Whatsoever Things Are Good

[blondie]

Sorry your hip is hurting, Lori. Hope it feels better soon!

Here are the ingredients of the standard Garden Burger from their website.

Ingredients:
VEGETABLES (BUTTON MUSHROOMS, ONIONS, CRIMINI MUSHROOMS, PORTABELLA MUSHROOMS), COOKED BROWN RICE (BROWN RICE, WATER), ROLLED OATS, MOZZARELLA CHEESE (PASTEURIZED PART-SKIM MILK, CULTURES, SALT, ENZYMES), WATER, BULGUR WITH WATER FOR HYDRATION, PARSLEY, CHEDDAR CHEESE (PASTEURIZED MILK, SALT, ENZYMES, CULTURES, ANNATTO FOR COLOR), CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF YEAST EXTRACT, NATURAL FLAVOR, MODIFIED VEGETABLE GUM, SALT, MUSHROOM EXTRACT, GARLIC POWDER, AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT, SPICES, CITRIC ACID, MALTED BARLEY, NATURAL BUTTER FLAVOR, WHEY, DEHYDRATED ONION, ANNATTO FOR COLOR, DEHYDRATED MUSHROOMS, GUAR GUM, NATURAL SMOKE FLAVOR, TURMERIC FOR COLOR, SOY LECITHIN.

Wow! That's an eye-opener! I ate a veggie burger once when we met someone at Denny's for lunch and it was the only vegetarian thing I could find on the menu -- certainly not vegan, is it? (this particular brand, anyway)

I want to try the large mushroom "burger" sometime -- is it a portabella that some people grill and eat like a burger?

[janluvs2heel]

I ordered the black bean burger at Chili's, a year ago, some friends took me out for my birthday. I already knew it wasn't vegan but that was okay, something like that does not throw me into a feeding frenzy. But when they brought my food, they actually brought me a real hamburger, I was shocked. Then I ordered a salad, plain, no cheese, etc. Of course it had everything on it as well. So back it all went. You try & order & not be conspicuous but then everyone is watching while you send your food back. Then when I was putting my mango salsa that I had brought for salad dressing, the waiter walked up & made a comment about it, so I was once again in the spotlight. Some days you can't win!!

Be careful when you are jogging, if you can try to stay on the grass. Then you wont get as much jarring. I was watching a show the other day & they said to get started, walk by 5 houses, then jog by 1. It might be hard to stay on grass that way though, but you could go to a park that has houses across the street & still stay on the grass. Funny, that same show had a segment on hip pain. I train my dogs at a huge park & once around is 1/2 mile. I dont jog, but I do walk. I like knowing how far I am walking.

You are doing great!!


Take care,

[LoriJenny]

Hi Jan...Thanks for stopping by I can so feel your pain at the restaurant. I feel the same way, I just want to eat what is right for me, no need to make a big scene. But when I went out for dinner with my family for my birthday I had a similar experience. I just want to enjoy my food like anyone else, do not want to be in the spotlight.

Thanks for the running tips I do jog in the desert and is is a soft packed dirt, so I think that is fine, but what is not fine is weighing 165 and trying to jog with arthritis in the knees and elsewhere. So...I think I just need to wait a little while and stick to walking. I need tips also on how to train my dog to come to me when he is frolicking in the desert...he seems to be getting more and more confident and does not always come when called now. What to do???

Blondie, thank you! I just got some portabella mushrooms...I'll let you know how they turn out!

Bob...no need to apologize I always appreciate what you have to say, and you taking the time to help me out! I think I was a little too eager about the exercising and I better stick to walking for a bit still. The hip does feel better today, so I'm glad about that!

I woke up feeling just great this morning, got up and started cleaning out closets! I'm still going, but took a little break to sit down and have some lunch. Here is the food so far:

B: Potatoes, and corn on the cob...wierd breakfast i guess, but it sounded good!!
L: spaghetti squash topped with McDougall tomato sauce.

Bob, I was going to ask you what is yeast extract? I noticed that was highlighted as an ingredient that did not fit into the McD plan right?

I went to the store for beans, and looked at the refried beans...one was labeled "no fat"...but it had canola oil added to it. Wow...so I looked and read and found better ones. I'm glad I read the label!

OH...and yep, the scale dropped to 165 this morning...and I really want to sto weighing myself so often, as it often leads to dissappointment or overconfidence.

