September 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[oneesotericgirl]

Sept 18th weight: 199.8
Down 4.6 pounds!

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.Did much better this week by starting meals with soup. I appreciate the suggestions!
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.Been eating more fruit than I probably should. Trying to put extra veggies in my soup since I have been having more starches.
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 salts as best I can. Only added sugar is occasional maple syrup.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).Always!
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).Did good here this week.
6. Eliminate any added oil.Absolutely!
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.Some cereal this week, piece of bread or two, made na'an for friends.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).Double check! Almost treated myself to a fancy coffee after a difficult doctor appointment, but I didn't.
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.Not very hungry this week. Ate when I knew I needed to, but not to excess.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Working on this, still having foot issues. Been doing some exercises and stretches with just my body weight. Need to focus on this even more.

[PonysPlants]

Back at the vets yesterday so missed reporting then. Bit of a blow to say that I gained 1.4lbs, but not much point having an accountability group if you don’t use it to hold yourself accountable. Really I didn’t have any slips, it’s been a stressful week and I’ve had a few stomach problems because of it. Maybe that’s the problem? I guess next weeks weigh in will let me know.

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. YES
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. YES. This is just how I eat now. So easy and I love it.
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. Made a soup that was a bit overly salted. I bought a new low salt stock instead of no salt and I didn’t realise that there was still a load of salt in it!
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Easy. Vegan for life
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados,) Had a few olives in a salad.
6. Eliminate any added oil. Yes.
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. Had a small amount of tofu. Used to eat tofu 4 times a week and I missed it.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Still having a little oat milk in my tea.
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. Yes.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily. Pilates most days, some walking.

So, nothing glaringly obvious that would cause a weight gain so high so I’ll hold out on hauling myself over the coals until I see what happens next week. Trying to not be disappointed! There’s always that little bit of excitement that comes on weigh in days to see how well you did and when you don’t it’s a bit of a blow.

Thanks as always, moderators. You’re brilliant.

[Reni]

Hello Everyone!

I am so excited to say that I'm down to 158.6, so a loss of 3.4 lbs!

I did awesome on the 10 points except I did have some prunes this week as I was having some digestive issues. Hopefully my system will sort itself out.

Some thoughts on the week - I believe that being almost 100% spot on the 10 points led to a larger weight loss this week. I'm starting to find eating this way has become more appealing than the junk food vegan lifestyle I previously embraced.

I'm not sure I will participate in the October weigh-in group. Thank you to everyone for posting here and thank you, Mark, on the insights.

-Reni

[Joanne_elon]

Good morning!
Down .5
So that puts ne at 124.5.
Thanks for the support.

I continue to walk 3 or 4 miles per day.
Mostly compliant.... but find it difficult to be 100%.
But ....I am happy I am in this group. I am forced to
keep my eating mostly undercontrol.

[Dot]

Initial Weight: 150 lbs. Goal: 130-135 lbs.
July - 145 -5
Aug -- 142 -3
Sept 5/20 -140 Loss 2 lbs.
Sept 11/20 -138 Loss 2 lbs.
Sept 18/20 -138 Loss 0 lb.
Back to every other week weight loss. Still following the guidelines but I think “non-adherence creep” is coming into play.
2) Following the 50.3/50 plate. ( Mathematically it rounds down to 50/50 )
Likewise eating a few more berries and grapes equalling 2.3 fruit.
3) Sprinkling a few more shakes of salt and adding another teaspoon of nutritional yeast. ( La sauce est toute! )
9) Straddling the line between full and stuffed. (Fluffed?)
10) Exercising 6 out of 7 days. ( Labour law limitations?)
I can find rationales for everything.That’s why this weekly review is so helpful.
What’s it called “mindfulness”? accountability?
Thanks again, everybody!
D.

