Marla's CRON-o-meter Chronicle

[Chile]

I noticed something you shared on some else's journal regarding Doug Lisle's, "Willpower Paradox".

Can you share your thoughts on the "Willpower Paradox" ... different from "Pleasure Trap"?

Marla, I hope you don't mind if I jump in here. As I read this, I was trying to remember where I put my notes on that lecture by Doug. Of course, due to the mess in my office, I have no idea!

However, I do know how to search the Internet and I found this really helpful blog post that sums up his lecture very nicely. http://traceyeakin.wordpress.com/2014/0 ... willpower/ I noticed this talk is available for purchase on a DVD now, too. It would be a good one for anyone's collection of tools on how to succeed at eating a healthy diet in an unhealthy world. (McDougall store DVD link)

[Marla]

I noticed something you shared on some else's journal regarding Doug Lisle's, "Willpower Paradox".

Can you share your thoughts on the "Willpower Paradox" ... different from "Pleasure Trap"?

Hi John, thank you so much for your kind words. I love your journal too; it is always so uplifting. As one food addict talking to another, I can tell you that it helps tremendously to read about how others deal with this. We stumble, we struggle, we find new approaches to try, we get back up and on the path again, and we don't give up. And one day we look back and see how far we've come. You and your wife are shining examples of this!

I want to thank my pal Chile for posting that helpful link which summarizes Doug's Willpower Paradox lecture. I don't have the DVD, but Chile and I saw Doug present the talk in Tucson last May. I took notes, so let me see what else I can add.

Firstly, I will say that the "new" theories about willpower, as pioneered by Roy Baumeister in the late 1990s and discussed by Doug in his lecture, are not the same old cliches we grew up with. It's not about your character, or your strength, or your determination to do the right thing. It's about your biology, particularly your neural circuitry. Doug describes the basic mechanisms in "The Pleasure Trap," but he takes it further in "The Willpower Paradox" and shares the "secrets" to improving your willpower. For me, personally, his insights were very helpful. I also (around the same time last year) read a wonderful book by Kelly McGonigal called The Willpower Instinct, which I will talk more about in a second.

What is willpower, anyway? Doug says [this is from my lecture notes] that willpower is a problem of organizing short-term strategy vs. optimal long-term strategy, when these two are in conflict. We are all wired for pleasure seeking, but we also have a long-term goal of self-preservation and pain avoidance. Under normal circumstances (as with an animal in its natural environment), a creature will act in its best long-term interests; for example, an impala that is eating tasty grass will run away from the food when it sees a predator. However, in a scenario where the pleasure circuits are hyper-activated (as you find in our world of hyper-palatable foods laden with sugar, fat, and salt), the creature will be more prone to making mistakes -- choosing the tasty food even knowing that it is dangerous in the long term. Supernormal stimuli are what create this problem.

One of Doug's main ideas is that our willpower (in any situation, not just food-related ones) will be better if our brains have plenty of glucose available. Staying starched up, and not letting yourself get too hungry, is important.

Another concept is that our willpower can be depleted and worn down. It really IS like a muscle, and when we use it a lot, it gets tired and weak. This helped me to understand why I sometimes do great with my food choices when faced with enormous temptation (like at a party or potluck), and then come home and eat everything in my own cupboards! Doh! Or why I sometimes come home from vacation, all proud of how much temptation I resisted during the trip, and then fall off the wagon as soon as my suitcase is unpacked. Does this ever happen to anyone else? But if you know that your willpower is critically depleted, you can take steps to protect yourself by being extra vigilant during those times and controlling your environment to keep tempting foods away from you until you recover your strength.

It was particularly helpful for me to understand that making decisions is exhausting to our willpower "muscle," and the more I can "automate" my choices so that I don't have to think about them, the better I do. Habits and routines are very important. The more we keep our behavior consistent from day to day, and the fewer decisions we have to make about food, the less we struggle with cravings, urges, and impulses.

So, Doug's recommendations encompass ways we can reduce the "clutter" of willpower-depleting decisions, in our environment and in our mind. He calls it "weeding our garden." Every time we indulge in hyper-palatable foods, we sow the seeds for more struggle. If we ate potato chips yesterday, we will have an internal debate about whether to eat them today. The recollection of how they tasted will be fresh in our mind, the pleasure circuits in our brain will fire up at the thought of eating them; and the behavior will be a vivid memory that calls on us to repeat it. On the other hand, if it has been a very long time since we ate chips, we may remember enjoying them in the past, but we don't feel particularly tempted by them because the memory is not as vivid, and we have a new behavior pattern now -- we don't eat that, it isn't food, and why would we even consider it? No decision to be made.

