Mashed Cauliflower (Gilda)

Sauté onions in a little PAM until they get nice and brown.
Cook the cauliflower until it is VERY soft. (I steam the florets so they are more nutritious.)
Mash the cauliflower, add the sautéed onions, season with salt and pepper if you wish and enjoy. It is delicious. YUM!

Hint: To caramelize onions, cook them very slowly until they get nice and brown. (I start with a spritz of PAM but keep adding a little veggie broth or water to keep them going.)

thanks!!!!

It is so hard for me to write this but i have been binging for the past thre days unstoppable. There is this hoplessness that has come over me for some reason and i cannot shake it off. I havent even weighed myself and been way to scared. I am scared all of my hard work and losing the 17lbs so far will just creep on me again. I dont know what to do to stop myself.

Lose25, I know how you feel because this diet is tough. I had a perfect day followed by a near perfect day, but it was free taco day at Jack in the Box and my kids wanted some. They didn't finish them and I ate the rest, stuffed to capacity.

But, tomorrow is another day (hate to sound cliche') and we just have to wake up tomorrow and drink plenty of water to try to offset our mistakes from the day before, and then start the protocol anew.

Practice makes perfect (ugh, another cliche')!

TOTALLY agree. It might sound like a cliche, but tomorrow *is* another day.

We *all* fall off the wagon. I had a perfect week. I mean, not one thing out of place, drank my water, am weighing in today and was down 9 lbs as of yesterday! Was so excited!

... then I made a pork roast for my family, and tasted... it really was a little bite, but it must have thrown something off.. this morning I'm only down 7 lbs.

The thing is - it HAPPENS. But - don't look back, if you cheated, I hope you enjoyed it and it was worth it! Sometimes we really *do* need to bust loose. If it helps you to keep the big picture in mind? Know that you're human and we're *all* here to support you! I really knew I shouldn't have had that taste last night, although man my pork roast was GOOD, and today it's guacamole central at my house.

Are you just out of good ideas for food? I know that can become difficult.. maybe we can help?

Hang in there!

Christine

So, somehow, after my mini pork attack last night (it was one bite! gah..), and seeming to only be down 7 lbs this morning (only she says, shut up Christine) - I went in to get weighed and re bead and lo and behold?

8.6 lbs. Holy Cow! er.. Pig!

I was so thrilled. I've now officially broken the 20 lb mark, which puts me over 1/4 of the way to my goal. Just had a monster bowl of guac with cucumber "chips" and a diet cream soda (man i love that stuff) and am going to try the miracle noodles this evening for dinner with some butternut squash. (not together, just want the squash with the WF pancake syrup on it )

Now what's this about cauliflower rice with avocado?! I'm lisssstennninnnggg... I have another veggie day tomorrow, and that sounds fab.

As for the mashed cauliflower? I never roasted it beforehand, but I do *love* roasted cauliflower. I figure if I've gone through all the trouble to roast it and it's super tasty already - why mash it up?! LOL!

The Molly McButter cheese.. I just sent in a full on request with all the ingredients to make sure it's legal. I used it twice this week in moderation (ahem, probably too much of it, but man i missed cheese.. ) and still lost a lot, so... anyway- we'll see what Dr. S has to say about it. Yay or Nay.

If it's legal - and I'll let you know what he says - I found it with the spices near the Butter Buds and Molly McButter in my supermarket. There's a similar product by Reese .. I should look into that as well.

Lastly-

HOT CHOCOLATE ALERT.

Okay ladies- I know some folks swear by that Walden Farms chocolate, but I think it tastes like feet. Bleh. Someone at the Hackensack office mentioned to me that they used the Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder and splenda to make theirs.. so I hot footed it to my pantry, and yanked mine out. I followed the directions on the containter for a single cup -

2-3 tsp cocoa powder
2 packets of splenda (or whatever you like to substitute for sugar)
a dash of salt
milk

in a mug, and I made a bit of a paste at first, to combine all the dry ingredients... then added the rest of the milk, stirring well. Toss it in the microwave to heat. (also, try subbing out the splenda for some SF syrup - peppermint? etc?)

FIERCE. I mean, crazy fierce. If I can have that and guacamole? I'm SET.

Hope you're all having a great day!

Christine

Good ideas, HeldenMommy, and I am trying the hot cocoa today and the guacamole tomorrow.

Another important thing, Lose25, is let the mistakes ride in the past. The worst mistake would be to abandon the diet altogether and give up. Then all of your effort and pain has been in vain. Rather, think of your mistake days like, "Hey, it's better than...," and fill in the blank.

