Circle of Friends

[Rosey]

I'm glad you guys got a laugh from the story I know it made me laugh once I got over trying to get them back up. I have officially gave those pants away to a lady on freecycle. I talked to her about my weight loss and I gave her this website. This way of eating has made me healthier and happier. The weight loss is a huge plus but must say the healthier rates higher.

[Christine in Cali]

Hi You all....

It's so nice to hear such great and funny news from everyone. I think we are all doing so well and we have to fall off sometimes to help us realise what is more important....our Health or that insert some bad food of choice here?

CL I wish I could have been there, I can read the excitement in your post.

L J 7 pounds!!! That is great.....Stay strong my friend

Posey your always a shining light what more can I say cept Thanks


I have been able to resist lately myself, 4 days now, of the nagging cheats that throw themselves at me. I have been thinking a lot about what people wrote in a thread I posted on how to get your spark back....cause mine was dimming. I got something from everyone's reply that helps me refocus and get my priorities straight. We are headed into a tricky season, and I have to hang on cause it maybe a bumpy ride.

I have not started moving yet cause there are still rats in the attic so to say. I am working with the Landlord to get er done though. I spent the evening over there tonight and fixed dinner for my teacher. I did heat up some chicken for her but not a lot and she wanted a Buttermilk/Blue cheese dressing on her salad. I served her dry sauteed Brussels with fresh garlic and sage, mashed potatoes with vegan brown gravy, Salad and her chicken pieces. I had a big plate of everything but the dressing and chicken of course.....They don't really get it that their quality of life could improve even now if they followed this plan....I hope to redirect their thinking while I am there.

Night all, Glad everyone is happy and doing well.

[carollynne]

Still flying high today. I might have to really get into a group that is under the coaching of this Mercersburg group, the only fees that I noticed were for 2 labs, one before and one after the 28 days.
Christine, I really do understand, I have my weak moments too. But not today anyway!!
It was very very awe inspiring to meet Dr Essy and talk to him too, it was cool. He looks great!! And I have a lot of respect for any Viet Nam Veteran, so it was a winner all around. would love to meet with people who were vegan, it is hard to find in my county, as I am surrounded by hunters, and farmers, with small family farms, etc. and high corn fields, but will do it anyway. Nice that my son wanted to go with me. I saw one couple there were dressed in a plain dress like Mennonites.
Way to go, with the 7 lbs loss. I am the same with my wt at the gym but have lost another 1/2 inch in the tummy!! woo hoo! I am back on track now like you would not believe, I feel like nothing can stop me now!!

[LoriJenny]

Good morning!! My sweet dog Bear decided to get up at 3 am and bark in the yard. I went out and got him and brought him into my room and shut the door, and he was pretty rambunctious until 6 am when he just had had enough. He was wanting me to get up and barking and licking me. So I gave up, got up, showered dressed....by this time he was curled up on my pillow fast asleep. LOL.

I was reading through another's journal this morning and she was saying, "just stay on course, everything else will fall into place". I like that idea, sort of set my mind in the right place for the day, so I thought I'd share it with y'all.

It's Saturday...I get to go pick up my CSA box and go to the Farmer's Market

[LoriJenny]

Tomorrow will be a challenge. My folks are coming and they want to go out to lunch and then go bowling...after that home for a little homemade slide show my dad made and he wants pizza and dessert. I already made my rice and bean dinner that I can heat up while everyone else is having pizza, and I'm gonna make an apple pie for dessert because they love it and it's less tempting to me than other things might be. Gonna stay strong, gonna stay on plan...I'm not gonna bounce around anymore!

[to_our_health]

Tomorrow will be a challenge. My folks are coming and they want to go out to lunch and then go bowling...after that home for a little homemade slide show my dad made and he wants pizza and dessert. I already made my rice and bean dinner that I can heat up while everyone else is having pizza, and I'm gonna make an apple pie for dessert because they love it and it's less tempting to me than other things might be. Gonna stay strong, gonna stay on plan...I'm not gonna bounce around anymore!

Yay for you LJ, you have a plan...plant strong, staying strong...until it's just the natural thing to do!

