Talk about Failing...

So yesterday, I didn't lose a pound. I Gained a pound. And that's what I get for not having a "proper" breakfast. Apple and peanut butter are no substitute for steak and 2 eggwhites which are all protein.

I think it was Kathleen who didn't log on and made a comment about red wine?

I can guarantee this isn't going to work if you still want to do things the way you've always done things. What is that saying?

For instance, I have had Baileys in my coffee every morning for over 20 years. But now that I'm doing Michael Thurmond, I measure my Baileys into a standard shot glass. It still tastes the same. We're all going to have to make adjustments.

Some people might need to keep score and write down every single "cheat" you decided you couldn't live without. Then look at the scale tomorrow morning. I know I keep repeating myself: If you didn't lose a pound or 2 you're doing it wrong.

I had steak and egg whites for breakfast, steak and 'creamed' kale (using 2 Tablespoons of flax milk and 1 heaping Tablespoon of Creme Fraiche).

I get a 3 lb. package of TriTip from the butcher section of Costco and cut it up into serving sizes (use your scale, make them slightly larger because they will weigh less after cooking). Put those on a cookie sheet on top of plastic wrap so they don't stick and into the freezer. When they're frozen put the pieces into a gallon ziploc bag.

This is my lunch today. 2 oz chicken 1/2 cup rice and my cup of mixed veggies is a big handful of spinach, chopped tomato, mixed beans and some cilantro lime crema (from Costco).

There's a reason MT doesn't specify salad in our eating plans. When you hear 'Salad' it conjures a picture of a big plate liberally sprinkled with cheese and dressing on the side which comes in a little pitcher. You can make your own salad, with rice if that is specifically called for on your plan and you can add a couple tablespoons of salad dressing (measure that). But No Cheese.

Just remember that salad dressing (and Baileys) are cheats and you have to be Perfect about keeping track of your cheats. If you write down every single cheat you will have a reference tomorrow morning. And hey, if you've lost a pound or 2 you got away with it!

But if you did not lose a pound or 2, you're Busted.

Can I Make a Suggestion?

If it seems like all you're doing is cooking, cooking, cooking...you can take a break from cooking for snacks. I have sugar snap peas and hummus for morning and/or afternoon snacks some days. Since I said you can substitute ANY protein, lets don't rule out nuts but don't skip the greens. Every element of this eating plan is essential. 

I heard from my friend Chris that a family member is interested in trying the Michael Thurmond diet. But she doesn't like vegies and she does like her 'starches' which I took to mean bread and pasta. So I'll just put this out there: she should probably try to find a bread and pasta diet instead.

If you want results, you can't half-ass this thing. This morning I didn't pop out of bed and start cooking a steak for breakfast because I was obligated to paint Chris's bathroom. I cut up an apple and put 2 oz of crunchy peanut butter in a bowl and ate it on the way to work. After I finished painting the bathroom Chris took me out for sushi. We agreed it wasn't great sushi. Too much rice which stuck to the paper tray it was served on. We are spoiled. But I'm probably not going to lose any weight today, I haven't had enough protein.

That Columbia top I mentioned? The one I couldn't even button up 2 weeks ago?

I just sacked out on the bed to write on the blog and it looks like I could afford to lose a few more pounds. But when I stand up, no gap-osis.

I'm behind on my water and I've got to go cook some steak...

I never get tired of my new skinny creamed spinach recipe. Had it for afternnon snack and dinner with steak.

Moral Support

This afternoon I wanted to check in with a friend who is doing this project with me. She's been my best friend since 2000 and I can count on her.

When I asked how are you doing, how much weight have you lost? She responded 6/10 of a pound. That was a shocker. I asked why? Because she's done this with me before and she was very happy she was so successful.

It turns out that having a half gallon of whipping cream handy for creamed spinach isn't a good thing. I made creamed chard at lunch today with my steak. I used 2 Tablespoons of flax milk and a heaping Tablespoon of Creme Fraiche. Put those in the pan with freshly grated nutmeg and cracked pepper and stir over medium heat until the creme fraiche is melted and cooked down just a little then put your chopped greens in the pan and stir until they have wilted. My greens weren't thickly coated white like creamed spinach usually is, but the flavor is there.

When I quit Michael Thurmond in a huff after losing 64 lbs and eventually put it all (every pound) back on again, I tried to start MT again. It didn't work. I think I tried twice, same results.

