Katie is back.....

Share your daily McDougall menus and/or keep a journal describing your personal progress.

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Re: Katie is back.....

Postby Ruff » Fri Mar 30, 2018 12:16 am

I am back after a busy week. And the week just ended with a plumbing emergency, dealt with, at least until the holidays are over, by a Skype call to my youngest, who is a plumbing apprentice in Auckland. As in “so follow the white pipe...not THAT white pipe the other one....No mum....STOP!! “Etc etc. anyway, emergency over and he will sort a decent plumber to come after the holidays. Finally a payback for all those teenage years of homework and chore stress! He is useful!

Food wise all is good and I am back to the top of my ‘normal’ weight. I want to get down a bit lower before I stop but I celebrated by buying a new merino sweater in the Easter Sale....that started Maunday Thursday for some reason, but I wasn’t complaining! It makes me look quite nice I think, and whilst I was cavorting in front of the mirror I also admired my leg muscles and my collar bones. So nice to see them!
I am still eating lots of potatoes. We had baked potatoes for supper tonight with slow cooker ‘baked beans’.

Last weekend Husband and I did a 13km trail race. Husband came third (against much younger people) and got a medal. I ran the WHOLE WAY except stopping for a quick drink of water half way, and came in under 1 1/2 hours, and was very pleased. If that sounds slow, it was of course, but also it’s not like running on the road. It’s not flat either! They had made breakfast for all the runners, and there was vegan apple crumble. I do have to confess to partaking of a bowlful :unibrow: Husband had 3.......

Easter coincides with husbands birthday and 2 of the 3 kids will be here. I am making an Indian buffet, all vegan, and mostly oil free, but the kids want onion barjees, so I am buying them ready made (with oil) but just baking them in the oven. I am also making my fluffy naan, but they are white flour and coconut yoghurt. But it is a feast day!

Enough, I need to go read other people’s journls and see what you have all been up to.

Katie
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Re: Katie is back.....

Postby Ruff » Tue Apr 03, 2018 11:59 am

I have navigated Easter, my husbands birthday and a meal out at a restaurant (we eat out about 3 or 4times a year at the most.) after all this I am up about a pound and a half from where I was, so I am quite happy with that.

It’s funny though, I am looking forward to getting back to my normal plain meals!


I have recently got a running watch that says how far I run. It also counts my steps. I have been amusing myself by trying to find out how to cheat the step counter :lol: . We tried swinging in a hammock.....didn’t work....jumping jacks...did work, but that was exercise so that’s ok....lying on the sofa and patting a dog on the floor.....sort of worked, got a few extra steps that way.....and so on! :lol: :lol:

Now, I haven’t been running as much as I should over the holidays, so I need to step that up again, I don’t want to lose my fitness, particularly as we are going away to the hills in 2 weeks time. :D
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Re: Katie is back.....

Postby bunsofaluminum » Wed Apr 04, 2018 8:49 am

Oh yummy, your Indian Easter feast sounds perfect! My daughter's first boyfriend was from India, the Bengali region and he would cook for us. Delicious! That life hack, racking up steps by petting the dog...LOVE IT. :lol: way to go! Such an inspiration hee hee hee.

Congrats on reaching the top end of your normal weight! I'm excited for you.
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Re: Katie is back.....

Postby Ruff » Fri Apr 06, 2018 12:32 pm

Pros and cons of daily weighing.

I weigh daily and can find I can gain or lose up to 3pounds from day to day. I have an ‘official’ weigh day, Friday morning, as my weight is often lowest at the end of the week, and highest after the weekend (I wonder why!). The pros of this is that it can make me quite relaxed about daily fluctuations, and gives a greater understanding of how weight loss works. It certainly is NOT a linear consistent drop. It also keeps me honest, yes a piece of chocolate cake for my husbands birthday (maybe more than one :eek: :mrgreen: ) is going to stall things, or send the line the wrong way, and it’s good to see that right away, and take care over the next few days.

The biggest con is seeing your lowest weight bounce back up again. It happens in long term maintenance. I don’t think anyone stays at the lowest weight, most of us maintain long term 5-10 pounds over our absolute lowest weight. But it also happens on a day to day basis, down half a pound today, back up a pound tomorrow, down 2 the day after that, then the same weight for 2 days etc. and this can be a bit demoralising.

I graph the weight loss , so it is easy to see the mean, and I have lost about 13 pounds since 19th Feb, so I am quite pleased with that, but I have just bounced up a pound this morning and I am wondering wether weekly weighing would be easier on the soul.

What do you do? Daily, weekly? Go on how your clothes feel?
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Re: Katie is back.....

Postby landog » Fri Apr 06, 2018 7:48 pm

Ruff wrote:I have lost about 13 pounds since 19th Feb


Hi Katie,

That's great! I'm down 11 pounds since Feb 1st. I have rediscovered my love for eating MWL.

These days, I weigh myself daily, right after my morning shower. I think that it helps to keep me on track. I don't seem to have the fluctuations that you mention. If I'm up, I think that I know why.

I'm actually surprised. But, I've been working the plan, and the plan works, so I shouldn't be!

