Stephanie's Journal - Moving Right Along

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Journal!


Happy early Valentine’s Day! ❤️


Here are a couple of lunches from the week. Made a huge pot of Mexi Soup and ate it over brown rice. I love this!!

Making a pot of veggie soup – just dump whatever veggies you like into the crockpot and turn it on! Turns out great every time. Added a big box of baby bella mushrooms.

Here is a dinner for the week! Loving pears right now of all sorts.
Love what you do

Happy, Healthy, Strong - 2024

1) Follow MWL checklist (closely)
Yes.
2) Exercise (daily walk, 2-3X/week strength train, pickleball)
Met the minimum this week. At busy times, I am thankful for the events / classes that I have signed up for which I don’t miss.
3) Connect with family and friends
Yes.
4) Plan for retirement
Looking to get started here in Q2.
5) Events – social / exercise
Did ok – not great in last week’s PB tournament. Got eliminated from the work table tennis tournament, but it was fun and hoping to find a group of folks to play with throughout the year. Signed up for another PB tournament to challenge the mediocrity.


Below is behavioral assessment that I will post for week of 2/9.

Hi Team Time & Adherence,

Hope everyone is doing terrific!

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Many times – 16/21.

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Yes.

3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
Yes.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes.

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes.

6 Eliminate any added oil.
Yes.

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn, and dried fruit).
Yes.

8 Don’t drink your calories especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
I think so. I am never starving and continue to be mindful to stop eating at satiation.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
5/7. A very busy work week – resulted in less time available in this space. This was a one-off where a deadline was pushed forward 2 weeks – so hoping to be back to at least a 6/7 next week.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

I have a busy weekend coming up – my FIL’s 90th birthday, niece’s baby shower, a Super Bowl party… Should be lots of fun but a bit more hectic than ideal… I will be bringing lots of fruit trays --- have already got them set to go and packing potato and sweet potatoes in my purse. The red sweet potatoes are amazing, if you haven’t tried them --- check them out!

Bambi and Starflower – I am with you in eating lots of soup at this time! It is nicely warming and comforting in the cold weather for sure! Thanks for sharing what you are doing!! Gimmelean had posted a Kitchari recipe a year or two ago that was fantastic!

Mark – thanks for all that you do to support us!!

Wishing everyone a happy and productive upcoming week! Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

Cheers,
Stephanie

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Journal!


LOVED this Valentine from a fellow pickler! ❤️

Here is a grocery haul from today – got some of my favorite things. Love tomatoes of all kinds and had a stash of the heirloom ones at home so got some on the vine… Can never have too many mangoes!!! Found out that the red sweet potatoes that I love are called Royal Flush – I guess like you have won the sweet potato jackpot. Try them if you haven’t!

Here is what I ate today before a big bowl of oatmeal. I am loving honeydews right now. Always loving Romaine lettuce and persian cucumbers.


Happy, Healthy, Strong - 2024

1) Follow MWL checklist (closely)
Yes.
2) Exercise (daily walk, 2-3X/week strength train, pickleball)
Ramped it up a bit from last week. Still time challenged.
3) Connect with family and friends
Yes. Trying to plan activities that don’t involve food to meet up with friends. Will be more options when the weather gets nicer.
4) Plan for retirement
Looking to get started here in Q2.
5) Events – social / exercise
Yes – my weekly Pickle Spears class is so much fun and also just completed league for this session – will start again next week (hoping to get off the intermediate waitlist). Have a tournament at the new Pickle Haus tomorrow with my partner. Also taking off Monday and will be meeting the group at a large gym. Will be seeing if all of that pickleball in a row brings back the dreaded plantar fasciitis --- if so, will need to consider in future scheduling.


Below is behavioral assessment that I will post for week of 2/16.

Hi Team Time & Adherence,

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Around 50%. I didn’t count this week.