[SactoBob]

Hi Lori,
I don't know what yeast extract is exactly either, but it doesn't sound like a whole plant food to me. You are learning about labels - good going. They can really surprise you.

I don't think it matters much how often you want to weigh yourself. The best use of the scales is to make sure that you aren't stalling out because of some behavior that you might be underestimating or even unaware of. Your food is looking great.

Think of this. You have already made the change to a trim and healthful appearance. You have already succeeded and don't have to do anything else but continue what you are doing. Your body is moving every day at its own pace towards your new set point. It usually proceeds at about 10 pounds per month when you are quite heavy, and starts to level out as you approach your set point for your new lifestyle. Look at frozenveg's weight graph for a great example of what of what adherence looks like. You might even want to get one of those graphs for yourself so that you are not looking at what your weight is doing on a weekly, daily, or hourly basis. It is the long term slope of the graph that tells the story. Don't fall for any crazy-making logic like "I did better last week when I went off plan than this week when I was on plan, so why bother". Remember that this is a marathon and that your body has its own pace. If you take care of the plate, it will take care of the scales and your health.

So you have already done it. All you have to do now is keep it up and you can't fail. Patience is all you need, and it is your friend. Patience is only your enemy when you see the markers for a healthy lifestyle stall out. Then it's time to investigate and change.

But you may be realizing what I realized early on in the process - that I had already done what I needed to do and knew that I could maintain and even improve on that. The rest is just enjoying the newfound health and waiting for my appearance to catch up with what I was already doing. Once you have the habits down pat and have a new lifestyle down, you have already done what you need to do. Just keep reinforcing the new habits, and even improve upon them where you need to.

[janluvs2heel]

Man, you are doing great LoriJenny. Not that far to go, huh? I was down 2 lbs. this week. I am happy with that. We always want more but I am not in a hurry.

But I know what you mean about trying to exercise when still overweight. I am baby sitting for a friends' young dog, I guess I must have tweaked something in my knee when I was playing with her, it is so sore today, but hopefully it will be better tomorrow. I fell a few wks ago & landed face first & on my left knee, so had a huge bruise, but it finally feels good, now this is the right one Just when I was going to start doing my walking tapes again, too. Boo. Oh, well, I can still do my weights. Glad to hear that your hip is feeling better.

It is weird about refried beans. The ones that say fat free on the label all have some kind of oil, but the ones that say low fat have no oil. How does that work? I remember last year standing in the grocery store & could not believe it. Glad I had my glasses that day. Very strange.

I teach my pups to come in the house, every time they got a little treat. Then when I think they know the come command, I will start in the backyard, I keep a little line on them so if they decide they aren't going to come, I can step on it. Then I just walk them down, when I get them, I get them & pop on the line towards me, tell them come, come, come. Then praise, then they play again. YOu probably need to keep a long line on him, especially when he is loose in the desert, then if you call him & he ignores you, just step on the line, do just what I do in the above. The reason I step on the line is I dont want the dog to associate me picking up the line being the reason I caught him. I also keep Charlie Bear treats in my pocket, to reward the good behaviour. I always like to reward good behavior as well. But dogs being dogs, they do try to push the boundaries from time to time, especially until they become adults. Oh, & the cardinal rule, never call your dog more than once to come, if it doesn't come, you need to go get it. That goes for just about every dog training rule, tell it one time, especially after it knows the command.

Hope you are having a great weekend.

[carollynne]

