I've lost count of how many times I have restarted....

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

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Re: I've lost count of how many times I have restarted....

Postby amandamechele » Wed Mar 23, 2016 8:19 am

Yesterday, I read a post by one of the moderators in the Lounge forum. He spoke about someone wanting to have all of their previous posts and Journal entries removed because they were struggling and didn't want to post anymore. He said he was heartbroken by this. He wished them well, hoping that they would return and for their continued healthy success. I must admit that I don't know whom he was referring to, but that doesn't really matter.

His words and the outpouring of support and struggles from others spoke to me.

I read the forums for more than a year before I signed up for an account. At one point I decided I wanted some community support and started a journal. I discussed my goals and struggles, my day to day thoughts. It had a sad and desperate tone on some days. It began to make me sad and embarrassed to update it. So I stopped. But I didn't stop trying to eat healthy, I didn't stop reading the forum. I just couldn't handle my own lack of success when others appeared to be having more of it. I couldn't take 1 more positive, you can do it, comment when I wasn't sure that I wanted to anymore or even could.

I have often wanted to remove this journal, and many of my struggling thoughts on why I find it so difficult to follow this plan consistently. It pains me to read through it's history. It pains me to read through my history. But I keep it here as a reminder to myself of how much progress I have made. Three steps forward, two steps back, but progress none the less.

Learning to navigate the pitfalls of one's own personality, surrounding yourself with supportive people (online and in real life), and most importantly just keep doing your best are the main lessons that I have learned and offer to all of you.

I cannot thank Dr. McDougall enough for providing access not only to the "how" of healthy living, but also to the "who". Reading through these forums has been invaluable to me.

“Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them—if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It's history. It's poetry.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye


It's been more than 5 years and I still have a ways to go, but here is a look at my progress thus far:
[img]11https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1605/25885806962_ed6b896973_z_d.jpg[/img]
[img]11https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1497/25374111464_9e9b27242e_z_d.jpg[/img]

Amy
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Re: I've lost count of how many times I have restarted....

Postby f1jim » Thu Mar 24, 2016 4:18 am

It sounds like you have a great grasp of the journey you are on to better health. That's already more than half the battle won. Executing the steps along that journey is the other half. I call that the "no mans land" of healthy living. All the day to day challenges pull us away from our journey that our mind says we need to follow. There is no shortage of people and situations ready to derail us. We can be derailed early in the process and late in the process. Because you have a good sense of what healthy eating requires there is no going back mentally. If you slip back your knowledge will plunge you into a world of guilt. Yet the daily challenges are not going away. The only thing that changes is your view of those challenges and the way you address them. We have pretty elaborate feedback systems that tell us how we are doing on the journey. It sounds like yours are working well and providing you with the right feedback.
Let's do this!
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While adopting this diet and lifestyle program I have reversed my heart disease, high cholesterol, hypertension, and lost 54 lbs. You can follow my story at https://www.drmcdougall.com/james-brown/
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Re: I've lost count of how many times I have restarted....

Postby amandamechele » Thu Mar 24, 2016 9:28 am

Thank you Jim.
Thank you to everyone who has offered support to me and others travelling this journey. :) :)
I really do love and appreciate the kind words. They inspire and motivate me and many others.

Thank you, thank you all!

Amy

And now onto the tastier side of things, I made the most delicious burrito from leftover brown rice, corn, black beans, chilli powder and a few other things I had in the fridge. Spread homemade hummus on the inside of an oil-free whole wheat pita, spoon in the rice mixture, and brown it on both sides on a dry hot griddle. It was so good!

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Re: I've lost count of how many times I have restarted....

Postby f1jim » Thu Mar 24, 2016 9:31 am

Looks delicious!
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While adopting this diet and lifestyle program I have reversed my heart disease, high cholesterol, hypertension, and lost 54 lbs. You can follow my story at https://www.drmcdougall.com/james-brown/
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Re: I've lost count of how many times I have restarted....

Postby Jerry Angelo » Thu Mar 24, 2016 9:37 am

Wow, that looks totally awesome, enjoy!
108 Pounds Lost Since Sept 2014 - And Counting
No more pre diabetes! Eternally grateful to Dr. McDougall! And Jeff Novick!!!
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Re: I've lost count of how many times I have restarted....

Postby Yomom » Thu Mar 24, 2016 10:39 am

Way to go, Amy!
Cheering for your continued success.
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Re: I've lost count of how many times I have restarted....

