Discussion Board

Hello Friends,

KC - HI I have been thinking of you! I'm sorry that you have had some setbacks, but pinkrose and Jubilee have responded with wisdom. You have shown that you can do this, so get right back in the saddle and you can once again see the scale go the other way. Don't be hard on yourself - you are precious in God's eyes and we are blessed to have you here.

I've got a busy morning, but I'll try to get back later!

I think we have all had "one of those days" when we have felt like everything is going wrong: today is bad and tomorrow will be worse!

Maybe that is what David was experiencing when he wrote:

"1 Hear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 2 Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. 3 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long. 4 Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. 5 You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you. 6 Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. 7 In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me. 8 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. 9 All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name. 10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God. 11 Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. 12 I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. 13 For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave. 14 The arrogant are attacking me, O God; a band of ruthless men seeks my life-- men without regard for you. 15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. 16 Turn to me and have mercy on me; grant your strength to your servant and save the son of your maidservant. 17 Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me." (Psalm 86, NIV)

It seems as if David felt the comfort and strength from God before he finished writing this psalm. May we know His comfort and strength as we look up and cry out to Him.

Dear Father, give me an undivided heart. May I be fully devoted to doing your will. May I love You with my total being. Thank you for your strength, comfort and help. I ask this in the powerful name of Jesus. Amen.

I am grateful for all of you are participate on this thread!

Request: If you are part of "our gang" here and you see that nobody has posted a message on our thread in the last 24 hours, would you please post something? Suggestions for posts:

1. Tell us something about your struggles and/or victories.
2. Give us some words of encouragement in regard to our faith and McDougalling.
3. Share something light or funny that will give us a lift.
4. Share prayer requests.
5. Share good words from the good Book.

As you may say in the winter: "Throw a little wood on the fire!"

On Thursday I was in a slump, disappointed about a few things and not feeling very effective. I sought God's encouragement. Yesterday I received it! I had a problem in regard to the work here and early Friday AM, I think the solution to the problem came to me as I was praying. In the afternoon and evening I had several pleasant encounters with several sweet people who also encouraged me.

When you need a lift, look up and ask for it!

"1 Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. 2 Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. 3 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. 4 Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always." (Psalm 105, NIV)

Hello everyone.

I am so grateful for all of you. I am so busy doing the kids and school, I feel overwhelmed. Today everyone is gone and I'm trying to catch up.

1. I read pinkrose where you do Weight Watchers last week. I don't know if I have that right but anyhow. . .

Last Tuesday night I got into bed upset. I do well all day and then blow it. Also, I have been shoving blts in my mouth. So I prayed and remembered that a friend started Weight Watchers and I thought hmm!
I got on this site and though can I do vegan on WW.
I got on the net and looked up a meeting time. I went the next morning and the lecturer was 80% vegan and raw foods and 20 vegetarian. So I considered this a sign from God. Anyhow I joined.

I am writing down my food, tracking my points, and measuring. I am doing soooooo much better. I need perimeters.

Love you oatmeal. I sure wish I new when you guys got on line Whenever I am on, no one else is. God Bless and pray for me to be on program. kc

Thanks for posting, KC! While I have never done WW (and doubt if we have it here), if you find the support you need there to help you follow the program here I am happy for you, KC!

Question: Why do you think you have been having so much difficulty being faithful to Dr. McDougall's program?

Hi Gang!

It's good to hear from you pinkrose and KC!!

I'm glad KC that you are combining the WW with McD to get a little more structure which you feel you need right now. I hope that this will work well for you. I know that many people on McD say that they can eat all they want and not gain weight. But others seem to need more perameters and structure. I think I read a post by Katydid recently (maybe it was on MWL thread) and she has lost a lot of weight, but feels right now that she needs to do some calorie counting. I'm still playing aroung with this 10lbs. that I have had clinging to me all this year. Right now I have started journaling everything I eat - for me, this seems to help stop all the mindless snacking because I know I'll have to write it down . I also put the tupperware container that has the cereal mix in it (my downfall) way up high where I have to get on a step stool to get it. So even though my boys are rolling their eyes that they have to climb to get their cereal, it's working at keeping me away from it. Hehe.

One thing that has been a blessing for me as a mom this week is seeing my older son made a career change and he is loving his new job so much (insurance sales - he used to be a mechanic). The working environment is a real turnaround from what he was in. He's in a beautiful new office, with a wonderful boss who is encouraging, and he is making sales!! I'm so proud of him, and God is answering prayers as we are praying for him each day.

