Grit and Determination

[VegSeekingFit]

I'm leaving today for a conference. Two nights in a motel. At least there I won't be able to eat during the night.

Hi Moonlight! Hope your conference goes well!! Sounds like you have a good plan... Tough to be away from home too...

[moonlight]

Thanks, Stephanie! Well, I sure did find out what it was like to be out of my space and out of my routine. I think if I had been alone I would have stayed close to the MWL plan. I was with an overweight friend who is not wanting to try to lose weight right now. We rode together and shared a room together. I felt that if I was too fussy about eating that she would feel bad and I wanted our trip to be fun and carefree. We don't get to go out of town together very often. I enjoyed just having a good time with my friend, being easy going, and eating a little cheese, sugar, and fat! When I got back I weighed 4 lbs more. I lost 2 lbs after being back on track for one day. Hopefully, it won't set me back much. If anything, the time off my eating plan reinforced my desire to stay on plan now!
Since returning home my days have been filled with unexpected events. I've been busy. I haven't planned any meals. I've been relying on freezer foods (which are great!) and sweet potatoes. I'm leaving Friday for another out of town trip. I guess if I'm not careful I could have some real weight gain. I'm going to visit family but I plan to take food, let them know how I eat, and stick with my diet. I don't anticipate a problem.
My birthday is November 4th. I've been thinking since this summer that I would splurge and have cake. I love birthday cake! But the closer it's getting to the day, I feel like I'll splurge other ways to celebrate. Last year I stayed on plan. I had just started back on the MWL plan and didn't want to do anything that would risk my dedication to the diet. I plan to go to the mountains if the weather permits and to the movies if it is rainy. I think I'll stay on plan. My husband is very supportive and would support me either way - birthday cake and birthday dinner or not.
So, planned meals for today:
B: sweet potato (it's in the oven now )
L: garbanzo beans and brussels sprouts ( I'll be traveling for work today)
D: split pea soup
Not sure about exercise today. Yesterday I helped a friend with her dog who was dying... I helped carry a 90+ lb dog to the car to take to the vet. Then the dog died and I helped carry it to a grave that other friends had dug out. Put it in the grave and cover it up. My back was hurt in the process. It was really hard to use my legs instead of my back doing such awkward things... Hopefully, I 'll get back to exercising soon.
Actual Eats:
B: sweet potato
L: garbanzo beans and brussels sprouts
snack: apple
D: split pea soup, more garbanzo beans
I never felt I had enough for dinner. I had some canned corn, then some dry cereal (loaded with sugar), then finally as I was getting ready for bed, in a weak moment, I had a slice of swiss cheese, a couple of big spoonful of yogurt, and some chocolate almond milk (all these things are in my house because I live with someone who doesn't follow my diet plan). I feel so defeated when I do this...

[bunsofaluminum]

You are a champ! helping a friend like that, and so sad about the dog and really too bad about hurting your back. Hopefully it will spring back fast. As for your weekend with some fatty snacks, I predict that you take off the other two lbs pretty fast, and it might turn out to have jolted your metabolism. They say the occasional higher calorie day can make a difference. I've done it myself, to get off a plateau. May that be the case for you!

[moonlight]

Thanks, Buns. I'm so glad I could be there for my friend. I am a dog person, too. They just don't live as long as we humans do, but they can feel just like a family member! My back is tender... I was getting it stronger then for some reason stopped exercising. Exercise is so hard for me to keep up with consistently. It's strange because when I was younger I was very active. I was a rock climber for several years, on the swim team, backpacked, mountain biking, etc. Now I cannot seem to get myself in a regular habit of exercise. It's very frustrating. When my back gets stronger, I plan to be diligent about it again. I'd like to go backpacking but there's no way I can go until I make my back stronger.

I've been whipping up some impressive meals without much planning. Yesterday I made split pea soup in the morning in the crock pot. It was very nice to come home knowing soup would be waiting for me. It wasn't that great but I can eat it. I had some today as a mid-morning snack. This morning I whipped up some steamed potatoes and made a nice potato salad for lunch in my car. It worked. Kept me from eating at a restaurant. Now, I'm home for the evening and have the urge to eat lots of carbs. I've been craving a big fat sandwich all day... I've got rice cooking. I plan to make Texas casserole - modified from what I had growing up with lots of ground beef and cheese.

I read in the BDS book this morning about noticing what I'm thinking when I crave to go off my diet plan, notice sabotaging thoughts. I've been discouraged because I'm not losing weight. I've kind of weighed about the same since this summer. 2-3 months now. There's a section in the BDS book that deals with experiencing a plateau. I've really discounted the notion that I'm experiencing a plateau. I've always considered a plateau as when your body stops losing despite your best effort. I know I haven't been consistent with my best efforts. The reason I'm not losing is because of compliance. The BDS explanation includes needing to readjust to calorie intake, exercise time. Somehow the acknowledgement that plateaus happen to most everyone who want to lose more than 20 pounds and they aren't necessarily from biological processes, makes me feel better about it. Every day I hope I will be more compliant which includes consistent exercise but it seems every day I don't meet my expectations. I will just keep trying. There's really not another option for me right now.

I think I'm rambling. Thank you if you are reading this. I'm feeling better already.

