Chat room - what's on your mind?
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Don't apologize !!
It is nice to get some news even if you don't feel your best at the moment.
I was also quite defeated in regards to my weight - going up and 2kg above maintenance now.
But I am feeling better. The week-end was fabulous ! I managed the food quite correctly. No deficit but stayed within maintenance calories.
This week, I am at a work seminar. There is food available literally every where. I have skipped the breakfast to sleep half an hour more. I had some food around 10 a.m. (mix of healthy food and not so healthy one) then a generous lunch and again some snacking in the afternoon. The day finished at 8pm (Hugh) and there was a drink with appetizers until 9pm.
Now all my colleagues are having dinner but I said I was too tired and I am in my hotel room. So happy I took this decision ! I am not hungry anymore, I ate my calorie budget and I will be able to read and go to bed early.2 -
Got weighed officially today = down 3.3 pounds in the week. Goal for January was to lose 3 pounds so have made that goal - now to work on keeping it off and see if I can add one more poundd to it.
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@SparkSpringtime69 That's a lot to deal with and you're being very caring about your BIL's wellbeing. Thanks for sharing. My parents are aging and it's been hard to watch from afar (and when visiting). Last year, I ended up eating my feelings about the situation and gained 10 pounds before I decided it's time to take better care of myself (since life will probably not get any easier).
@Marilynsretired congrats on the weight loss and doing what needs to be done! Totally agreed on that last quote!
@Maya440 if you feel good - maybe that's a good weight for you? Well done skipping out on unwanted overeating.
I've been busy. It's very cold here right now (-20C/-7F) - my new veggie box arrived with frozen lettuce and cilantro (most of which had to be thrown away). I would have complained, but they're probably suffering enough with produce freezing on the delivery truck. Most of the vegetables were ok (the bok choy had a bit of frost bite). I've been ok with food (fell back on foods I can rely on), but had to skip two gym days to deal with a work deadline. Anyhow, tomorrow, I'll figure out how to get it done.2 -
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Congrats @Marilynsretired on your weight loss. And an monthly objective achieved in half the time predicted !
@henridw2095 I am ok at this weight but I don't feel as I would like to. Some of my clothes are definitely too tight and I am too heavy when running.
I weighted myself this morning and I didn't put on weight during the seminar. With all the food that was available, it is already an achievement. I am still 2kg above my maintenance range as on Monday.
Now it is time to work to go back into my maintenance range.
1st objective: no more pass days (meaning at minimum I respect my calorie goal every day)
2nd objective: on a weekly average, being 700kcal under my calorie goal.
It would produce a very slow weight loss but I am a bit afraid of going back to restricting/bingeing so I will start this way.2 -
@Maya440 I like your plan. I still have 8-9 pounds to lose and my weight loss has slowed for some reason, at the same deficit. It’s still moving, but quite slowly. I‘m not sure if it’s a monthly quirk or if I burn fewer calories, but I‘ll just lose more slowly if needed, since I don’t want to eat less. Feeling deprived will lead to poor choices for me as well (including evening snacking), which is worse than slow weight loss.2
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Hello hello !
Yes going slowly is great. We have the life in front of us ahah.
I had an excellent day today. I ran 14km in the snow ! It was a race with friends otherwise I would never have done so much. At the end my knie and ankle hurted but I think it was more due to the cold and tiredness than actual injury.
Tomorrow I have planned to go for a swim session followed by a strength session. So that should be ok for my knies. If I feel I need it I can rest on Monday and/or Tuesday.
On the nutrition front I did well especially with the run.
- chocolate banana omelet
- stemed potatoes with raw carrots and red cabbage, cooked bell peppers + almonds
- after the run, !1 banana, 1 apple, bretzels, Brazil nuts
- cheese and raw fennel then pasta with steamed brocoli and spinach, basic cashew sauce. A handful of cereals.
