February 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Thread

[wstokes]

+4

Mark, you do a great job of making good observations and asking good questions. This week was a bear...I was out every night, got only one light workout done, and did some stress eating (record hits in the stock market, which is my livelihood). I will try again in March, pledging to myself to make this MWL my chief priority. Thank you for the work you do on this board!

[chaz01]

Hi Team MWL!


I had one meal that had added fat. Was at a restaurant (Chipotle) and made the best choice that I could - naked burrito with rice, black beans, 3 salsas, lettuce. Note to self is not to get the corn salsa again because that one has added fat. The rice and beans also have added fat. What I ate tasted good, certainly not glistening with fat.... (but I know it was there...)


Cheers,
Stephanie

Hi Stephanie,

I don't think your meal is as bad as you may think. I'm not a nutritionist, but I double checked the Chipotle website and looked at the ingredients after reading your post to be sure, and I verified that the corn salsa (or any of their salsas) does not have any added oil added to them. I think that the fat that you see (1.5g/serving) on the website's nutrition label comes naturally from the corn, as corn by itself has a minimal amount of fat to it so it would stand to reason a corn salsa will have the same minimal amount - but that doesn't necessarily mean they add extra oil or fat in other forms to it.

Also, the restaurant near my house has introduced Super Greens to their menu, which are kale, spinach and romaine lettuce with no other added ingredients.

On the other hand, you are correct about the rice (brown and white) which does have a more significant amount of oil added (6g total fat/serving) as does the burrito/taco shells and the vegetarian sofritos option, so I order those sparingly if at all.

Hope this helps,

Chuck

[pbnew]

2/28. 0.0 no loss, no gain this week. Scaled showed a 1.5 lb loss 2 days ago but gone Friday morning. I’m always fascinated how this can happen without indulging in high calories or high fat. My biggest challenge is still exercise. I’m not dissatisfied with a total loss of 6.5 lb for 2 months. This forum does keep me motivated and I’m grateful for that.
Best wishes for a satisfying week everyone!

[ltolar]

2/27/2020

Weight gain: +0.6

I felt like my diet was better this week. I did start working out at the gym instead of just walking. This may be a temporary bump in weight due to inflamation and/or muscle gain; not sure. Also, I did not sleep as well the last 2 days. See you in March!

[Drew*]

Weight change on Friday: 174.6 lb …-0 lb
Down 10.6 lb since January 2020 start date (plus calculation from week before).

Success: 80% of the time I ate longevity soup and other similar foods compliant with the program.

Challenge: I am plant-based (no meat, dairy, egg, etc.), but got to get more of 20% added to the 80%!

Observation: Thursday I was at 173.4 lb. This tells me that my weight is fluctuating a bit perhaps because of water and the timing of my eating. On Thursday night I ended up finishing a meal at 9 PM, which is a bit late.

Comment: The overall trend seems to have improved with ½ inch off my waist.

WHR: .99 (medium risk) (goal is to get to below .96)
BMI: 24.28 (normal) (goal is to reduce this down)
CVD: 14 (moderate) (it would be nice to be at a 12, but I am 57 years old with no family history so far)

Request for input: I notice that there is an emphasis on eating rice and other whole grains over beans in some of the recipes. I am wondering whether to add peas rather than so many beans to my longevity soup mix. There is another recipe from Jeff—the standard 5 ingredients that does not include beans. I would be interested in some input on this…

Mark, thanks for the comments on exercise and I am mainly tracking deliberate exercise that is moderate or high intensity…I find that I need to jog or run as my walking is a bit slow…

Note: Revised

[Abe]

Mark I have just had a couple of days where I am a ravenous bottomless pit. It takes a lot of eating to feel full in those instances. I am only eating MWL compliant food, and taking breaks between items to wait to see if I am still hungry. Hopefully this will be an infrequent occurrence. I guess eating several pounds of vegetables is better than eating an entire pizza and two subs like I used to.

