10 Day Mary's Mini

[kirstykay]

Deb,
We have Thanksgiving at our house every year, and really enjoy it. It's become one of our favorite traditions! This will be our 10th year hosting. We started mostly because we didn't want to have to choose whether to spend it with my side of the family or my husbands'. So everyone comes and brings their favorite Thanksgiving side dish. That way no one has to do without that one thing that they "have to have" for it to feel like Thanksgiving to them. We always have a great time.

This will be my first time on McD, so I'm not sure how I'll handle that, probably just make some sides that I can have and avoid the bad stuff. I'd love to hear what kinds of things people who've been doing this for a while like to make. I'm open to suggestions.

[sksamboots]

Just thought I would do a quick update....

I started starving today around 3pm and I don't get home until after 6:30pm. So I decided to go to the supermarket, to see what I could get. Of course, I'm only eating potatoes but I didn't want to buy 1 huge bag of potatoes (guess I could have and took the whole bag home, but I already have some at home)..I went to the frozen isle and they have mashed potatoes that you can microwave. They had no oil..So very safe and time effiecient...I'm eating them now with a little ketchup. Never thought about this before...Hope it helps someone else

[janluvs2heel]

So today was interesting. I had lunch with 2 friends from work, Nora is on maternity leave. We went to Subway. I was going to order the salad but I was hungry & I worried I would not be full enugh to get thru the pm with chocolate cake, cinnamon rolls in the lunch room, so decided on a veggie delite sandwich. I got the honey oat bread, had just veggies, no avocado, nothing else. That was all I ate, had water to drink. So, all afternoon I was feeling so guilty because I didn't eat potatoes. Is that stupid or what? And the stupider thing is all afternoon I just wanted to go stick my finger in the chocolate cake because I felt so guilty, you know, I blew it so might as well blow the rest of the day. Thank goodness I kept control. So now I am going to have some veggies tonight, with a small potato. I think that I am going to continue with the basic MM after the 10 day, at least maybe for another week. I am rather liking it.

Looks like everyone else is doing good.


Sksamboots, do those potatoes have dairy in them? I have seen them at the store but I dont always have my glasses with me. Those labels are getting smaller & smaller all the time. I like those "convenience" foods as well.

Congratulations Letha, on your weight loss. Your weight loss journal is very impressive.

Debbie, great to hear that you are still on plan. Letha is right, just BEGIN AGAIN.

Kristykay-Those soups sounded so good.

[sksamboots]

Nope they had no dairy. The only ingrediants were salt and potatoes..They are called Ore-Ida Steam n' mash Russett Potatoes. Worked out very good for me!!!You just stick the bag in the microwave for 10 minutes and viola a whole bag of potatoes...Sodium is a little high but if you have no other option, i think it's a good mary mini's safe option

You did great with the veggie sandwich, no reason to feel guilty at all! Keep on keepin on

[bunsofaluminum]

hi you mini-izer's just got done reading through this thread. I won't be doing a mini yet (waiting for Advent, and then I'll mini all the way through to Christmas Feast Day) but just wanted to say, it has lifted my spirits, reading all of your entries. Very motivating!

keep on going...you're all doing so well

[desertwind56]

Checking in.

janluvs2heel - I also feel bad not sticking 100% either. I made it a day and half. I made "chili fries" last night. And I had oatmeal for breakfast this morning. For me, I'm finding sticking to Mary's mini is harder than I realized it would be. Or maybe I'm just making it hard.

Having a Subway veggie delight was much healthier choice than chocolate cake and cinnamon rolls. I think you did good. In the same situation, I would have had a hard time turning down cake and cinnamon rolls.

I thought about chili all day yesterday so, I made oven fries and vegan chili (kidney beans, black beans, onions, canned tomatoes, tomato paste, corn and spices).

I'm having a hard time sticking to just potatoes and veggies. I also think my body is still trying to adjust to my return to McDougalling. I also told myself to quit worrying about calorie intake.

Years ago, when I first read "The McDougall Program", I could not let go of the idea of the main part of the meal is protein (meat or legumes) based and that potatoes are a side.

But, I am really (slowly) understanding it's the potato (or starch) that is the main part! Trying to follow Mary's mini for a few days has increased that understanding.

I'm going to continue to attempt Mary's mini for another week, but I'm not sure about 100% compliance every day.

Connie M.

[nomikins]

I have been quietly participating. It's so easy for me to post when things are going well, but then I drop out of sight when I falter.

This week, I've been eating very simply (and it's so satisfying) for breakfast and lunch. Preparing dinner each night is a means of stress reduction from the day, so there has been some McDougall variety - some leftovers.

