FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Share your daily McDougall menus and/or keep a journal describing your personal progress.

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Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Mon Feb 17, 2020 8:55 am

Mildly off-track this weekend. Slacked off on allowing myself more snacks and processed things. Have set up a desire to continue doing this. So, at work, and have already checked the break room to see if anyone brought anything. Luckily they haven't.

Am making good progress weight-wise, but it's not showing up yet in my waist measurement--at least not that I can tell with that being so imprecise: How much do I relax or how much did I hold in last time? I'm hoping the next 10 lbs come off more in the middle!

Plan for today:
B: Oats with cocoa and banana, a few sunflower seeds. Coffee with soymilk.
L: Brown rice, green beans with ginger and lemon, orange
S: Raw cauliflower and cucumbers
D: Italian-style soup, salad with mustard lemon dressing.

I find myself thinking about how to be more active in my daily life, when we no longer need to be. Yesterday, I did food prep and clean up while my husband raked the entire yard. (We have oak trees that don't drop leaves until winter, so we end up doing more clean up at the first thaw.) Other than that, there isn't much to do. I could walk to work again...
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Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Tue Feb 18, 2020 9:19 am

So tired of the phone already today, and hearing my own voice repeating the greeting over and over. I checked the break room again this morning hoping that the whole-grain (ugh) pop-tarts I had avoided yesterday were still there. They were not. Thankfully...and regretfully. :-D

Scale is up a bit from this weekend, frustrating. I know it's just normal fluctuations, but still :crybaby:
I think I'm whiny in general today..."there must be more than this provincial life" (sung sarcastically while twirling)

We walked in the neighborhood last night. I don't usually ask my husband to walk, because he gets about 15,000 steps in a normal workday, but he had President's day off. It was chilly, but pleasant on the first half, but then blustery on the way back so that our ears hurt.

Working on unfinished craft projects list again. Getting to the home stretch on a granny-square throw, but keep wanting to do everything else. I should probably add all the unread books to my to-do list but then it would be five-years long instead of one. I tend to get sucked in to the creative expansiveness of a long weekend and imagine I will feel that same way during a work week.

Food today:
B: Blueberry/Banana oatmeal with flax, coffee with soy milk
L: Italian soup with w. wheat pasta, orange.
D: ?? Either left-overs or mashed potatoes with peas and mushroom gravy.
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Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Thu Feb 20, 2020 10:42 am

Things fell apart yesterday completely. Was home sick (with a cold), hadn't slept, didn't have coffee, and wanted (and did) eat everything I could get my hands on. Nothing was satisfying. Today will be a little cobbled together as I get myself back on track. Didn't end up cooking Tuesday night or yesterday as I'd planned.

Food today:

B: Oats with apple sauce and raisins.
S: Convenience store coffee w/'creamer', packaged crackers with peanut butter.
L: Bean concoction from freezer, broccoli, raw veg and an orange....wishing I had brought a potato.
D: Hoping to make mashed potatoes with peas and mushroom gravy.

Exercise is also off track with being ill.
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Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Fri Feb 21, 2020 4:20 pm

Today:

B: left-over bean/potato concoction with leftover spicy green beans, cucumbers
S: Half-caff coffee with husband's dry creamer, a BAG of CANDY (duh, what am I doing!?)....thought I could be one of those people that takes just one! I have never been that person...silly!
L: Left-over mashed potatoes, gravy and peas from last night. Tea, two mandarines.
D: Not sure, maybe pasta or potatoes and salad?

Weight is obviously stalled/up all week long. MWL weigh in today at 199.8. Have made my rough food plan for the week, will need to look it over for gaps/problems:

Sat: Oatmeal with frozen fruit; Lunch out at a sushi place (early b-day celebration); Dinner burrito bowls (homemade).
Sun/Mon: (all breakfasts the same); Lunches--rice/chickpea/veggie bowls (same rest of week); Pasta with purchased sauce, mushrooms and artichoke hearts--may add beans.
Tues/Wed/Thurs: Red lentil soup, Rice and a vegetable.
Fri: Left-overs or something from the freezer.

I'm going to try more repetition this week and hope that it makes things simpler without driving me to look for more exciting food.
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Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby moonlight » Fri Feb 21, 2020 5:23 pm

Hi there! I was catching up on journal entries today and read your comment about trying more repetition. It made me think about the Spudfit guy - Andrew. There's been some discussion about him recently in the Lounge. You may have read it already but in case you didn't, here's a link to the video he did at one of Dr. McD's weekend seminars. I listened to it this afternoon. Andrew is an amazing speaker. He gives lots of good advice for sticking to goals and changing behavior. I'm not advocating for a complete potato diet but he was very inspirational for me.

