Annette's Journal

[AnnetteW]

Wt down to 149.8 this morning, okay, so I'm over the weight/water gain from "relaxing a bit" last weekend. Which means I have to NOT do it again. Weekends are difficult. Today is officially the start of the weekend, when I go out for lunch with my gal pals. We're going to a Thai restaurant, where it appears my only option is to be strong and order rice and steamed veggies (no oil or sauce.) Blah, how boring is that. Can I please have a glass of wine? See, this is how my head goes, and I feel like I need to treat myself. I'm sure to have the wine (my rule of booze outside of my house is still valid, I do not overindulge in it then.) I promise to report back.

Plan for today:

Breakfast - oats, fruit, oatmilk, ground flax

Lunch - rice, plain blah boring restaurant veggies, wine

Dinner - the plan is homemade sushi, but that might change as my grandson is coming over and I have less time now

Exercise - Hula hoop class at the gym.

[Ejeff]

Hula hoop class now that sounds fun, I will have to try that. I always struggle with the same thing eating out, and then when I do order something that’s greasy I end up regretting it after the fact and it’s not as enjoyable as I had imagined. At the Thai place perhaps you could add the spicy chili sauce (usually on the table) to make it taste great. That’s what I would do. Enjoy your visit with friends

[AnnetteW]

Hula Hoop class was a blast and I plan on it becoming my Friday workout. And the time actually works for me, since I usually go out for lunch on Fridays. I'm going to order a nice hoop from the instructor, but I might see if I can find one to play with for the next few weeks, at Walmart perhaps.

Lunch was good. I ordered what I wanted and it was just fine. Did have wine and stupidly ate the broth in the soup, not the chicken on the bottom. Then made my sushis for dinner and once again, too much sodium. Weight was up 1.5 lbs today.

I just need to stay focused this weekend.

[AnnetteW]

I recently saw a link on Facebook I believe to the book No Animal Food; and Nutrition and Diet; with Vegetable Recipes by Rupert H. Wheldon and downloaded it and enjoyed reading it very much. It was first published in 1910 and is free to read on the Gutenberg site. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22829

What I always find interesting, no matter what I read, is that there is always one little gem that sticks with me. I tend to have to reread books many times, I don't actually think I'm a very good reader and miss so much content, but I enjoy the click I get with one concept.

In this book there was a comment about only having a few items at a time, no more than 3 perhaps. Too much variety makes things so much easier to eat and to overeat (I don't remember if it was discussing gluttony, perhaps it was.) I know something as simple as my favorite oatmeal, with a bit of added flax, extra apple and soymilk...oh and that touch of cinnamon, stevia and salt, well, all those things add to it being so delicious, and I literally inhale it. If I just made plain oatmeal and apple, which in the first place would be fewer calories, it definitely wouldn't be as tasty.

I know one thing about myself very well...I'm very indulgent and I love to treat myself. I might not be treating myself to junk these days (would that even be a treat? not to my health) but I do make things too yummy and still eat too much of it.

The author also discussed chewing your food. We all know we are supposed to chew, but I know I inhale and don't chew well enough. The comment was that when food is properly chewed it doesn't "taste" anymore and then is easily swallowed. I'm going to think about this today as I eat. And since it's not really easy to chew oatmeal, not that I can think of actually, I will make myself something else, but with no more than 3 ingredients. I'm thinking of hashbrowns with onion and green peppers perhaps. I did buy some of that Benson's Tasty seasoning, I can't remember the name, and haven't used it yet. I'm still indulging in too much salt.

There was discussion about gluttony, and I do think it's something I'd like to focus on. I'm not a religious person, but recently read the "Plan A diet" which is religious based, but also based on McDougall guidelines. There was discussion about gluttony, as well as in the first book I mentioned. I might have to do a little reading on the topic (that's how I wrap my head around a concept) and accept that much of the readings will be religious based. I'm fine with that.

My body is a temple - is a concept I have to learn to embrace.

[AnnetteW]

Not too terribly much on my mind right now...I say that and who knows how much I'll type though, once the words and thoughts start pouring out.

I have been reluctant to step on the scale these past few days. Not because I feel I'm gaining, but because I'm just maintaining too well. Which IS good, I keep telling myself. Maintaining without effort is a wonderful achievement.

The weekdays are always so much easier for me, so I will dial down this week and work on the small cheats that sneak in, the ones you kind of don't even realize.

Like the last time I bought a carton of oat milk, I bought the wrong brand...and it had oil in it.

I bought Oatly, which has 120 cals and 5 g of fat. So 5g x 9 g = 45 cals. And 45 fat cals / 120 cals = 37% fat. Is that correct, how you do this?

