Week 19 Report

At last!  I reached my 25-pound down mark!  I don't know why 25 pounds is more exciting than 24, but it is. :)  I guess I like increments of 5. :)  I posted a long post on the Engine 2 7-day Rescue (E27DR) facebook page today and I think I'll just copy and paste a bunch of it here since I'm short on time and it says a lot of things I want to say.  I'm trying to focus on the good and forgive myself for the "bad."  The less than ideal choices I make sometimes.  Here is the post:

Struggling to be perfect at this E27DR thing?  Me too!  But don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater!  I’m here to say that ANY effort in the right direction counts.  It’s amazing what a difference the past four and a half months have made, even though I’m not sure I’ve been perfect even one day.  I joined the first 7DR in January and I’ve continued my plant strong journey ever since, with many a slip here and there.  I just keep getting back up and recommitting.  I feel pretty proud of myself when my eating lines up with the original E2 plan or FOK (Forks over Knives).  When it more closely resembles 7-day rescue (and sometimes it does), that’s a major bonus!  Even with my lower standards, I’ve lost 25 pounds so far.  Also, I just got my cholesterol re-checked and it went from 201 to 143.  I was ecstatic!  I’m not saying to shoot for low standards, but if you feel like you just can’t reach the 7DR level, don’t bail out of the effort entirely.  Celebrate what you are doing right, keep trying, keep improving your habits and it will bring results, though maybe not so quickly.  I still come on this page every day to get motivated by all the wonderful, positive people on here.

Celebrating what I’ve improved:

• ·         I eat loads of veggies, both raw and cooked.  I even eat greens sometimes at breakfast! :)  I’m always looking for ways to get more veggies in.
• ·         I eat more fruit.  Fruit is my treat.
• ·         I wake up in the morning eager to get on the treadmill for 40 minutes or more (this is a miracle since I could barely bring myself to do 10 minutes in the beginning).
• ·         I’ve cut out chicken, beef, pork, (still eat fish at restaurants on rare occasions).
• ·         I’ve cut out cheese and most dairy products (still eat small amounts in condiments occasionally).
• ·         I’ve drastically reduced my oil intake and rarely cook with it (but I don’t stress about oil in pre-bought pasta sauce, etc., that’s the least of my worries! LOL!  It’s the chips I have to watch out for.)
• ·         I’ve cut out desserts, cookies, candy, ice cream, etc. (yes, I’ve had some slips here and there, but 95% of the time I don’t eat those things).
• ·         I rarely eat white flour and try to choose in-tact whole-grains over flour whole-grains as much as possible.
• ·         I cook.  I cook a lot.  Last year, I rarely cooked at all and left it up to my husband and kids because I teach piano until the dinner hour.  I didn’t think I had time to cook, but I’ve made time.  I’ve learned the power of pre-chopping and batch cooking so there is always food in the fridge read to go.  I’ve learned how helpful it is to make large quantities of soup, casserole, etc. so we can eat left-overs for lunches.  I rarely eat out because there is actually food in my fridge that I want to eat.

Sometimes I feel bad that I’m not better at this.  Sometimes I read about people losing 40 pounds (or more) in less time and I compare it to my slower weight-loss and feel a little annoyed with myself for not stepping it up more.  At other times, I am able to give myself credit for the massive changes I have made.  I am able to celebrate the energy and lightness I feel, the mental clarity, the hope, and so many other good things.  My husband is so impressed and tells me to knock it off when I start comparing or belittling my progress.  If I am going to compare, why don’t I compare it to last year when I paid money every month to go to Weight Watchers and tried to count points and never even lost 15 pounds because I just wanted to eat more food!  Losing 25 pounds in 18 weeks without counting calories, and reducing my cholesterol by 58 points is cause to celebrate! 😊

What has helped me stick to it so far?  For me, it’s not about having the right knowledge about how to eat.  I’ve known the healthiest way to eat for years and years (yes, I learned about plant-based eating way back in college!).  But how do I follow what I know is best when I am experiencing stress, when I am surrounded by temptation, when I want to emotionally eat almost as much as I want to breath?  That is the real question!  This is what is helping me so far:

• ·         Staying immersed in the plant-based community.  This is crucial because I can quickly rationalize any behavior and find some “expert” who agrees that it is healthy.  Not to mention dealing with all the helpful family and friends who worry about my diet and ask me how long I’m going to be doing this.  I have to keep reading this facebook page, keep reading plant-strong books, keep watching plant-strong documentaries, keep following plant-strong doctors like Greger, McDougal, Esselstein, Fuhrman, Bernard.  This way of living is so different than the norm and I have to keep reminding myself that it is worth it.  More than that, it is awesome!  It’s a privilege to be part of this awesome community!
• ·         Staying accountable and enlisting support.  I started a blog the first week of my journey to talk about my efforts and I’ve updated it almost every week since.  I think only one person ever looks at it, but knowing that one person will look at it keeps me in the game.  As much as I love this facebook page, I could disappear and no one would never know.  If I stop reporting on my blog, someone would know (yes, that ONE person!).  I also met a plant-based friend on this community and we e-mail each other reports on our efforts.  The blog also serves as a place to work through my feelings about emotional eating, weight-loss efforts, etc.
• ·         The book “Never Binge Again” has actually been a huge help to me as well.  It doesn’t prescribe any specific diet, but it gives you tools for defeating the voices in your head that sabotage your healthy efforts and talk you out of making the good choices you really want to make.  I highly recommend this book if you’re having trouble sticking to healthy eating for any length of time.  The book “Bright Line Eating” was also really helpful in understanding food addiction and how the brain works and why bright lines are so helpful.  I don’t feel the desire to follow that strict program, but I learned a lot from Susan Pierce Thompson’s work.
• ·         Planning meals ahead of time.  Nothing fancy here.  Just thinking ahead and asking myself: what am I going to eat this week?  What am I going to eat today?  This saves me from having to make decisions when I’m hungry and my will power is low.  I already know what I’m going to eat because I thought about it that morning and I was able to start the rice on time and/or get the ingredients I needed.
• ·         Staying positive.  It is difficult.  I don’t always succeed at this, but I’ve read the studies and shaming yourself and beating your self up really doesn’t help.  It really doesn’t make you feel like eating kale.  It makes you feel like eating Big Macs and milkshakes.  The negative voices come into my head, but I just keep talking back to them and celebrating the things I’m doing right.

I’m sure there is more, but this has already turned into a novel!  I am immensely grateful to this community!  I know there are a lot of plant-based communities out there, but this is the one that boosts me the most, even if I don’t meet the standards.  You all are awesome!  Peace, Engine 2, Plant Strong.