Noom Elephant Dialogues--Peanut Butter Pumpkins

🐘: I WANT Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins 🥜🍫🎃😋
🕵️‍♂️: There is craving
🏇: Remember we wanted to start eating healthy?
🐘: We eat healthy tomorrow. I WANT Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins 🥜🍫🎃😋
🕵️‍♂️: There is rationalization
🏇: How about we plan to have a Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkin 🥜🍫🎃 on Halloween as a special treat? That will give us something to look forward to.
🐘: Is Halloween tomorrow? 🤔
🏇: Not quite. But we can get a nice healthful snack tonight. And maybe some stretching or a walk.
🐘: I WANT Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins 🥜🍫🎃 NOW!😦
🕵️‍♂️: There is frustration
🏇: I get that you are frustrated. That is real and valid. You like something that you aren't having right now. Can we take a deep breath and touch base with how are we feeling?
🐘: 🙏
🕵️‍♂️: There is calm
🐘: I still want it. 🙁
🏇: I know you do. Let's find something sweet that will also be filling. 🍓🍒🍇🍉🍌🍐
🐘: 🍓🍒🍇🍉🍌🍐I feel better now. 😊
‍🏇: What a good elephant. How about that walk now?
🐘: 🚶‍♀️

Noom: The Stall

Stalls and Plateaus in weight loss are common. 

A plateau is a stall in weight loss that lasts for three weeks or longer. 

Keep focusing on the things in your control.
Celebrate Non-Scale Victories. 

I think of it as the body gearing up for another round of fat burning. 

I remember a stall around the 100 day mark. Upon reflection, it was actually a good transition time. I started to learn to rely less on measurement and more on my intuition. This takes time and is error prone but worth it. 

When you hit those big milestones give your body a chance to consolidate the victory.

At the moment, I’m on my sixth week-long stall since starting Noom in April.

But I try to focus on the big picture

All that said, feel what you feel.
Feeling irritated, frustrated, discouraged, disappointed, sad, even angry are all valid. 

The feelings you are having are real and valid.
You are doing something hard.
Hard things are hard. 

Underneath that discouragement is hope, hope for a healthier you. 

Underneath that hope is love. Love for those you care about, your life, and yourself. 

Each day is its own adventure.

Dig deep, you got this!

Noom: Elephant Dialogues--RUN or RAMPAGE

RUN or RAMPAGE

🐘: RUN!? or RAMPAGE?! 😫
🏇: One second. ... Deep Breath.
🕵️‍♂️: Nope, we're all ok.
🏇: Easy there elephant. We're fine. We'll get through this just breathe.
🐘: Don't run? Don't fight? 😟
🏇: No. we are fine. Let's just do the next thing.
🐘: Is the next thing curl up in a ball? Or EAT.ALL.THE.THINGS? 😋
🏇: Let's just scrub the next veggie. 
🐘: 🍠

Noom has helped me deal with my anxiety when it flares up. 
 Noom has helped me deal with my depression when it flares up. 
 But some days, when they both flare up, are quite a challenge. 
I lean hard into the system. I've noticed several times when I was at the cusp of a panic attack I was able to find the mindfulness to take a deep breath and check in with my observer to see if I was in any actual danger.
That helped. 

Noom: Elephant Dialogues--Fried Chicken

Fried Chicken

🏇Rider: Hey, Elephant? We get to have Fried Chicken!
🐘 Elephant: Mm. I.Love.Fried.Chicken! 😋
🏇I know you do. That will be nice
🐘 Do we get a whole bucket? 🤭
🏇We get to choose how much we can eat. To meet our goals, let's have some great sides: corn on the cob, tortilla soup, and Coleslaw.
🐘 All that with a BUCKET OF FRIED CHICKEN? 😋
🏇Well, the first bite is the best. Let's just have one piece, and plan to really make the most of it.
🐘 But, I.LOVE.FRIED.CHICKEN! 😬
🕵️‍♀️ Observer: There is anxiety.
🏇I know you do. Isn't it great that with Noom we can have some?
🐘I guess so 🤔
🏇How about I let you pick if you want to start with the chicken, or end with it.
🐘Hmm 🤔
🏇While you think about it, let's go for a walk.
🐘🚶‍♀️

Inspired by a post by Molly: I’m making homemade fried chicken at the request of my visiting son.
My inner elephant is soooo excited! (It loves fried chicken!) I’ll have coleslaw and corn on the cob on the side. And I have some homemade tortilla soup to have alongside to take the edge off my hunger.
Ideas for how chat with the elephant?

Noom it up: Burritos

Burritos have become a regular meal since I've been on Noom.

I usually make a batch of filling that is enough for 6-8 burritos. I'll make two burritos that day, and keep the filling to make meals on later days.

