Getting Control Back

[katgirl55]

I need to know if this way of eating works, and also if it will work for ME. I tried to be very strict with eating back in January (a version of MWL, no salt or sugar) and although I was compliant for the whole month, by the end I was getting tired of it being so rigid. I just wanted options and for my food not to taste like cardboard. So I rebelled and instead of letting up a bit to be more flexible, I went crazy and gained weight back. Now I am trying to get back in control and having difficulty with it. I will make a pot of potatoes and eat a few but the rest go to waste. Part of the problem is that my partner is on a very limited diet due to kidney disease and must eat only certain foods. So to make it easier, I will eat these to so that I can be supportive. It is not meat, but still dairy and bread. I can modify what I eat to be more compliant, but that is not where my head is at the moment. The scale keeps creeping up every month though so I really need to get back on the ball.

[WyldMoonWoman]

Welcome! I haven't tried the MWL program. I have looked at it, but decided to stick with regular starch solution until I hit a plateau. It must be tough living with someone with kidney disease because the dietary restrictions are so rigid...the limited diet, especially potassium and phosphorus make potatoes, some veggies, and beans a big No No for many renal patients. Maybe you can speak with your partner's dietitian, e-mail Dr. McDougall, or ask in the Jeff N. section about this diet for renal patients and come up with a list of allowed compliant foods based on your partners individual lab results and recommendations for dietary restrictions and start there? You can try to build compliant, tasty recipes from those recommendations.

Also, I have read that variations of the starch based diet can slow progression of kidney disease if your partner is not yet on dialysis, because the most restrictive renal diet is the one patients are told to follow before they start dialysis treatments.

There are so many members here with food sensitivities who can't eat things like gluten or nightshade veggies, or have families who do not embrace this type of dietary plan and they seem to make it work. You may find valuable insight from those members.

I can say, for myself and my partner, that this does work for us. We have lost, together, approximately 115 lbs between us since February of this year just doing the regular starch solution. We keep it simple at home, lots of brown rice and corn. We do have salt and sugar...just a little...to make foods taste better. I don't like cardboard foods! When we are starting to get bored, we shake things up by trying a new recipe or a new spice.

It's hard in the beginning. But, it does get easier. I wish you luck finding the right balance of foods that both you and your partner can enjoy because being able to eat the same meal as you partner does make it easier.

I look forward to reading about your journey, please come back and post updates because I'm interested....I'm a dialysis nurse...and I hope to learn something from you that can benefit my patients.

[katgirl55]

Thank you so much for your insights, WyldMoonWoman! Yes, while I can actually eat anything under the sun, I am restricting myself by choice because my partner will tend to let things slide otherwise. She is not yet on dialysis, and kidney function has stabilized, mostly due to getting rid of the meat and salt. Only lately was potassium off the table as well, which really shook things up because that was the whole menu at the time! It makes it very difficult to not eat the same things, as far as preparation and planning. We were doing a rice and corn bowl for lunch (beans in mine) and that was all plant-based. Now it is roasted veggie sandwiches, but added cheese and mayo. For a while it was anything she would eat because appetite was down or she would not keep it down. Now that she will eat I am starting to think about my dietary needs since weight is creeping.

That is so awesome that you and your husband have lost so much weight since only February! Definitely worth applauding. I read your posts in the lounge and I love how you are making it work without obsessing about being perfect. I think that is one of my issues - worrying over the minutia so much that I give up. There are some who do the whole SOS free thing, and for me that might never be something I can do. I need to be as compliant as possible, but I also need to not obsess about buying salt-free mustard or having cream with my real coffee. Stephen Covey had a video about "big rocks" where he has rocks of various sizes to put into a container. He shows how if you put in the small rocks first all the rocks will not fit, but if you put in big rocks first, then small rocks they will. So to me, getting the big rocks in means eating no animal products, eliminating oil, and trying to eat whole food rather than processed.

[katgirl55]

Still contemplating how I will begin again. I know many here might say - JUST DO IT! And in a logical world that would make sense. In my nutty world where my partner can only eat a handful of things it is not so easy. In little ways I eat compliant, such as taking my oats and banana to work each morning. Now if I can dial it in on the other meals, and minimize the eating out at restaurants I could be about 90% compliant. I wish that I could get my partner to jump on board, but that is not in the cards yet.

[katgirl55]

So yesterday I had good intentions of gaining some control back. I only had one coffee in the morning (to ward off a headache) and sensible breakfast. For lunch I planned to have bean burritos with green chiles, and before I knew it my partner had dumped all kinds of cheese into the beans, rather than adding it into the individual burritos.

This is pretty much par for the course. This is why the title of my journal has double meaning: I need to figuratively get control of my eating, and literally I need to control the food preparation since my partner does not have the same priorities. I can't blame other people for throwing cheese in my beans, but it gets tiring. This is how I invite failure - by getting so fatigued with the whole thing and not having support.

[katgirl55]

LOL I am now calling my profile the "thread killer". In fact I should see if I can change my profile name to that. I don't mean to, but usually if I write a post on a thread, for some reason that thread will no longer get any posts. I started wondering if my tone was off-putting, or if I am just jinxed. I know, some posts have outlived their usefulness and just need to go away, so it can be just a coincidence that I happened to post last before that happened. I'm not letting is scare me off though because I like it here.

Tried a different group elsewhere, and found I was not a very good fit. No offense to them, but it was not working for me, and actually started making me feel guilty for not following their plan. I think I can tend towards orthorexia, so having too many rules can be detrimental to my state of mind. Once I get on that kick of worrying whether there was salt in my mustard or sugar in my ketchup, I'm doomed. The next phase is rebellion at being so rigid and BOOM I am off plan again. So there is such a thing as too much of a good thing for me when it comes to rules.