HI Lori, I just caught up reading in your journal!! It sounds like you are really committed to your WOE!! that is all it takes. And you know what? we all make that mistake by not reading the whole label. My son and I do that now and them, (Dh does not notice or leaves it up to me) and have you ever noticed that at the very bottom of the ingredient section or paragraph, underneath it all, there is usually a line that states the stuff ppl are allergic to: like peanuts, milk, soy, wheat... etc. I have learned to check that bottom line when I get the temptation to get anything processed, which, thanks to God, I am not as bad as I used to be!! IT is a process that we all go thru, and at times the convenience food is great. I keep brown rice cooked in rice cooker at all times, and also boiled small or med red potatoes too. I love them reheated up on skillet, plain, dry heat and I sprinkle on some paprika, garlic or onion powder on them. Delish!!
My brother was visiting us from CA while he was here on a job related trip, and at one pt we went to a huge Chinese buffet and did I ever feel tempted. oh well, back on track now. I did pretty good, but you know the drill!! I did stick to the veggis, the rice and seaweed rolls, but then again, all that sauce stuff could not have been oil free either. zoomed back on track as of now!!
My knees have gotten a lot better, and at my last ortho appt, the doctor did say I have no inflammation in my knees and I wonder why, except for the no animals products that cause it all!! woot!
So much better in the am, and walking etc.... love it!!
Keep at it, and you will never regret it either!
BTw, we love the portabellos here! Ds says they have the most Vit D in them!!
Going to a DAR dinner again tonight, and have requested my vegan meal, and hope it it that too. for Ds and myself. He relaly likes the speakers on historical stuff, and tonight is about My Years in Captivity a book!! I can do ok, at these things, and the looks of dismay from others, or the haughty comments about the usual diet topics from overwt women, and the even snide comments do not get to me as badly as they used to. oh well, it is what it is!! isn't it? I agree with SactoBob, and just enjoy the newfound health and digestion and forget the naysayers out there in the SAD world!!

[LoriJenny]

Hi...Wow, I did not post yesterday and did not even realize it. The past 2 days have been so funny. It started on Friday...I was just feeling so great, I kept cleaning the house and taking care of alot of details that I've been looking at for a long time and not doing because I did not have the energy. What is going on?? We all know what is going on...lol. This is crazy. I have been cleaning and reorganizing...I've done closets, and cleaned blinds, put photos in the photo album, installed a rack for our pool cues, changed hard to reach light bulbs, I changed all the batteries on the smoke detectors, even the ones I had to get on a ladder to do. I finished painting the dining room. I've been moving some pictures around and decided to get one reframed to match the others, so I pulled that down and put it in the car and moved the others. And today...I just feel like doing more of the same. I just feel great, soon my house is going to sparkle!! Just in time for the holidays. I feel great, have energy to do all this stuff, and I love how clean and organized my house is getting. I got up this morning and took Bear to the dog park. I used to go through the McDonald's drive thru after the dog park and get some breakfast, now I stopped at the store and got some jalepenos and red bell peppers for my chili, and some cilantro. I feel like an energizer bunny. It's kind of hilarious to me...I was walking around with this huge framed picture of my daugher trying to find a better place for it and my son was just kind of laughing, but in a nice way. There was a point yesterday where I felt really really tempted by some chocolate chip cookies...but it was my son, who reminded me.."you can do this" he said "you are the toughest girl I know" Awww...I just could not blow it after that!!! My hip does not hurt anymore

I will come back at the end of the day to list my food But right now I just really need to pull the tv out from the wall and clean behind it.

[SactoBob]

Lori,
It's great to see you enjoying the fruits of your recent labors. Your energy level is typical as far as my experience. I remember realizing that I had so much more energy, and that I was now in charge of how I would look and feel, and that I knew what to do and that I could do it.

It is not unusual at all that your good food decisions lead to so many other great things in your life. And that is how it will continue to go. Just think how much better still you will feel without 40 excess pounds to carry around.

I see that you also had the energy to get one of those time/weight graphs. That is a great graph, because you can see that early on, you made enough adjustments to your lifestyle to sustain a weight of 166 pounds or so. And you can see the slope of how that happened. Then you can see that plateau, which shows that you were living a lifestyle with a set point of 166. Now, you are starting another dip on a similar slope. I am guessing that this slope will end with your goal if you can keep improving your diet. And that is where you will remain if you can make these lifestyle changes a habit. That is what we are working on, and why we are not worried about how much we lose this week or next.

You will be happier with yourself as your health and appearance keep getting better. Others will be attracted to you and want to know how you did it. You will be a good spokesperson for healthy eating and lifestyle. And all that comes from just changing what you eat - so simple, but so powerful.

Soon, you will not even be tempted by things like chocolate chip cookies, because you know the side effects. Your son is right, you are tougher than you know, and you are setting a great example for him now too. Go Lori!

[LoriJenny]

Oh...full tummy:

B: Potatoes
L: 3 Bean chili (I had 2 big bowls), corn on the cob
S: Persimmon
D: Portabella mushroom, topped with acorn squash

I'm soooo full!! Bob, thanks...I'm pretty excited to see how it will feel to get these last 30 or 40 pounds off...hard to imagine!!