[LittlestTree]

Loss 1.1lbs

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. YES
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals. Choose fruit for dessert. YES
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. YES
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). YES
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). YES
6. Eliminate any added oil. YES
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. YES
8. Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). YES
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don’t starve yourself and don’t stuff yourself. YES
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). 5/7 days

Nothing really to report, I just need to keep going with what I know works

[Kelly140]

This week: -1
Total loss: -13
To go: 36

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. YES
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals. Choose fruit for dessert. YES
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. YES
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). YES
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). 90%
6. Eliminate any added oil. YES
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. YES
8. Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). YES
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don’t starve yourself and don’t stuff yourself. YES
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Did okay, but definitely my weakest point.

Back to work, so daily stress is back. Not letting it sidetrack me and I did well with meal planning. It is now habit with my food choices. My old favorites don't bother me so much, even though my family still eats them.
Just keeping at it.

[OrangeBird]

CW 217.6
Loss 1.8 lbs

Sticking pretty well to the plan although I did have some air popped popcorn this week. Didn't need it but "wanted" it. Could have been worse I suppose, but I need to keep that in check.

8 days to the wedding and this week is going to be a busy one. Need to prep some stuff this weekend so I have quick to prepare options so I don't fall off the wagon. I know next Sunday will be off plan but I am trying to minimize the impact.

[laura_delao]

Current weight 135
Weight change: 0

In spite of having zero weight loss, not gaining is a plus. I am eating more fruit than the recommended allowance but as summer end and the supply is gone I expect my weight will reflect that. Wishing everyone a great week ahead!

[NateKruse]

Height: 6' 5"
03 January 2020 weight: 276.6 pounds.
21 August 2020 weight: 219.2 pounds.
28 August 2020 weight: 222 pounds.
04 September 2020 weight: 216.2 pounds.
11 September 2020 weight: 214.6 pounds.
19 September 2020 weight: 217.0 pounds.

Change this week: +2.4 pounds.
Change this year: -59.6 pounds.

I am not sure what to think about this gain. I probably overdid my fruit consumption with passionfruit and oranges. I otherwise ate exactly what I had been eating. I think this is similar to what happened the last week of August where I was pretty compliant with the plan but still gained and then showed a massive loss the next week.

I predict my weight at the next weigh-in will be about two pounds less than last week, so about 212.6.

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.YES
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. YES
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 Still using garlic salt for seasoning.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). YES
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). YES
6. Eliminate any added oil. YES
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. YES
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). YES
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. YES
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).YES

[Growing a Pear]

Change in rolling average this week: -0#
SW this week: 142.8#
CW: 142.8#
GW: ~135#

1) Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
2) Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals.
2) Choose fruit for dessert.
3) Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts.
4) Eliminate all animal foods.
5) Eliminate all higher fat plant foods.
6) Eliminate any added oil.
7) Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products.
8 ) Don’t drink your calories.
9) Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full.
10) Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).

Though I didn't gain wait and still succeeded in the majority of meals, there was a troubling trend this week that impacted 1, 2, and 7 on 3 separate occasions. I became hungry between lunch and dinner, and rather than have another mini meal, I grabbed one of my steelcut oat "puddings" plus fruit. Fine it itself, except that it wouldn't quite do the trick. Then I'd rationalize away a bit of dried cereal to finish the job--without fruit. Next thing I knew, I'd eat until full and wouldn't be hungry for dinner. I think the next day I'd be subconsciously trying to compensate and maybe ran myself short on starch and overall volume at lunch.

Also had a ton of mental reserve pulled into something else, so it's almost like I didn't notice what I was doing at the time until I recorded it in my paper journal and went .

Plan:

• Am going to focus on savory meals altogether this week. I feel the cravings for sweet beginning--some of that is the pleasure trap, some the fall season.
• Will see if I can find a place to store my husband's cereal where it's out of sight.
• Will eat more calorie-dilute starch at lunch.
• Above all else, need to keep this lifestyle in ongoing-project status. If I have another bad week, will consider starting a public journal to keep myself in check.

On a positive note, did restart some weight training on top of my walks.

[Drew*]

Weekly weight on Friday…9/18/2020...

169.5 lb -1.4 lb
BMI: 24.86

Points of success...