[carollynne]

Good luck to you, Lori Jenny, you can do this, just make it a broken record, your mantra, this is how I eat and no it is not for everyone! I think the people- pleaser in me comes out and I have to reel that one in! Rain and more rain all Sat. and all night!
I just made up a batch of vegan granola, and no oils at all, from the vegan gal site and it is will be in the mail for my vegan son who got the ball rolling my the vegan lifestyle for me.
With all this rain coming down, I have been listening to yet another medical lecture and it was on HFCS, Fructose and the metabolic syndrome. Son found it and was a presentation by Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics. a great lecture, and was amazing to me........My triggers include anything sweet, and if I get started I could eat and slurp, and gobble up stuff, and the leptin is never released to tell my brain I am full up! I am beating that sugar addiction lately and will be strong.
Wish the rain would stop today anyway!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
Anyway, here is the link, if anyone wants it, it was very well worth my time to view it 2x now. packed with lots of good info.

[carollynne]

well today I got on my electronic scale and it said back to me, (just kidding I have to see the numbers ) 176.6
this is progress, and I will get my wt down to the 175 again. I will. I make a good decision today to go ahead and get rid of the old Christmas candy that my sons bought last yr and no one ever will either! They were these huge suckers, from Walmart, and it was nuts, but we hung onto them for sentimental reasons, and they went into the burn barrel and so did the last of the old candy canes, No one is eating them, and oh, yes the carton of those thin fig newtons that are vegan, but the sweetness is out of my control to control, and I think it is the fig alone that makes them so sweet. sweet is my trigger to never have any leptin released and my poor jaws will ache with the chewing before I know it, so out they went. Next will be this basket of small red and white or the green and white disc peppermints and hard candies, that DH usually love to have, and now one one had touched them in months I believe. It is amazing, but I did that , yes I did!
I can also report another success, yesterday at a reception for my DAR Chapter, we had a 50 commemorative ceremony held in this old, old Pre Rev. War ( the war of the Rebellion )church that the chapter owns that was built in1794 and it is really something, and sort of cold, as there was never any heat it in.... etc, for our historical marker about Molly Pitcher, and I had an apple, some grapes, and then had maybe 3 tsps of the curried lentil but absolutely none of the sweet looking desserts, and they had some great looking ones, but I knew that I would not be feeling too great if I tried to cheat. As it was, the extra fruit really is not a good thing either. and my tummy was pretty empty, or so I thought. Plus I knew that my son was cooking all day, he does that to relax, and he made his Jamican red bean soup ( from my sprouted red beans) and his great spaghetti sauce that we had over spaghetti squash!! it was a feast.
I am attempting to do the elimination diet, and this is day 2!! I have the 2 pgs from the www.pcrm.org hand out on it, and I am giving up all the major known triggers. and I mean to tell you , that I love my oatmeal, but it will be work, I will do it. Instead of my usual steel cut oats, I made up a mix of barely, brown rice and quinoa and added some little spices, and a few diced up veggies, and it is good too. Not like my oatmeal tho... I think I was eating too much of the fruit anyway, and the sweetness may not have been the best idea for me, so no more bananas, oranges, tomatoes, oh well, in one month we will see I know.... if I can do it, I finally decided to at least try this elimination diet, because after all, I am about 3/4 of the way there already with the no animal products, no caffeine yada yada!
well that is it for now!! hope you all are doing great and can chime in again!

[LoriJenny]

Hello! Happy Tuesday!! I actually did good on Sunday with my family's visit, so I was happy about that. When we went out to eat I did order a vegan Boca burger, but it was kind of disgusting, I like the blackbean burgers way better, I also had a salad with no cheese no dressing, it was nice and fresh, nice tomatoes

Carollynne, congrats on throwing out the candy and doing so great at the DAR ceremony!! Yay!! Can you tell me more about what leptin is and what it does??

Today is a big day maybe. Waiting for my son to come home from MEPS, apparently he has news...I just don't know what news, I hope it is good news. I'm so nervous!!

Hope everyone is having a great week so far...looks like we are going to get some rain tomorrow...yay for that too!!

[carollynne]

