Geo - Eye's Wide Open 2012

Share your daily McDougall menus and/or keep a journal describing your personal progress.

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Re: Geo - Eye's Wide Open 2012

Postby geo » Tue Mar 06, 2012 7:49 am

Day 6

This is my first weekly weigh-in! I started at 261... And after 6 days of MWL the numbers are:

Weight week1: 255.6 Down: 5.4 lbs
week 1 BP: 140/88 Down from 153/92
Pulse: 66

So all in all I'm quite happy with this beginning :D Everything is moving in the right direction. Yes I know that a good part of that weight loss is water, but I'll take it none-the-less! Next week should give me a better view of actual fat loss I suspect.

B: none, wasn't hungry
L: mixed veggies with corn and salsa
S: Banana and cutie orange
D: 2 baked potatoes and mixed vixed veggies

No hunger at all despite not eating breakfast. Felt full from day before. Really stressful day at work. Put in 20+ hours. Very tired.

Exercise: will have to wait till tomorrow :-(

Reading: virtually none today because of work...
geo

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Re: Geo - Eye's Wide Open 2012

Postby geo » Wed Mar 07, 2012 6:47 am

Day 7

B: none, just wasn't hungry
L: Rice with mex veggies and salsa
S: Banana
D: Baked potato and sweet potato

Note: I don't put portion sizes down anymore as I don't want to focus on that the same way I don't want to focus on calories. I want to focus on when I truly feel hungry and eat only then. And I eat very generously :lol: But for those interested, I eat a big starch and about a pound of veggies at a sitting (Yes veggies may include legumes (peas and such but only a bit). So about 2 cups of rice or a couple medium/large potatoes be they white or sweet for my starch. Breakfast when I have it is generally 1/2 cup dry oatmeal or some other multi-grain hot cereal along with 1.5 TBS flax and .5-1 tsp cinnamon (I love cinnamon) and a tsp of sugar of some sort and maybe some berries:-) Snacks are generally a piece of fruit. I also have 2-3 cups of herbal tea a day (no caffeine at all).

Another long day at work. Seems like I'm not needing breakfast so much anymore or at least the craving for it has died down. I've also noticed there are set times of the day that I get hungry as such:

I'm generally up at 4AM everyday (nope don't have an alarm clock, just naturally awake everyday at this time). And I'm generally asleep by 10PM at least during weekdays, weekends may be able to make it to 11PM :-). Yeah I generally get about 6 hours of sleep, but I sleep well. I'm asleep within a min or two of hitting the pillow. Its been natural this way for 30+ years so I doubt it will change anytime soon.

~9-10AM - if I need breakfast this time seems to be when I get hungry.
~12-1PM - Gotta have lunch here or I get famished
~3-4PM - need a snack to stave off hunger
~6-7PM - Need dinner here and seems to be the best time to keep me full before I sleep.

The early morning rise gives me lots of time to get chores done and some reading before heading into the office. So it works well for me.
geo

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Re: Geo - Eye's Wide Open 2012

Postby geo » Thu Mar 08, 2012 6:00 am

Day 8

B: oatmeal w/flax and cinnamon
2 cups herbal tea
L: Mex veggies with corn and salsa
Banana
cup of herbal tea
S: Apple (braeburn mmmmm)
D: 2 baked potatoes and mixed veggies

Felt good today. Little slow at work for a change. Felt a bit more tired than usual at end of day...probably just catching up from the hard days earlier this week.

DrM congratulated me on my new BP numbers and provided some suggested reading on high BP. It appears that my numbers are dropping at about the same rate as he sees in his studies after a week of this diet. So I'm definitely on the right track :) Its nice to get that kind of confirmation. Fell asleep on couch lol

Reading: Spent time reading DrM's hot topics...really good stuff there.
geo

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Re: Geo - Eye's Wide Open 2012

Postby geo » Fri Mar 09, 2012 6:36 am

Day 9

B: 2 cups herbal tea. Not hungry
L: Mex veggies with corn and salsa
Banana
Herbal tea
S: Apple
D: rice and veggies

Felt great today. Energy up and no hunger. Getting back to my normal schedule at home and work so thats good. As the days roll on I find myself thinking less about food or my next meal and more about getting more important things done. I'm less stressful about my health though its always in the back of mind.

