FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

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

Moderators: JeffN, f1jim, carolve, Heather McDougall

Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Fri Sep 18, 2020 8:30 am

Came limping into my weigh in this morning. It was a struggle last night that I didn't succeed at. I mean, I lost weight, but slipped last night. Even though I prepped a lot last weekend, it wasn't enough. Need to get myself all the way thought the week with enough calories and variety...and more simplicity even than I expected.

Plan for this week...I still have much of what I was going to make last week left to make, so I suppose I'll make my left-overs tonight more interesting somehow (potatoes and soup). I'll plan on either making all the meals on Saturday, and freezing, or scheduling cooking on Saturday, Monday and Wednesday. Meals: Spaghetti, white bean soup w/salad, chana masala. I'll make longevity soup again, using some frozen lentil soup as the base.

I think I need more than oatmeal in the morning or an extra fruit. I have to think about this. I'm so starving at the end of the day. Or, maybe, I'm just adjusting to the less-rich foods?
frowsyowl
 
Posts: 210
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2012 4:23 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby bunsofaluminum » Fri Sep 18, 2020 9:25 am

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Loving the "oatmeal recipe"...glad I'm not the only one who dumps whole canisters of spice into my food :lol:

The best prep I can recommend is having plenty of cooled baked potatoes on hand. You can grab one or two on your way to anywhere and eat them out of hand while driving down the road...like a bagel, only healthy. Easy to slice, heat for 30 seconds, and dip into ketchup and mustard, too. Potatoes, FTW!
JUST DON'T EAT IT

I heart my endothelial lining
by red squirrel

simple, humble food
by f00die

The rest is an industry looking to make a buck off my poor health
by Pamela, a FB user
User avatar
bunsofaluminum
 
Posts: 6551
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2009 8:17 pm
Location: Ogden Utah

Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Fri Sep 18, 2020 1:30 pm

Thanks for dropping by, Buns! I tried the potatoes, and for whatever reason, the skins were terrible. I'll try something else this week.
frowsyowl
 
Posts: 210
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2012 4:23 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby Ejeff » Sat Sep 19, 2020 8:21 am

If you enjoy potatoes you could remove the skins. Guess I’m suggesting perhaps don’t give up on potatoes yet :-D
"The more disciplined your environment is, the less disciplined you need to be. Don't swim upstream."
Ejeff
 
Posts: 679
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2015 10:00 pm
Location: Alberta, Canada

Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby Creaky » Sat Sep 19, 2020 3:05 pm

I took the longevity soup and made it into a casserole of sorts. I make the soup with a pound of mixed vegetables (corn, peas, green beans, lima beans, etc) and a pound of frozen cut green beans and a 28 oz can of petite diced tomatoes and 2 1/2 cans of water using the 28 oz tomato can. I add a cup of brown rice to it, add spices and cook all of it for one hour. I add some cooked beans (black, pinto, small red or great northern). I try to make it a bit soupy, it gets more like a stew, then as it cooks all the water is absorbed.

Turns out tasty, filling and enough food for a day and some of the next day.
Creaky
 
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2020 4:02 pm

Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Mon Sep 21, 2020 10:34 am

Ejeff: I won't give up on potatoes, but I used to like them with skins. Don't know what's changed.

Creaky: My soup ended up pretty thick too. Your version sounds good!

Weekend--Very few of the MWL checkboxes were checked this weekend. I think being in my house must be a trigger! (sarc.) We are nearly done with house projects, just have to take a bunch of stuff to goodwill/recycling.

Today: Packed good food, had a good breakfast. Cleaned this morning instead of doing my walk. Trying to see if I can push my lunch later in the day. I've been eating at my desk so that no one has to cover me and share my phone (re: Covid). I've been eating at 11- 11:30, but that's not been working out for my evenings. (As for weekends, I have some reflexive habits to break).

B: Oats, berries, flax. I added more fruit than I would normally.
S: Tea
L: Salad, apple (or banana), lentil soup.
S: Banana (or apple)
D: Carrots, broccoli, mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy.

Happy Monday!
frowsyowl
 
Posts: 210
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2012 4:23 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Tue Sep 22, 2020 7:05 am

I think yesterday was a success! I ate lunch after 12:30, had raw vegetables when I got home...wasn't as hungry as usual, so that did it. Got busy right away, ate dinner later than normal. I don't remember what time. Continued to stay busy the rest of the evening. Not sure how I can recreate all of this business every night, maybe I just need to do it long enough to break my eating patterns.

Still didn't officially exercise this morning, but vacuumed most of the house.

Today:
B: Same blueberry oat, flax...added a banana.
S: Sparkling water. Maybe Tea
L: Same salad, but with left-over pasta and bean balls.
S: Two apples?
D: Left-over potatoes gravy, Broccoli and mixed vegetables.