I was strong on MWL for 4 days this week.

Challenges...

…While I made some exceptions on other days they were not at many. Yesterday to be exact included some exceptions such as lack of exercise. We were unable to do Yoga last night, but will do it this evening.

What needs greater attention?

It would be nice to run again this coming week if the smoke clears! If not, I will work on it further.

General impressions

I finally figured out that making the Longevity Soup includes 6 cups of water! One of the recipes on the net may not mention the water. On the McDougall app the water is included. And wow does it make a difference in taste. The tomato is not so intense. I use a curry powder with a small amount of garlic that is quite nice. And the spices blend in with the beans and rice. What a nice soup to have after salad or even without salad followed by a starchy and veggie meal!

JeffN notes that it is OK to be hungry. I know a meal should satisfy one. And it does. This week I went without lunch because of poor planning and a resolve to avoid fast food places to be MWL unless baked potato from Wendys and side salad from another place. It worked and I got home and had a big meal with a large salad, longevity soup, starch, veggies, and fruit. Wow...

Thanks Mark for encouraging me to post in the journal. It does help if I do it consistently each week.

Drew*

[Lachoffman]

Thank goodness I remembered to post! Almost missed the deadline!

Weighing in for the week with a 2 lb. LOSS for a total of 33 lbs since July 4, 2020. Super happy about this and excited for the next week.

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. YES
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals. YES, about 80% since I eat a lot of "bowl" (vegetables, starch and beans of some sort) meals.
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. YES, usually
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).YES, always
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods. YES, always
6. Eliminate any added oil. YES, always
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products. YES, 95% of the time this week
8. Don't drink your calories. YES, 95% of time this week. Still using Soy Creamer in my coffee twice/day.
9. Eat whenever hungry until comfortably full. YES, always
10. Moderate exercise at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily. YES, always

SUCCESS? Having been on the MWL program for about 10 weeks, I am finding it easier and easier to comply. Love how great it feels to eat healthy.

CHALLENGES? Travel always complicates things so while I was generally home this week, I was still out of town two days. The challenges are overcome by really good planning.

GREATER ATTENTION? Portion control needs more attention.

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS? I would like to eat like this (with exception of "off limit" items for MWL) for the rest of my life.

[Mark Cooper]

The window for reporting this week's weigh-in and behavioral results has officially closed.

The remainder of my replies and the weekly summary will follow.

[Mark Cooper]

connielovesdogs - Don't despair! You have a reasonable hypothesis for what happened this week, and getting right back on track as soon as you felt able was exactly the right thing to do. The "bright side" for salt induced weight gain is that, once we return to the recommended pattern of behavior, that weight tends to come off nearly as suddenly as it appeared. Feeling ill often throws our plans into disarray; I applaud your decision to report this weeks results (despite feeling reluctant and disappointed). Taking note of these missteps and obstacles when they arise, learning how to overcome and recover from them, and adapting or adjusting our practice to account for further hurdles to come is absolutely an important and valuable part of the process. Onward!

squealcat - Kudos to you, Marilyn, for reporting even when you don't feel like you want to do so! The good news is you have a clear assessment of what produced this result, and the path to achieving different results in the future is clear - back to the basic, simple fundamentals of MWL, focusing on the recommended behaviors and doing the "next right thing." It appears you have already taken some solid steps back in that direction. Well done keeping up your routine of daily activity, even while the other 9 points fell by the wayside.

VivianS - How wonderful that your husband is supporting you in making these changes, removing some troublesome items from the house, and adjusting some of his own behaviors! And it is lovely that your nephew is keeping you well-stocked with cooked brown rice. Were you feeling otherwise ill on the day you vomited? An upset stomach never makes things easier. I hope you are feeling better now. It definitely seems quite important to not let ourselves become ravenously hungry, if we are able to avoid it.