Breakfast this week: Oatmeal with banana and 1/2 tbsp. raisins
Lunches: Sweet potato and broccoli (with some hot sauce)
Dinners: vary from leftovers to whatever I prepare.

I'm doing a half marathon on Sunday morning, so I'll be enjoying some low fiber pasta on Saturday night.

[Letha..]

Hi Sksamboots,
I’ve tried the Ore-Ida Steam n’mash potatoes. Very easy & I thought they tasted good. I liked them topped with creamed corn. The only reason I didn’t buy them more often is because they cost more than twice the price of the raw potatoes.
================================

I’m doing well today. Thanks for the congrats on the weight loss. I’m still doing Mary’s Mini with rice/lettuce/apples. More and more I’m thinking this is gonna be a long term thing. I don’t have any plans for Thanksgiving. I’ve never been real big on Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Last year I used those two holidays as an excuse to eat some regular McDougall Plan food. This year I plan to stay on MWL or Mary’s Mini.
Letha

[Silvafox]

Hi, All,

KristyKay...I'm sitting here wondering if you weighed in the other day or decided to wait for the next six days to be over!!

On this end, I'm "doing better"...mostly potatoes. .Last night I had some brown rice/veggie "stew-p" that I'd made last Friday...

Yesterday, while on the phone with my daughter who was feeling bad that she ate a cookie at work, and then a little carrot cake, and then a little pie (she doesn't eat refined sugar usually and she is 5'11", works out, in great shape, not overweight, but works at being healthy daily) so we had a good conversation about how at 23 or 62 the guilt does NOT serve you...We discussed other things she could have done and we brainstormed about why she would have had the sugar craving. It was a very satisfying "mother-daughter" visit!

Before we were finished, I'd taken my "stash" bag of (organince, evaporaged-cane-juice) chocolate chips out of the back of the cupboard and tossed them out into the compost pile. They were the only thing with sugar in them that I still had in the house and I was "leaning" on them the way some people lean on their coffee. It felt good at the moment to "confess" to her that I'd been nipping on them, but after she hung up I started wondering just how dirty they would get in the compost pile...I mean, it IS clean compost...right?

Well, I left them there. sigh.

Haven't ever been much of one to post messages, but you ladies seem so wonderfully normal. Thanks for letting me ramble here.

DH will be around more this weekend than he's been all week. Wonder if he'll notice the Potato Bender I'm on.

Hope you all have a healthy day.

The Other Deb

[kirstykay]

Checking in today, day 5 for me.

Yesterday:
Bkfst-hashbrowns and cabbage with catsup (sounds weird, tasted really yummy!)New pan helped alot, hashbrowns much better. I found a store- brand organic catsup with no high frucctose corn syrup at Dominck's (safeway)
Snk-apple
Lnch-more hashbrowns and cabbage
Snk-apple
Din-yukon mashed potatoes with corn, green beans, large mixed green salad with dressing that resembles 321, but is store-bought.

Silvafox, congratulations on "doing better"! It feels good when you can get the uper hand on those chocolate chips! They can be strong!!! But you are stronger! That's truly a victory!

Thanks for asking about my weighing dilema. I didn't weigh in yesterday, but this morning at the gym, my trainer said it was weigh-in day, so I did. I've lost 4 pounds in the 4 days I've been doing this!!!!! I was stunned, and thrilled! I think I'm going to try to put one of those ticker things on my profile now that I have something to "tick."

I started doing McD after leaving the nutritionist that my Dr. recommended I go to to "try" before putting my on more bs meds. I lost 6 pounds in two months on her plan that had me eating 1500 calories and counting exchanges. Not bad, but it made my blood sugar go way up (over 200 on my home meter) even though I was losing weight. I was in angst about what to do to avoid more bs medication. I was on the web toying with the idea of counting carbs --something I've never done because I don't believe puting your body in ketosis is good for you. The people blogging that had success with counting carbs were still taking various levels of bs meds. I told my husband what I was thinking and he said; "What about that McDougall thing?" Five years ago when I was first diagnosed with diabetes, I did a vegan diet for about 6 months with a good result. My bs lowered to near normal, and I lost 30 pounds . In the process of that, I bought the MWL book, but I never fully followed it exactly. I thought things were pretty good, and I could reintroduce a little meat into my diet. (Briliant, I know! "Hey this is working, so why don't I change it"!?!) It started with once or twice a week, and before I knew it, I was eating full-on SAD again. It didn't take long for all the cravings to come back, and in less than a 6 -8 months I gained those 30 pounds back and about 10 more. For the last 4 years, I've been yo-yoing, losing the same 5-10 pounds over and over and over again... And each time feeling more and more helpless and hopeless. It never even occurred to me to pick up the MWL book until my husband said that. Now I'm soooooo glad I did. Then I found you all here on this website, and I "lurked" for a while before I decided to jump in with both feet!