I've enrolled myself in the CPS-3 (Cancer Prevention Study - 3). This is going to be a huge (300,000 people), long term (at least 30 years) cancer study. They give you this large questionnaire to fill out online that goes over your life history, activities, medical issues and such but the one thing they did not ask in the entire 45 min survey I took was what/how do you eat! No nutrition type questions at all...seems bizarre to me. Though they were very focused on your activities and level of exercise throughout your life.

I go in in 2 weeks to get measured and have initial blood work done for the study. They will give us another quick survey to take then. Hopefully that will ask some nutrition questions. I hope they will give me a copy of my blood work so I can see my new numbers. Then every year or two they will send us another survey to take. I fully plan to be here for the entire 30 yr study :-) I wonder if eating this way won't skew their numbers :D
geo

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Re: Geo - Eye's Wide Open 2012

Postby geo » Sat Mar 10, 2012 5:48 am

Day 10

B: Banana and a clementine - just felt a need for fruit
L: Steamed Chinese veggies and rice.
D: rice and mixed veggies with salsa

Went out to lunch again at my fav chinese restaurant...pretty much the only place I can eat thats actually healthy (theres no Wendy's around where I work). Wish I could find a nice brown sauce or something to put on it that was tasty, oil free and low salt...soy sauce is just way too salty, yes even the low sodium ones and that goes for Bragg's too.

Its been 10 days and I feel like I've been on a free 10 day McD seminar :D I think I've read and watched just about everything on this site now and followed up with healthy doses of Jeff and DrG. Gotta say, there may be a lot of info available but it really does boil down to a simple plan. SNAP meals when your hungry and stay active. I mean, really, does it get any more complicated than that? Its simple, cheap, easy, takes no time or skills, gives me my health and life back and its all here free. So whats not to like?

Since I've avoided almost all added salt, I seem to actually taste some salt from the veggies. Not sure if its real or just my imagination. Steamed veggies actually do have flavor lol. :D
geo

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Re: Geo - Eye's Wide Open 2012

Postby geo » Sun Mar 11, 2012 4:11 am

Day 11

B: nothing, wasn't hungry
L: rice and mixed veggies
apple
D: 2 baked potatoes
herbal tea

Wasn't hungry at all today but stilled try to eat fairly normally. Energy levels were up. Its was kind of wierd feeling energetic but not wanting to eat. Usually I'm energetic and am ready to eat at my usual times. So not sure what was going on today. Other than that it was a lazy day.

Watched the movie Earthlings. Better have a strong stomach for this. Mans inhumanity towards animals knows no bounds. Its hard to believe we can become so desensitized to the lives of animals that we might participate in these activities willingly. I admit I could only get through about half of it before I had to turn it off. Not sure I'll ever watch the rest. The point being made is very clear, but it just relentlessly beats you over the head. You've been warned.
geo

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Re: Geo - Eye's Wide Open 2012

Postby geo » Mon Mar 12, 2012 5:47 am

Day 12

B: Nothing, wasn't hungry
L: Baked potato and sweet potato with mex veggies and salsa
Apple
D: Rice and mixed veggies with salsa
Apple

Good relaxing day today. Appetite seems to be down which is always good :D Took dau to a new dance studio for her extra practice. She has a dance competition next weekend. Always enjoy these things...
geo

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Re: Geo - Eye's Wide Open 2012

Postby LauraA » Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:10 pm

Wow, Geo, you're doing a great job! The study that you are joining sounds interesting. It is amazing, though, that they don't ask about diet. You do seem to be keeping this eating plan simple, and that is good advice for the rest of us. It does seem to help to really keep it simple. Take care, and keep up the great work! Take care , LauraA
Take care, LauraA

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Re: Geo - Eye's Wide Open 2012

Postby geo » Tue Mar 13, 2012 4:06 am

Thanks LauraA! Simple is the best for me at this time. It keeps me focused on whats important rather than trying to always figure out what I'm going to eat next. I already know, so I dont have to wonder and its a lot easier to keep track of. Once I reach my goals I'll probably start to branch out to the wider varieties of food available within MWL but I think thats going to be some time down the road yet :)
geo

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Re: Geo - Eye's Wide Open 2012

Postby geo » Tue Mar 13, 2012 4:40 am

Day 13 - week 2 done!