Good luck. You are going to succeed!

Ltldogg wrote:
Grammy Ginger wrote:I'd like to watch it but the link doesn't seem to take me to the correct location. Please, check it.


Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbHJ8s-AK9A
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Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby SilverDollar123 » Mon Feb 24, 2020 10:46 am

Happy Birthday! Love reading your posts. RAS
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Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Thu Sep 10, 2020 8:49 am

Sorry all. I am the biggest flake! Many ups and downs weight wise during quarantine and now beyond. I have been up and down between the 2-teens and 200, a few times! Have finally got over the embarrassment/resistance to trying again. I'm going to be on the MWL weigh-ins, even if it's hard. I don't know if I'll use this as a food journal or what b/c sometimes that creates one more routine that I don't follow through on.

I'm going to try to do what is suggested on the MWL pages...that is, working on behaviors rather than my weight. I've been eating so poorly sometimes that I'm scared...but only until the next eating opportunity.

So...
    Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
    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.
    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.
    Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
    Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
    Eliminate any added oil.
    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.
    Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
    Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don’t starve yourself and don’t stuff yourself.
    Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
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Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Thu Sep 10, 2020 9:58 am

Just remembered something that I wanted to add...I often feel stuck when I reach the 200 mark or thereabout. The next time I get stuck, I want to consider that maybe that is what I'm supposed to weigh and not worry about it. I feel stuck, I rebound, etc. If I just was accepting of where healthy eating gets me, maybe I would continue to eat healthfully. :idea: remember!!!
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Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Fri Sep 11, 2020 8:37 am

First official weigh-in. First official day.

I tried to ease-in over the last two days, and have swapped green tea for coffee in the morning. I had a clean day yesterday, but then stumbled across the peanut butter.

Today:
B: Cooked oats, blueberries, flax; Green tea
L: McDougall Split Pea soup cup, raw veg, apple; Herbal tea
D: Zucchini, Farro, Lentil soup from the freezer; Frozen mango and pineapple.

If I'm hungry after dinner, I'll need to fix some rice and vegetables. I didn't have a lot left over from what I made yesterday.

Need to do walk after work, since I didn't this morning: 20 minutes. I found a plan online to gradually increase time each week, but I can't find the link to share. I hadn't been doing much at all, and didn't want to hurt myself. I started with 15 minutes a few days last week. This week, 20. Later weeks add long days, and more time.

Edit--Saving this link for later: https://eatplant-based.com/10-simple-healthy-plant-based-recipes/
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Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Mon Sep 14, 2020 8:51 am

Had a decent weekend, only minor exceptions, many successes (trying to be more positive than I naturally am.)

We took a drive on Sunday, and I made sure to have some soup before and brought an apple and tea. Usually a drive means pretzels at best, and at worst... :oops: But, I stayed in the car while DH got his caffeine fix. He did declare this weekend that he needed to stop drinking coffee because he didn't like how he felt, so I took this opportunity while we were both motivated, to put the coffee maker away, and donated the creamer and left-over coffee to our staff room!!

I spent most of Saturday getting groceries and food prep. I made him banana bread which I was able to avoid (pre-portioned and froze most of it) until this morning..had one piece. Made Jeff's burgers into a sort of loaf/pot roast thing with potatoes, carrots and cabbage. I almost ruined it--the recipe I was modifying was for seitan roast in the crock pot--bean loaf did not fair too well. I pulled it out half-way through and put it in the oven. The extra bean mixture, I made into meatballs, and froze. Also made Jeff's Longevity soup. Did have a non-compliant snack that afternoon, b/c nothing was ready to eat.

Didn't end up walking on Friday. I might have been cleaning the house? That was so long ago! Saturday, I counted all the housework as my walk, but Sunday I did about 35 minutes...not quite two miles, and again today.

Talked to a co-worker this morning who is doing really long hikes/walks, and I may do her five mile route with her some mornings when her husband can't go. Will be super dark, in a huge park, an adventure?! I need to work on a 15 or 16 minute mile for her pace. I think I'm a little slower than that now.

Overall, happy with what I did. Husband even ate the bean loaf! Tonight we'll have the left-over potato mixture with a salad (out of loaf). Later in the week, I planned pasta and white bean soup for dinners and chana masala for my lunches. We'll be busy this week, I think. These meals should be easy enough to do.
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Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Tue Sep 15, 2020 10:07 am

Husband asked me where the coffee was this morning! :lol: Hopefully he doesn't go buy more this afternoon.

I forgot to start the crock pot this morning for soup, so I guess we are having spaghetti tonight. We have been doing house projects, so I still haven't cut up our usual raw vegetables either. Lots of forgetting.