Great job!
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Re: Katie is back.....

Postby roundcoconut » Mon Apr 09, 2018 11:26 am

Ruff wrote:I am wondering whether weekly weighing would be easier on the soul.


Y’know, I kinda think that the emotional ups and downs have little to do with how often we step on the scale. When we are doing all the right things (putting the right things on our plate, in the right amounts, at the right frequency), then the scale reflects that back to us and we feel good. When we are in a phase of indiscretions and rationalizations, then we kinda know that it’s going to catch up with us, and that doesn’t feel great NO MATTER WHAT the scale says.

For me, it is just like checking my bank balance — when my spending is in control, then I really don’t need to obsessively check my bank balance online to verify that this is so, but at the same time, I’m not afraid to check, because I have a good general idea.

With weight, I am in a phase where I have a good general idea what I weighed when I stepped on the scale last (two days ago), and I know every morsel of food that I’ve eaten since then, so there is no way that the scale is going to be extremely high or extremely low — it’s going to reflect general good behavior, sooner or later.

The struggle is that when you desperately want to string a couple good days together, but have been unable to, then it just doesn’t feel good to step on the scale, because in your heart you KNOW it’s not going to be a great outcome. That’s the hard thing.

And then once you string a couple good days together, you want to see something good, but maybe the scale hasn’t caught up yet.

So the real battle is mostly about stringing together six or seven days of positive behaviors, and once we can do that, then there really is no doubt that things turn out well for us, whether that shows up on the scale today, or three days from now. By that point, we’re not so easily hurt by the scale, whether we’re hopping on it several times a week or not at all.

To recap, I mostly believe that it’s not the act of weighing (or frequency of weighing) that’s hard on our souls, but rather facing up to the inconsistency of desired behaviors that can weigh heavy on us. We want to be the people who can string five or six good days together, because then we are not afraid of the scale or surprised by the scale!
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Re: Katie is back.....

Postby Ruff » Mon Apr 09, 2018 12:23 pm

Thank you Landog, you are doing great yourself! 11 pounds since February! That’s great :D

Coconut! OK, you are right. :lol: The scale has more to do with Easter and husbands birthday than anything else! :lol: :unibrow: :unibrow: However, no matter how many days I string together I do fluctuate lot, much more than my husband does for example. I can put on 2 pounds overnight, and lose it again 2 days later, no matter what.

But I’m feeling good this morning, a new low! The lowest I have been for about 6 months, and well back inside my normal range. I am considering aiming for a new low point and reducing my ‘normal’ range by about 5 pounds. I am quite tall, 5’7” and broad shouldered, men’s shirts often fit better than women’s.....to fit my shoulders in women’s I have to buy shirts with enormous boobs.....which I don’t have! :lol: I am also in the second half of my 50’s, and was formerly obese. This means I am carrying loose skin, and my age means it is not as obliging with bouncing back as it might be with a younger person. All of which means I am unlikely to ever gain a very low weight.

I am old enough to be OK with this. My top weight was somewhere around 110kg. 108 was the highest I ever saw on a scale....but I simply stopped weighing. I know I went up another dress size after this, so I normally just say I was over 110kg (245 pounds give or take) today I am 69kg. (152 pounds) and I am happy with 150-155. But I am considering giving it a push to get to 145, (65kg) which would be fun because it would be 100 pounds down from my top weight.

I lost most of the weight with dr McD in 2012/2013 and have been a happy maintainer all this time until the last 6 months. A trip away set the rot in motion, and it took a lot to get back on the wagon. I was always vegan, but was adding oils, vegan baking, etc etc more than just occasionally. :eek: and I found myself heading back towards 80kg. I actually got as high as 78kg after Christmas ....over 170 pounds and there is NO WAY I am going back to obese again, so it was time to stop the rot. I lost a bit after Christmas anyway in the natural run of things and started back here Feb 19th at 75.9kg (yes, 75.9! NOT 76 :lol: :lol: :lol: ) which is 167 pounds.

So thinking about a new weight goal, and I’ll see how it goes. I do have another trip away in 2 weeks. I shall have to be resolute! :mrgreen:
Katie

My testimonial. viewtopic.php?f=13&t=38433
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Re: Katie is back.....

Postby Ruff » Wed Apr 11, 2018 1:01 pm

I have been talking with coconut, in her journal, about authenticity, in that case about exercise preferences. But it is a point for life too.

I am in my late 50s and one of the good things about aging is the release from worrying about what other people think, about what is cool, or in, or popular with ones peers. I see my adult children (all in their 20s) doing or not doing things because they are or are not what is expected of them. For example, one of them recently expressed a wish to learn to skateboard. When I said why not? They replied they were too old to start now (not yet 25 years of age! :lol: ) it wouldn’t be cool to be an adult learning, they should have started as a child!

We should do what we want to do! (Well as long as it’s legal and decent, obviously) We should be the person we want to be. Many of us here have given up years of our lives to obesity, to hiding away, not going to functions, standing at the back, trying to be invisible, wearing clothes that hide our ever larger bodies. It’s time to stop that and do what we want to do. To be who we want to be.