I have pre-packed the cereals in 40g portions. It should help me not to eat too much of them in the coming days...1 -
I own that I cannot see as plainly as others do, and as I should wish to do, evidence of design and beneficence on all sides of us. There seems to me too much misery in the world. I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created the Ichneumonidae with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of caterpillars, or that a cat should play with mice. -Charles Darwin, naturalist and author (12 Feb 1809-1882) [Ichneumonidae: The family of parasitic wasps that deposit eggs inside or on top of the larvae of other insects. Once hatched, the ichneumonid larva slowly eats its host alive from inside out.]0
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I wrote this for another group because someone asked me about some of my recent walks. I figured I might as well share it here too. We've had some really bad winter storms - they say the worst in three decades. One person died when their car started to slide, they got out and tried to stop it, they got pinned between the car and a rock, and they froze to death. Three adults and a baby were in a car that a big branch fell on bringing a power line down with it. The adults exited the car and were electrocuted to death. A woman died when a tree fell on an RV and it caught fire. It's been bad. The authorities sent out warnings to please don't go on the roads, and probably stay home because both EMS and the hospital were overwhelmed with crashes and slip/fall injuries. One man died in a slip/fall injury because he went out literally, "...to see just how slippery it was."
The ice started to melt, so the rivers rose.
This is what I saw the last couple days....
I seem to keep taking walks. I grabbed a few images along the way. The ice has mostly melted off except in sheltered areas. The rivers have come up. Yesterday's walk was in part to do some reconnaissance and see how much garbage was going into the rivers from the camps and elsewhere. I am sad to report that there was a lot. Bagged garbage. Empty beverage containers. Garbage cans. Propane bottles. You name it.
I walked back south along the highway, then down a side street and through the cemetery where I could look down on an old area that at one point was connected to the river and is now called a lake. It really only has water in the winter. I walked down into the park, but I couldn't even get into the parking lot. The river was flowing in the lot. It was actually pretty interesting because the river flows up into the parking area and then up the road into the park, and only from there does it flow what would otherwise be "upstream" into the sports fields. I was wearing muck boots, and I tried to find a shallow way across to get out to the fields and walk some more, but I couldn't find a way to get through that wouldn't have flooded my boots. I considered walking home and putting on some waders and going back. Instead I got on my bike.
I rode to the south entrance to the park, then rode the bike path up to about a place about a half mile from my house that I was maybe 20 yards from during my walk - less than a half mile from my house. I rode about three miles to get to a place a half mile from my house. I had to ride about a half mile through some slush where the paved path is protected by trees. That was "interesting." The river was up for sure. Note that sign; "Boat and trailer parking only." Yesterday it was only available for boats.
On the way home, instead of going back out to the street from the park, I continued on the paved path to the south end to the City Limit. There was one small area of inundation, but I was pretty sure I could ride through it without getting my feet wet. Yep. Probably about four inches deep. I went all the way to the City Limit, then ducked back out onto the street system and worked my way back. I stopped several times to observe things and eventually to knock on the door of a house that had a truck parked outside with the headlights on and the doors locked. No answer. Bummer. My hands eventually warmed up about five minutes or so before I got home. Total about 7.5 miles.
Today I walked downtown to check mail, stopped at a thrift shop on the way home, and walked back down to the park. The water level was falling. You could get almost to the boat ramp, but part of the paved trails were still under water. Two portable toilets were missing - probably downstream. Very sad. Also a portable hand washing station.
There was a little stick that had washed up against the picnic tables there.
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@SparkSpringtime69 just wanted to ask if everything is going OK? It can feel like a big life changing event & be more worrying than you actually admit to yourself. We built an annex for my MIL &FIL 6yrs ago to cope with elder care. This last month we've been on rota as FIL has been stuck in hospital and 3x daily trips there with MIL has pretty much taken over our life for the mo (hence why I'm quiet). Equally though...my mum is in first stages of dementia too. It's so upsetting to see the person you know disappearing 😞 You're doing the nicest & kindest thing bringing your BIL home to assist with his care. My hope is to build another annex on the opposite side of the house for my mum & dad, so dad still feels like he has his own space but we can help him look after mum. It's a lot for one person to deal with. Wishing you all the best with your next chapter.3
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“We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.”
― Richard Dawkins2 -
“Is man merely a mistake of God's? Or God merely a mistake of man?”
― Friedrich Nietzsche0 -
Dear both, while we appreciate all words of comfort. I believe this discussion is about nutrition (and weight loss) ...
