Looking back over the last year or so of not being in this group except sporadically, I am seeing a pattern that needs repair! So, last week, my adherence to the following needs much improvement...maybe I was 50% compliant unless otherwise noted below:
1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.****My breakfast or first meal followed this. I would count cooked non-starchy vegetables in this mix of soup, salad or fruit...
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.**** I am figuring this one out as the veggies I eat for my first meal are really enough and make me somewhat full. I do not want to overdo it but also know that it would help to have 50/50 here and I did this as indicated above...not all meals
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them. **** I need work on this due to sugar cravings. 4/7 days compliant. However I do sprinkle some salt or MSG to my veggies. Is this OK?
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). ***** 100%
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).*** 4/7 days
6. Eliminate any added oil. ****4/7 days
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. *** This is a tough one for me...I failed on this with bread or flour tortillas
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). ****100%
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.**** Yes for the most part. I would say better than 50%.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). ****4/7 (long hike and yoga tomorrow like last week 2+hours)
Hope nothing I wrote above is discouraging to anyone. I got to be honest. I have much room for improvement. My plan except on Tuesday is to do my best to follow. I am usually caretaking for my mom plus holding down a couple jobs (mostly online) and then spending time with my wife on the weekends. I am able to cook for myself when with my mom but my wife is a good cook and for the most part cooks a healthy meal that is close to the above. However it is not 100% so excluding those meals I am still able to eat virtually all meals like the above. At my mom's place, I talked her out of getting any non-compliant foods but there was still some bread in the fridge. I will need to tweak this and find some willpower with alternative prepared starch in the fridge at all times....maybe Mary's Mini would do the trick.
The catch-22 is my schedule will be reversed for this coming week. I may not be able to travel for 4 days due to a transjugular liver biopsy that will see if I have scarring in the liver or other issues causing my spleen problems. At any rate, enough said on this. I am a perfect model-citizen especially since 2021 when I gave up a certain habit...there is nothing like the fear of losing one's life that can help with getting rid of a bad habit!
So, the quote from Mark Cooper and Gimmelean seems helpful...something like Mary's Mini may be my ticket for the next couple weeks and perhaps it will get me back on track...will keep you posted. Hear is the quote....much thanks:
Mark Cooper wrote:That all definitely makes sense to me, and may offer a useful framework for others to apply. Thank you so much for sharing!Gimmelean wrote:The Mary’s mini after multiple small detours and then a huge overindulgence was the perfect antidote for me. It was very valuable because it provided a simple, predictable, and structured way of eating. It showed me that I wasn’t really hungry and tended to eat regardless. The first three evenings were the most difficult to overcome cravings.
I felt so good after eating only the right foods that it gave me the motivation to continue to stick with it. I made sure that my foods were prepared in advance and were exactly the same every day, every meal. No extra choices. I avoided eating anything at the office that wasn’t mine because I had plenty of adherent food with me that I enjoyed. I knew I wasn’t physically hungry after eating my prepared planned meals and for me that’s the first step in eliminating recreational eating.
Drew