Silver's compliance streak journal 2023

[SilverMtns]

Compliance day 1. I want to see how long a streak I can get to this year. My heart needs it, and if I make it a game maybe I can keep it going.

Breakfast: Oatmeal, soymilk, raisins
Lunch: brown rice, steamed veggies, teriyaki sauce
Dinner: potatoes and broccoli
Snacks: almonds, air-popped popcorn

Wt: 302

Symptoms: bad headache, heart palpitations, facial skin breakout

[SilverMtns]

Compliance day 2. Helps so much to have my partner on board. He isn't McDougally but he made me oil-free vegan chili for lunch and I turned it into chili mac for dinner--his with cheese, mine with Well Your World cheese sauce, which I'm now out of so I should make some from scratch to replace it. I like adding a couple pickled jalapeños to give it a nacho sauce vibe. Breakfast was toast and hummus. Snack was a carrot and later a banana, then later a pickle. We went to the bakery to get him a treat and I had a plain cup of steamed plant milk. Doing well!

Wt: 300 (down 5 total)
Symptoms: heart is acting better today. Skin about the same. No headache (might have gotten the caffeine out of my system)

[SilverMtns]

Stole/tweaked Michael / chumly's weekly template so I don't have to post a new post every day. Thanks, Michael!

Blank template:

Week/weight (pounds):
Thursday
Food:
Exercise:
Plank:
BP:
Glucose:
Symptoms:

Friday
Food:
Exercise:
Plank:
BP:
Glucose:
Symptoms:

Saturday
Food:
Exercise:
Plank:
BP:
Glucose:
Symptoms:

Sunday
Food:
Exercise:
Plank:
BP:
Glucose:
Symptoms:

Monday
Food:
Exercise:
Plank:
BP:
Glucose:
Symptoms:

Tuesday
Food:
Exercise:
Plank:
BP:
Glucose:
Symptoms:

Wednesday
Food:
Exercise:
Plank:
BP:
Glucose:
Symptoms:

Notes:

[SilverMtns]

Week 1/weight (pounds): 302 (down 3 from a high of 305)
Thursday
Breakfast:Oatmeal, soymilk, raisins
Lunch: brown rice, steamed broccoli, steamed carrots, teriyaki sauce
Dinner: potatoes and broccoli
Snacks: air-popped popcorn (will just call this popcorn from now on -- won't use oil while on compliant streak), almonds
Exercise:
BP:
Glucose:
Symptoms: bad headache, heart palpitations, facial skin breakout

Friday
Breakfast: toast and hummus
Lunch: chili (beans, corn, tomatoes, spices, jalapenos, salt, onions, mushroom powder)
Dinner: chili mac (chili, macaroni, Well Your World cheese sauce)
Snacks: carrot, banana, pickle, cashew milk, Brazil nut
Exercise: short walk
BP:
Glucose:
Symptoms: heart is acting better today. Skin about the same. No headache (might have gotten the caffeine out of my system)

Saturday
Breakfast: toast, hummus, half a pickle, steamed soymilk
Lunch: overnight oats with raisins/soymilk/chia, frozen grapes
Dinner: partner made eggplant stew with no oil and we had it on pasta (cheese on his but not on mine)
Snacks: steamed soymilk, half a pickle, overnight oats with raisins/soymilk/chia, popcorn, Ezekiel tortilla with hummus
Exercise: we did our "long walk," which is a little over a mile, and we took it slowly
BP: 107/71 before getting up, with irregular heartbeat. Later, 120/81
Glucose: 95
Symptoms: good day today. Plenty of energy, fewer heart palpitations (but not none) moderate joint pain. My resting heart rate was below 50 at one point, so it may be time to reduce my meds. Will talk to my doc.

