eG Foodblog: mizducky - The Tightwad Gourmand turns pro

[Domestic Goddess]

Dearest MizDucky - it's so sad to see the end of your blog. Thank you for sharing a week's worth of eating, touring and your life with us. Good luck on your successful weight loss and I do hope your knee recovers soon.

[Kerry Beal]

Thoroughly enjoyable blog. Got me craving asian soups!! Got me back on WW (not that I have ever attended a meeting or followed it the way it should probably be followed).

Thanks all around.

[johnnyd]

Ellen,

Very nice blog. Great new gig. And... you look mahvelous, dahling.

Sorry I came late to the party. I have to second the suggestion to investigate kelp noodles. I have just discovered them through a good friend who has started harvesting them here in Maine, a wing of his successful mussel aquaculture biz. I wrote a little bit about it on the cooking forum last month - see here -

I have noticed that when re-cooked a bit, they approach a more noodly consistency but they really don't have the flavor pasta has as there are no eggs, flour etc. I think they would have been great is a couple of your soups. If you try the Sea Tangle product, please post.

Your pics were fabulous this week. Good luck this year!

johnnyd

[BarbaraY]

I've enjoyed this tremendously. Thanks for showing off another part of our great state where I've never been.

Always want to mention that you're looking great and doing very well with your food program. Congratulations!

[mizducky]

Oh cool! I can sneak in a couple more replies!

It's been my (admittedly anecdotal) observation that some people simply have a physical preference for or against meat-eating. We are not all cast from one mold, metabolically speaking. Some people actively thrive on a diet free from animal products; others just can't function at their peak on such a regimen. (And I was pleased to discover, several years ago, that my supposition had some support from natural/macrobiotic cookery expert Annemarie Colbin; her book Food and Healing has given me a lot of food for thought, so to speak, as I stumbled my way towards my current way of eating.)

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Ah! So true! At the closing hour of your blog I just HAD to jump in. Thanks for sharing this week of food and life and gorgegousnes with us. And YAY for losing so much weight!

To the above observation, I can only say that I was born and raised a vegetarian, never had a single bite of meat and had been heavily overweight for at least my entire adult life. Up until about two and a half years ago, that is. Around that time I suddenly started feeling SUCH a strong craving for MEATMEATMEAT that I could't just ignore it. So I stopped being a vegetarian.

I am now a carnivore to the bone- I like my meat and I like it red- and I lost over 40 kilo's in the course of a year, without any diet or effort whatsoever. So my new 'rule' for healthy living and eating is that if you totally honestly listen to what your body asks of you, there is no going wrong...

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What a terrific story! And another anecdote to add to my stock of evidence. Many thanks for sharing that, and congrats on your weight loss.

Sorry I came late to the party.  I have to second the suggestion to investigate kelp noodles.  I have just discovered them through a good friend who has started harvesting them here in Maine, a wing of his successful mussel aquaculture biz.  I wrote a little bit about it on the cooking forum last month - see here -

I have noticed that when re-cooked a bit, they approach a more noodly consistency but they really don't have the flavor pasta has as there are no eggs, flour etc.  I think they would have been great is a couple of your soups.  If you try the Sea Tangle product, please post.

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I went and checked out that other topic--very cool! I will definitely look for that product, and report back when I've got some to experiment with.

[snowangel]

Ellen, a final question from moi. You've talked uptopic rather extensively about "wrapping your head" around your weight loss plan. Has this gotten easier over time? Do you think that your healthier eating has yet become a habit?

[mizducky]

Ellen, a final question from moi.  You've talked uptopic rather extensively about "wrapping your head" around your weight loss plan.  Has this gotten easier over time?  Do you think that your healthier eating has yet become a habit?

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It's still not 100% set-and-forget by a long stretch, but it has gotten a whole lot more habitual than it was at first.

For instance, when I got home from dinner at The Linkery earlier in the blog and sat down to reconstruct exactly what I'd eaten, I realized that I'd unconsciously eaten a lot less meat than I had anticipated--and that at a restaurant that specializes in sausages! And that after I had made a point of arranging my food that day so that I could splurge on meats at dinner if I had wanted. My old self would have vaccuumed down a whole plateful of sausages on my own without blinking an eye. But my current self had simply and unconsciously gone for just a taste of everything, plus a great (meatless) entree, and been well satisfied.

