Going Back to What Works

Since I last posted I've struggled, I've floundered, then I dug down deep and I've found a way to win the war.

Once I reached 137 I plateaued.  I was stuck and I couldn't figure out a way to loose any more weight.  Then I started gaining weight.  Slowly the pounds started coming back.  I could see it in my belly and I could feel it when I tried to squeeze into my clothes.

I couldn't find any motivation to exercise at the level I did while loosing.  My heart wasn't in it anymore.  Every day I promised myself that I'd work harder and longer. 

Two weeks ago I made the decision to go back to how I was eating while I lost weight last year.  I put that off thinking I could exercise the extra calories off.  That doesn't work.  It never has for me and it never will.  It has to be 80 percent diet. 

The major change that I've added back in is fasting.  I've never strayed from my commitment to veganism.  I was just eating too much.  Too much of anything is still too much. 

Fasting is really just a eating schedule.  My schedule looks like this now:
Saturday and Sunday I eat what I want (that's vegan).  After dinner on Sunday I fast till Tuesday breakfast; about 32 hours.  Tuesday - Thursday I fast 18 hours, with an eating window of 6 hours.  After lunch on Thursday I start fasting till Saturday Breakfast; 42 hours.  So I have two longer fasts and three shorter ones. 

I'm at the beginning of my third week with this schedule.  I'm at 131.  My goal weight is 125; 6 lbs. to go.  I expect it will take me two more week.  Once there I'll evaluate how my eating schedule needs to change for maintenance.  I expect that I will need to keep fasting as part of my lifestyle permanently.  Veganism has given me my health back but fasting has enabled me to attain and maintain a healthy weight. 

I don't feel any different at 131 then I did at 137 and I don't expect that will change once I get to 125.  My main reason for that goal weight is to give myself some room to fluctuate.  It's my safety net.  I know that once I try to start a maintenance program again my weight is bound to go up and down a little while I figure out exactly what my eating schedule needs to be.

Wouldn't it be great if I could just eat a healthy vegan diet and weigh exactly what I want to weigh.  Unfortunately, life, my life isn't like that.  I've come to some conclusions about my weight and one of them is that I will have to have periods where I'm a little hungry in order to maintain my slimmer body and my better health.

I'm not trying to go back to the exercise level I had during my weight loss.  I just don't want to spend two hours every day exercising.  What seems to be my new normal is 1 mile of walking, then 1 or two miles of jogging each morning.  In the evenings I've been doing 30 minutes of step.  Today I'm changing that to 30 minutes of my strength building exercises: squats, sit-ups, etc.

So this is my new life.  My second attempt to get to maintenance and actually maintain. 

THE SIMPLE LIFE - POTATO CORN CHOWDER

This is the kind of comfort food that I love.  It's creamy, thick but still chunky and it contains potatoes.  I love potatoes in any dish, but especially soups.  They add substance and creaminess.

This is another of my recipes that don't require any measuring.  You really can't do this recipe wrong.  The ingredients are simple and easy to find and prepare.

The Simple Life - Black Bean Hummus Veggie Sandwich

I dearly love a big sub sandwich.  I love them with big, fluffy bread, piled high with veggies.  So now that I'm not eating meat anymore I need to replace the meat and I decided to do that with homemade hummus.  This veggie sandwich is filling and hits all those notes that I loved about eating a sub.

Hummus
1 can black beans, drained
3 Tbl. salsa verde
2 Tbl. Tahini
3 Tbl. orange juice
2 Tbl. minced garlic
2 Tbl. parsley
Mrs. Dash seasoning to taste

Veggies that you love.  This part can be anything you want it to be.  I kept it simple with:
cucumber
bell pepper
red onion
lettuce

Bread; I bought a bag of big fluffy white rolls.  Cut one in half and pile on the hummus and veggies.  Enjoy!

The Simple Life - Are Cheat Days Ok When You're Dieting?

Does having a free day while dieting ruin the diet?  Does a free day set you back while dieting?  What impact does a free day have on a diet?  Does a free day make it harder to get back on track with a diet?

I'm more than eight months into a year long diet with the goal of loosing 40 pounds.  I'm down 33 pounds and I see no reason that I wouldn't make my goal.  I plan to continue my diet after meeting that goal and loose another 20 pounds, putting me in a healthy weight range for my height and age.

I greatly relaxed my diet every weekend.  I push hard to loose weight for five days and then I take two days off of exercise and a structured diet.  I eat what I want, as long as it doesn't conflict with the general boundaries of my diet.  My general boundaries are that the foods have to be vegan. 

Monday through Friday I don't eat anything that is processed, I eat vegetables for breakfast because they are the least calorie dense foods, I eat a high starch lunch,  a small amount of fruit for dinner and I fast from 5 pm until 7 pm the next day.