And not to worry about what is cool

I think Facebook and the similar things have a lot to do with this in this day and age. It’s hasnt happened unless it’s gone up on Facebook and got lots of likes. Here I am on the top of a mountain, look at me! Here I am in my new shoes, look at me! People have even died to get a good Facebook photo! That’s appalling.

What would you do even if nobody knew you did it? Would you run if nobody knew you did it? Would you go to evening class if nobody at work knew you were going? Would you wear (or buy) those shoes if nobody knew they were Jimmy Choos?

This is one of my favourite poems about aging.

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.


By Jenny Joseph
Katie

My testimonial. viewtopic.php?f=13&t=38433
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Re: Katie is back.....

Postby f00die » Wed Apr 11, 2018 8:17 pm

nice poem
dont think its about aging at all
donned the purple at 20

Ruff wrote:...
We should do what we want to do! (Well as long as it’s legal and decent, obviously)

of course, obviously
hilarious! :lol:
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Re: Katie is back.....

Postby WeeSpeck » Thu Apr 12, 2018 7:53 am

Katie,

Your post really struck a chord with me, brought tears to my eyes really. Spot on! I think you and I are close to the same age and reached a level of understanding on our abilities and potential around the same time. I am discovering things about myself that I never considered a possibility when I was in my twenties.

In this last year, I ran a Spartan race in San Francisco AT&T Park. I must have run up and down 80 bleachers, climbed 6-10 foot walls, jump roped, threw down smash balls, climbed rope ladders, right alongside kids half my age. I never would have considered that a possibility 15 years ago and much much heavier and lacking any level of self-confidence.

For my birthday in February, my husband bought me an adult size pogo stick. It is heavy and not easy! But, each week I have set a goal. Week 1 I needed only to jump 1 time. Week 2, I worked on jumping 2 times….twice. Week 3, 3 times….three times. I am now up to 7 consecutive jumps, 7 times, so 49 jumps total.

I am amazed where I am now, from where I started and could barely steady that pogo stick. Now, I can get on and jump and jump and jump and I know where my body is in space and I trust that I can correct my stance mid-air. I didn’t start out picking up that pogo stick and jumping 50 times, but now I think I could. Next week, I’m aiming for 8x8!

And talk about bringing up your heart rate!! Oh my gosh! It is a great warm up.

I love Jenny Joseph’s poem! Thank you for posting that. I keep telling my husband, my dying wish, and that is only if there is no hope for my recovery, is to bring me every flavor of Doritos on the market. I want to dive into the Pleasure Trap and go out with Dorito dust all over my fingers and face.

But for now, I am walking the walk and towing the line. My health and future potential depends on it.

I enjoy your journal Katie. Thank you for your presence here on the boards.
--\--@ Nancy @--/--

I am but a wee speck in the big picture of the universe.
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Re: Katie is back.....

Postby bunsofaluminum » Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:58 am

Huh, I was just thinking about this myself. We went out to a concert last night, and to get to the stage we had to go up two LONG flights of stairs. My knee didn't love me, I'll tell you, but guess what! I was NOT huffing and puffing when I got to the top. We're talking 30+ stairs now, folks. But my breathing was normal. Why?

Because I've been doing 15 minutes a day on the recumbent bike in the workout room at my job. Not hardly pushing myself, nor for any great length of time, but every day. And it IS making a difference. :nod: And like so many here, I am also in my late 50's. My mortality is highly evident to me on a daily basis. But I made it up the stairs without gasping at the end. :) Gee wiz, this is SO encouraging! wow!
JUST DON'T EAT IT

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Re: Katie is back.....

Postby Ruff » Thu Apr 12, 2018 12:04 pm

Wee Speck! Pogoing!!!!! :D :lol: Oh I WANT to do that too! Oh boy! I wonder if one can get them in NZ. Gosh wonderful for balance, and bones too I expect.

And Buns, yes, isn’t it wonderful to just be able to walk up the stairs. No huffing, no puffing. Amazing. When we moved to the beach I got red and puffed walking over the dune to reach the beach. Now I barely notice it. Did you enjoy the concert?
Edited to add....just been to your journal! I’ll take that as a yes then!

Foodie, I hope you are wearing the red hat too.... :lol:
Last edited by Ruff on Thu Apr 12, 2018 12:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Katie is back.....

Postby Ruff » Thu Apr 12, 2018 12:06 pm

I am going away on holiday for a week. There will be food choices and exercise choices to be made.

I hereby commit to health and fitness.

See you all in a week
Katie

My testimonial. viewtopic.php?f=13&t=38433
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Re: Katie is back.....

Postby Ruff » Wed Jun 13, 2018 1:25 pm

Well that was longer than a week! Still here, still happy, just busy!
Katie

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Re: Katie is back.....

Postby moonlight » Fri Jun 15, 2018 2:26 pm

Hi Katie,
I missed you! Welcome back. You have been a big inspiration for me. I'm settling into this way of eating. Typically I'm losing a pound a week, which is just fine with me! Wishing you all the best!
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