Buns Again

[SilverDollar123]

I'm up for the challenge.When do we start.? RAS

[bunsofaluminum]

I'm up for the challenge.When do we start.? RAS

Hi RAS! The thread is in the Lounge under 21 Day Challenge, started by Lyndzie yesterday. Yay!

~~~

So I hooked up with the challenge and have been thinking about what my goals are for this 21 days. The biggest thing for me BY FAR is fats. If I go off plan anywhere, it is with choosing foods that are cooked in oil, or adding butter to something at home. I walk past the junk food 99% of the time, and I really don't struggle at all with animal flesh...the occasional egg, but meat and dairy have no appeal at all, Not even mildly tempting. Though I could go with the MWL I think getting the habit of added fats out is the main thing. But this also includes foods high in fat like avocados and nuts. And eggs, right? Might as well do it.

So, I am aiming to be 100% compliant to the regular McDougall Plan, with a specific focus on eliminating added fat, for the remainder of June. I weighed at the beginning of this, and I'll weigh at the end. We'll see what focused, consistent, prolonged attention to the actual guidelines of the McDougall Program will do.

I also wanted to note that I signed up for Planet Fitness yesterday. There is a gym about a block from the highway that I take home from work, so I stopped there to check it out. At 5:10ish it was not packed out. There were people working out, but there were lots of machines open. Easy to get to. Not packed with people. They have recumbent bikes which is how I want to start. I know that I can do the recumbent and probably the elliptical. I tried with Richard Simmons OUCH and yoga will come back in the mornings, I'm sure. But for now I feel like it is super important to get my heart moving.

So, two ducks with consistency and frequency.

1) McDougall Plan
2) cardio

They say habits are cumulative...compounding is the word I heard used for the effect. Keeping on doing it is what makes the difference down the line. I know I feel much better when I get some exercise, and I'm sort of craving it. My energy is high and I want to do something with it.

It's not a bad place to be.

[bunsofaluminum]

I mention ducks here and there, because I know I have to get mine all in a row, to prepare for the zillions of opportunities that are coming, to eat off plan.

Wylie's family reunion is next weekend, smack dab in the middle of the 21 Day Challenge. I know they're ordering pizza for the first night, and there will be BBQ on Saturday. I think the BBQ will be easier than the pizza, since I can bring a portabello cap and some zucchini for grilling. I'll bring a can of freaking beans. Bush's Steakhouse Grillin beans are legit. No added oils, no bacon flavoring or otherwise. And not too sweet. And a baked potato will be easy.

Holy cow I just realized that whole weekend is going to be fraught with off plan foods! Ugh. They've got things set up for Thursday through Sunday. If we were going to be there for the whole time, we'd have to contend with eight meals, either at restaurants or from potluck style/bbq in the park type things. In my experience these venues do not offer low fat, animal free dishes. SO.

We won't be there for the full time, but plan on meeting up on Friday afternoon. That's pizza night. I'm going to bring my own food for that. We'll spend Friday night at the hotel, which I am looking forward to. We can swim and there's stuff to do in the area. I'm sure we'll hang out with cousins and such and have fun. A night in the hotel, and brekkie the next day. It's full breakfast which means I should be able to get oatmeal, and I'm sure there's bagels that I can put jam on. I'm going to have to be careful. Saturday there'll be the picnic bbq at the park. I'll bring the Bush's and some things to grill, and possibly a baked potato. It's potluck style so I'll look for green salad that hasn't been dressed. Avoid the chips. Avoid the soda pop. Avoid the cookies. And oh yay socialize with strangers. Fun. Saturday for a second night at the hotel, with pizza or a restaurant for dinner I'm sure. Oy.

Hey, I can look at this as practice for sticking to plan, even if it means bringing my own food. I'll be Cousin Wylie's strange food bringing woman. LOL

Annnnnd then. On July 8 is MY family reunion. Good grief. We always get Subway for that, which always includes veggies only choices, and I can make a dish to bring. Geez this is stressing me out! garrrrr.