I like what you said, Bob .... this way of eating is...so simple, but so powerful.

Jan thanks so much for stopping by and for the encouraging words...I'm going to try the rope trick and work with Bear on the "come" command. I'll let you know how that turns out! Silly old Bear!! I hope you are healing up from your recent bumps and bruises so you can do your walking tapes soon!! I'm feeling a little more patient about waiting for my body weight to catch up to my eating habits...I'm kind of anticipating it like a child anticipates Christmas I think (only a little more patient!)

Carollynne, thanks also for stopping by and your encouraging posts!! I'm so glad you had a nice visit with your brother! Going out to meals is hard, and I've been avoiding it a bit, but tomorrow I'm supposed to go out with my son to lunch, and I will...it will be pretty easy with him though because he totally supports what I am doing, even if he is not doing it himself. Congrats on the great report at the Ortho appointment!! No inflamation in the knees is wonderful! I like what you said about how we will never regret doing well on this woe. I tell my students a lot that they will never regret working hard, and it is the same thing here...we will never regret the efforts we put into this, it's so healing, so life giving, and life altering.

I'm feeling happy and encouraged tonight, excited about the possibilities in my future.

"So simple...but so powerful."

[LoriJenny]

B: Oatmeal, 2 walnuts, blackberries, pomegranate
L:White rice steamed veggies
D: 3 Bean Chili, corn on the cob
EX: Walked 3-4 miles

In downtown LA today...so glad to be back to my quiet desert home now!! Sort of rushed to find a place for lunch...just did the best I could with what we found...but I thought I made a pretty good choice considering the lines and crowds and unfamiliar territory.

[SactoBob]

Lori,
You are doing so much better with your choices and it is going to make a difference. Don't forget the green veggies. Those are your friends, and it easy to forget to get enough! I hope today finds you well.

[LoriJenny]

Bob, Ya, you know, I haven't been having alot of greens lately...I will try to fit them in tomorrow. What I like about Dr. Fuhrman's approach to this is to try to eat a full pound of fruit, raw veggies, and steamed veggies (that's 3 pounds of food!), plus a serving of grain and a serving of beans and an ounce or so of nuts. Wow...it's just alot of food!!! I find that I can really only eat about 8 ounces of food at a time and then I feel pretty stuffed. But what I like is concentrating on what I can have, and that I really can have more than what I am having...it's very helpful to me And I think that basically Fuhrman and McDougall agree right?

I do have a question...I know about the density and all, but is it okay, to sometimes snack on air popped popcorn...nothing added to it?

B: Oatmeal, walnuts, radishes (strange choice eh?)
L: 3 Bean Chili, green beans, broccoli, carrots, radishes
S: Air popped pop corn...a no no???
D: Rice/beans/home made salsa with way to much jalepeno...ahhh!!

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things...Phillippians 4:8 I love that verse!!

[SactoBob]

Lori,
I always look forward to seeing how you have done for the day, and you are continuing to do well. Another great thing is that you are now asking really tough questions about tough issues. I didn't realize that Dr. F wanted a full pound of fruit. That does sound like a lot. But I do know that these are goals rather than requirements. My personal belief is that there is not much difference between what Dr. M and Dr. F would recommend for a person with your goals and current status, and you are basically carrying it off.

What I am saying now is more a question of opinion and my understanding rather than any rule or anything. You are getting the basics down already. The first thing to know is that you are still in transition, and probably still experiencing some cravings. You are much better off with popcorn than a Pepsi and chips. But as you mention, popcorn is calorie dense. So are the 1 oz of nuts you are eating. There is some great nutrition in the nuts, but you want to keep the overall calorie density down. An apple would be a much better snack. Any whole food that is not dried would be. The next question would be the concept of snacking. It would be better to eat enough at meals that you don't need a snack - but if you need one, it would be better to eat something with more satiation than popcorn. Another question is whether you can "handle" the popcorn.

I indulge a glass of wine maybe 2 or 3 glasses per week, because I can handle it and it appears to do no significant harm. But I tried to use almonds and found that I couldn't handle it - I was always wanting an almond for a snack. So no more almonds in the house for me.

