Discussion Board

So happy to hear about the weight coming down. I can't even imagine living where the air gets that bad, but I guess we will all be dealing with that if things continue like they are for too many more years.

Keep on trucking!

Fulenn

Nichole & Fuelenn:

Ya - it's true the weight is coming off and I didn't even exercise once this week and haven't worn my CPAP most of the week. With the air quality being the way it is I am fighting some kind of sinus thing again and something else is going on I have felt kind of sick for the last few days. It hasn't put me off food - with the exception of missing one fruit this week - I have been on target with my usual daily food consumption.

Anyway there is a 1.5 lb loss this week and I don't know how long it's been since I have done anything like that!

January 01, 2012 - 212.0
January 06, 2012 - 210.5
January 13, 2012 - 209.5
January 20, 2012 - 208.0
January 27, 2012 - 210.0
February 03, 2012 - 207.0
February 10, 2012 - 207.0
February 18, 2012 - 208.0
February 24, 2012 - 207.5
March 02, 2012 - 206.0
March 09, 2012 - 205.5
March 16, 2012 - 206.0
March 22, 2012 - 204.0
March 29, 2012 - 208.0
April 05, 2012 - 203.5
April 13, 2012 - 210.5
April 14, 2012 - 208.5
April 19, 2012 - 206.5
April 26, 2012 - 205.0
May 04, 2012 - 205.5
May 11, 2012 - 204.5
May 18, 2012 - 205.0
May 24, 2012 - 203.0
June 01, 2012 - 202.0
June not precisely MWL due to soft foods diet after dental probs.
June 22, 2012 - 204.5
June 29, 2012 - 204.0
July 06, 2012 - 203.5
July 12, 2012 - 203.5
July 20, 2012 - 203.0
VACATION no weigh in
August 03, 2012 - 202.5
August 10, 2012 - 201.0

Down - 1.5

I haven't lost over a pound since May. Funny thing that is when I got my thyroid meds refilled with the generic they are now discontinuing. I do think it's been the thyroid meds! I have been using the prior pills that were at a slightly higher dose and get the new generic when I am done with those. So O may plateau again in the future - it's going to be a wait see on that. But I am sure happy today!

This morning on the day of my 60th BIRTHDAY. I weighed 199.6 - I have lost the terrible 2's!

I haven't weighed under 200 in a decade.

Happiest BD present ever - lossing weight and getting my health back both!!

Weight: 199.6

FINALLY UNDER 200

I am truly happy and will not forget this Birthday for sure! STILL, THE Reality check is -- I thought if lost 2 pounds a week through this WOE -- I'd be at my goal weight OF 150 POUNDS by my 60th birthday!

Real reality is I have lost not even a quarter of this. But between last Saturday and this I did loose over 4 pounds this week.

Hopefully, my problem has been the thyroid drug I'd been on. I am really, really happy today that I am loosing again!

I also just realized that I made my first goal of vegan dieting: I have gone under 200 pounds. It took 10 months to do it actually over that including the weeks I was on Esselstyne's diet - but I have lost 30 pounds total as a vegan. I shouldn't forget I was at 250 at my highest so I have lost 50 pounds since I started really applying myself to trying to loose!

Fifty pounds I think is a really good accomplishment - it was terribly slow - I have sen people come here and get to their goal in like 10 weeks. I am just so happy for them - but this could have been for me, particularly lately on this llllooooonnnnnggggg plateau, a really discouraging period! IT WAS NOT THOUGH!

The reason it's not is all the sincerely nice folks here!!!!! I am so glad to have met you people! You are all so supportive and also here for changing your health with every bite you take So, I have not been discouraged hardly at all because people sympathize, offer suggestions, commiserate and wish me well. I am so terribly thankful for these folks and this forum!!!

The other part beyond how cool all the folks are - is that even though the pounds have, as yet, not melted off quickly -- the health issues are disappearing and that is the real goal.

I'd like to be like Rosey and say that my fibromyalgia was gone in a few weeks after starting - mine's not! It goes up and down still. There are still times when the pain is very high - but the energy is so much better and secondary symptoms of the fibro are just gone, like restless legs, and IBS. Even the headaches are less often and the energy is so much more! So no complaints there either.

