Heaviest weight: 345 lbs
Starting weight: 299 lbs (Oct 01, 2011)
Current weight: 255 lbs (Feb 07, 2012)
Weight loss: -44 lbs
This week: -2lbs
Just touching base with my weekly weigh in. A weight loss again…. (big cheesy grin)
I’m pretty much sticking with the same breakfast and lunch most days as these work for me and I look forward to them
Breakfast: 1 dry cup (250 ml) of organic oatmeal (porridge) made with water
Lunch: Large raw salad that normally contains lettuce, spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumber, spring onion, kidney beans, topped with a large baked potato
In the evening I have more time and opportunity to bake and try and incorporate an authentic recipe and sometimes a dessert too!
My evening meal occasionally includes pastry or if not a pastry, then I’ll have a slice or two of bread with my dinner. If flour rations are getting low then I’ll eat more potatoes. Generally my evening meal will contain about half a plate full of vegetables, a quarter plate of a complex carb (such as potato or wholegrain brown rice) and a small portion of lentils, beans (or meat or cheese before I became vegan)
If I get hungry inbetween and really have to eat something, an apple or a pear or some raw sugar snap peas usually satisfy a craving but sometimes (like today) I had 1/2 cup of oatmeal mid afternoon as my stomach was making some very embarrassing noises in the office. I had taken a brisk 15 minute walk outside during my lunch break, before eating so I guess this may have been the reason..
If nuts and berries are available, I’ll have a small handful of these too.
Being vegan, I now drink almond milk instead of dairy milk and like to add a little cocoa powder and make a warm drink before bedtime some nights. During the day I’ll have a few cups of tea and lots of water.
Eating this way, with almost no processed foods in my life, I feel alive and happy and healthier.
I just cannot imagine how I will feel when I get down to 199lb!
Good luck in your journeys!
C xxxxx
Fantastic progress Carolyn. I can go vegetarian but I am really impressed at you becoming vegan… I know that I couldn’t live without my dairy.
I have lost 56lbs living on WWII rations over the past year. However I have put on 8lbs since stopping so you have spurred me on to start again… I have not eaten my packet of crisps or chocolate tonight, but I have weighed out my rations for the week!
Well done you – keep it up!
OMG again!!! I am sooooooo inspired by you lovely ladies!!!!
I know it works right!!! I don’t think it is a magical formula but it is rather getting back to a basic wholefoods, plant strong diet and getting rid of the nasty processed food and drinks we allow into our lives on an everyday basis..
Just good straightforward sensible eating…
That is FANTASTIC!!!!!!!
Well done!!
C xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Keep going Carolyn, you have got the formula for success. You’ll soon find out what 199lb feels like. I have just shed 5 stone (don’t tell anyone!) and today bought a pair of size 10 jeans, I feel fabulous, and you will too! xxx
OMG Juliette!!!!!! I did see your photo 🙂 That is amazing!!!!! Welld one you! It’s perseverance isn’t it- just keep on going..
Size 10 jeans is totally awesome!!!!
C xxxxxxxxx
Thanks for letting us take a peak at your meals 🙂 You are doing a great job! I can not wait until the post that shows you crossed the 200lb mark!! It’ll be here quicker than you think 🙂
My biggest downfall is the time between meals, always grabbing for inappropriate snacks. So I started to “breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper” and that seems to have helped feeling hungry between meals. I guess I wasn’t getting enough fuel in the morning. The next thing I’m incorporating is a veggie only meal at lunch in the form of a large salad.
it is great to see what works for you. Your lunch sounds yummy! I’m going to have to try it. I never thought of putting a potato on my salad! Do you use any kind of dressing on the salad? I have some great salad dressing recipes from my Cooking for victory cookbook.
I’ve heard people say that too and I think it sounds very sensible! Before this attempt at losing 100 lb in one year (which started Oct 1, 2011) I had got into not bothering with breakfast but a friend convinced me of its importance- infact he dines just like you!
Now I have my breakfast once I get to work (large bowl of oatmeal) and feel it sets me up for the day… its great to have a slow burning complex carb like this
Yes I do try homemade dressings including eggless mayonnaise and occasionally I’ll use a vinegar based regular dressing either homemade or shop bought if I’ve not had time to make any… infact one of the recipes I’m doing for the website soon is the eggless mayonnaise which is made from potatoes and mustard!
