LLP'S success journal

[LLP]

I can't seem to stick with a plant-based diet as much as I need to.

I have had two bouts with pneumonia which have left me with really bad asthma. I have acute anemia and am on a giant iron pill. I have lost about half of my hair since last year. I get bad migraines every couple of weeks but the worst is that I think I had a mini-stroke 2 weeks ago. I had interrupted vision, slurred speech and a migraine made worse by numbness in my hands, a racing heart and almost fainting. Oh, and I have scalp psoriasis which was a new phenomenon this year. I'm 15 pounds overweight. I used to run, well, slow jog, half-marathons and even completed an Olympic distance triathlon. But now I do nothing but have insomnia. I'm tired of this half-life I'm living.

I've been a lurker here for years. I know this woe will help me. It has helped my young son battle lichen planus and my father battle leukemia. It can help me....I just have to stop sneaking French fries and ridiculous amounts of chocolate. Oh, did I mention that I'm only 43 and am less healthy than my husband's 90 something year old grandparents?

Enough! I'm keeping a journal to write down every tiny thing that goes in my mouth....starting tomorrow because I just polished off a bag of chocolate chips.

[LLP]

Today:

B: oatmeal
L: sweet potato and spinach salad
D: HH roasted chickpea salad, kale salad with fat free Caesar dressing

Spoiler Alert: if you are struggling with a chocolate addiction, stop reading!

Snack: large handful of chocolate covered peanuts. ok, my disclaimer is that I downed these before I even realized I was eating them! Does anyone else do that? Eat absolutely mindlessly?

But I'm not going to call this a fail because usually I would have given up for the day and chased this mess-up with another 1000 cal or so of junk food.

Tomorrow the cupboards are going to be cleaned out and the teenagers' junk food is going in its own cupboard.

Exercise: none
Sleep last night: heart racing on and off for about 2 hours around 3am. Did fall back to sleep though.
Fat: 34% of today's food. (Room for improvement)

[LLP]

Yesterday was much better. My husband and I were talking (I was complaining about not getting to eat whatever I want) and I realized that I was coveting other's food without giving a thought to the consequences they would have to face for their decisions. I know that sounds so simple but yesterday I went through the day telling myself not to covet what others have. It was just a brain game but it really helped.

B: oatmeal, apple, cinnamon
L: leftover HH roasted chickpea salad
D: kale pomegranate salad with oil free dressing and lentil soup

Snack: more kale salad (yep, it was that good)

Exercise: none

Sleep: fell asleep around 1 am and got up at 8am. Last day of that since the kids went back to school today.

Heart racing for 1 hour between 11:30pm and 12:30 ish.

[LLP]

B: oatmeal, plain (it wasn't quite so hard to eat it this morning-yay! Progress!)
L: spring mix salad with oil free poppyseed dressing, mcdougall black bean soup cup, apple
D: salad without dressing, potatoes and madras lentils (delicious!)

Snack: small handful pecans (I should probably re-evaluate eating those with the heart issues I'm having)

Exercise:none
Fat: I didn't enter my food in the percentage calculator
Sleep: good, without heart racing! Yay!

[LLP]

I stopped posting in the journal because I found that I focused too much on what I couldn't have. Then I traveled to a professional workshop and found that I had to either bring my food or eat out for every meal. So I went to the grocery store and bought oatmeal, just fruit jam, a bag of potatoes, barbecue sauce, salad and a bottle of fat free dressing. That's what I ate most of the week. I ended up going back for oil free bread, apples and mini peppers. I nuked the potatoes that morning and put them in a disposable container, brought the salad stuff, dressings, etc. and ate on site most of the time. I looked through the healthyvegans blog and ordered the way they did when I went out to eat. I was shocked that I didn't get tired of eating this way especially with all of the junk everyone was ordering in. I had to field tons of comments about my food but that was the worst of it. I went home two pounds lighter and felt amazing.

Now, I only eat very simply. I make a starch, and a sauce and a veg. It really is that simple. Add a salad or raw veg and I'm good to go. I cut out all oil, even spray oil. I thought I would miss it but that week of being forced to eat the bare minimum of variety really worked wonders. For sauces I use recipes from the newsletters, forum members, Lindsey Nixon, oh she glows (those have to be defatted but they can be delicious....she has a smoky butternut squash sauce that is out of this world, I have to sub mashed potato for the cashews).

My husband is very supportive. That helps a lot. I have been cooking meat once a week for them but have been weaning them off different kinds without them noticing. Now they only get fish once a week and no one has complained. Huge accomplishment considering I have two teens and two pre-teens. My husband takes them for a fast food once in a while, sometimes we go together and I plan ahead for me. My next plan is to push the fish meal out to once every two weeks.

