August ETL
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Well, I'm one step closer to staying in California! I got up early today and went to do the biometrics part of my green card application. I really really don't want to get sent back to the land of ice and snow in 2 years, lol!
I've been drifting off the ETL over the last couple of days, so I decided to spend some time today reading the report I downloaded a few months ago from the World Cancer Research Fund on diet and activity recommendations for cancer prevention. I'm still not far in (it's 500+ pages), but based on the summary chapter, it looks like they believe that cancer rates can be reduced 30-40% by correct diet and exercise, and their guidelines seem to be pretty congruent with ETL (though they don't go as far in most instances - it is a public policy paper so they have to temper it somewhat to be palatable and achievable for everyone). Maybe it will give me the incentive to eat my broccoli and skip the Luna bars in future
Sloth, I am kind of with you as far as not necessarily being as interested in why I do something as just figuring out how to stop. I think trying to figure out the origins and whys and wherefores of a problem can just make it seem more real to the subconscious and can actually perpetuate the behaviour. Obviously this doesn't apply to everything, but I have found it works for me in terms of behaviour modification. Going in with an open mind and not making assumptions about "what I do", "what's wrong with me" or "the kind of person I am" puts a lot less pressure on me, while at the same time not giving me reasons to just give in and then see that as proof that I was right in the first place. (Not sure if any of this makes sense, lol)
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Lia, glad you’ve had a good week. This is definitely the best streak I’ve had in a long long long time. And work is still crazy, nothing external has changed, I just got it in my head I was going to do it and for whatever reason I am doing it this time. No idea why it’s different, other than I’m not really thinking about it that much. I just eat my ETL meals, and I'm keeping things as simple as possible. Not snacking I think is a huge thing for me. Allowing snacks gives me extra calories I don’t need, and I don’t make the best choices.
Peas, I love Luna bars, they are delicious little calorie bombs with lots of vitamins and minerals added to make you feel virtuous when you eat them lol. I like your thoughts on not making assumptions about anything so that you are going into it with a clear mind.
I try to figure out the whys sometimes. Thing is, when I’m in the overeating mode it doesn’t really matter what my feelings are at any given time, I’m just on a roll with overeating and I can’t seem to stop the runaway train. Lately I am of the firm belief that the work stress and unhappiness with the situation there got me started, and it was a total comfort food spree I was on there for many many months. Lots of bread and pasta and vegan ice cream, and wine. When I realized I was only a couple pounds shy of being up 20 pounds it finally hit me just how far I’d let it go and I figured if I didn’t nip it in the bud I’d be sunk. And gaining weight certainly wasn’t making anything better for me, it was just making me feel bad about myself on top of the situation.
Today marks the end of week 2, one more week I’ll be halfway through. I see no reason to not finish out the 6 weeks now. I needed to have some success though, getting through the first week was clearing a huge mental hurdle for me. I haven’t seemed to be able to stick with it more than a few days in a row in so long. I was on track just enough of the time that I didn’t gain 40 pounds rather than 20 lol.
The other thing that is different this time is I’m not focusing on how much weight I lose, but just on getting through the 6 week plan. I haven’t put much thought into what I plan to do at the end of 6 weeks. I think probably continue but allow myself one freebie night per week so I can indulge a little, have some wine and maybe some pasta or whatever, but the rest of the week keep doing the same as the 6 week plan. Not sure yet though. Still 4 weeks to go before I have to worry about the next phase.
I did sneak a peek at the scale on Wednesday and was a bit disappointed to see that I had lost a total of zero pounds. Not a single ounce in fact. Exact same weight I was when I weighed in the Saturday before. But now I’m kind of glad that I did that, because I’m prepared for the scale to be the same tomorrow when I “officially” weigh myself. I keep reminding myself over and over of Dr. F’s advice… focus on your actions, the results will follow. If I have no loss this week so be it. All I can do is keep doing what I’m doing and wait for the scale to catch up with my efforts.
I’m also trying to focus on the health benefits and how I feel day to day. I definitely feel a lot better than I have for quite a while.
So, on to week 3!
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I think I've heard a few of you say something like this....
