Sounds like you had a great first day of your new plan, Magic. I think planning it as a short-term thing should make it easier for you to stick with it. Sometimes we need something to shake things up and get us back on track.

I don't think I've tried goji berries yet Austin... I keep meaning to give them a try. What a fun and healthy date night, going to the gym!

Welcome back Sloth... been a while since we've seen you around here.

Sabine, long time no see! Hope you have been well.

Still super busy with work. Keeping things very simple because I don't have time to worry about cooking. Salads (easy because I contracted out my salad prep), steamed veggies, Dr. McDougall soups, oats, beans, fruit. I hope in another few weeks things will settle at work enough that I can start getting back into cooking. I still want to try the Hello Nutritarian food prep plan, but I just haven't had the time yet. I have tried quite a few of the recipes and they have been good.

Hey @magic71755 -
Hurray for you, for working on diet and getting yourself to a place where you can sleep comfortable. That's huge!

I love your idea of taking food that works for you, and enough to share at the family visit. That seems simple and like it allows for the kind of sharing that won't have people left out. I think if you explain you are eating this way to manage your severe osteoarthritis, and that eating off plan makes you hurt, that people could be very understanding. And go ahead and say whatever else is there -- that you want to stay healthy and comfortable, and that you don't want food to be in the way.

And then -- plan, prep and pack! That's what I have done, anyway!

If you are tackling spring rolls in the soft rice paper wrappers, I have found those pretty simple!
Basically, you prep the veggies you want to stuff them with (slices of tempeh or baked tofu would be a nice add) (other ideas, if you pat things dry -- cooked drained beans, cooked mushrooms, pickled onions), and have your rice wrappers ready. You soak a wrapper for 5-10 seconds (it starts to soften), move it to a dry cloth, put in your veggies, and then wrap. The things that take a little attention and practice are how long to soak, and then the pattern for wrapping. Here's a recipe and a demo video

Joel Fuhrman has a 1995 book about using fasting (Fasting and Eating for Health: A Medical Doctor's Program For Conquering Disease), and I know he occasionally offers an online-supervised intermittent fasting class. It's clearly a tool he sees using. If it's helping you with your severe osteoarthritis, that is great!

I checked out Kathy Hester. Thanks for the rec!

@magic71755 - It sounds like you are set for a great day today. Yum!

@Mihani - I am looking forward to hearing more about your closet project, when you have time for it!
I am doing some decluttering and rearranging because the school year is starting. More of that to do today and this weekend!

@sloth3toes - How are you doing?

I had a good ETL day yesterday!
My ETL Thursday:
B- green smoothie with spices (broccoli, spinach, blackberries, cinnamon, lemon juice, turmeric), side of almond butter and goji berries
L- small helping of steamed mushrooms; last half helping of the North African Red Lentil Soup; half helping of Mexican Pinto Beans; steamed turnip greens; zucchini, tomato and onion bowl; steamed diced butternut squash and apples with cashew milk and cinnamon
S- apple slices, almond butter
D- huge salad (massaged kale, romaine, roma tomato, radish, roasted beet); avocado lemon tarragon dressing; zucchini, tomato and onion bowl; steamed butternut squash and diced apples with cashew milk and cinnamon
Exercise: platform stepping (found the Bollywood Workout channel on Pandora!); evening walk (date walk with husband!)

Have a great Friday, all!

@magic71755 If I am reading correctly, you are 70-ish... and still working? I'm not quite 59, and I'm already trying to figure out how to get out of work.

@AustinRuadhain I am doing pretty well. I think. I was exhausted for about 3 months, and it's finally been determined that I have some kind of inflammatory disease which I am taking Prednisone for. It's making me feel substantially better. And I've been off work for a couple of weeks, and I am loving that. It just seems like the right time to try to get my eating habits in order. Again. <sigh>

magic71755 wrote: »

Yup...70, 71 in October.

I totally stuck to my program today and I’m so proud of myself because 13 hours at work sometimes it’s so difficult because I get bored and all I wanna do is eat but I didn’t except my program ...really proud of myself! have a good evening everybody!

Hey @magic71755 - Congratulations on sticking with your program! And so cool that you noticed that your impulse to eat was boredom! I don;t know about you, but when I can see that I an wanting to eat to entertain myself, it makes it easier to not eat and do something else!
And 70 -- go, you! I love all your energy and enthusiasm and interest in learning and improving, all your engagement with life!