Yesterday I was hungry by 3:00 and had the emergency plain quick oats that I have in my desk drawer, so I wouldn't want to eat everything when I got home. Today, I think I packed enough lunch to get me through, not sure.

Yesterday:
B: Oats, berries, last sprinkle of pumpkin seeds.
L: Potatoes, mustard, apple, longevity soup.
S: Plain quick oats.
D: Left over cabbage/potatoes, corn, salad, frozen pineapple.
S: Corn and broccoli.

Today:
B: Oats, last of dried fruit, last of apple sauce.
L: Huge bowl longevity soup, salad. Forgot the apple.
Edit: S: Quick oats.
D: Salad and will make separate spaghetti for each of us. I have some brown rice pasta left to use, and he prefers white. I'll make Boca sauce for him, and I can make a topping with tomatoes, beans and frozen vegetables...might even make it spicy (which he also hates). I might even already have something in the freezer, if I can identify it!
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Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Wed Sep 16, 2020 8:17 am

I am wound up today or irritable...my choices are: is it lack of sleep? the cocoa powder in my oatmeal? the things I hear at my job? :roll: Grrr. I wish I could blab here about my job today, but FERPA or something.

I didn't end up doing dinner as planned. I got straight to work on the house project, and that's about all I wanted to deal with. Husband wasn't too interested in a meal anyway. I had an apple, broccoli, a McDougall Ramen cup, and then had air-popped popcorn and a slice of banana bread. :\

I didn't have caffeine yesterday, but I didn't feel like falling asleep, and it was the 2nd night in a row that I woke up about 3:30, and didn't get back to sleep very well.

Today's plan:

B: Oats, cocoa, frozen cherries, a little sugar.
L: Huge bowl of soup, small salad, apple, some mixed veg (corn, peas, etc) Edit: Ate half the soup, and then later felt hungry/bored/distracted...had the oats again.
D: Maybe spaghetti?

Still need to cut vegetables, etc. Another project tonight, and didn't walk this morning. We'll see how it goes. :duh:
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Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Thu Sep 17, 2020 8:13 am

Ok, so my prep isn't solid this week, but I'm hanging in there. House projects are going slow, we start one and then find another (or create another, because we are probably incompetent). Thankfully they are small, but it's getting irritating. Did not prep any veg or make dinner.

Last night I ended up skipping the spaghetti again. I had the feeling that I couldn't get enough food, even though I had eaten oats yesterday afternoon. I finished my soup at dinner, had a salad and a large portion of mixed vegetables...I think I might have had another apple. I ran some errands, and still felt hungry--got into my husband's snack mix, and then had some potatoes, so I didn't continue with the snacking.

This morning I discovered a new "recipe" for oatmeal---Atomic fireball oatmeal:
    Put the desired amount of oats in a microwave safe bowl, add the water. Heat in microwave.
    When done, put in frozen tart cherries and cinnamon.
    Decide that ginger might be nice, remove lid from spice jar. Get distracted by own thoughts, and remove the shaker top to the same jar...shake ginger on to the oatmeal. Wave away the cloud of spice. :eek:
    Scoop extra ginger into trash. Stir, while muttering expletives.

Today's plan:
Did 42 minute walking video b/c I didn't feel like going outside in the smoke and dark this morning.
B: Atomic ginger oats, green tea. (it's now just after 9:00 and I feel a bit hungry again)
L: McDougall black bean soup cup, frozen cauliflower, apple.
S: Oats?
D: Spaghetti? LOL...or, I will finish the longevity soup and potatoes in the fridge, but then I'll have to make something for lunch Friday anyway...
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Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby deweyswakms » Thu Sep 17, 2020 8:25 am

frowsyowl wrote:Ok, so my prep isn't solid this week, but I'm hanging in there.[/list]



Hi, I make the 'atomic oatmeal' all the time, now usually for dinner when I am tired and don't want to think about food. I add ground up flax seed, hemp hearts and usually some frozen fruit of some kind.

I wanted to suggest that you put yourself 1st, before house projects etc., in terms of planning and prepping your foods. I have learned that if I don't do that, then Life shows up, distracts me, etc. and then I am not eating properly. So perhaps have a healthy snack before launching into the projects. You are at least as important as them.

Good luck, Marsha
start weight 210 on 7/25/14; MWL recommit 7/2019 weight 197. 6/11/2022 weight 165.0. Height 5'8".
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Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Thu Sep 17, 2020 11:38 am

Thank you for stopping in Marsha. You're right. I always overestimate the energy I'll have to do everything.

I'm sorry that you have "Atomic" oatmeal so often! :lol:
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