Journal of my journey

[Morris]

Day 44 ~ woke up to -20 this morning. Cold, made me want to eat and eat and eat.
Coffee
Breakfast: chocolate pancakes, banana and a clementine
Lunch: Leftover brown rice made into a "stirfry" with mushroom, onion, red, yellow, and orange pepper; peas; garlic and a bit of soy sauce

Snack: Ugh! found a stash of chocolate chip cookies in freezer (all I'll say is they aren't there no more)
Dinner: Peanut butter and jelly toast, curried winter squash and apple soup
Snack: dark chocolate square

No greens today, haven't gotten into the habit of eating them every day.

I am reading a book that I checked out from the library "Sugar Shock". What I am getting from it is that we need to stop eating the sugary foods that are overly processed and just eat fruits, vegetables, nuts & seeds, and whole grains.

Seriously, what would the grocery store shelves look like if we all stopped eating the processed foods that are full of sugar, refined flour and additives and preservatives?

[Morris]

Day 45 ~ another cold day.
Coffee
Breakfast: oatmeal, blueberries, soy milk and flax seed
Lunch: angel hair pasta with mushroom spaghetti sauce, green beans,
Snack: dark chocolate square
Dinner: mushroom-barley soup (From Lorna Sass's Cooking Under Pressure), hot cocoa
Snack: toast

i am thinking I am eating too much bread. At least I am limiting it to 2 pieces instead of the 4 I I used to eat. I had to take my daughter to work today and all the way there I kept thinking of the fact that they now stock Reisens (chocolate covered caramels). My daughter requested them just for me. She even told me that when I get a craving now I don't have to go all the way into town but just up the road. Nice. Why is it that every one is so eager to encourage me in my bad habits and not the healthy ones. So frustrating.

To make a long story short: I did not get out of the car and on the way home I told that voice inside my head to shut up.

Despite the cold weather, I seemed to be satisfied with what I ate today. I still need to work on getting those greens eaten but my main dishes are loaded with veggies.

I managed to get a workout in tonight: 3 circuits of the 7 minute workout. Our woodstove was having some issues and there was a backdraft and smoke poofed into the house, it made breathing difficult when i was huffing and puffing. I am glad that I was able to workout for the time I did. It is supposed to be 20 degrees above 0 later this week (40 degrees warmer than the past few nighttime lows = heatwave!

What I think I need to work on is to increase the lower calorie veggies and stay eating so much bread. The hot cocoa should be switched to tea instead. I will see if I can make these changes.

[Morris]

Day 46 ~ Wow! I cannot believe how quickly the days have gone by. Now, if only this cold weather would pass as quickly. We will be in single digits for the high till Saturday. It is a windy day today so it feels colder than it the air temperature.

Yesterday, I made some soups in my Instant Pot:
Mushroom Barley Soup from Lorna Sass's Cooking Under Pressure
Navy Bean with Spinach adapted from Jill Nussinow's White Bean and Escarole Soup from The New Fast Food

What I ate today:
Coffee
Smoothie (almond milk, banana, clementine, grapes and spinach)

Workout: 67 minutes on recumbent bike (Level Up x 8, Level Down x 8, CD)

Bowl of Navy Bean with Spinach Soup
apple

Had to go to town today and we met a friend for lunch (OR early dinner) and I over ate: Vegetarian Smothered Burrito served with Salad. Too many tortilla chips and salsa. I ordered no dairy and they asked if I wanted to sub guacamole instead. Sure I said, but boy, were they generous with the serving. I really need to work on not eating all that is served when I go out to eat.

Came home and had a cup of hot chocolate and 2 dark chocolate squares. Found myself searching the cupboards and settled for 5 pecans. What I was really doing was trying not to raid my hubby's cookie stash and was attempting to calm the monster within by eating something else instead.

It is not that I am craving the cookies or sugary stuff, but I just want to eat something, anything. I struggle with that way too often, eating when not really hungry, but eating just for the sake of eating. I think I am really thirsty.

I broke my lose weight goal down into a smaller goal and I am going to try to lose 2 pounds by the end of this month. This seems doable for me, at least it does today.