[Mark Cooper]

Carrieann - I'm glad you feel good about the week, and congratulations on all your progress! I use my Instant Pot pretty close to daily, it is so great for beans, grains, steaming vegetables, and soups / stews. Mushroom soup sounds delicious! My absolute favorite mushroom recipe is Wicked Mushrooms served over brown basmati rice. When I prepare it for myself and family I make the alterations to the recipe shown below -
------------------------------
Wicked Mushrooms

Ingredients
2 cups vegetable broth
1 onion, cubed
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 pounds mushrooms, quartered
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp thyme
1 tbsp soy sauce (optional)
1 cup red wine - substitute 1 cup Vegetable Broth + 1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tbsp parsley flakes
freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions
Place 1/2 cup of the vegetable broth in a large pot. Add the onions and bell pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, bay leaves and thyme. Cook for an additional 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the remaining broth and other ingredients. Simmer slowly, uncovered, over low heat for at least 60 minutes longer until the liquid becomes a thick sauce. Remove the bay leaves and serve hot over brown rice or other whole grains or potatoes.
------------------------------

Stephanie - Way to go, that sounds like an excellent week! I think your assessment regarding being happy with your food choices, while still having a "reserve buffer" of points to bring greater focus if needed is well-considered and makes sense. Enjoying your meals is an extremely important piece of the puzzle. I think your practice of tucking away leftovers for later in the day doesn't sound dumb at all, quite the opposite - I think it is an excellent practice; thanks for sharing that.

pootsy - Sorry to hear you are navigating some rough waters this month; you are so right that being in a situation where one has to prepare meals that are not adherent for other people can be extremely challenging. Stress can be such a heavy weight, too. I wish your relative the best, and applaud you for refocusing and recommitting to MWL! I look forward to your posts in the March thread.

colleenaprn - Sometimes weight loss comes in these fits and starts, so any one particular week is less important than the overall trend. Finding a pattern that works best for you is definitely important. I wish you a great week, as well!

Butterfly043 - Your situation certainly sounds difficult and stress-inducing, I'm so sorry for your brother's medical problems. Doing the best you can is all that could be asked.

Every time I go anywhere, I pack an ice chest with foods that are compliant and I try really hard to stay on track.

I think that is an absolutely excellent and wise practice, way to go and thank you for sharing.

JaBee - Big congratulations on your fantastic progress since the 1st of the year! 18.4 lbs!!! Feeling that transition to this being a "way of life" is huge. Kudos, and you are most welcome.

wstokes - Thanks so much for your kind words! I would urge you also to be kind to yourself, life's slings and arrows can make changing our patterns of behavior SO challenging sometimes. Refocusing & recommitting - good for you. See you in the March thread.

pbnew - I know my weight can bounce around as much as a couple of lbs from one day to the next, probably not anything to be too concerned about if you are adhering to the MWL principles. If you find that you are discouraged by the vagaries of the scale, you could try calculating a rolling average and think of that number as "your actual weight." 6 lbs since you started focusing on MWL is definitely something to feel positive about. I'm glad you feel motivated, and hope your week is also satisfying!

ltolar - I wouldn't be too concerned about the result from the scale for any single week, the pattern of behavior over the duration is what will lead to outcomes, especially if you feel that you're adhering to the MWL 10-Point Checklist. Sorry to hear you've been sleeping poorly. See you in the the March thread!

Drew* - Congratulations on all your progress! 1/2 inch off your waist and 10.6 lbs down! Your assessment of your challenges and goals seems reasonable and well-considered. If you enjoy green peas, I don't see any reason why you couldn't substitute them for beans in the soup. I often make a first-course soup with 1/2 lb greens, 1 lb California Blend Vegetables, and ~28-30 oz diced tomatoes (with water added to clean out the box or cans). Dr. McDougall does advise us to limit our consumption of beans 1 Cup / day on average. Trusting what feels right to you with respect to exercise makes sense.

Abe - It sounds like you are managing this wisely, to me. I would expect your appetite will probably return to consistency before too long.

I guess eating several pounds of vegetables is better than eating an entire pizza and two subs like I used to.

I agree 100%!

[laurag]

Trying to post having technical issues! I am 143 down I think 2 lbs!

