Active in April
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Hi Laura! Welcome to the group
So happy you found us and are okay with our approach. I belong to a facebook ETL group and find that they are really militant and so I never participate and don't really connect with the group at all. I love the group here too, everyone has good suggestions but there is no judgment (as you can see from our various confessions, lol). How is your first week going so far? And how are you feeling?
Mihani, awesome job with the smoothies!! It sounds like you've got a great thing going. It's so true - when I've had a great day, I don't want to blow it at night. For me, it's the lunch hour that is my problem. I am feeling pretty confident that I can do it today though! Yesterday made me feel sad and sick so I'm excited to show myself today. Like you mentioned, my feelings of confidence change weekly lol. But the weather does make such a difference! I feel like it's a universal "fat-layer-shedding" time of year.
I got home last night, did my workout, and had no sweets! Woohoo! I have my wedding dress fitting next Tuesday and I'm super scared/motivated...0 -
Good morning!
Mihani, I totally agree with you about taking away choices to make it easier AND with doing really well all day and then not wanting to blow it at supper. I'm really going to have to adopt your approach with the smoothies. It'll sure make meal prep a lot easier, too!! I find that with so much focus on exercise right now, I don't have a lot of energy left for anything else...
My knee is still swollen this morning, but it's improving; I had better range of motion this morning. So I've got my fingers crossed that I'll be okay for a small walk by Thursday - just 1km or so to see how it feels...
And I, too, feel a little tight in my clothes. It's DEFINITELY time to shed some weight and get sexy for summer.
So with all of that in mind (and not having had time this morning to do a smoothie), here's my plan for today. I'll start the smoothie attack tomorrow.
B: banana, orange, pear, cashews
L: OSG Tortilla Soup
S: Veggies and Hummus with guacamole on toast. yum!
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Hi Laura! Glad to have you.
This is just a quick fly-by-hi. I came home to check on mutts and get them out/fed and going back to the office to work for a few more hours. Woohoo! HA!0 -
Morning all! Looking forward to an excellent day today. Food all packed and ready. Hoping to keep dinner on track tonight instead of bombing out again. Dinner is always my struggle. DH likes to eat out frequently and I often times go along. Mostly just because I am tired and done with the day. (I work FT, have three very active kiddos and am working on my MBA on nights and weekends.) I will be looking at creating some easy and fast dinners for next week to ensure success for sure!
Liapr - kind of been an up and down week. First day went ok. I felt pretty full most of the day, got home and tanked out. This is a trend with me that I would like to figure out how to fix. The second day was a bit of a nightmare. Trying to focus on progress not perfection. I am still trying to get in the habit of consistently logging my food as well.
What's her name - hope your knee feels better soon. Several years ago I fell full force on both my knees and really messed up my right one. I am always battling aching, swelling and limited range due to tightness. I really enjoyed running before the injury, but, could not get back to it after the injury. Right now walking at a slow pace for an hour and biking during the spring and summer is about all I can do. The walking still leaves it stiff. The biking however is great as it doesn't bother my knee at all and gives me that freeing feeling I used to get when running.
Mihani - thanks and nice to "meet" you. What kind of dogs do you have? I have a 10 year old yellow lab and a 5 year old Maltese. We have two cats as well. Big animal lover!
Ok folks. Gotta get to work. Have great days.0 -
Hi guys...quickie here...then I have to do another section of a paper, boo hiss!
We just returned from vacation in Costa Rica! We were on the Pacific side, so volcanic beach...gorgeous, did a couple of runs there, getting up before the family moved too much,lol! We were really impressed with the country, my hubby and I will plan a return trip at some point. I really recommend it for anyone but especially those who like active vacations-we did two rainforest hikes, boating, rafting...all sorts of stuff. A trip up to Nicaragua, the border was a little...weird. Anyway, we would likely base ourselves differently next time, a couple of the drives were a little long and not the way I like to spend vacation. The snorkeling was cool, but Pacific and not Caribbean, so a different experience, and a little rowdier, lol!
We did see a sloth in the rainforest, lol!
Inspired by their cooking, yesterday I made a rice cooker full of brown rice and a slow cooker full of black beans, made freezer containers of each but also did rice and beans for dinner, with sliced oranges on the side. Did meat optional for hubby and carnivorous stepdaughter. Delicious, and now I have it set up in the freezer to have anytime!