Edit: Meant to add this the other day. I was reading one of JeffN's posts, and there was a chart that broke down BMI to Severe, Moderate, etc. I thought it would give me some intermediate goals...trying not to have a specific number in mind, but I might like to cross these thresholds eventually (in the right direction!!). At the time of this post, currently 35.6.

Severe Obesity: 35+
Moderate Obesity: 34.9 to 30
Overweight: 29.9 to 25
Normal: Less than 25 (This would be totally weird to me!) I wonder if I've ever been "normal". :D
frowsyowl
 
Posts: 210
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2012 4:23 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Thu Sep 24, 2020 11:37 am

Day before yesterday was "okay" I think I did well, but got a bit 'snacky' by the end of the day. Got disappointed about that, and got on a bad roll that continued all day yesterday. Have recovered now.

I struggle when I'm tired, and I struggle with my thoughts and choices. Trying to focus on keeping busy again, and to make that my reflex to start an activity when I want to eat continuously.

Things I could do tonight (or weekends):
Clean out some cupboards
Drop a donation to the goodwill, buy some kitchen towels on the way back
Watch the program my mother wants to discuss with me.
Water the plants and the yard...it's 90+ degrees here again! Where is "FALL"?!!!
Get my car washed
Take a drive with my husband
Beauty treatments?
Do a load of laundry
Make hummus or a freezer meal
Brush the cats, clip nails
Sketch something
Plan a walk with my colleague
Wander in the library
Clean/work on the aquarium
Plan Christmas gifts ahead of time...
frowsyowl
 
Posts: 210
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2012 4:23 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment--Diary of a "Flake"

Postby frowsyowl » Mon May 10, 2021 9:58 am

Back at it...have been doing my usual cycling through my litany of diets every three days or few weeks. My weight is up, but I've managed to follow through with a commitment to exercise. I'm doing a little body weight video five days/week, and I can just roll out of bed and get it done. :cool:

Over the last few weeks, I've been adding some walking, and tried biking to work (3 miles each way) a few times. I'm feeling out what I will actually do consistently. I don't think I will continue to commute by bike, but may work it in later on as just a general activity.

Next month, my husband wants to do a running group that we've done in years past. This is some motivation to keep up the walking so I don't kill myself with beginners running.

I came back to this thread to make a note of all the prep I did this weekend, and found this from my past self:

frowsyowl wrote:Even though I prepped a lot last weekend, it wasn't enough. Need to get myself all the way thought the week with enough calories and variety...and more simplicity even than I expected.


Well, I hope I accomplished this this weekend. Normally, I prep lunches and vegetables ahead of time, then cook dinners two-three times during the week. This time, I did a marathon prep of everything I thought we might eat. Hoping for fewer mid-week excuses, and less dishes for my DH! It was crazy fitting it all in the fridge in the hodge-podge of containers that we have. I didn't make specific meals, but made a bunch of things to mix-and-match.

I did make some exceptions to MWL in order to use up things in the cupboard, but the recipes are McD compliant and I will improve on it next week.

From this website, made:
Tex-mex burgers--interesting. Firm, but didn't brown much in the oven. I think I want more seasonings.
Vegetable Orzo--this is a hit with my husband. It might be a bit too tasty for me to be safe. Company might like it?
Basic Mexican Beans--subbed black beans. Haven't tasted this yet.
Asparagus Basil Soup--Nice. Used Italian seasoning instead of fresh basil. I may have added too much potato, it was a bit thick, but added more water when I was ready to eat. Also threw in some leftover cooked corn.
Lentil Soup--Heather McD's version. Also not tried yet.

Also in the fridge:
Brown Rice
Sweet and Plain baked potatoes
Chicken for my husband
Banana nut muffins for husband
Fruit
Salad
Cut Vegetables

Only thing not prepped ahead are frozen vegetables, but those are easy enough.

Using a habit tracker to check off the MWL checklist each night, but everything is already made...so it's a done deal, right? ;)
frowsyowl
 
Posts: 210
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2012 4:23 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby Ruff » Mon May 10, 2021 12:21 pm

wow, I'm impressed with your food prep....and also impressed with getting all that into the fridge!!

welcome back onto the wagon with the rest of us who seem to find balancing on it as we go over the humps tricky. :lol: We need to hang onto each other and keep each other aboard.
Katie

My testimonial. viewtopic.php?f=13&t=38433
User avatar
Ruff
 
Posts: 953
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 5:59 pm
Location: Christchurch, New Zealand.

Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Mon May 10, 2021 2:50 pm

Ruff wrote:wow, I'm impressed with your food prep....and also impressed with getting all that into the fridge!!

welcome back onto the wagon with the rest of us who seem to find balancing on it as we go over the humps tricky. :lol: We need to hang onto each other and keep each other aboard.


What a nice image! I will try not to peer to far over the side this time!