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Yes. I really love my meals. Always oatmeal and fruit this week for breakfast. For lunch and dinner had a vegetable stew (heavy on the potatoes and carrots) and Mexi Soup over brown rice. Also enjoyed split pea soup and sweet potatoes. I usually eat with salad (favorite raw veggies on a plate) and fruit.

3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
Yes – reduced not eliminated.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes.

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes.

6 Eliminate any added oil.
Yes.

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn, and dried fruit).
Mostly. EXCEPTION this week was that I ate a raisin wheat bagel at a shower I attended along with fruit.

8 Don’t drink your calories especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
I still try to be mindful to stop eating at satiation. I think sometimes I do eat a bit past that point.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
5/7. Again a busy work week (so less time). I did take a walk outside 2 days at lunch when it was in the forties and sunny. Felt amazing!

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

I appreciate Gimmelean raising the topic last week on how it may feel self-centered to meet own needs with so many other competing priorities. Mark – I really loved your answer on not considering this as a bilateral choice and your other thoughts. Personally, I have failed / fallen off of McD plan before when I was a caregiver pulled in multiple directions and working full-time. I do believe that it is important to ensure our own health in order to better be able to help loved ones / fulfill other responsibilities. I try to make most of my meals quick, easy, and portable so that I don’t seek out other options. I can 100% relate to that feeling of walking between the raindrops.

Hope everyone has a terrific week!!!

Best,
Stephanie

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Journal!


So ready to head back outdoors!

I went grocery shopping this week when I was hungry and passed a bunch of vegan baked goods that had my mouth watering (when I realized I STOPPED looking at them!). Anyway, only damage is I got some extra mangoes that I am looking forward to – these are delicious!

Enjoyed a lunch of Jeff burgers with sweet potato and some salad veggies. Going to replenish the burgers this weekend. They freeze well and I like to make a big batch which usually lasts me for a month.

Tried new to me white sweet potatoes this week. This one was enormous and quite tasty!

Still my favorite salad – brown rice, corn off the cob, beans with romaine, tomatoes, and cucumber. I added some salsa on top. Could eat this forever. ❤️

Here is an easy veggie soup that I made this week in the crock pot.


Happy, Healthy, Strong - 2024

1) Follow MWL checklist (closely)
Yes.
2) Exercise (daily walk, 2-3X/week strength train, pickleball)
Yes. 2 Days strength, pickleball 6/7 days ❤️, lots of walking (some in the sun).
3) Connect with family and friends
Yes. Planning a vacation with my husband and found a place with full kitchen. Score!
4) Plan for retirement
Looking to get started here in Q2.
5) Events – social / exercise
Yes! Dropped advanced league and started intermediate again. My buddy who teaches at my gym asked me to join his group for a mini tournament which was lots of fun. Did a tournament at Pickle Haus with my partner. Took President’s Day off work and practiced with my “summer” group. My feet are fine after this stress testing --- so YAY to that! I have been consistently / daily doing an Egoscue exercise to relieve plantar fasciitis that must have helped here!


Below is behavioral assessment that I will post for week of 2/23.

Hi Team Time & Adherence,

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Lots of times – between 1/2 and 2/3 of meals.

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Yes.

3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
Mostly. Had a lunch out with a friend – again CPK – had the Smashed Pea & Barley soup which is definitely a sodium bomb. Didn’t salt / season other foods that day.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes.

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes.

6 Eliminate any added oil.
Yes.

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn, and dried fruit).
Yes.

8 Don’t drink your calories especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
I continue to be mindful to stop eating at satiation.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
YES! Had a blast playing lots of pickleball – the best week I can remember since moving inside. Also, keeping consistent with strength training 2-3 times a week. Again, had a couple of lunch times where I was able to walk outside in unseasonably nice weather. YAY to that!

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Awesome share last week, Mark with all of the prep routines from prior weeks!!! ❤️

I am calling a victory on a recent lunch where I met a friend at CPK. I was able to get the off-menu salad that I asked for – kept it really simple – just said that I would love just lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers. So, YAY – received exactly that!

