May 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Thread

[Mark Cooper]

Mark - thanks for posting JeffN's Hummus recipe!

You are very welcome! Enjoy!

[laurag]

[quote="Noella"]Hi Mark, Hi Everyone!

-2 pounds!

but I persisted and I changed from rice to potatoes for my main starch this week and the result has been wonderful! Last Saturday I could hardly walk one step it was so painful. Then, on Sunday, after just one day of eating potatoes, rather than brown rice, for my starch at each meal, I had much less pain in my knees and hands.


I am so happy for u! Good job on keeping at it till u figured it out! Amazing

[Mark Cooper]

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's weigh-in and seeing everyone's reports! Friday is this group's weigh-in day, and participants have until noon pacific time (19:00 UTC) on Saturday to post a report of their result for the week. Reports posted outside that window of time won't be included in the summary that I compile for Saturday evening. This group is all about changing patterns of behavior, so it seems reasonable to me to expect those who choose to participate in the weekly weigh-in to honor that time frame for reporting. In addition to reporting your weight change in pounds, more importantly, please be sure to evaluate your behaviors within the context of the MWL 10-Point Checklist, if you please. I will respond to everyone's reports in a cumulative post on Friday evening and Saturday evening, and the summary for the week will be posted Saturday night.

For more information on why participants are recommended to weigh themselves once a week, check out this excellent and thorough article from Jeff - To Weigh or Not to Weigh

Everyone take care, be safe, and I'll see you tomorrow!

[NomeOslo]

5/22 - 131.8
5/29 - 132.4

Weight - gained 0.6 lbs

Well, this week didn't go as planned. I did well for 5 days, then it all fell apart. I obviously need to work on my consistency.

I will be taking a break from posting here, since (hopefully) I will be moving back to the USA soon; though I won't be taking a break from trying to eat healthy!

Thank you Mark, WildGoose, Jeff, and everyone here, for all your encouragements and information. I wish you all good health!

[pootsy]

Weight down 1 #. Should be more, but more concerned about compliance struggles, I know the weight will come off.
Posting early so I can put this week behind me and start again! I have taken to writing the guidelines as a means to absorb them.
successful with # 1,2,3,5,9 & 10.
need more attention to 4, (DAIRY) , 6,7, & 8.Goal for this week is compliance with all and to eliminate coffee drinks.
I tried a few MWL recipes to stay at home and interested. The sweet potato beginnings was a surprise, very nice breakfast option.
I made the alu gobi curry but it just made me crave good Indian food . I love chili and have made so many versions but the Three Bean Chili was easy and very good. Stocked up on canned tomatoes and beans and frozen vegetables so I can put together some SNAP meals this weekend.
Thank you all for your posts, it helps to see your ideas and share your struggles. Thanks , Mark for the support and guidance.

[josietheschnauzer]

May 29: -1.6 pounds
Total lost since March 21: -16.8 pounds

1. I have made my "simple in honor of Jeff Novick soup" since I started the MWL weigh in and it has really worked. I use frozen mixed vegetables, frozen spinach (or other green), water and spices. I add the vegetable cooking water from my steamed vegetables to keep adding "broth". I use lots of spices--minimum of one tablespoon Mrs. Dash seasoning for example.

2. I have made the 50/50 plate my key focus since starting in order to eat more kale during this Corona Crisis. I now really look forward to my steamed kale which I have it twice a day most of the time. This week I also made a recipe from the McDougall MWL recipes. Coincidently, it was Alu Gobi (potato cauliflower curry), the same one Pootsy tried.

I loved it. It reminded me of my neighborhood Indian restaurant. I did update the recipe with a trick I learned at the McDougall ten day program. I "toasted" the spices (I used 1/4 tsp.cayenne instead of chili powder) in a hot skillet, stirring constantly so they wouldn't burn. I made sure I didn't "breathe" --the oils will get you! After I toasted the spices I added the onion and slowing added water to water saute the onion. I added potatoes and cauliflower in equal proportion (50/50). The head of cauliflower was large so I ended up with about 4 cups cauliflower and 4 cups potato. I stood over the stove because I didn't want it to burn, my first time cooking it. I used more water than the recipe indicated (gradually adding it, no sticking but no soup either) and cooked it for about 30-35 minutes--thick and delicious! Next time I will use plain white potatoes like the recipe said to use instead of the russet potatoes. The russets are "grainy". Nevertheless it was quite a success.