Sunday
Breakfast: toast, hummus, steamed soymilk
Lunch: sloppy joes of multigrain tempeh on sourdough bread
Dinner: sweet potato and butternut squash soup (just cooked them in veggie stock, then blended the cooked stuff. So good.)
Snacks: popcorn, one olive, Ezekiel tortilla with hummus, apple
Exercise: The java walk, which google says is .8 miles -- we went uphill on the way there, but took the flat road back.
BP: 112/82
Glucose: 105
Symptoms: Heart palpitations (and angina that's not bad, but bad enough to wake me up last night), otherwise good. Skin has cleared up. Headache late in the day, but not bad.

Monday
Breakfast: water-fried potatoes and onions with ketchup; v-8 with lemon juice and hot sauce
Lunch: sweet potato and squash soup
Dinner: rice, kimchi, pickled radishes, grilled zucchini, lettuce, ssamjang
Snacks: Veggie broth, seaweed, some oil-free almond-milk eggnog the kid brought me as a gift, slice of sourdough bread
Exercise: .6-mile walk
BP: 121/70
Glucose: 105
Symptoms: Last night, my resting pulse dropped to between 40 and 50 for a couple hours, so I took it upon myself to halve my heart pill this morning, and I'll tell my doctor when I talk to him. In one of Dr. McDougall's books, it says that they usually at least halve it on the first day of the program because the body reacts so quickly to this way of eating. It was gratifying (though a little scary) to see that in action.

Tuesday
Breakfast: Toast and oil-free red pepper hummus
Lunch: tacos (homemade corn tortillas, oil-free veggie burgers, salsa, lettuce)
Dinner: Veggie and hummus sandwich, veggie soup
Snacks: the rest of the oil-free almond milk nog my daughter got me; steamed soymilk, mango
Exercise: none
BP: 120/80
Glucose: 97
Symptoms: ocular migraine, a few palpitations, nothing serious

Wednesday
Breakfast: Toast and hummus
Lunch: veggie curry over rice/peas
Dinner: salad with veggies, kidney beans, and balsamic
Snacks: bagel with hummus, toast with hummus, frozen mango cubes, popcorn
Exercise: 1.5 mile walk
BP: 104/69
Glucose: 92
Symptoms: Palpitations today, but not too bad.

Notes: I gave up caffeine when my heart started acting up a couple weeks ago, so I'm replacing my hot tea (used to have it with milk and sugar most of the time) with steamed soymilk, but that will be the next thing to cut down on once I have the big stuff down: no animal products, no oils, limits on nuts/olives/avocados (I don't eat much coconut, so that's not an issue). From experience I know that sweet stuff will start tasting too sweet soon, so the sugar pretty much takes care of itself for me. Salt I don't worry about too much, since I don't have blood pressure issues, but after I've done this for a while, and after I figure out another solution for hot beverages besides soymilk (maybe just hot water with lemon? we'll see) then maybe I'll start cutting back on salt. Since I don't eat all that many processed foods now, I bet it's already a lot lower, but I'm not willing to go to the effort of weighing and measuring foods to find out. I'll just keep going "towards the light," as it were.

Also, I am reading The Starch Solution and just saw that he doesn't recommend tofu/soybeans because of their fat content. I have a pack each of tofu and tempeh in the fridge. I'll use them up and not buy more.

[SilverMtns]

Week 2/weight (pounds): 298 (-4 this week, -7 total)
Thursday
Breakfast: toast and hummus and steamed soymilk
Lunch: quinoa and beet salad with pistachios, no dressing
Dinner: Ezekiel tortillas with hummus, lettuce, and cucumbers; applesauce
Snacks: steamed cashew milk (they were out of soy), glass of soymilk
Exercise: none
BP: 103/65
Glucose: didn't check it. It's been fine.
Symptoms: Woke up last night with my heartrate between 90 and 100 for a bit. It calmed down pretty quickly., but I got palpitations on and off all day. Will keep an eye on it and make an appointment with my doc tomorrow

Friday
Breakfast: hummus, cucumber, pickle
2nd breakfast (my sleep schedule got weird last night): toast and jam
Lunch: fruit
Dinner: leftover rice and peas and a little veg curry
Snacks: popcorn, chestnuts
Exercise: 1-mile walk
BP: 109/70
Glucose:
Symptoms: heart palpitations, slight headache on and off all day (haven't had caffeine in about 3 weeks, so it's not that)

