Dissolution's Solution

[carollynne]

Hey Dis you are really strong!! and fit!! no signs of heart attacks any minute that is for sure! I am truly impressed. Your son, must be on a fork lift doing that stacking, so he could be a bit weaker I am thinking...

And So glad that your BP is back on the stable category and without the water pill. They can be a real royal pain if you ask me! I have them, but won't take them I ran to the bathroom way too often, and said no more!
I agree with Agnes, she is correct and so right ! I will not touch any raw flesh again, ever. it is too scary and too risky. And the images of all the animal processing plants that have been on so many video shows, etc, are enough to make me stop anywhere near the smell. it is unreal how the meat industry has hoodwinked the nation and the animals suffer on and on, out of sight and sound of most consumers.
It does sound like you will have a real house full of meat eaters, and I must admit, I used to buy the bets bacon the commissary had and thought I was doing my sons such a favor by cooking it up on weekends for them!! all that salt, BHT and other nonsense in it too! horrid stuff.
I think your poor wifey must cry awful easy is all I can say. Perhaps she cannot handle change very well, and maybe never will! I mean you had no choices left..... and this is working!
[b]Now enough of that emotional eating, Dis!![/b] all you have to do is face yourself in the mirror and do it, and you know what to do! ( I tell myself this a lot lately too. It can be effective, all this stern talking to self....)
Hope you can begin to lose again, I know the plateaus are a bummer for real, but you can get back on track and keep going. I faced the scale again, this am, and was happy again... now I need to stay the course and I will........
Have a great weekend Dis, hope the painting got done too. there is just so much to do in a house and you run a business in your home too, wow, that is something else!

[fulenn]

I loved your water bottle story, but I REALLY loved hearing about your eggless omelet! I need to try that this summer. We will be traveling for a couple of days through west Texas--they don't have a lot of healthy restaurants, and we will bring most of our food, but they DO have IHOP.

Hope things calm down at home eventually. Sounds like you can do just about anything you want: just blame it on the diet.

Fulenn

[lmggallagher]

I loved the eggless omelet too! doing that on a Denver omelet was my first and biggest restaurant success. I did that at Buck's a local watering hole of a western themed restaurant. My waitress was so cool and even brought me an extra side of fruit to make up for the loss of eggs and meat. I'd asked for extra potatoes - so the fruit was a complete surprise. It also was apparent that she was really happy to be able to provide the extra help. I have never had a bad IHOP waitress, but I bet going off the menu at all could bend their brains pretty bad

[Quinoamania]

What a great idea! I used to love Buck's but gave it up when I went vegan. Were they able to accommodate a request for "no oil"?

Dis, I am impressed -- those bottles are heavy! You have come so far in just a few short months, and I hope you feel really proud of all that you have accomplished.

[lmggallagher]

Robin: Oh - hmm, the oil thing regarding potatoes - nah, that didn't happen, but they weren't drenched. It was early on in my McDougalling I was just thrilled to get close and the waitress was soooo sweet. My Mom used to call Buck's her office and hanging out there her "office hours". Trust me we spent a lot of time there and it's hard to give up.

[Dissolution]

serenity One year ago, just picking them up one at a time from the hand cart and putting them into the car caused me to have pretty bad angina. I had to get the boys to bring them all in from the car.

VegSexy Next I need to find a Vegan membership card...

AlwaysAgnes We were watching (wife was watching I was in the room) a cooking competition show, called "No Kitchen Required" or something like that. Anyways, they were in Costa Rica and had to gather, catch, or hunt all of their food. The one guy killed a wild pig. Then said something along the lines of, I'm very happy, but sad at the same time. I want to make a meal worthy of this pigs life, and I will pray for it's soul. The wife said to the TV, "What are you sad about? It's just a stupid pig, it doesn't know any difference." Then we had this exchange;