Wishing everyone a marvelous week ahead with lots of healthy food, activity, and smiles!

Best,
Stephanie

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Journal!




“All the leaves are brown…. And the sky is gray… I went for a walk on a winters day…“ – The Mamas & The Papas


Here is my grocery haul from yesterday. Scored a bunch of yellow mangoes and a couple of melons. Loving all of the lettuce! Yellow potatoes!!


Made a batch of Jeff burgers – used dark red kidney and cannellini beans, oatmeal, salsa, hot sauce, corn, mushrooms, and water chestnuts. They are yummy.




Happy, Healthy, Strong - 2024

1) Follow MWL checklist (closely)
Yes.
2) Exercise (daily walk, 2-3X/week strength train, pickleball)
Yes. Took one rest day – keeps the enthusiasm up. LOL.
3) Connect with family and friends
Yes. Lots of planning for upcoming events and played a bunch of games.
4) Plan for retirement
Looking to get started here in Q2.
5) Events – social / exercise
Yes. This week I played in Pickle Spears which ended early in the park district closet due to tornadoes in area. Had league last night with some close games and my partner and I focusing on strategy and different stacking approaches. Taking a day off this week to play a fun tournament with my club and then go out to lunch.


Below is behavioral assessment that I will post for week of 3/1.

Hi Team Time & Adherence,

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Many times, not always.

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Yes and I still ❤️ my meals.

3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
Yes – reduced not eliminated.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes.

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes.

6 Eliminate any added oil.
Yes.

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn, and dried fruit).
Mostly. Had an energy depleting day where I had a couple of handfuls of pretzels that I usually peacefully coexist with. We had bad storms in the area and when I made it home after sheltering in place at pickleball, found we had lost power and had a good clip of work to do to clean up debris / huge branches (taller than our house – looks like a new tree). Sounds like I am writing an excuse like “the dog ate my homework” – Ha! I had successfully navigated a “food day” at work where the food was displayed about 10 feet from my work area all day – that’s why I think it was an energy depleting day. If I run into another work food day like that, I will move to another location --- which should be do-able. Otherwise, I feel ok about this as being a day with extenuating circumstances.

8 Don’t drink your calories especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
I continue to be mindful to stop eating at satiation. I think I did ok here this week.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes – 6/7 (one rest day). Really looking forward to playing pickleball OUTSIDE tomorrow with my group. It is forecast to be a high of 70 degrees. Woo-hoo!

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Yay that folks are able to post to the group!!

Welcome back, Kirsty!

Starflower – hope your week goes better. Fruit, veggies and potatoes sound wonderful --- they are so easy, delicious, and portable!

I very much appreciate your comments last week, Mark. I do feel calm and comfortable in continuing to follow this way of eating. I think that I have gotten quite used to the idea that we all will regularly run into circumstances that are outside of our control and to just try to do our best to navigate through these events. Then, onward --- back to regular life.

Happy March, everyone!! Spring is almost here!! Hope you all have a fantastic week!

Cheers,
Stephanie

[kirstykay]

Thanks for the warm welcome! I'm glad to be back! Had fun reading through much of your journal. I love your positive energy and all the pictures of your food!! So encouraging as I'm just getting back here! I need to start a new journal. I am heading to Denver today to visit my daughter, so I think I will start one next week. Just wanted to pop in here and say "Hi" and let you know that reading your journal has been extremely helpful and encouraging to me!

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Kirsty, Thank you so much for stopping by!! I really appreciate your wonderful comments. Looking forward to sharing the journey with you!!!


Hi Journal!



Two recent walks --- YAY to the ducks and BOO to closing walking trails…


Was going to share a picture of my grocery haul and realized it looks like the last few --- almost exactly. So, this was my favorite non-food item purchased this morning! Tulips are a sure sign of Spring!!!!