Saturday
Breakfast: Sprouted grain bagel with hummus
Lunch: laksa soup with veggies, udon noodles, and a tiny bit of the last of the field roast sausage
Dinner: rice, peas, butternut squash, veg curry, mango chutney
Snacks: grape tomatoes, sourdough bread, caramel steamed soy, fruit, chestnuts
Exercise: 2-mile walk
BP:
Glucose: 92
Symptoms: Woke up just feeling good this morning, first time in a while.

Sunday
Breakfast: sprouted bagel with hummus; steamed soy with honey
Lunch: noodle soup (soup base, rice noodles, Japanese sweet potato, mushrooms, sugar snap peas, onions, bean sprouts, green onions, zucchini); apple
Dinner: bean tostadas (corn tortillas, fat-free beans, taco sauce, onions, a few olives)
Snacks: beets with balsamic vinegar, fruit pop, hot pretzel with mustard
Exercise: 1-mile walk
BP: 99/71 (resting pulse 65)
Glucose: 105
Symptoms: mild palpitations, but woke up happy and with lots of energy

Monday
Breakfast: toast, hummus, V8
Lunch: tomato/butternut bisque (tomatoes, butternut squash, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, nutritional yeast, a little soymilk and water), sourdough bread, fruit pop
Dinner: toast and jam; V8
Snacks: small steamed soy, berries with honey and sea salt, hot pretzel
Exercise: 3/4 mile walk
BP:
Glucose: 99
Symptoms: very mild palpitations. Otherwise fine.

Tuesday
Breakfast: sprouted bagel and hummus
Lunch: veggie shepherd's pie (potatoes, veggie broth, peas, corn, onions, celery, mushrooms, Well Your World mushroom gravy)
Dinner: corn chex, soymilk, mango, diet soda
Snacks: steamed soy, pomelo, beet/avocado salad (with balsamic, salt, pepper)
Exercise: 3/4 mile walk
BP:
Glucose: 91
Symptoms: mild palpitations

Wednesday
Breakfast: avocado toast with hot sauce; steamed soy (sweetened)
Lunch: Started leftover shepherd's pie but wasn't enjoying it, so I had more avocado toast and a glass of water
Dinner: brown rice veggie sushi
Snacks: popcorn, fruit pop, carrot, Brazil nuts, corn chex with soymilk
Exercise: none
BP:
Glucose: 92
Symptoms: slept poorly last night. Woke up with a bit of a headache and heart palpitations.

Notes: I'm using up the non-compliant vegan foods in tiny bits here and there (we can't afford to throw away food right now, but I would rather eat them a little at a time than just all at once. What's left is some tofu, a can of coconut milk, and two links of Field Roast sausage. I'm not gonna bother with the actual meat and fish, because my partner will eat those on his own, but he won't make tofu/tempeh/etc. for himself.

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Silver,

Just dropping by to say hi ! Sounds like you've gotten a great McDougally start to the year!!!

Best,
Stephanie

[SilverMtns]

Hi Silver,

Just dropping by to say hi ! Sounds like you've gotten a great McDougally start to the year!!!

Best,
Stephanie

Thanks, Stephanie! I think writing it down is really helping me.

[SilverMtns]

Week 3 /weight (pounds): 297 (down 1 this week, 8 total)
I have 10 feast days per year (family birthdays, anniversaries, Thanksgiving, etc.) and they don't break my streak. Thursday is a feast day, planned in advance, but I will keep it light -- I don't restrict the quantities of foods I'm eating when I'm eating compliant foods, but I'll do small portions on feast days because the food is richer.

