Journal - Thoughts and Details

[sirdle]

A place to chronicle thoughts while on my journey...

In March, after an extremely bad cold, I started having difficulty sleeping. The instant I fell asleep I felt like my throat was collapsing and I would wake up in a panic. The only way I could sleep was to stay awake so long that I couldn't stay awake any longer. I would be awake for 26-32 hours at a time, then collapse in exhaustion for 4-6 hours.

This seemed to be an acute problem, not chronic, related to sinus complications of my cold.

I tried nasal strips, nasal inserts, decongestants, sleeping pills, Benadryl, and Advil. I tried herbal teas. I replaced my bed, sheets, pillows, and pillow cases. I tried sleeping on my side. I tried orthopaedic pillows. It got to the point where I had to sleep sitting upright in a chair. NyQuil (with Acetaminophen) sometimes helped, but sometimes not.

By May I decided that my problem was weight-related, and I started exercising and improving my diet. I made progress for 6 weeks -- my symptoms eased -- but then a looming deadline at work pulled me back to old habits and I stopped exercising and started gaining weight again. My sleep problems reappeared.

In August I met with my family doctor. At a glance he said I had sleep apnoea and told me to lose 30 pounds (but 60 would be better) and to read Why We Get Fat (Gary Taubes, low carb) and The China Study (T. Colin Campbell, WFPB). Taubes rubbed me the wrong way, but Campbell struck a cord.

Over the past 4 months I have been steadily improving my diet and exercising regularly.

Since May:
Weight: 244 => 202
Resting Pulse: 60 => 48
Waist: 46.5" => 41.25"
Hips: 43.5" => 39.75"

Since August:
Weight: 228 => 202
Triglycerides: 210 => 68
Cholesterol: 187 => 145
LDL Cholesterol: 125 => 86
HDL Cholesterol: 36 => 44
Blood Pressure: 134/66 => 107/67

I am very happy... but there is clearly room for improvement. I am now exploring The McDougall Way., but many challenges remain.

The biggest difficulty I have right now is with food choices, especially when working long hours or travelling. In particular, I find it difficult to get enough high-quality calories during the day, and I end up over-eating in the evening.

I have been voraciously reading this forum and I already have some ideas. Jeff Novick's presentation on Calorie Density is one of the most brilliant things I watched in a long, long time. I currently working my way through it for the third time.

Cheers,

Edit: changed thread title

[sirdle]

2016-12-17

Food

Breakfast
2 Instant oatmeal packets
Frozen berry topping (blackberry, blueberry, raspberry)

Snack
2 Clementines
2 Corn + wheat tortillas

Lunch
4C Mega salad
2C Potato stew

Dinner
4C Mega salad
1 Baked potato, with salsa

Desert
24oz Frozen blueberries

Exercise
None

====================

Mega Salad
spinach
arugula
bell peppers (red, green, yellow)
cucumbers
red cabbage
bean sprouts
broccoli
carrots
mushrooms
tomatoes
corn
peas
olives
artichoke hearts
tofu, baked
sunflower seeds
garbanzo beans
black beans

Potato Stew
potatoes
onions
mushrooms
carrots
peas
tomato paste
garlic
Italian herb blend
paprika
rosemary

[amandamechele]

Best wishes sirdle. That's one mega-salad! I'm so lazy I mostly just eat lettuce right out of the pre-cut container...

Amy

[sirdle]

Best wishes sirdle. That's one mega-salad! I'm so lazy I mostly just eat lettuce right out of the pre-cut container...
Amy

Thanks Amy!

I am very, very lazy; I hate chopping, chopping, chopping vegetables. But recently I discovered an amazing salad bar at a local grocery... so for the past two weeks I have been purchasing huge containers of my favourite vegetables and tossing them in a giant mixing bowl when I get home. It's expensive... but if it helps me get into the habit of eating more vegetables it will be worth it. (My favourite food groups, by far, are grains and fruit!)

Cheers,

[sirdle]

2016-12-18

Food

Breakfast
2 instant oatmeal packets
... with frozen berry topping (blackberry, blueberry, raspberry)

Snack
2 clementines
3C mega salad

Lunch
2C potato stew
2 corn + wheat tortillas

Snack
1 baked potato
... with salsa

Dinner
2-1/2 oz whole wheat pasta
... with no-fat spaghetti sauce

Desert
24oz Frozen blueberries (I seem to be stuck on blueberries )

Exercise

Jogging - 40 min

==========

Cheers,

[sirdle]

A rough day of shopping. Next week I will be staying in a hotel all week and I think my food choices will be very limited. So this afternoon I purchased a bunch of snack foods. I did the best I could (low fat, low sugar, low salt), but they are all high in calorie density.

Next week will be tough.

==========

Food

Breakfast
2 instant oatmeal packets
... with frozen berry topping (blackberry, blueberry, raspberry)

Snack
2 clementines
4C mega salad

Lunch
4C pasta salad*

Snack
1 mcDougall cup-of-soup (minestrone)

Dinner
rice medley (brown & red, + barley)
refried beans (no fat)
salsa

Desert
12oz Frozen blueberries

Exercise

none

==========

*Pasta Salad
whole wheat fusilli
broccoli
corn
peas
tomatoes
bell peppers, red
green beans
onions
zucchini, green and yellow
carrots
olives
garbanzo beans
kidney beans
strawberry balsamic dressing

[Franchesca_S.]