The fundamental basic principle of the MWL Program and the principles of calorie density is "whenever hungry, eat until comfortably full of the recommended foods." Because of this, there is no reason for anyone to feel hungry when following our guidelines. The recommended foods are minimally processed starches, fruits and vegetables. The most satiety, short term and long term comes from minimally processed starches and to keep the calorie density low, have them with some non-starchy vegetables. Remember, we do not have to figure out if it is true hunger, appetite, craving, etc. However, to be successful, you have to prepare for success and make sure you have availability of minimally processed starches throughout the day.

Keep doing your best, learning and adjusting as you go, and treating yourself with kindness and compassion.

louie3084 - Great progress! How would you assess your first few days in regard to the MWL 10-Point Checklist? For MWL, whole grain pasta and whole grain polenta are acceptable choices for the starch component of a meal, with the caveat that you should include an equal visual volume of non-starchy vegetables.

There have been a few (not many) changes to the program over the years, as with recommended supplements for heart disease, probiotics, etc. Yes, you can refer back to the newsletter on supplements but it does not represent our current position. Several things have changed since the original MWL book has come out and since the MWL newsletter which updated the book.

If you have questions about what we are doing at the program right now (and/or about what I have said or not), the best thing to do is to ask me. I am right here.

We do allow pasta, but like tortilla's, it is one of those very rare "gray' areas on the MWL.

The original MWL guidelines said "No flour products," however, from the beginning, corn tortillas (made from corn flour) have been allowed in spite of the fact that they have a calorie density of around 1000 cal/lb. Ironically, I have never recommended them as part of my weight loss guidelines because of the calorie density. The same for puffed cereals.

On the other hand, whole grain pasta, also a flour product, was not part of the original MWL program in spite of the calorie density of only around 550-600, almost half of corn tortillas. However, for 30 years of my career, (including 10 years at overseeing the food and nutrition at Pritikin), I have always allowed WG pasta and people successfully lost weight. Remember, I also recommended that people follow the 50/50 plate so if pasta is your starch, make sure you include lots of non-starchy vegetables. In the same study that showed the potato to be the highest in satiety per calorie, whole grain pasta was right behind it (and oatmeal) and above brown rice.

Some say they overeat on it and if you find that to be true for you, then just leave it out, but then again, some say they overeat on brown rice, so, if so, just leave it out.

Currently, at the 10-Day program, whole grains pasta is marked MWL while corn tortillas are not.

Hope410 - Hang in there! I'm sorry this week felt so stressful, that certainly can make maintaining the recommended pattern of behavior seem more challenging. These setbacks almost inevitably happen, so try to learn what you can from the situation, treat yourself kindly, and put it behind you. Since you surmised that stress you were unable to escape from spurred a return to past behaviors, would it help to brainstorm a short list of easily or always available tools for managing stress without falling back on "comfort food?" Wishing you stress free days ahead!

Cathy Ann - I feel for you! Feeling unwell, in pain and out of control is a perfect storm for getting knocked out of our groove and back into old habits. I think your instinct to reestablish your inspiration and motivation makes sense; what are the most important reasons you have for wanting to make these changes in your lifestyle, and what benefits do you hope to realize? Making these changes is really hard, and there are many forces pushing us in the wrong direction, so try to view yourself with compassion and forgiveness. Now is a great time to get back to basics, focus on the recommended behaviors, have adherent foods ready and easily accessible, and just take things one day at a time.

wavingwheat - Keep at it, Carol! Chocolate has proven to be a particular temptation for many participants. On those evenings you decided to have chocolate, was anything different about your routine, environment, or situation?

ladevereaux - My heart goes out to you, Leslie! I hope, among what I'm sure are very difficult memories, you can take comfort in warm, cherished recollections of the best times you shared. Doing the best we can with what life throws at us is all we can reasonably expect of ourselves.

chef16 - That's a substantial drop on the scale, Doreen! It seems like you're becoming pretty adept at navigating the challenges presented by your work as best you can; I'm sure having parameters change unexpectedly doesn't make that easy! Your determination to make things work serves you well; planning and preparing to succeed inevitably makes success much more likely.

oneesotericgirl - WOW! Down 4.6 pounds! Your efforts are clearly having an effect! I'm pleased that the soup has been working well for you. Carry on doing your best in attending to the recommended behaviors.