So I know that's a no no. I've still used up the container, and knew not to buy it again.

This morning I made some homemade oatmilk to use, as I need some plant-based milk for a recipe, and I do like a bit of soy/oat milk in my oatmeal.

I had a few handfuls of nuts this past weekend. And that's not something I've been eating at all, or wanting to eat...but darn, the moment you stick them in your mouth, they are so delicious, and yes they were roasted and salted. When I made the sushi the other night I used some chopped nuts, and a few handfuls were popped into my mouth. Then on Saturday, I saw the jar, and I guess my mind was remembering the taste.

Really, not too many other cheats though. Quantity is more of the issue I believe.

Oh, I did well not overeating yesterday until dinner. I made the butternut squash soup from Nutmeg Notebook and it was great, but I ate 3 decent sized chunks of my yummy homemade sourdough bread. I should have just had one chunk. Oh well....

Today we're eating the soup for dinner, but will have a salad with it and cornbread.

Plan for today:

Breakfast - oats, banana, oatmilk, ground flax (1 T)

Lunch - salad, potatoes

Snack - still have frozen watermelon in the freezer

Dinner - winter squash soup, small salad, cornbread

Exercise - maybe a bit at the gym, I have other things going on today, but I'll be prepared in case.

[Ejeff]

Butternut squash soup sounds so good, I will have to make that very soon. And yes, that is correct on how to calculate the % of fat. It’s a good reminder for me because sometimes you look at the grams of fat and it doesn’t seem like that much. Bread is so good isn’t it? I made a whole wheat loaf in a new Dutch oven I just got, turned out so nice with the crusty outside. I’m going to try not to buy anymore store bought bread for awhile as it is just not worth eating, plus hard to find it without oil and sugar.

I enjoy reading your posts, you have a great attitude and seem very determined to achieve optimum health.

[moonlight]

I bought Oatly, which has 120 cals and 5 g of fat. So 5g x 9 g = 45 cals. And 45 fat cals / 120 cals = 37% fat. Is that correct, how you do this?

Oh, I did well not overeating yesterday until dinner. I made the butternut squash soup from Nutmeg Notebook and it was great, but I ate 3 decent sized chunks of my yummy homemade sourdough bread. I should have just had one chunk. Oh well....

Hi Annette,
You seem to be doing real well on the diet planning! Regarding the calculation on percentage of fat, where does the 9g come from? Do you use that because each gram is worth 9 calories?

The butternut squash soup sounds delicious.

[AnnetteW]

@moonlight, yes it's the 9 cals/g, which I should have used in my formula...then you cross out the g's and just get calories. I suck at math, but I remember my math teacher pounding that in my head back in high school, lol.

And the recipe is quite good, it was also from Nutmeg Notebook, when you sign up for the email list. I added a bit more spices to it, more salt and pepper, and some cayenne.

The darn scale still says 150, on the dot as of this morning. Come on already....this is silly. But at least it's stable and not rising, but it's not dropping.

Yesterday I didn't make it to my exercise class, which would have been a gentle yoga class, so instead did weights for the first time in ages, and then 20 min on the arc trainer. I feel the weights today, my muscles are all mildly sore. I don't know why I get resistant about weights, I actually enjoy doing them, it's just that I like taking the classes. Most my classes these days are all "toning" types, with some weights and bands thrown in, so I assumed it was good enough. I guess not. I'll try adding the weight workouts back in, slowly as to not burn myself out.

Today I'm staying home, and will sew a blouse, then tonight is dance class.

Plan for today:

Exercise - dance class and let my body rest a bit

Breakfast - oats, banana, oatmilk, ground flax, cinnamon, stevia

Lunch - salad, air fried potatoes

Dinner - cooked beans, air fried sweet potatoes, other veggie too I think.

I have a pot of mixed beans (from the Asian market) doing a quick soak on the stove. Will cook them with onions, peppers and tomatoes tonight. In the oven I have a bunch of potatoes and sweet potatoes cooking, a la Nutmeg Notebook. We'll eat the beans with air fried sweet potatoes tonight.

[Caroveggie]

I have to check out this Nutmeg Notebook...

[AnnetteW]

I do not know why I'm faltering...perhaps boredom at times. Early yesterday afternoon I fell hard, face first, into the bag of dates, then into my husbands tin of mixed nuts...then I fell again. Why oh why? Then I just felt overfull all afternoon, not sick or anything, just stuffed. I guess I crammed, and don't know why.