Before we left I had made veggie burgers that I took to work-had many requests for the recipe, which I forgot to leave with them. Anyway, it wasn't so much a recipe as it was a "base concept" that I got from nomeatathlete.com, A great site.
Anyway...I did a little catch up reading on everybody...mihani is still overworked :-), whats_her_name is running like the wind, and lia is working hard and having more success than she thought :-)
A word about the militant groups on FB...I had been following Dr. F's FB at one time, there were some folks who defined the word obsessed...anyway, they certainly didn't like it when they tried to make the claim that eating ETL would negate all cancer risk, blah blah blah. They didn't like it much when I posted that my cancer would have started growing when I was at my peak of following ETL. They worked VERY HARD to try to blame me and say I just wasn't doing it right. LOL. Now, I never blamed ETL, or thought it failed, or anything, just pointed out that there are no guarantees...they didn't like that much, and that was the end of me following that page.0 -
Geez. I'm all for jumping on a bandwagon, but WHY do people have to be so stubborn sometimes!! Diet is just ONE factor of a disease that is still not completely understood. I wouldn't have lasted too long in any group like that either...
Today's workout was back and shoulders. Man, I hate shoulders!! I am just so weak there and even just a 5lb weight is such a struggle. It's stupid, and makes me feel like an idiot. Had to adapt the "finisher" again because I still can't bend my knee all the way up. But this time she had me doing something that was equally difficult; 50 "ball pounds" (bouncing a 10lb medicine ball as high as we can) and 70 sit ups with my legs in the air (had to reach all the way to my feet). I was glad when that was over!!
My knee is feeling a bit better every day. Still not 100%, but the swelling is almost gone, and I can walk UP the stairs no pretty normally. Down is another story - that'll take a couple more days... I've decided that I'll take tomorrow off too, and then instead of going to leg day on Friday, I'll still get up, but I'll go for an easy 2km walk. Just a nice slow pace to get moving, while still taking it easy on my knee. I might go buy myself a knee tensor to give myself some extra support there - does anyone else use one? I've never bought one before, I'm concerned about it being too tight, or about not being able to phase it out when my knee is back to normal. Any thoughts??
With the kids' activities and homework last night, I didn't get a chance to get groceries, so no smoothies for me today. I should be able to start tomorrow, though.
B: peanut butter toast, pineapple
L: OSG Tortilla Soup
S: big salad - maybe a taco salad??0 -
Karrie, shoulders are the worst!!!! My old PT said a lot of women have trouble with shoulders lol. But I do try and face them, because it would be nice to have nice shoulders someday. Good for you to actually listening to your body and not pushing it. I think that's harder than it sounds sometimes.
Laura, great job getting up after the falls though, that's as good as you can hope I think! I stressed myself out so much my first month by over-preparing food and I burnt out! Now I do a mega prep on Sundays (just getting lettuce washed and cut, making a soup or two, making rice, etc) and then when I need mid-week meals, I pretty much roast veggies or eat a salad. It's probably a bit overly simple but it works! Ps I think there's a lot of animal lovers here!
Mihani, 14 hours in the office is nutso! that's awful. Do you feel relieved that mini-hell is over for you? Hope you're doing okay today (and maybe slept in a bit...)
Jean, yay welcome back! You were missed. Your trip sounds lovely. I am actually just debating whether I should try snorkeling for the first time in Hawaii.. I'm such a baby. Is it tough to learn? Will I get eaten by large fish? Haha. By the way, I can't believe they jumped all over you re cancer story!! Although I really can believe that.. it's sort of awful and annoying, and I think pushes a lot of people away because it's so inaccessible. I'm not sure if any of you follow Fat Free Vegan, but she had a similar story... vegan and pb for years, and lo and behold, got breast cancer anyway, which she says on her blog made her feel incredulous, but obviously it happens!
Hope everyone is having a good Wednesday
B - peanut butter toast (like Karrie), orange
L - garden medley stew from "how it all vegan" - just got this handed down to me - anyone else try it?
S - apple
D - rice with tomato, red onion, cilantro, bean beans, avocado (also from HIAV).0 -
The 15th is over… woohoo! Time to catch up here.
