February | 2020 | ~Vegan Mommy Dee~

I completed my 1st ever Mary’s Mini diet this month! I loved it and it truly wasn’t that hard to follow at all.

Are you wondering what the Mary’s Mini is? It’s a simple diet created by Mary Mcdougall. If you’re not familiar with Mary, she’s Dr. Mcdougall’s wife and she’s brilliant. The Mcdougall’s promote a Starch based diet. If you’re interested in more information about their views a good book to read is The Starch Solution.

As far as the Mary’s Mini goes it’s a diet used by many in order to regain control over their eating patterns, shed some weight quickly, and reset their taste buds. The idea behind the simple diet is that you pick one starch and only eat that one starch for 10 days along with a variety of non starchy vegetables. You would eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It gets boring but the diet works. You will only eat when you truly are hungry and the endless snacking will stop. Things that you once craved will no longer interest you. I found I became very conscious of my body’s cues and fueled it accordingly. I ate until I was full and only ate when I was truly hungry.

While on the mini we are allowed to have light condiments on our food which makes our meals so much easier. She allows things like ketchup, mustard, soy sauce, vinegar and hot sauce. We have to use them sparingly but they are allowed on this diet which I thought was very helpful.

So what isn’t allowed on this diet? You can’t mix starches while on this 10 day diet. You can’t have any oil at all! Remember to check all the ingredients on your condiments because oil is in a lot of them! We are not allowed to consume any fruit for 10 days as well on this diet. Food is meant to be on the boring side and it would be very easy to overeat fruit if it were allowed. It would taste like true candy and it would get hard to control those portions accordingly. It’s only 10 days so I don’t think it’s the end of the world. Another thing to watch out for in condiments is refined sugar. That’s also hidden in way too many store bought sauces and dressings.

I tried out the potato mini because I found that I was eating when I wasn’t even hungry. I became a snacker and wanted to regain some control over my eating patterns. I also couldn’t believe how fast my taste buds reset. By day 3, I couldn’t drink my beloved dark roast coffee anymore. I started drinking a weak coffee or a coffee alternative called Dandy Blend. I also lost 7 lbs in 10 days which was shocking since I was eating a ton of food! Overall I had great energy, felt I enjoyed all my meals, became more mindful of my eating habits, and the bloating in my tummy disappeared. I felt great! So good in fact that I want to try completing a rice mini next!

Whole Starchy foods like potatoes do indeed have all the micro and macro nutrients that we need in order to stay healthy. Dr. Mcdougall assures us that this is a perfectly healthy diet to try and we shouldn’t be worried. He talks about this in the webinar which I will attach in this post for your reference.

I’ll also add my 1st Mary’s Mini video where I explain what this simple temporary diet is and how to complete it properly. If you haven’t already Subscribed to my YouTube channel please consider doing so. I appreciate your support and hope you find the information helpful. I will include handy charts to help you along the way if you choose to try out the Mary’s Mini. I created a simple non starchy veggie list as well as a list of approved starches.

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A couple weeks back I had a scare and yes that lovely sweet stuff was involved. Sugar!!!! This is the downside of a healthy lifestyle as it can sometimes make you obsessed about being perfect at all times.

I ordered breakfast on my mobile app at work and totally forgot to add a note on it requesting that they not add brown sugar to my oatmeal.

I definitely wasn’t in that jolly “a spoonful of sugar” zone like the lovely Julie Andrews was in the movie Mary Poppins. I found I started panicking as I was super worried about ingesting that much sugar! Why isn’t there an option to remove toppings on the app I thought? Ugh! I didn’t remember the last time I consumed brown sugar.

I use things like date paste to sweeten things because I try and eat whole foods as much as possible. I strive to cut out as much processed foods as possible in my diet.

I just went with it and forced myself to stop obsessing about it. My past with an eating disorder crept out and I nipped that in the bud real fast. I will not let food control my life ever again.

I ate that oatmeal and guess what? I didn’t die or feel sick after eating it. You see I’ve preprogrammed myself to think that refined sugar of any kind will make me sick. To my shock that actually didn’t happen! I might break out but that’s pretty much it.

I still eat my homemade oatmeal without any sugar added on a normal basis at home. I think berries sweeten it perfectly. If I have to order my oatmeal however from my local coffee shop then I will do so without guilt. Now and again it’s ok to enjoy some sugar and we shouldn’t obsess about it! It’s called living in the moment and sometimes you just have to roll with it.

I had to remind myself that I don’t over indulge in sugar filled goodies daily so over all my health wouldn’t be affected. I’m a far cry from the 22 teaspoons of sugar consumed by the average person these days. That’s the equivalent of 355 calories!!! Wow! Yeah no thanks. I like to eat real food and consume calories that actually fill me up and nourish my body.

Here is the infamous oatmeal that caused me to sweat and panick below. It’s funny how an innocent serving of oatmeal can cause a person so much unnecessary stress and worry. Look’s tasty doesn’t it? Why was I obsessing about it?

Maple Sugar Oatmeal

I like to think I’ve come a long way since my dark days with an eating disorder. When situations like this kreep up though it reminds me that it’s so easy to fall into old behaviors. I have to snap out of it and regain control over the situation.

Life is always an adventure and you never know what will trigger scary feelings and situations within ourselves. I’ve learned that it’s best to feel the emotions and be kind to yourself in those situations. Then its time to get really real with ourselves. We must remind ourselves that we are in total control of the situation and our lives. We have more power and strength then we ever give ourselves credit for!

I always strive to be as healthy as possible but I will allow myself some wiggle room. I will allow myself to enjoy life to the fullest and sometimes indulge in unhealthy food. I’m always trying to strive toward balance. Balance is key. I will always have those off days. The days where yes the thought of sugar will send me into a sweaty panick and that’s ok. I’ll get over it. I always do. Again Balance is key right? Good days & bad days are normal parts of this human experience.

I think we need to focus on how far we’ve come on our health and wellness journeys. Living in a state of gratitude for the amazing body we have been given is vital in my opinion. Giving ourselves grace for the moments of unhealthy treats is vital. Love life and try not sweating the small stuff. We truly are blessed to be healthy, strong and vibrant.

Here is an Affirmation that might help you if you find yourself in a similar state one day. These health and fitness goals sometime send us into a frenzy and we forget that its really not that serious.