Happy, Healthy, Strong - 2024

1) Follow MWL checklist (closely)
Yes.
2) Exercise (daily walk, 2-3X/week strength train, pickleball)
Yes. Still working with my trainer usually 2 days a week. Took Thursday off work and joined a fun tournament with my pb club.
3) Connect with family and friends
Yes. Meeting up with my bff today.
4) Plan for retirement
Looking to get started here in Q2.
5) Events – social / exercise
Yes. Lots of social playing this week. I even found a mixed doubles partner last week for an April tournament. Consistently strong on this point.


Below is behavioral assessment that I will post for week of 3/8.

Hi Team Time & Adherence,

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Sometimes.

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Yes.

3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
Yes – reduced not eliminated.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes.

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes.

6 Eliminate any added oil.
Yes.

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn, and dried fruit).
Yes.

8 Don’t drink your calories especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages.
Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
I think so. I continue to be mindful to stop eating at satiation.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes – 7/7. Walked (sometimes outside) and did strength training. Had an awesome week of pickleball!

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Mark – Hope your weather in Princeton has changed for the better and the sun is shining brightly! Loved your post last week with all of the references on pre-loading! Always appreciate the reminder from JeffN that “MWL guidelines are guidelines, not black and white rules…the more you do, the more you can benefit.”


Kirsty – Thanks for sharing your background. At some point in time, we could have been Chicagoland neighbors… You are so inspiring with what you have already achieved!


Bambi – Grow with Jo sounds fun!


Welcome, Sarabee!


A big HI to Rebecka and Starflower and anyone else to come!


Gimmelean – I am with you on work being a tough environment to navigate. Wish that there were no food days!!! My son’s work provided each employee with a bag of candy bars this week for Employee Appreciation Day – like 12 different full-size candy bars …. (which he left in the middle of the table)… Seriously?


I was THRILLED to see my interview with Heather last summer on the 12 Day Program posted to the McDougall YouTube channel. This community (shout out to Mark, Wildgoose, JeffN) has been a key element for me also. It helps so much to have this space to be able to learn and share. ❤️ Thank you!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unpu3xgMwOY&t=1s


Wishing everyone a terrific week with lots of sunshine, healthy food, and activity.

Cheers,
Stephanie

[Starflower]

Hey Stephanie!

I just watched your YouTube interview. It’s so inspiring! You make it all seem really doable. Thank you for sharing the link!

Wishing you a wonderful week!

[kirstykay]

I loved seeing your video also, Stephanie! Your story is inspiring. Thanks for your honest transparency and making it feel so simple. I know it IS simple, just not always easy and I really do overcomplicate things so much of the time. But I just thought, "yeah, it really is that simple, I just need to do it."
Quick question:
I was wondering how you upload your pictures on this forum. I used to know, but I have forgotten. Thanks!

[VegSeekingFit]

Thank you, Starflower and Kirsty for terrific comments. I really did hope to convey that it can be very simple to do this and SO WORTH IT!

Kirsty, to include pictures --- you need to have them hosted on a 3rd party site like Flicker or PostImages or another – there are many options. Then, use the tags [img]XXX[/img] and copy the URL to your photo instead of the XXX.

Hi Journal!


Happy St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow!!! I am celebrating with a ladies day out to pickleball… there are at least 20 of us --- should be lots of fun!


Here is my favorite breakfast!! (still!)




Happy, Healthy, Strong - 2024

1) Follow MWL checklist (closely)
Yes.
2) Exercise (daily walk, 2-3X/week strength train, pickleball)
Yes. Have not been focusing on intervals for maybe the past month – did these once this week at indoor track and planning to do at least once a week.
3) Connect with family and friends
Yes.
4) Plan for retirement
Looking to get started here in Q2.
5) Events – social / exercise
Yes. Mostly around pickleball here. Have a girls day out for St Pats, weekly league and “king of the court” events.


