MWL FEB 2010!! On plan and planning to stay that way!

[JamieR]

Hello from overcast Northern California!

I weighed in this morning, and...

I am DOWN 5 pounds (100% MWL).

I wish there was a dancing smily!

I am just so surprised and happy at the weight loss... 7 1/2 lbs since the start of February. I would not have thought it possible! I didn't think I'd have much success with weight loss until I got of the insulin completely.

For NSVs...

...I am down to 30 units of insulin, down from 76 units at the start of the month.

...I am off one of my blood pressure medications...and my blood pressure this morning was 111/74

...I have been able to stand and walk around with dramatically less pain (I have trouble with diabetic neuropathy).

...I have had less involuntary muscle spasms. (I normally have a lot.)

The biggest non-scale victory brought me to tears! It was so dramatic and wonderful. As I said above, I have diabetic neuropathy in my legs and feet. What this means is that the nerves in my legs and feet are damaged because of my high blood sugars. This happens gradually over time (I've been diabetic for 12 years). At first you might notice occasional numbness in places...and/or coldness in your extremeties...and it gradually, steadily, gets worse and worse. It's not just numbness and coldness; at progresses, it gets very painful, like you can just feel your nerves screaming on the inside. There have been nights, more so in the last year, where I just couldn't fall asleep for the pain.

Interestingly, as it gets very painful inside your legs and feet, the outside of your feet lose more and more sensation. Your feet just can't feel the nuances of what they are on any more. Yes, I can still always feel something sharp or irritating, but the texture of floors, socks, other things that feet might touch...has been completely lost on me for some time.

After a shower on Tuesday, I was standing without shoes or socks on brushing my teeth (yes, as a good diabetic, I usually keep my feet covered at all times to protect them). All of a sudden, I realized that I could feel the texture of the floor with my left foot! I just stopped...and rubbed my foot up and down on the linoleum...then the hall carpet. Not only could I feel every nuance in the different textures, my foot felt less congested and stiff. I yelled for my DH...I just had to share that suddenly my left foot felt so much more like a normal foot! (My right foot is improving, but still feels numb...it's always been the worse foot.) I just sat in a chair, rubbing my foot against EVERY texture I could find, trying to hold back tears.

It was a huge moment, for someone who has had foot and nerve problems for so long!

Just had to share!

[Love the Lorax]

Oh my... I have tears in my eyes reading this!! I am so happy for you!! What an amazing testimony to the power of this diet, and such a motivation for me! Thank you for sharing.

Hello from overcast Northern California!

I weighed in this morning, and...

I am DOWN 5 pounds (100% MWL).

I wish there was a dancing smily!

I am just so surprised and happy at the weight loss... 7 1/2 lbs since the start of February. I would not have thought it possible! I didn't think I'd have much success with weight loss until I got of the insulin completely.

For NSVs...

...I am down to 30 units of insulin, down from 76 units at the start of the month.

...I am off one of my blood pressure medications...and my blood pressure this morning was 111/74

...I have been able to stand and walk around with dramatically less pain (I have trouble with diabetic neuropathy).

...I have had less involuntary muscle spasms. (I normally have a lot.)

The biggest non-scale victory brought me to tears! It was so dramatic and wonderful. As I said above, I have diabetic neuropathy in my legs and feet. What this means is that the nerves in my legs and feet are damaged because of my high blood sugars. This happens gradually over time (I've been diabetic for 12 years). At first you might notice occasional numbness in places...and/or coldness in your extremeties...and it gradually, steadily, gets worse and worse. It's not just numbness and coldness; at progresses, it gets very painful, like you can just feel your nerves screaming on the inside. There have been nights, more so in the last year, where I just couldn't fall asleep for the pain.

Interestingly, as it gets very painful inside your legs and feet, the outside of your feet lose more and more sensation. Your feet just can't feel the nuances of what they are on any more. Yes, I can still always feel something sharp or irritating, but the texture of floors, socks, other things that feet might touch...has been completely lost on me for some time.

After a shower on Tuesday, I was standing without shoes or socks on brushing my teeth (yes, as a good diabetic, I usually keep my feet covered at all times to protect them). All of a sudden, I realized that I could feel the texture of the floor with my left foot! I just stopped...and rubbed my foot up and down on the linoleum...then the hall carpet. Not only could I feel every nuance in the different textures, my foot felt less congested and stiff. I yelled for my DH...I just had to share that suddenly my left foot felt so much more like a normal foot! (My right foot is improving, but still feels numb...it's always been the worse foot.) I just sat in a chair, rubbing my foot against EVERY texture I could find, trying to hold back tears.

It was a huge moment, for someone who has had foot and nerve problems for so long!

Just had to share!

[SactoBob]

Great news and a great story. Thanks for sharing. The good news is that the benefits continue and even increase with time.

Sorry it is overcast in Mendocino. My kayak club friends are spending the three day weekend there. If you see a bunch of folks with kayaks on top of their cars, that will be them.

I see that you own some type of food store. Any chance that you will have McDougall friendly food? I usually go to Mendocino at least annually for the kayaking.

