December 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[Mark Cooper]

December 2021 RESOURCES
This section will be updated throughout the month with links to useful resources, as they are added to the thread.

Orientation Information for McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group
MWL 10-Point Checklist
MWL Program Guidelines
Calorie Density: How To Eat More, Weigh Less and Live Longer
MWL Recipes
SNAP Meal Template

1- 28 oz Can No Salt Added Tomatoes
1- 16 oz Bag Frozen Mixed Veggies (any type)
1- 4 oz Frozen Green Leafy Vegetables (collard, turnip, mustard, etc)
1- Around 200-250 Calories of a Cooked Starch (Brown rice, Yam, Potato, WW Pasta, etc)
1- Seasoning (to your preference)

200- 250 Calories Of Starch options
~ 1.25 to 1.5 Medium Potatoes
~ 1.25 to 1.5 Cups (Cooked) Whole Wheat Penne Pasta
~ 1 to 1.25 Cups (Cooked) Brown Rice

The Road to Success: Creating Healthy Habits
The Pleasure Trap: Dr. Doug Lisle at TedxFremont
How to Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind with Dr. Doug Lisle
Dr. Doug Lisle on The Ego Trap
Dr. Doug Lisle: The Story of Willpower – What it Is & How it Works
Dr. Lisle's Three Top Tips for Dietary Success
Jeff Novick, RD - Nutrition & Health FAQ: Answers To The Most Asked Questions
A Review of the Rules & Guidelines for Reading Labels
Passive Overconsumption: The Unintended Intake of Excess Calories
Why We Hit Plateaus and What We Can Do About Them
Top 10 Reasons for Lack of Success
Dining Out and Travel Food
Exercise, Health & You: How Much Is Enough?
Optimum BMI? / Optimal BMI - redux
Building Self-Efficacy
You Are Not Broken
wildgoose - How I determined my "goal weight"
Amy's Giant List of Links to Dr. Lisle's Lectures

[wildgoose]

Welcome December. Advent, for those of us liturgically minded, or for those who love opening little windows on countdown calendars. Hanukkah and light. Solstice and the re-emergence of the sun (in the Northern Hemisphere at least). A season of anticipation and preparation.

If we're in a good groove or if we're motivated, it’s not a season of regret for a day of Thanksgiving turned into a week of over-indulgence. Leading to a month of "oh, whatever, I’ll deal with it after New Year’s." We will do better this year.

Yes, I ate a few richer foods last week. Nothing horrible, but enough to make me feel just a little off. So I’ve happily started on my December simplicity weeks. For me, they are the weeks leading up to Christmas. For you, there may be different celebrations, or no celebration at all. For some, it’s the beginning of the "bleak mid-winter," when we look forward to sunset slowly moving back toward a later hour. No matter what the occasion or what time of year, simplicity weeks can be a good thing.

• Simple, simple, simple food.
  Oatmeal and blueberries. Soup. Broccoli and brown rice or sweet potato. Because that’s what I like. I won’t have a lot of decisions to make, and my body will feel good. Every meal that I have at home will be simple and tasty. I will have all of my meals at home, or prepared from home, because that’s how my life is. If yours isn’t, it’s still possible to really simplify the meals you have control over (and you've learned how to take more control over your food, right?)
• Simple preparations.
  I won’t go nuts on shopping. I will do as much in advance as I can (I’m 75% done with Christmas shopping, and I’ve made a deal with the oldest Gosling for the grand-Goslings' gifts — I order online, have everything shipped directly to her, and she wraps! No more of us old birds lugging heavy boxes to the post office and paying for shipping twice).
  I will not put up every decoration that I’ve ever owned. The house does not have to be immaculate for Christmas.
  Holiday stress leads to holiday stress eating. More planning = less stress. I even have Christmas dinner planned. The Gander made it easy. He asked if we could have the same meal we had on Thanksgiving. My pleasure!
• Simple celebrations.
  Easier for us than for many. We're quiet introverts. We don’t do parties or dinners or big get-togethers. But if we were so inclined, we'd do fewer of them and eat sparingly if at all. Planning is key. I love figuring out what’s most important and maximizing that.
• Simple joys.
  Making gift tags and Christmas cards for the family. Keeping the bird feeders full so I can be amused out the back window. Knitting socks in front of the fireplace (occupied hands don’t reach for food — an added benefit). Reading something uplifting. Taking a walk around the neighborhood and looking at the lights.

No this post is not about MWL, necessarily. But MWL is as much about behavior as it is about food. It is about structuring your life to make our unusual way of eating as easy as possible. For me, December simplicity weeks help that to happen.

Goose

[VegSeekingFit]

an added benefit). Reading something uplifting. Taking a walk around the neighborhood and looking at the lights.[/list]
No this post is not about MWL, necessarily. But MWL is as much about behavior as it is about food. It is about structuring your life to make our unusual way of eating as easy as possible. For me, December simplicity weeks help that to happen.

Goose

Hi Goose,

Thank you!! This post was the one that I needed to see today.

I wish that I could LOVE LOVE LOVE post on the Board, but I am glad that the Boards are not Facebook...

1) I love that you were inclusive in this post.