Hence, the "willpower paradox": those who seem to have fantastic willpower are the ones who don't use it much. They don't have to, because they have "weeded their garden," and thus, they have fewer decisions to make that require -- and deplete -- their willpower reserves.

I promised to say a bit more about Kelly McDonigal's book, The Willpower Instinct. It is fascinating, and I found her recommendations helpful in a practical sense (not just theory). Here's a talk she gave in 2012 which I think is worth watching if you are interested in this stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5BXuZL1HAg

Also, here's a short, fun article from Psychology Today by Rebecca Gladding, co-author of the book You Are Not Your Brain. It touches on some of these same ideas and outlines 4 steps you can take to boost your willpower and resist temptation: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/use ... temptation

And now it's time for me to get out and exercise....exercise has been shown to boost willpower! No one knows why, according to Doug, but I have found it to be true for me. Have a healthy weekend everyone!

[Marla]

Tonight, my 23-year-old son wanted to buy us dinner. How sweet! Unfortunately, we don't eat at restaurants much, and when we do, we don't consider it a treat. A baked potato and salad is acceptable....a plate of steamed vegetables and brown rice is acceptable.... but I could have much yummier food if I cooked it myself. There are a couple of exceptions that we enjoy and that are on-plan, and we had one of those tonight. We decided to get it "to go" because we were all feeling more like relaxing at home.

Mongolian BBQ (sometimes called "Hibachi grill") is a type of restaurant where diners can choose from an array of fresh vegetables and sauces, which are cooked on a huge iron grill (without oil). At the place we like to go, the veggies are always nice and fresh, and we have gotten to know the owners, so we were able to ask if we could bring our own tofu from home (in a ziplock bag) to add to our veggies. The only tofu they have in the ingredient bar is deep fried, and when we explained that we can't eat that, they graciously made an exception to their "no outside food" policy for us. I don't always bring tofu; sometimes I just add lots of mushrooms, which are a good stand-in and make the dish seem heartier. They have noodles too, but they coat them in oil to prevent sticking, so we don't use them. We do use their sauces, which have no oil (we asked, on several occasions just to make sure, and they swear they do not use any oil -- not even a little sesame oil). The sauces are high in sodium, because they are soy sauce based, so I use them sparingly, and we don't eat there often. This is our first visit of 2014.

This is the vegetable bar, where you can fill a bowl with whatever veggies you like.



This is the sauce bar, where you can choose any combination of chopped garlic, Kung Pao Sauce, Szechuan Sauce, Teriyaki, "House Sauce," soy sauce, ginger, wine, rice vinegar, and sugar water. I was good and did not add peanuts, even though I love them.



Here is my bowl all heaped up and ready to be cooked. I always ask the chef to clean the grill before cooking my food, which they are happy to do for their vegetarian customers.



This is how they cook it.



And this is how it looked at home, paired with brown rice that I made in my Instant Pot.



After dinner, I enjoyed a bowl of fresh pineapple, Ataulfo mango (also called honey mango or champange mango), and fresh strawberries from a local strawberry stand. Heaven! The strawberries are like candy, and they pick them the same morning you buy them.



Lifeisgreat, here is a map that lists all of the Sacramento strawberry stands. They all have similar growing practices. The ones we go to (closest to home for us) are on, or near, Elkhorn Blvd. in North Highlands or U Street in Rio Linda. But maybe there is one near you! https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8 ... dg=feature

[CHEF AJ]

Since I live in sacramento I would love to know where you get your berries.

If you live in Sac would you like to attend HTOS 2 (Healthy Taste of Sacramento)? Both Dr. McDougall and Dr. Lisle are speaking. You can find out more at www.HealthyTasteOnLine.com

[CHEF AJ]

Smudgemom,

Lifeisgreat, I appreciate your comment so much. Regaining your health and going back to college....wow, those are amazing accomplishments. It hurts me to hear that people have been critical of you at WFPB events. I know what it is like because it has happened to me too, and to others I know. Last year an acquaintance of mine gave me a button that says "never trust a fat vegan." It was supposed to be "motivational" for me. I thought it was in very poor taste, and it highlighted for me how strangers (even in our own plant-based community) perceive those of us with weight issues. Chef AJ faced this kind of criticism in the past, and I think that Susan V of fatfreevegan.com has been bashed for her weight also. It is unkind and completely uncalled for.