Hey, I am very happy if the news is good from the MEPS station. Sounds very promising and if so, then good for him then!
I did so good today again, so off program stuff, had that same mix of barely, brown rice and quinoa with diced veggies, etc... and really it is not holding me over like steel cut oats. Today I added one sweet potato sliced up thinly to help in the ahhh feeling.
Now this is odd, but today my knees feel actually worse, and here I am on the elimination diet for the inflammation and all. But I shall keep on it for a bit longer. Lunch was a nice salad with mixed greens, with some spinach, berries. Dinner was brown rice with some braggs spaghetti squash, Sons' sp sauce with kale and cauliflower added to it today.
But I did a no no and had a wheat long roll, with pb and jelly when will I learn??
snack was an apple that was all today.
I really wonder if I can ever stick to this elimination diet.
I did see 175 again today! woo-hoo!
LoriJenny, the leptin, is the brain chemical that is released from your brain is telling you that you are not hungry anymore, and all will be well in the world. When I eat celery, I am perfectly ok, and do not need to eat like a mad woman, but give me anything with sweetness, like HFCS and I have to force myself to stop the eating. It does not come naturally. It was the Dr Oz books that I read You on a diet, and You- beautiful, that explained all that to me and it was such a revelation too. loved his books.
I went to fitness center again, and did the machines, plus the pool, walked the dog, hung out laundry, no wonder my knees hurt again.....
Well hope all is well with everyone, night to all!

[LoriJenny]

Hi!! Carollynne, I hope your knees will be feeling better soon, maybe you did just overdo a bit with the exercise yesterday, or maybe it's just gonna take a week or two for the body to respond to the elimination diet. My knees sort of took a little turn for the worse too, but also our weather has changed dramatically in the past week, from 95 degrees and sunny to 65 and rainy, so I think that can cause arthritis to flair up sometimes also.

2 good things happened yesterday. 1. My son got a corpsman position in the US Navy. He was so so excited, I'm so happy for him! He leaves on June 5th, so we have quite a while to get used to the thought of him going. 2. I got help. I went to a counselor and said I need help really sticking to this vegan woe, I need someone to be accountable to...etc. So, she agreed to help me, and I feel really good about that

I hope everyone has a great Wednesday!!

[carollynne]

HI to everyone!!
LoriJenny, Congrats in a big way to your son!! that sounds so wonderful and he will do well.
and congrats to you on the counselor connection too.
I am waiting this week to be contacted by someone about the group deal with the MAC -Mercerberbug Area Wellness, and the Engine 2 diet, I just want to be a part of the get coaching and the pot lucks. I am going to be on the Dr Essy diet of course which is the no nuts, oils, olives etc, just like the MWL really, but it will be fun to be a part of the bunch and not the odd ball too. I have the Engine 2Diet book, on reserve from the library, and it will be fun to read, but some of the recipes will have to be modified of course.
today this am, I made up some kasha and had to throw it out, icky, not like I recall my mommi making at all. Then I made up some of the Engine 2 Hummus, with no oils at all.
And thanks for the tip about my knees too, I had not thought of that one at all!! and today they are back to my usual. I just want it all gone, and no more HBP meds. Please God I pray!!
Oh, by the way, I am still sitting pretty at 175 again, and that is 2 days in a roll for me, so it will be lower by tomorrow, I must refrain from all the non-foods around here too. I think that my arthritis triggers may well be the white potatoes and oatmeal and bananas, which I have loved!! giving up the wheat is the hardest to do, I might add! Even gave up my fav thing to drink, the herbal teas!! they are on the list too. So here I go again, will try harder today.
DH is used to eating separately, and I guess that is the way it will be until he wakes up with a medical even in his life too. wish I could convince him, but he did have a nice salad and some brown rice last evening with his other stuff.
gotta go now, hope all is well with everyone, and stay the course and the rewards will be so wonderful!!

[Rosey]

HUGS Everyone. How you guys doing? I'm doing good other then a pulled muscle in my right arm from trying to do to much with added weights. I went from 3lbs to 5lbs hand weights and tired doing same amount of exercise opps.

[carollynne]

Rosey, HI! hope your right arm is better soon. i am dealing with the same problem in the same arm too.
wow!! I just heard from my wellness engine 2 diet coach, and so it is starting. I am so glad to be in a team like this for the support!! I am going to contact my doctor's office for a lab slip so I can see any changes when I relay stick to this to the letter and verse. My numbers have never dropped dramatically like some reports say but that is ok. just plenty of room for improvement I say!! I have had far too many cheats, but not for at least 6 days.... wow!! a new beginning. It is hard since DH does not do do this with me, and may never to it completely, but his diet has improved a lot, and so the turtle will win the race after all............. but he will agree that it has helped me regain my health big time, wait and see is what I tell myself!!
Hugs to you all!! oh, I am still sitting at 175.2 today!! 3d day in a row, too, cool beans!

[Rosey]

Rosey, HI! hope your right arm is better soon. i am dealing with the same problem in the same arm too.

I'm sorry your feeling the same and hope yours gets better soon too. HUGS!!!