Below is behavioral assessment that I will post for week of 3/15.

Hi Team Time & Adherence,

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
About 50% of the time.

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Yes. Had a couple of days pressed for time this week making a super easy meal for dinner helped!
Here are a couple:
Romaine, pear and potatoes
Carrots, apple, and Dr. McD split Pea soup with brown rice

3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
Yes – reduced not eliminated.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes.

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes.

6 Eliminate any added oil.
Yes.

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn, and dried fruit).
Yes.

8 Don’t drink your calories especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages.
Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Continuing to work on being mindful to stop eating at satiation. I did ok this week. I think 1 meal I ate over that mark.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes – 6/7. Same old – walking, strength training, as much pickleball as I can!

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
Artista – thank you for nice comment last week!

Mark – thank you for making this an incredible place to be!

Hope that everyone enjoys the week!

Best,
Stephanie

[Ejeff]

Stephanie love your vibrant photos! The St. Patrick’s Day one is so bright. So when you eat you favorite breakfast do you just munch on all the romaine leaves plain and then eat your oatmeal? I was just curious as I never eat plain greens without something on them.

Thanks
Erin

PS Glad you are getting lots of great Pickleball play in.

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Erin !
Hope you are doing great and enjoying a bunch of pickleball!
Yes, I eat romaine leaves plain all the time – I ❤️ them that way!!! When I first started McD’ing, I was eating salads maybe once or twice a day and not always loving them. Over time, I have found that I really don’t care for vinegar that much, but really enjoy veggies plain.

Hi Journal!


Had a blast celebrating St. Patrick’s Day at the Pickle Haus!!! We had about 30 ladies on 5 courts and some competitive and fun matches!!


Still really busy with work – so had several easy meals this week. Potatoes were great with mango and pear!


Remains my favorite lunch! Sometimes it is split into lunch and part of dinner (or lunch and a snack) depending on how hungry I am.



Happy, Healthy, Strong - 2024

1) Follow MWL checklist (closely)
Yes.
2) Exercise (daily walk, 2-3X/week strength train, pickleball)
Yes. Did intervals and strength training twice for the week. A few days of pickleball and several days of walking.
3) Connect with family and friends
Yes.
4) Plan for retirement
Looking to get started here in Q2.
5) Events – social / exercise
Yes. Next weekend will be playing a fun tournament with a buddy and got a few other pals to sign up as well. Have the half marathon with my friend coming up quickly in early May. Will be walking most (if not all) of it.


Below is behavioral assessment that I will post for week of 3/22.

Hi Team Time & Adherence,

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Still about 50% of the time.

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Yes.

3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
Yes – reduced not eliminated.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes.

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Mostly. See 7.

6 Eliminate any added oil.
Mostly. See 7.

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn, and dried fruit).
Mostly. I had a meal out after a group pickleball event. I ordered a hummus tray which had beautiful raw veggies (including black broccoli, watermelon radish, cucumber, carrots) and a few pita bread triangles with hummus. I left about 75% of the hummus, but I did eat some and it was definitely made with tahini and drizzled with oil on top (which I tried to eat around). Next time I will ask for double veggies with no hummus or pita. I have not mastered the bring your own food into the restaurant with you skill. I did have potatoes and an apple in the car which I planned to eat on the way home --- but I was hungrier than I thought after playing pickleball and did not wait or go get what I brought from the car.

8 Don’t drink your calories especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages.
Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Yes. Continuing to be mindful here. I caught myself twice this week continuing to eat past satiation and was able to hit pause.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes – 6/7. Traded out exercising one day for hanging out with my son – we had a great time so was worth it!!