Laura, we are very open minded in this group. We support each other, and I think for most of us we are or strive to be “mostly” ETL and plant-based, but also acknowledge the real world exists with temptations like wine and chocolate and holidays. I am vegan, was vegan before I discovered ETL, so that part of it was easy for me. But I still struggle every day to keep my calories under control, to avoid having more than one glass of wine on the weekends, and to get my regular exercise in. I mostly blame work for my struggles, I work a lot, but I keep trying to do better at putting my own health and sanity higher on my list of priorities. I have 2 dogs, a female shepherd who is getting up there at 13, and a crazy boy lab mix who is about 7 now I think. I also have 2 cats who are about 13 or 14 now. I agree that we’re pretty wonderful here in the ETL group lol. Seriously though, the people in this group keep me grounded. Maybe I haven’t reached my goal or lost much in the past couple years, but I haven’t gained back the 70 pounds I lost and this group has a lot to do with that success. It sounds like you are a very busy woman yourself, what are you studying?
Lia the fitting next week!! It’s amazing how fast time flies. I slept in until 5:30 this morning. I read Susan’s story at Fat Free Vegan too. I appreciate her site so much, she has a such a positive outlook about things. And the recipes are awesome. I had to laugh (totally in a me too way) at your comment that yesterday made you feel sad and sick. Been there done that! Remember the kid in the Little Rascals who would shake his head and say “they never learn”… that’s us!
Karrie, glad to hear the knee continues to improve. I have weak shoulders too. I think it’s just normal if we don’t work hard at it. I carry so much tension in my neck and shoulders that I really need to be aware of it and work harder at strengthening those muscles. Isn’t it said we carry the weight of the world on our shoulders? No wonder they are tired!
Jean’s back yay! We had a sloth sighting here too haha! The trip sounds wonderful, glad you had a good time. That is really rotten you had such a bad experience with the FB ETL group though. Glad you’re one of us now. I certainly stand on the fact that no matter that I haven’t lost this last 20 or 25 pounds, I am one heck of a lot healthier than I was 70 pounds ago and being more aware of the concept of nutritional excellence.
I’m going to hit the couch and chill the rest of the evening. Tomorrow is back to the regularly scheduled insanity of work and deadlines, but without the added pressure of the tax deadlines. My goal is a long weekend very very soon. I need to get some things done around here, my house is an utter disaster.
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Morning all. Was a bit of a challenging day yesterday. My DH was in India last week on business, came home last Saturday and now has a really terrible sounding cold. I feel so bad for him. He is usually the one that can avoid this stuff. With him down for the count last night that left me running the kiddos to extra-curricular activities which did not bode well in the food department. Dinner time is definitely my nemesis right now. Last night DH ordered pizza and by the time I got home it was just way too tempting. I will eventually get that part of the day under control. Right now my day time hours seem to be going great:
B-oatmeal with almonds and blueberries
L-large spinach salad with lots of veggies, some kind of bean, melon chunks and vinegar dressing
S-apple
I have been really surprised just how full I feel on all this! I think next week I will work on a few more things for lunch. Salad every day for lunch isn’t going to hold my interest for long! All this talk about peanut butter toast and I may just have to have that tomorrow for breakfast!
Liapr – I like your idea of doing a big prep on Sunday and I really like to keep things simple! If it is too complicated it just isn’t going to happen. I will have to start making a plan so I know what I need to be doing on the weekend. I am a huge soup/stew fan, so, that is really appealing as a lunch item. There are days when I really want to EAT something and have it be warm and filling. I want to start focusing on that and have some go-to things made and in the fridge to help me on the pizza nights my husband loves so much.
Mihani – it is so refreshing to hear the group is so normal!! Good to know that others too struggle. Sometimes I get caught up in perfectionism, so, hearing that others struggle is a really good reminder for me. I am currently pursuing my MBA with a specialization in accounting. I am still on the fence if I am going to finish it or just take a couple more classes and stop. I have been an accountant for the last 15 years and was thinking of pursuing my CPA, however, I live in a state that has a rule that I have to have 150 credit hours in order to sit for the exam. I was 15 credits shy. So, off to school I went. I am still on the fence if I want to pursue my CPA, but, would like to have that option at least. Accounting was never something I wanted to do – it was more of the opportunity that presented itself and gave me a career. It makes it hard to decide to do something when you aren’t sure if you want to do it for the rest of your life. Makes it even harder that I am a people pleaser and having my parents there cheering me on, nudging me along and just kind of expecting I will do this is making my internal struggle even worse. (Sorry, that wound up being a pretty big tangent!) In the end I do enjoy learning and don’t really know what I want to be when I “grow up” so, here I am!