So here's the new numbers after 2 weeks:

Weight: 251.2 down from: 255.6 started at: 261
BP: 124/79 down from: 140/88 started at: 153/92
Pulse: 50 down from: 66 started at: 88

I got to admit I'm shocked at how well things are going. Almost a 30 point drop in BP in only 14 days. I've been in the 150-160/90-100 range for at least 3 yrs. I wonder if drugs can do that well! And 9.8 lbs loss in 14 days is pretty remarkable too :D My pulse may seem low but in fact its always been low until the last few years. When I was in my 20's and excercising heavily my pulse was generally in the 40's. I'm surprised its dropped so much so quickly. But I think its also indicative of how much lower stress levels are as well.

For those wondering how I measure myself:

I weigh myself using a digital electronic scale. Its accurate to .2 lbs. It calibrates itself before each weighing and I've tested it with a 50 lb weight and it seems to be spot on. I keep it in the same place always when taking measurements. I generally weigh myself in the morning, au natural, before taking a shower.

For my BP, I use a fancy home machine at night while I'm relaxing on the couch watching tv. I want to make sure that I'm totally relaxed as I tend to get stressed out a lot during the day. On occasion I have my wife double check the readings manually with a stethoscope and cuff (she's a nurse) just to make sure the machine is working properly.

B: none, wasn't hungry...seems like a pattern here. Not hungry for breakfast when at work, but hungry for it on weekends when relaxing.
2 cups herbal tea
L: mex veggies with corn and salsa
cutie orange
cup of herbal tea
D: Baked potato and sweet potato
apple
S: cup of herbal tea

Felt bloated today so didn't have much of an appetite. And still no hunger :-D
I keep waiting to be ravenous but its just not happening. I can honestly say I don't miss meat. Haven't had any coffee in 15 months, but when I smell it I do still crave the taste. Funny how that works. My taste buds are definitely changing. I can taste the saltiness of fresh veggies and fruit seem to be overly sweet at times. The only thing I crave food-wise is pizza. I see a commercial for it and I'm like Pavlov's dog. I tell myself one day I'll have it again but it will be a McD version or nothing lol
geo

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Re: Geo - Eye's Wide Open 2012

Postby geo » Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:00 am

Day 14

B: nothing
2 cups herbal tea
L: Mex veggies with corn and salsa
herbal tea
D: crock pot Barley/Bean Chili - found the recipe on the net. Totally McD friendly and super easy but completely lacks flavor due to the fact I added no salt. It was barely edible :(
cutie orange

Good day. Some stressful times at work again. But no hunger. Actually had to take my belt in a notch so that's a good sign. Someone at work mentioned it looked like I had lost weight...I just smiled. Looking in the mirror I think my face is thinner, cheeks and chin not so puffy :) I wonder why it always seems like the face is the first area to look visibly different when losing weight?

I was watching some TV with my wife and vegetarianism was mentioned and that soy was bad. I said veggies are the best. She said they are but they don't have complete proteins so you need to eat meat or soy. Of course I argued back that all plants have complete proteins and are not missing any amino acids. None the less her years of RN training has taught her all the usual dietary myths <sigh> and as far as she's concerned plants are incomplete protein-wise. I was going to show her the truth but was just too tired to start an argument and so I let it die...gotta know when to fight the battles...in the end the war will be won...by me :D
Last edited by geo on Thu Mar 15, 2012 5:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
geo

My 1 year Journal McDougalling and results Testimonial
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Re: Geo - Eye's Wide Open 2012

Postby geo » Thu Mar 15, 2012 5:31 am

Day 15

B: Nothing
2 cups herbal tea
L: mex veggies with salsa and corn
Apple
Herbal tea
D: Baked potato and sweet potato
Herbal tea

High stress day again at work. No hunger whatsoever. I'm definitely losing my appetite. I again felt bloated at dinner to the point that I didn't even have the veggies I usually make. I guess my stomach is shrinking and maybe I need to cut down on the volume some.

