Makin’ It Easy

I’m trying not to get too excited or jinx myself, but a preview step on the scale indicates that since last Wednesday, I am already down 2.8 pounds. Since I have not engaged in that “diet” fad of drinking excesses of water and I have not even changed what or how much I drink in a day, I know it can’t be that “water weight” that most people lose the first week.

Still, it’s not even a whole week and I’ve been through this whole “weight loss program” thing before. I’m not going to get excited until I’ve lost at least 10 pounds and it doesn’t feel like a struggle to lose each ounce.

I will say that eating the McDougall way isn’t that difficult. Except for once yesterday when I wasn’t feeling well and a Frosty commercial spoke to me personally, I haven’t felt as if I was missing anything. Part of the key though is having food in the house that is already prepared. I don’t know how I might feel about it if I hadn’t baked those 6 potatoes in the oven all at once so they could just be warmed up throughout the week or if I hadn’t prepared one cold bean dish and one hot bean dish and a salad that I could scoop servings out of to take to lunch or eat for dinner throughout the week. I’m damned tired at the end of the day and too sleepy in the morning; if it’s not easy to grab, then I’m more likely to get take-out and let’s face it, it is not easy to find fat-free healthy vegan food within walking distance of anywhere on a 30 minute lunch break or on the Turnpike.

Cooking Spree

Back when I did Weight Watchers and lost all that weight, I was so successful because once a month or so, I would get together with a WW friend and we would cook 3 or 4 WW-friendly meals each; then we would portion them out into plastic containers and split them up. That way, I would get half of what she made and she would get half of what I made and we’d each have a nice variety for the month. Plus, we each got to try things we probably would never have tried otherwise. My freezer would be stuffed with plastic containers that I could just grab and microwave. All the work was done in one day and the rest was easy.

It’s a little harder to get motivated to do all that on my own and it’s not as fun when the only one you have to gossip with is your dog while you’re doing it. However, it really is worth it if you are like me and subject to stopping at take-out if you are too tired to cook.