I do not know what I could have done to stop it, right before it started. Why is it that the moment you think about a "binge/cram" you've lost all sane thought and just do it. Why can't it be stopped? It's not something I do regularly, and now it's a bad habit to break. If I had had my bag of frozen watermelon I would have eaten that, but the watermelon is gone and I'm thinking I need to not buy more as I do want to follow MWL, but that's just overeating on the fruit also.

It's a struggle, and it's on my mind, so something I still need to focus on. I'll be out of the house this afternoon, so none of that will be happening. If I found a way to be out of the house, it wouldn't happen, but I have to be home too, or I won't get to do any of my fun stuff. I'm sewing a new blouse right now and want to finish it up today.

And of course, the weight was up 1.5 lbs this morning. The rest of my food for the day was spot on, and yummy. I'm still totally enjoying the foods, and don't see going off the plan...except I'm not on the plan.

Once again, I'll work on reeling myself in, get closer to MWL. I'll read the book a bit again and the lists on the thread, will reread the thread. Heck, I know what to do, it's just the doing.

I ate my breakfast with no cheat. Oats, water, banana, bit of salt, homemade oatmilk. I can't stand the oats unsalted, makes me gag. But I skipped the ground flax and I skipped the stevia. Seemed a bit bland at first without the extra sweetener, but I was fine after a few bites. I'll start adding one less sprinkle of salt for the next few days, will put a sticky note on the container for counting. That's a fun little easy idea.

Lunch will be sweet potato and salad. Dinner will be a spaghetti sauce with veggies, maybe a few lentils and my husband can have pasta and I'll have another cooked grain and we'll have cauliflower on the side.

That should be fine. And I should be fine. I just need to be stricter about the cheats, the fatty cheats. The oatmilk I had bought that had added fat, heck, that was a goof. And tofu, and obviously nuts. Stricter eating out also has to be a goal of mine, but I need to focus on my homelife the most.

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MWL Rules (and my accomplishments)

1. Eliminate All Animal Foods - Not a problem here at all, at least not at home. Eating out at a favorite Greek restaurant I have eaten some feta, that's about it.

2. Eliminate All Oils - Once again, at home this has been easy to achieve. I eat no added oils. I can see just continuing with this throughout my life. If it were only me in this house, I'd not have any oils in the house. I did have the dressing on my Greek salad when out last weekend, which is actually fairly light in the oil, but I still ate it. And there is oil in the foods when we go to our Indian restaurant, though I can eat vegan there. I will still continue to eat there 1-2x a month

3. Eliminate All High Fat Plant Foods: Nuts, Nut Butters, Seeds, Seed Butters, Avocados, Coconut, & Olives - This is definitely where I'm faltering at times. It's also the foods I hope to be able to eat again when slim. And I have eaten these at home, not only when out. Ground flax seed is not necessary in my oats. I have given up seeds or nuts on my salads. I had nuts on my homemade sushi last week, which I think is what has triggered my taste for nuts again. I do have tahini for hummus, but I can also skip it. We had avocados in the sushi and also made tacos. I can skip coconut and olives. Oops, I do eat tofu on occasion too. Nope, olives were on my Greek salad. So no doubt, this is where I need to focus.

4. Eliminate All Flour Products - This one I need to work on also. I love to bake sourdough bread and truly miss making and eating my lovely loaves. I do like some pasta, and did go to whole grain. I decided to make spaghetti tonight, but will have mine over cooked whole grain instead. I need to work on this category, but it's not as difficult as the high fat plant food category.

5. Eat Whole Grains and Potatoes - This is more than easy enough. I've been eating oatmeal most mornings, and potatoes in the airfryer have become a favorite food. I can eat more of them, I SHOULD eat more of them, they fill me up and keep me away from other foods.

6. Eat Legumes - I like legumes, and they are easy to eat and cook. I think my husband might get tired of them, but until he complains, whatever. I feel better if I only have 1 serving a day. I think lentils are my favorite.

7. Make Green & Yellow Vegetables One-Half to One-Third of your meal - I think I'm following this rule just fine, though maybe I'm relying on salads a bit too much. I will continue to try to have a bit heavier veggie meals.


8. Eat Uncooked Foods - I do eat a raw salad most all days, sometimes twice. I guess that's what this means.

9. Restrict Fresh Fruit to No More Than Two Servings a Day, and Avoid Dried Fruit, Fruit Puree, and Fruit Juice - I have been definitely overindulging in the summer fruits. I kind of look forward to them not being easy to buy, and then just getting back to apples and bananas and frozen berries. I don't eat much citrus. I can eat a whole bag of frozen mangoes and I love my bags of frozen watermelon. Funny thing is, I never ate a lot of fruit, I never thought it agreed with me. That darn bag of dates is in my fridge. I have to wrap it up well and hide it in the back so I don't see them. If you pop one in your mouth, you just know 5 more will willingly follow. I wonder if I can freeze them. I don't use fruit juice. Obviously this will be a category I hope to enjoy eating more from when slim.