MY BIRTHDAY PLEDGE TO MYSELF

The thing is -- I made my first goal, yay for that -- and now I will schedule another blood test and meet with my doctor. I want to share this happy time with her for being so supportive of this change to a vegan lifestyle. I mean other than babies and maybe surviving cancer treatments or another big health crisis - do we ever think to say thanks to our docs when they are there for us! So that's coming up.

Then there is the part about what's the next goal. I am going to set the bar really high - personally I think this is undoable - but I am going to treat everyday like I can do it and aim for it. I am going for the next thirty pounds by Thanksgiving. I want the folks around the table at Turkey Day - to be able to SEE why I am not eating all that "good food" and really understand without me explaining myself anymore - why I have done this and that it hasn't been a hardship for me at all. That it's been nothing but good.

If I loose this next thirty pounds - actually just a little over - I will be in normal range!!!! There after, my next goal would actually be goal weight !! Maybe after to see if I can get back to the weight I was for most of my life 137.5.

137.5 is what I weighed in High School and until I had my hysterectomy at 41 and went on thyroid drugs the fibro followed those health issues. And once I had fibro the weight just wouldn't budge - and I tried lots of diets let me NOT tell you what all!

137.5 puts me right at 20 BMI too. It never occurred to me that for like half my life I was exactly where is should have been weight wise. It's clear though at that weight I wasn't where I should have been health-wise - I got cancer at that weight. But then I was also a drinking 1/2 gallon of milk a day, having yogurt twice a day and eating cheese every chance I got! Not to mention eating out and having steak, ham, roast beef and other delicacies all the time.

I've now read Colin Campbell - I have no doubt that what I was eating fed the cancer everything it needed to go out of control. So I am not ever going there again. This is why I say I am in it for my health not as much the weight loss. Still, I also want the TC to be below 150 and the LDL to be less than 80 - like Dr. Esselstyn notes is the zone below which there are no heart attacks and that is going to come with the weight coming off - I doubt I can get there with out being firmly in normal range.

So these are all my goals for the WOE and this is my first day of trying to achieve the next one. AND I am absolutely jazzed and energized to to so!!

B: oatmeal/fruit/flax/cinnamon/almond milk w/ herbal coffee 1 tbsp coconut creamer
L: giant salad with 2 cups rice and veggies
S: banana
D: potatoes/cabbage/cauliflower w/ pub mustard
S: apple

Hi Michelle,

Congrats on leaving the 200's behind ! I look forward to to seeing you reach the rest of your goals.

M34

Michelle! Congrats!! You're in the 1's!!!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Bday, Michelle! I'm so happy for what you've accomplished so far by taking your health into your own hands! The past year has been all about growth and learning, for both of us, now let's see what the next year brings Just keep moving forward. Love you! B

Millie, Silver & Blue:

Wow - that's a rainbow of names - thanks for the birthday wishes and the congrats on being in the onesees!

I really do think the next year is where the most improvement will show. This year has been pretty hard on me and the weight loss has been possibly the slowest ever recorded on McDougall - I averaged just 2 pounds a month. I didn't start out that way - I was doing much better earlier on. There were Holiday issues albeit but it's the disorders too. My doctor says I just cn't be hard on myself because I have a lot of issues that make weight loss a challenge. And the health plan pharmacy hasn't helped by supplying us thyroid meds that weren't very viable!! I don't care I still took off 30 since being vegan and I feel so much better - and love watching us all make problems and leave health issues in the dust behind us. YAY!!!!!

I think 60 is going to be my best year yet and 59 wasn't shabby either

B: oatmeal/fruit/flax/cinnamon/almond milk w/ herbal coffee 1 tbsp coconut creamer
L: giant salad with 2 cups rice and veggies
S: banana
D: zucchini squash over rice
S: apple

Really tired today. I have been cleaning out old file drawers- maybe it's just not a motivating job. It's a 4 drawer file cabinet and out of the 4 drawers - so far I have left only about 6 inches of mostly documents that really needed to be saved. Guess this project is more then overdue Also yard work - so no exercise at the gym today today. Total days effort is about 5 hours of work and like I said I am tired - but I couldn't even think of pushing through before this WOE

Happy Birthday, Michelle, and congrats on being in the "1's"!! Bravo!

moonwatcher

Thanks moonwatcher - I am feeling so happy about this

You should be. It's a grand accomplishment. Keep up the good work.

moonwatcher

OMG! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHELLE!!!