Burritos in Thee steps: 

Cook the Rice
Make the Filling
Assemble the burrito

Cook the rice: 

I use my instant pot. First I set it to sauté mode (makes it like an electric skillet, or you could just use the stove if you don't mind one more thing to wash).
put 1 Tbs of butter and 1 cup of uncooked rice (I use short grain brown rice)
Optional: add some diced onions
Toast, stirring occasionally, until fragrant. 3-5 minutes.
Add two cups stock (I use home made chicken stock)
Set to rice mode (cooks for 10 minutes under pressure).
After the pressure is released, stir and take out one cup cooked rice for burrito filling, and put the rest in storage container in the fridge or freezer for later use.

Make the filling: 

Sauté some veggies (whatever is at hand: diced carrots, zucchini, ...)
Steam some Cauliflower Rice (I get it frozen in a bag. I follow the package directions in the microwave)
Rinse and drain one can of black beans
Combine: rice, veggies, cauliflower rice, black beans, prepared salsa  in a sauce pot and warm.
Measure out 2/3 cup servings, refrigerating unused portion for later meals.

Assemble the burrito

Shred some salad greens and toss with 1 Tsp of lime or lemon juice. 

Prepare some avocado (or guacamole if you wish)

Warm tortillas in microwave for 10 seconds. 

For each tortilla:

•  apply 1 Tbs plain Yogurt (or sour cream, or hummas, or ...)
•  some of the shredded lettuce
•  some avocado
•  2/3 cup of the filling (adjust  if you like smaller burritos)

Another Example:

Shredded chuck roast, low fat yogurt, rice & quinoa cooked in chicken stock, salsa, black beens, zucchini, carrots, hot sauce. Served with a side of grilled asparagus. 

Noom: Elephant Dialogues--Depression

Depression


🐘: I don't want to workout. I'm TIRED. 😶
🕵️‍♂️: There is depression
🏇: You’ll feel better after you work out.
🐘: I don't want to feel better. I ruined everything. I ate bad. I am bad. 😟
🕵️‍♂️: There is black & white thinking
🏇: We made the list of things to do so we will be healthier. You don't have to feel like it or even want to do it. We just need to do it because it is on the list.
🐘: It’s hard. 😶
🏇: Let’s just start. We'll do one set. Let's trust the system.
🐘: 🏋️‍♀️

Noom: Elephant Dialogues--Negotiation

Negotiating with your elephant:
🐘: HUNGRY! 😟
🏇: Good morning Elephant. We just had breakfast
🐘: STILL HUNGRY! 😟
🏇: Are you still upset about just getting a bite of enchiladas?
🐘: Barely a bit. Enchiladas are SOOOO good! 😋
🕵️‍♂️: There is craving
🏇: Let’s get some water. Maybe you're thirsty?
🐘: Thirsty for ENCHILADAS! 😋
🏇: Very funny. How about some gum. That will give your mouth something to do.
🐘: 😶
🏇: That’s a good elephant. Now let's go for a walk
🐘: 🚶‍♀️

Noom it up: Bread

Bread has been tricky for me. I get the nutsiest twigsiest bread I can find, and try to just have a slice or two a day.

Dave's Killer Bread is great as is Grand Central Baking (here in Portland, OR). I also get some good stuff at the farmer's market.

I've done well with the Franz Everything bagel and the Franz totally whole wheat English muffin.

I always try to break down the package into smaller portions when I get it home and put most in the freezer: 2, 4, or 6 slices in a package. Double bagged.

The bread itself seems to be ok, but it really seems to wake up my hunger. And I don't have a strong intuition for when to stop.

The sandwich: I usually eat my bread in some kind of sandwich.

Condiments: Mashed avocado, hummus, dressing, the most flavorful mustard you enjoy... 

Green it up: 
Thinly sliced apples, roasted potatoes, cucumbers, ...
Salad greens (I like mine shredded).
Herbs (fresh basil!)
Pickles. (There are pickled veggies other than cucumbers too)

Always keep an eye out for how to sneak in more Greens: Side of fruit; Side salad; Carrots and celery...

Red Rebel Alliance: 
Red foods are not bad, they just need to be treated with care. There are options between LOTS OF CHEESE and NO CHEESE.
Red foods are the most important to weigh or measure carefully since Noom's "slice" may not be your "slice." Once you get the hang of it, you can estimate based on experience. And eventually, just rely on your intuition.
If a sandwich isn't a sandwich without mayonnaise, use a thin layer.

Mix it up: 
Do you love salami, but find turkey boring?  Try Turkey and Salami. Measure, log, pay attention.
Want less bread? Make half a sandwich and stack the fillings. Or have it open-faced.

To log condiments: 
Weigh bread before and after, or
weigh the knife with and without, or
weigh the container before and after.

New to whole grains?
Also, if you are new to eating whole wheat or whole grain bread: slow down while chewing. Give it some time and the enzymes in your mouth with break down some starch and provide a lot more flavor.