[MaryW]

I'm down .8 this week, same as last week. Another modest loss, but I'll take it! I FINALLY joined the gym yesterday, so I expect a bigger loss next week.

I had a hellacious week at work. But I managed OK on my food. A guy at work gave me two Russell Stover creme filled hearts. I thanked him and put them in the community candy jar where they quickly disappeared. Then someone brought in a whole bag of Lindt truffles! I resisted the truffles and they are almost gone. I also resisted the chips and soda and all of the other crap that people brought in. Yay me!

Congrats to everyone this week. We'll keep plugging away at that mountain of fat!

[NatureRabbi]

I am down 3.4 Lard Birds (lbs) this week. Last week was a smaller loss than I anticipated so it was nice to see a bigger loss this week. I have been on MWL about 95% and maybe the other 5% were touches of sugar or oil in vegan foods.

Jaime -- wow - thanks for your story about your successes -- inspiriing for all of us. I am noticing that I get less tired doing my job (a lot of walking) and I am even starting to take the stairs between floors. I got a pedometer and it is fun to check my steps at the end of the day. (I am still gym resisting)

MaryW -- thanks for the reminder that treats will be all around us.
Wishing us all courage and resistance against all of the Valentines treats that will be around us. May we remember that we can be loved WITHOUT the sugary treats and that we will love ourselves more without them!

wishing every one a good week.

ann

[freckles12]

I hope that it is not too late to post my results. Yesterday I got up and had a big breakfast before I remembered that I had wanted to weigh in. So today I stepped on the scale and was down 1.2 lbs for the week. Yeah! I was about 50% MWL and about 50% regular program but 100% McDougall. This is a big success for me considering that this past week contained a superbowl party and being snowbound all week. In the past, these two events alone would have resulted in me eating my way through the week. Having the support of this discussion board really helps. Thanks to all of you for being there.

[slugmom]

Hope I'm not too late to squeak in with my report, but then again it's not that exciting so if I'm too late that's okay.

I have NOT been on plan this week. Or, rather, I've been VERY on plan, then fall off, then back on, then jump off, then back on, then off ...

Today's a new day and I'm back on plan AGAIN

So the bad news - too much off/on this week. I hate when I get derailed.
The GOOD news - I didnt gain. I didn't lose, either. I'm the same, same, same. But that's better than gaining back some hard-fought-for pounds.

And I've kept up with the exercise, and kept getting back on plan, so those things are good.

I. will. not. give. up.

[deelightful]

I am even, no weight loss to report this week. Not surprising, I couldn't eat for a few days after my Gallbladder issue, and I think my bod was trying to protect me... Darn that bod! Laugh... Congrats to all that did well this week and have a happy Valentines day all! The best part about it to me is the DAYTONA 500!!! Sigh. How romantic

[amyla51]

Thanks, Debbie, for posting the results. I realized around lunchtime that I haven't been on line for a while. But I did weight in and stayed the same as last week, so my results would not have made a difference.
Jamie- Thank you so much for sharing the symptoms of diabetic neuropathy with us. I am also Type 2 diabetic, and have been told to be careful of my feet, but have never been told exactly what happens to your feet, and the symptoms that you feel. That alone is enough to scare someone off sugar!! This eating plan has allowed me to stop all my meds and keep my blood sugars under 100. It works! Congrats on your success!

Amy

[JamieR]

Great news and a great story. Thanks for sharing. The good news is that the benefits continue and even increase with time.

What's happened in just these two weeks has me excited to see what's coming next! I am hoping to be able to be off of insulin completely soon. That will be another big moment; at my highest dosage, I was taking 95 units!

I actually now have hope that my neuropathy can be healed! I wonder if this diet will help retinopathy as well (my retinopathy when from moderate to severe in my left eye last year...even though my numbers were in better control).

To say I am VERY motivated to go on...is an understatement!

Sorry it is overcast in Mendocino. My kayak club friends are spending the three day weekend there. If you see a bunch of folks with kayaks on top of their cars, that will be them.

Overcast in Mendocino...well, that's just the norm for winter and summer. Spring and fall can be clear and beautiful, though. Still, love being on the ocean no matter what--fresh air every day is amazing (I grew up in the SF Bay Area); I love the overcast days actually, unless they go on for weeks on end.

Lots of people come kayaking here! Your friends won't be the only ones, I'm sure. More kayakers in the summer, though.

I see that you own some type of food store. Any chance that you will have McDougall friendly food? I usually go to Mendocino at least annually for the kayaking.

My husband and I own a specialty food store in Fort Bragg. As soon as we decided to go on the McDougall program, I was looking at a lot of of our products to see if any were McDougall friendly, and was surprised to see that a lot were! I'm primarily making sure they have no fat or animal products. I'm not too uptight about the sugar (for the savory products like BBQ sauce) and salt at this point--and we're not using any one product to excess anyway.

Do you (or anyone else) know what the salt and sugar guidelines for purchased products ought to be?

One of the beauties of specialty food is that most of them are made by small producers from real food. You can look on a label, see 5 ingredients, and they are all recognizable! OK, not every product is this good, but many were very straightforward when I took a closer look.