Me: Well, I'm sure the pig would rather be alive.
Wife: No it doesn't, it doesn't know the difference
Me: ...
Wife: Stop trying to give human emotions to animals!
Me: I just have a hard time believing that an animal like Missy (the Yorkie-Poo) doesn't care if it's alive or dead. She seems to love life as much as any person I've ever seen.
Wife: Dogs are different, but they don't have human emotions.
Me: Didn't you have a pig growing up that played with your dog?
Wife: Oh my God, you've become one of those crazy vegans! You're really are insane now! Oh my God, how did this happen.
Me: ...
Wife: (Crying)

carollynne I wish the cardio exercise came as easily to me as the muscle building exercise. I'm still stuck at the 90 seconds running, 90 seconds walking phase of my "Couch to 5K" training. Just have to get the scale moving again and I think I'll be fine.

fulenn We went to a diner last night. I wish, if wait-staff, don't know what vegan means, they will ask. I ordered a California vegetarian salad. I told the lady, I'm a vegan, please make sure there's no cheese on it. There wasn't, just crumbled egg all over it. Sent it back.

lmggallagher An understanding wait-person can make all the difference.

Quinoamania Sometimes I have to be careful and not be too proud, I still have a ways to go. And I'm sure the last 25-35 pounds are going to be a lot tougher to lose than the first 75. But yes, things certainly have come a long ways.

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#1Son graduated, that was awesome. We're very proud on him! Several people tried the faux Italian sausage I had made. Nobody liked it, several seemed to dislike the taste of the fennel seed the recipe called for. Nobody ate the low-fat vegan pasta salad except me. It was very good (Bow-Tie pasta, broccoli, peas, black beans, shredded carrots, roasted red and yellow peppers, topped with a fat free Italian dressing.) When I pointed out, that people were taking beans from the vegan pot, they all freaked out and scrapped them into the trash. I said, "You idiots, the only difference is no bacon, that's hardly a reason to waste them."

My Sister brought black-bean and corn burgers. The flavor was good, the texture was off. We were the only two that ate them. She gave be the rest of the batch to me, to take home. I experimented yesterday with adding a little corn starch, it seemed to help.

#2Son (Engine2 Diet since October) has been straying off the diet more and more often. He informed me that he hadn't been on the diet for the last two weeks, and hadn't put on any weight. I think this was his way of telling me he was no longer going to be a vegan. Cause he ate burgers and sausage and hot dogs at the BBQ.

The Wife and I went out to eat last night before going to see The Avengers (awesome BTW). She was giving me the tomatoes out of her salad. One of them had some blue cheese dressing on it. I wiped it off and ate the tomato;

Wife: Oh my God, you are crazy!
Me: What?
Wife: You wiped off that little bit of blue cheese dressing.
Me: So, if I had handed you something and it had broccoli puree on it, you would have wiped that off.
Wife: What's broccoli puree?
Me: Ok, broccoli chutney...
Wife: There's no such thing, that's stupid.
Me: I'm just saying, there are food substances you would wipe off too.
Wife: But BUCK-O-Lee is nasty. You're crazy!

The wife got popcorn, candy and water at the movies. As people were filing in, she noticed someone carrying ICEE's (those red slurpee things).

Wife: Oooo, I haven't had one of those in years.
Me: (I can take a hint) Would you like for me to go get you one?
Wife: Only if you're going to have one.
Me: I don't want one, but would be happy to go and get you one.
Wife: You're going to pass up an Icee?
Me: Yes
Wife: You're no fun anymore. There's just no joy in your life.
Me: Yes, but less heart attacks...
Wife: You can't prove that!
Me: Of course I can, I haven't had another heart attack.
Wife: That doesn't prove anything!
Me: This diet also repels bears. ( I put my hand up to my forehead and start scouting for bears)
Wife: Oh my God!

We'd had another conversation earlier, where she told me she thinks she has rheumatoid arthritis. I told her briefly of what I knew about it, what caused it, and how Dr. McDougall treated it. She told me she would rather suffer and die earlier than live a life with no joy (eating what I eat). She also, said, and I asked for clarification on this, cause I thought I had heard it wrong. That the only reason, I want her to get better, is so I won't have to listen to her complain.

