Katie is back.....

[Ruff]

Hello, I was here years ago. I lost 100 pounds and gained a life. I took up running and completed marathons and even an ultra. I was a mountain trail runner.
I remember many of you, particularly Michelle! Hello Michelle!
And I am back.
Things have not gone so well this last year, and took a turn for the worse around September/October 2017. Stuff happened in life, I stopped running as much and although I remained mostly herbivore, I found I was eating more and more nuts/dates/seeds/coconut cream/avocados etc etc. I even started using oil as a ‘treat’ like home made oven chips, or roast vegetables etc. my weight is up, I’m not sure by how much, I will weigh in tomorrow, but it could be as much as 10kg over my lowest weight.

This weekend I have been visiting my son, and we had a great time, but I found several of my clothes too tight to wear. I had been kidding myself that I had not REALLY gained any weight, but this weekend I had to face it. My lovely frock would not do up.

I think I lost most of my weight in 2012 and until the end of last year maintained easily. But now things have been drifting slowly and suddenly I find myself overweight again. So now there is a line in the sand. When I get up tomorrow I am back McDougalling. I have always had success with the basic starch solution diet, so that is what I will start with. Why not now? Why tomorrow? Because my dear husband has made a lovely casserole for me to come home to and had no idea I was going back on the wagon so as to speak.

For those who don’t know me. Female, Mum of 3, wife of a lovely supportive chap, trail runner (yes, I’m starting again, starting first thing tomorrow morning) 55 years of age, lives in New Zealand. And my user name. Ruff, my darling Ruff, my companion through the early years of weight loss, my first running companion, is dead. There never was and never will be a dog like him. I still miss him so much. I was never having a dog again.....but somehow there is a young Bonnie in my house, a standard poodle who lives to run, who somehow seems to have found her way into my heart.....

Katie

[landog]

Welcome back, Katie!
I hope to hear more from you.

[WeeSpeck]

Hi Katie!

Welcome back. I remember you well from your past journaling. I remember Ruff and the story you shared of his passing. I cried my eyes out. He sounded like the best dog ever. I am so happy you found another canine pal, Bonnie, to share your love of running and your abundant affection. So hard to replace Ruff, I am sure, but so much love to share to not give to another sweet dog.

I was so impressed with your accomplishments. Last time you journaled, you mentioned you were going to write a book. Did you do that? Are you published?

I am looking forward to hearing of your new adventures from New Zealand. Your journal is always a good read.

[Ruff]

Hello Nancy and Landog, thank you for the welcome back.

Nancy, I didn’t write the book. I started but it seemed to be so stilted, quite boring to read which considering it was full of earthquakes and other things like that was interesting in itself! Maybe I should try again!

I have just weighed myself, so Monday is now official weigh in day, and I have a target. 10kg to lose. If things go as they have in the past I will lose up to 2 kg the first week, and then things will slow to 0.5-1kg/week. For me, it is just about compliance. Do the programme, as written, and it works. I also have to be careful about bread, even my homemade kibbled grain sourdough. I tend to not eat bread during the week when losing, keeping it for a weekend treat.

Last night I filled the crock pot with dried red kidney beans and put it on overnight. I now have to give them a five minute rapid boil as the slow cooker doesn’t actually boil them, and then they will got in the fridge and freezer for when I need them. Here, it’s still new potato time, so we have lots of great little potatoes, but no bakers. So I shall cook some new potatoes with mint out of the garden. We also have courgettes (zucchini for Americans) and so many tomatoes you wouldn’t believe in the garden. So I am off to a good start. I have to feed an ultra running super skinny chap as well, so I keep high fat, high quality foods in for him. Nuts and seeds, avocados etc. I love nuts, so this requires some mental discipline on my side.

So here goes. Porridge for breakfast, served with fruit. I froze lots of the cherries, so probaly those. The grapes are just starting to turn purple, so in another week or so it will be grapes in the porridge.

Katie

[Ruff]

Day 1 went well, all compliant except one small avocado, that needed eating up.

Breakfast, porridge with nectarines. Probably about one and a half, but they were windfalls, so just cutting out the best bits.

Lunch. Last nights stew, plus a salad with a small avocado as a dressing

Snack, windfall Apple and pears.

Supper. Spicy bean soup.

We are waiting for tropical cyclone Gita to arrive. We are on the east coast so it will probably not get here until late Tuesday afternoon. I do, however, live on a beach....
I am shopping tomorrow morning and plan to cook as soon as I get back so if we do lose the power I have some stuff made that is easy to heat up.

