Jan's Daily MWL Journal

[jan_npr]

Day One under my belt. Yahoo! I feel back on track.

Everything needs salt; no surprise since I had upped my salt intake in the past few weeks. Trying to keep it down for the sake of my blood pressure. I remember Dr. Lim saying to me at the McDougall program that if he had my blood pressure, he wouldn't sprinkle any salt. That rings in my ears. I was hungrier than usual mid-afternoon, hence the meal-like snack but then at supper I left food on my plate (very unusual). Hope my husband doesn't get too bored with this style of cooking. He seems very keen though!

Breakfast
- Oatmeal
- Blueberries
- Banana
- 1 tsp maple syrup

Lunch
- Salad with bottled oil-free dressing
- Black Bean soup (homemade)
- Baked Potato
- Green beans

Dinner
- Vegetable soup
- Mashed POtatoes
- Carrots/Turnip
- Mushroom Gravy

Snacks
- Baked potato/green beans (50/50)
- apple
- berries

Exercise
- 90 minute walk

[AmandaSue]

Hi Jan,

Your whole day of meals sounds amazing, but dinner especially! Mashed potatoes and gravy! YUM!

Happy 1st day back at it!

Amanda

[jan_npr]

Day Three.

Very interesting info about tomatoes here. I have arthritis (?I think) in my thumb joints. Will play around with watching tomato consumption and symptoms. Just made some pico so I'm ready for a test!

Yesterday's intake: (following 50/50 rules)

Breakfast: green beans, oatmeal, blueberries, banana, 1 tsp maple syrup
Lunch: salad, no fat dressing, baked potatoes, green beans
Supper: carrots, turnip, asparagus, peas, beefless stew
Snacks: banana nice cream, mashed potatoes/carrots/turnip

[jan_npr]

Time slows down when you are trying to lose weight, doesn't it!

Weight coming off and yet I'm eating loads. And of course, not hungry.

As mentioned over on the May weigh-in forum, my BP was down to 112/75 at last measurement. Down from more like 140/90. That's HUGE!

Yesterday's food:

Breakfast: the usual, oats, blueberries, oatmeal, banana, tsp maple syrup
Lunch: Veggie soup, leftover whole wheat pasta with homemade marinara (yummy straight up food recipe) and lots of string beans
Supper: Salad with balsamic vinegar, homemade veggie burgers served on lettuce, topped with fried onions (no oil of course), oven fries, and carrots.
Snacks: mixed berries, oatmeal (was hungrier than usual last night but then I wasn't hungry this morning so things naturally balance out)

My husband has decided that he will cut back on his veggies somewhat. He's losing weight fast and doesn't have that much to lose. And doing lots of physical work. I'm glad because two 50/50 plates each per day for lunch and supper, plus all the soups and salads, I was going through A LOT of veggies. So he's moving to more of a 2/3 to 1/3 plate.

have a great day!

[jan_npr]

Yesterday's food:

Breakfast: oatmeal, blueberries, banana, maple syrup
Lunch: veggie soup, Potato hash (Straight up food recipe yum), string beans
Supper: Salad, veg burger, corn, potato, brussel sprouts
Snacks: rice and veg; berries

Again I feel like time is moving so slowly now. I just want to see that weight loss. But I know once a noticeable amount is off, I"ll enjoy the ride more. Fearing hunger and wanting to be prepared, I made a big batch of rice and veg (50/50).

My first run at MWL and happy to be here.

[jan_npr]

Yesterday Meals:
Breakfast: Brussels sprouts, potato hash
Lunch: cauliflower soup, rice and veggies
Supper: mashed protagonists, mushroom gravy, salad, turnip, carrots, peas
Snacks:orange, banana nice cream

Didn't have a good sleep last night. Wondered if it was from the cocoa in the nice cream. Also I'm up a lot eliminating water. Natural at this stage of the process I expect.

Weight down to the lowest I've had it since last summer. So that feels good. Anything lower than this . . . . it's been many years.\

I'm only updating my ticker once a week, on Fridays,weigh-in day.

[jan_npr]

Yesterday's Food:
Breakfast: cabbage
Lunch: cauliflower soup, mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy, non-starchy veg
Supper: Rice and veggies, oatmeal and blueberries
Snacks: Cocoa made with water, apple, rice and veggies

Still feeling strong. Thinking about the days I'll be able to get new clothes. Now THAT's something to look forward to!

[jan_npr]

Yesterday's Food:
Breakfast: Oatmeal, blueberries, banana, maple syrup, coffee (with soy milk)
Lunch: rice, stir-fried veggies, potato
Supper: Baked beans, potato, red cabbage, salad
Snacks: berries, water-based cocoa

I finally gave in and deciding that I"m making an exception and putting a little soy milk in my one morning cup of coffee. That oat milk I made a couple of times was so slimy. The taste was fine but it just turned me off.

Homemade baked beans on potatoes is soooooo good. That's a new favourite. And steamed red cabbage, a new one for me. A little spray and Bragg's and yummmmmm!!!