Sirdle,
Congrats on your progress. In your hotel is there a restaurant? Perhaps they can help you with some side dishes or salads.
Franchesca

[sirdle]

Sirdle,
Congrats on your progress. In your hotel is there a restaurant? Perhaps they can help you with some side dishes or salads.
Franchesca

Hi Franchesca!

There are a few restaurants... but I think their idea of a 'salad' will be a mound of iceberg lettuce with a couple of cherry tomatoes and a scoop of cottage cheese.

I have collected enough nutritious snacks* that I am not too worried... it's just that they are all high in calorie density so it will be easy to over-eat if I'm not careful.

*Engine 2 brand granola and flat bread, Dr McDougall brand of 'cup-of-soup' (I had no idea he had a line of soups), a crate of clementines.

Cheers,

[glo]

Hi sirdie,
Congratulations on your progress! - glo
(PS, I wrote a longer post, but lost it.)

[sirdle]

Hi sirdie,
Congratulations on your progress! - glo
(PS, I wrote a longer post, but lost it.)

Thanks! (sorry about the post... computers will do that to you).

[sirdle]

A pretty good day, overall. No crises. Life is good!

Food

Breakfast
2 instant oatmeal packets
... with dried blueberries (yuck! I won't try that again!)

Snack
2 clementines
4C mega-salad

Lunch
4C pasta salad

Snack
1 mcDougall cup-of-soup (tortilla)

Dinner
2C potato stew
1 baked potato... with salsa

Desert
12oz Frozen blueberries

Exercise

none

[sirdle]

Very similar to yesterday, except many of the portion sizes were larger. The 40 min of jogging took a lot out of me. I'm not sure I'm done eating yet.

Bought ingredients for a split pea soup... but forgot the split peas, so I had to drive back to the store! Maybe I'll make that tomorrow night. Not sure what I'm doing for Christmas, yet. Guess I'll have to go out on Saturday morning and scavenge for food.

Food

Breakfast
4 instant oatmeal packets
... with dried mixed berries (blueberry, raspberry, blackberry)

Snack
4C mega-salad

Lunch
4C pasta salad

Snack
2 clementines

Dinner
2.5C potato stew
1 baked potato... with salsa

Desert
24oz Frozen blueberries
2 corn + wheat tortillas

Exercise

40 min jogging

[sirdle]

It's going to be a very late night. Worked late, then I made a split pea soup when I got home from work. I had one of those store-bought McDougall cup-of-soup thingys today -- split pea -- so I could compare it with the soup I made. Very different recipes, very different tastes. My soup was good and I like the idea that everything in it was fresh, but I think I prefer the stew I made last week.

Notes to self: 1. Buy a bigger pot. 2. That is not a medium onion.

Bought a small crate of citrines at the store yesterday, thinking they were clementines. They are not. They are harder to peal, not as sweet, and they have seeds.

Food

Breakfast
2 instant oatmeal packets
... with dried mixed berries (blueberry, raspberry, blackberry)

Snack
4C mega-salad

Lunch
4C pasta salad

Snack
1.5 citrines
1 mcDougall cup-of-soup (split pea)

Dinner
2.5C split pea soup (Cathy Fisher recipe)
1 baked potato... with salsa

Desert
24oz Frozen blueberries
2 corn + wheat tortillas

Exercise

none

[sirdle]

You can have no influence over those for whom you have underlying contempt.

--- Martin Luther King, Jr.

[sirdle]

2.4 pounds lost this week!

I have been McDougall compliant for the past 9 days. I have followed the MWL plan with the following exceptions:

I add a small amount of store-bought baked tofu to my salad (oil).
I am eating a whole wheat pasta salad daily (with lots of veggies).
I have eaten several corn+wheat tortillas as a snacks.
I have been eating a lot of fruit (6-8 servings a day).

Changes made this week compared with last week (0.3 pound loss) are significant

Last week:
1 dinner out: baked salmon, with oil-coated vegetables and and potatoes (who knows what the chef did to them?)
1 lunch out: gyro, rice, oil-based hummus, pita, salad, sugar-laden iced-tea
4-6 cliff bars (macadamia nut and chocolate)

I successfully eliminated the cliff bars this week by preparing a vegetable salad each day for lunch in addition to the pasta salad I usually take. This was a huge improvement in managing hunger.

No events were planned, so I was not tempted by restaurant food.

Next week: on the road. I have a bag of clementines and a bag of apples. I also have some McD cup-of-soup thingys... some Engine 2 granola... some plain instant oatmeal... and some oil-free, whole wheat crackers (lots of salt).

Dinners will be tough. I plan on eating a salad and a bowl of soup and then splitting an entree with my wife. At best, I'm hoping to break even and then resume McD on January 3rd.

Take care everybody. Be back next year!

Wishing you joy and peace.

Cheers,