I need to focus on eating more of the low starch veggies. Hopefully, I can get settled into a routine soon. Having meals prepared and ready to go is a start; at least I am planning what to eat ahead of time.

[Morris]

Day 47 ~ I am not sure what kicked in, but I am reading the pleasure trap and I think I am realizing that I have been trying to avoid pain by not committing to eating according to a whole food plant based choices and eliminating the processed stuff. Despite overeating yesterday, I weighed myself this morning just to see. I dropped about 1/2 pound. That is encouraging. Also, I tried on a pair of jeans I bought about 5 pounds ago and was finally able to at least pull them up and zip and button. I cannot say I could walk in them though. It is a start, a couple weeks ago I couldn't do that.

I ate well today and resisted most temptation. We went to Costco and I tried a couple of sample, bread and a lentil soup. I did not taste the fruit snack, despite the claim that it was healthy, after all it was gluten free. Ya gotta love all those marketing ideas.

What I ate today:
Coffee ~ not for sure if this will go, but I am now mixing it with decaf
E2 Rip's Big Bowl Banana Walnut, soymilk and blue berries
Multigrain Bread with peanut butter and jelly

Errands~
apple

Workout ~ 32 minutes on treadmill WU,(Run 2 1/2 minutes, Walk 2 1/2 minutes) x 5, CD

Salad (Romaine, carrot, celery, sugar snap peas, onion)
Mushroom Barley Soup

Still hungry ~ pita bread with hummus
cup of tea

[Morris]

Day 50 ~ I missed a couple of days posting in my journal, but I will say that for most of the eating I did it was on target.

I found E2 Rip's Big Bowl cereal at Whole Foods, and while it is a processed cereal, I like it because it is not sweetened with sugars. I found that it is not a cereal that I can eat bowl after bowl because I actually felt full after just 1/2 cup, I had it with blueberries and soymilk.

I am finding myself, when at the store, looking at the candy and chips on display at the checkouts and finding that my resistance muscles are getting stronger. I take my grandson to pre-school a few times a week and usually wait in town (3 hours) rather than drive back home (this saves me about 45 minutes drive time). I will either go to Wal-Mart, the library or the gym.

Thursday, I chose to go to Wal-Mart and check the grocery prices so I can create a price book. I keep hearing how it is too expensive to eat healthy. I spent about 2 hours in the produce department. I was amazed at the variety of potatoes that Wal-Mart carries. Also, the amount of organic produce.

I also got hungry while there, and I heard those Lay's potato chips call my name. I chose an orange instead. I paid $0. 50 cents for the orange and that bag of chips was $1.28. Now, seriously, which is the cheaper of the two?

The bad thing was that,while I resisted the potato chips, I still wanted some. I waited til I returned home and them made some baked fries for dinner. However, I ate too many. I prepared 4 large potatoes and ended up eating them most before my hubby and daughter returned home. They were so good, golden brown and chewy.

I think I am eating too many potatoes. Is that possible? I made baked fries again last night for supper along with a bag of frozen vegetables.

I only had a couple of hiccups these past couple of days. I snitched a few cookies from my hubby's stash, but was able to control myself and stop after a serving. I am not sure if the reason for that is because it tasted nasty now or that it was not my stash. But, the fact that I was able to stop is a big accomplishment for me.

[Morris]

Day 51 ~ Thinking back to when I started, my hubby was away and I had a break from watching my grandson, it was easy to stick with this way of eating when I did not have to deal with other peoples' likes and dislikes. No frustration, no bad attitudes, etc. I lost 4 pounds the first week and then chaos came back into my life and I am struggling to do what I know in the right thing to do.

I wish my husband would get onboard with me. I talked to him about how much easier it would me if we could both be eating the same thing. But every time I tell him I want to do a whole food plant based diet the first thing he talks about is making sausage, eggs and some type of meat. OK, I get it, he does not want to eat a whole food plant based diet.

So, I asked to help me out with the sugar junk that I cannot seem to stop eating. What does he do, he breaks out the cookies and says, "Here, you want to help me eat these because I do not want to eat them all." OK, I get it, he does not want to help me overcome my bad habits and will encourage me to continue to eat it.

I am frustrated with that, but I am also tired of not doing what I need to do. I realize that I have to be strong and not rely on others for my success. Success needs to come from within.