I

This is a very heated topic and both sides are very passionate. The reason I have NEVER been selected as a juror as I can see both sides of things. If a chef is overweight and just promoting delicious recipes, I don't think it's such a big issue if they are overweight. Most chefs in all cooking realms are overweight. But if they are promoting the vegan diet for health and weight loss, than I could see it being a problem.

People do judge us on our appearance whether we are vegan or not. Dr. Lisle does some great lectures about his at True North and explains from an evolutionary stand point why most men do not prefer women who are overweight, or even have short hair for that matter.

When the people who were posting on my You Tube page anonymously asked "if the vegan diet is so great, why are you so fat", while it may have been hurtful, I do think it was a fair question, especially since I was not just a restaurant or cookbook chef, but working as a speaker and health educator. There are some speakers in our movement who are considerable overweight and they hear this question repeatedly. If someone is new to this information I could see how they could approach this diet and lifestyle with concern if they wanted to lose weight (or were afraid of gaining weight).

The organizer of one of the largest vegfests is a wonderful person who happens to be morbidly obese. The weekend I was there sitting at my table, I cannot tell you how many people commented "if this what it looks like to be vegan, than no thanks". You could argue that these comments were unkind and insensitive, but this is how people really think, whether they comment or not. Just like I would not go to a hair stylist with ratty hair, do you think our leaders like Dr. McDougall, Dr. Essesltyn and Dr. Barnard, to name just a few, would be as successful promoting their message if they were overweight?

When people argue with me how great olive oil is, I mention that Dr. Weil loves using oil and Dr. McDougall shuns it. Which of the 2 physiques would you rather have? While I don't think people should be cruel and call people fat, I think asking why someone who is vegan is overweight is a legitimate question that can open up a dialogue that can be helpful to both parties.

This is just my opinion. Thank you for listening and Happy Easter.

[Marla]

The reason I have NEVER been selected as a juror as I can see both sides of things.

Hi Chef AJ!

Thank you for your insights. Being able to see both sides of an issue is a wonderful gift. In a sense we are all "health educators" to our families, friends, and everyone who knows that we follow a WFPB diet. In an ideal world, we would all look trim and healthy and be walking advertisements for this lifestyle. But we are at different places on that path, and not everyone is able or ready to make the necessary changes to go from "healthier" to "healthiest." Maybe that is not even their goal. Maybe they are happy with the health benefits they have achieved so far, or maybe they have other issues that contribute to their weight problem. I don't think it is anyone else's business to comment on other people's appearance, especially without knowing anything else about them. I know it is human nature to judge people, as you point out, but I happen to think it is a bad habit, and I personally try to avoid it. If I notice myself forming a judgement about someone, I take a moment to shift my focus from judging to simply perceiving. Letting go of the way I think people should be makes me a happier person and makes my relationships more harmonious too.

I have already bought two tickets to Healthy Taste of Sacramento!! I cannot wait to meet you in person. You have been a role model and mentor to me, and I am grateful for all of your contributions to the plant-based community.

[Marla]

Last night's dinner was a big plate of YUM.



That's steamed broccoli and carrots, red cabbage slaw, and Yukon golds (cooked to creamy, tender perfection in my Instant Pot) with leftover baked beans on top. Now that I am a little leaner, I can actually see my belly become more rounded after I eat a meal like this. Not that I felt "stuffed," but I did feel pleasantly full.

I was at True North Health Center twice in 2012, just as a guest for the day, and I got to participate in the buffet there. I enjoyed seeing how much food some of the trimmest, tiniest people could eat -- even more than was on my plate last night. Calorie density is a life-changing concept.

[Marla]

This past weekend, I struck up a conversation with the husband and wife who own the small Indian grocery where I sometimes shop. They are so friendly and nice. They told me their favorite way of preparing Shakarkandi (the Punjabi name for the sweet potatoes I get from there), so I am going to try it. You take roasted Shakarkandi, and add a squeeze of lemon or lime juice, a dollop of coriander-mint chutney, and a sprinkle of chaat masala. I am looking forward to talking more with them about food and cooking in the future. I want to support their little store, so I might buy a few more of my veggies there when I pop in each week to load up on sweet potatoes.