Thursday
Feast day: ate non-compliant breakfast and lunch
Dinner: steamed veggies with Jill McKeever's Game Changer Cheese Sauce (GCCS) on top. Just made it for the first time today and it's AWESOME. Plus, it makes a ton so I have enough for the week.
Exercise: 1.5-mile walk, .25-mile walk
BP: 106/78
Glucose:
Symptoms: very mild palpitations

Friday
Breakfast: hummus toast and avocado
Lunch: mac and cheese with GCCS and chopped steamed broccoli
Dinner: grilled cheese with sourdough and GCCS, V8
Snacks: banana, corn chex with banana and oat milk, one Brazil nut, several pistachios, and an apple
Exercise: 1/2-mile walk
BP: 121/81
Glucose:
Symptoms: mild palpitations

Saturday
Breakfast: oatmeal with soymilk and raisins
Lunch: borscht and red potato -- I found a farmer's market person here who makes lots of home-canned soups and stews, and they are ALL COMPLIANT -- two of her curries use coconut milk, but otherwise everything is vegan, oil-free, salt-free, and gluten-free (though I don't care about gluten). Whee!
Dinner: Leftover boiled potato heated with GCCS, whole-lemon-ade (blended water and cactus fruit with a whole lemon in the Vitamix. It's more bitter than regular lemonade, but it's tasty and feels a little more "grown-up" than the super-sweet stuff I'm used to, almost like a cocktail.)
Snacks: GCCS and an apple, dates/kumquats, pistachios
Exercise: 1/2-mile walk
BP:
Glucose: 93
Symptoms: some palpitations

Sunday
Feeling a little under the weather today. Was going to go to the grocery store, but I don't go in public when I'm having symptoms (tested negative on a covid home test, but no need to be foolhardy). Will take it easy today; definitely want a walk outdoors if I can handle it.
Breakfast: avocado toast
Lunch: quesadillas (corn tortillas, GCCS, salsa, tomatoes, and "crema" made from blended soaked nuts, a pinch of salt, and lime juice)
Dinner: big salad (lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, cabbage, balsamic vinegar, pistachios, dates), whole-lemon-ade
Snacks: pistachios, steamed soy, fruit pop
Exercise: 1.5-mile walk with lots of hills
BP: 121/81
Glucose:
Symptoms: slight cold symptoms (won't gross you out with the details)

Monday
I'm ready to stop listing every single food I eat. I'll just mention whether anything was non-compliant, or make notes of things I especially liked/didn't like. Today went well. Lots of oatmeal, lots of fruits and veggies.
Exercise: 1/2-mile walk
BP: 122/78
Glucose:
Symptoms: a little chest pain last night, so I didn't sleep great. Seeing the doctor tomorrow.

Tuesday
Food: Good. I'm working on making sure I have some fruit/veg in every meal and snack.
Exercise: 1/2 mile walk, 1/4 mile walk, 1/4 mile walk. (about a mile total)
BP: 122/84
Glucose: 107 before bed (didn't check on waking)
Symptoms: Some palpitations. Doc is ordering some tests.

Wednesday
Food: good. I'm gonna eat out today for the first time in a long time, but I checked the menu already and I know what I'm ordering. And my partner was so sweet -- he recommended taking a little travel bottle of California Balsamic to put on my salad when I order it undressed! It was great. Veggie sandwich on wheat with no cheese, undressed salad with my own balsamic on it. My daughter tried to talk me into eating her fries, but when I got irritated at her for that, she backed right off.
Exercise: 1/2-mile walk
BP:
Glucose:
Symptoms: Heart palpitations are pretty bad today. Maybe I should start considering working on salt next, but next week my new goal is just to avoid snacking on nuts/olives and only have them on salads.

Notes: Super happy that I was able to have a planned feast day and then get right back on track on the same day! (feasted for breakfast and lunch, had a compliant dinner, and then kept it going). This is a first. My next feast day is March 20th. I really do think knowing it's coming will help keep me on track. I think I need to stop snacking on nuts, though. Dr. Fuhrman recommends if you eat nuts, don't snack on them -- put them with a veggie heavy dish. So maybe next week I'll make that rule -- small amount of nuts on a salad or something.

[Chumly]

Hi SilverMtns,

Good job! I'm glad the template is working out for you! Keep working on the streak!