@sloth3toes - Since you are working on putting your eating habits in order, you might find the work of James Clear interesting! I have been working on my habits, and find that a really helpful place to focus. If you feel like it:
Atomic Habits: How to Get 1% Better Every Day - James Clear - Motivation: The Scientific Guide on How to Get and Stay Motivated
His book, Atomic Habits, has been super helpful to me.

@Mihani - Thinking of you today, and hoping things slow down soon!

Good watermelon is hard to beat Magic. I love it.

I am almost done. I have one closet left, and then my office. A lot of stuff ended up in my office to be sorted later, so it's a real mess in there. I plan to work on it a little at a time this week. I feel great about what I have accomplished!

Happy last few weeks of summer. I caught up on the monthly posts and everyone seems to be doing great!

Hubby leaves next month for 6 month deployment. I have been putting off tackling finishing my weight loss goals until then. I am planning to join a master's swim group (they swim so early...), start bicycling by myself close in my park (more on that) and ....maybe: 100% vegan at least 5 days a week. Plus I have to walk dogs every day. I have found a delicious tasty vegan protein shake that I can take after workouts and I don't feel so draggy. It is hot as an italian pizza oven here in San Antonio. I try to get walks and bicycling done in the morning and maybe swim indoors later afternoon. Today at noon it was 100* with 62% humidity. I love it here 9months of the year but I can't take the heat.

Brooks made a delicious Spanish-Style Bean dish yesterday...does have olive oil:
1 shallot, 2 cloves garlic, 2 Tbsp EVOO, 2 Tbsp tomato paste, 1/2 tsp paprika, , 14 0z can butter beans...Saute over low heat stirring often, add 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar and 2 tablespoons of evoo. Serve with pita bread, chips or small tortillas to make a tapas. I would add a cup of spinach next time just to get some more greens in.

One of the disappointing things this summer was making dates with friends to walk, swim or bike and have a few of them cancel out last minute and want to meet up later for lunch, happy hour, etc. Not that healthy. Brooks has been so busy with getting ready for this deployment and his focus is on that...not training for triathlons or Ironmans.

I have to be on a regular training schedule to participate in Triathlons. I will never do an Ironman but I will do the shorter distances (400m swim, 10 mile bike and 5K run). I am going to be selfish in the morning for my workouts. I have a new goal, a friend invited me next August to a 3 day women's triathlon event. She is 4 years older than me. 5 years ago she did her first 5k with the help of friends and she has lost 150 lbs and is participating in Triathlons!

Also plan a major declutter while Brooks is gone. He has been warned that if he did not clean up the garage before leaving I would and too bad for anything that gets thrown out. With all our military moves he has boxes that he has not gone through of electronics,books, etc.

We go for a week in Maui before Brooks is deployed next month. Better go swim so I am in good shape for snorkeling.

Ciao

Hi Team- I stepped away for a bit and hope you've all been thriving! I've been doing the VeganFitness.com True Strength challenge (on week 3 of 8) and needless to say it's a ton of workouts, calorie & macro tracking but I'm kind of loving it. I thrive when I have clear goals and love discipline (that sounds weird but you know what I mean), especially when I'm following someone else's plan for me! A bit lemming-ish but I'm ok with it if it's for the right reasons and not off a cliff.
Anyhow, I meal prepped for my husband and me for the first time ever. I have been batch cooking for ages and love that (i.e. preparing extra of whatever I make for future meals), but never actually measured it out and put it in containers for each meal per day for the week. Here's what's been on the menu:
Breakfast : Protein smoothies & apple pie overnight oats
Lunch : Hulled barley, white beans, seitan, broccoli & corn over romaine
Dinner : Red Lentil Daal over brown rice with a little sliced avo & red onions on top
Snack : Fruit / nuts
Occasional dessert: GoodPop Cookies N' Cream bar
Everyone says you can't out-exercise a bad diet and i'm living proof. Love to exercise but also eat in caloric excess so... Now that I'm measuring my food I have a much better handle on what I'm eating. Definitely not sustainable in the long-term (takes a lot of time to enter, especially when I graze but I'm hoping to re-learn what a balanced, well portioned meal looks like and go from there moving forward once I'm "programmed."
Things have been moving in the right direction since I started calorie and macro tracking. Lost fat and gained muscle which is my goal! Also, I have a new incentive : once I hit my overall goal, I'm going to get myself a fancy smart watch with all the fitness apps, heart rate trackers, built in coach to tell me to walk and stand up and breathe and whatever else it's got. I love data so turning my body into a science experiment sounds like a swell plan!
Been listening to this affirmation podcast "I Choose Health and I Am Worthy and Deserving of Health" episode in my morning walks on repeat and it's sinking in! If you give it a listen I hope it helps you too!