Finding my Groove

[Marla]

Today's food:



1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes.

2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Yes

3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
Yes

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes

6. Eliminate any added oil.
Yes

7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
Yes

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Yes

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Yes

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
No, didn't exercise today. I procrastinated in the morning, told myself I would do it in the evening, but by evening I was too tired.

Thoughts:
All caught up now. Just a week to go until Christmas! I'm pleased that I have made it through the holiday season so far without going off the rails. It has been a struggle at times. Today I was shopping online for a last-minute gift, and was looking at chocolates and cookies and other edible items, when I realized that it was a bad idea for me to look at that stuff, even as a gift for someone else, even when I was never going to touch it with my own hands because Amazon would send it. The only reason I was even browsing the edible gifts was that this person is hard to buy for, and when someone is hard to buy for, sweets and snacks are often the answer. But as I was shopping I realized that just spending time looking at those items was eroding my mental resolve to eat healthfully, so I stopped and will get the person a gift card.

I need to plan our holiday meal(s) and shop for the ingredients in the next few days. As with Thanksgiving, I will have two Christmas dinners with different family members. I'm going to try to keep the menu pretty simple. Lentil loaf, mashed potatoes and gravy should work.

[Marla]

Weekly report for the week of 12/11-12/17 (Fri-Thurs)

Weight change: -0.4

Starting weight: 230
Weight last week: 154.8
Weight this week: 154.4

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.18 of 21 meals.
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert. 21 of 21 meals.
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them. Yes.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Yes.
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Yes.
6. Eliminate any added oil. Yes.
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. Yes, except for one homemade oil-free, sugar-free banana-oat "muffin" that I ate on a day when I was traveling.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Yes.
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. Yes.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Yes, exercised every day, though on several of the days I only did the minimum 30 minutes.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
All in all, I had a good compliant week. I'm not sure why the scale didn't move a bit more; maybe residual water retention after a travel day (Thursday) where I was on 3 different flights. I ate well, and even exercised by doing a 45 minute brisk walk in one of the airports, but in the past I've noticed that air travel makes my ankles swell, so it does seem to mess with my fluid balance.

Still, just happy not to be losing ground over the holidays! Earlier this year I saw an acquaintance I hadn't seen in a while, and she commented "Looks like you are losing weight, unlike the rest of us during Covid." I feel that the holidays, too, are a time when most everyone is putting on extra pounds, so even maintaining during this season is an accomplishment as far as I am concerned! I am determined to finish the year strong and am committed to building on the habits I've worked hard to cultivate this year. The reinforcement of this group, and my daily journaling, has helped so much!

[Marla]

Today's food:



1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes

2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Yes

3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
Yes

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes

6. Eliminate any added oil.
Yes

7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
Yes

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Yes

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Yes

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes, did an hour on the treadmill with some high intensity intervals.

Thoughts:
Today I noticed in my Fitbit app that my resting heart rate is down to 56. Fitbit claims that's excellent for a woman my age. Another RHR chart I found online put me in the "athlete" category for cardio fitness. All I know is, it was around 80 when I started this whole health and fitness reboot, so I see a meaningful change.

My mac and cheez (using Plantiful Kiki's nut-free cheez sauce) was tasty; I haven't had much pasta lately. I like pasta, but I don't like it so much that I overeat it or crave it or even miss it when it's not on the menu. It's just nice for variety sometimes.

And now, a Japanese sweet potato rant. When they're good, I love them. A good roasted Japanese sweet potato is sticky-sweet, honey-colored, vanilla-caramel scented, and absolutely lovely. But, for no reason that I can understand, a significant number of the JSPs I bake turn out bad. They are dry, pasty, lacking in flavor, and completely unappealing. I had such a JSP today. My roasting technique never changes, so it must be the case that there is a lot of variation in the quality of the potatoes themselves. This problem made me swear off JSPs for a long time, in favor of more reliable Hannah yams, but recently I thought I'd try them again. I got several good ones in a row, which lulled me into a false sense of security. Then today, boom. Yucky sweet potato. Well, I'm not falling for it again! JSPs can sit on it and rotate (lol, I don't think I've said that since I was 9).

[squealcat]

I have had good luck with Japanese sweet potatoes this year and hope you find good ones in the future.

This week there had been a lot of food posts on Instagram and Facebook and, of course, TV. It messed up parts of a couple days for me and I see that searching around for food-like gifts almost got you too ! Today I resolved to just not look ! I may have a richer day on Christmas but I don't want it to be a richer week ! Today went so much better !

I want to thank you again for your posts and pictures ! They have made me realize that having breakfast and lunch every day that look like the same breakfast and lunch really help me a lot and I look forward to changing it up for dinner. That has really made a difference in how my week goes. I also started having steamed vegetables (almost) every morning too !

-squealcat

[Marla]

Hi Marilyn!