This morning my bs was 147. Not perfect, but MUCH better, and it's only been 4 days!!! I am amazed that I am totally satisfied eating this way! I didn't really believe I would be, I just knew I HAD to do something. Who would believe that eating potaoes could help diabetes? That's the LAST thing the "experts" say you should eat! This website and you all have helped me more than you can ever know; and I want to say, I'm just getting started... I'm in this for the long haul! I'll never eat SAD again!

So, thanks!
Kirsty

[sksamboots]

Everyone is doing great! It makes me happy. We are figuring out the plan in our own ways and finding our journey to health!

I decided to switch things up this morning

For breakfast I had a sweet potatoe
and for lunch I'm having a regular russett potatoe....

I think that as long as I stay within the potatoe family, that I will be okay. So far I'm doing really good. I'm a little tempted by my hubby's food but not enough to cave in and eat it. He's currently eating the regular Mcdougall program and is having beans, rice and sweet potatoes. I have to admit I really really love beans, I'm not sure what it is about them but I love them. But so far I'm doing okay with them being cooked and in the house. I just make sure I'm full of potatoes and then I'm good. I'm glad my hubby is currently trying Mcdougall. I say the more you try it the easier it gets. We also just bought The China Study on CD, so I was listening to it while driving to work. It's nice to hear things that reinforce what I am doing. Not much else. I'll check in later. Hope you all have a good day

[Silvafox]

Kristy, it's great to hear your excitement. I had a client with high cholesterol and she did not want to go on meds. I convinced her to just give up all dairy for three months. Her cholesterol improved so much the doctor made a note on her chart (to the nurse) that asked "Did she JUST do this with diet change???". BUT once she escaped being put on the meds she went right back to eating the SAD way! So, you aren't alone!

The Other Deb

[sksamboots]

Deb,

I think we've all been in your shoes again. I think each time I start over, that I just get better at the plan. I think you will too. Here's to another meal

[Silvafox]

Hey, Deb, I'm sure you'll be getting a Lot of wise feedback before the day is over...but I thought I'd tell you what I've been doing. At this point, I too get so disappointed with the concept of "starting over". It doesn't stop me from doing it, but I have a different perspective on things like the Chocolate Chip Incident or, in your case the Pizza Incident.

I think I'm going to look at it more like when I'm in the car with the GPS and it tells me to go one way, but I miss the exit/road/turn-off...so the GPS just recalculates my destination. I know if I keep driving, the GPS will get me back on track shortly.

SOOOO, the connection is that when I "miss" the right foods on the MM/MWL course, I think of it as missing an exit...in a minute I'll back headed in the right direction.

Sometimes I do miss the exit, but the idea of going back to where I started from is too discouraging...am I making sense yet? Maybe it's a crappy analogy.

Mostly I just think "oops" and keep on moving. Maybe if you think of this as Day Four with a few errors it would sting less. We can always doing another 10 days after this 10 is over...we could shoot for 10 days with only five errors.

I wish I thought that would help you feel a bit better.

The Other Deb

[janluvs2heel]

Wow, it sounds like everyone is doing well. Okay, a few sidetrips but now back on track.

I had an interesting day. I had a scheduled lesson (I teach competitive dog obedience) at 10 so had a good breakfast, a sweet potato & an apple. I figured I would be home by lunch time & so didn't take any snacks. Well, it was such a beautiful day & Mary & I started talking. Dont ask me how it came up, but Mary started asking me about the McDougall plan. I swear I didn't really say anything, except that I eat vegan. Well, we spend the next few hours enjoying the sun & talking about eating vegan, pros & cons. Of course I got the where do you get your protein question. Then I got the oh, you can't eat carbs if you are diabetic. Anyway, by the time we left, I think I left her with enough info, she is going to check into this website. I really dont offer a lot of info about my lifestyle, but sometimes it sneaks into the conversation. Anyway, I did not leave until about 330, then had errands, banking, grocery store. I got home at a little before 5. Then putting groceries away, took the dogs out for a run & some training. And I still haven't eaten but get this, I am not hungry. Really an unusual feeling for me. I am always hungry. So I am getting ready to cook some potatoes. The World Finals PBR (professoional bull riders) starts tonight, so want to see that. I will weigh myself on Sunday.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.