So what dressings do you make?
C xxx
I have two dressings that I really love from Eating for Victory. One is what they call “thin salad dressing” and it is1/2 tsp mustard (they mean powder), 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 2 tbsp top milk (cream, but I just use water, skim milk or 2%, what ever I have on hand).1 tbsp vinegar. it is really yummy! Mix dry ingredients together and then add the cream to create a paste, then mix in the vinegar. Sometimes I double the mustard if I’m using water because without the cream it leaves some tastes missing, but still really yummy.
The other one I often make is the “economical salad dressing”. It has 2oz flour, 1 tbsp sugar, 2 tsp mustard, 2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper (I always just grind a bunch in because I like pepper), 1 pint milk or milk and vegetable water, 4 tbsp sugar. Mix dry ingredients and blend with a little milk. Bring the remaining milk to a boil and then add to the flour mixture, return to heat and stir until boiling, boil for 5 minutes. Whisk in vinegar. It doesn’t actually sound all that appetizing, but it makes a nice thick dressing that is thin enough to spread around your salad. This tastes really good on a spinach salad.
I Can’t wait to see some dressing recipes on the website! Especially since they were encouraged to make one meal a day a salad.
Awesome Marina!!! I will do some dressing recipes this weekend and definitely try your ones out!!! Thank you for leaving the recipes- appreciate that!!! C xxxxxxx
Carolyn – that’s fantastic – keep it up girl!
Thanks Carol xx
Hi Carolyn WOW! Thats great news and I feel inspired to follow your way of eating as it sounds so filling and satisfying. I am a very greedy girl and need to feel full….
My only question is do you use any kind of butter, oil or any dressing on your potato or salad. If I was allowed these I would find the eating plan very easy. Very nice to read your other ladies success stories too. Well done to you all and I’m on my case. My son goes back to live in London next week and I can then eat what I want..no excuses ! I write this as the waft of a bacon butty drifts up into my bedroon from said son..torture!! Bye for now Rosemary
Hi Rosemary- thank you xxxx
Yes I do- I use an organic vegan margarine and a vegan shortening for my fat rations. I take 6 oz as the margarine (butter and margarine allowance combined) and 4 oz as shortening (instead of lard)..
There is just enough for some marmite on toast at the weekends, a wee bit on my daily baked potato and a little for baking & frying..
Some people have said to me that wow that seems quite a lot of fat BUT you have to remember that the way people ate during rationing was completely different than the the way the majority of people eat today..
Today people eat a lot of hidden fats like potato chips or processed foods and a lot of cheese and meat but back in the 1940s there was pretty much none of that! Cheese rations were also tiny!
Hope that answers your question
C xxxxxxxx
Well done again Carolyn, you’re doing a fantastic job and being a great inspiration and touching lots of people’s lives. It’s really lovely to read your musings and brings a smile to my face when I log into your site. Keep it up Love. xxxx
Thank you so much Julie!! Yeah I still keep shaking my head and wondering how I doubled my body weight since we went to school together … I wish it had never happened but hey we all react to life in different ways- I stuffed my face with food! LOL… Have yourself an awesome day! C xxxx
We all need something “sinfull” to full back on in times of stress. For some it is drugs or alchohol. Although these are still difficult to give up the body does’nt need them so after a while it gets so much easier. Food, on the other hand is something we cannot do without, so the temptation is continuous. You have done so well Carolyn with that temptation in the kitchen all the time. Over three stone ( I,m English ) in four months. Very very WELL DONE.
It seems so strange saying stones now 🙂 Although for the first few years in Canada I still thought in stones…. now its just lbs and I’ve almost forgotten how to convert lbs into stones! But yes 3 stone!!! LOL… Thank you Jan and yes you are soooo right. If you are addicted to food its really hard to moderate your input… it would be easier if we didn’t have to eat at all but we do…. xxxxxxxxx
Love your blog,, and a HUGE CONGRATS on the weight loss!!!
cindie
Thank you so much!!! I do appreciate your kind comment- keeps me going! C xxxx