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The official weigh-in today, down .4 ... less than a pound for the week. I am not having much reaction to that which is good. I was somewhat prepared already of course since I took that peek on Wednesday. I'm a little disappointed, but nothing to be done about it. I did put some thought last night into what did I do differently this week than the first week. I know the first week is going to show a bigger loss because of water and all that, but still, having such a small loss the second week (as opposed to the 4th or 5th week) makes me want to take a look at what I'm doing.
The only thing I did differently was I was eating a slice of sprouted grain bread at dinner most evenings. I don't know how that can make a huge difference, but in the ETL book it says that those who have trouble losing weight no matter what they do may want to avoid grains and starchy veggies altogether during the 6 week plan. I'm not sure the bread was a factor, but I'm going to eliminate it this week and see what happens. I can go 4 weeks without breads or grains, although I will allow some starchy veggies since there are potatoes or sweet potatoes in a lot of my soups that I froze.
I'm heading to the office. Things are just piling up at an alarming rate. I'm getting so much new stuff thrown at me all of a sudden, a bunch of new clients. It's good we're doing so well, but I can't possibly keep up. I'm just trying to tread water.0 -
I wasn't quite 100% ETL today, but an extra serving of starch and less than 1/2 a tsp of earth balance is not going to make or break me I don't think. I was super hungry since I skipped breakfast and took an early morning walk, so about 11:00 I made a tofu scramble with lots of veggies, and had two slices of sprouted grain toast with a tiny bit (less than 1/2 a tsp) of earth balance. Back to 100% ETL tomorrow.
Dinner was a lentil stew/soup that has been developing in my brain for a couple weeks and I finally got around to creating it. I wanted something that would incorporate the greens, beans, onions and mushrooms part of the GBOMBS. I water sauteed a diced onion, some garlic, and an 8 oz. package of mushrooms (diced), seasoned with black pepper, then threw that in the crockpot with 1 lb brown lentils, 8 cups veggie broth, 4 cups of chopped kale, with somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 tsp each of cumin, coriander, rosemary, thyme, and liquid smoke. I rarely measure spices so it's hard to say. Simmered in the crockpot on low for about 7 hours. It is really good. I'm going to experiment with making some other GBOMBS stews, changing up what greens, beans and spices I use. I've got another one in mind with cannellini beans, spinach, mushrooms, zucchini, diced tomatoes and italian seasonings.
I best get some more work done before bedtime, brought work home but spent most of the day actively avoiding doing any of it and only put in about an hour. I don't feel particularly bad about it right now but I might tomorrow when all hell is breaking loose at the office.
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Hi all, I've been AWOL. I was traveling from July 14 to August 15. I somehow managed not to gain while traveling even though I ate a few things I'd never eat, and had copious amounts of wine. We did walk a ton, and I focused on finding good salads in Europe.
I start back to Pilates this week (the instructor took the summer off to have some medical stuff done). I can't wait for Pilates!
I'm here to focus on getting more vegetables and more healthy fats. I know a lower glycemic load way of eating works best with my body, so trying to reconcile EtL to a lower glycemic load way of eating. It's a work in progress. A EtL meets south beach, AKA nutritarian beach.
Cheers all, and enjoy your week!0 -
Went for my first run in AGES yesterday. Did better than I thought I would. Did a 5km with some hills in there for good measure (although I sucked at the hills...)
I also got my butt outta bed early this morning and did another 5km on the treadmill - but today it was just a brisk walk. Tomorrow I've gotta get back out to the hills again.
My Tough Mudder is in 3 weeks. I'm out of time. (eek!!)
Mihani, my weigh-in for the week was also less than impressive. I was up .6 - but I know why. My hubby and I celebrated our 18-year anniversary yesterday. On Saturday night he took me out for dinner. I had a tofu rice bowl, which was more starchy carbs than I needed and probably a lot more sodium, too... And then I topped it off with some chocolate... But like you, I'm not discouraged. I'm just going to tweak my eating this week and hope for more success next week!!
I hope you all have a very successful week!0 -
18 years of marriage?!?!? Wow Karrie, congratulations!! What will you do for your big 20 year?!?!
Mihani, you are just rocking this so well!! So impressed. Even better that you're not put off by the weight loss. It's so sporadic, I wouldn't be surprised if you all of a sudden have a big drop one random week of your 6 week plan.