I almost made it on plan yesterday. But because I sampled some salt and pepper potato chips at Costco, I really craved something salty. I made me some popcorn to satisfy that. (1/3 cup popcorn + 1 Tbs coconut oil) I ate it all. I tried to pop my popcorn without oil, but that just did not work for me, the kernels were too tough.

Then the really bad was I opened the bag of premium chocolate chips. I think my frustration got the best of me. The good news is that the scale was kind to me and I lost .2 pounds from my last weigh in. At least that is a plus.

For this next week's menu, I went to the March 2008 newsletter and am going to make my meals from those recipes and cost them with today's prices. I am curious as to what they will cost. Back then, Mary estimated it to be less than $2.00 a person. I have not decided which recipes I will make yet, we are still eating the leftover soups.

[Morris]

Day 52 ~ Although I am not 100% compliant, I am making good progress toward my goal of mostly compliant. I am having a lot more energy and am sleeping better. I am still wishing for a night where I do not wake up every couple of hours, but at least I am not always needing a nap in the afternoons.

Coffee
Cooked greens, raw sugar snap peas
Corn tortillas, raw onion, raw spinach, mung beans
Apple. celery, grapes, pecans, baked fries
chocolate chips ~ need to kick this habit
hot cocoa

I made the mung beans in the Instant Pot; that was one of the best things I bought for myself. I cannot believe how quick I can make beans and grains with that appliance.

[Morris]

Day 53 ~ I had a good day today despite oversleeping and needing to run out the door before I had breakfast.
Of course, I had my coffee. I enjoy my coffee even though I am now drinking it half-caf.

Hubby had a doctor appointment and since we are almost out of our potatoes, on the way, we stopped at the potato farm to see if they had any more potatoes left. Not many were left but we were able to get 100 pounds of baking russets. Oh, did they look good. I see baked potatoes in my future.

Since I did not have time for breakfast, I took a few minutes and packed some celery and carrot sticks, a clementine, sugar snap peas and an apple. That kept me satisfied on the drive to the clinic and while waiting. We stopped at the Mall of America because there was not much traffic and we had 90 minutes to spare. The store we go to is See's Candy, where they give out samples, not just one but as many as you can eat while in the store. Oh, Oh, here comes the sales lady with a dark chocolate sample. I took it willingly. Took a bite, savored the taste. Mmmmmmmm, so good. Then, thought about what I was doing and handed the rest of the piece to my hubby. I stood there for the next ten minutes smelling that chocolate. Well, at least there is no calories in just smelling it. I could not believe how strong the chocolate smell was.

For lunch, I bought a black bean and rice wrap and the Healthy Express. The person making it must have put on about 2 cups of lettuce, the rice tasted like it came from a seasoned boxed mix. But it looked better than what my husband brought to the table, he chose something from one of those Asian food places that cook everything in oil.

While I wait for the doctor appointment to be over, I usually wait in the clinic cafeteria and it is usually after a trip to the store. In the past, I would buy a bag of Reisins and/or chips. But not today. And guess what? I did not die.

For dinner we went to Wok in the Park, an Asian Bistro. It is becoming one of our favorite places to go to. Everything is made to order, as you like it. I had a cup of rice and a huge plate of steamed vegetables, with an oil-free sauce on the side. That was my modification of the Vegetable Stir Fry.

I cannot believe I was able to resist the temptations that usually caused me to stray in the past. And, you know what? I feel good about what I ate. I also became very much aware that there are healthy choices available if you make the effort to seek them out.

[viv]

Hi Morris, you are doing great. You are staying plant strong despite the many temptations that cross your path. If we take an occasional side trip so what? Just step right back on the McDougall Road to health and longevity. That's the beauty of this plan, we are in it for life, the road is always there stretching of into our future, we simply have to step on and happily walk the road one step at a time.
Viv

[Morris]

Viv ~ Thank you so much for the encouraging words. My fear is that if I take too many side trips, I may end up losing my way. I like how there is as much opportunity to get back on track as there are to go astray.

Day 57 ~ I cannot believe how quickly time has passed. I see I have not posted for awhile. During these past few days, I was thinking about doing Mary's mine to help me with making the proper choices. Well, hubby has decided to join in for 7 days. Day 8 is a wedding, so we figured we'd be off plan by then.

