APRIL '09-MWL-"ON PLAN, PLANNING TO STAY THAT WAY!"

[luvdachiess]

Down .8 this week.

[slugmom]

Letha, what a great chart - such a faithful, steady loss!!!

[Faith in DC]

yipee for onions Letha.

Riva, those just veggies are great. An excellent snack. They are pricey, so like you, I save it for trips and stuff. Oh the just fruit is to die for.

snacking, if the craving is junk, then it's a habit. But if you are able to sit and eat a salad, then it sounds like you need to bulk up dinner. One of my old prime times to snack is 3pm. It use to be cookie time. I am so full from my lunch salad, that takes me 1 1/2 hrs to eat, that a cookie would not set well on my stomach. I'm just too full.

[Riva]

I am in the houston airport and doing fine.
I had a baked potato at Wendy's and otherwise doing fine with my apple, crackers and dried peas and corn!
Riva

[cowgirrlup]

I am so sorry I missed weigh in yesterday..I am not at home and there is no scale here, but I am staying on plan and I am wearing some capris that I could not wear last week.

Miss you all, stay safe.

WE can do this.

[txjack]

Tomorrow I start the testing phase of the elimination/challenge diet. The first food I’m going to test and hopefully add back into the menu is cooked onions. I’m looking forward to it.
Letha

Good luck. You have a lot of determination doing the elimination diet for 14 days!! If you can manage that, you can definitely go all the way. Plus, wait until you find out a problem food. It will be such a relief.

I'm still doing well with my blood sugars and have had to drop my insulin dose again. I think I may just do another 50% drop like I did when I first started. Last night I dropped to 62 -- and unexpectedly. I lowered my dosage but have to keep reminding myself, per everything I have read by Dr. McDougall, that while adjusting the sugars, it is ok to have a higher level. After hearing about the devastating effects of blood sugar levels going too low -- well, I don't want to risk that.

[catherine1305]

Hi all:
The luncheon at work went well. They ordered Plain salad for me and steamed veggies. Was very good. I brought some other veggies from home and oil free dressing.

My down fall was 2 bites of fudge brownie.

Beans and rice and salad for dinner.

Have a great weekend all!
Cathy

[marlie]

Well, even though I've gained for the week. I'm not giving in just yet.
I went and got the quick and easy cookbook lastnight in hopes of keeping me on track and getting the weight to move in the "right" direction.

[Letha.]

I just had a talk with our host and I had to say, no I don't eat eggs three times. She is really trying wonderfully but it is almost like I am saying I eat only galumpishy from the isle of bibleetick. They cannot grasp what I am saying....what about fish, what about eggs what about smart balance.
Sigh....

Riva

Riva, you are so funny.

Marlie, Quick & Easy is a most excellent cookbook.

Luvdachiess, I updated our weekly results to include your loss.

Congratulations to everyone who got good results this week/month or who learned a little more about how to stay on track. Thanks to everyone who has expressed support for me over the past few weeks. Reading through these messages every day helps to keep me on track.

I hope everyone is having a good McDougall weekend. I’m on plan and planning to stay that way.

Breakfast: Baked Yams, cantaloupe
Lunch: Brown Rice, sautéed onions & cooked carrots
Afternoon Snack: Baked Yams, sautéed onions & banana
Dinner: Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes, sautéed onions & Green Beans
Beverages: Water, Mint Tea

Having completed the 14 day initial phase of the elimination/challenge diet, today I start testing foods. Today and tomorrow I’m going to try adding onions back into the menu. I’m chopping up 5 or 6 onions this morning and I’m going to sauté them up in some water and eat them over two days. That mint tea should be helpful with the onion breath.
Letha

[green jeanne]

Hi, I just began MWL on 4/21 and already lost 3 lbs. I'm here for the duration because I want to lose my final 40 lbs. I'm so glad this board is here for us.

So.........off I go.

[Letha.]

Welcome Green Jeanne!
Letha

[slugmom]

Letha - did you happen to see my question about brown rice in your elimination diet? And that some people have suggested it makes arthritis worse? I only mention it because you said that (arthritis) was one thing that hadn't really improved with the elimination ... not trying to pester you

Good luck to you on incorporating foods back in! I pray it's very insightful and helpful to you! I'm impressed with your discipline and ongoing good attitude!

[Letha.]

Letha - did you happen to see my question about brown rice in your elimination diet? And that some people have suggested it makes arthritis worse? I only mention it because you said that (arthritis) was one thing that hadn't really improved with the elimination ... not trying to pester you

Hi Slugmom,
Yes, I did see it and forgot to respond. I always get so wrapped up in those group stats at the end of the week. McDougall’s elimination diet protocol doesn’t specify white rice and I have osteoarthritis as opposed to rheumatoid arthritis so for those reasons I’m not overly concerned with the small difference in the acid level between white & brown rice. My understanding is that that rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory type of arthritis or a kind of autoimmune disease and that it can be positively influenced by diet. On the other hand, I understand osteoarthritis is more of a wear & tear arthritis and is less influenced by diet. I think the root cause of my osteoarthritis is my size & the pressure it puts on my joints, not the contents of my diet so I wasn’t really expecting much improvement from the elimination diet. I do expect that l’ll get some relief in the current pain level by losing weight and that I’ll also help to prevent or postpone additional arthritis if I can maintain a healthy weight.
Letha

[slugmom]

Letha - good, I'm glad you had that information and thought it through. I think Burgess once said that was the one change he'd have made to the Elimination Diet protocol - to sub white rice for brown. I just didn't want you to one day look back and think "shoot, I wish I'd heard that"

And thank you for all you do for the weekly weigh in stats - what a lot to keep track of! I'm not very administrative, so I admire people who are able to sort and compile and *complete* that sort of task! I love seeing the information, it's amazing how much weight is accounted for, week after week!

[Starchyme]

Letha, I have bad osteoarthritis in my thumbs. Went to a nutritional physician many years ago and he said there's an allergic arthritis and I was put on an elimination diet. Eliminating certain foods, mainly the white stuff and additives, ended up helping it. Then found Dr. McD's program which further kept it from progressing further. I am 100% out of pain, even though the bone is on bone, etc., when I don't eat those things.

So wishing you lots of success in finding the cause of your pain. I'm a firm believer that foods (well, basically manufactured ones) cause many debilitating symptoms.