Another thing that I do that helps me have success is that I pick a member that has achieved the level of health I want and I read through all of their posts... I know that sounds a bit weird (my teens would call it being a creeper) but I have learned sooooo much from them. I usually skip the political, etc posts and only read the posts relating to diet. It has been fantastic. I have read most of Dr McDougall's books but I have really learned how to implement the program from reading those posts.

Liz

[Marla]

Hi Liz,

That is so cool that your workshop became an opportunity for you to find out that you could be satisfied with simpler food. Your system of a starch, a sauce, and a veg sounds so easy. I bet others will read this and want to try it.

Another thing that I do that helps me have success is that I pick a member that has achieved the level of health I want and I read through all of their posts... I know that sounds a bit weird (my teens would call it being a creeper) but I have learned sooooo much from them.

I do this too! I have read all of Katydid's posts (she is a hero of mine) and all of Frozenveg's. Recently I found Sweet Pea's journal and read all of it, and she became another role model for me. It is tremendously inspiring and reinforcing to follow in the footsteps of others who have achieved what you are striving for.

Good luck and please keep journaling!

[LLP]

I can't believe that it has been over a year since I last posted. Life has become even more complicated...no one else can relate to that, right?

I have let my food choices get out of control again because I keep using food as a reward for getting through the day. I was doing really well until the last 5-6 months have totally fallen off of the healthy eating wagon. Sigh. and have packed back on 25 pounds. Ugh. I'm caffeinated and exhausted at the same time.

Anyway, I've been watching Chef AJ videos and watching her weight loss and health gain has been so inspiring. A few things are in the forefront of my mind that she said were key for her or perhaps I extrapolated:

1. Have a lot of veg. (I hate veg currently...time to just be an adult and eat it anyway).
2. Pain avoidance. She states that her knee gave her a lot of pain from an accident. I think she said that the pain helped motivate her to eat strictly. I don't know if I've just lived with the pain in my shoulder, heart palpitations, asthma, arthritis, tight clothes, scalp psoriasis, etc. so long that it doesn't feel like a strong enough motivator...at least when I crave a treat, I don't seem to remember any of these things. Not sure how to address these problems.
3. SOS. This is so hard for me. How in the world do you avoid salt, oil, sugar? I've done it before but for some dumb reason feel like I'm standing at the very base of Mount Everest wondering if I can make it back to base camp because I remember how stinking hard that climb is! And then there is a mountain to climb after that!
4. She didn't approach this as a quick fix. She eliminated x, the things that were keeping her back, without thinking that one day she would be able to eat x again.

Good news is that I bought an instant pot! Yay! I have bags and bags of beans just waiting to be cooked. I will try it out tomorrow for Father's Day. I am making the rest of the fam fajitas and I will just have beans instead. After Father's Day, we will all eat McDougall menus because we all need to be healthier.

Here are my start stats:
140 lbs.
US size 8-10 (but still squeezing into my size 6's...can anyone say "major muffin top"?)

tired
dehydrated
arthritis
scalp psoriasis
neck, shoulder, arm pain
insomnia
flabby
cranky
bad breath
always (and I mean ALWAYS) hungry
anxiety...this is a new one
migraines
heart palpitations
anemic
hair loss
lowered self-esteem

Tomorrow, here I come!

[CHEF AJ]

I didn't eat ANY vegetables for the first 43 years of my life and I love them now. Once you eat them regularly and see how slimming they are you will fall in love with them and start to crave them. Try roasting them, it brings out their sweetness.

[LLP]

I did it! I ate peas for breakfast! It actually wasn't that bad

Only problem was that I ran out of time and didn't get any starch...oops.

Lunch was 15 bean soup and so was dinner. Need more greens tomorrow.

Chef AJ, I'll try roasting them. The veg looks so good roasted!

[CHEF AJ]

Actually peas are a starchy vegetable.

[LLP]

Chef AJ-Sweet! Who knew?!

B-peas again. really like those morning peas. also, oatmeal.
L-15 bean soup
D-to be determined. We are selling our house and the inspection is this afternoon and evening. It may end up being a wendy's baked potato and a salad.

[LLP]

B-oatmeal
L-forgot to eat and then was starving so I ate 3 granola bars....
D-back on track with baked beans and faux au gratin potatoes

no greens. How did that happen? Lack of planning. This is an issue I need to address.

Craving ice cream or chocolate so I bought a container of strawberries and am eating them. The container was on sale for .97. If I bought a pint of ice cream, I would spend $5 or more. Why is it that I spend $ on junk food without batting an eye but the only reason I chose strawberries instead of raspberries was the cost? hmm.

[LLP]

It’s been a long time since I posted. I have been doing well and have lost 15 pounds in the last year. I’ve hit a plateau for the last few months. So I’m going to post everything I eat here in order to see more clearly the patterns.

Liz