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Happy official spring!!! Here in Chicagoland, we got hit with an inch of snow yesterday --- covering the daffodils. The chill should be short-lived and the snow is mostly melted!
Jeff – As others have said, I am comfortable participating with the group in either of these options. I value this group and will move where it goes!! I am only familiar with the email type of Google Groups which works like Mailchimp. I have “lightly” participated in a Discord group last summer --- ironically one that a guy from the McD 12 day last July set up. Discord seems to be intuitive to use and provides a plethora of ways to express yourself (emojis, etc.). To participate in a Discord group, you must be invited, and some may need support to get up and running once they receive the invite. Would be happy to support in a dry run or beta testing or anything needed to move to a different venue.

I do exactly as Gimmelean described for posting here. I always copy / paste from a document on my home PC and if I get logged off, I just re-copy it.

Mark –Hope that you have a fantastic birthday celebrating with your family!



Wishing everyone a happy and healthy week!

Cheers,
Stephanie 

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Journal!


My buddy who is very crafty made us matching tournament shirts.


I got a new bowl for my oatmeal!! Also was a bit heavy with the mango here, but it was delicious!


Buy one get, one free cut up veggies is a SCORE! Also, can’t stop buying corn on the cob…



Happy, Healthy, Strong - 2024

1) Follow MWL checklist (closely)
Yes.
2) Exercise (daily walk, 2-3X/week strength train, pickleball)
Yes. Daily walking. Did intervals and strength training once each for the week. Much less pickleball than usual – but will ramp back up next week!
3) Connect with family and friends
Yes.
4) Plan for retirement
Looking to get started here in Q2.
5) Events – social / exercise
Yes. My tournament today was cancelled due to low enrollment. What a bummer. Have 2 coming up in later April – both mixed doubles. My pickleball enthusiasm got my friend from high school who is a fantastic tennis player to try it and she is now hooked. She has found the guy with the highest DUPR rating in our state and wants us to take lessons with him – we shall see.


Below is behavioral assessment that I will post for week of 3/29.

Hi Team Time & Adherence,

YAY, it finally really feels like Spring here! Got in a great walk outside this morning – love seeing all of the bright and happy daffodils blooming, birds chirping and others people out and about enjoying the weather!!!

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Remains about 50% of the time.

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Yes.

3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
Yes – reduced not eliminated.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes.

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes.

6 Eliminate any added oil.
Yes.

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn, and dried fruit).
Yes.

8 Don’t drink your calories especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages.
Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Yes. Not stuffing or starving. Still being mindful.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes. Not as much as usual, but got at least 30 min. of brisk walking in each day. We have a great indoor walking venue at work where there is a loop – about 14 laps is a mile. When there are busy days, I take a couple of breaks during the day and walk in the basement.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Wildgoose Thank you so much for your feedback last week. You were right on with me being a bit apprehensive about taking my own food right to the table in the restaurant. I am a master at pre-eating (or sneak eating LOL) and finding compliant items to order (if they exist at the venue). Appreciate your examples and details of how you have done this (also love the idea of warm brown rice bowl) --- and am going to give it a run next weekend when I am going back to the same place where I had a miss last week.

Kirstykay – We are going out to an Easter brunch tomorrow at a restaurant. I am planning to stick to fruit and raw veggies / salad. Will eat my oatmeal before. Your Shepherd’s Pie sounds great!

Mark – Hope you have an amazing time in the Big Apple! Sounds exciting - especially for your daughter!!!

Hope you all have a beautiful spring weekend and enjoy the week!

Cheers,
Stephanie

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Journal!




My favorite salad miniaturized!


Made whole wheat pasta and threw it over a salad and mixed it up– really good!


Different oatmeal – has wild blueberries in it which are super cute and tasty!


Scored a huge pack of portabella mushrooms today! Also bought some melons I haven’t had recently – Galia and Mayan Ball. All the tomatoes!! Noticed when I was choosing frozen fruit how small the shelf space was in comparison to frozen waffles and other processed breakfast stuff --- like 1 to 3. Still got some nice fruit (but wow, wouldn’t it be cool if the shelf real estate was reversed).



