my butt is NON NEGOTIABLE. I am not a fan of Dr Oz, but he had some good advice "a 30 minute walk every day, no excuses"

well, walking is out but why not "30 minutes of exercise every day, no excuses"? Hmmm?

I recently had a conversation with an acquaintance in her 60's. She is now having two physical therapy sessions a week. Why? Because she has fallen down 19 times in the past two years. Also she told me just standing in her shower, her legs would quiver with the effort. She is less than 10 years older than me. What caused her to have such weakness and lack of balance? The fact that she didn't MOVE enough! And this is a gal who owns an RV and goes out rock hunting with her honey now and then. But her lack of exercise created a weak, frail OLD woman who should be vital and energetic and strong. Thankfully she found the cause and is doing something about it. But dang! If I don't want to be there 10 years from now, I'd better get a move on.

okay this is a long post. I'll go for now.

[bunsofaluminum]

another rather rare food event today. I ate lunch at Cafe Rio, and ordered their vegetarian salad, whole wheat tortilla, no cheese. Three scoops of pico instead of dressing. I ended up leaving about 1/4 of it...half a cup of the salad, and 7/8 of the tortilla. I only had a couple bites of that, knowing how calorie dense it is.

But I was full! and I walked away from food and this is a trend in the right direction. Satiation, not stuffed, is the goal, and when I hit it, I stopped eating. Wow.

[moonlight]

another rather rare food event today. I ate lunch at Cafe Rio, and ordered their vegetarian salad, whole wheat tortilla, no cheese. Three scoops of pico instead of dressing. I ended up leaving about 1/4 of it...half a cup of the salad, and 7/8 of the tortilla. I only had a couple bites of that, knowing how calorie dense it is.

But I was full! and I walked away from food and this is a trend in the right direction. Satiation, not stuffed, is the goal, and when I hit it, I stopped eating. Wow.

Kudos to you! Woot Woot! That's a great achievement. Yay you!

[moonlight]

I love tangling!!! Such a wonderful stress reliever!! And so much fun. I bought The Joy of Zentangling. I have forgotten how therapeutic drawing and creating art can be. I think it's going to help me with this anxious feeling I get sometimes. Eating has always been my 'go to' for relieving that feeling, whether it's in the day or in the middle of the night. I wish I could find a tangled emoji !

[bunsofaluminum]

another rather rare food event today. I ate lunch at Cafe Rio, and ordered their vegetarian salad, whole wheat tortilla, no cheese. Three scoops of pico instead of dressing. I ended up leaving about 1/4 of it...half a cup of the salad, and 7/8 of the tortilla. I only had a couple bites of that, knowing how calorie dense it is.

But I was full! and I walked away from food and this is a trend in the right direction. Satiation, not stuffed, is the goal, and when I hit it, I stopped eating. Wow.

Kudos to you! Woot Woot! That's a great achievement. Yay you!

Thanks Moonlight! It felt really good. Hopefully it will become a habit. That's the biggest reason for overweight, bar none. My son eats a totally SAD diet. How long has it been since he had a vegetable...but he is normal weight. Tall and skinny. And truly it is not a case of "where does he put it all?" because I've seen him leave food on his plate at almost every family meal...he pushes his plate away when he is full. We can talk about all the calorie dense, crappy yucky unhealthy junk out there...yeah, you're not going to be healthy if you never EAT healthy...but people who have managed to maintain sensitivity to their own body signals, and stop eating when full, they will not become overweight, even if they're eating pizza, Taco Bell, and Swedish Fish. Lord I hope that's not ALL my son eats! LOL

I love tangling!!! Such a wonderful stress reliever!! And so much fun. I bought The Joy of Zentangling. I have forgotten how therapeutic drawing and creating art can be. I think it's going to help me with this anxious feeling I get sometimes. Eating has always been my 'go to' for relieving that feeling, whether it's in the day or in the middle of the night. I wish I could find a tangled emoji !

Oh! I own that book too! It is a great starting point. I also loved "One Zentangle a Day" with its little daily challenges and instruction. Isn't zentangle just the best? I enjoy it so much. It's a terrific way to quiet your mind. I settle in with my sketchbook and tiles, pens, and other little necessities, a cup of tea, and in the quiet of the morning I tangle away. And the cool thing is, when you're done, you've got something pretty fun to look at

One of the best online resources is http://tanglepatterns.com and of course there is a website for the "official" zentangle idea http://zentangle.com

Anyway, hopefully you'll find many hours of quietness and stress reduction.

