Just realized I was probably wrong in assuming this group is just women. Sorry about that.

Well… I was doing really great yesterday until my friend called me last night saying he was having relationship problems and in a bad place and needed some help. So my partner and I went over to his place and ended up talking and drinking and playing Scrabble until the wee hours of morning. So I woke up super late today feeling hungover. BUT. I did (try to) log everything I ate/drank yesterday and was only about 500 cals over maintenance. And I decided that today I would just jump right back on the healthy train, which I’m really proud of because my usual hangover “cure” is eating too much unhealthy food.



@Mihani – Thanks! And congrats to you!! I dropped a ton of weight when I became vegan in high school, without actually trying to lose weight. It was just a natural result of finally putting some limits on my consumption, instead of mindlessly eating whatever I wanted. I was vegan for several years, but then I moved away from the United States and starting eating vegetarian. I definitely became somewhat lactose intolerant after being vegan for years. I haven’t eaten eggs in several years and I think milk is gross, but I still have some cheese and the occasional ice cream even though it hurts my tummy (silly I know). If I was able to find vegan ice cream where I live I would be all over it. Probably a good thing we don’t have it here

Yes to tofu! I’ve lived in Nicaragua the past 9 years or so. There are a couple of local women I’ve met who make incredible tofu and sell it at super accessible prices. It’s great living here for eating whole foods and a simple diet, but I do wish there were some things I could buy here that you can’t find. I have people who come visit from the states stock up on certain food items to bring me (black salt, nutritional yeast, grits, etc).

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@bisky – Thanks for the welcome! That veggie quiche sounds great. I wish I had an oven. Sounds a bit like a Spanish omelette I make stovetop (with tofu instead of egg, and zucchini or chayote instead of potatoes). I haven’t made that in a while, thanks for the inspiration

I’ve definitely discovered that what has helped me lose so much weight in the past with MFP is just substituting veggies for as much as I can. I generally only eat 2 meals a day, but I like big ‘ol portions. So eating lots of veggies alongside a smaller amount of something more tasty/satisfying makes me finish my meal feeling full, and stay feeling full longer.

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@carla_wfpb – Hi If you live somewhere near a co-op in the US or Canada, you can probably buy tofu in bulk there. I’m not sure.

Congrats on your treadmill motivation! And sorry about your fall! I think being aware of it and learning to fall better is good advice. I broke my leg/ankle when I was 12, so it’s still weak sometimes too. A couple of years ago my partner and I got into this excellent habit of taking a 45+ minute walk every evening around sunset (trying to get back into that habit again). I rolled my ankles several times at the beginning, but as my body got more used to the walking (and I dropped some weight) my ankles and legs began to strengthen and I had a lot fewer accidents. Part of it sounds like weakness in your ankle for sure, but part of the problem may be alleviated by slowly strengthening other parts of your body (legs, core).

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@magic71755 – Nice to meet you too. Thanks for the welcome! Enjoy your day off.

Hi All, I've been reading but not doing much posting. Back is getting better but starts to stiffen up if I sit too long in one place. Will try to catch up tomorrow.
@rayonrainbows Welcome to this very friendly and supportive group!

Here he is. super zoomed in and pixelated

Really interested in air fryer tofu suggestions. I love my air fryer! But I haven't tried tofu yet. Magic, thanks for the burrito salad idea! I take burritos for work fairly often but this is different enough to give me a little variety.

Well yesterday went great despite being hungover. I ordered a thin-crust pizza for dinner but made sure I made so many healthy sides that I only ended up eating one piece…. Sauteed onions & peppers, artichoke heart salad, steamed broccoli, and marinara. Ordering the pizza was more of a mental relief for me, so I’m glad I satisfied that craving while eating healthy and staying within cals.
Had basically the same thing for breakfast with some added mushrooms and spinach. Yay pizza for breakfast


@Nihani – Getting rid of clothes is good! I also usually buy myself something super cute that’s too small to give me something to work toward

@SparkSpringtime69 – Thanks for the welcome!

@Carla_wfpb – I mostly just use black salt for tofu scramble to give it eggy taste. I only use an ankle brace if I have an active injury. I don’t know if it slows strengthening or not, but if it prevents injuries that seems like a good thing? Not sure the answer to that one… I love living here. Simpler life. I work online so I’m pretty free to adventure.