Happy, Healthy, Strong - 2024

1) Follow MWL checklist (closely)
Yes.
2) Exercise (daily walk, 2-3X/week strength train, pickleball)
Yes. I have consistently done strength training 2-3x/week for 6 months (except week I was on cruise). I am definitely stronger and have built some upper body muscle that I can detect (LOL). Best outcome that I hadn’t expected is that I have re-grown a half inch!! I will continue to work with my trainer as that is helping me to keep accountable and consistent here. My goal is to continue to get stronger and to keep this as a sustainable habit.
3) Connect with family and friends
Yes.
4) Plan for retirement
Looking to get started here in Q2.
5) Events – social / exercise
Yes. Have organized a small group outing tomorrow at Pickle Haus. My favorite Pickle Spears starts up again next week. Really looking forward to moving it outside consistently!


Below is behavioral assessment that I will post for week of 4/5.

Hi Team Time & Adherence,

Happy April!!!

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Still about 50% of the time.

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Yes.

3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
Yes – reduced not eliminated.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes.

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes.

6 Eliminate any added oil.
Yes.

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn, and dried fruit).
Yes.

8 Don’t drink your calories especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages.
Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Yes. I am still paying attention to this one. Was all good this week.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes. Walk / jogged today about 6 miles and it was beautiful outside and felt great!!! My pickleball league moves outside next week – must be spring!

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

I always ❤️ reviewing the week and hearing how everyone is doing with different challenges. Also get so many great ideas from Mark and Wildgoose’s feedback!

Tomorrow I am going to bring my own food INTO a restaurant (where I have been and know nothing there is compliant that can constitute a meal). Will bring a Jeff burger and sweet potato and supplement with their raw veggies. This will really be my first time using this approach – but feeling good about it. I am practicing nonchalance!!! Will report back next week!



Bambi – Yay for a good week!


Starflower – Awesome that SAD foods don’t appeal!!!


Rebecka – I have to +1 your comment on how it can be hard to be around a spread of food all day. For me, it can help to keep a physical distance from certain items!! Yay that you made it through unscathed!!!


Artista – Awesome that your shoulder is doing great and you are healthy weight!! I also find removing the thought of needing to be perfect – or removing judgment – so helpful to keeping this a sustainable lifestyle.


Sarabee – Loved your comment on feeling motivated and on focusing on long-term health!!


Gimmelean – Thanks for kind comment last week! I also like to go back and refresh on the materials sometimes and check out other articles on the website. This week I’ve been reading some of the newsletter archives – have found some fun articles like Dr. McD’s one on meeting Carl Lewis.


Welcome back, Chesca!


Wishing everyone lots of delicious starch, smiles, and spring this week!


Best,
Stephanie

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Journal!


I crossed the street with these geese on a walk this week!!


Roasted a big pan of mushrooms and broccoli – delicious with pasta or rice!


Food I packed for work. I am liking now to make my oatmeal with fruit the night before and refrigerate it for the next day (and eat it cold). The pasta was great with some roasted veggies and a crumbled up Jeff burger with tomato sauce.


Here is my favorite starchy salad that I usually have for lunch. It has brown rice, corn from the cob, and beans as well as a bunch of tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, mango, and grapes. All topped with salsa. Cannot get sick of this. ❤️


Bought some fruit and veggies today – have plenty of oats, brown rice, corn, potatoes, beans in the house. I lost a couple of heads of lettuce – not sure what’s up with that!



Happy, Healthy, Strong - 2024

1) Follow MWL checklist (closely)
Yes.
2) Exercise (daily walk, 2-3X/week strength train, pickleball)
Yes. I have registered for a once-a-week strength training session to complement what I am already doing. Pickleball is amazing – started league outside yesterday and continuing to play in Pickle Spears.
3) Connect with family and friends
Yes.
4) Plan for retirement
Looking to get started here in Q2. Soon!!!!
5) Events – social / exercise
Yes. Our group outing to Pickle Haus was tons of fun. We are getting together outside this weekend as well. The next two weekends I will be in mixed doubles tournaments.
6) New – Get some prime-time sun. Target being out each non-rainy day between 10:30 and 2 for at least 15 minutes. I walked outside for a few days this week at lunch when it was sunny. Felt great!