I still can't get both legs on the wagon. I had a relatively ok weekend, but still not a model one, and I'm still trying for better. I made the 10-spice veggie soup (you got me thinking about it, Mihani!) and had that for lunch. It really is a good soup! Even though we have a humidex around 40 degrees celsius today, lol.
I think I really need to focus more on exercise than I'm doing. I think it would improve my mood and my confidence, both of which are really low, and maybe that will help everything. Honestly, as stupid as it is, I am still trying to tell myself "you are a plant-based eater" and it is helping!! It makes me feel like I'm better at food control than I really am lol.
Sabine, nice to see you!! Pilates sounds lovely, what day do you start back?
Sloth, love the Cindie reference, lol. I think you sound like maybe you can relate too.
Peas, I'm going to pick up my ETL book again for a refresher. It does help me to prioritize! great idea.0 -
I think Mihani should get royalties from the OSG people; I am also trying the 10-spice soup this week, lol. I haven't made it yet but I plan to do some batch cooking tomorrow while my husband is gone for the day. Im making the OSG Tex-mex casserole tonight and the Apple crumble recipe (with some substitutions) some time this week.
My weekend was pretty rough. I was really run down and ate mostly packaged soups and cereal. I felt the difference today, that's for sure. My husband practically had to drag me out of bed by the ankles, lol. Luckily we are going shopping this afternoon so I can stock up on fruit and salad stuff again.
I have decided to give jogging another shot, starting tomorrow. I used to run 5k 6 days a week, but I haven't gone more than 2 miles since my lung issues started. I'm going to shoot for 1- 1.5 miles to start and work my way up this time instead of running to exhaustion and being sick for the rest of the day.
Hope everyone is having a great week so far0 -
Good to see ya Sabine! Sounds like a wonderful trip. Nutritarian Beach sounds perfect lol.
Karrie, sounds like you are working hard to get ready for your run. Sorry to hear you also had a disappointing week 2 weigh-in. I’m betting we both see a good drop in week 3. Happy anniversary!
Lia, I just keep saying 6 weeks, which now it’s only 4. The first 2 went by really fast, so I’m hoping the rest of them go by quickly too. I’ve been walking every day and it has helped me a lot, and the boy dog enjoys it a lot. I am hoping to get out tonight but there have been intermittent storms and he’s petrified of thunder so right now he is cowering in the family room between the wall and the recliner. If the thunder stops we’ll go, otherwise I’ll do one of the Leslie Sansone walk at home videos I found on youtube. I’d like to buy some of those DVD’s, maybe a Christmas present for myself.
Peas, I admit OSG is my favorite cookbook lol. There are a lot of recipes I have bookmarked to try yet. Have you had the Tex Mex casserole before? It’s really good. Good luck with getting back to jogging. It has been quite a long time since I was doing any of that, and I am still trying to build back up my stamina now.
Today was a great ETL day. Cantaloupe for breakfast, my usual salad (forgot the beans though) for lunch, and dinner was some of the lentil mushroom kale stew I made. It was even better tonight. I am excited to try some other combos to get the GBOM part of the GBOMBS into one dish. Topped dinner off with a sliced peach, strawberries and blackberries sprinkled with chia seeds, cinnamon and cardamom. It’s looking like the weather is clearing up enough I can get out for a short walk so I’m off!
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Oh She Glows is good stuff!
One more day until Pilates.0 -
Hi all. Finally through the slew of birthday celebrations. DD turned 12 last week and my youngest turned 10 yesterday. Just have to get through getting the kids back in school this week and a baby shower for my little sister this weekend and then perhaps live can get back to "normal." lol
My focus on health really has been a bit non-existent this last week. I have been stuck in a bit of a depressed rabbit hole and am just now pulling myself out of it. I did get back on the treadmill over the weekend. I have not been feeling like running lately, so, I have just been focusing on some long walks with some incline work. I hit 100% of my activity goal on my Polar watch yesterday for the first time in over a week and it was a really great feeling. I know activity can't offset what happens in the kitchen though and my focus needs to shift back over to getting that back on track. I am a little doubtful that I am going to meet my weight goal I set for 9/1 and it is really frustrating. I wish I could be one of those people that really had nutrition nailed and just simply needed to workout to get results! I am sure this
All this talk about OSG is making me want to check out the site! Maybe I will tackle something off of the site this weekend. I have been saving all my non-crockpot cooking for the weekends. It has turned out to be quite the nice balance. We pretty much live off of the crockpot during the week and then I get to still practice my culinary skills on the weekend.