However, thinking about it ahead of time is very good. I feel like I'm going to be prepared. The ducks are beginning to line up just a bit.

[moonlight]

Hi Buns,
Did I miss something? I thought you had a very cool set-up working out at work, going in early? I feel like your last few posts have sounded s little down and hard on yourself. You’ve been doing great with all the exercise. You were on a roll! You’ve had a little slip but overall, I think you’ve been awesome with the workouts. I’m confident you are going to get back in your groove soon!!! Good luck with the 21-day challenge. I may join but I’m living in a hospital for a few days. I’m happy when I find fresh vegetables. For some reason baked potatoes are not something that is common in a hospital food court.
Take care! I look forward to reading about your 21-day challenge!

[bunsofaluminum]

Hi Buns,
Did I miss something? I thought you had a very cool set-up working out at work, going in early? I feel like your last few posts have sounded s little down and hard on yourself. You’ve been doing great with all the exercise. You were on a roll! You’ve had a little slip but overall, I think you’ve been awesome with the workouts. I’m confident you are going to get back in your groove soon!!! Good luck with the 21-day challenge. I may join but I’m living in a hospital for a few days. I’m happy when I find fresh vegetables. For some reason baked potatoes are not something that is common in a hospital food court.
Take care! I look forward to reading about your 21-day challenge!

Hi Moonlight

Yeah, I was coming in four or five mornings a week for the recumbent, elliptical, or weights, or a combination. Then there were a few days in a row where someone else was on the (one) recumbent, or there were dudes in there lifting wearing their dang work clothes LOL and I just couldn't. Felt like we were all stepping on each others feet, so I just stopped coming in early. I started doing yoga shortly afterwards, and that's been really good. I'll do yoga for sure, but I need something to get my heart rate up. That's why I bought the Richard Simmons dvd...and following that really wacked my knee and feet. Though it did get me sweating and my heart rate was up nicely. I'll need to get some rest and healing for my joints by losing a hefty chunk of poundage before I can do aerobics. And Richard Simmons is pretty low impact, AND I modified so that I was VERY low impact, and it hurt.

Oy too bad about the hospital. I hope you can feed yourself well. It takes some pre-planning to do it. That is no lie.

[bunsofaluminum]

Okay, I actually have three compliant days behind me, AND I'm stopping to work out on my way home from work today

Oh...I sprinkled faux parm on my noodles and beans last night. That's made with almonds, nooch, and salt. Nuts. But I did make my plate 50% veggies, and 50% starch (noodles and beans is YUMMY) and was satiated all night.

And had an hour or so of stillness and silence in the yard. I could hear the birds singing, and there were two squirrels making a racket. The air was cool, the sun was in the western sky, the sky was clear blue. Hummingbirds came and went. A little flock of sparrows clattered into the shrubs and left again. Then a robin swooped down into the yard and soon another one joined him, but the second one had a speckled breast. It was full sized, but clearly a youngun as it followed wherever the other one went. And sure enough, a few times we saw the grown up catch bugs and stuff them in the kid's mouth. They were at it for easily a half hour. At one point the dad flew off, leaving the kid in the yard and I thought "Welp, that's it. The baby is all grown up and on its own" but no, the adult robin came back and stuffed something in his mouth and THEN

they hopped over really close to where we were, and the adult got in under a thick growth of ivy and caught a worm. He stuffed it in the youngsters mouth and that baby sucked it in LIKE A SPAGHETTI NOODLE! It was awesome!

But what a pleasant evening. I did not have my phone or any other thing with me. Nothing to read, nothing to doodle with. Just me and the back yard, and eventually Wylie who also sat quiet. Just wonderful. The dog chilled with us for a while, too. Such a blessing.

[bunsofaluminum]

This is a few posts back, but thanks for the grilling out ideas. I hope you're doing well!