Hitting 206 again really did a number on me and for weeks I would stew about it. I wondered what I had done wrong because there isn't anything wrong with the diet, it's guaranteed to work. It was creeping up on me that I wasn't in the same shape as last time when everything worked perfectly. The first time I did body diagraming I was a more compact 206. I was Type 2-B. Now I'm 10 years older and this weight isn't as cute. I'm type 4-D, there's only 1 type with a fatter profile.

And I'm OK with that, just because I know it's already working. I've lost 12 lbs. in 13 days. If I keep this up I'll have another day where I lose 2 lbs and I'll be matching! 14 lbs in 14 days or 15 lbs in 15 days, it'll happen. I've done this before and I WILL do it again.

I mentioned to my bud that my kitchen counter is full of chocolate-even skinny chocolate and Costco chocolate chip cookies (for Rhett) and it's not bothering me a bit because I don't see them. I've consciously turned off that part of my brain.

What I didn't tell her is that I had a dream I was having a bite of chocolate cheesecake last night. Dreams are non-fattening. As long as you don't take it as a sign and drag the cheesecake out of the freezer as soon as you wake up!

Yep, I have a whole cheesecake in my freezer. Doesn't bother me a bit because I know it's stay'n in there.

It's a Lot of work making all this food all day and drinking over 100 oz of water. I know I said you have to drink half your body weight in ounces every day, but that's the minimum. I kept drinking 100 oz of water every day, even after losing 64 lbs.

This time my goal weight is lower because I know I can shoot for size 6. My Mom and my sister are both size 6. A big part of me just wants to 'fit in'.

The picture of me after wrecking my car taken by a bystander wasn't much of a surprise. I've been keeping track. I look at myself in store windows sometimes, not with a smile on my face though.

The top I'm wearing today is already starting to hang on me. I bought a really nice Columbia shirt a few weeks ago in size 1X but it was tight, I couldn't wear it. All my other 1Xs fit fine, this one just runs small. I'm going to put it on again tomorrow and I'm betting it's not going to be tight.

I was heading for anything that would stop me when my brakes went out less than 3 weeks after getting a complete brake job.

Yep. That's a Type D alright.

This is 2 huge handfuls of Super Greens from Costco. Cooked, it's not so big anymore. I was trying to divvy this up so I would have greens on each bite of steak but I ran out!

Had the same thing for dinner as my afternoon snack. When there's something I really like, I don't mind eating it more than once in a row. OR, I'm lazy.

Back Up a Sec...

This morning I asked Kathleen if she was eating every 2 hours or 3? I've been eating approx. every 3 1/2 hours so I've been doing it wrong. But my weight was 194 (down another pound!!) this morning so not too bad.

If you divide the number of meals up over the day as I did, lunch will not land on Lunchtime. If you eat every 2 hours the meals will coincide with family mealtimes. It doesn't appear to matter how far or close you prepare these MT meals as long as you're eating. Doesn't it seem weird that we're losing weight eating every 2,3,4 hours and when we skipped meals we were gaining weight? But that is exactly what happened.

This eat more exercise less diet-- I mean Eating Plan is kind of Magic.

I've been reverting back to my Type B diet occasionally. Back then and still today, I'm not that fond of chicken, chicken, chicken. Actually, I'm not that fond of steak, steak, steak. I have to mix it up a little and so I had catfish for breakfast today, as I did several times last week. Catfish and grapefruit, trust me, it'll grow on you. 

Type B female calls for 3 ounces chicken and 1/2 grapefruit for breakfast but you can substitute ANY lean protein.

I used to buy a large bag of grapefruit at Costco but there was too much waste. My fish was too heavy so I lopped off a bit while it was still on the scale.

Spray the pan with Pam and spray the top side of the fish so when you turn it over, it won't stick.

The last time I bought catfish fillets at Winco, they were perfect sized, 3 ounces after cooking. These ones are a little larger.

I had scrap pieces of catfish leftover that added up to 3 oz. that was my morning snack with the 'equivalent' of 1/2 grapefruit. I put that in quotes because my bowl appears to be a little more than 1/2 a grapefruit. But it's working for me.

I did mention my one 'cheat' using Heinz 57 sauce or salad dressing, just remember those are tiny amounts I'm 'cheating' with. It's probably not a good idea for me to tell you about every single one of my cheats because then you'll be using my cheats plus a few of your own!

I will just caution that cheating only works if you get away with it. If you're doing this plan letter perfect except for that little pile of cheats and you're not losing weight-You're Doing It Wrong!