Below is behavioral assessment that I will post for week of 4/12.

Hi Team Time & Adherence,

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Sometimes – roughly 40%.

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Yes.

3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
Yes – reduced not eliminated.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes.

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes.

6 Eliminate any added oil.
Yes.

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn, and dried fruit).
Yes.

8 Don’t drink your calories especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages.
Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Yes. Still being mindful.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes. Loving the changeover to outdoors for walking and pickleball playing!

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:


It has been an awesome week! The beautiful spring weather works magic on mood!!!


I did not bring my own food into the restaurant as I said I would last week. I was hungry beforehand, so I ate my meal right before going (to play pickleball) and had a few raw veggies at the outing. Bringing my own food to a restaurant is an approach that I do want to build competence in – so will look forward to the next opportunity to give it a go.


Thank you, Mark for all that you do for this group!!!


Hope that everyone has a fantastic week practicing healthy habits!


Best,
Stephanie

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Journal!

A quick post since I have to get up at the crack of dawn to make my first ever Mixed Doubles pickleball match!




Another starchy salad – corn from 2 ears, beans, and brown rice! Loving lots of colorful tomatoes in there and a bit of mango and black grapes. ❤️


Brown rice, corn, smashed beans with some salsa and a salad.

Happy, Healthy, Strong - 2024

1) Follow MWL checklist (closely)
Yes.
2) Exercise (daily walk, 2-3X/week strength train, pickleball)
In spirit. Was sick this week for 3 days. Made the 2x / week strength training and got in 3 league / group pickleball days. Did 2 jog / walks – one inside and the other outside. So, a bit short on the walking. Had to delay starting the weekly strength session I registered for last week.
3) Connect with family and friends
Yes.
4) Plan for retirement
Looking to get started here in Q2. Soon!!!!
5) Events – social / exercise
Yes.
6) Get some prime-time sun. Target being out each non-rainy day between 10:30 and 2 for at least 15 minutes. Made 2 days for a good clip of time. Otherwise, bad week to start when I was sick.


Below is behavioral assessment that I will post for week of 4/19.

Hi Team Time & Adherence,
Hope that everyone is doing great!
1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Just a few times for the week.

2 Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
This was an atypical week for me. I was sick / sweating out the fever for 3 days on the couch. I ate much more starch concentrated than I normally do (like a bowl of rice and corn or split pea soup with rice or potatoes only). I am already well back to my standard starchy / non-starchy meals. I did find the super starchy meals worked great with a semi-upset tummy.

3 Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
Yes – reduced not eliminated.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes.

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes.

6 Eliminate any added oil.
Yes.

7 Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn, and dried fruit).
Yes.

8 Don’t drink your calories especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages.
Yes.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Yes – no stuffing or starving. I was a lot less hungry when I was sick and stopped eating when feeling comfortably full.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Well, not a banner week for me with a few 100% rest days. I did bounce back really well and did strength training, pickleball, and a few jog / walks for the week. I am playing in my first ever mixed doubles pickleball tournament early on Saturday!

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Carol – Glad to see you back!! It sounds like you are doing wonderful!!! I love this group for the sense of community – similar to what you articulated.

Mark – Thank you so much for your supportive comments last week (and all of the other weeks too!)!

I have packed bananas, potatoes, carrots, and Jeff Burgers for my pickleball tournament tomorrow. I am making regular oatmeal to eat in the car on the way cold. I have another tournament the following week so will see if any adjustments to food would be helpful.


Hope that everyone has a terrific week!


Best,
Stephanie