Jan's Daily MWL Journal

[jan_npr]

Hi Squealcat. Thanks for your post. Great time of year to be walking.

Okay I'm here, I"m showing up to report despite deviances from plan. I feel like I'm always full of excuses lately. I'm not even going to bother with listing them again. But what did I learn. Environment is still key. My greatest success comes from an MWL environment. Three days to weigh in day. OH well, it's just one week. Will do my best with the days I have left.

Take care.

[jan_npr]

Went for a walk with the dogs at 6 am this morning then did 7 minute workout routine. Feels sooooo good to be up and out early.

Yesterday, I found some yummy treats that had been left in a guest room drawer over the winter (would have frozen and thawed many times. Do you know the end of this story? Reminded me how sugar really leaves me feeling crummy. Note to self: no more treats for houseguests. A bottle of water is all that they need.

B: oats, berries, banana, coffee with soy milk
L: green beans, black bean soup, water-based cocoa
S: whole wheat pasta with marinara, mushrooms, onions, SOY CURLS (oops); sugary treats as mentioned above
Snack: cherries

[jan_npr]

On Saturday (on the July weigh in forum) I wrote that I would enlist my husband to help me get back on track with exercise. He's helping! Yesterday we went for a bike ride, and a long walk. We have written in our calendars for the next week the morning exercise that I plan to do, and he is going to keep me accountable. I feel like if I can just get a week under my belt that I'll be on my way again. Don't know how I got out of the habit. Probably all of the company that we've been having. Yes there is a pandemic but where I live we are allowed to congregate in groups of 10 or less without social distancing.

Yesterday wasn't great. I realize that I am struggling with the day or two after weigh-in. Reminds me of my old weight watcher days. Get weighed. . . . go out to eat. Will focus on that next weekend.

Yesterdays meals:
B oats, berries, maple syrup
L cauliflower curry, big salad, green beans, water based cocoa
S OOPS!!! summer fun gone wrong . . . . dried fruit, deep fried food, alcohol, and more I was really hungry today. Should have been better prepared with food at the ready. Today I'm making a big stir fry, and some soup. Also I realized that I haven't been remembering to drink water before meals. A good trigger for me there is to have a glass always in the middle of my place setting at the table so that when I sit down I remember. There is a glass back there now. Once again blaming it on company, probably tidied it away.
Sn: berries, 1/2 baked potato

[jan_npr]

Another challenge and QUESTION? What do you do when you go to a carnivore's house, they invite you just you, and they have gone to the trouble of providing a yummy vegan snack. I ate a little. Wish I didn't feel like I needed to but the temptation was SOOOO great. They also had salted nuts; I feel powerless with those in front of me but fortunately the supply was limited. I went there with a full stomach. Maybe not full enough.

Yesterday's Meals:

B: oats, berries, maple syrup, coffee with SOY milk
L: veggie soup, cauliflower curry, water based cocoa
S: stir fry veg w rice, green beans
Sn: apple, SMALL VEGAN MUFFIN, NUTS, CHOCOLATE

Yesterday's Exercise: 30 min walk

[squealcat]

Well, I guess you could have thanked your friend and said you were not really hungry and: "can I take one home with me for later?" and then give it away once home or toss ?? This would indeed be hard for me but if I think about what my husband would do who is not McDougall but does not have any eating problem either......he just would say no thank you and leave it at that. Like I said, this would be very hard for me.

Really, except for those couple of things, you did really well so I would give you a B+ for the day !

-squealcat

[jan_npr]

Well, I guess you could have thanked your friend and said you were not really hungry and: "can I take one home with me for later?" and then give it away once home or toss ?? This would indeed be hard for me but if I think about what my husband would do who is not McDougall but does not have any eating problem either......he just would say no thank you and leave it at that. Like I said, this would be very hard for me.

Really, except for those couple of things, you did really well so I would give you a B+ for the day !

-squealcat

That was a super helpful reply squealcat. Thanks so much for showing up and helping me out.

[jan_npr]

Super hungry yesterday. Don't know what's going on. And my weight is up 2 lbs from my lowest a couple of weeks ago. I'm starting to think that the MWL way may be more of an always way of eating for me. I'll be so happy when I just figure this out. Is this a difficult time of year for everybody? Today I'm going to limit sodium.

yesterday:
B: oatmeal, berries, maple syrup, coffee with SOY milk, green beans
L: rice and veg stir fry, green beans
S: green beans, baked potato, BBQ sauce
SN: DRIED MANGO, TOAST W JAM

[AnnetteW]

What's difficult is that the vegan treat is never low in fat. It's the fat issue that stumps everyone.

You just do your best, that's about it.

Good for going over full though, that's definitely helpful.

[jan_npr]

Success for the day: Went to grocery store and didn't buy any junk food.