2) I love your message of simplicity ---- across the board. Trying to do similar things. LOVE!!!

3) Try to remember to be kind to others and to yourself!!

Edited because in retrospect, should have stopped here...

[Maco]

Hello from the Netherlands, my name is Maja.
I’ve read the orientation articles and woul like to join.
I started this way of eating a year ago and it worked very well, after my vacation in septembre I fell of the horse and I find it difficult to climb back in the saddle.
I hope the accountability in this group will help.

[Mark Cooper]

Welcome, Maja! Glad you will be joining us.

[moonlight]

Hi Mark, wildgoose, and friends!

It's been quite a while since I've thought I could be disciplined enough to get back on the MWL way of eating. My weight has slowly been creeping back up. I'm ready to work hard, not be a crybaby spoiled brat, and get back to work to regain my health. Thank you all for being here and being such a great resource for all of us who struggle and need support. Wildgoose, what an inspiring post! Thank you. I look forward to weighing in tomorrow and starting my weekly checklist.

[Mark Cooper]

I look forward to weighing in tomorrow and starting my weekly checklist.

Excellent! I look forward to it, too!

[BambiS]

Weight change +/- in lbs:
Weight 12/3 - 2.8

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

Victories, comments, concerns, questions.

.Focused on making more MWL recipes. Italian Garbonzo stew is great, my husband likes it too.

I’m ready for December, I’m hoping to be below 200 by New Years. I’m not that far away.

.first weigh in start date 11/7 215.3
Total lost - 11.7

[Gimmelean]

Weight change +/- in lbs: + 2.0

11/26/2021. 128
12/03/2021. 130

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-

4.Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). No-

5.Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). No-

6.Eliminate any added oil. No-

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. No-

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. No-


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

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Hi everyone. I hope you are all doing well. I wish I had better news to report for the first post of the month. I really let go in so many MWL areas after working so hard for so many months to achieve good habits which I managed to maintain until last week. Then all downhill from there. Overeating and wrong foods-Cheese, bread, olive oil, tofu, cookies, chips, chocolate -all at once- in addition to wonderfully compliant foods-adding two more pounds that I had hoped to get rid of by this week. In retrospect I knew exactly what I was doing but not sure why. I was tempted to underreport my weight gain and food choices and hide out but didn’t do that. Hoping to get back to basics this week and now that I am here, really looking forward to participating in this group for the month of December.
Goose, your post on simplicity is exactly what I needed to see. It reinforced what Mark emphatically said -not over complicating things could be checkpoint #11.
See you next week and thank you!

[moonlight]

I look forward to weighing in tomorrow and starting my weekly checklist.

Excellent! I look forward to it, too!

Thanks, Mark! I've recorded my weight today. I'll follow the checklist this week and report in next week. I hope everyone has a great week!!

[Rebecka22]

146.4 Weight change +/- in lbs: +0.8 pounds
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. 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). YES

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: I got back on track this week and I’m thankful for that. I was not happy with the scale, but trying not to dwell on it too much and instead be proud that I followed the behaviors. I recognize that the holidays are going to be challenging though, so lots of good planning will be needed. Hope everyone has a great week.

[Artista]

Hi Mark, Wildgoose, and MWL group, I would like to join you all for December. I’ve gained about 4 1/2 lbs. over the last 2 months as a result of experimenting with “moderation”. Moderation has never worked for me but I seem to need to prove it to myself every once in awhile. I’m looking forward to the focus and accountability of participating in this group to help get back on track and make it through the rest of the holidays. I’ve been reviewing the orientation posts and other resources in the introductory post. I always learn something new when reread those. Especially interesting this time around was the information on self-efficacy.

[GreenFroG]

Weight change +/- in lbs: +1.0 lb

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. 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. (pumpkin bread)
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. Eliminate any added oil. (pumpkin bread)
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. (pumpkin bread)
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).

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Was out of town last week for Thanksgiving visiting family so I didn't post, but stayed the same weight. Thanksgiving went great with the nontraditional fair - stuffed bell peppers with roasted brussel sprouts on the side, a huge salad, and a fruit salad for desert. Everyone enjoyed the meal and I stayed on track. My down fall this week was with homemade pumpkin bread that came home with us, and was to be for my husband. Unfortunately I had a piece, and then a few more I now know I cannot try just a taste. I think I am more of an all or nothing type. Another lesson learned as I gained a pound. Thank you for your post Wildgoose. I will try to simplify things this December -- definitely changing to a more simplified life will be a learned behavior for me that will take time and effort. Onward to December!

[Maco]

Weight change +/- in lbs:
I startes last monday 29 nov. 145 lbs, 3dec. 142 lbs, so lost 3 lbs (waterweight )

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. Half/half, I eliminated sugar, but still use some salt

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). Half, I emptied my pack of soymilk.

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). Half, I did yoga everyday.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
Just glad that I started again, this way of eating has also an mental outcome. When I eat not compliant stuff I feel less comfortable. It is so nice to eat what you choose instead of what is seducing you.

[Hope410]

Weight change: -.4 lbs

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. NO
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. 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). NO

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Did not pre-load for one meal and exercised four days this week. I'm hoping to increase my exercise days up next week and also work to make it my habit in the morning.