Zucchini is so delicious grilled! yummmy!

Last night I made a biggish batch of savory steel cut oats and OY is my gut telling me about it today! Same thing happens with barley. IBS sucks. And I brought steel cut oats for lunch, and I'm thinking maybe a Subway veggie samwich instead. If it's nice out, I'll take it for a picnic. Because I don't really want more gut trouble.

It's Friday and I've been compliant all week (minus the coffee in the mornings) and the faux parm on my noodles. The weekend is ahead. I'm gonna make banana bread, so I have something sweet treatish and avoid the chocolate.

I did 30 min on the recumbent at Planet Fitness yesterday and plan on doing the same again today. I got new yoga pants! so my dorky pink striped floodies can be my second best now. LOL I think my exercise plan is going to be 20-30 min yoga in the morning six days a week, and 30 min cardio in the afternoon five days a week. I can diggit.

[bunsofaluminum]

I think I did pretty well over the weekend, though I did have chocolate. Otherwise, I kept it compliant. I may eventually wean myself off my chocolate habit I even had a bowl of granola WITHOUT almond milk. It actually isn't too bad with water, though apple juice would've tasted better. But I figured out years ago that almond milk slows down my weight loss, so I don't use it in large quantities. It's a good "thinner" for some things but I don't drink it or use it on granola.

I baked a five lb bag of potatoes on Sunday. Next time it'll be a 10# bag because DAYUM those taters went fast. Thankfully there were a couple left this morning when I packed my lunch: baked potatoes with Progresso lentil soup and a huge salad that I bought for $5 at the store. Haven't had salad for a long time, and this one is big enough for at least two meals.

Starting on my second week of compliance. While not perfect, it's a better place to be mentally than I was in April and May, when I didn't really care. I am spending time every day envisioning myself thin and I know that is helping more than anything else I'm doing. My confidence levels increase, I feel good about myself, and have an active interest in becoming fit. When I "see" myself at my proper weight, and imagine putting on the size 10 jeans, it means making better food choices, and sticking to my commitment for frequent, consistent exercise. I wonder if I'll get "into" fitness as I have a few times in my life.

First things first. Lose some poundage for foot pain-relief. But speaking of...yesterday my foot was hurting badly for part of the morning. Wylie was going to mow the lawn, so the dog poo needed picking up. My mom and I were sitting visiting over coffee while Wylie slept in, so we decided to go out back and look for poop so the lawn would be ready to mow when the old feller got to it. I was not wearing supportive shoes, but went all over the yard looking for poo to help her out with that, wearing only my slippers. Eventually I did get dressed and put on my shoes and socks.

An hour or so later, Wylie asked me to make this homemade weed killer which I did and used it on all the weeds. Vinegar, epsom salts, and Dawn dishwashing soap. By the time I got done with that my foot was killing me. *sigh* It was as bad as it has ever been. I was limping and at one point it made me cry. Hobbled. Crippled. Shouldn't have gone out in the yard with only slippers on my feet BUT it's also completely random. Like I told Wylie: I could have been walking on a flat surface with my shoes and socks on, and suddenly, randomly BAM foot pain. Or, what about the girls' day out, where I shopped for three hours and didn't feel a twinge in feet or knees. Hmmm? What about that? Why is it so random? SO frustrating. But I know it isn't helping to have 100 lbs of extra tonnage on them.

So...working on that!


BTW the weedkiller works

[keithswife]

Do you think your homemade week killer would work on poison ivy? We have a ton of it.

[Ejeff]

And does the killer work on crabgrass? Could you give us the ratio of how much soap/vinegar/salts you use?