PonysPlants - Kudos for keeping yourself accountable! It isn't really accountability if it's always easy, right? Added salt can sometimes have a shockingly dramatic effect on the scale, but I think you are wise not to "haul yourself over the coals." As always, the answer for renewing or increasing progress toward our goals is to concentrate on adhering closely to the recommended behaviors, adjusting where we see the opportunity to do so. Keep at it!

Reni - Down 3.4 lbs! Very exciting news, for sure! Keep doing an awesome job with the MWL 10-Point Checklist, and I anticipate more exciting news ahead!

Joanne_elon - A half pound lighter and under 125! Congrats! Making these changes is an arduous task, so the goal isn't necessarily perfection, but rather doing the best you can and learning to navigate changing and challenging situations as well as possible. When we keep doing that over a significant duration of time, we build a strong feeling of confidence and control over our decisions and behaviors. Enjoy those daily walks!

Dot - Your goal is in sight! Isn't it interesting how some tiny incidents of non-adherence can start to creep in and multiply? In my own life, I've found taking a moment to "check in" with the MWL 10-Point Checklist each day really helps me stay on track and avoid rationalizing impulses to deviate from my preferred pattern of behavior. Providing the opportunity for accountability is one of the purposes of the group, so I'm happy you're finding that helpful.

LittlestTree - Farewell to 1.1 lbs! That looks like a week of excellent adherence!

I just need to keep going with what I know works

You've got it!

Kelly140 - Down a pound! Seems like you did great this week, even with the added stress from work! You're in a good groove and just "keeping at it" is what it is all about. Continue to make your days successful with planning, preparation, and building beneficial habits.

OrangeBird - Nice loss and well done attending to your behaviors! On the occasion when you "wanted" the popcorn, what was the context? I imagine the next 8 days will be busy, exciting and demanding; the more you can do to plan and prepare in support of your adherence, the more trouble-free that can be, come what may.

laura_delao - Not gaining is always a plus! If you are adhering closely to the MWL 10-Point Checklist, I wouldn't fret over no change on the scale. Onward!

NateKruse - Your assessment seems solid! I would agree that when our behaviors are aligned with the recommendations, it is wise not to let any single weigh-in result inspire panic; the long-term trend is what matters. You have a reasonable hypothesis, and next week offers a great opportunity to test your prediction.

Growing a Pear - My compliments to your thoughtful attention to that new development! Having your mental reserve required for efforts in another direction didn't make recognizing that easy, I'm sure. The plan you have put together looks sensible to me, and covers what would seem to be the key aspects. I can really identify with this particular challenge; for me, dry cereal was one of the few foods I could never limit to "just a few bites." Ultimately, I tackled that problem much as you describe. Have fun with the strength training!

Drew* - That is good progress! I can't even imagine what it has been like in the midst of that regional crisis! I hope you continue to fair well and have some clear air soon. I think you've expressed a thoughtful understanding of what is meant by "it is OK to be hungry." From my perspective, that advice applies in a particular context - it is "OK" to choose "to go hungry" as an alternative to eating troublesome foods within a particular, singular situation (as you describe with that missed lunch). Making that choice, within that context makes sense, and is different than going hungry when recommended foods are available. As you note, on those rare occasions where this applies, it seems wise to anticipate increased hunger and really focus on being sure to eat the recommended foods, in the recommended fashion, as soon as it is feasible.

Lachoffman - Another 2 lb loss and 33 in total since July! You certainly deserve to feel excited and happy! Carry on saying "YES" to all the recommended behaviors, and I anticipate more excitement to come! I couldn't agree more strongly with your point that "challenges are overcome by really good planning." I love how that puts the focus where it belongs, on our plans, preparation and pattern of behavior, rather than falling into the idea that struggles are the result of something inherently "wrong with us."