3,4,5,6,7,8--no problems with these
9. Yea, I am forcing myself to leave the table and take a walk after eating an appropriate amount. I read last week, that brief walking after eating is also good to lower blood sugar.
10. I am exercising every day.

Thank you for helping me get through another month of Corona!!! See you next week if not before.

[Abe]

Weight Change: -1.7 lbs.

I had one night where I worked late and was very cranky and ate four potatoes and a bowl of oat groats with a banana. All without starting with a salad or soup or having any non-starch veggies. Otherwise sticking with the MWL guidelines, and amazed at how this is getting pretty easy and routine most of the time. Bigger family dinners when I have the sights and smells of tempting food are still difficult, but most of the time I am doing well not thinking about non-compliant food when not prompted by an outside force.

[jan_npr]

Weight change +/- in lbs: - 1.2

I must admit that I had hoped for more of a loss since this was my first full week but I'll take what I can get. Since my blood pressure reading was so much lower I think I allowed myself to consume a bit more salt. Looking forward to this week but a little nervous about a planned "cheat" on my husband's 65th birthday, May 31st. Will be sure to still use the 50/50 plate.

Thank you to moderators.

A 10-POINT CHECKLIST FOR MAXIMUM WEIGHT LOSS (MWL) - did well on all points this week

1) Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.  

2) Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches.

2) Choose fruit for dessert.

3) Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts.  This includes gourmet sugars and salts too.  If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.

4) Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).

5) Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). exception conscious decision to allow a little soy milk in my morning coffee.

6) Eliminate any added oil.

7) Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e. bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.

8 ) Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).

9) Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full.   Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.

10) Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).

[Ejg]

Starting weight: 203.5
Last week: 201.9
This week: 199.7
week over week change: -2.2

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. I think I did this for lunch and dinner every meal this week
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert. Lunch and dinner this week consisted of kale salad with beans thrown on top. If I was still hungry, I ate steamed broccoli with rice. If I feel the need to tighten things up a bit, I'll replace the rice with something non-starchy.
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them. No added sugar on anything. I don't think I used the salt shaker once this past week. I'm wondering how much of my 2.2 pound drop over the last week is water due to a drastic reduction in salt intake.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Yup
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). I split a small pack of pistachios with my daughter this week.
6. Eliminate any added oil. No added oil. When my daughter wanted popcorn we used the air popper.
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. I had air popped popcorn two nights this week and a few handfuls of pretzels last night. I am a classic stress eater.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Yup
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. I eat a ton of food and sometimes wonder how its possible for me to lose weight but I guess it is when the overwhelming majority of it is green vegetables and other whole plant food. Either way I'm definitely not hungry.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). I run every day my daughter is not with me, and when she is we go on epic walks and chat. Also continue to landscape and work on my house.

I normally don't read any of the other entries on here from others losing weight. I use it as a way to keep myself accountable. But I did some perusing of what others do for weight loss on here and was impressed with how rigidly many people adhere to these principles. If losing weight is a result of changing behavior, then I had a lot of room for improvement. Initially I planned to track what I ate with an app I created but decided that sounded like a lot of work. Instead I thought it was easier to just eat basically the same thing every day, which was oats/fruit for breakfast, kale salad and beans for lunch, and for dinner kale salad, beans, steamed broccoli, rice, and potatoes (with lots of salsa and nutritional yeast). Not sure if it was the reduction in salt or the massive amount of vegetables but I got the result I wanted.

Great job to everyone who is taking control of their own health by committing to losing weight.

'Til next week.

[abible]

2020-05-22: 195.3
2020-05-29: 195.1
Weight Loss: -0.2

This has been a bad week. Most Saturday nights we have my
brother-in-law over for supper, and I do the cooking.
Whenever I fix something I haven't made before I always
eat a small portion to prove it's safe. Small joke. That
was a mistake this week. After I finished my MWL meal,
I had a helping of the salmon pasta casserole. No other
violations that night, but the next three days I had
verboten foods or over-ate on the fruit. At the same time
I was unable to do my exercise walk for unrelated reasons.
Finally got it back together and eked out a minuscule weight
loss.

Not sure how I will handle this. Obviously the "taster"
joke has seen its day. I had plenty of MWL food, but I did
not choose to eat it; the salty-fatty food just tasted
better. I guess I will just plan to over-eat MWL food on
Saturday night. I already have the hang of over-eating.