Good day today for me.
A peaceful week ahead.
What are your plans ? @henridw2095 do you have less work ?0 -
Dear both, while we appreciate all words of comfort. I believe this discussion is about nutrition (and weight loss) ...
Good day today for me.
A peaceful week ahead.
What are your plans ? @henridw2095 do you have less work ?
Thank you @Maya440!
I couldn't agree more. It would please me to no end if we could keep it on topic. We're here to share information and experiences about plant based nutrition, and as you suggest, weight management is probably also appropriate, whether it's loss or maintenance.
As a newer member of this group, I very much thank you for your post.
For some good news over here, I seem to have lost just a bit more than six pounds since the first of the year. I was at a "healthy weight," but I was near the top or over my maintenance range. Plenty of plant-based foods helped as did long walks, strength training, and paying attention to HOW MUCH I was eating. In other good news, my bio-impedence analysis function on my scale tells me that I've lost a few percent fat. I know those devices are notoriously inaccurate as far as the absolute number, but I think using them to assess trends is still valid. Because I'm a data nerd, I use my mass and body fat percentage to estimate the pounds of fat I'm carrying. I'm pleased that I've lost just about six pounds of fat. That suggests that during this short period of weight loss that really would be unhealthy over a long term, I didn't lose much muscle. Keeping adequate plant-based protein (and for me a little fish) and strength training probably helped.
I'm going to celebrate by going to the gym now that the ice is all melted and it's safe out.2 -
@Maya440 thanks for keeping us on topic. Life obviously sometimes spills over, especially during health crises. I found religion to be a tricky topic; also on the accountability challenge Maya and I participate in, where members often mention their religious beliefs and activities. I think at least one member unfriended me after I responded to a prompt regarding our holiday traditions ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
I will be very busy for at least a few months - there are a few big projects I need to finish at work. Staying on track will need planning since I know that getting too busy and exhausted can derail me. Yesterday I was cooking to use up vegetables before my new veggie delivery today. Cooking a few meals reminded me how nice it is to have cooked food on hand and I decided to start meal prepping again.
My new veggie box is here; for some reason, the radishes were again frozen, and I had to eat them on the spot. I had a Koginut squash in my box, apparently a cross between a kabocha squash and butternut squash, and am excited to cook it. I will probably slice it and roast it without much spice to see what the flavor is.0 -
@Maya440 also interesting to hear your take on protein intake in the UAC thread. Protein is so overhyped, and it's reassuring to hear that your intake is well below some of the often-floated recommendations. I seem to remember that your body composition was pretty amazing 🤩🤩 and I have read similar thoughts by Brendan Brazier and some microbiome doctors (i.e. to not overthink the protein). I have upped my protein recently, mainly to experiment, but it's a pain and I have not lost weight since then (or built more muscle, although I take my personal body fat scale data with a massive grain of salt). I also don't feel better or less hungry. I can easily hit 65-80 g per day without trying, but after that, it requires effort.
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@henridw2095 and @Maya440
I'd love to hear a redux on what you're learning about protein. Back in 7th grade, that consumer reports article that encouraged me to try to forego meat (which I did for decades) showed that we can get all the protein we need from plants. It went on to explain how most Americans at least ate far more protein than they needed. Excess protein is extra work for our kidneys.
That was a long time ago, and even today the US RDA for protein is 0.36 grams per pound of body weight (0.8 grams per Kg). I am fairly certain that's total body mass, not lean mass. That is indeed pretty easy to meet. I see plenty of recommendations for 0.8 to 1.2 grams per pound is the "Holy Grail." Sorry. Couldn't resist
That's a huge difference. Is it possible some people just see the 0.8 grams per kilogram and neglect to recognize that a Kg is 2.2 pounds? Or is it possible that the US RDA is wrong? I bet the optimal amount is probably somewhere between 0.4 and 0.8, and it might be closer to the low end except for body building. Another exception we know is that the number can increase with age as our bodies have a little harder time assimilating it.
Anyway, I'm interested in a synopsis of what you've been reading if you have time.