Jean – nice to “meet” you. Your vacation sounds AMAZING! I have heard Costa Rica is absolutely beautiful. Your input on the militant groups was interesting. I can only imagine how getting cancer while doing ETL threw them for a loop. My middle sister was diagnosed with breast cancer at 28. No family history of cancer at all. Totally out of the blue. She will be a 6 year survivor this year. And, it is one of the reasons I really want to change my lifestyle. I know it isn’t any guarantee, but, I know carrying around so much extra weight is increasing my risks for sure. I know my weight should be a primary factor to focus on. It drives me absolutely crazy when people say stuff about cancer especially when it is critical things and they act like “know it all’s” when many of them have never had to any experience with cancer. It is just one of those things that if its gonna happen, its gonna happen. It does not discriminate. Very healthy people get it as do very unhealthy people. Anyhow…I am looking forward to getting to know you.
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Well I'm a 42 year old computer programmer, and I STILL don't know what I want to do when I grow up - but I know it's NOT computer programming!!! I have fluttered around between dreams, but I've pretty much always wanted to own my own little craft shop. Knitting, sewing, scrapbooking, or maybe all 3!!
That would be how I'd want to spend my whole day - making things with my hands, and helping other people make things too. But it's "too risky" and I guess I'm just too afraid of leaving my guaranteed income for the unknown... Responsibility SUX!
Plus, now I have to save for a vacation to Costa Rica, so there's that, too. (seriously - because it sounds amazing!!)
So today is day #1 of smoothie day à la Mihani!! Just finished my bfast, and I've got another one in the fridge for lunch...
Today's smoothie: banana, spinach, coconut water, mango and hemp seeds.
Looking forward to seeing if this will hold me over until supper!!
Going to the mall with my daughter tonight, so I'm going to eat at the japanese place - steamed rice and a veggie stirfry with extra mushrooms. REALLY looking forward to it!!
My knee is doing better again. I am ALMOST walking normally down the stairs. Still a little stiff, but improving every day. I'm skipping out on leg day tomorrow because I'm no dummy, but I think I'll get up anyway, and go for a leisurely walk. I'm taking today off because I am not as healed up as I had hoped to be by now, unfortunately. But these things take time, and I'm listening to my body. Which is another reason it's extra important for me to get the food back in control!!
I wish you all a wonderful day!!0 -
Yay, so nice to read everyone's updates. Everyone sounds like they're having a decent week.
Mihani, you may have started something with these smoothies!! What is your absolute favourite? Do you find the veg protein powder helps? Maybe I will try that tomorrow. I feel like I'm sick of everything right now, maybe a smoothie bfast/lunch would be fun for something interesting. How did you find it, Karrie?
Mihani, I totally lol'd about the Rascals image, that is us!! And I can only wonder if I will ever get better lol. Really glad you got a relaxed night!
Karrie, happy the knee is on the mend!! I hate when stuff like that happens. Your smoothie sounds yummy... I think I'll try that one. How was the japanese dinner?
Laura, nice to know more about you!! I'm a relatively new lawyer (3 years) and working with my father, which has been so helpful. But I think 3 times a week minimum, I tell him "Why am I doing this? Why do people become lawyers? I want to do anything but this now please". He tells me he and another lawyer questioned themselves every day for the first ten years, lol, how depressing. I guess it's easy to settle into something once you're in a groove and it's something you're good at!! My dream job would be to have my own little hobby farm with various animals, which would preferably sustain itself by having school groups come through for visits!! Haha. Emphasis on the "dream" part. Ps peanut butter on toast is too delicious! I had it again today and actually whined that I didn't have any more to eat lol. That's the dangerous part I guess.
So I survived lunch time today!! Woohoo!! For those of you who don't know, I go home to my parents' for lunch every day as their house is very close walking distance from the office and my pup stays home with my mom all day.It's the perfect arrangement, BUT for the junk food there. So lunches are always my hardest. I pack my healthy lunch, and when it's done, I go to see what else they have. But today I actually stopped myself and didn't have any!! I feel like this is the lamest-sounding victory but it's still a victory for me.