I'd love to meet you or anyone else on the board if you ever get to the Mendocino coast! If I'm not there, have my DH give me a call...and I'll be right down.

[JamieR]

Jamie- Thank you so much for sharing the symptoms of diabetic neuropathy with us. I am also Type 2 diabetic, and have been told to be careful of my feet, but have never been told exactly what happens to your feet, and the symptoms that you feel. That alone is enough to scare someone off sugar!! This eating plan has allowed me to stop all my meds and keep my blood sugars under 100. It works! Congrats on your success!

Neuropathy is not anything I would wish on anyone. They make it sound almost benign in the diabetic books (compared to other diabetic complications like amputation, blindness, stroke, heart attack, etc.), like it is somehow like when your foot falls asleep (you know, that tingly, weird sensation).

It starts of gently, but the progression...the pain...is just about unbearable at times. In this last year, it had gotten so much worse. Doing any amount of walking was very painful. I mean, even something as simple as grocery shopping...and I would be in pain all night. I had to stop walking for exercise because I would hurt for days after one short walk (and I also developed vertigo, but that's another story).

Yesterday we actually went out for a short walk after work (on the Pudding Creek Trestle, if anyone knows the area), and I went further than I used to go! AND we went grocery shopping afterwards. My feet and legs did complain a little bit a couple of hours later, but nothing like before. And today...no residual pain at all. In fact, my feet...both of them...are continuing to feel better. I can't tell you how much I am enjoying new, good sensations!

I also am enjoying new dreams, if you know what I mean. My physical limitations were just that...limiting my world. I'm only 42, but I could feel my possibilities contracting...and I did NOT like it. Being able to walk without pain again (which will happen very soon, it seems)...will mean that I can do so much more in every aspect of my life.

Look out world, here I come!

[desertwind56]

Checking in. On plan and planning to stay that way.

As for watching the scale closely, I don't think it pays because you are concentrating on results, over which you have no short term control. If you concentrate on PERFORMANCE instead of results, you are sure to win. That fact applies to just about everything in life.

Sactobob - I need to keep telling myself this. I was trying for only stepping on the scales once a month. Well, I didn't make it. Stepped on the scales yesterday and today. *sigh*

Debbie - I hope you and your family are feeling better! About the Vit. D thing, I know Dr. McD recommends sunshine. But, I know I wasn't out enough during summer to get enough. The latitude I now live at (use to live in SoCal and never worried about it), there is no way to get enough Vit. D from sunshine 6 months out of the year. So for the winter hubby and I have been taking Vit. D. Come spring, I'm going to work on some natural Vit. D.

I had a cold a couple of weeks ago, but it only lasted a couple of days. Usually I'm down a good couple of weeks. Not sure if its the McDougall plan or the Vit. D, or both.

One other thing, I made a change to my ticker. I had a goal weight of 105. I've been thinking about this for a while. I have some fancy-smancy scales that do body fat%. Based on my body fat% and lean body mass, 105 wasn't realistic. So it's now 120.

Connie

[amyla51]

JamieR- You might want to put your food question on Jeff's thread on this discussion board. He is THE expert on all things nutrition related. He can tell you the suggested amounts of sugars and salt to have in foods, I bet.
Connie- I know what you mean about changing your Ticker goals. I changed mine too, but down, after going to a web site form which I printed out a BMI Table. I found out that at my height, I will not be considered to be "normal weight" (BMI under 25) until I am at 140. So that's where my ticker sits for now. Might as well be a million!!

Turtle steps........turtle steps...........

Amy in NH

[vickidau]

(edit)

[RiceGirl]

Gosh, the power of this way of eating is tremendous! JamieR - I'll bet no one ever even suggested diet could or would improve your neuropathy (except McD, of course).

Turns out my flight doesn't leave until Friday PM, so I'll be here for the weigh-in Friday AM, after all. Then it's off to Mexico where I'll do my best, but am not very hopeful. I think the vegan part will be OK, but not the no-fat part (one of my daughters is vegetarian and everyone but me speaks at least a little Spanish).

In 1995, I heard Marc Sorenson (author of Megahealth) describe a donut as a round piece of white flour and lard, fried in oil, covered with sugar - not very appetizing when you put it like that - and it killed my taste for donuts forever. By the way, he also convinced me that dairy foods were unhealthy, etc. I was at NIF (his National Institute of Fitness in Utah) where I first learned of John McDougall. I quit drinking cow's milk at that time (and I was a big milk drinker), but still occasionally ate cheese and eggs.

I always joked that I was vegetarian unless there was barbeque for dinner. But I've been a half-hearted vegan since then - I don't know why it has taken me so long to truly embrace the McDougall Program, but now that I have, I don't want to backslide.

It really isn't the weight (although that a very, very nice side benefit), it's the health benefits. I just finished up with chemotherapy last July, so I want to not only regain my strength, but really get healthy - I used to hike for long distances back in the day. AND prevent another bout of cancer, of course, and I think this is the only answer.

DJ