I do use a supplement on days I do strength training with the expectation that it might aid in muscle repair from my workout. Otherwise I just eat. Only recently have I even been paying much attention to the number. One advantage of MFP Premium is being able to set a hard goal in grams. I am not positive, but I think that goal won't increase with increased calorie allowance from exercise. It sure does if protein is set as a percent of calories!
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@mtaratoot I am researching slowly, but think it’s possible that a lot of it is people repeating the same stuff and there are only a few studies it all rests on. I will have to look up those studies!
Same with that fad where you have to all of a sudden eat a specific number of plants - 20 or so (I looked that paper up and it wasn’t great). I will summarize some time and in the meantime continue to experiment (n=1 😂).2 -
Have you read the guide that describes the research/reasoning behind Examine.com's protein "calculator"?@henridw2095 and @Maya440
I'd love to hear a redux on what you're learning about protein. Back in 7th grade, that consumer reports article that encouraged me to try to forego meat (which I did for decades) showed that we can get all the protein we need from plants. It went on to explain how most Americans at least ate far more protein than they needed. Excess protein is extra work for our kidneys.
That was a long time ago, and even today the US RDA for protein is 0.36 grams per pound of body weight (0.8 grams per Kg). I am fairly certain that's total body mass, not lean mass. That is indeed pretty easy to meet. I see plenty of recommendations for 0.8 to 1.2 grams per pound is the "Holy Grail." Sorry. Couldn't resist
That's a huge difference. Is it possible some people just see the 0.8 grams per kilogram and neglect to recognize that a Kg is 2.2 pounds? Or is it possible that the US RDA is wrong? I bet the optimal amount is probably somewhere between 0.4 and 0.8, and it might be closer to the low end except for body building. Another exception we know is that the number can increase with age as our bodies have a little harder time assimilating it.
Anyway, I'm interested in a synopsis of what you've been reading if you have time.
https://examine.com/guides/protein-intake/
It does a good job IMO reviewing research that suggests that some sub-populations may benefit from protein intake higher than the USDA recommendations. I think you know I'm a "higher protein" advocate for those who are losing weight, active, aging, or vegetarian/vegan, among others. They are very specific about the research that they believes supports their contention that the USDA recommendations are sub-ideal for many people.
I suspect you have read the Prot-age recommendation for 65+ folks, but I'll link that here in case others are interested.
https://www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610(13)00326-5/fulltext
I've been accused here on MFP of confusing pounds with kilos when it comes to protein recommendations, and I have to say it kind of ticked me off. It's unhelpful that the 0.6-0.8g per pound per day that I think is useful during weight loss (among other cases) has the same numbers attached as the 0.6-0.8g per kilo that's the general basic mainstream recommendation from USDA and others. But I do mean pounds, personally.
Yes, the research is usually in terms of pounds or kilos of bodyweight, but IMU it can be healthy goal weight pounds/kilos, not necessarily current pounds/kilos for people who are very overweight. (The Examine guide mentions this IIRC.)I do use a supplement on days I do strength training with the expectation that it might aid in muscle repair from my workout. Otherwise I just eat. Only recently have I even been paying much attention to the number. One advantage of MFP Premium is being able to set a hard goal in grams. I am not positive, but I think that goal won't increase with increased calorie allowance from exercise. It sure does if protein is set as a percent of calories!
I think that two things are necessary to get MFP not to increase the macro goals when calorie increase, though I admit I haven't tested carefully. Setting the values in grams is one part, the other part is the settings that say how to allocate exercise calories. In the app, the latter is in Settings/My Goals/Exercise Calories (in the Fitness Goals section). I have "Adjust my calorie goal" set on, and "Assign exercise calories to macronutrients" is set to "Custom percentage". I allocate all of my exercise calories to carbs: Since I don't pay any attention to my carb intake, don't care where it falls, that works for me. Turning the exercise calorie adjustment entirely off would also leave macro grams unchanged, but I don't want to do that for other reasons.
I don't generally use protein powder or bars because I don't have any difficulty getting my protein from food, and I like food best. (I'm set at 100g daily for 5'5" and a target weight around 125 - which I'm currently above 
. That's 0.8g/pound (rounded to a nice round number). For me, and a fair range of people, that 0.8 per pound body weight is roughly equivalent to 1g daily per pound of estimated lean body mass. I usually exceed 100g.) I admit I also find protein sating, which is another reason I prefer to get a relatively high intake. Evidence is thin that this level of protein intake causes kidney problems in healthy people, IMU.