I wanted to make sure that I prepared the dish correctly, plus I needed a green chutney recipe, so I went on YouTube and found this wonderful Indian chef, Harpal SIngh Sokhi. He is so adorable! Here is his video on how to make roasted Shakarkandi, a common street food. I don't have the tandoor that he is using, but oven roasting worked fine for me. This was delicious and we will have it again tomorrow, because I have more of the green chutney that I made (based on this video by the same chef).

Of course I ate my veggies first -- lots of Brussels sprouts and cauliflower.

[Marla]

Weight change this week:
Down 2.6 pounds to 125.4
BMI 21.3
(Down 2.8 pounds so far this month)

Last week I said “My plan for this week is to put a stop to the between-meal noshing, to put a complete ban on coffee and alcohol, and to stop and think before I consume any calorie-dense foods like bread or baked tortilla chips.” I’ve done that, and I’m happy to be losing again. At this BMI, I really don’t expect (or want) to lose 2 pounds a week. One pound (or even half a pound) a week is fine with me. I just want to make sure that I’m not sabotaging my progress with behaviors that I’m not paying enough attention to.

Looking at my food diary, if I were being nitpicky, I could consider getting rid of the soymilk (1 “splash” in each of my 2 mugs of tea a day) and the walnut dressing (although I only use one ounce now, which contains 4g of walnuts, or about one whole walnut). Also, I see that the meal I ate on Monday contained some cashews (about 7g, or less than a tablespoon, in my serving); the potato salad I had on Thursday and Friday had a small amount of “lite” tofu in the dressing; and the stir fry I ate on Saturday had a few tofu cubes. Overall, though, I feel that I am keeping my consumption of higher-fat foods below an acceptable (to me) threshold. I don’t see any flour products, apart from the whole wheat penne on Monday. Whole grain pasta has a calorie density comparable to cooked grains, so I am not counting that as a calorie-dense food. Sugar was minimal; there was a small amount of maple syrup in the red cabbage slaw on Sunday (I think it was a tablespoon for the whole recipe), and a little sugar in the BBQ sauce that I had with my potatoes for lunch on Monday and Friday (I used a tablespoon or two of BBQ sauce each time).

The only other noteworthy thing I can see is that I’ve been eating fruit every night after dinner, and often a whole bowl of fruit (about 2 cups). In March, during my CRON-o-meter experiment, I was eating it often, but not every night, and I think I was usually eating smaller portions.

I intend to keep eating the way I have been, monitor my progress, and be patient. I know that the last 10 pounds are the most difficult and can take some time. Here’s a post from Jeff Novick which helps to explain why this is: http://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewt ... 791#p68791

One of the reasons the last few pounds seem so much harder is because they are harder. The reason is, the math gets harder as there is much less lee-way and "wiggle" room in the numbers.

For instance, (and this is just a "for instance" and based on average numbers).....

... lets say you weigh 250 lbs and burn around 2500 calories at rest, another 500 calories just moving around a bit, and eat around 3000 calories a day to maintain your current weight. You decide to lose weight and decide to consume 2000-2500 calories a day to do so. However, you are off not so accurate in your daily food intake and and do not pay strict attention and you end up consuming around 2600, or 2500, or even 1500, or 1800, or 2700 or even 2800 calories etc etc, but you will still lose weight. Maybe a little more, maybe a little less than you had hoped, but you will still consistently lose weight and most likely, quite a bit of weight. It is because you have a lot of lee way and wiggle room within the calorie range to be off, but still be at a calorie deficit. You can consume anywhere between 1200 and 2800 calories on any given day and still lose weight. That is a huge range and allows you to not be so accurate.

But, let say you are much healthier and now weight 150 and burn around 1500 calories at rest and another 500 calories due to activity. You consume around 2000 calories and have been maintaining your weight and want to lose some more. You want to get that last 10 pounds off. Well, you have much less wiggle room now then before. You want to lose weight now so you go down to 1500 calories per day. However, you now have much less lee way and wiggle room. Your "window" is much narrower. If you consume 1200-1500 (or maybe up to 1900) you will lose weight but as you get over 1500, the weight loss will be much slower. Also, you can't really go to much less than the 1200-1500 as you will compromise the quality of the diet, the amount of food you get and maybe even go hungry.