But there are still plenty of days when I struggle. In fact, last night my lizard brain was doing its best to take advantage of my end-of-blog letdown and energy drain to worm its way through my defences. Wouldn't that have been embarrassing, after going on at such great length about my progress and all that online here! But I'm not too proud to admit that such thoughts did help me to resist the lizard's blandishments. In fact, that's one of the reasons I do blog about my regimen online--knowing I have an audience helps keep me honest. And for the rest, the habits I've built up so far did kick in, so I wound up satisfying that late-night urge to munch with a couple of blood oranges and a celery heart. (And the celery itself represents a major milestone in getting more used to this whole lifestyle--I used to loathe raw celery due to heavy association with past bad dieting trips; but now, I actually like the stuff. Will wonders never cease? )

(I should add that I've made a solemn vow to myself, if I ever should totally give in to the lizard and have a food freakout, that I will instantly forgive myself and do my damnedest to climb right back on the regimen without angsting myself to death over it. So far it's yet to come to that ... but I want to be ready.)

[C. sapidus]

. . . and the lizard shall dwell with the duck . . .

Wonderful blog, MizDucky. Thanks a bunch, and best wishes for the future. Take a well-deserved break, catch your breath, and then please continue to delight us with your posts.

[dockhl]

Awesome, mizducky. Love your new avatar

(I should add that I've made a solemn vow to myself, if I ever should totally give in to the lizard and have a food freakout, that I will instantly forgive myself and do my damnedest to climb right back on the regimen without angsting myself to death over it. So far it's yet to come to that ... but I want to be ready.)

So true. It may but when it does, one day is all ! THAT won't take a permanent toll. You have done a terrific job of reprogramming; I am SO impressed.

Looking forward already to your next blog (Get some rest.......)

Kathy

[mizducky]

Thanks, everybody. You're all continuing to be fabulous.

Oh, FYI, here's a link to the writeup I wound up posting on Humphrey's: clickie

[Priscilla]

Miz D., what an inspiring trip you have taken us on. Many many thanks.

[Rebecca263]

Thankyou for taking us along on your week, and your journey. The new job and the better health, I wish for you only more of the same! (Am I channeling some Eastern European English there, or what!?)

[little ms foodie]

love the new picture, great job and great blog!

[Kouign Aman]

Thank you for all the time and care you put into this blog. Its such fun to see my town from your perspective, to read your writing, and to learn from you. Your new avatar is "just ducky" , tho I confess I miss the intense purple and the fabulous frivolous feather. Good luck as you keep that lizard under wraps.

[judiu]

What am I missing? I still see the purple and pink thing going on. Hey, if you ever decide to hit the Florida coast, get in touch, will ya? We can have a ball!

[mizducky]

What am I missing? I still see the purple and pink thing going on. Hey, if you ever decide to hit the Florida coast, get in touch, will ya? We can have a ball!

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Hee -- try clearing your browser's cache, and then take another look at my avatar and see what you see ...

[Domestic Goddess]

MizDucky - worked for me! I love the new "you"!

[MarketStEl]

Has this turned into a wereblog?

Not that I'm suggesting anyone drive a stake through its heart or anything....

[divalasvegas]

I'm so happy and inspired by you mizducky. I remember your previous blog where you laid out the guidelines for your new/current way of eating and weightloss and just general improvement of your overall health. It's wonderful to see how well you've implemented the whole thing, especially mixing good nutrition with eating delicious food and a whole lot of common sense. I've lost a few myself and applaud you for avoiding grabbing onto the latest fad diet to end all diets approach we have today which usually fails and leaves one feeling like a failure.

All my best to you.

Edited March 29, 2007 by divalasvegas (log)

[racheld]

Ducky, Dear, you're still here!!!

I'm glad you're persevering---every day it brights me to see your spot still perking along.

And I, too, admire your new avatar. I DO wish the gallant magenta feather still sat royally on your chapeau---it makes a lovely beacon for us short folk as we follow along in your avant garde steps, onward and upward to better music, better cooking, better times.

Sally forth forever.

[mizducky]

Thanks again, everybody!

Hmmm, looks like this topic somehow didn't get closed properly ... I will go consult with the Powers That Be ...

[divalasvegas]

Thanks again, everybody!

Hmmm, looks like this topic somehow didn't get closed properly ... I will go consult with the Powers That Be ...

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No-o-o-o-o!!!

[caroled]

Thanks again, everybody!

Hmmm, looks like this topic somehow didn't get closed properly ... I will go consult with the Powers That Be ...

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No-o-o-o-o!!!

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I concur, Rock On

(Didn't know that it was going to last this long, did ya ? )

Fantastic blog. I've loved reading it and am always fascinated when you do one. They are always so informative. Thanks for taking us along for the ride.