10. Use Simple Sugar Sparingly - I've been just fine with this. I do have a debate with myself over it with my oatmeal. A tiny sprinkle of stevia vs. other sweetener, which is always more than 1 t. One teaspoon doesn't add any sweetness, not to my taste at least. I skipped it today, and that was fine. Not a major issue here.

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Okay, I did my daily thinking...my brain hurts now. I will go shower and get ready to go to the gym for that exercise, which is going okay. I did weights the other day and was so sore yesterday. Kind of tells me something. I'll do weights tomorrow again, but lighten up a little bit. I need to sit on the exercise bike and move my sore knee also.

[f00die]

i hear ya on the extinction burst
they will happen
just stop when full
ive noticed as time has passed doing the program
that ive become appetite controlled
i can no longer finish a whole chocolate bar for example
but it took a while of just plugging away
eating the right foods, meal in, meal out
not every trigger food is like this
but they all have seen a decrease in the quantities i can eat
before getting digusted/losing interest in the food
this is not how it used to be
it used to be pass the tums so i can eat some more

[AnnetteW]

i hear ya on the extinction burst
they will happen
just stop when full
ive noticed as time has passed doing the program
that ive become appetite controlled
i can no longer finish a whole chocolate bar for example
but it took a while of just plugging away
eating the right foods, meal in, meal out
not every trigger food is like this
but they all have seen a decrease in the quantities i can eat
before getting digusted/losing interest in the food
this is not how it used to be
it used to be pass the tums so i can eat some more

Yes, I figure some day things will feel different with my eating. One can't expect changes overnight. That's one reason I keep reminding myself of all the positive changes I've experienced and achieved.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Good intentions don't always work out. So I stuck to my plan quite well today. I did decided to buy a couple new grains to try out. Um...the first one I was going to eat with my spaghetti sauce (which by the way was absolutely divine). The amaranth is now in the trash, it was so nasty tasting. Actually, the dry grains are now in the birdseed bin. I won't eat it. First I thought maybe I'd add a tablespoon here or there, in my oatmeal for instance, but I changed my mind. I won't eat something I don't like.

So I ate pasta for dinner...so good, 3 servings, totally not necessary. But quite yummy.

I also bought buckwheat. I'm quite scared....eek.

[Caroveggie]

Farro and barley are 2 grains I like, especially farro. Unfortunately it's rather expensive and you only get a little bit, but it really is tasty! Right now I've been eating basmati brown rice. That's delicious. You are making me want to experiment with some grains after I finish up the basmati brown rice.

[AnnetteW]

@Caroveggie, I've not tried Farro, so I guess I will have to look for it. I need to start searching in some other stores. I was in Natural Grocers yesterday when I bought the dreaded amaranth. Sprouts doesn't have any new and exciting in their bins, but I can make a trip to Whole Foods sometime soon.

I don't want to spend a lot of money on any "exotic" grains. I'm trying to be realistic with my diet. I have a tendency to try things and then just don't like them. I easily get on a new "bandwagon" then wish I hadn't.

And I do like barley, I use it the same as Oatmeal for the most part. If I am correct, it even has a lower caloric density (at least it was lower calories for the same amount...so I think I have that right.) Perhaps I'll cook up a pot this morning.

I'm kind of amazed that this whole eating plan is still on my mind 100%, I started back in February with my "transition phase." It's September now. In this amount of time, if I dieted hard in the past, I would have been to my goal, and probably already have started to gain again. I'm still a good 20 lbs away from my goal right now, and I feel like I'm sitting solid in that dreaded plateau. That I'm trying not to focus on too much. It's more just focusing on each individual meal, and what it is doing to me.

Perhaps I should keep a silly little journal to write down things, like if I'm actually hungry when I start my meal, if all the foods I ate were compliant, did I stop eating when satisfied.

I guess I could do that. Put the journal right on the kitchen table, eat at said darn table (I tend to eat in front of my computer at home) and work on my eating habits.

I do eat my dinner at the table, and I can easily overeat dinner, because it's too darn delicious. I didn't just have 2nds yesterday, I went back for 3rds...just slap me now.

And dinner needs to be delicious because since I've taken over the cooking (my husband cooked most everything before) my husband is actually cooking what I eat, and not complaining or anything. He's not even adding a chunk of meat to the dish. He'll make tuna or sandwich meat for his lunch, but dinner is mostly Vegan wfpb for him also.