So, your window went from 1200-2800 to 1200-1800 or really 1200-1500. And, where you were able to be "way" off and still lose weight even quickly, now if you are not within the narrow window, you will either not lose weight, or lose it very very slowly.

So, stick to the principles, look to fine tune, and if possible, increase your activity a little, and lower the overall calorie density of the total diet.

Also, there are ways to increase the amount of calories you burn at exercise each day by increasing the intensity of the activity you do without spending any more time exercising and this is done by incorporating intervals and interval training. If you are physically able to do this, it can really help. Here is an article on the topic that I contributed to..

http://www.cbass.com/EACAPING.HTM

Hmmm…I may want to change up my exercise routine to include more high-intensity intervals. What a good idea.


Here’s my food diary for last week.

April 14, Monday
6:30a
Roastaroma tea, 1/4 c. soymilk, stevia
12:30p
Huge green salad w/ walnut Caesar dressing
Oil-free roast potatoes w/ bbq sauce
Bengal spice herbal tea, 1/4 c. soymilk, stevia
4:00p
A few chunks of pineapple
7:30p
Mountain of green beans and broccoli
Baked penne Florentine (McD recipe, contains small amount of cashews)
9:15p
Bowl of strawberries and pineapple

April 15, Tuesday
6:30a
Roastaroma tea, 1/4 c. soymilk, stevia
12:30p
Huge green salad w/ walnut Caesar dressing
this was 1.4 lbs raw and cooked vegetables before dressing, a normal salad for me
White-fleshed sweet potatoes
Decaf black tea, 1/4 c. soymilk, stevia
7:00p
Large bowl of steamed asparagus and chard
Bowl of navy bean soup
8:00p
3 tangerines
10:00p
Herbal tea

April 16, Wednesday
6:30a
Roastaroma tea, 1/4 c. soymilk, stevia
12:30p
Huge green salad w/ walnut Caesar dressing
White-fleshed sweet potatoes
Bengal spice herbal tea, 1/4 c. soymilk, stevia
7:00p
Large bowl of steamed broccoli and cauliflower
this was 1.4 pounds of veggies, a typical amount
Bowl of navy bean soup
8:30p
Large bowl of strawberries and mango

April 17, Thursday
6:30a
Roastaroma tea, 1/4 c. soymilk, stevia
12:30p
Huge green salad w/ walnut Caesar dressing
White-fleshed sweet potatoes
Decaf black tea, 1/4 c. soymilk, stevia
4:00p
1 tangerine, a few grapes, a few celery sticks
6:45p
Steamed organic beet greens, broccoli, zucchini
Raw bell peppers
Potato salad
Corn on the cob
8:15p
Mango, banana, grape & tangerine fruit salad

April 18, Friday
6:30a
Roastaroma tea, 1/4 c. soymilk, stevia
1:15p
Massaged kale salad (fat-free) w/added cooked beets and shredded raw carrots
Oil-free roast potatoes w/ bbq sauce
Decaf black tea, 1/4 c. soymilk, stevia
7:00p
Steamed cauliflower and asparagus
Raw bell peppers
Potato salad
Baked beans
8:30p
Mango and small apple
10:00p
Herbal tea

April 19, Saturday
7:30a
Roastaroma tea, 1/4 c. soymilk, stevia
12:30p
Huge green salad w/ walnut Caesar dressing
White-fleshed sweet potatoes
Decaf black tea, 1/4 c. soymilk, stevia
6:30p
Stir "fried" veggies (oil-free) with a little tofu (from Mongolian BBQ restaurant)
Brown rice
8:30p
Bowl of pineapple, Ataulfo mango, and strawberries

April 20, Sunday
7:30a
Roastaroma tea, 1/4 c. soymilk, stevia
12:30p
Huge green salad w/ walnut Caesar dressing
White-fleshed sweet potatoes
Decaf black tea, 1/4 c. soymilk, stevia
6:30p
Steamed Broccoli and carrots
Red cabbage slaw
Baked beans over Yukon gold potatoes
8:30p
Bowl of pineapple, Ataulfo mango, and strawberries
Herbal tea

Activity
Here’s my weekly progress report from Fitbit. It does seem to be correctly adjusting my calorie expenditure downward each time I log a new, lower weight.

[Marcella]

Hi Marla!