[moonlight]

Giving myself a little credit... I have resisted non compliant food all day! Tonight I ate to the point of being really full - a couple of times, but I ate what I made for dinner. I’m applauding my willpower to not eat the tempting things that I ate last night! I’m also going to bed a little earlier. Seems that if I stay up really late is when the willpower goes down and the munchies go up!

[moonlight]

Today’s food plan:
B: oatmeal - so simple yet very yummy
L: sweet potato with greens
D: rice casserole
Snacks: apples, blueberries
I may try a little exercise today if my back doesn’t hurt. I’m leaving tomorrow for a 7 hour road trip, returning on Sunday. Hopefully my back won’t complain too much. I have to sleep on a pull out couch bed... I’m planning to take food with me. I’m planning to stay on my diet plan! I’ve got a lot to get accomplished today!
Actual Eats:
B: oatmeal
L: sweet potato with kale, mushrooms, and onions YUM!
Snack: 2 small apples
D: rice casserole

[Idgie]

Good job resisting last night! Good luck on your trip.

[moonlight]

Thank you, Idgie. I weighed this morning and I've lost the extra pounds from my last trip. Very good. Reinforces those good choices!!

I decided to cancel my trip to see my mom. It was just getting too stressful trying to make everything work. I feel good about this plan. I will go see her at Thanksgiving instead. I was trying to fit my schedule around a cousin who is going to visit this weekend. Yay me for putting on the brakes rather than being stressed out for the weekend and half of next week recovering.

[Idgie]

Wow, you're on fire with the self-care lately! Good going!

[moonlight]

I hope your day is going well! Thanks for the recommendation on the BDS book. It is helping.

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Moonlight,

So sorry to hear about your friend's dog. Amazing that you were able to be such a great friend to help her at such a challenging time. Hoping that your back recovers quickly.

Cheers,
Stephanie

[moonlight]

Thank you, Stephanie! Yes, I'm lucky to have friends to share the very sad times with... My back is weak. Argh! Hopefully, I'll start exercising again soon. Right now I have a dilemma. I canceled a trip to see my mom and sister's family mainly because my back hurt, it would be very short, etc. I didn't want to tell them that it was because my back hurt and I didn't think I'd be able to walk after sleeping on my mother's fold out couch.... I told them I had to work. I usually try harder to not lie... It has back-fired. Now my cousin who is driving there as well has offered to drive an hour out of his way to meet me and do most of the driving if I will come on Saturday and drive back on Sunday. So now, a long drive crammed into 2 days. The good thing is it will only be one night on the couch but my poor back.... I don't see my cousins very often. These moments can be special. We are all getting older. My cousin is 70, my mother is 82... It will be raining for both days!! I told my cousin I would let him know today. It's a hard decision. Missed opportunities versus taking care of my body... I go see my mother every 3-4 months. I find a time when I can stay at least 3 nights. The sleeper-sofa isn't bad when my back is not hurting. All this because I didn't want to say I'm not coming because I hurt my back. I hate complaining about my health, especially to my mother... Having back issues sounds so lame... Hmmm

[Idgie]

Not sure if this will help, but I have an all-purpose reason for not doing stuff: "I'm not feeling up to it right now." Works well for me.

[moonlight]

Thanks, Idgie. The saying 'no' skill has been something I really have to keep in mind. I tend to just 'go along to get along' unless I work at it. Lying is not the best way around that, either. Usually when I plan 'a little white lie' I can catch myself and rethink how to not do it but this time I didn't. I need to do sitting meditation more! It keeps me focused! I told my cousin I just couldn't do the 2 day trip and I do need to be at work Monday morning feeling refreshed and not tired. He sounded disappointed but I'm not driving down the interstate today.

Last night I ate a big dessert (ice cream). I also let the restaurant serve me a dish with queso cheese sauce in it. It wasn't much but I could have said no. I thought about it and went with it. Not sure why. I forgot to do the analysis of my thought process or think about my index cards. So, last meal of the day was totally not MWL compliant.

I think my back is ready to start exercising. I have set a goal to exercise daily if no backfire (pun intended ) from the ole' lower back area. Two back strains in 2 weeks, I think my back is screaming for some help from surrounding muscles. Time to get to work.

I've got about 40 green bell peppers I picked from the garden. The plants are now dead so this is the last of the crop. I's like to do something other than freezing since I have so much frozen. Trying to figure out what to make. I dislike stuffed pepper dishes. Maybe pickling but honestly, I don't eat relish or pickled food that much. Seems like pickling recipes always have sugar in them.

I have a huge amount of bulgur cooked in anticipation of going home for a visit. Also, a large jar of split pea soup, a large amount of polenta, AND a quart of chili! I think I'm set for a few days. Just add fresh veggies.

Food plan today:
B: bulgur with garlic, onion, chard, and bell peppers
L: polenta and chili with cabbage slaw
D: split pea soup
Snacks: apple and blueberries (trying to reduce my popcorn consumption )
Exercise: WaterRower 30 minutes

Actual Eats:
B: bulgur with garlic, onion, chard, and bell peppers
L: split pea soup and leftover garbanzo beans and brussels sprouts
D: 2 flour tortillas w/ FF black beans and rice w/ onions and jalapenos
Snacks: more rice, popcorn, applesauce
Exercise:

[Idgie]

Mmmm, polenta with caramelized onion and pepper strips?