[jan_npr]

Yesterday Meals:
Breakfast: coffee w soy milk, Cabbage, oats, blueberries, banana, maple syrup
Lunch: cauliflower soup, cabbage, baked beans, potato
Supper: green salad, macaroni w “cheeze” sauce, broccoli, onion, red pepper
Snacks: potato, apple, cocoa(water based)

Another great day. Hungrier than usual last night because I didn't have as much starch as usual at supper. A good portion but not enough to sustain me. I could have pushed through it but opted to have a plain baked potato. Should have balanced it 50/50 style but I didn't. Next time I will.

Off to play golf this morning. First time this year! OH it will feel good to be out in the real new world.

My golf clothes (they were tight last year) feel pretty good. Need to fix a bursting zipper on the pants (that tells the story) but my top covers it. haha.

I'll fix that but look forward to getting a smaller pair. Right!?

[jan_npr]

I am so distracted right now; hosting a virtual surprise birthday party tonight for my husband.

Hope it goes well. As mentioned I am planning a cheat meal for tomorrow, the actual milestone birthday.

I feel like I gave him (hubby) the best birthday gift ever. We started on MWL less than two weeks ago and he's lost 10 lbs already; at his lowest weight since university. He wants to lose about 5 more to get to the 21 BMI he is shooting for (recommended by Dr. Lim?)

But despite all this distraction and busyness, I am on track.

Yesterday's meals:

Breakfast: green beans, oats, blueberries, banana, maple syrup
Lunch: watermelon, potato, beans and rice, green beans
Supper: veggie burger patty on lettuce, with tomato and condiments, roasted potatoes, and mixed non-starchy veggies
Snacks: apple, banana nice cream

[jan_npr]

Report on Cheat Day:

So yesterday was my planned cheat day, well not a whole day but a couple of meals. I'm really pleased with how it went. I opted not to have the birthday dessert - just didn't want to get into sugar cravings - and it wasn't hard at all. And this is after only two weeks on MWL. It really doesn't take long to get away form our sweet toothes.

I won't get into too much detail with what I ate but the portions were sensible and I avoided dessert. I got rid of leftovers that were not MWL compliant. Happy to be back to the MWL way of eating again. I'm really enjoying my food! Next target, I'll becompliant until end of June, no planned cheat meals. Still hoping to get to a good BMI by my birthday in September.

Breakfast: coffee w soy milk, baked potato, tomatoes
Lunch: oily salty planned cheat
Supper: planned birthday cheat meal (vegan!)

[jan_npr]

My husband froze portions of the birthday dessert in the freezer, and they were calling me last night when he was out of the house. I"ll have to ask him to get rid of them or lock them up (I gave him a lockable lunch bag that is very helpful for my compliance). He is able to freeze and eat small portions of non-compliant foods with willpower. When I was investigating the freezer I also found lots of bread. Without any margarine or nut buttesr around I was able to easily resist that.

I made some stir fry with brown rice and I didn't like the brown rice. It was an unsatisfying meal. I also used frozen vegetables and they don't coming close to the deliciousness of fresh for me. I think I'll use white rice next time even though I know that brown rice is preferable in McDougalland. In the evening, still feeling unsatisfied, I got off course after finding some roasted nuts. Ate some and threw the rest away. It really is all about the environment. I'm not going to rely on willpower because mine is not reliable.

Yesterday Meals:
Breakfast: coffee w cashew milk (i know not compliant), oats, blueberries, strawberries, banana, maple syrup
Lunch: leafy greens, balsamic vinegar, potato, asparagus, tomato, chick peas, water-based cocoa
Supper: carrot soup, stir fry veg with brown rice, 1/2 c CASHEWS (ate some threw the rest away), a large carrot, plain potatoes

[jan_npr]

Okay so yesterday was a bit more challenging. I think I just didn't eat enough starch at my meals so I ended up having two potatoes before bed. It doesn't say anywhere in the guidelines that we can't eat before bed does it? I should have done the 50/50 plate but I didn't. Just for fun, I looked at my calorie count for the day and it was certainly reasonable to be in a weight loss mode.

Yesterday Meals:
Breakfast: coffee w soy milk (i know not compliant), oats, blueberries, strawberries banana, maple syrup
Lunch: brown rice, mixed non-starchy veggies, teriyaki sauce, chick peas, water-based cocoa
Supper: Engine 2 lasagna (using up some tofu; I know it’s not MWL compliant), salad
Snacks: pineapple, potatoes

[AnnetteW]

Good morning, just stopping in to say "hi."

You mentioned not really liking the brown rice. I like brown rice better than white, to be honest, but I don't find rice to be a very satisfying food. I eat it, we eat lots of Indian dishes, but I rather have potatoes. Last night I put my Indian food on potatoes and I think I'll be doing that a lot more in the near future.

Enjoy your day.

[jan_npr]

Hi Annette,

Thanks for stopping in!

I am so like you with potatoes. I suppose I don't really need to mix things up with rice once and a while. However I do love white rice occasionally.

Looking forward to weigh-in day tomorrow although it feels like it has been a long week. Just set myself a new 30 challenge to walk for 30 minutes first thing everyday. Starts tomorrow.

Vive potatoes!