For your granola you could make oat milk, just blend oats and water. Might be better than just water

[SilverDollar123]

Need your recipe for the weed killer! thanks in advance. RAS

[bunsofaluminum]

Hi everyone! Thanks for dropping by

Weed Killer Recipe

1 gal vinegar
2 c epsom salt
1/4 c. dishwashing soap (Dawn is recommended and that's what I used)

Spray to saturate the weeds. I noticed some thistle looking stuff wilting within a couple of hours and the next morning, they were crispy. The smaller stuff wasn't as dramatic. I imagine it would work on poison ivy, though we don't have that around for me to test it. I bet it would work on crab grass too, but it might work on the grass around it as well. Aim carefully. And I'm waiting to see if the root is destroyed.

Family reunion looming large. The big thing will be when they order pizza on Friday night. I should be able to navigate the bbq/potluck okay, but I'll bring my own food for pizza night.

Wonderful workout yesterday! Planet Fitness has a circuit workout, similar to Curves with weight stations alternating with cardio stations. I put my Pandora Santana station on and went for it. Felt so good when I was done!

I had an adult beverage last night, which is off plan. Otherwise doing great with it all. Here's to DAY NINE!

[moonlight]

Hi Buns,

Great to read about your 21 day challenge. I've renewed the challenge for myself. Cheers to being the 21-day warrior for healthy eating!!

I wanted to share a tip I learned recently about staying compliant to your goals when tempted at family gatherings. Begin the day bragging (but not to the obnoxious stage ) about your new diet plan and how you have been doing so well not eating cheese, meat, ice cream, or whatever you want to put in for that. Then when you start getting the urge to go off your plan you won't because you want to "save face". You will want to look all strong and together. That has worked for me recently.

Good luck. Stay strong! Avert your eyes - no looking at tempting food!

Way to go with Planet Fitness. I've been thinking about joining one near me. No real overhead commitment. I've wasted bucket loads of money joining gyms then not going at those places where you sign your life away and are obligated to pay for 2-3 years.

[bunsofaluminum]

Hi Buns,

Great to read about your 21 day challenge. I've renewed the challenge for myself. Cheers to being the 21-day warrior for healthy eating!!

I wanted to share a tip I learned recently about staying compliant to your goals when tempted at family gatherings. Begin the day bragging (but not to the obnoxious stage ) about your new diet plan and how you have been doing so well not eating cheese, meat, ice cream, or whatever you want to put in for that. Then when you start getting the urge to go off your plan you won't because you want to "save face". You will want to look all strong and together. That has worked for me recently.

Good luck. Stay strong! Avert your eyes - no looking at tempting food!

Way to go with Planet Fitness. I've been thinking about joining one near me. No real overhead commitment. I've wasted bucket loads of money joining gyms then not going at those places where you sign your life away and are obligated to pay for 2-3 years.

That's a great idea, talking about this wonderful "new" way of eating. It will keep me accountable, and it will provide my reason for not indulging and for my personal baked potatoes and beans

But staying overnight at a hotel is one of my favorite things. Firm bed, free brekkie, swimming pool. Ice machine I'm looking forward to that part of it. And it has not escaped me that bedbugs are a real concern, but I know better than putting my clothes in the drawers, and my luggage won't touch the floor. Hotels are fun...a little break from the routine at any rate.

Though having to socialize with people I have never met isn't my idea of a good time, I think Wylie will enjoy himself. I'll stick close to him and let him introduce me. Do my usual watching and listening. Me=not a party animal. And this is also a possibility: There were only 21 RSVPs on Facebook. It might not be so VERY many people.

Heh. Bet I can find a Planet Fitness in the town where we'll be! go work out while Wylie schmoozes.

[moonlight]

That sounds like fun. I love staying in hotels, too. How long do you plan to stay?

If you are driving or just want to have some easy snacks, I recently discovered several canned vegetables that I enjoy eating straight from the can! Green beans, beets, corn, and artichoke hearts. The green beans really fill me up and get rid of cravings. Now, cans come with pop tops. It is so easy to keep a few cans in the car. I bought some canned diced potatoes but I haven't tried them yet.