On the weekends I might have oatmeal for breakfast instead of vegetables.  I might have a dish for lunch that includes processed soy products like a soy "meat".  And in the evening I might have some popcorn after my dinner.  None of these foods are bad or break my general boundaries, but if I ate them all the time I'd have a hard time loosing weight.

Ultimately, I don't believe that I could do anything in two days that would overcome what I do for five days.  This has been proven by my steady weight loss for eight months, regardless of the fact that I relax my diet on the weekends. 

I'm looking as my free days differently now than I did in the beginning.  Now I think about reaching the maintenance phase.  So, when I start the weekend now I look at it like a trial maintenance for two days.  I think the transition from weight loss to maintenance is important and I'm a lot more thoughtful now about what I eat on the weekends.  At some point I want my weekends to look like what my normal diet will be once I'm done with weight loss.  I don't know exactly when that will be, but I will get there and how I handle my food plan once I get there could make or break my long term success.

This is what I believe.  I've had eight months to think about how I will keep the weight off.  Statistically speaking, most people don't keep off the weight.  Most people gradually gain it all back.  When you stop doing what you did to loose the weight, it's just common sense the you will begin to gain weight.  That's why my break from my plan is important.  It's my testing time so that I can figure out what the rest of my life will look like in regards to what I'll be able to eat and maintain my smaller body.

I guess only time will tell if I'm right.  I hope I am.

The Simple Life - Food Prep for the Week

This week I'm eating chickpea loaf and mashed potatoes for lunch.  Here's my recipe:

3 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 carrots, shredded
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, diced
2 Tbl. minced garlic
1/2 c. unsweetened coconut milk
2 Tbl. tomato paste
1/2 c. soy sauce
1 tsp. liquid smoke
Sugar free bar-b-que sauce

Blend chick peas and vegetables.  Add all ingredients to large bowl and mix well.  Transfer to large casserole dish.  Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.  Cover with bar-b-que sauce and bake for another 30 minutes.  Cool and slice.

Along with the chickpea loaf I made vegan mashed potatoes.  These are so simple and are just as good as the ones with milk and butter:

1 bag of red potatoes, boiled
vegan butter
Unsweetened Coconut Milk

Danskin High Impact Sports Bras

One of the consequences of loosing weight is getting small everywhere, including in the bust.  I needed to buy some smaller bras so I headed to my local Walmart. 

 I've bought the Danskin brand before and liked them so picked this style.  They were $14.95 each.  I like the racerback and I especially like that the straps are adjustable.  I bought five so that I have enough for my work week.

These are slightly padded and the pad is removable.  I like the pad for wearing under my work attire because it protests me from any chance of anything showing when it gets cold in my office.

 There is a mesh panel in the center back. and you an see in the close-up the adjustable straps.  For me that is a must because I'm petite.

I wore one of these bras today under my work clothing and it was perfect.  Lots of lift and support but the fabric is soft and comfortable.

Savory Risotto Recipe

My Secret Weapon to Reducing my Sodium Intake

One of my many health related goals this year is to get my salt intake down and keep it down.  That's not easy when you love salt like I do.  But I'm pre-hypertensive and my doctor advised me to reduce my salt intake.

Do you know what food tastes like without salt?  NOTHING, that's what.  Ok, that's an exaggeration, but to a life long salt lover, that's how it feels sometimes.

What has helped me is discovering seasonings and learning how to use them.  When you pile salt on all food you really don't think about any other seasoning.  Also, salt isn't evil.  It's essential but in very small quantities.

Mrs. Dash and a few other seasonings have saved me.  They are really good and I can pile them on my food with no guilt.

The Mrs. Dash brand has a lot of flavorings to pick from and I think I have them all.  To those I've added taco seasoning, onion and garlic.  I still use a pinch of salt here and there, but I rely heavily on these for taste enhancement.

Sunday Treats

I began a weight loss journey in January.  I decided early on that I would go heavy and hard Monday through Friday; no cheating and lots of exercise.  Then on the weekends I would rest and be more relaxed in my eating plan; not really cheating but having some treats that still fit my long term plan.

So, today after church I asked my husband to take me to Publix, a local grocery store.  I picked out some vegetarian sushi and fruit sorbet.

Publix makes really great vegetarian sushi.  Actually Publix does everything really well.  I'm never disappointed in cooked or prepared foods I buy there.

 I ate the one on the right; the California wrap and I had one of the middle Avocado salad rolls.  SO Good and well within my vegan, whole food plan.

Whole fruit sorbet.  I wouldn't eat these on a daily basis because they are still pretty high in sugar.  It's better to just eat the actual fruit.  But, for a treat on the weekend, I high recommend it.