I made way too many starches last night for dinner so that my proportions were off. Vegan sloppy joes over a baked potato, baked french fries and a salad. It’s amazing how many potatoes you can down with homemade french fries. The result .. up .5 lb today and today is weigh in
Oh well. I’ve committed to do MWL for 12 weeks. 100% so that means no weekends off. Once I get to 135 I will allow myself some flour treats on the weekends (i.e. vegan pizza - my favorite). I don’t think I’ve had enough salad and raw veggies this week so I am going to work on that. I also have to work on my proportions of starches to veggies. I should stay in the 50/50 range but it’s been more like 1/3 lately. I’ve noticed my salads getting smaller and smaller. Remember the rule: at least 1 HUGE salad per day! I also must log my food in CROM-O-Meter before – not after — I eat.
Yesterdays menu (Thursday)
B: Green Smoothie
L: Garbanzo stew over baked potato + small salad
D: Vegan sloppy joes over baked potato, baked french fries (too many) + small salad. I was STUFFED after this meal and definitely overate.
Have a wonderful weekend! I’m actually leaving my house and going to look at some gardening supplies for my new garden.
On a side note, I’ve noticed that I am becoming a terrible hermit. I really don’t have any friends to speak of since I’m really not close to my sister anymore so I’ve just been hiding out at home. I am going to start forcing myself to leave the house on Fridays. I guess I should probably make some friends too huh?? Not sure how to do that at 41.
The last week of the month is always crazy busy with work so I haven’t posted much. McDougall is going well but my menu for this week sucked. I didn’t like a lot of the meals. I rushed making the menu so that probably had something to do with it. I am craving some bread though. My weight has alternated between 146.5 and 147.5 all week. I just want to hit 145 this week - before Saturday if possible!
I’m also in love with his wife for creating so many great recipes. I couldn’t have made it even this far without them! And that’s not really me — just having some fun online with effects
I am down to 146.5 in just a few days of doing the McDougall Maximum Weight Loss plan. I am over the moon excited. My weight has been stuck for the last 6 months and just wouldn’t budge. This is the lowest I’ve been since I was on Atkins (yuck). And the best part is I get to have rice and potatoes! I have still been drinking my wine also which is awesome. I am sticking to his rule of 50:50 ratio of green & yellow veggies to starch. My skin is finally looking better and my hair looks shinier.
My husband has lost 4 lbs doing this but he takes a cheat day every weekend so we’ll see how it goes. I’m also taking a semi-cheat day on Sunday. I’m going to allow myself to follow the original McDougall plan for 1 meal during the week. That plan allows for flour but flour is very, very calorie dense so it needs to be strictly monitored.
Wednesday: 1/20/2010 (weight is today’s weight)
1. Today’s Weight: 146.5
2. Energy Level: High and good mood
3. Breakfast: Green Smoothie
4. Lunch: Spinach & romaine salad with Mexican rice (McDougall recipe)
5. Dinner: Spinach Wild Rice (McDougall MWL book recipe) + salad with fat free balsalmic dressing
6. Exercise: Gaiam yoga club inversion lesson + yin yoga poses in the evening
7. Notes: I sprouted lentils for the first time and included those in our dinner. The meal was good but a bit strong because of all the spinach and lentils. I will probably have it again for dinner because there is an entire bag of spinach in the recipe.
Here’s how I learned how to sprout. Super easy and a small amount of lentils goes a long way once they are sprouted! 10x more vitamin C than the original lentil once they are sprouted!
I am becoming more and more convinced that this is the diet for me. I reread the book — much more slowly this time — and it is great! It’s all about calorie density! I believe when I tried this before my ratio of green/yellow veggies to starch was too low so I need to focus on that 50/50 split.
Another thing I must concentrate on is eating slower and chewing my food. I eat so damn fast.
I’m down 1.5 lbs since starting on Monday AND I don’t feel hungry or deprived at all.
Monday: 1/18/2010 (weight is today’s weight)
1. Today’s Weight: 148.5
2. Energy Level: Average. Worked then laid around with my husband since he was off yesterday.
3. Breakfast: Green Smoothie
4. Lunch: Spinach & romaine salad with Mexican rice (McDougall recipe)
5. Dinner: Tangy and Sweet Veggies over brown rice + salad with fat free balsalmic dressing
6. Exercise: none - lazy shit
7. Notes: Daughter went for a spa day with her friend and husband off so it definitely felt more like a weekend day.
I came across a very interesting forum thread on McDougall’s forum site regarding calorie density. Jeff Novick is very interesting to read. He explains things so that they are easy to understand. Nutritional studies are not the easiest thing for me to decode. This concept has completely changed the way I look at food and diet.