The issues you are dealing with are really tweaking your diet. A lot would depend on how you are feeling and how well your weight loss is progressing. If you are on track with weight loss, and popcorn helps, and you can handle it, I see no harm. If your weight loss is stalling and the popcorn is not quelling your hunger and you keep wanting more, I would see harm.

The thing about the greens and vegetables that is important is that they fill you with very low calorie density foods. That is why you really want to include these rather than skipping them and then being hungry for popcorn.

There isn't any one-size-fits-all plan for getting through transition. Right now, the important thing is to get good habits with healthy foods and squash the cravings by totally avoiding SAD and junk. Have you seen the most recent video on Dr. M's Facebook page (the link is in another of my posts today). He notes that many of his followers are still sick and overweight because, although they have gone low-fat vegan, they use too much sugar, flour, and processed and calorie dense foods.

If you remain focused as you have been this last week, you will probably soon be your own best source of advice for what you should or should not eat. You have a good habit of being honest with yourself, and that is really key. You are also taking a really honest view of your progress with your new graph for weight and you awareness of your pains as they relate to food. So I am not really down on popcorn so long as it is not an impediment or a "goto" food. But I would still rather you ate an apple. Either under Jeff's or Dr. F's ideas, you also have a 5% allowance for something tasty. You are better off without that, but will still make progress with the 5%. You have to balance your desire for a food with how quickly and completely you want to get better. You are always better of with whole plant food and lots of fruit and green and yellow vegetables.

Oh, my understanding of some Dr. M versus Dr. F -
Dr. M praises beans to a cup or so a day, Dr. F recommends them daily. They are great for weight loss for several reasons. I heard an excellent analysis by him in the archive of his teleconferences. He says that if beans give you excess gas or digestion, try to keep eating them and it will get better. This is from growing better bacteria in your gut. He discourages Beano , or other anti-gas treatments, because the same thing that discourages the gas discourages the healthy bacteria. I have found this to be true. At first I didn't tolerate beans too well - now fine.

Dr. M praises all whole starches and says eat freely. Dr. F wants overweight folks to moderate starch consumption. A small point IMO if you are losing weight.

Dr. F asks for a pound of raw and a pound of cooked veggies each day - a noble goal. Dr. M praises these foods, especially for weight loss, but sets no specific goals other than for MWL - where he goes by visual plate percentage.

As I say, these things are really advanced and somewhat controversial topics. Maybe Dr. F will explain some of this when he speaks at the Advanced Study Weekend this February. I will report if he does. Hopefully, I will get Dr. M's opinion on this too.

For now, I would say stick with what Jeff and Dr. M are advising, and within what they recommend, you may want to bias your food towards what Dr. F is saying. That is pretty much what I and I think some others here do. But this is really advanced.

If you look at the people here who are long term veterans and still not healthy, you will see what Dr. M describes in his recent video. Lots of sugar, flour, processed food, high calorie density food, and vegan treats. That is what you want to avoid, and that is not easy. Your instincts will direct you towards those foods. That is why you need to watch your popcorn consumption. Try to post your weights and keep your graph up to date, as the slope will tell us a lot about what is going on. The slope for the last week looks very impressive.

[LoriJenny]

A good day

B: oatmeal, pomegranate, blackberries
L: green beans, radishes, broccoli, carrots, McDougall's Miso Soup (with only 1/2 flavor packet)
D: Rice/beans/corn/salsa
Snack: Popcorn, pomegranate, blackberries
Ex: Walked about 2 miles with my Bear.

I was glad to have another good day. I have not weighed myself in a few days, but I think I will do that on Saturdays.

Bob, thanks for all that info, it's definately interesting stuff. I think you are right, there is not much difference between Drs. M and F...I think it's just a matter of seeing what exactly works for me. I do still have cravings...I just haven't mentioned it much lately, it's bugging me though so I"m considering doing some type of Mary's Mini or couple days of fasting to try to curb those cravings. I am so blessed to have the entire week of Thanksgiving off, so I can do something like this without fear of not having enough energy for work. I do think my system is getting accustomed to eating more beans, so that is really nice! I'd write more but I have to clear the area...a Christmas ornament was broken, and the kids are wanting to clean it up for me

[SactoBob]

Good progress, Lori. And the main thing about the cravings is that they get better with time and adherence. So far you are doing great with them. It won' be long before those unhealthy foods get further and further from your thoughts. Here's hoping for another good day tomorrow.