I don't have a strength verse to share right now, but a special portion of scripture to me is Psalm 37: 4-5. My DH and I had it on our wedding invitations. I hope that we can all delight ourselves in the Lord each day, and He truly will give us the desires of our heart.

Love you guys - you are the best and I'm thankful for each and every one of you!!

Thanks for your good words, Luv!

"4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun." (Psalm 37, NIV)

Hi all,

Well,I stuck to my points all day and then we went to a buffet. If I hadn't been on WW I wouldn't have known how much and what to eat, not would I have seen the the perimeter of staying true to my program.

I used to belong to Food Addicts Anny. They are great for being so very ridgid and hard core. I've always thought that this program got rid of all my overeating problems but slowly I returned to nibbling at foods I shouldn't have. And then that grew into full portions of birthday cake.

Like tonight I had a seving of sugar free, fat free, frozen yogurt. Now that I'm home I know I didn't go over my diet points from WW but it's not Vegan.

You know 90% of what I do is Vegan. But for now, I am adding vegan morningstar and some boca burgers to my program. It is the best I can do. On those days when I have to cook for the family and myself, I fix their meat and my boca's and add brown rice, or tortillas, and veggies.

My true goal is health. And a huge part of that is getting this weight off. I gotta do what makes that happen. I hope this week to make my own black bean veggie patties and freeze them. Any good recipes out there?

For God so created the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Thank you! kc

Greetings everyone,

I've had a rough week- 2 meals out that definitely weren't vegan. I had "allowed" myself a birthday cheat meal with a friend on Thursday. That was planned. Then Friday I had to go to a funeral which was followed by a meal- Cheesy lasagne, salad, and fruit. Plus desert. And... another desert. Sigh. Somehow, having eaten "off" on Thursday, made it very easy to just excuse myself on Friday. So, this is a good reminder how easily I fall, and it's back to the right path now...

Yesterday I did something crazy. I ran (well, mostly walked) a 5k. I had signed up for one in the spring which I ended up not able to do because of my surgery. I was totally bummed and had it in the back of my mind that I still wanted to do one this year. I have done one before, in the spring of 2009. It was totally fun, and I kept telling myself I'd do better next year. It was very motivating. So, yesterday, though everyone I asked refused to join me, I went. Most runners were with friends or family, so it was kind of lonesome, but I figured it was still a good thing for me to do, and I was going to have a good time. As I walked and jogged (well, more of a shuffle), I kept repeating Phil 3:14. I knew I wouldn't win any prizes, but that's the verse that I focused on. My prize is His high calling, and these days He's called me to get fit and present my body a living sacrifice.

So, how did I do? Well, keeping in mind that I'm 65+ pounds overweight, and had surgery 4 months ago, I guess I'm satisfied. The fact is... this is hard to admit... I was dead last. No one even near me but the police car that follows the race. It was very quiet being in last place. At least they hadn't put away the timing equipment when I finally got to the finish. Even though it had the potential to be pretty humiliating, I still had fun. There were several individual people along the route who cheered me on as I plodded by, and I was blessed by their kindness. One race monitor joked that since I was smiling, I was automatically disqualified. I shouldn't have been having so much fun!

At least I no longer care so much what others think. I guess that's a benefit of being over 50 When I was younger, that definitely would have kept me out of the race. The thought of what others thought and said, when they saw a sweaty obese woman shuffling along, holding up the end of the race, and coming in with a time about triple what the winners did, well.. those are the kinds of thoughts that would have caused me to say "there is NO WAY I'm going to do this". Now, people can say or think what they want. I figure I'd rather be in last place, than not in the race at all.

So, today I'm stiff and sore, and motivated again to exercise more regularly. And, I'm thankful that the Lord gave me the strength to do a 5k! Praise His name.

So, I'm praying that you all are having great adventures of your own on this journey, and pressing on toward the mark for the prize of the high call of God in Christ Jesus. Sometimes winning is a breath-taking finish with lots of crowds, cheers, and excitement. But, sometimes it's an out-of-breath determination to just quietly keep going even when you're all alone, and you know you're going to be last. Winners aren't always in first place. If we're in Christ, one way or another, we win.

Blessings,
Jubilee

Hi All!

Jubilee - I LOVED your story of the 5K, and yes, it's way better to finish last, then to not race at all. I know that in some Ultra races (50 plus miles and more) they give the last place person a prize or special recognition!! So keep at it, and who knows, you might be doing an ultra in your future! And it is sure nice to be free from the "what will other people think" mentality. Ahhh... I'm just about there myself. Really, what God thinks is the only thing that matters. If we please Him, everything else will fall into place.
I loved your last paragragh too - some very profound thoughts and they have blessed me today. Thank you.