My next goal will be to "add in" rather than "take out". More veggies, more starch, and take it from there. I have challenges when it comes to meal planning and prep, so smaller steps for now.

[katgirl55]

I sometimes feel like a fraud for not being 100% compliant but still coming here regularly with people who are walking the talk. I know what to do and about 60% right now I'm doing it. That other 40% is what it is, and I am trying to make improvements where I can. My partner is now considering a strategy for losing more weight, so changes are imminent. I will steer toward WFPB where possible, and hope my partner can as well given the food restrictions due to kidneys. We are meat free but not currently dairy free or oil free.

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi,

I think we are all here to support each other and we are all coming from different places and are at different stages.

If we could all be 100% compliant, then we may not need to track /post!!

Hope that you are proud of your progress!! Sometimes, it's baby steps. I know that I am not good at the perfection thing.

Wishing you the best in your journey!

[katgirl55]

Thank you, Stephanie. It is very kind of you to say that, and exactly what I need to hear right now.

Today I did a wellness screening at my place of work to check non-fasting cholesterol, glucose and blood pressure. Glucose was fine. Cholesterol was a bit high at 218, with HDL at 65. BP also high at 137/79. I took Lisinopril 2 years ago to lower it, and then with weight loss I stopped taking it as my BP reduced. Now it looks like along with my weight creep, BP is also going up. I will try to clean up my diet first, which I know can help with the cholesterol and BP. So this gives me some numbers to start, and I can measure from here my progress with better diet and adding exercise.

[katgirl55]

Hah! So I got so worried about my BP going up that I took some of my old meds and the next day suffered from low BP. Good lesson for me to chill out and relax before jumping the gun.

As for eating, I did very well for lunch today with a homemade rice and bean bowl with corn salsa. It always helps for me to have healthy food on hand because if I am stuck without it, I cave and go out for lunch. This is a good start.

[katgirl55]

I have been rocking my rice and bean bowl all week. Seems like I got that dialed in, now to work on dinners. I gave away my older treadmill so I will try to get into the gym this weekend. Once I am there I will be fine, it is getting into the door that is the problem. That was why having a treadmill at home was good, because I could get up in the morning before my shower or when I had my grubby clothes on and work out without needing to be fixed up for public. The gym is a little more planning and prep, but allows more variations in my workout. It is good to have both options, so I will be treadmill shopping soon. Anyone have a Nordic Track model they recommend? My old one was a C2165 I think. Good model, but I gave it away as a good deed to an older relative who needs a way to exercise in a bad neighborhood.

[WyldMoonWoman]

I think you are doing wonderfully at 60%

For me, every day is a learning experience. If you can take a step back to evaluate your food intake with open eyes, you may find out some interesting things about yourself. If you find little things that you think you can change it's a baby step...and eventually all of your little baby steps will bring your 60% to 80% or even 100%....I find that the whole mantra of perfection stresses me out because I'm not perfect...and I can't compare myself to the perfect people without feeling like a failure....so I let it go. You are not a fraud. You are human and this dietary change has a huge learning curve.

[VegSeekingFit]

Awesome to rock the rice and bean bowl!! Be proud for mastering !! I guess I am rocking the oatmeal.

I wish I could recommend my treadmill, but it is only ok. It has a gradient from -5% to + 15% and will go up to 10 MPH (which I couldn't sustain for more than a few seconds) !! I purchased because of integration with IFIT (which should offer lots of workout options). IFIT has loads of problems and I would say don't get expectations up and steer clear. Be careful of where you read treadmill reviews before you buy. Some sites are sponsored by the sellers and have a lot of "false" positive feedback.

Runner's World has a whole separate topic on their boards for treadmills. Check it out before you buy.

[katgirl55]

I got my treadmill and hit another setback: the display does not work. I have a part coming and technician will come install etc. but I feel like my momentum got lost a bit. I "could" still get on it and walk; I would need to keep track of speed and time on my own. I might try this weekend to do that, but as of this moment I have no motivation. I am feeling extremely sad about the shooting that happened yesterday, and today I heard that a coworker's infant has passed away. Yesterday a FB post was a news item about a dog being boiled. I am taking a news/social media fast for a while so that I can heal my emotions. I know that exercise will help, but for the next two days I am going to rest and relax and avoid the negativity.

As for food....I am doing the rice bowls again, and oats in the morning. Dinner has and is my downfall. If I had something easy and tasty to come home to, I would not be so tempted during my drive home from work. That is when I blow it. I could starve all day, so that the huge dinner is not on top of the 1000 calories I already had for breakfast and lunch. I have even tried eating a larger lunch so that I am not as hungry later. I know what the answer is but my mind and stomach will not comply. LOL.

[katgirl55]

Still waiting for treadmill repair. I have the part, just waiting for a technician to call back to schedule time for him to come by and fix it. I am feeling frustrated, as this is a bad time of year to not be exercising. As we know, once you get momentum you have to act on it right away before it fades. There is too much to do, too little time, and many temptations out there. I also have been taking a class and this is the last week (today is my final exam) so I will have about a month before I launch into a new school program with 4 classes next session. I need to dial in my routine before it happens. Breakfast and lunch are okay, there is room for improvement there but that is not were I go wrong. It is and has been that nightly drive home past the mall and restaurants. Once I am home I will make do with what I can find. The best nights are when I have leftovers, heat and eat and no stress. I just will not come home and prepare/cook a whole meal after a day of work and an hour of traffic. If I can throw it in the oven or microwave it's okay. I know I should be eating a snack in the afternoons to take the edge off, especially on those nights traffic is really bad. I should also have some plans in place for easy dinners. My problem is that once that car gets on the freeway, it is way too easy to take the exit toward the pleasure trap.