Sorry for the long-windedness. Happy Thursday to everyone!0 -
I was just checking in to say that the smoothie really worked. I didn't experience any hunger at all. I didn't even have my lunch smoothie because I was hungry; I went ahead and drank it because my lunch break was almost over... So I think it's a success for the smoothies!!
REALLY looking forward to my supper tonight....
Yum!! 0 -
Skipped my morning workout - it was leg day and I know my legs aren't ready for 100+ squats / lunges / box jumps or whatever it was that she had in store for us today. Went to the mall last night and shopped for about 2 hours with my daughter, so I think the leisurely walking thing was covered there. I'm going to take tonight off and then go for a bit of a brisk walk tomorrow on the treadmill. Maybe around 3.5 mph. See how it goes.
There is still a tiny bit of swelling, and I can feel how stiff it still is when I bend my knees and when I go down stairs, but I was able to sit cross-legged last night, and I'm walking down stairs normally now - not just taking it one stair at a time. So I think I'm about 80-90% now...
On the flipside of that, my chest/arms/shoulders and back are all very sore from the Monday and Wednesday workouts. I added quite a bit of weight this week (week 7), and I sure can tell!!!0 -
Awesome about the weight progress, Karrie!! Such a feeling of accomplishment. Sounds like you're doing great. Glad the knee is better!
I went shopping a bit too. I started worrying about clothes for the summer and a I have a ton of showers and weddings so I treated myself to a long floral chiffon dress that I can use for a shower and wedding in the next month and a light summer dress. Made me feel quite a bit better about my body too, much less negativity! Woohoo.
I had a giant coffee this morning for a treat, bigger than I normally have, and I always think I'm impervious to caffeine, but NOPE! I am going crazy I'm so hyper, which is not good in an office! Haha. Also I think the fact that its 17 degrees (C) and sunny and a Friday makes me feel like I have summer on the brain. Even getting a mani and pedi after work today! Happy Weekend guys! xo
B - Smoothie with berries, vanilla protein, coffee
L - Lentils & rice; big fruit salad
D - roasted potatoes, spinach salad
PS Karrie and Mihani, do you guys find you're starving for dinner? I might try this experiment on Monday!!0 -
Hi everyone, I go by Zoot or Zooty on MFP.
First of all, fair warning: I am almost 75% Irish so I am loquacious by nature . I joined the group last week but have been busy ferrying aging parents around (I am a sandwich generation member) and I also daily run a group here on MFP called the Over 50 Women's Club which is for any woman who is near or over the age of 50. Purpose is support, laughter and no particular eating style plus is a no-bash safe zone for women at this life stage to discuss life. If any are interested, just pm me for an invite as we are a closed group. Our mascot is Maxine so you get the idea, lol.
Onward! I am a type 2 diabetic who has always had weight issues commencing at puberty. I am now a vibrant 52 year old mom, wife, daughter, etc... who was anything but vibrant a year and a half ago. I spent my days in bed unable to plan anything or work, zero energy, on meds, health heading downhill. I went to the endo at the end of 2013 and he wanted to give me Victoza on top of my years worth of metformin. I had spent 2013 eating all whole grains (in lieu of processed grains) and I had the highest HbA1c reading ever in my life. I got very angry because I was trying hard to be healthy and here he wanted to throw a potentially pancreatic cancer causing drug my way because I was deteriorating and that motivated me to change. I just knew that there was a better answer and I was right.
As a result of my angry self-righteous bender, I started researching (I still do it daily) and in mid-January 2014 I began a VLC protocol (20 per day) per Dr. Bernstein and I tested every single food against my meter. I found out immediately that I am very highly carb sensitive (bye bye oatmeal) so I have had to ditch all grains and 99% of cow dairy (proteins). I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis in 2014 due to gluten sensitivity which also messes with my glucose. That resolved my IBS, GERD, lactose intolerance, lowered my blood glucose and helped my thyroid plus I shed 32 lbs quickly then things stalled... but that is my contrary little body.
