Idgie's MWL journal

[Idgie]

Had a rough day at work yesterday, and didn't eat over it. There was a potluck in our area, not in my particular office, but they shared their food with our office, and I just didn't even go into the room where it was held. For a second, I wanted some cake, but I reminded myself that I'm 100% on this plan and eating cake isn't an option for me right now. It felt good to be the one in control.

I know eating lots of salad isn't required on this plan, but I'm enjoying my almost daily salads. I have always loved salad with a good dressing, and I've managed to make some really good salad dressings. Today's is an Asian-inspired miso dressing using chickpea miso (partner is sensitive to soy, so we mostly don't have it in the house except for one bottle of low-sodium soy sauce that I use when I'm missing the taste of soy sauce. None of the non-soy tamaris gets the flavor right.)

[bunsofaluminum]

Had a rough day at work yesterday, and didn't eat over it. There was a potluck in our area, not in my particular office, but they shared their food with our office, and I just didn't even go into the room where it was held. For a second, I wanted some cake, but I reminded myself that I'm 100% on this plan and eating cake isn't an option for me right now. It felt good to be the one in control.

I know eating lots of salad isn't required on this plan, but I'm enjoying my almost daily salads. I have always loved salad with a good dressing, and I've managed to make some really good salad dressings. Today's is an Asian-inspired miso dressing using chickpea miso (partner is sensitive to soy, so we mostly don't have it in the house except for one bottle of low-sodium soy sauce that I use when I'm missing the taste of soy sauce. None of the non-soy tamaris gets the flavor right.)

well done! staying out of the potluck room is a victory!

Can you share the recipe for your salad dressing? I want to start eating a huge salad every day, but I won't do it if I don't have a creamy dressing for it. Creamy dressing seems to be necessary for me to choke down the raw greens and I really do want to have a big salad every day for the rest of the summer if possible. Cooked greens, too!

Thanks

[Idgie]

I used to do a lot of creamy dressings, but now that I don't do tofu or nuts, I haven't found one I like. This miso dressing was really good, though. I didn't measure, but I will do so tomorrow or the next day and post it. It was chickpea miso, soy sauce, a clove of garlic, a piece of fresh ginger, rice vinegar, a pinch of sugar, and a pinch of sesame seeds, all blended together.

[bunsofaluminum]

I used to do a lot of creamy dressings, but now that I don't do tofu or nuts, I haven't found one I like. This miso dressing was really good, though. I didn't measure, but I will do so tomorrow or the next day and post it. It was chickpea miso, soy sauce, a clove of garlic, a piece of fresh ginger, rice vinegar, a pinch of sugar, and a pinch of sesame seeds, all blended together.

I found that white beans, like canellini or Great Northern can make things creamy

[Idgie]

I know that some days will be harder than others, but this time around McDougalling, it's just been really easy so far. I feel really grateful for all the resources I have available to me, from enough money to buy quality food, to the Beck book, to a partner who is 100% supportive of me even if we don't eat the same things.

And I can't forget you all. You've been such a blessing to me!

[victw]

Idgie,

You have inspired me to pull out my Beck book. What day are you on?

Vic

[Idgie]

I'm kind of in a holding pattern on days 25/26/27, because she's doing strategies for negative thinking, which will become important, I know, but right now, I'm doing really well and everything is pretty easy, so my mind isn't really in that space, if that makes any sense. I think what I'm going to do is move on to the next day and come back to these when I am past the honeymoon period of this way of eating.

[Idgie]

For the past 6 weeks, I have tracked every bite I've eaten with SparkPeople's nutrition tracker, but when I eat this way, my nutrient numbers (macro and micro) are always fine, so I've decided to stop doing that and just note what I'm eating on my What I'm Eating thread on this site. It is fun for my geeky mind to know what the numbers are doing, but when I eat MWL, the numbers are always good, so there's really no reason for me to do that as long as I'm staying compliant.

Picked up the Forks Over Knives magazine at the grocery store today, and there's a big article on tacos. It made me want something similar, so next time I eat, it will be burrito bowls: quinoa, brown rice, kale, black beans, corn, peas, salsa, and shredded lettuce. I'm looking forward to it.

[AlwaysAgnes]

For the past 6 weeks, I have tracked every bite I've eaten with SparkPeople's nutrition tracker, but when I eat this way, my nutrient numbers (macro and micro) are always fine, so I've decided to stop doing that and just note what I'm eating on my What I'm Eating thread on this site. It is fun for my geeky mind to know what the numbers are doing, but when I eat MWL, the numbers are always good, so there's really no reason for me to do that as long as I'm staying compliant.

Picked up the Forks Over Knives magazine at the grocery store today, and there's a big article on tacos. It made me want something similar, so next time I eat, it will be burrito bowls: quinoa, brown rice, kale, black beans, corn, peas, salsa, and shredded lettuce. I'm looking forward to it.

I use to do Spark People, years ago. Tracking food is hard for me because I basically have to do a recipe analysis every time I make a meal. I mean it's not "I ate a cup of rice, and this, this, and this. It's more like I made this soup which contained this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and I ate 2 cups of it. Make sense? Tracking can be a real pain if you're not eating single item plain foods or don't have recipes already analyzed.

I think this latest issue of FOK is probably the best.

[Idgie]

Yes, the time commitment is a big reason for me to stop tracking each food. I am willing to take that kind of time if I need to, but I feel like as long as I'm compliant, it's unnecessary.

[Idgie]

Was out shopping today and partner and I both got really hungry (we were out longer than I expected). I gave myself a pep talk and decided I would make the best possible choice at the food court. They had a Chipotle and a fruit stand, and I chose Chipotle -- brown rice, black beans, salsa, onions, corn, and peppers. Ate about 2/3 of it. According to their nutrition calculator, I ended up with about 6 grams of fat and 10 grams of fiber in what I ate, and that's pretty darn good. The other choice would have been a fruit salad at the fruit stand, but I opted for the starch. The bowl was very close to what I eat at home, but mine obviously has no added oil, and I'm sure theirs has a little.

[bunsofaluminum]

Good going, on your food choices. Wouldn't it be wonderful if these fast food places all offered TRULY healthy choices? I mean WHY do restaurant beans need OIL in them? But you did well, choosing what you did.

[Rosey]

Good going, on your food choices. Wouldn't it be wonderful if these fast food places all offered TRULY healthy choices? I mean WHY do restaurant beans need OIL in them? But you did well, choosing what you did.

You might ask them I've actually heard that their black beans don't have oil/lurd added.

[Idgie]

Yeah, that's a good idea. For me, though, I eat out almost never, so I'm not going to worry about an occasional meal that isn't 100% compliant.

[AlwaysAgnes]

Good going, on your food choices. Wouldn't it be wonderful if these fast food places all offered TRULY healthy choices? I mean WHY do restaurant beans need OIL in them? But you did well, choosing what you did.

You might ask them I've actually heard that their black beans don't have oil/lurd added.

I found this online https://www.chipotle.com/ingredient-statement
It shows that the beans (black and pinto) and rice (white and brown) have rice bran oil.