Summary: I ate fish, drank non-alcohol beer calories, ate
cereal with soy milk, ate part of a breakfast burrito,
over-ate fruit on several days and only exercised three days.

On the bright side: I am capable of doing a lot worse than
that, but I didn't. And on the bad days I still ate my MWL
meals.

See you all next week.

tony

[squealcat]

Weight last week:194.5
Weight this week: 196.7
that is: +2.2

Not the best week for me.

What went right? # 1,5,8,10 were just fine
What didn't go so well? # 2,3,4,6,7,9

Thoughts ? It is quite apparent that if I had more numbers on the " what went right" list, I would not have gained weight. I did a lot of mostly's.....I mostly started all meals with soup or salad, I mostly used the 50/50 method, etc.... I did really well with the exercise part. My one take-out meal was out of control and my own goal of getting through the afternoon mindfully did not go well. I don't know what the problem is. I am thinking about just eating according to the Starch Solution this next month. Not sure yet.

Anyway, I have picked myself up now and started my day with blueberries, hot barley groats for cereal and then a nice walk. (cooler weather today, YAY!)

I am sure I have a lot of water weight gain so will see what that weight is next week.

Thanks for all of the input from everyone and thanks Mark for all you do for us !

-squealcat (Marilyn)

[wstokes]

Down -1.6 lb
This weight was just after a workout...but next week, I will have a “lower bar” to measure against.

[rlechols]

Hi Everyone! Another week has sped by...

Last Week's Weight: 152 lbs
This Week's Weight: 152 lbs
Loss of 0 lbs

My week went well. I was very meticulous! I can honestly say I followed all the 10 pts! Some of my meals I started with fruit, and some salad. I didn't have a bite or two of popcorn, dates, or nuts on the weekend like I sometimes do. Although I have to say, my deviations are very small when they do occur...they are literally a few bites of things that are generally ok on McDougall Starch Solution, but not MWL. Anyway, I feel good about my week. Looking at my Fitbit, I walked over 29 miles this week. And I continued with my strength training 5 days a week. Unfortunately, my scale didn't show a loss this week, but it seems I am seeing a pattern of loss every other week, usually only a pound or so. I am 3 pounds off of my highest allowable goal weight, so no wonder it is slow going!

Something wonderful I made this week was my own version of no tuna salad. I smashed home cooked chickpeas with a fork, added some watered down oil free hummus, chopped red onion, chopped dill pickles, some black pepper, chopped green onions, and some Dijon mustard. It was amazing. I will definitely make that again.

Anyway, I am ready to carry on another week and hope for some loss next week. I hope everyone is well!

[Judy_Bell]

Hi All,
I managed to miss chiming in last week, although I did weigh in. Life got away from me, so this week's "loss" is really two weeks of weight loss. I am down 2.5 pounds (as I said, over two weeks) and I'm happy to take it. I am nearing my "goal" weight, but it may change as I get closer. I am looking more to fit into things rather than weight a certain number. I imagine if I ever get off my butt and start working on point #10, things will improve.
On that note I did quite well on all the other points, barring a few higher fat plant foods (point #5). That would include fake hamburger when spending Memorial Day with my mother. Better than a real hamburger though, so I consider it a win!
Still not getting any exercise in, so I consider point #10 my real sticking point.
As far as eating goes, I have been cooking from the cookbook "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook" by Ann & Jane Esselstyn, and have found pretty much all the recipes seem to be compliant. No added oils, good balance of green to starchy veggies.
I've made several soups out of it, and they have all been good. My hubby didn't care for the beet soup, but I liked it.
I hope everybody has great success this week.
Judy

[AmandaSue]

Weight change +/- in lbs : 3.0
Points from the MWL Checklist where I succeeded this week : 3,4,5,6,8,9
Points from the MWL Checklist that need greater attention : 1,2,7,10
General impressions & observations / resources to share / sources of excitement / requests for input & support : I struggled with exercising daily this week, something I can definitely work on. There were a few meals this week that I just didn't feel up to making a salad or eating a bowl of soup beforehand, and a few meals I didn't follow the 50/50, but I overall I did pretty well. It really came down to having those things readily available to me so I didn't have to create them at meal time, specifically lunch. We ate starch based on Memorial Day, but didn't follow the MWL guidelines. I had a slip up the other day and ate some of my son's pretzels...I didn't overindulge, but I did eat them. Overall, I'm really happy with the results from this week. I'm really enjoying this way of eating and feel really satisfied with the food. Wishing everyone else a healthy week!