I have researched and read all of the various protocols out there over the last 16 months from LCHF to Paleo/Primal to Gluten-free to ETL and everything in between and very early I concluded that the ADA and my doctors had everything all backwards. Clearly my own body was telling me this once I listened. My dad and brother are also type 2 (very strong on my dad's side) and are on various meds. My 86 year old dad has many of the typical serious diabetic complications and I was on that path but no more. I came off my meds quickly after making the initial changes and I had my 1-year no-med anniversary in March-yay!
So, what am I doing here you wonder? Despite fantastic results on other protocols, things are still not good enough for me and I am pursuing better results doggedly. My glucose is still not where I want it to be and I have more fat to shed. My most recent research has been a plant foundation diet (what I have always wanted) and that brought me to ETL. I have always wanted to treat meat as a condiment (but DH grew up raising beef cattle and I grew up eating them) and ETL resonates with me very strongly because I have always been a huge veggie lover (I crave them if I don't get them) but I do enjoy meat/fish so I don't know if I would ever want to ever be100% vegetarian; I simply don't know at this point. Nutritarian is right up my alley, however. I didn't think that I would ever give up grains (I was a huge bread lover) but I don't miss them at all now and I use nut meal or coconut flour for any baking. Gluten-free flour items are also out for me due to the carb load and the resulting glucose spikes.
I transitioned our household to 100% whole food (low carb Primal type protocol), mostly organic and grass-fed/ pastured food products over 2014 and I buy less than 1% processed foods (condiments mostly) but there are improvements that need to happen in terms of my glucose control and fat loss so I continue to tweak. I have dropped from a size 16 to a 12 in the last 6 months despite no further pounds lost (I started as a size 18 in January 2014) and an XL/XXL shirt fell to a Medium so things are still changing, albeit slowly. I think that I just need to find my correct plant to other food ratio.
I was already consuming 35-50% plant foods (99% LC veggies) on a daily basis (greens first, other veggies second, minimal berries) but I am now transitioning to a 80-90% plant based diet to see how it works for my body. I will soon experiment with adding beans back into my diet to determine if my glucose can tolerate them now. I know that I will see some elevations in my glucose at first (1/4 cup blueberries bumped my glucose this morning) but I am hoping that things will level out after an adjustment period because this is the plan I want to follow for life. I am still working out the kinks but wanted to pop in to say "Hi!" and if you have any advice, please pass it on. I plan to read your previous forum posts over the next several days to come up to speed.
Hugs!
Zooty
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Laura, the daytime hours always are easier for me too. It is really amazing how full you get when you are eating so much nutrient dense food. I eat a lot of soups and stews. I live alone so I make huge batches of things on weekends sometimes and then freeze in containers of one or two servings. It greatly simplifies my life. I make a note if something doesn’t freeze well. Some things just don’t taste as good after freezing. I sometimes dream of a new career in a few years. I don’t think I want to spend my 60’s as stressed and frazzled as I am now. So I have quite a few years to think about it. Hope your hubby is feeling better.
Karrie glad your knee continues to improve. I think you are wise to take it easy and make sure you heal. I usually find if I push too hard through an injury I regret it. It is weird how much smoothies can fill you up isn’t it? You are killing those workouts! The craft/hobby shop sounds absolutely perfect for you. I am seriously jealous of your talent in that regard. I never could sew much although I bought a sewing machine years ago and I tried hard to learn. And crochet annoys me. I did learn to knit, but only a straight stitch. When I try to do anything fancy with the knitting it just makes me tense. I can’t paint (pictures or walls, I just make a mess) or draw. It used to depress me, but now I just figure we can’t all be good at everything, and I probably have some talents that maybe other people wish they had. I’m not sure what those would be, but it is comforting to think I might lol.
Lia, I keep my smoothies pretty simple. For 2 servings I use 1/2 cup of frozen fruit, 1 tbsp chia seeds, 1 tbsp ground flax seeds, 2 scoops of plant protein powder, a few handfuls of greens, and water. So the only things that really change are the type of fruit and greens. If I don’t use the protein powder I sometimes add dates or almonds to give it a flavor boost. As to working in the legal profession, I was convinced for the first 10 or 15 years that I wasn’t going to do it. I had a chance 15 years ago to do something else, but I realized that this is what I’m good at. I’m not a lawyer, but I have a boss who relies heavily on me and I get to do a lot, but sometimes the pressure is too much. We totally have the same dream jobs though. Except as I’ve gotten older I am not as into the hobby farm idea, unless I had a hunky farmhand to do the heavy lifting lol. I would love to have a little independent bookstore coffee house sort of place. That is way cute that your mom provides doggy daycare for your baby. Hope you enjoy your mani/pedi! (edited to add... I actually find I'm less hungry when I get home when I stick to smoothies. I really can't figure out why that is.)