The exercise I've been doing the past month must have helped my endurance for standing in the kitchen--no back ache, but my feet hurt a bit. It went really well and all timed out with an hour to spare before our Mother's Day visit to my in-laws.
frowsyowl
 
Posts: 210
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2012 4:23 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Tue May 11, 2021 11:07 am

Looking at the past MWL threads for bits of wisdom. This snip from Wildgoose hit home :shock:

"Plan. Plan. Plan. Plan as though your life depended on it, because it does. Plan so MWL becomes easy, so you’re not so tired and fed up that you rebel and eat whatever you want. Plan so you’re not facing next January 1 with the same extra pounds, tight clothes and health issues that you faced at the beginning of this year."

I lost the page, so I can't reference it...it was this year, maybe February's thread.
___________________________________________________________________
Last night, DH tried the mexi-burgers and thought they were decent. Second day in a row that he's decided that this prep everything in advance method is awesome. Funny...It seems like it's making him consider and settle for foods he would be fussy about otherwise?

I had leftovers from my dinner for lunch today, and they tasted better than last night?
Asparagus soup, lentils over potatoes, cut veg, Jeff's hummus, fruit.
________________________________________________________________________

In his "whole" February thread, Landog mentioned "taco stuff": Cauliflower, corn, onions, seasonings. Sounds like it should be on our prep list next week. :unibrow:
______________________________________________________

We are winding down the school year at work. I'm hoping my health improvement program will help my focus and productivity. This whole year seems like a bit of a fog coming off of lock-down last year. Since there are things I only do once in a year and it's been two years since they've occurred with many changes in procedure--feels like I'm new in the job.

Some staff are leaving at the end of the year and a co-worker and I were planning on bringing treats. I just let her know that I would be bringing fruit.

Little victories, every day!
frowsyowl
 
Posts: 210
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2012 4:23 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Wed May 12, 2021 11:41 am

We might just get through all the food in the fridge! I can see the shelves again. Sometimes I look at the food and think it's going to be bland or unsatisfying. Then I eat, and everything is fine. :-D

I feel like I'm getting a summer cold/allergies...trying to drink as much as I can. For the previous few days, I was hardly thirsty at all.
frowsyowl
 
Posts: 210
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2012 4:23 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Thu May 13, 2021 8:22 am

Trying to be okay with eating whenever I'm hungry. Had a weird day yesterday. Couldn't finish lunch, ate other half at 3:00, dinner at 4:30, snack at 6:00, snack at 8:00. I felt like I was starting to hunt a bit, so I went to bed.

Forgot my fruit for lunch today, so I hope I have enough food with me. Sometimes there is fruit in the breakroom.

Husband and I went for a walk last night in a park near his childhood home. Nice change, did about 25 minutes--30 minutes?

"All of a sudden" I have nearly a week done! It seemed like I wouldn't make it, but I think I will. I've turned down chocolate and Scooter's coffee, took no detours to the convenience store, Walgreens or extra trips to the grocery! ....although frozen mangos would have hit the spot last night.
frowsyowl
 
Posts: 210
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2012 4:23 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: FrowsyOwl's Final Commitment

Postby frowsyowl » Fri May 14, 2021 8:05 am

Successful weigh in this morning. I hope it's an actual loss and that I didn't stand on the scale unevenly. ;)

Hoping to re-create the prep I did last week, but plugging in different options. Here is my draft:

Burgers; I want to make one of Jeff's burgers, with herbs--kind of like falafel.
Pasta: Make the Orzo* recipe with elbows instead, and leave out the nuts.
Bean Dish: White Beans Mexicali*...and add mushrooms?
Veg Soup: Repeat the asparagus soup (Hey, it's Spring).
Bean Soup: Bean and Corn Soup*
Brown Rice: Just plain again (Edit: using frozen rice this week).
Potatoes: Roasted or "Fries"
Fruit: Bananas, apples, oranges. Frozen Blueberries, Mango and maybe Peaches?
Salad: Boxed lettuce
Dressing: ? (Edit: Purchased non-fat, Dorothy Lynch--a bit sweet)
Raw Veg: Carrots, Celery, Cucumbers, Tomatoes.
Hummus: Jeff's hummus. (Edit: added swt potato instead of tahini).
Vegetable Dish: (Edit--will just use frozen veg or salad).
Options for Husband: He'll probably want the same...chicken and banana bread.

Starred recipes are from the website or app.

The lentil soup from last week was the least eaten so far. I don't think my husband tried the Basic beans either. I didn't see him eat dinner last night. I may have to make further adjustments to keep things interesting for him. I know he can make and find his own meals, but we've had an agreement since we were married, that we divide the chores...me being the "CEO" of dinner.
frowsyowl
 
Posts: 210
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2012 4:23 pm
Location: Nebraska

PreviousNext

Return to My Daily Menus & Journals

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests



Welcome!

Sign up to receive our regular articles, recipes, and news about upcoming events.