Moderators: JeffN, f1jim, carolve, Heather McDougall
Great observation! I agree. Wishing you all the best outcomes with everything ahead of you!rlechols wrote:I feel like there is a McDougall plan that works for every phase of my life and keeps me strong and healthy!
This has been a key concept for me. I really strive to have foods I really love and find appealing ready to go and easy to access.Gimmelean wrote:I didn’t feel as if I was missing out on anything, never felt hungry, a huge volume of MWL compliant food and it worked this week.
Wonderful results, and a great practice to take a moment to appreciate and acknowledge them. Onward!Gimmelean wrote:The results I remind myself- energy is good, mood is good, and will pay off in good health for the long term.
Seems like a really sound strategy to me. Feeling pulled in multiple directions and/or having several competing and important demands or obligations feels like one of the hardest things to manage in one's life. It can feel so overwhelming, and all we can expect of ourselves is the best we're capable of doing in that moment. Carry on making your way between those raindrops as best you are able!VegSeekingFit wrote:I try to make most of my meals quick, easy, and portable so that I don’t seek out other options.
Gimmelean wrote: Last Sunday I roasted a head of cabbage. Just rinse it, leave the core on and slice in thick slices with a cleaver. Add herbs and spices and roast on a baking sheet at 425f for 20-30 minutes. In the same oven I roasted Brussels Sprouts, small potatoes and sweet potatoes. Very little effort. Every week I make barley and whole oat groats for my husband’s breakfast in the instant pot. He has the same routine with berries and fresh papaya every day. I also made an instant pot of Harira with a lot of extra veggies to make it more of a 50/50 dish. It’s red lentil and chickpea stew with Moroccan spices.
Mark Cooper wrote:An appropriate and adequate practice of (adherent) food preparation is really an invaluable contributor to ongoing success with this program. Gimmelean, VegSeekingFit, and CindyD all offered up different examples of what that might look like this week:Gimmelean wrote:I continued to batch cook grains; steel cut oats, barley, and bulgur this week to build 50/50 bowls, salads, stuffed peppers. I used frozen ratatouille as a whole wheat pasta sauce. I’ve got a container of red lentil chili in the freezer to do the same next week. Cooking and eating well is the key to maintaining my hard earned weight loss and was key to getting here.VegSeekingFit wrote:I have continued to make the same things (roasted potatoes, pots of rice, Jeff burgers, split pea soup, sloppy lentils, Mexi soup, roasted veggies). I have fresh and frozen produce prepared to easily incorporate into compliant meals very quickly. Have been enjoying Saturday Farmers Market produce selection. When I get home, cutting up the various veggies and roasting them. Slender asparagus is a new to me veggie that I am liking in that mix!CindyD wrote:My current Instant Pot staple includes red lentils, red onion, red bell pepper, red cabbage (or cauliflower), one can no salt tomato sauce or paste, frozen garlic cubes, curry powder, ginger, turmeric, cumin. (I just throw stuff in, I don't measure.) Plain or over rice.
Having adherent food prepared, available and easy to access is one of the most important prerequisites for building a successful and durable practice of MWL.
Mark Cooper wrote:Attention to food preparation and batch cooking seem like common threads through many of this week's reports: BambiS batch cooked some yummy cauliflower soup, Lachoffman kept a big salad ready to go in the fridge and fruit close at hand, Rebecka22 used frozen veggies to make a quick and easy 50/50 plate, Obadiah prepped brown rice and beans on an every other day basis, and Gimmelean made lasagna on the weekend for serving through the week. Being able to easily assemble an adherent meal whenever hunger strikes makes success SO much more attainable.
Mark Cooper wrote:I think the observation below really shows how simple changes can make a real difference in our behavior. Keeping adherent foods "in sight" helps (as does keeping troubling items out).Likewise, a solid routine for food preparation is a great support for adherence.BambiS wrote:I bought a fruit bowl, now fruit is in one place and in sight.GreenFroG wrote:I batch cook the oatmeal in the crockpot and then put it into containers so it is ready to heat up in the microwave in the mornings.
I try to batch cook my food on the weekends, so then I often fix half the plate with pre-cooked food and the other half with fresh vegetables that I can steam in the microwave. We got a big bag of fresh oranges, so I have been having oranges for dessert.Another great point here:VegSeekingFit wrote:* Key for me is planning, shopping, preparation to make starch, veggies, fruit easy to grab and incorporate into any meal.
* Finished week 3 of eating oatmeal for breakfast... (and I do love it!!!)
* Have roasted many potatoes, made oven fries, made a few pots of brown rice.
* I made a few pots of soup / chili / beans this week - Split Pea Soup, Creamy Beany (from this web-site), Black Bean soup (from this web-site), Red lentil chili.Noella wrote:it reminded me how important it is to always have a couple choices of satiating foods ready to eat, like roasted potatoes, cooked rice or precooked pasta that I can eat with some veggies on those rare times I suddenly I get hungry.
Mark Cooper wrote:Already, I'm seeing quite a number of excellent tools and practices surfacing here. To highlight just a few:VegSeekingFit wrote:* I have been eating "finger food" salad where I just pile some combination of greens, tomatoes, carrots, persian cucumber, broccoli, bell pepper on a plate (liking this right now more than the bowl of salad).
* Also, I have been preparing pans of roasted vegetables and eating them cold for a "salad".Noella wrote:Every morning, my husband (an extreme early bird!) batch-prepares brown rice, potatoes/sweet potatoes/delicato squash, steel-cut oats for us to add the starch balance to each of our meals. We like cooking so we have made pots of marinara sauce/soup/lentil stew for this week. We use our favourite family recipes and make these without added oil and salt. Two years ago sautéing onions and other veggies without oil was a shocking and new experience for us; now it’s our normal cooking habit . . . When we travel I take enough roasted potatoes to last the first three days. I even add pre-roasted potato to my salad at the restaurant, if needed.moonlight wrote:I have been making large batches of soup when I'm in the mood to stay in the kitchen and cook. I then freeze it in 4 cup containers. This is so very helpful to stay compliant for lunch and dinner.CUgorji22 wrote:I made a big batch of Mary McDougall's zucchini soup and portioned out the soup into small bowls for easy grab and go . . . Batch cooking my greens has become my new norm!Gimmelean wrote:I’ve gotten into the habit of saving vegetable scraps, peels, onion skins in a slider bag in the freezer and then making a homemade vegetable broth in the instant pot with at least 3 cups of the mixture. Makes beautiful broth with little time or work needed with my Instantpot . . . Key to this long post- plan-shop-prep and having it all available in advance to grab helps me choose the the right foods when I’m hungry, stressed, or tired and less likely to make any choices at all.
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