Sloth - I have to say - I totally get just needing a swift kick in the rear on this stuff. I think I tend to respond better to that sometimes. When I quit smoking 17 years ago there was no trying to understand why I was smoking I just decided at the end of one of my packs that I was done. I decided to quit, worked through all the withdrawals and was done. I haven't picked up a cigarette since. I have times that I have really, really wanted to...but, I haven't. The process was just a very matter of fact, "this is what I am doing," make no excuses type of scenario. I keep looking at that and cannot understand how I can manage to do that and can't manage to do the same thing with the flipping food I eat.
Gotta run to a meeting. Will check back in later!0 -
OSG is fabulous - I haven't tried a single recipe from her book or her website that wasn't delicious. Everything is good!!!
Last night I kept waking up and sitting up in bed, expecting something to be happening. What? I have no idea... I just kept thinking something was going on that I needed to be awake for - maybe a sick kid? Maybe someone was talking to me? Maybe the kids were joining us in bed and I had to move over? All I know is that it was a TERRIBLE sleep and I really wish I could just crawl back into bed right now...
So I did not get out of bed when my alarm went off for my workout. I just rolled over and snuggled into my covers to try to get a little more shut-eye... I guess I'll have to do something tonight...
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I hate nights of sleep like that. I would have opted for the additional sleep as well. I was reading an article not too long ago that talked about how to handle the sleep vs exercise struggle. It of course said you should always aim for a balance, but, that ultimately if you really haven't gotten much sleep it is better for your body to opt for sleep over exercise. It was an interesting article. I will have to see if I can find it again. I am just pretty much always unbalanced in this area. Ideally, I really need 8-8.5 hours of sleep to really function best. While it is great to have that knowledge about myself trying to apply it practically in life is laughable. I get up a 5am which would mean I would need to be asleep by 9pm at the absolute latest. When I morning bird marries a night owl the struggle is real! I feel like I am winning a major war to be asleep by 10 pm right now. I pretty much am always tired, which is really not ideal, but, the way it is.
Anyhow - hope you make it through the day and get an awesome deep sleep tonight!0 -
Laura, I am the same as you! I need 8-8.5 but also need to be asleep by 10, which seems impossible if I ever want to do anything like exercise or cook/eat dinner or whatever after work. It's a bad cycle, and then I can't sleep in much on weekends lol.
I am all for OSG!!! Hilarious, Peas, that you're making the soup too! I haven't tried the apple crumble, but I'm with Karrie, everything I HAVE tried has been amazing. I really think OSG is the perfect gateway for vegan eating. Her next cookbook isn't due out until next year and I'm dying for it already lol.
Has anyone had success making those acai bowls? Or even smoothie bowls? It's like a smoothie and then you also throw in nuts/granola/sliced fruit, so it's still chewable. I have had two that I purchased that were amazing but haven't been able to replicate it on my own at home. Just a random question.
Speaking of being superwoman after work, I was so proud of myself yesterday - I had an awesome eating day, kept track of my food, came home from work and exercised AND cooked dinner. It rarely happens that I have a trifecta like that, lol. Going to try for it again tonight. It was nice to get some walking + weights back in again!
Happy Tuesday, guys
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Sabine, I love that you are so excited to start pilates. I keep saying I’m going to take a class one of these days. It’s supposed to be really good for your back, I think because it strengthens the core muscles.
Hey Laura, I was wondering where you’d been. You will love OSG. She uses minimal oil, and a lot of things I leave it out and it’s still great. Depends on whether I’m full on ETL whether I worry about small amounts of oil. Quitting smoking is tough! I quit for over a year and then I started sneaking a cig here and there, and next thing ya know I was back to smoking every day. This is my first time admitting this in the group I think… confession time. I bought some nicorette last weekend though and I’m planning to start on it this week. Probably Thursday. I was going to do it Monday but I thought starting mid-week would probably be easier on me, and my coworkers lol.