Today's plan:

Breakfast - barley and banana
Lunch - salad and potatoes
Snack - hopefully not necessary - apple
Dinner - Aloo gobi, dal, rice
Exercise - class at the gym, bike (for my sore knee)

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Thoughts on what I'm doing right and not doing correctly in MWL

Guidelines for Healthy Eating in MWL book, page 67.

1. Eat until you’re satisfied - I easily eat till satisfied, and still tend to overeat. I also am often not very hungry when I eat. I don't want to be really hungry, but I need to feel the need to eat, be a bit "peckish". I'm one of those that when I eat, a couple bites stops the hungry signal. For breakfast and lunch I'm pretty good at judging my quantity of food to eat, to get me through to the next meal, but at dinner time there is a larger quantity of food made, there is extra in the pot/pan, I can always go back for more...and I do. Versus breakfast or lunch when I cook for myself and make a set quantity of oats, or salad and cook up two potatoes. Or I make a veggie stirfry for myself. It might be gigantic, more than I feel I can eat, but in my head I know the calories are under 300. And I also know if I don't eat it, I'll be hungry again in no time at all. Those are issues "dieter" deal with.

2. Graze - I do not graze...seriously, I don't. I don't even know exactly how to graze, and I kind of don't think I want to start. I never eat between breakfast and lunch. That's my busy time and I'm usually out and about, and I might get a hunger twinge, but by the time I'm home and make lunch, it's usually gone...and I just eat lunch because now it's time to fuel my body. The hunger twinge is just a lower blood sugar thing too, that I'm pretty sure of. But between lunch and dinner is a different story. I know I get bored, even if I'm busy at home sewing for instance. I like to take breaks from my project, check the computer, eat a snack. And no, I'm not hungry. It's a habit for me to break. I will get hungry before dinner and if I do any munching (yesterday I ate 1/2 a cooked potato and some celery), well, I was less hungry at dinner, but I still ate too much dinner. I never eat after dinner, I just don't. I'm not hungry at night. I used to suck down my bottle of wine each evening. Nice to know that nasty habit is gone. Sometimes I'll make a pot of tea, but that was more to break the drinking habit.

3. Allow time for digestion - I do this fine between breakfast and lunch, and after dinner. But not always between lunch and dinner. Maybe that journaling idea would work here. Separate my meals by enough hours.

4. Chew foods thoroughly - I inhale my food. I like easily to eat foods. Even as a child I liked jello, so I could suck it through my teeth. I love soft cooked foods like oats, I used to by cream of wheat up into my 30's. Heck I remember eating the baby cereal when I kids were little loved it...not chewing involved. I do enjoy salads, and those chopped salads are easy to inhale, less chewing, and lately I've started not chopping quite so much. But I do not chew enough. I know the pasta last night just got inhaled. Okay, this is something to work on. Perhaps I should be silly for a few days and time how long it takes me to eat. That's just stupid, right?

5. Restrict variety - Personally I like this rule. I follow it naturally for breakfast and lunches. I get on "kicks" and eat something for awhile then move on to something else. Right now it's oats/bananas (sometimes other fruit) for breakfast, and salad and potatoes for lunches. Since I want my husband to eat more this way, I need variety in our dinners. I don't want him to get bored. I'll continue how I am with this one, I want us to eat together. But I also realize I don't need to keep trying different rices, or lots of different fruits. I eat less fruit when I buy less delicious ones, or I buy a smaller quantity instead, which is a good rule for me to follow.

[AnnetteW]

I started to do a bad thing this morning, and that was count calories. I really don't wan to count calories. I know the problem, and that cheats and eating too much....boom, that's the problem.

I don't want to sit at the table when I'm home alone, those meals aren't the issue.

I had my breakfast, I had my lunch. I avoided my afternoon munchy time (but around 2:30 I was wanting to eat).

I'll make my our dinner, which is going to be awesome, and take one plate's worth, one meal's worth, nothing more and nothing less. I know how much I need to eat. I won't be hungry when I'm done. I might want to eat more of the deliciousness...but I won't physically need to. And if I take the tiniest bit less than I think I want, I can eat a slightly smaller portion.

That's my goal at least and I'm sticking to that plan.

Aloo gobi is and Indian cauliflower and potato dish, the dal is lentils. I'll make plain white rice (my husband will be pleased) and eat a smallish portion. He can have the pakoras we have in the freeze, I'll try them in the air fryer. I'm pretty sure they have oil in them, I will check the label and see what all is in them. I have yet to make my own pakoras.

It's almost 5 pm, and I'm not hungry at all. It's all a mind game.