Weight change +/- in lbs: -3.8
1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.----I did pretty good, but not as good as last week.
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.----I do this (50/50) for just about every meal. Since I started 7/13, I have not had any fruit for dessert except for 1 time this week as the dessert for my dad's birthday: organic red grapes.
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.----100% compliant
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).----100% compliant
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).----100% compliant except for on my dad's birthday I had 4 slices of vegan, no oil added "ham" = 1 serving. It was primarily made from vital wheat gluten, so at least it was low fat or no fat since there supposedly was no added oil per the label.
6. Eliminate any added oil.----100% compliant
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.---Did fine except for 1+1/2 rice cakes when was away from home + was "starving" + had 2 slices of no oil, NSA whole wheat bread on the outside of the 4 slices of "ham" to make a sandwich.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).----100% compliant
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.----One time over-ate. Strange but true, I was laying on the sofa on my side to alleviate the pain in my leg/hip + was eating a bowl of sweet corn (1 meal not 50/50.). Didn't realize until I was vertical just how over full I was! Yuk! I learned valuable lessons: 1-- to start with less + 2--just how filling starch is, which is a wonderful thing, a big blessing!
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).----Still haven't been able to actually exercise, but I finally did some more movement because I just had to get some things done. On the right trajectory with healing, thank God, + hopeful it'll continue. One day I overdid it, though, + paid for it the next day because the pain was worse.
Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
--Due to continued pain, I still found it hard to do regular food prep. With that I'll be able to do #1 a lot more easily. I finally was able to use the Instant Pot Mini (3qt.). It is so much easier to handle--carrying the inner pot with food + to hand wash (I'm the dishwasher--lol!) than if I tried to cook on the stove or use the 6qt. IP.
--I know I went off MWL with the 1 "ham" sandwich, but I feel good that it did not derail me in any way. I did have some very valid concerns that having this "treat" could cause me problems, but the "ham" not having any oil really helped my mindset. I consider this a
real victory!