Karrie, hope you get some sleep tonight. I was up too late last night myself, didn’t get done with work until 10:30, but I’m going to bed earlier tonight. I brought home some files but didn’t get to them and I don’t even feel bad about that.
I haven’t heard of acia bowls, Lia, but I am intrigued. I’ll have to check into it. After the 6 week plan of course. Awesome day yesterday, hope it all came together for you again today.
I’m thinking we should rename the group the OhSheGlows Fan Club!
Had a perfect ETL day today. Melon for breakfast, salad for lunch, my lentil stew for dinner and a peach with a few walnuts for dessert. I snuck onto the scale this morning although I’m trying not to weigh myself but once a week for the 6 weeks. Nothing lost so far this week. It’s pretty discouraging when I’ve been sticking to it so strictly, but I can’t do anything about the scale, only keep doing what I’m doing. Still hoping leaving off the starches for the rest of this week will bring about some pound loss. I was also thinking I might need to cut back a bit on the fruit. Concentrate on more beans and veggies. I can tell something is happening in the way my clothes fit so that’s a good sign.
Off for my walk then early to bed. The boy dog has started lying on the floor in the front hallway staring at me, it didn’t take long to get him in the habit of taking a walk, and it’s good to have him nudging me to go do it.
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Greetings OSGFC (Oh She Glows Fan Club)
I hope everyone's week is going well. Mine was until I stepped on the scale today for my weekly weigh in
I'm up 1.8 lbs, bringing my total 4 week loss to a completely unimpressive 1.2 lbs. Though part of me says "screw it, let's go get some pizza and wine", I'm listening to the slightly more mature voice that says "start weighing everything again and drop the booze and breakfast cereals". It also may have mentioned something about my nightly chocolate cashew milk but I wasn't listening, lol.
Mihani, I've been where you are right now with the smoking, and it sucks. I finally quit for good a little over 2 years ago, and this time there is no "only when I'm drinking" or "just one because I am stressed"; I now realize I can never have another puff of a cigarette, unless I want to go back to half a pack a day or more. I'm not sure if I already posted a link to this site for Sloth, but just in case I didn't: http://whyquit.com
Karrie, it's amazing that you are doing the Tough Mudder. I considered it, but then I watched a friend do it and I saw the pipe obstacle and that was it for me. Nope. I'm extremely claustrophobic so I will not be crawling through anything smaller than a subway tunnel, thank you very much. I have to say, though, that other than that, it really looked like fun. My friend had an amazing time.
Laura, I agree with everyone else here, Oh She Glows rocks. My favourites so far are the Tex-Mex casserole from the book, the enchilada casserole from the website, and the cauliflower alfredo sauce (website, I think)
Lia, congratulations on your trifecta! I love days like that. Let us know if you ever get a good acai bowl recipe; I'd love to try it. I have had a pitaya bowl from a local vegan place and it was great (though I was expecting just fruit, so I had to do a little calorie juggling after, lol). I've never had acai berries but the idea sounds great.
Sabine, nice to see you back. Congrats on maintaining while travelling in Europe; I don't know that I would be able to do that, especially with tout les boulangeries, lol
have a good Wednesday, everybody!0 -
Peas, what's a pitaya bowl? I'm intrigued!! I'm still on the lookout for recipes but haven't used my blender much actually. By the way, Peas, you got me going - I actually sat down the last two nights to read some Fuhrman literature, and it really helped. I thought that maybe I would just pass over the text, like "yah yah, I know it's good for me" but it helped to re-read reasons WHY it is good for me, and made me feel like, "oh, I should really try and fit these into my every day", which in turn is why I think the focus is fitting in good things rather than missing out on bad things.
So far I've had another good day! I got on the bike last night and ended the day well too. I'm going out for dinner though tonight but with another vegan so I'm hoping that, sodium aside, it can still be a healthier option.
Mihani, I'm so so so so impressed with the lack of snacks. I can't even fathom it at the moment but I'm working on minimizing, since I know that it is my downfall. Sorry to hear about the smoking though, that is really tough. I'm glad you're going to try the gum again! Same thing happened with my dad though - he quit for 2 years I think before he started back casually, which turned into regularly. You seem like you're in a good place and frame of mind to really try for it again! We will be your support and you can vent to us!!0