This also makes me think about the reason I used to always get hungry under SAD. Could it be that giving my body the nutrients that it needs is somehow turning off a hunger mechanism? Does such a thing even exist? For 50+ years I ate SAD like most everyone else. I grew up on the 4 food groups: Meat, potatoes, corn and bread :o Or at least that was my 4 food groups. Very little in the way of real veggies and almost never a salad. I'm surprised that I didn't have a multitude of nutrient deficiencies over that time span. Maybe that was why I always ate so much volume and ate even when I wasn't hungry. Could it have been my bodies way of trying to get more nutrients it needed to stay alive? And now that I'm giving it those nutrients its repaying me by telling me it doesn't need so much food anymore? Sounds kind of out there really. Though I wonder if there's not some studies/science on it?

I've also been re-reading some of Jeff's posts on the diets of various healthy long lived society's like the Okinawan's and Tarahumara's. They all ate extremely simple diets (sweet potatoes for the Okinawan's and corn/beans for the Taramuhara) with very few ingredients. Which makes me wonder how they got all their micro-nutrients. How did they not reflect a diseased state and live a long healthy life when eating such a limited diet? Is the body simply more efficient at extracting and utilizing the nutrients it needs when faced with a more limited diet? Or is it simply that even on a limited plant food diet we can easily not just live but thrive? Just some things to ponder over I guess..
geo

My 1 year Journal McDougalling and results Testimonial
My March 2013 Star McDougaller Story
Some Random Thoughts on Successful McDougalling
geo
 
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Re: Geo - Eye's Wide Open 2012

Postby geo » Fri Mar 16, 2012 5:39 am

Day 16

B: 2 cups herbal tea
L: mex veggies with corn and salsa
cutie orange
cup herbal tea
S: herbal tea
D: rice and veggies with salsa

Better day at work today. Reading a bunch of newer studies on pubmed and posted them in the lounge...good stuff! It seems that plant-based diets are getting their due in a lot of studies finally. One day they'll be making the headlines routinely lol

My weekend will be booked up with my dau's dance competitions. She'll be dancing both sat and sun this time. Makes for long days but its a fun time. I'll need to plan my food and eating schedule around it to make sure I don't get hungry and go for the junk food. If I can get through this test, I should be good to go from now on.
geo

My 1 year Journal McDougalling and results Testimonial
My March 2013 Star McDougaller Story
Some Random Thoughts on Successful McDougalling
geo
 
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Re: Geo - Eye's Wide Open 2012

Postby geo » Sat Mar 17, 2012 3:54 am

Day 17

B: herbal tea
L: rice and veggies with salsa
D: baked potato and sweet potato
Apple

A moderately stressful day, but was at least able to work from home. Not much else to say. I didn't even think about dinner today and almost forgot to eat. Finally made dinner after 8PM just so I wouldnt be ravenous in the morning. Fortunately no acid reflux problems as I would always used to get when having a late SAD meal.

Read Jeff's FB note on meditation. Good stuff for sure and in his typical style, short, simple and practical. But it says nothing of what the health benefits are when meditating. It just assumes we know, which of course now leads me to do more reading and research on the topic. I think this is just Jeff's way of spuring our interest and curiosity :) So now I've added yet another book to my all to long "to be read list": Relaxation Revolution by Dr Herbert Benson.

Study of the Day (SOTD):
CR is one of my latest interests as well so I read through this study I found the other day...the latest (2011) on the science findings of CR and DR:

Impact of caloric and dietary restriction regimens on markers of health and longevity in humans and animals: a summary of available findings

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article ... ool=pubmed

Its good to know that calorie restriction has far more benefits then just the usual weight loss effects...and it falls very naturally in DrM's MWL plan :-o
geo

My 1 year Journal McDougalling and results Testimonial
My March 2013 Star McDougaller Story
Some Random Thoughts on Successful McDougalling
geo
 
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Re: Geo - Eye's Wide Open 2012

Postby geo » Sun Mar 18, 2012 6:38 am

Day 18

B: herbal tea
L: rice with mixed veggies and salsa
D: nothing
S: apple

Missed dinner today due to being out at my dau's dance competition, she had a tap routine today. It went from 5PM to just before 10PM. When we finally got home, I was just too tired to make anything. Surprisingly, had no hunger at all and just way too busy to think about food. Which is always a good thing :-D

Tomorrow we go back out and do this all over again (a couple jazz routines). So, very busy weekend and no time to do much reading...but so much fun too!
geo

My 1 year Journal McDougalling and results Testimonial
My March 2013 Star McDougaller Story
Some Random Thoughts on Successful McDougalling
geo
 
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