Hi KC - Hope you have a good week this week. I have tried several black bean burger recipes and they are all pretty good. The time involved is what always stalls me - I like to do real quick and easy things (I'm lazy in the cooking department lately). But it would be better and more economical for you to make your own and freeze them that purchasing ready made ones.

Hi pinkrose - I meant to say that I'm glad God answered your prayers when you needed a little lift. You're right - when we need a lift, look up and ask for it.

Take care everyone and thanks for all the great posts.

Hey kids. I've been doing "research" here and finding some ideas and recipes. I thought I'd check in here too.

Pinkrose, I get daily devotions from my synod's website. Friday's is here: http://www.wels.net/spiritual-help/dail ... er-17-2010
I love reading these, they usually follow along with the daily devotion readings and tie in with each week's sermons too. These Lutherans are so organized.

Our family continues to deal with multiple food sensitivities in our son. It is really funny, if I step back and look at it. I've been fighting his whole life to get him to eat more vegetables and LESS meat, and it turns out that all the stuff he's allergic to are the vegetables I've been trying to get into him! He is not allergic to the meats! He is allergic to kidney, lima, and pinto beans, which are staples of our diet. Also onions. Can you believe THAT? Now, try to imagine cooking with NO ONIONS. Almost as bad as being a beginner McDougaller and trying to make pizza with NO CHEESE!!

Jubilee, aren't you the kid who had surgery for the kidney stone? And you ran a 5k run?

I have been doing lots of piano and organ practice with absolutely NO PAIN at all. Which is amazing. Having my thyroid dose back up where I need it helps, but so does this WOE.

Well, I am off to peel potatoes. They will be mashed with broccoli and garlic and NO ONIONS.

Yep, Mrs. Doodlepunk, that's me. My surgery was in May- a giant kidney stone removed through my back. And the reason I'm still doing this is, struggles and all, is because that's one experience I'd rather not re-live! Ever!!

Also, sorry it's so rough, trying to figure out your son's sensitivities. I guess, even though beans and onions (!!) are hard to do without, you at least have some more data on what he needs. I pray that this new info makes the difference, and it gets simpler to deal with from now on.

Good job KC on sticking to your points at the buffet. When faced with a buffet, I think it's hard not to have just a little of this, and just a little of that, until you've had just a LOT of transgressions. So, my hat's off to you!

Thanks for the kind words, Luv. Wow, last place gets prizes ?!? I was ROBBED! Also, it's nice to read about your son's new job. What a blessing to be a mom, eh? I too rejoice in my daughter's joys and blessings.

Pink, thanks for keeping us all posting. You seem to be our rallying support, and you always have some new idea or link to keep us thinking. May you be blessed.

Our strength is in the Lord!
Jubilee

Thanks for the link, Mrs. D.! I have bookmarked it!

KC, in regard to your struggles, I pray for you.

Jubilee, in regard to finishing the 5K, congratulations! I hope that one benefit of this is that you will think about how much better you will do with walking and running when you are lighter! I recall the hot humid day when I first "ran" (with a little walking) 10 miles. I carried a lot of excess weight. The next year, I was lighter and ran it much better. When you think about what you can accomplish in a year by being faithful to your good plans, this will help you to maintain your efforts. Along with Mrs. D., I am also glad that you care less about what people think of you.

".... We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts." (1 Thessalonians 2.4, NIV)

Let us, like the psalmist, thank Him for the help and strength He has give us!

'1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2 Let Israel say: "His love endures forever." 3 Let the house of Aaron say: "His love endures forever." 4 Let those who fear the LORD say: "His love endures forever." 5 In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free. 6 The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? 7 The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies. 8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. 9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes. 10 All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off. 11 They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off. 12 They swarmed around me like bees, but they died out as quickly as burning thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off. 13 I was pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me. 14 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. 15 Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: "The LORD's right hand has done mighty things! 16 The LORD's right hand is lifted high; the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!" 17 I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done. 18 The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death. 19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD. 20 This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter. 21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. 22 The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; 23 the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 O LORD, save us; O LORD, grant us success. 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you. 27 The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. 28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. 29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.' (Psalm 118, NIV)

Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. PS. 81:1

Are you singing in His strength, or struggling today?

Blessings,
Jubilee