Oh well, gym and then work. Happy Monday all.

[nicoles]

Glad the Avengers was good - I am looking forward to seeing it!

Congrats on your son's graduation, and condolences that people reacted so violently against the vegan beans. People are so strange. Have seen it again and again in my own life.

I am also sorry that your wife is so volatile emotionally about this positive change in your life - man she is really digging in her heels!

That whole Icee thing was pure addict-trying-to-convert-former addict-back-to-their-old-ways. She is hardcore food addicted, and I feel bad for her. And you!

But BUCK-O-LEE is pretty funny, I have to admit.

And I am glad to know that this WOE repels bears - I like to camp and I live in California...

And speaking of bears, have you seen this and this by Mike Birbiglia?If you haven't, they might cheer you up.

[Rosey]

It's good you have a sense of humor but sometimes that can make issues worse. Laugh. I love it but I bet she isn't. I'm sorry your having such a hard time with her and your new way of living. Sorry to hear your son isn't in it with you anymore too. At least when he was you had an allie that you knew. We are all here for ya.

[Caroveggie]

I was a crazy vegan even before I was a vegan. No shame feeling for a poor pig.

Your wife reminds me of my mother in that she'll change the subject and come up with excuses or react when she feels cornered by reason, logic, scientific fact, etc.

Well, we are all people and tend to do that on our touchy subjects. Love, laugh, and live with them.

[Debbie]

I remember once bringing vegan brats to a BBQ. I brought 3 packs, just in case someone wanted to try. They were sundried tomato and something. They're really good. Anyway, I made sure no one saw the package. They were made by tofurkey. We bbqed them all and of the people who tried them, they raved at how wonderful they were. One lady commented on how she was having trouble stopping, they were so good. (she finished the plate)

Imagine their surprise when one person found the wrapper. The lady who. Couldnt stop eating them (she didnt put two and two together) exclaimed how anyone could eat tofu, it's just nasty!!!!

To this day, I don't say something is vegan.

[carollynne]

This is really a fun journal read. Dis you have real style here!
Dis, I am truly sad that they scraped off the beans, that is such nonsense, a waste of good food. Glad you had a good time at the get together for the graduation!
I know the last pounds are the hardest. full compliance is very hard too.
I love vegan sausages too, my son has made them and they are a lot of work!
Have a good night!

[AlwaysAgnes]

Happy Monday, D.

Bleu cheese dressing. E-gag. I never understood how people can eat that stuff. Might as well eat baby puke.

Animals and emotions...
http://animals.howstuffworks.com/animal ... otions.htm Don't ya love watching monkeys?

This exchange was particularly interesting to me:
Me: Well, I'm sure the pig would rather be alive.
Wife: No it doesn't, it doesn't know the difference

How many times has your wife been dead? If she's never been dead, how does she know the difference between how these states feel? Here's the thing. Dead things don't care that they're dead because they're DEAD. Living things seek to avoid pain and gain pleasure. Some folks' brains get so much pleasure from the taste of baby puke bleu cheese and artificially-flavored and colored corn syrup mixed in ice, they think they'd rather be dead than try to live without it. Is that sane? I dunno. I'm still trying to decide whether or not I could eat a dung beetle if I were starving. I'm pretty sure I couldn't kill and eat a puppy.

I joined the YMCA yesterday. Guess this means I'm gonna have to go out into the world and quit being so antisocial.

[Purplefish]

Hi there... You're an honest, funny and talented writer. You get to the heart of feelings and you are an inspiration at the true and practical nature of weight loss and vegan eating. Thanks for sharing your story here. I hope you have a great day!

[fulenn]

Okay, let's be honest here. If she won't change her WOE so that she can feel better, be healthier, etc., then doing it so she will close her mouth and leave you alone works for me.

Fulenn

[Dissolution]

nicoles You know, I've never considered calling her a food addict. Mostly because she doesn't really eat large quantities of food in one sitting, like I am capable of doing.