If you're doing it correctly...you will lose a pound, maybe 2 lbs in a day.

Weigh later

My breakfast today: This eggwhite scramble looks bigger than usual, doesn't it? That's because I threw in some zucchini and tomatos. All vegies are cool.

Sauteeing the shallots, waiting for mini bell peppers, tomatos and zucchini

My steak started out at almost 4 ounces. By the time it was cooked 3 1/4 ounces. FitzGerald helped with the excess.

I weighed myself when I got up at 5:45am and I'd lost a pound. I've been in bed all morning instead of popping up to Start Eating(!) and I had to get up to pee. So I hopped on the scale one more time and another pound--Gone.

Here is where I should admit my starting weight was 206, which was my starting weight Last time I started the MT eating plan. And since the 16th of August, my start date, I've lost 11 pounds. Yippee. btw 11 lbs in 12 days is pretty average for this thing.

If I stop the eating plan I will gain it back.

That's the thing with 'diets'. You do great, lose weight then you go back to old ways and gain it all back plus a few. This eating plan will be different because if you do it with me, keep in mind I AM NOT QUITTING. Ever.

The MT plan is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I don't have to keep eating 5 meals a day but I do have to keep track of the scale. When it shows one or two pounds up, back on the plan!

It's going to be OK some day to have cake at a birthday party or go on a cruise. By the way, last time I was on a cruise I gained 2 lbs. My husband gained 12. I would order whatever looked good. 3 desserts? Fine, I just had a bite of each. Rhett doesn't believe in wasting food so he finished my desserts. Uhoh.

This eating plan is a Commitment and I am committed.

Afternoon:

I was out running around to Costco and the body shop where my car will be repaired all morning so I missed Morning Snack. That happens sometimes, no big deal. Yesterday, I had all meals and snacks and lost 2 lbs. Maybe that's what it takes. I'm out of practice so I'm not sure.

Lunch was a chicken salad and I used a small sweet potato instead of rice because I didn't get home till about 1:30pm.

2 3/4 ounces chicken breast. Yesterday for my snack I heated up 6 or 7 chicken wings and pulled the skin off.

A huge handful of Power Greens from Costco. It looks a lot less after it's chopped up.

I decided on one of my favorite salad dressings, about 2 Tablespoons.

I couldn't finish. It was just too much. FitzGerald was perfectly happy to clean out my bowl (that's what dogs are for). But he's the only dog I know that will eat lettuce with no dressing on it.

Afternoon snack wasn't until 5 pm and I had steak and a small potato that I'd previously microwaved. I sliced it about 1/4" thick and browned the slices in 1 Tablespoon avocado oil which spreads better in the pan if you also give the pan a good squirt of Pam.

And just a bit less than 2 teaspoons of Heinz 57 sauce.

I'm going to have my toenails painted at 7 pm so I'll have some dinner when I get home.

I've polished my toenails 3 times since the pandemic started, it just isn't the same. ANd I can't do gel nails at home.

Steak and greens for dinner tonight meant Romaine and apples. Rhett picked the first apple from the tree in our front yard. He asked if I'd split it with him? I was attempting to get him to try Larrupins mustard with his half, he picked Nutella. Larrupins went on my steak & apple salad, yumm.

Getting on a Schedule

I realized this morning that I have been kind of lazy, getting going on this thing. I'm not hungry most of the time, I think my hunger pangs have left the building. But Michael Thurmond has set up this eating plan for 3 meals and 2 snacks, 3rd snack after dinner is optional and I do my best. But I've been all over the map with times trying to get the number of meals and snacks mostly right. I'm doing ok, skipping one morning or afternoon snack a day. If I skip morning snack, lunch can be 12 noon. But then I can't skip the afternoon snack!

I divided the day from 8:30 am to 8 pm even though I hardly ever have the evening snack and I skip morning or afternoon snack. I once heard Michael Thurman say, "if you don't eat everything, you won't lose weight." But that's not true, and I am proof.

8:30 am Breakfast, 11:30 am Morning Snack, 2:30 pm Lunch, 5:30 pm Afternoon Snack, 8 pm dinner. And since I'm usually skipping afternoon snack, I can have dinner at 6 pm like normal people.

This was my breakfast this morning...

I put a teaspoon of Heinz 57 sauce in a bowl.

Sauteed shallots with a handful of spinach and 2 egg whites.

Weighed my grilled steak 2 5/8 ounces.