Michael

[Starflower]

Hi Silver,

I like the way you decide what treats you will have on special days without any regrets. You’re doing well!

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Silver,

I saw you mentioned in the Lounge getting some inspiration from Star McDougallers.

I remember also these 2 threads from "Uncle Buck" (I believe SM) --- old post, but pretty phenomenal. Check it out if you haven't seen.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=48144&p=495379&hilit=uncle+buck#p495379

Best,
Stephanie

[SilverMtns]

Thank you, Michael, Starflower, and Stephanie! I really do appreciate the support!

[SilverMtns]

I can't believe I've made it 21 days already! I mean, I will tweak things as I go (no more snacking on nuts for a while, for one thing), but it has been a lot easier than I thought it would be!

Week/weight (pounds): 297 (stayed the same this week; -8 overall)
Thursday
Food: I prepped some of my faves yesterday, like the GCCS and some salsa.
Exercise: 1/2-mile walk
BP: 110/70
Symptoms: Heart stuff and a weird persistent itch in my foot.

Friday
Food: I have lots of prepped food handy, so I probably won't cook today, just eat what I have on hand. No nuts to snack on.
Exercise: 1-mile walk
BP: 110/70
Symptoms: Mild palpitations; feeling a lot better than yesterday

Saturday
Food: I still have plenty of food for nachos and tacos and quesadillas, so I'll just eat on those today, I think.
Exercise: 1/2-mile walk
Plank: 11 seconds (my starting time; I assume it will get better!)
BP: 105/70
Glucose:
Symptoms: very very mild palpitations

Sunday
Food: I've been trying out Soy Curls the past couple days. They should probably be an infrequent feast food for me because I can eat a large quantity in one sitting. Drank a lot of water today, which is cool
Exercise: 1.5-mile walk
Plank: DNF
BP: 110/70
Glucose:
Symptoms: Mild

Monday
Food: My daughter is coming over for snacks and movies later today. She requested sweet potatoes to snack on (we share a love of them) but I also got her some non-compliant stuff and I will make myself some baked chips. I have pico and mango salsa and oil-free tabouli and nacho compliant cheese sauce for myself, along with the sweet potatoes. And we don't drink much soda in this house, but I got a 2-liter of zero sugar 7-up because my daughter hates drinking plain water and that way if I share it with her, I am at least not getting any sugar and caffeine.

Also, I got criticized off a couple groups for not being "compliant" enough. I was feeling kind of bad about myself, but then I reminded myself I'm not trying to be perfect. I'm just trying to improve my diet in ways I can, and gradually I will tweak it so it's perfect for ME, not necessarily perfect-as-in-flawless. Like, I still eat soy, but a bowl of soy curls is still better than a trip to the drive-through. I'm making changes that I can do persistently, so I'm not gonna let other people's ideas of perfection mess me up. So far, I have made some pretty amazing changes and they are sticking:
Gone 100% plants
Eliminated all added oil
Gave up caffeine
Gave up snacking on nuts
I do have ideas for more changes I can make once I feel solid with these: moving away from soy; not drinking my calories; working on eating less refined starches and more whole ones. But for now, this is miles better than my old diet, where I went through several sticks of butter a week, so I'm gonna just enjoy it and be happy about it.
Exercise:
Plank:
BP:
Glucose:
Symptoms: mild palpitations

Tuesday
Food: Wanted really badly to eat junk today, but I stayed the course.
Exercise: none
Symptoms: very mild palpitations

Wednesday
Food: Did great; we just had house issues all day so I didn't post
Exercise: 1-mile walk
Plank:
BP:
Glucose:
Symptoms:

Notes:

[Starflower]

Very nice job! Twenty-one days is a big accomplishment!

[SilverMtns]

Very nice job! Twenty-one days is a big accomplishment!

Thank you! I think deciding it was not optional was the turning point for me (and for my family, who really are supportive, but they need clear boundaries from me so they know what to offer/buy me and what not to.