What an amazing accomplishment - you have achieved so much this year, and you are an inspiration. I applaud your next goal, and I'll be here cheering you on every step of the way!

Here's to letting them really *get* why you are eating this way, come Turkey Day.

ps - I think cleaning out old papers and files is tiring too! For me, it is emotionally and mentally exhausting, and boring to boot! Nice once done, though. Gotta give it that

Happy Birthday, Michelle. It's a happy day when the first number on the scale is a "1" instead of a "2"! I just hit a milestone this morning, below a weight that I was stuck at for ages about 6 six years ago. I got off that plateau back then but went in the wrong direction.

Cleaning files is so tiring! This week I've been dealing with stacks of paperwork that have been piled up for ages. I've not done the filing cabinet for a couple of years and don't have the time to tackle that huge job. The one caution I'd give is that if you do lots of paper shredding, wear a mask. Years ago, I irritated the lining of my lungs by breathing in all the tiny paper dust particles from shredding bags and bags of old files. Wear the mask especially when you are dumping from the container into a clear plastic bag for recycling. (At least it can be recycled in my area. Check your guidelines there.)

Weight: 200.0 Oh no! Not really it's my typical Tuesday spike the low pressure system is back again!
Pain: 7 up again
Fatigue: 7 that's up too

I have to check out my pain and fatigue days closely - I am also wondering if Tuesdays should just be a down day again after I do the food Closet on Mondays. I just can't seem to muster the next day!

Hey Chile and Nicole - thanks for the birthday greetings and commiseration on my excess paper eradication project.

It's really 6 file drawers and long deep ones at that. It's not just my stuff, if it were it would be much easier. It's my Mom's stuff too. She also ran a business out of this house for 20 years - so let's point out it's the files of a business too.

I have been living in this house for 6 years and have been working on it all along. But I am no longer dabbling at it, as I am often now feeling better due to the WOE. Plus, I vow the house has to be mine by mid September. At this point it means reclaiming the office and living room.

Well not really -- the living room. Most of the furniture will go, two more couches - one is already out - three more chairs and a hassock will go. This will leave the living room 1/2 empty so I can move in the last storage facilities worth of -- oh help -- my boxes to go through.

JUST SHOOT ME SOMEONE, PLEASE!

I am seriously living in three rooms now and I want the living room and office to be all mine too. Of course there is still an artist's studio and utility room to clean out too - but those are for next year!

I actually hired a home organizer for about a week before I figured out while his assistant was working with me - he was stealing stuff! So I have been reticent to try that again. I was lucky that I was only having him help in the studio and a garden area at that point - not much to take from those, but he was.

But it is probably the most draining work to do mentally and with the fibro brain fog and exhaustion to begin with it's tedious beyond belief. So far I have filled to the brim the largest debris boxes 3 times and probably 10 big pick up truck loads. About 25 trips to goodwill with a full station wagon too! I typically fill my garbage can and recycle weekly with the excess and I am nowhere done.

I have friends who will help I know I've said this before - but really it's more trouble then it's worth orchestrating them too. when I get to the utility room and studio then I willl be ready for them I hope.

I should stop whining I already got the good sympathy - but I am just procrastinating on actually doing todays work!

But I'll tell you both it completely helps to have your understanding on this and Chile thanks so much for the hint on the paper dust. I'll hit the hardware store this afternoon for some plastic bags ( oh how I hate to buy plastic but that's the only way the refuse company will take the shred waste) and a MASK.

It's too bad you don't live closer to me. I've helped several folks with decluttering, mostly because they were either too busy to do it alone or too disabled. In all cases, I took the items to go to whatever charity they chose. Stealing from a client is unforgiveable!

Good luck with all that work.