[Mark Cooper]

Trying to post having technical issues! I am 143 down I think 2 lbs!

Sorry you're having difficulties! -2 lbs with my records from past reports.

[Mark Cooper]

By my count, 24 participants reported for our final February 2020 MWL weigh-in! If I neglected to include anyone, or you notice an error in the tally, please let me know (via PM so we can keep the thread as tidy as possible).

Here are the results for the fourth Friday in February:

Week ending 2/28/2020: 24 participants reported a total loss of -18.80 pounds
--------------------------------------------------
Wstokes +4.00
Michele613 +1.60
Abe +0.90
Deweyswakms +0.80
Ltolar +0.60
JaBee +0.20
--------------------------------------------------
Total gains: +8.10
--------------------------------------------------
NO CHANGE / MAINTAIN / STARTING OUT
Colleenaprn 0.00
Drew* 0.00
Lbell 0.00
Moonlight 0.00
Pbnew 0.00
--------------------------------------------------
etoirocks -0.80
Butterfly043 -1.00
NomeOslo -1.40
Carrieann -1.50
LennieP -1.50
Rlechols -1.50
VGuzman -1.80
Kirstykay -2.00
Stormy -2.00
Laurag -2.00
VegSeekingFit -2.20
BlackBeanSoup -2.80
Chaz01 -6.40
--------------------------------------------------
Total losses: -26.90
--------------------------------------------------
Cumulative group loss for February 2020: -97.40 pounds
Average loss for fourth week of February 2020: -0.78 pounds
Cumulative group loss for January 2020: 384.15 pounds

Next Weigh-In is on Friday, March 6, 2020, in the March 2020 MWL Group Thread



A big congratulations to EVERYONE who participated this week! Way to go! Over the course of the month, the group lost a cumulative total of 96.6 pounds! That is almost as much as the weight of an octopus!

The adult North Pacific Giant Octopus usually weighs around 110 pounds. It is the largest octopus species and is known for its considerable intelligence, including the ability to open jars, solve mazes, and mimic other octopuses.
-"96.60 pounds". The Measure of Things. Bluebulb Projects' The Measure of Things. Web. February 29, 2020.

February will be over presently, and whether the month felt like a breeze for you or maybe a hurricane, I feel like everyone had a great month of learning and growth in their understanding of what is necessary to make this way of eating fit into our daily lives. The guidelines are relatively simple to understand, but we all have to really work to find the best and most effective way to apply them to our individual lives so that we can integrate and maintain patterns of behavior that will support our health and goals. I wish you all the very best and look forward to seeing and hearing from anyone who decides to participate in the MWL group for March. The new thread for March 2020 will be posted tomorrow evening. Have a great weekend, take care and be well!

[wildgoose]

An octopus, eh? I checked the site that Mark used, and it listed some very interesting things that weighed 96 pounds! Of course, it didn’t mention that 96 pounds is roughly the equivalent of 8 Canada Geese, so it’s obviously lacking in sophistication.

Nevertheless, 96 pounds is an impressive total. Big congratulations to you all.

Especially those of you who are not having an easy time of it — congratulations for persevering, even if the scale is not moving like you want it to. This is a big deal. Most people who start the new year with renewed determination to lose weight, to get healthy, or improve their fitness are off the track by the end of February. You are not. That in itself is commendable.

This process is simple, it is not easy. Life happens, and it gets in the way of the best plans. The less control you have in any given situation, the harder it gets to stay focused. However, any little piece of the environment that you can control, even the smallest element, tips the balance more in your favor. Those little victories are what build up your reserve so that the stuff that’s out of your control doesn’t totally wear down your willpower.

Sometimes it’s the littlest thing that threatens to throw you off plan. For example....

I’ve been solid on MWL almost a year. I’ve been at my goal weight since Thanksgiving. I thought I’d stabilized enough to get some good readings on a lipid panel, so I got the lab work done. I got the results back. And I barely budged from the numbers I had 2 1/2 years ago. I’m not outrageously high, but I’m not in the McDougall ideal territory that I was counting on.