Yesterday Meals:
B: oatmeal, blueberries, coffee with SOY MILK
L: veg soup, stir fry veg with rice
S: veg soup, cooked from frozen hash browns with ketchup (SO MANY I WAS IN PAIN - WHY?? - I was home alone I think that was a factor)

Exercise: short bike ride followed by ab routine.

[jan_npr]

Okay after two consecutive weeks with weight gains I'm back on track. Feeling much better today after a compliant day yesterday. Not so sure I like that word compliant. Sounds too regimented. But I digress. Eating soup, salad or a non-starchy veg before a meal is key for me I think. Even at breakfast. Yesterday I threw away some dry cereal and soy curls from my pantry. Wasteful I know but for the bigger good. I can't wait for the day that I go down a pant size for the first time. That's a reward worth striving for )

Hubby is loading up the bikes to a bike rack (first time ever for us) and we are going to go to a trail for a little spin. Then to the farmer's market, a great place to load up on those non-starchy veg. I have packed a little container of roasted potatoes and green beans (50/50) in case I get hungry. It's a gorgeous day here in Nova Scotia.

Yesterday's meals:
B: green beans, Oatmeal, berries, coffee with SOY MILK
L: veggie soup, veggies with rice, water-based cocoa (small amount)
S: green beans, stir fry veggies with rice (I made so much I've been eating it for days, one portion left for tomorrow)
Snack: Pineapple

This was maybe the first day that I have kept fruit down to two servings. Usually it's three or four. Because of my blood pressure I like to have a banana a day, and I also subscribe to the old "apple a day". But I also like berries in my porridge and frozen cherries or pineapple has become my snack at night to keep me away from higher calorie items. But it's not the MWL way so I'm going to modify this and just vary what I have from day to day, or mix and match fruits with smaller amounts, i.e. eat the recommended two servings.

[jan_npr]

Yesterday Meals:
Breakfast: green beans,?coffee w SOY milk, oats, banana, blueberries
Lunch: lasagna, salad, green beans
Supper: apple, veg homemade pizza, salad, potato
Snacks: baked potato and green beans

Exercise:
1 hr bike ride

[jan_npr]

Yesterday we hosted a special birthday party for two family members (non-vegan as is rest of family). It was catered and we ordered vegan food for us (hubby and I) and a chicken dish for everyone else AND two non-vegan cakes because our usual vegan bakery was closed. It felt wrong. We were hosting in another city so preparing the food wasn't an option. But we could have figured out something different. What a mixed message we gave. And now they might wonder why there is no meat when we host future dinners. Why the exception this time (they are thinking)? This is always a tough one for me but I think consistency is key.

At least there was no temptation for me to eat dessert. If it had been vegan I would have surely eaten some.

Yesterday's Meals:
B: Oatmeal, banana, blueberries, coffee w SOY MILK
L: Potatoes and green beans, apple (prepared ahead and eaten in car, road trip)
S: Falafel, grape leaves, hummus, pita, salad with oil based dressing, garlic sauce

Exercise: None

[vegyluvver]

Where do you live that it's safe to have parties with out of town people? I might have to move there!

[bunsofaluminum]

Yesterday we hosted a special birthday party for two family members (non-vegan as is rest of family). It was catered and we ordered vegan food for us (hubby and I) and a chicken dish for everyone else AND two non-vegan cakes because our usual vegan bakery was closed. It felt wrong. We were hosting in another city so preparing the food wasn't an option. But we could have figured out something different. What a mixed message we gave. And now they might wonder why there is no meat when we host future dinners. Why the exception this time (they are thinking)? This is always a tough one for me but I think consistency is key.

Hmmmm, I can't think of anything wrong with providing an omnivore dish for guests who aren't vegan...UNLESS you are vegan for ethical reasons. But if I were going to a dinner party, it would be so nice if they had dishes with my specs available. Of course, there's also nothing AT ALL wrong with these omnivores having a meal without meat. I wouldn't worry about any mixed message though.

heh, now to go browse the rest of your journal.

[jan_npr]

Great day yesterday until my husband brought out tortilla chips (unsalted) and hummus (not oil -free; we can't get it here and he doesn't like the hummus I make - haven't been able to mimic store bought well enough). Could have been worse but I had som

But other than that a great day for MWL meals.

Yesterday's Meals:
B: cabbage, oatmeal and berries, coffee with soy milk
L: salad, baked beans
S: African stew (made with PB 2 instead of peanut butter which is not MWL compliant but I'm thinking of this ingredient as a condiment - how bad is that?), salad, apple
Snacks: mixed berries, tortilla chips and hummus

Exercise: Walk and abs (since Ive been having such a hard time establishing an exercise daily habit, I'm now just committing to 2 minutes of walking and 2 minutes of abs. If you haven't read Atomic Habits, it's a great book and talks about starting new habits with just 2 minutes. We'll see how that goes. Yesterday was my second day trying this method. Today my husband wanted to come so we did the full 30 minutes. yay.