I'm right there with you on keeping any Christmas indulgences to just one day. It isn't what we do on a handful of special days in the year that is going to determine our health -- it is what we do on a daily basis that has by far the biggest impact.

I think I have seen some other McDougallers also mention that they are able to satisfy their need for variety by having one meal a day where they make different recipes, while keeping the other meals simple and repetitive. I am glad it is working for you. It seems to be working well for me, too. It limits the number of decisions I have to make each day around food. I always know what's for breakfast and lunch, can prepare it in large batches, and don't have to think about it. At the same time I get to look forward to yummy dinners, so I don't get bored or feel restricted.

[Marla]

Food from December 20:



1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Let's see.....well, I didn't manage this at dinner. I don't have any soup made and didn't have time to make any, and I didn't want salad again.

2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Yes. I didn't have dessert only because I was busy and forgot about it.

3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
Yes

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes

6. Eliminate any added oil.
Yes

7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
Yes

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Yes

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Yes

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes, did 35 minutes on the treadmill and 20 minutes of stepping after dinner.

Thoughts:
I am definitely going back to nut-based salad dressings at some point. I'm getting used to not having them, but I don't love my salads as much. I figured out that a serving of my favorite homemade creamy dressing has less than a half ounce of nuts, and I am careful to measure it out because I understand it is a food that needs to be limited. For the remainder of this month, because I'm participating in the MWL group, I'll abstain from the higher fat dressing, but it's not something I am willing to do forever without a compelling reason. I do know that I can't start randomly adding nuts to my meals or eating them as snacks. I think that if I draw very clear boundaries around nuts (for salad dressing only, and only a measured amount), I will be able to include them and will enjoy my salads much more.

[Marla]

Today's food:



1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Not at dinner....dinner was late, I didn't have a lot of time, and I didn't have soup made.

2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Yes

3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
Yes

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes

6. Eliminate any added oil.
Yes

7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
Yes

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Yes

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Yes

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes, did 50 minutes on the treadmill.

Thoughts:
We hadn't had risotto in a while. I guess Arborio rice is less healthy than whole brown rice. It's really delicious though, and the Instant Pot makes it super easy to prepare.

I did most of my grocery shopping for the holiday today, except for a couple of fresh items that I will pick up later in the week. I asked my husband if he would be happy having the warm fruit dessert (that I've made a bunch of times this month) for dessert on Christmas, and he said sure. We like it a lot, and it feels seasonally appropriate. I might possibly also make some "bliss balls"(date-nut-cocoa balls) but I'm on the fence about that still.

[squealcat]

I was never a "salad person" and struggled eating salads on a regular basis. One day I listened to a pod cast or a YouTube video and saw that someone made their own hummus and added liquid smoke to it for added flavor. I followed the recipe from "Vegan Under Pressure" cookbook without adding anything with fat/oil. I added the liquid smoke. I really like it ! On the video I watched the person put big "plops" of the hummus on their salad and then added flavored balsamic vinegar to their salad. Amazing ! (At least for me). It made me a salad lover ! Maybe one day I will try a dressing using nuts but not yet.

I even bought a Holland Bowl this past summer. If you buy a certain size one you get a free messuluna knife for chopping salad. My husband is getting tired of me saying "did I tell you I love this bowl?" I use it almost every day. A bit expensive but worth it for me.

-Merry Christmas !
squealcat

[Ejeff]

Marla, I completely agree with you about having a salad dressing that satisfies. I love my huge salad bowls, but I love them the most with a tahini dressing I make. A couple weeks ago I ran out of tahini so I have been blending chickpeas with lemon and vinegar. It’s not bad.

Squealcat, thanks for the suggestion of adding liquid smoke. I am definitely going to try that as I usually enjoy liquid smoke in pasta sauces, but never thought to add it to salad dressing. I have the new nutribullet and it really blends things very smooth so I’m starting to feel confident that a hummus based dressing might work for me in the long run.

Erin

[Marla]

Marilyn, thank you for the hummus suggestion! I know that Krocks in the Kitchen eat their salads with smoky hummus + balsamic, and I have also seen it on a blog called Hello Nutrarian. I have tried it before and was not really a fan -- it's a texture thing for me. I don't like thick, viscous dressings. When I make my nut dressings I water them down quite a bit so they are thin and runny, but still stick to the salad. But I should try the hummus again because my tastes may have changed. I have the big Holland Bowl Mill bowl and the mezzaluna knife, but I don't use them anymore. I liked chopped salads for about 5 minutes and then lost interest in them. I agree the bowl is beautiful!

Erin, it's great that you are growing fonder of your chickpea and lemon dressing. I have a recipe from Fatfree Vegan for a chickpea and lemon dressing that uses a minimal amount of tahini so it is lower in fat than typical tahini dressings. I make it sometimes and it is ok. Very smooth blending definitely helps.