I have also made a a weight chart for me to fill in daily, but my official weight in day will be Mondays.


Katie

[Ruff]

Yesterday went well McDougalling wise.

I made a huge ‘shepherds pie. It contains no shepherds, not even the livestock they normally look after It was brown lentils with an assortment of vegetables, mostly courgette as we are swimming in them at the moment. There is enough left for supper tonight as well.

Today is day 3. I don’t know what it is about me and day 3 but it’s always the day when I find reasonable and sensible reasons not to continue with the good plan I have made. So I know this is coming, I just need to be ready for it.

I made a good start by going for a run this morning. Actually it wasn’t much of a run, it was supposed to still be 3 hours to high tide, but Gita had done a number on the sea, and it was more a dodge the waves game then a run! But it was good to be out. Now my plan for today is to eat what I want, when I want as long as it is compliant. So I have some nice fruit on standby and I made some oil free hummus yesterday so I can have that with capsicum, cherry tomatoes (got a glut of those too) and cucumber. As well as my planned meals and once I am through day 3 I shall work on reducing the snacks.

Katie

[Ruff]

Gosh, day 3 was hard. I don’t know if there was an an element of ‘self fulfilling prophecy’ in there or not, but I struggled all day. I ate only what I should, but heavens, I ate A LOT of it, and I wasn’t hungry either. Just endless, mindless eating. But apart for a few date and dried apricots, all was OK. And at least those were fine, if a little calorie dense.

So now it is day 4, and I hope things settle down. It is still dark at the moment, but as soon as it is light I am taking Bonnie to the beach for a walk. I’m not running this morning as I hope to go to aikido this evening.

I have discovered I make little ‘comfy moments ‘ sometimes and then I eat badly. If I get home after a stressful time, I make a cup of tea and a plate of something comforting, make a little nest on the sofa with a good book and settle in for half an hour. I need to stop associating comfort food with comfort! So I am no longer allowing food of the sofa. Comfy moments are food free from now on, and all food is to be consumed at the table.

Onwards!

Katie

[bunsofaluminum]

Hi Katie!

Looks like you're making good choices, even with the raging munchies. Well done! It worked before, and it still works. Just stick to it, right?

[Ruff]

Good Morning, it’s Friday and I sneaked a weigh in, although Monday is the official day, I am going the right way on the scales, which is reassuring.

Yesterday went fine. I have my meals a little differently because I do aikido on Fridays (and sometimes Mondays).

Porridge for breakfast (6am)
The last of the shepherds pie for lunch (early at 11 am)
2pm.bowl of Dahl and 2 pears.
After aikido, 8.30pm bowl of homemade granola. (Oil and sugar free, but has dried fruit and seeds)

I think I am settling into the swing of things again now. Hopefully I can make it through the weekend without any major issues. I tend to overeat on bread, so I haven’t been having it. I originally thought I would eat bread (homemade, kibbled grain sourdough) just at the weekends, but maybe I shouldn’t have it for a couple of weeks. I have been looking forward to the weekend and bread, so it’s obviously on my mind.

My main problem at the moment is not sleeping well due to night sweats. I get them in the day, but they don’t bother me too much then, but at night they wake me up time after time. And there doesn’t really seem to be anything to be done about them as far as I can find out. I think I have tried all the obvious things, HRT is off the table, and there is not really anything else to be done except hope they stop soon. I am 55, and this has been going on for 5 years and I’m fed up of it. They are getting worse, actually, not better.

Katie

[Ruff]

Weigh in day. I’m down 1.2kg, so that is good

I’m in a bit of a rush at the moment but will be back later to chat.


Katie

[landog]

Hi Katie,

Congratulations on your progress!

I trust that Gita wasn't so bad? I hope that you are doing well this weekend.
I am was curious - how do you make porridge?

..and what is a "bowl of Dahl?"

Thanks,
-dog

[Ruff]

Hi Katie,

Congratulations on your progress!

I trust that Gita wasn't so bad? I hope that you are doing well this weekend.
I am was curious - how do you make porridge?

..and what is a "bowl of Dahl?"

Thanks,
-dog

Hi Landog.

Thankfully Gita wasn’t too bad here, but Golden Bay and Kikoura were both cut off. Lots of tourists trapped in Golden Bay, but they have been taking them out by barge and helicopter.