For me, eating 5 Jack in the Box tacos at 11 PM after a day of only 20 oz of milk and yogurt is better than adding in cake and ice cream too, like I did in the past when all h*ll broke loose, dietarily.

We are better off trying even if falling short of perfection and making small improvements than allowing the all or nothing mentality to govern us.

Best of luck!

Hi everyone!

I think everyone could use a group hug. It must be the weather getting colder and the months getting holiday-er, but I feel like the diet is getting a bit difficult for everyone--myself included.

I cheated last Saturday, and I've been trying to make up for it ever since. I've been stuck at 133 for nearly a week now, and it is incredibly frustrating. More specifically, I was stuck at 133.8 for five days, and today I'm at 133.0. I'm nearly ready to punch a hole into my wall!! I'm really trying hard to make this set of beads a perfect set. I've never had a perfect set, and this is my 4th, how embarrassing is that?! I'm also doing this knowing that in will most likely cheat next week. I know it's not good to think about it like that, but I'm just being honest with myself.

HeldenMommy, thanks for the hot chocolate recipe!! I've been experimenting with hot chocolate as well, but I've been trying to use the WF chocolate dip because I bought too much of it and I'm trying to use it up. It has this awful aftertaste though. The only upside is that it smells good. When I crave sweets at night, I've been making hot chocolate using water, splenda, WF chocolate dip, and unsweetened cocoa. It's not wonderful, but it's better than nothing! I may add a dash of salt, like you did--I've never considered that, and now I'm intrigued!

Thank you all for your words. I have been so frusterated with every thing and everyone in my life and family that i turn to food. Its the only way i know how to cope. But your right today is a new day and so far i have been doing great. Just a few more hours and i am sure i can do it. Again thanks a lot. I can't say i feel better. But i do feel more hopeful.

I found a site that had an article titled, "7 Things You Can Do Today to Get Your Diet Back on Track."

In many challenging situations, what works best for me is telling myself how difficult it's going to be, almost terrifying myself about it. Then once I engage the challenge, I notice it't not so bad after all.

Here are the 7 to dos of the article by Frederic Patenaud:

1) Don't be hard on yourself;
2) Reset your system and fast;
3) List your benefits;
4) Recommit;
5) Give yourself a goal (I think mini goals are good like, "I will have a perfect day tomorrow.")
6) Be prepared for the next breakdown;
7) Get coaching and support.

I know I posted this inquiry before, but thought I'd try again.

Other than Accuweight's information, can anyone find any other references to the body seeking nutrition only between the hours of noon and 6? I just wonder how crucial this aspect of the program is compared to say straying off the actual diet. I think (and could be wrong) that it would be better to not have any food all day and have your 20 oz. of milk right before bedtime, than have the 20 oz. before 6, and then something else that's not allowed after 6.

Do you get what I mean? If I am going to make a mistake, I would rather it be less offensive, and then maybe I could work on making my food intake earlier and earlier as time goes by until I am confident that I won't eat after 6.

Answers? Thoughts?

Where'd everyone go? We definitely need more people in here.

Anneleslie thanks that helps. And yeah the reference for eating between noon and 6 is the fact that our bodies only look for food during that time. After that they can't tell the difference between thirst and hunger. BUt i totally get what your saying. I Agree with you 100 %. I dont usually care for food all day til i get to the evenings that what screws me up. Now that you mention that i am actually experimenting with something different. Because i have gained weight from all of the cheating and am back to 142 lbs i am going to try a week of milk. I started today on milk and will be going til next Tuesday. I usually like my veggie days so i dont know how hard this will be. BUt i need to do this to get back on track and do well. Ill let everyone know how that goes. Sidenote i did perfect today because of your words and the helpful hints. SO thank you everyone!

Lose25, I'm so glad you're ending your day on a high note!

On the recommendation of someone else from 3FC, I bought The Beck Diet Solution. I haven't finished it yet, but it seems like a really, really good read. It doesn't recommend a food diet--rather, it is a complement to whatever diet you're already doing. It focuses on how you think about food, and basically tries to change your psychological relationship to it. The list that Annleslie posted by Paternaud has the same ideas. I really recommend this book!

Tomorrow is a veggie day for me. I'm usually super pro-milk days, but I'm actually really looking forward to tomorrow. I've been craving broccoli lately...

Wait, Lose25. Before you commit to an entire week of nothing but milk...think about the purpose of alternating milk and veg.

Milk [B]liquifies[B] the fat.
Vegetables and fruits [B]dissolve[B] the fat.

So, if you do milk for a week, certainly you will liquify the fat, but where will it go? You'll still be carrying it around and the scale won't move, potentially.

Reconsider. This diet is extreme enough already.