As I've mentioned in a couple of my previous posts on your journal, I really resonate with all that you are doing and your discoveries and also your attention to detail. The devil is definitely in the details, isn't it!

Whenever I find that I'm slipping a bit or gaining a couple of pounds, I re-read Jeff's articles about calorie density, or enter a couple days worth of food items into cron-o-meter, as you have done and then do some fine tuning. It seems that the more closely I stick to MWL, the easier it is for me to stay within the lower-normal BMI range and feel at my best. Like you, sometimes the little "extras" start creeping in to my diet, but when I step back and reflect on what I've been consuming, in order to re-assess and fine tune things, I'm always brought back to a more pure MWL way of eating, utilizing the principles of calorie density.

To be totally honest, I really enjoy the simpler meals and am even using less spices than I used to use. Plain, cooked starches, including some beans and legumes, (I find they really add a "creaminess" to my meals") steamed and raw veggies and a bit of fruit are now really yummy and satisfying to me! I don't think there's anything wrong with using spices, sauces, condiments, etc. (unless some of the ingredients/quantities wreak havoc with health issues or weight) but I think at this point in my journey, I seem to actually PREFER the taste of my starches/veggies and fruit just as they are. However, I do cook up more elaborate meals (still low fat, WFPB) when I have company, because I know that my guests will find the food I eat to be too simple and bland.

It's interesting that you brought up high intensity interval training in your most recent post, as a means of achieving the same fitness benefits of other much longer duration cardio endeavours, but in a much shorter period of time. Although most of my cardio exercise comes from my outdoor pursuits (bicycling, hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing...) when I'm unable to do outdoor activities and thus do my cardio workouts at the gym, I tend to do intervals on the treadmill, but only for about 20-30 minutes, including warm up and cool down, or participate in the 1/2 hour, high intensity (with frequent short low intensity breaks to bring the heart rate back down) "Warrior" class.

Unless I'm doing what I consider to be fun, outdoor, aerobic activities, I really don't want to spend long periods of time for my cardio workouts, so the high intensity interval training really works for me!

I also supplement the cardio workouts with yoga, body core and "women and weights" classes at the gym for some good all-round functional fitness.

Thanks again for your detailed and insightful posts, and I think it's wonderful that you have such a supportive family!

Marcella

[sprout92]

Would you describe what was on the buffet line and True North? I am curious to know what they have for people to eat on a normal day as opposed to elaborate recipes for a special event? What do the docs there usually eat? or put on their plate?

[CHEF AJ]

I worked at True North for 12 weeks and stuffed myself thin. There is a 24 hour salad bar with multiple choices and 3 rotating oil free dressings. Breakfast is a grain, like oatmeal or polenta, one plain, one lightly sweetened with apple juice. There are also cooked veggies at breakfast. Lunch is cooked veggies, soup, and a starch like potatoes or rice. Dinner is the same. They cut up 40 pounds of fruit every day. Everything is gluten free and SOS free. I love Chef Bravo's food!

[Marla]

Hi Marcella,

I really appreciated all you had to say. I learn so much from listening to how other people make this plan work for them -- there are so many different ways of customizing it, and we all have to figure out what's right for us within the broad framework of WFPB.

The devil is definitely in the details, isn't it!

That's been my experience, for sure.

It seems that the more closely I stick to MWL, the easier it is for me to stay within the lower-normal BMI range and feel at my best.

I think this is true for a lot of us. As I mentioned earlier in my journal, for many years I didn't want to hear it, because I found it threatening and depressing to think that I might have to be that "strict." I just wasn't ready for it then, and maybe one day I'll decide it's not for me (again); who knows? But it is working for me today, and I feel really good about my food at the moment. The only thing is, I still don't want to attach the MWL "label" to my eating style because I do use small amounts of flour products, nuts, and dried fruit, and I don't want to feel that I am somehow cheating by eating them. I prefer to say that I eat the regular McDougall plan while following the principles of calorie density. I can include some foods that are not allowed on MWL, as long as I use them sparingly or only on occasion, and dilute them with foods that are less calorie dense. The downside is that it requires some awareness to make sure that I am not eating more than "a little bit" or more than "once in a while." MWL is easier in a way, because if you can never have any of something, you don't have to keep track of how much or how often you are including it.