Postby viv » Sun Mar 27, 2016 2:40 pm

Amy, thank you so much for sharing your journey with us. It's been three years for me and I have still have my slip ups, but it's courageous people like you that keep me going. We are all in this together, and in the end, isn't that what it's all about?

Viv
5'8", Started March 2013
Starting weight: 217
Current weight: 157
60lbs gone--for good!
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Re: I've lost count of how many times I have restarted....

Postby amandamechele » Tue Mar 29, 2016 8:55 am

Thank you Jerry. - I love to eat beautiful food.
Thank you Kathy and Viv! That is a good way to put it, we are all in this together.

I had written a longer entry which I managed to erase or lose or something while putting the photos into this post. Pictures will have to be my thousand words because I don't have the time to re-write it.

Earlier in the week I made colcannon from a recipe from the T Colin Campbell website, and then had to create it into new things all weekend, like the Colcannon samosa burrito with chunky chaat masala spice, also pictured here. I still have some left in the fridge! Oh the joys of large recipes.

I hope everyone had a wonderful and healthy holiday! My mom made a number of dishes from Jill Nussinow's new cookbook, shown here are a soup, the "sausages" and the "cheesecake". She also made baked beans and a veggie quinoa pasta dish that was so overcooked it became mush, so we jokingly renamed it veggie quinoa congee. My non-McDougall Uncle brought the wine, in protest of all of the healthy food we made him eat.

Overall, I ate well this weekend, but did succumb to some of the kid's chocolate that was in the house. I'm happy to be right back on track (if I say it and believe it, it will be true!!).



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Re: I've lost count of how many times I have restarted....

Postby amandamechele » Sat Apr 16, 2016 12:49 pm

Today I am wondering why getting grey hair is not reversible by diet (and wishing it were). :P

Here is a recent SNAP type meal I made after watching Jeff's Fast Food Basics:

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Another favourite was on the menu last week, Tunisian Stew:

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My diet has otherwise been a train wreck in the past couple of weeks.* Too much temptation and opportunity has tripped me up and I have fallen into the pleasure trap. I am going to need to spend some time getting back on track. It will be a tough 4 or 5 days to get over the cravings. I have learned that I have to eat very simply to hasten this process. I am not, however, able to eat this simply indefinitely.

Wish me luck, I have a tough week ahead, but I feel confident I will get back on track.

Amy

* To clarify, when I fall down on this diet, it means eating out a lot, which includes much oil, salt and sugar. I do not eat meat or dairy.
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Re: I've lost count of how many times I have restarted....

Postby amandamechele » Sun Apr 17, 2016 7:53 pm

Today was happily back on track. It was made easier by attending a local monthly McDougall potluck. Connecting with people trying to attain the same goals, in the same way, at the same time has been another key to my success this year. I feel gratitude tonight for everyone who has and is supporting me.

My dinner was fabulous!
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Re: I've lost count of how many times I have restarted....

Postby amandamechele » Sun Aug 28, 2016 9:46 pm

I thought I'd update my journal tonight.
I'm still plugging away!
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Re: I've lost count of how many times I have restarted....

Postby amandamechele » Tue Oct 11, 2016 6:57 pm

My sister and I have decided to do a 10-day Mary's Mini, starting today; we chose potatoes as our main starch.
I've decided to photograph and weigh everything that I eat for this period of time. I figured I can handle this degree of attention to detail for 10-days. I am curious to know the average daily weight of the food I consume.
I was going to post weight lost as well, but when I weighed myself this morning I was up 7 pounds since this past Friday and that is an unusually high fluctuation (possibly due to much higher sodium and food intake this weekend due to Canadian Thanksgiving celebrations). So, while I am tracking it, I don't think I'll post it today (I may change my mind on this further into the process).

What I ate:
0.608 kg baked potatoes
0.016 kg honey mustard
0.354 kg pineapple
0.101 kg romaine lettuce
0.270 kg mashed potatoes
0.185 kg Brussel sprouts/mushrooms and onions sautéed
0.327 kg green grapes
Total Weight of food consumed: 1.86 kg


Additional items:
1 tsp green tea leaves in 8 cups of hot water
Salt sprinkled on top of potatoes.
Onion powder
Sparkling Water

Exercise: None today

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I think I would potentially continue eating this evening if it weren't for this journal entry, so it is influencing today's results. Let's see if that continues over time. I can't say it's a bad thing, as I still have some weight to lose! ;)
I don't know if you'll end up reading this Kate, but good luck this week. We've got this! XO

PS. I'm loosely using the guidelines from the June 2006 newsletter. I'm not especially clear on how much fruit is permitted, so my intake may be high because I do love it so. :nod:
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Re: I've lost count of how many times I have restarted....