Ok — calorie density. There is no way I can explain it as good as Novick did so here is an excerpt. Read the entire thread when you have time. Emphasis added by me. (more…)
I am absolutely just stalled in losing this weight. I must lose at least 15 lbs. I think I’ve been guilty of ‘tweaking’ weight loss plans too much. It’s an easy trap to fall into when you have a family who would prefer not to go on my ‘diet of the day’. That said, my husband is terribly supportive of a healthy diet and he would like to lose some pounds himself so I am committing to faithfully following the McDougall plan with 1 exception — Saturdays I can have a regular vegan meal. Saturdays are our family ‘eat something good’ nights.
I am also taking a Fuhrman / Eat to Live spin and having more veggies. McDougall says in his book that for more aggressive weight loss, increase the green and yellow veggies so that they are half of the meal. “Salad is the main dish” will be my motto.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I’m back up to 151 today. Overslept this morning. Ugh I’ve just been off this week and its only the 2nd week in January. I will never meet my goal of 145 this month. I screwed up yesterday with whole wheat bread. I’m making little ’slips’ into dinner (i.e. adding olive oil to bread for garlic bread) and I had a slice of bread in the afternoon.
Today I’m going to work (I work from home part time) then I’m going to pour myself a glass of wine and cuddle up on the couch under my snuggie and finish reading Eat to Live. If anyone has any reviews or info on Dr. Fuhrman’s membership website please let me know. His book is so good that I am toying with the idea of joining.
Thursday: 1/13/2010 (weight is today’s weight)
1. Today’s Weight: 151
2. Energy Level: Pretty average but a bit more drained and quiet than normal
3. Breakfast: Green Smoothie
4. Lunch: Spinach & romaine salad with balsamic vinaigrette; snacked on piece of whole wheat (homemade) bread around 3p
5. Dinner: Crockpot Veggie Stew + whole wheat garlic bread — bad!!!
6. Exercise: Moon practice Gaiam Yoga club (menstration sequence)
7. Notes: I really think the moon practice helped with my period cramps and crabbiness. Must stay away from bread. I just can’t control myself around it at all!!
More on why Sarah Jessica Parker’s picture is here below …
Period started yesterday and I am absolutely dragging. I was in a complete fog all day yesterday and could barely keep my eyes open. I’m not sure why but as I’ve gotten older my periods have gotten stronger and more intense. Maybe it’s the IUD??
Anyway, finished day 3 of Eat to Live and day 13 of vegan!
Wednesday: 1/13/2010 (weight is today’s weight)
1. Today’s Weight: 149.5
2. Energy Level: Low low low. Tired, dragging, couldn’t keep eyes open or stay focused
3. Breakfast: Green Smoothie
4. Lunch: Spinach & romaine salad with balsamic vinaigrette
5. Dinner: Polenta with spicy ragu + salad
6. Exercise: None. Lucky to have made it downstairs to work
7. Notes: A bit crabby. Looked at hair pictures all day and I think I want to grow my hair out super long. Who cares that I’m 41 — look at Demi Moore, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Aniston — the list goes on and on. I love SJP’s hair and I have a long face too so I’m going for that. Just need to lose weight so my face thins out.
Yesterday was my second day of following the Eat to Live program. I also got my period so I wasn’t in the best place. Feel drained, tired, frustrated, lonely, ugly — typical for this time of the month. Today I don’t feel as though I have any energy what-so-ever.
Tuesday: 1/12/2010
1. Weight: 149 (-1.5)
2. Energy Level: Started out high then slowly dwindled throughout the day. Moody by the end of the day
3. Breakfast: Green Smoothie
4. Lunch: Spinach & romaine salad with balsamic vinaigrette
5. Dinner: French onion soup (vegan & fat free) + homemade whole wheat garlic bread (2 small slices) + salad
6. Exercise: Yoga in the AM. Gaiam yoga club video lessons (handstands)
7. Notes: As per above, beginning period and moody. Happy I finally went down some!
I am currently reading Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s Eat to Live. Excellent book and I highly recommend it. It really is a wealth of information regarding a healthy diet and the perils of the standard american diet (SAD). His main theory is that we just don’t eat enough produce, especially leafy greens. He recommends 2 HUGE salads a day and that the salad be the main dish of the meal. His plan is primarily vegan but does have a section for meat eaters.
After 10 days being vegan and not going down 1 lb I decided to try his plan yesterday and I’m down 1.5 lbs today! McDougall’s plan is starch based so you can have potatoes and such. Fuhrman limits starch to 1 cup a day.
He does limit fat to fat from plants but I must have a bit of homemade balsamic vinaigrette that has olive oil.
I am going to try to do this plan along with the 21 day Vegan Kickstart and document 7 points below.