Porridge....it’s just what Americans call oatmeal. I use large whole grain rolled oats. I put them in hot water with cinnamon, to soak while I go out for a run, then I add fresh or frozen fruit and cook until soft.

Dahl. It’s curried lentils. I enjoy experimenting with spices, but packet curry powder will do the trick. Add what you like. I like onions and mushrooms, but anything will do. It’s a good way to use up cooked veg. I often have a pan of it on the stove and just grab a bowl if I’m hungry. It’s good over rice, mashed potatoes, cauliflower, cooked grains etc. or just on its own in a bowl.

I had a busy weekend. I am a marine mammal medic and am trained in whale rescue. We had a training weekend and had fun on the beach with our lifelike training pilot whale. It is the size of a small adult or adolescent pilot whale and we fill it with water so it is heavy and unwieldy. Then we make our trainees ‘rescue’ it. They also rescue a dolphin, and have classroom sessions. In between groups we have ‘whale wranglers’ in the water to stop the plastic whale floating off, or kids jumping on it etc. we also have to talk to members of the public who want to help, thinking it’s a real whale! It’s hard work but fun. Much more fun than real whale rescue which can be harrowing.....or an amazing transforming experience. It just depends on how things go.

Katie

[moonlight]

Hi Katie,

I just read your testimonial. Wow, what a story! All the earthquakes! I'm sorry you lost your dad. Mine has been gone nearly 20 years.

The serendipity of not having a book and picking up the China Study brought tears to my eyes. Isn't it such a wonderful thing when the perfect solution just drops into your lap! I love it. Your story is inspiring! I'm hoping to lose 70-80 pounds in all but first I'll focus on getting back to a normal BMI and weight, then hopefully go lower. I already feel much better after losing some of the weight. I know I just have to stay with it. I'm 60 years old. I want to be fit and healthy!

Thank you for the encouragement. Congratulations on getting back on track and making progress!!

[landog]

I had a busy weekend. I am a marine mammal medic and am trained in whale rescue. We had a training weekend and had fun on the beach with our lifelike training pilot whale. It is the size of a small adult or adolescent pilot whale and we fill it with water so it is heavy and unwieldy. Then we make our trainees ‘rescue’ it. They also rescue a dolphin, and have classroom sessions. In between groups we have ‘whale wranglers’ in the water to stop the plastic whale floating off, or kids jumping on it etc. we also have to talk to members of the public who want to help, thinking it’s a real whale! It’s hard work but fun. Much more fun than real whale rescue which can be harrowing.....or an amazing transforming experience. It just depends on how things go.

Katie

Thanks for the lesson on porridge and dahl (and the weather update). You learn something new every day!

Wow - what an amazing job you have! I'm just sitting here in awe. How often do whales get in trouble? What happens to them after they are rescued? Sorry for all the questions. Don't feel obliged to answer.

It's more important to focus on our health. I hope you're enjoying a return to focusing on your diet, and that it is making you feel better!

-dog

[Ruff]

Wow - what an amazing job you have! I'm just sitting here in awe. How often do whales get in trouble? What happens to them after they are rescued? Sorry for all the questions. Don't feel obliged to answer.


-dog

It’s not actually my job. My job is much more boring...I sew! It’s my volunteer work. Again, taken up after I lost my big amount of weight. But I’m always happy to talk about whales!

New Zealand is the whale stranding capital of the world. More than 60% of the world’s cetaceans either live here or migrate past our shores. We have everything from the mighty blue whale to our own tiny Hectors and Maui dolphins. All marine mammals are under tremendous pressure today from marine litter, oil exploration, as well as commercial whaleing.

As well as random strandings that can take place anywhere in NZ we have several stranding hotspots. One of which is Golden Bay at the top of the South Island. Last February a huge mass stranding took place.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/new ... ewell-Spit

This was traumatic for all concerned. We refloated a huge number of whales, but lost hundreds as well. The stranding took place from Friday to Tuesday with most whales refloated on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday a superpod of about 400 more whales came into the bay in response to the distress calls of our beached ones. We had to put a human chain of people right across the bay to keep the out, but thankfully when they turned and left they took many of ours with them. That night however a number of other whales stranded again.....

Mostly, after a successful refloated they swim off out to sea and we don’t see them again! But if a single whale beaches because it’s sick or elderly then obviously it is better to euthanase than refloat.

Any more questions, just ask!