But that's just me and my practice; and since I believe it, it's also what I recommend to others . . . but it's obviously still a decision we each need to make individually.
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@mtaratoot congratulations on the lost weight. I need to do the same, go back within my maintenance range but find difficult to eat less.
In regards to protein, I was saying on the other forum that I aim to eat an average of 1g/kg/day and my percentage of muscle mass is really high. No need to think to much about it. Also excess protein is not retained by the body so it is no use.
@henridw2095 food prep is key. Certainly when I need to fuel due to exercise in between meals. Otherwise I fall into bread, cereals and cookies…2 -
@henridw2095 Thanks for the kind words, and I hear you about eating your feelings. I was actually surprised that I was able to lose about 1/2 lb while at BIL's for two weeks. I did bring a bunch of food to stay on track, but we ended up eating out often and I tend to not make the best choices when eating out
I think that we really need to take a lesson from those older than us and do our best to stay healthy and make good decisions about our lifestyle habits.
@Curvykinkycurls thank you for the words of encouragement. I'm sorry to hear your FIL is in the hospital, I hope he's able to return home soon. It's definitely a lot for one person to deal with. I wish my SIL had let us know what was going on sooner. We would have been happy to go down there and help them out for a while (we're both retired [for now]). Fortunately my BIL can afford to pay for the addition to our home since we wouldn't have been able to swing it. We can change the screened porch to an enclosed sun room so he has a bit of living room space to himself, but the extra bed and bath would be more than we could absorb - the plumbing will probably be the biggest cost.
@mtaratoot That storm you went through was pretty devastating. Sorry to hear your community suffered so.
@maya440 thanks for keeping things on topic. I'm reading through the discussion here about protein with interest, and I'd really like to hear what others do about some of the other nutrients that vegans (and some vegetarians) might have trouble getting - zinc, iron, vit. D and calcium especially.2 -
I am taking supplements for Iron, vit. D (winter only), zinc and calcium ! Not every day but regularly.0
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I take a vegan menopause multivitamin which covers pretty much all bases, plus a vegan collagen. I haven't been to the Dr's for a check up in a long time, certainly not since going vegan a year ago. It would be interesting to find out if they could do a blood test showing levels, but pretty sure that would be a private clinic service, not the NHS in the UK. I would like to know where my cholesterol levels are too. I will have to look into how to find out.
What's the process in your country? Or wouldn't you bother unless you felt ill?0 -
I can do a check-up quite easily at my doctor's office.
The last one was pretty good except for iron. My cholesterol level is super low (the good one as well so I also added an omega 3 supplement).
I think omnivores have the same deficiencies (except calcium maybe) but they don't all look so carefully !1 -
Good day today.
I crave some sweet just there but don't want to eat anymore.
I had planned to prepare tomorrow's dinner. Pfu but the day was long. I need to find the energy. I know I will be satisfied afterwards.
Go go.0 -
I thought I'd share a little experience I had the last two days. It has nothing to do with plant-based eating, but it for sure has to do with weight management and how our brains approach the feedback we get from our scale.
My scale weight this morning was up 1.6 pounds from yesterday. Stepping back for context, it was down 1.8 pounds yesterday from the day before. I didn't believe yesterday's number. It was a very weird anomaly because I expected it to be UP from muscle repair from a strength training session. Go figure. Maybe it was glycogen? Because I had a carb craving yesterday and fed it. Even just looking at today, yesterday, and the day before, the number has dropped, but only 0.2 pounds. That's reasonable, and I don't even really believe THAT.
The weird part is that my trending weight is down 0.7 pounds over the two days, and I don't totally believe that either, but only because it incorporates the anomaly. It will level out in the coming days. I am down two pounds since last Wednesday by my weight trend, and I do actually believe that.
I am a big proponent of daily weighing, and I'm just as big a proponent of ignoring the actual number in favor of using a very basic statistical tool (averaging) to look at the trend
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