[Marla]

Food for December 22:



1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes for breakfast and lunch, no for dinner.

2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Yes

3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
Yes

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes

6. Eliminate any added oil.
Yes

7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
Yes

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Yes

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Yes

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes, did 40 minutes on the treadmill.

Thoughts:
In a hurry this morning and trying to get caught up, so I'll save my thoughts for another time!

[Marla]

Food for December 23:



1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes for breakfast and lunch, no for dinner.

2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Yes

3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
Well, the chickpea gravy without sodium was a complete fail, so I after tasting it I added back the soy sauce that I had omitted. It wasn't terribly high in sodium, but not super low either.

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes

6. Eliminate any added oil.
Yes

7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
Yes

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Yes

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Yes

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Did 30 minutes on the treadmill and 20 minutes of stepping after dinner.

Thoughts:
I used to love that chickpea gravy, but hadn't made it in a while, because it uses soy sauce and I've been working on lowering sodium. I thought maybe my tastes would have changed enough to like it without the soy sauce, but that wasn't the case. I find sauces and gravies to be the "last frontier"when it comes to lowering sodium. I still haven't found a gravy that I like that doesn't need a little bit of salty flavor. I will say, however, that the amount of soy sauce (or miso, or salt) I need to add to make it tasty is less than before, so that is progress! But I think it's best for me to just leave gravy off the menu, for now, except for special occasions.

[Marla]

Food for December 24 (Christmas dinner #1):



1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes for breakfast and lunch, no for dinner.

2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Yes for breakfast and lunch, no for dinner.

3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
There was added sugar in the cranberry sauce, maple syrup in the sweet potatoes, and of course sugar in the after-dinner off-plan chocolate candy. There was added sodium in the neatloaf cups, the gravy, the stuffing, the rice pilaf, and the dinner roll (modest amounts).

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
The chocolate candy had dairy.

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
The neatloaf cups had tofu in the ingredients. The chocolate candy had cocoa. Grazed on nuts after dinner.

6. Eliminate any added oil.
Yes

7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
Had a dinner roll. Had dates after dinner. And obviously the chocolate candy!

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Had wine with dinner and a brandy after dinner.

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Yes

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes, did 30 minutes on the treadmill.

Thoughts:
I will be having two Christmas dinners -- I had one already with my husband and adult son on Christmas Eve, and will have a second one with my husband and my dad on Christmas Day (the second one will be mostly leftovers). So, one down, one to go. The dinner itself had some richer foods that are compliant on the regular McDougall program, which was planned, but the after-dinner grazing on chocolate, nuts, and dates was unplanned. My son had a tray of chocolates that he got from work, really special ones from a local chocolatier, and I couldn't resist. I had made a fruit dessert but didn't eat it and just went for the chocolate, nuts, and dates instead. I had some alcohol too, which I hadn't intended to. Oh well! Christmas only comes once a year (thank goodness). Also, my overall choices and the total amount of junk consumed could have been much worse

I hope everyone who is celebrating the holiday today is having a wonderful Christmas!

[Marla]

I haven't posted in a few days -- super busy week! But I have been documenting my food and will put it all here.

Food for December 25 (Christmas Dinner #2):



1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes for breakfast, no for dinner

2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Yes for breakfast, no for dinner

3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
There was added sugar in the cranberry sauce, maple syrup in the sweet potatoes, and sugar in the after-dinner off-plan sweets. There was some added sodium in the neatloaf cups, the gravy, and the stuffing.

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
The off-plan chocolate had dairy.

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
The neatloaf cups had tofu in the ingredients. The mashed potatoes had soy milk. The pear whip had a few cashews blended in. The chocolate had cocoa.

6. Eliminate any added oil.
Yes

7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
The stuffing was made with bread. And of course the cookies and chocolate....

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Had wine with dinner

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Yes

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
No exercise this day.

Thoughts:
Christmas at my dad's. Not gonna lie -- preparing in advance and bringing all our food, especially for a more complicated meal, is a bit of a chore. I was too busy to eat lunch. There was quite a bit of indulgent off-plan food around, and I did have some cookies and chocolate. I wasn't perfect, but overall it was a healthier Christmas Day than many I've had in the past!

[Marla]

'Food for December 26:



1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes for breakfast and lunch, no for dinner

2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
Yes for breakfast and lunch, no for dinner

3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
There was maple syrup in the sweet potatoes, and added sodium in the neatloaf cups, the gravy, and the stuffing.

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
There was soymilk on the breakfast cereal and cashews in the pear whip.

6. Eliminate any added oil.
Yes

7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
The processed breakfast cereal was calorie-dense. We stayed overnight at my dad's and I forgot to pack my oats.

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Yes

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Yes

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Took a 30 minute walk after breakfast.

Thoughts:
Still had holiday food left over, which wasn't completely MWL-compliant.