Okay...

I recently griped about not being able to find anything Mcdougall compliant, ready to heat and eat, at the grocery store. Well, I am delighted to report that I was wrong. Today I found baby red potatoes in a microwavable tray with seasonings. So I grabbed that, and a can of green beans with a pop top, and that will be my lunch today Now, it's got some things like "butter flavor" that can't be very "whole foods plant based" but as a quick, easy, once-in-a-while convenient meal? You better believe it. Wonder what else I've been missing due to my tendency to completely stay away from the freezer aisle, or the pre-packaged shelf stable items. Can't wait to taste these at lunch time.

[bunsofaluminum]

Okay, now I've entered food on my menu thread for a few days, i can already see that flour products are an issue.

See? Now I can adjust as desired. Maybe I'll start using only whole grain breads, or maybe I WILL ditch all flour products. At any rate, I caught that trend REALLY fast.

Interesting new forum categorization. Glad I found the journals...I was worried!

[Rosey]

Yeah I had to search a little worried me that they were gone too.

[bunsofaluminum]

Well, I bought a large baking potato for lunch today, BECAUSE of the guideline about eating potatoes and tubers I grabbed a salad kit while I was in the produce department, and it's gonna be GOOD!

Maybe it'll help my mood. Me=cranky.

[moonlight]

Hi Buns, I'm glad you are working the guidelines one at a time, too. I just calculated my eating habits for last two weeks in June. Results were there in black and white. Stark realization of my shortcomings! I've found that the more I keep track this way, the more I remember all the guidelines and the more I want to make an 'A' for the day. Ha Ha - my overachiever mentality is coming to the surface.
Yay to you for buying the potato! I'm starting a love affair with Japanese sweet potatoes.

[VegSeekingFit]

Well, I bought a large baking potato for lunch today, BECAUSE of the guideline about eating potatoes and tubers I grabbed a salad kit while I was in the produce department, and it's gonna be GOOD!

Maybe it'll help my mood. Me=cranky.

Hi Buns!

Awesome!!! I may have to give this a go too.... Hope that your mood improves!!! Have a great holiday !!

Cheers,
Stephanie

[bunsofaluminum]

Hi Buns, I'm glad you are working the guidelines one at a time, too. I just calculated my eating habits for last two weeks in June. Results were there in black and white. Stark realization of my shortcomings! I've found that the more I keep track this way, the more I remember all the guidelines and the more I want to make an 'A' for the day. Ha Ha - my overachiever mentality is coming to the surface.
Yay to you for buying the potato! I'm starting a love affair with Japanese sweet potatoes.

yes! I love it that "Eat potatoes and tubers" is right there, along with "eat raw foods" and "no added oils" ... it's easy-ish to remember and very easy to slot my foods into the guidelines, and see quickly how I did for the day. But I am going to continue to track calories. That's been so helpful in stopping when I'm satiated, or NOT having that taste of something (usually off plan, but hey one bite? big deal...? ...HAS CALORIES! AND FAT!)

[keithswife]

Hi Buns,


I recently had a conversation with an acquaintance in her 60's. She is now having two physical therapy sessions a week. Why? Because she has fallen down 19 times in the past two years. Also she told me just standing in her shower, her legs would quiver with the effort. She is less than 10 years older than me. What caused her to have such weakness and lack of balance? The fact that she didn't MOVE enough! And this is a gal who owns an RV and goes out rock hunting with her honey now and then. But her lack of exercise created a weak, frail OLD woman who should be vital and energetic and strong. Thankfully she found the cause and is doing something about it. But dang! If I don't want to be there 10 years from now, I'd better get a move on.

okay this is a long post. I'll go for now.

You posted this a few days ago, but it just now caught my attention. This will certainly be me, if I don't change my house loving, couch sitting ways. I used to be so active in my younger days, and now all I do is sit in the house and day dream about that mythical "someday" when I finally get my crap together and live life for real. Well, ok, I've been telling myself that for the past 12 years, ever since my son was born. Thanks for posting this. I really, REALLY, needed the wake up call.

[bunsofaluminum]

Hi Buns,


I recently had a conversation with an acquaintance in her 60's. She is now having two physical therapy sessions a week. Why? Because she has fallen down 19 times in the past two years. Also she told me just standing in her shower, her legs would quiver with the effort. She is less than 10 years older than me. What caused her to have such weakness and lack of balance? The fact that she didn't MOVE enough! And this is a gal who owns an RV and goes out rock hunting with her honey now and then. But her lack of exercise created a weak, frail OLD woman who should be vital and energetic and strong. Thankfully she found the cause and is doing something about it. But dang! If I don't want to be there 10 years from now, I'd better get a move on.

okay this is a long post. I'll go for now.