If you were to press her on the Icee thing, her response would most likely be something along the lines of, she couldn't enjoy hers, if I didn't have one, because she would think I was feeling superior to her.

Thanks for the links, the Mike Birbiglia stuff was very funny.

Rosey She has never quite "gotten" my sense of humor. Sometimes though, it's the only thing that allows me to even deal with her. Cause let's face it, she would be very happy if I went back to eating a diet that would kill me within 5 years. That's pretty offensive. The only reason I have not left, if she really doesn't believe that diet makes a difference. That everything is genetic and has already been predetermined for you.

Sure she sees me go to the gym and be more active, but that's because I have lost weight. She doesn't know how much better I felt, even within a few days. I tried to explain it to her, and it came up again when she asked me how Dr. McDougall made his money. I told her about the 10 day live-in clinics. She said 10 days wouldn't be enough time to notice any differences. I tried to explain the amazing differences, just 10 days of the McDougall plan could achieve, but she won't hear it.

Caroveggie It's been interesting becoming the crazy vegan. Let them think and do what they want. Me, I will lead by example. My justification will be with my health. I'll let my wellness argue for me.

Debbie One of the frustrating things with the wife is, it would be SO easy to make her regular things, where I could eat them. The vegan baked beans, tasted as good as I remembered hers tasting. She added brown sugar, molasses, mustard, and a few spices to both types of beans.

When she makes spaghetti sauce, she makes mine separate, cause she adds a huge amount of EVOO to the main batch. Nobody would miss it, really.

carollynne With just a few temptations removed, full compliance is not a problem. Convenience food is a problem for me. Even with it's low fat and vegan. That's why I prefer not to have it around. We brought pretzels home from the BBQ. I just couldn't stay out of them. Now something like potato chips, I have no problem staying out of, they taste greasy to me. Lots of times at the grocery store, the wife will find something and say, oh look, you can have this. I'll tell her, I know, that's the problem.

Cookies though..We had a cookie argument on Saturday. She make 4 dozen cookies for the BBQ. She was going to bring 3 dozen home. I asked her not to, I told her I have a hard time resisting them, and that nobody at our house eats them anyways. Both of the sons that live with us, spoke up and said they eat them, and #4SonGF said she eats them when she comes over. The Wife settled on only bringing home 2 dozen. So far, nobody has touched them. If they are still there this coming Saturday, I will throw them all away.

AlwaysAgnes At this stage of my ethical vegan journey, my main question is, can it suffer? My wife argues that cows are stupid, this is irrelevant to me. It can suffer, that is enough for me.

In hypothetical-land, would I take the life of an animal that was threatening the life of a loved one, or innocent human? Yes. Would I kill and eat an animal if there were absolutely no other forms of food? Yes (going to assume the animal is out of food too).

I will still kill a wasp if it gets into the house. If we had a mouse problem, I guess I would figure out the best way to deal with it with the least amount of cruelty.

Good luck at the Y!

Purplefish Thank you. You are too kind.

fulenn Haha...You know. There have been a couple of times when she would be moaning, and I would ask her what is wrong. She would say, "I'm dying." I would ask her if she would like to go to the hospital. She would decline. Then if she kept it up, I would tell her, "You're not dying, you're whining, there's a difference and could you please do so more quietly." Normally I'm MUCH more sympathetic than that.
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Weight was down a couple of pounds Yesterday morning. Set a new personal best on the treadmill. 2.4 miles in 30 minutes (alternating 90 seconds walking and 90 seconds running for the entire time). Found an entry in a written journal where in Nov. '10 I had set a personal best of 1.39 miles in 30 minutes.

There's a guy in PA that has taught some cooking classes my wife has taken. On Saturday May 19th, for the Wife's birthday, this same guy is hosting a chartered bus trip to "The Strip" in Pittsburgh, PA. I haven't checked, but I assume this is food related, they suggested bringing an empty cooler. Anybody know anything about this place? Any McDougall friendly places I should check out?