I baked a lot of potatoes so we could just reach in the fridge and grab. Yesterday was a trial run and it seems we both went crazy eating the last of the junk food laying around the house. But we had potatoes for each of our meals. It was a start.

Today was day 1 of Mary's Mini.
Here is what I ate today:
Coffee 32 oz (i am not ready to give this up yet)
1/2 plain baked potato (ate it cold)
8 oz water
~
nice out today, gloomy but temperature as about 28 degrees. I went for a run/walk outside: 5k101 podcast Week 3 day 1; about 2 1/2 miles with about 1/3 mile cooldown walk.
~
1/2 baked potato (ate it cold)
~
1 baked potato (warm) topped with swiss chard and salsa
12 oz water
~ brussel sprouts (small about 10)
~
romaine lettuce (1 head cut up) with a drizzle of Italian dressing
"fried" potato (1 1/2 baked cut up) with onion, yellow pepper, celery, garlic, swiss chard
~
hot cocoa made with homemade almond milk (I felt I needed something warm and sweet)
12 oz water

Reviewing what I ate today; I see I need to drink more water. I think I may need to be creative with the rest of those baked potatoes.

[Morris]

Day 58 er day 2 of Mary's Mini

It was a good day for eating; having the potatoes ready to grab made it easier to actually stick with it. I cannot believe how many of those potatoes we have eaten already. It made me realize how often I grab bread and put peanut butter on it. Today I grabbed a potato instead.

what I ate today:
``coffee
chai tea with almond milk
``1 baked potato
green beans
banana
``1/2 smoothie made with Green Power greens, triple berry mix, banana, and a tangerine
``2 baked potatoes sliced, warmed and topped with ketchup
```2.55 mile walk/run
``Romain lettuce, red pepper
baked potato
asparagus stir fry
``tangerine

I am kind of hungry but not hungry. Not sure if it is because I need more calories or if I just want something different to eat. I think I am starting to sprout

[Morris]

Day 59 Day 3 of Mary's Mini

I posted a venting post and timed out and it disappeared, must mean I ought not be complaining.

Coffee
`20 oz water
`2.55 mile walk/run
`banana
`brothy soup with potato, onion, celery, carrot, green bean, zucchini (i ate 4 bowls) Yummy!
`2 corn tortillas
` still not satisfied, made popcorn (1/3 c kernels + 1 tbs oil) Did the trick
`hot cocoa
`"fried" potato, asparagus stir fry
Water

I feel I did well for most of the eating, I can see a few areas that need tweaking, but I am getting there.

[Morris]

Day 60 ~ 6 pounds lighter and that was with a lot of noncompliance. I think changing my goal to losing a couple of pounds by the end of the month rather than the whole amount at a later date has given me a more motivation.
What I ate today:
Coffee
Banana
Baked potato fries
Water
Orange
Pita bread
Hummus
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Green beans

I only had 2 meals of potatoes but I feel like I ate enough because I am no longer hungry.

[Morris]

Day 61 ~
coffee
potato pancakes topped with a bit of applesauce and maple syrup
baked potato
apple
mashed potato
baked beans
corn
pita bread
hummus

I am thinking I am off the Mary's mini, but am sticking to a whole food plant based diet, which is my end goal .

[Morris]

Day 63 ~ forgot to post yesterday
What I ate an day 62
coffee
smoothie [banana, tangerine, blueberries, spinach]
potato curry with onion, red pepper, cauliflower, green beans x2
brown rice
water
potato curry with onion, red pepper, cauliflower, green beans x2
brown rice
pita bread
hummus

Day 63
Weighed myself this morning and I noticed that I am up a couple of ounces. I have been adding the pita bread and hummus, i might need to watch that more closely if I want to lose weight. I also notice that my weight loss have been following the days I go running. ~ something to think about. In the past when I plateaued, the scale started moving again after I started running long distance.

The good thing is that my appetite is finally getting under control and it is finally getting easier to NOT buy the junk food. Planning and preparation is the key to success ~ I really need to remember that and act on it.

It is too early to post my eating for Day 63, to be continued.