@esmereldaSP – Freezing tofu is super convenient but be warned it does change the texture. I’d experiment before freezing a ton of it. Also different tofus freeze differently… Some become a more spongy texture, some more layered/stringy… Some people really love frozen tofu, some don’t. The stuff I’ve been buying recently freezes amazingly and becomes perfect for tofu scramble. In the air fryer, I just cut and coat my tofu in some corn starch and bread crumbs and spices with a spritz of oil. Mmmmm

My back is slowly healing - I was taking the pain reliever three times a day, then two times for the last two days. I didn't take any today and will just take the one before bed so the pain will be less for sleeping. And, today was the first time I could sit on the couch without the donut, LOL.
I think I'm going to try my AM yoga tomorrow; I'll have to make a few adjustments, no cobra and not sure about downward dog and the twisting poses, but most of the arm and leg stretching will probably be good for me. I'm also going to get my dumbbells out for tomorrow to do some arm exercises, just lowering the weight that's on them. And I can definitely get a short walk in - I went to the mall yesterday and walked around for a while with no ill side effects (and bought a few new yoga pants to boot ) - so I really have no excuse for not doing a short walk around the neighborhood.

I made a sort of stew out of a few leftovers for dinner tonight. I had green beans, a piece of red bell pepper, a little onion and about a half serving of baby carrots. I added some dutch baby potatoes, put it all in a crockpot, and added a foil pouch of Minute Mushrooms from Costco (garlic and herb). It turned out good! I ate it with a big green salad on the side. I have a few more pouches of the mushrooms, I'll do this again. I guess I should just admit it; one thing I love about WFPB diet is that I get to eat a *lot* of food. I wish I were a dainty eater, but I eat a lot. When I would diet before on portion control diets, I *always* felt hungry. I maintained WFPB diet from 2017-2020. I was confined to home on doctor's orders for a full year or so. I think Grubhub or drive thru joy became something to break the monotony of that lifestyle. Of course, I gained a lot of weight. I sure hope I can back to where I was then.

Spring, how did your yoga go? I always like working out in new gear (re your new pants). I'm on the lookout for a good yoga video or series for starting back up. I did hot yoga 10+ years ago but don't want to go back to a class for now.

Esmer, with you on the eating. Sometimes I really need volume. I have been eating only between 11am and 4pm so I can have a big satisfying dinner but still have time to take a walk after and digest before going to bed.

Congrats on the 15 lb weights, Mihani! Do you have a specific step goal?

I've been alternating days between walks in the park with the dogs and longer more intense workouts on the treadmill. I'm really at a sweet spot right now with this routine. My walk in the park is in my fat burn zone for 90% of the walk if I don't run, and when I'm on the TM I am at least half cardio zone.

We have had our garbanzo bean curry the past two days and I think we can eke out one more meal out of it for tonight. All 6 of our meals in rotation are better with baked tofu, so if we go ahead and have it with every meal we end up splitting a close to 1 lb package of tofu each day. I can fit a double recipe in my huge air fryer, so every second day I'm cranking out tofu. I know this is not balanced. but it is so good. I crave it.

plan for today
coffee
oatmeal w/ blueberries
afternoon: smoothie with strawberries & greens
dinner: curry w/ tofu, greens
dessert: half caramel apple

Carla, you are doing great with all your walking and even jogging! I don't enjoy cardio much but I know it's important. The treadmill is easiest for me because I just turn on the TV and zone out. My goal is only 5000 steps per day and usually I exceed it, but I lowered it from 7500 because it would seem overwhelming if I had a really sedentary day at the office and had thousands to go when I got home.

Your meal plan seems to be working out really well for you.

Spring, hopefully you'll be able to do yoga soon, but yay for finding other things you can do in the meantime. I wish I hadn't put off the aligners so long honestly and am quite happy with the results.

I swore I was getting out of the office at 4:00 today so I could run to the grocery on the way home, but of course I got stuck late yet again, and had to get home to get the boy out and feed him. My salad prepper is out of town for a couple weeks so I'm on my own and I'll have to go tonight. I'll get box lettuce, shred carrots and beets in the food processor, and slice some radishes with it too. That plus some pickled red onion and beans will be just fine for salads.

My favorite salad "dressing" now is some dijon mustard and a splash of bragg's liquid aminos. I used to almost always make a nut based dressing every week but I seem to have lost my taste for that.