Tossed in the bowl with my teaspoon of Heinz 57 sauce, I probably could have used 2 teaspoons. Sometimes I use the same amount of Larrupins mustard sauce.

Another breakfast this week was Baked Oatmeal. Here is the recipe:

2 cups steel cut oats (or groats or oatmeal)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt (I know I'm not supposed to have salt)

1 cup applesauce

1 3/4 cups flax milk (or almond milk or whatever kind of milk you like just no dairy)

Mixed everything and left in the refrigerator overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes.

That's almost a cup, MT called for 1/2 cup with 2 egg whites scrambled and this has eggs.

I used to have this breakfast with whipped cream but no dairy for me now! Rhett can have whipped cream. I usually buy Light whipped cream but-Costco.

Here are some other food pix from this week:

Steak and sauteed kale that I attempted to make creamed kale without the cream. There's a recipe on Pinterest (that I saved) for creamed kale without the cream but it uses cream cheese. Bummer.

This is a variation of my breakfast today using mini bell peppers and kale. I think my fav is spinach.

Last night I had the same dinner as my husband, Rhett. We ordered take out, one of my favorite meals, we split 2 Firecracker Shrimp Tacos from the Vista. I used to be able to eat both, myself. But I realized I was full after one, so there's no point in eating after that.

You may wonder how this eating out affected my weight loss? Well, I didn't lose anything today but I didn't gain anything either. That is the trade-off, you have to ask yourself is it worth it? Thankfully most days I don't even ask myself questions like this because I am determined. I know what I had to go through last time and I know what the payoff was. Ten years ago I used this plan to lose 64 lbs and got myself down to size 8. But I have to admit it didn't last very long.

When Rhett said to me Very Sharply that we weren't buying size 6! I was angry and didn't think for a second when I just instantly quit working on my health and stopped right there. If my brain had been working I would have told me, "You have worked too hard to give up now!" And it's true, this diet is a Lot of work. There are more dishes to wash. Paying attention to how much water I'm drinking all day is super important. I know if I haven't had at least 64 ounces of water by lunch I'm in trouble. I also can't be far away from the bathroom at this point. I'm outta practice drinking over 100 ounces of water a day. In time, my bladder will be trained. I remember being able to hold it for an hour, I'd be out shopping and have to go. I'd stop at the post office on the way home. My bladder was cast iron back then.

Right about now is a good time to start organizing clothes.

I've got a complete wardrobe in every size from 1X to size 6. It's all spread out between 4 bedrooms and boxes in the attic. The guest room has a full closet and dresser. Weston's old room has a full rack and the bed covered with piles of clothes. The bunk bed upstairs is super piled up with Gawd knows what and the closet in my room is still stuffed after I took most of the 1Xs out to get rid of them.

The clothes I advertised on Craigslist are hanging in the dining room and living room doorways on rods over the doorways. I had just one email asking if my prices were firm? My response didn't get them sold. I told her I had a bunch of free stuff as well. I will learn. I really thought $6 for business casual dresses was a good deal. Some of them are Liz Claiborne and some are NWT. I put $4 on the tops, $10 on a leather jacket. I dropped the prices and then I guess all this stuff is going to the thrift shop where I can 'write it off' which is a joke. I take the standard deduction, no itemizing any more. I was planning to give away things I wear all the time even though they're still in great shape.

The funny thing is I have this one pair of XL sweatpants that is too long for me but I wear them all the time. They're made by Title 9 and you can't get them anymore in this fabric which I love. They are huge on me and I'll probably keep them until I can fit in the mediums I have around here someplace...

Getting Started

I'm supposed to be keeping track of my measurements, once a week. It's a statistic I'm not interested in. Hopefully I'll be more aware when my body changes to a smaller size. Last time I did this eating plan I continued to wear baggy clothes at first and one of my friends noticed, demanding I find something else to wear.

The Michael Thurmond Plan starts with diagrams of body shapes. Each participant has to pick a shape that most closely matches their own. The number on these diagrams correspond to letters of the alphabet 1-A, 2-B, 3-C, 4-D, 5-E then we select an eating plan A, B, C, D, E.

And I've put Breakfast and Mid-Afternoon snack side by side and laminated them for my refrigerator. I had to enlarge a little so I can read it without my glasses.

I suppose some would like the originals. When this plan first came out I bought it for $200. Now you can get one on eBay for around $50. while supplies last. I would suggest you ask the seller to ditch the original box and ship USPS flat rate, you'll save $10. Tomorrow I will post a few food pix.