Needless to say, I wasn’t happy. I’d like to tell you that I reacted in a calm, mature, reasonable manner, but I didn’t. I threw a huge honking goosey fit! I felt miserable, and I wanted to drown that misery in a big off-plan binge. After all, if I’d put in all that work for so little result — what’s the use?

Fortunately, I was in enough of a groove to resist the temptation to eat what I shouldn’t, and after a few days, I was able to look at things more objectively. There is the good side to consider. I do have 50+ pounds of weight loss since last March, and greatly improved blood pressure, plus better sleep and less joint pain. There are also other factors for me to think about. I’m borderline hypothyroid, which may account for higher cholesterol numbers. And yes, there’s the "E" word to consider. I don’t exercise — which I know can improve both thyroid and cholesterol numbers.

I’m telling you this story not to compare it to the life difficulties that some of you are having but to show that nothing is automatic. We all just rack up time and adherence, one meal at a time, one check on the checklist after another. Even when we're like my cousins the ducks — smooth feathers on top but paddling like crazy underneath.

Onward to March!

Goose

[Carrieann]

Carrieann - I'm glad you feel good about the week, and congratulations on all your progress! I use my Instant Pot pretty close to daily, it is so great for beans, grains, steaming vegetables, and soups / stews. Mushroom soup sounds delicious! My absolute favorite mushroom recipe is Wicked Mushrooms served over brown basmati rice. When I prepare it for myself and family I make the alterations to the recipe shown below -
------------------------------
Wicked Mushrooms

Ingredients
2 cups vegetable broth
1 onion, cubed
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 pounds mushrooms, quartered
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp thyme
1 tbsp soy sauce (optional)
1 cup red wine - substitute 1 cup Vegetable Broth + 1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tbsp parsley flakes
freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions
Place 1/2 cup of the vegetable broth in a large pot. Add the onions and bell pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, bay leaves and thyme. Cook for an additional 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the remaining broth and other ingredients. Simmer slowly, uncovered, over low heat for at least 60 minutes longer until the liquid becomes a thick sauce. Remove the bay leaves and serve hot over brown rice or other whole grains or potatoes.

Thank you, Mark for the recipe. I had been thinking of making a recipe that included barley and spinach. This recipe looks like it will be very tasty. I will most definitely try it out!! Thanks for sharing!

[etoirocks]

I’m late checking in. Here’s my stats for this week. I didn’t post last week due to travel. I didn’t hit my Feb goal, but it’s been hectic with work and home life, so now it’s my March goal. Lol. See you in the March group!

Jan 6: start date
Jan 17: -4.3lbs
Jan 31: -5.1lbs
Feb 7: +1.1lbs
Feb 14: -1.3lbs
Feb 28: -0.8lbs
Total loss: -10.4lbs
End of March goal: -20lbs
*GOAL*: -68.6lbs

[Mark Cooper]

etoirocks - Congrats on your cumulative loss of 10.4 pounds! I've added your report to this week's summary post. See you in the March group thread!

[Butterfly043]

Good morning everyone. I had a stressful week this week in that my brother's bone biopsy revealed that his cancer has now gone to the bones in his spine, and is now classified as stage 4. We're on the way to the cancer doctor this morning to find out what they plan to do next after he gets two weeks of radiation. We know that all they can do now is just treat the cancer, not cure it, but that he can still have a year or two if the treatments they choose works well. They have given him several new medications to take to help limit the pain he is experiencing, and right now it is just so difficult for him to get in and out of the car and just to make that drive not more than 5 minutes away. For anyone out there that is willing, would you please pray for my brother? His name is Alvin, and he has lost all but maybe 3% of his eyesight (legally blind). Being blind seems to be the most difficult for him to handle, and now with the cancer, it's really become difficult for him in dealing with the pain. I never put God in a box, but I do know He can heal my brother, but I also know that it has to be in His will. Prayer has a lot of power, so thank you in advance for all prayer for a healing in both areas. Thank you to everyone who will be praying for him.

Even thru all the stress, I am blessed to be down 1 pound this week.