You posted this a few days ago, but it just now caught my attention. This will certainly be me, if I don't change my house loving, couch sitting ways. I used to be so active in my younger days, and now all I do is sit in the house and day dream about that mythical "someday" when I finally get my crap together and live life for real. Well, ok, I've been telling myself that for the past 12 years, ever since my son was born. Thanks for posting this. I really, REALLY, needed the wake up call.

Hi Keithswife...oh, the change in me in just five years. In 2013 I was walking at least 90 minutes a day; walked to work for two miles each way; walked two miles to the grocery store and back if I didn't need to pick up much; walked to the park and then walked around in the park; hiked all over the canyons of Salt Lake City; yoga pretty much every morning including some sort of advanced moves. I was strong and much leaner than I am now. I got real couch potato-y and I'm paying the price in too much weight and loss of fitness. It's strange, because I feel pretty energetic. I putter around in the house a lot, and you can't keep me down if Santana comes on...or any dance music...but getting up the gumption for a daily exercise regimen is currently evading me. *sigh*

My holiday was terrific, food wise! I'm claiming another "Food Sanity" triumph, in that I was home all day long. Never left my apartment. And I ate three meals and one snack My lifelong pattern, literally my ENTIRE LIFE pattern, has been to eat a meal, then graze, then have another meal (because you need "real" food) and graze some more, then a meal, and graze until bedtime. And yesterday I had brekkie, did a tiny bit of tidying up, watched a lot of TV, did a LOT of Zentangle *sigh of contentment* and Wylie was gone most of the day so it was a day of quiet, alone in my own place, doing what I wanted.

AND I didn't eat all the things?

At the end of the day I made a batch of popcorn and shared it with the old feller, for about half of what I usually indulge in for popcorn. See, popcorn is my all time favorite snack. There was a time years ago, before McDougalling, when I was making it every day, and I'm talking a full batch: 2/3 c. kernels for a massive big bowl drenched in butter and salted, with nooch yeast. If the kids were around I'd share with them but yeah...popcorn every day. McDougalling came along and I didn't have any popcorn for months and months...I tried that version using a spritz of soy sauce? BLECH no thank you. I'd rather go without...except I'm not going to GO without buttered popcorn the rest of my life. Ain't happonin.

Well, with No S, I relegated that snack to weekends, and allowed myself a massive big bowl of popcorn every Saturday or Sunday (or both)...then decided once a month was enough. That was what, a year or so ago? So for a while my delightful delicious buttered popcorn was a planned event. "Yay, on Saturday the 12th, I'm going to have POPCORN!" and looked forward to it, and got a good movie ready, etc. And boy did it ever taste good, that one popcorn fest a month. But I can't remember the last time I actually had popcorn. Well, last night but before that? I do NOT remember. We had some movie on and I said "doesn't popcorn sound good" and got up and made a batch.

Hm, that also sounds like some food sanity, doesn't it. From indulging daily, to indulging weekly, to monthly (with cravings) to...hm, popcorn. Might be okay with this movie.

A full day, at home, with access to all the food, and ate three meals and one snack. I am doin good!

Ooh, and! Got quite close to 100% compliance using that MWL template as my guide. potatoes, whole grains, NO FLOUR PRODUCTS!!!!

yay, me!

[moonlight]

Hey Buns,
Yes, yay you!! I'm still loving the template, too. Great daily accountability.

I appreciate your popcorn history. I have eaten popcorn almost every night since I started this WOE. I have always enjoyed the popcorn, butter, nutri yeast, and parmesan thing. We make the popcorn in the microwave so no oil is needed to pop it. I've been able to leave out the butter and parmesan, amazingly. I tried spritzing with soy sauce, too. I didn't like it, either. I have been pleased with spritzing with plain water to get the nutri yeast to stick to the popcorn. Sometimes I also sprinkle in garlic powder or onion powder. Sometimes I sprinkle in salt. Sometimes sugar. Just in the last couple of weeks I've started letting go of my evening popcorn snack. My husband occasionally makes popcorn with the butter and cheese but it doesn't even appeal to me now. Try spritzing with water then sprinkling on the yeast and salt. See if you like it. Movies, popcorn, and that special person to share the evening with... lovely!