To be totally honest, I really enjoy the simpler meals and am even using less spices than I used to use. Plain, cooked starches, including some beans and legumes, (I find they really add a "creaminess" to my meals") steamed and raw veggies and a bit of fruit are now really yummy and satisfying to me! I don't think there's anything wrong with using spices, sauces, condiments, etc. (unless some of the ingredients/quantities wreak havoc with health issues or weight) but I think at this point in my journey, I seem to actually PREFER the taste of my starches/veggies and fruit just as they are. However, I do cook up more elaborate meals (still low fat, WFPB) when I have company, because I know that my guests will find the food I eat to be too simple and bland.

Isn't it wonderful to be able to appreciate simple food? I was planning to talk about this more in a future journal entry. I really love plain starches too. The smell of brown rice cooking makes my mouth water, and I love plain potatoes and sweet potatoes. I enjoy the flavors of vegetables and fruits as well, just as they are. But, I also love to cook, love to experiment with recipes, and love spicy foods, especially ethnic cuisines and all the different flavors and ingredients they include. I get a lot of pleasure from sharing these meals with my husband (who really appreciates them). I don't find that using spices and sauces at one meal makes me less able to enjoy plain food at another meal. I like both.

Although most of my cardio exercise comes from my outdoor pursuits (bicycling, hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing...) when I'm unable to do outdoor activities and thus do my cardio workouts at the gym, I tend to do intervals on the treadmill, but only for about 20-30 minutes, including warm up and cool down, or participate in the 1/2 hour, high intensity (with frequent short low intensity breaks to bring the heart rate back down) "Warrior" class.

Thanks for sharing this. It sounds like your life is full of outdoor adventure and fun. For myself, I really like walking and running outdoors in nature. I like cycling too, but it takes more time to get the bike out and get geared up, and if I'm honest I have to admit that I always feel a little nervous that I'm going to crash on a bike. I trust my feet more. Hiking would be fun on the weekend; thanks for reminding me to look into places to go. I keep meaning to. As for the treadmill....ugh. If high intensity intervals mean I can spend less time on it, I'm all for that. Take care and thanks again for your thoughts!

[Marla]

Just a quick look at last night's dinner and today's lunch.

Last night, I put together a casserole that has been a favorite in our house for years. It was invented by a forum member named Seedy, many moons ago.... I even found a link to her original recipe: http://www.vegsource.com/talk/mcdougall ... 15942.html I've changed it a little, eliminating the canned chili beans in favor of healthier homemade chili beans (which I always have in the freezer), and adding 1/2 cup of salsa to the golden cheeze sauce. I also brown the hashbrowns on both sides in a nonstick skillet before putting them on top, because I could never get them to brown properly in the oven. This is what it looks like after cooking - a cornucopia of beany, cheezy, starchy goodness!



And on my plate, surrounded by steamed vegetables:



Today for lunch I was out of salad, and didn't have all the ingredients I needed to make more, so I roasted a bag of frozen Brussels sprouts and sprinkled them with garlic powder and nutritional yeast. After finishing the 18-ounce "family size" bag of sprouts, I had my normal portion of baked sweet potato. I'm not weighing my food anymore (unless I happen to get curious), but I know by now that my sweet potatoes tend to weigh 1/2 to 3/4 of a pound. Added to the sprouts, this was a good amount of food for me, and kept me full for about 5-6 hours.

[Marla]

It's been a very, very, very busy few days!

On Saturday I walked in the Parkway Half Marathon here in Sacramento. I was accompanying a friend who has become an avid walker since getting a Fitbit about 6 months ago. We didn't walk for time; we just strolled and enjoyed the scenery along the American River. Because of the relaxed pace it was a very easy "race." Here's a snapshot taken at mile 13 -- I was sporting my Engine 2 "Enjoy Kale" shirt.



Tomorrow I am leaving to spend a week in London, visiting a friend. I hope to have some time to post more about how I am handling food while traveling and while staying as a guest in someone else's home. I still have a lot of preparation to do tonight, so I had better keep this short!

But since I am here.....here are a couple of recent dinners.

Indian-spiced mashed potatoes, sprinkled with chaat masala, served with beet greens and cauliflower:




And tonight's dinner of split pea soup, corn, asparagus, cabbage, and a great big artichoke. I dipped the artichoke in a mixture of Dijon mustard and white balsamic vinegar.



I'll post my weekly update on Tuesday from the other side of the pond. Bye for now!