Postby f1jim » Tue Oct 11, 2016 7:58 pm

Good luck! We will be watching to see your progress.
I am sure it will work for you in achieving your goals.
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While adopting this diet and lifestyle program I have reversed my heart disease, high cholesterol, hypertension, and lost 54 lbs. You can follow my story at https://www.drmcdougall.com/james-brown/
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Re: I've lost count of how many times I have restarted....

Postby amandamechele » Wed Oct 12, 2016 7:32 pm

Thanks for the kind words of support, Jim. I will have to search your posts and see what you and Terri have been up to; I recall that you have recently moved to a very low calorie density program, of rice and veg. I hope it's going well!

Well, I survived Day 2 of the Mary's Mini plan. Yay me! Leftovers in the fridge make it very easy to stay the course. My breakfast today was inspired by a webinar from Chef AJ where she mentioned her favourite way to eat potato waffles was with onions and applesauce.
I am going to have to agree with her! They were delicious.

What I ate:
0.161 kg Banana
0.406 kg Mashed Potato Waffle*
0.016 kg Green onion and cilantro
0.084 kg Romaine lettuce (I guess it could be called a salad)
0.113 kg Unsweetened applesauce
0.079 kg Red onion
0.245 kg Green grapes
0.144 kg Brussle sprout/onion/mushroom sautéed
0.037 kg Low sodium ketchup
0.170 kg Apple
0.263 kg Baked fries*
0.150 kg Asparagus
Total weight of food consumed: 1.868 kg (That's freakishly similar to yesterday's total...hmmm)

Additional items:
Salt sprinkled on potatoes
1 tsp green tea leaves and two pots of water (approx 8 cups)
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Sparkling water

Exercise: 7.2 km in 75 minutes

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I have many more photos, with foods on the scale and the nutritional information of the processed products I am using posting to my Flickr account. Feel free to take a look and let me know if there are ways I can improve!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/95182338@N07/

* The weight of the potatoes changes depending upon the way they are cooked/baked (no surprise there). For example, the baked potato for my fries this evening weighed 0.355 kg before I cut it up and baked it again for fries, after which it weighed 0.263 kg. I used the weight after baking for the fries entry above but I used the weight of the mashed potatoes for the waffle entry - this is inconsistent because I neglected to weigh the waffles on their own after making them. However, in calculating my calories for the day on the Cronometer website, I used the orginal processed weight (mashed or baked vs waffled or fries) due to the limited choices of preparation styles from the foods list and felt the weights I chose were more reflective of the calories I actually ate - but maybe I'm overthinking this...lol...

Anyhow, I am happy to cross day 2 off of the calendar. Good night to all!
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Re: I've lost count of how many times I have restarted....

Postby amandamechele » Thu Oct 13, 2016 9:22 pm

Well, another day is done. I have chronicled everything I have eaten here, with a few photos. There are many others on the Flickr link (from yesterday). I cannot call this a "perfectly" on plan day as I had a coffee and my sodium may be considered a bit high for a Mary's Mini. However, I am positively satisfied overall and enjoying the process. My dinner was inspired by an email from the Engine 2 people that I received this morning with a recipe for Twice baked potatoes. They were quite good, even though I didn't follow the recipe exactly.

http://engine2diet.com/recipe/game-day-twice-baked-potato-skins/

I was going to add some notes on my motivation for this 10-days, family dynamics, and what I could do differently, but maybe I'll save that for another time, except to say I must remember to consider how someone further down the mountain may be feeling about the steep walk up.

What I Ate:
0.006 kg White sugar
0.198 kg Mashed Potato waffle
0.032 kg Red onion, sautéed
0.016 kg green onion and cilantro
0.138 kg Carrots, raw
0.079 kg Sugar snap peas, raw
0.172 kg Blackberries
0.162 kg Banana
0.021 kg Mustard, PC brand Sweet with Heat
0.088 kg Romaine lettuce
0.355 kg Green grapes
0.436 kg Twice Baked Potatoes

Total weight of food consumed: 1.703 kg

Additional items:
1 cup of coffee
1 tsp green tea leaves and 5 cups of water

Exercise: 7.2 km in 75 minutes

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Dinner Ingredients before baking: (used for Cronometer.com)
0.390 kg Russet potato, baked
0.079 kg Spinach, frozen
0.016 kg Corn, frozen
0.022 kg Bell pepper
0.018 kg Red onion, raw
0.008 kg Nutritional Yeast
0.029 kg BBQ Sauce
Total: 0.548 kg
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