Hiya Zoot! Glad to have you here. I have some Irish on my mother’s side. Wow, you really had some obstacles to overcome with your health and weight loss, soooo awesome you were able to improve your health with food rather than meds. I am not anti-med, it is absolutely necessary in some cases, but so many people I know take all kinds of drugs and do nothing at all to change their lifestyle or avoid the things that cause problems. I love that you are experimenting and learning as you go. Most of us here do the same. ETL is my basis, but I am always mixing things up. Honestly I love my starches and they are not good for my weight loss efforts, so that is my biggest struggle.
As for me, today was okay, another stressful crazy day. I plan on putting in pretty full days at the office Sat. and Sun. I feel like now that the taxes are over I should be able to start getting on top of things. I did dig into the snack cabinet. Arrrggghhhh! I know it was just because I was over-tired. But it wasn’t that bad, some tortilla chips and some almonds and a luna bar. I’ll just have salad for dinner and it should even out.
Anybody have exciting plans for the weekend? I am going to stop and visit some friends on my way home from the office tomorrow, but other than that it is all work and no play for me.0 -
Welcome, Zooty!! Nice to have you around here Awesome and huge congrats on the 1-year anniversary! No meds must feel wonderful. It definitely took me a long time and I'm obviously still not there (read: chocolate addict) but I feel like I'm getting better all the time I think.
Funny that you mention cravings.... last night was the first Friday night in as far as I know that I came home craving a spinach salad!! WHAT?! I had a simple spinach salad and green smoothie. So funny. I really like when that happens!
Mihani, I hope you aren't stuck in there all day today. I don't know about you but the weather is lovely today! Hopefully you get some time out there with the pups. That is really interesting and great news about the smoothies and that they keep you full. I will definitely try it out!0 -
Welcome Zooty!! You are going to be a huge inspiration around here - I can tell that already!! You are amazing - I loved reading your story!! So glad you found us!! I really look forward to hearing about your experience with a plant-based diet and good luck with adding beans (I really love my beans - salads, chilis, hummus - I could not give them up!!)
I agree with Mihani - I was less hungry when I got home after drinking 2 green smoothies for the day (and I also had my serving of nuts for my afternoon snack). I think it may just be the way to go for me for the next little while, at least!!
Alright, I've gotta get to work; I have a little website to update for a friend before I can get back to my knitting.
Have a great weekend everyone!!0 -
Lia, spinach salad sounds really good. It was beautiful here today. I didn't go in extra early, ran a couple errands on the way in so didn't get started until about 10:00, but stayed until 6:00. Sigh. But I got a lot done, and at least I have a window in my office.
Karrie, I have been eating fruit and sometimes some nuts in addition to my smoothie at lunch. I forgot about that. I just have the smoothie for breakfast, but I will munch on fruit and cut up veggies during the day if I get hungry.
I brushed about 50 pounds of hair out of the shepherd last night. I just let it fly around for the birds to line their nests with, but they could build an entire apartment complex with what I left on the patio.
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Thank you for the warm welcome ! I had a green smoothie for lunch yesterday (I made too much again and ended up filling my small quart vitamix container but I drank it all) . I was buzzing with energy afterwards so that was a "good one". I didn't check my sugars afterwards (I forgot) but I walked 4.5 miles yesterday and that made me happy . Dr. Fuhrman says that you start to crave those micronutrients after awhile so I am chalking up the veggie cravings to that since it makes sense. I do find that I am squarely in the camp of adaptable taste buds, too.
Mihani, your comment about the dog hair made me think back to a few of ours and very similar experiences. I would brush out our Chowlamute (Chow Chow/Malamute mix) and get two paper grocery bags full after compaction and she was only 45 lbs. We had so much hair that the birds were politely asking us to stop leaving it out for them or they would have to start knitting scarves for gifts, lol. We had German Shepherds over the years as well, is that what you have or is it something like an Australian Shepherd?0
