July 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[KathleenK]

Hi. I have had trouble through this Covid thing. I have gained weight. But no excuses I am restarting MWL. I had a good day today finally preparing food for myself. I have refocused. My weight today is 196.8 lbs. My goal is to lost about 50 lbs.

[MaryE]

Hello Everyone, I am joining an online group for the 1st time. I have been trying to eat more healthfully for years(vegetarian/vegan on and off the last 2) but always fall back to my old ways of eating. My family is not interested in eating this way so I am in this on my own. I am 64 yrs old and my starting weight today is 224 lbs. Sheltering at home didn't help me. My goal is to feel better, move more easily, be healthy and my goal weight is 145 lbs!

[cmurphy]

My first weekly Friday check-in post:

Weight chg: 0

Thus morning I realized I wanted coffee... and was
putting in my regular tablespoon of almond-based creamer...
But almonds are nuts.. and MWL rules say no nuts.
This may be a long month!, as I also enjoy (plain) almond-based yogurt too.

Any suggestions regarding coffee?

[jkcook]

Weight — First post, so I guess it’s zero. I lost 20 pounds in the last year, and would like to lose 20 more this year, so I’m starting with this.
Points from the MWL Checklist where I succeeded this week — I bought lots of potatoes today’s, so I should be ready to get started on eating more potatoes instead of other things. I also eliminated the tortilla from my tostada today
Points from the MWL Checklist that need greater attention — Probably the greatest thing I’ll have to work on is not munching on cashews and having a snack of a scoop of dairy free frozen dessert in the evenings
General impressions & observations / resources to share / sources of excitement / requests for input & support — Typically, my usual problem is portion control. I’m hoping that the potatoes will fill me up to prevent over eating other things.

[Judy_Bell]

Hello All!
Wow, so many new people!
I have a net gain/loss of zero this week. Have been holding steady at the same weight for 3 weeks now. I saw something Jeff wrote about how the last few pounds are always the hardest, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who agrees. Previously, I would have been happy with 155, but as I age, things have shifted and I still don't fit in the clothes I wish to wear. Sigh, I know if I were to start exercising, things would improve, but I seem to have a mental block. I meant to exercise at least one time this past week, and failed! You would think a challenge to do something once would be a no brainer, but apparently not to me.

Here's how I fared this week on each of the 10 points:
1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 80%
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. 90%
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. 80%
Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). 100%
Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). 60%
Eliminate any added oil. 100%
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. 60%
Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). 80%
Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. 100%
Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). 0%
Overall, with my semi-low scores on several points, I am happy that I didn't register a gain for this week.
I hope everyone had a great week, and Happy 4th of July!

[lauradwight]

This is my first contribution to the MWL Weigh-In Group. My weight this morning was 187. I have gained about 7 pounds since the shutdown (I am in NYC) primarily due to stress eating the wrong foods ie tortilla chips. I have been back following the plan for two weeks, except for drinking black tea in the morning. Laura

[VivianS]

VivianS wrote a MWL draft, saved it and now I can't find it to post it.
Recap:
7/3/2020
Lost 1 pound.
I succeeded on points 1, 6, 9, and 10.
I need to pay greater attention to points 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8.
2. I must try eating on a PLATE instead of a bowl or my pot of oats.
I must choose fruit for dessert instead of getting into my husband's cookies or glazed pecans.
3. I have been eating 1 tablespoon of honey to be able to swallow Spicy oats with vinegar in it. I am also of the opinion that local honey helps my allergies. I like salt on a fresh tomato. Starting July 4th I declare myself FREE. from the need to add salt or sugar.
4. I will eat plain salsa , not salsa with cheese.
5. The jury is still out on whether or not I should eat ground flaxseed for Omega 3. I battle high cholesterol. I have 3 bags of ground flaxseed in my freezer. I put ground flaxseed in SPICY OATS.
I WILL SHUT MY EYES OR TELL MY HUSBAND TO COVER, HIDE HIS GLAZED PECANS. He only finds them once in a while.
7. Hide, shield my eyes from cookies, cake, crackers! Popcorn was banished when I broke two teeth on a single corn kernel. I will love fresh corn on the cob or steamed corn with no salt.
8. I love Almond milk (30 calorie, unsweetened, vanilla). When I don't drink it, my food tracker indicates that I am not getting enough calcium. The fat in Almond milk.and flaxseed is the fat I am wearing ...plus those nuts I think are healthy because they are reputed to prevent heart arrhythmia. Can I make myself just drink water????
General impressions / observations:
I have watched Jeff Novick's YouTube video several times in the past year. His drawings make me laugh. I understand calorie density. I eat steamed vegetables every night. I have noticed on my food tracker that I often don't actually eat enough starches. I am thankful to see the placemat illustration listing the specific starches to eat. Bravo! You have made it simple to understand.
I hope I can actually post it this time. VivianS

[Sherr61]

Hi Everyone.
Friday July 3rd weigh in.
HW 172
CW 169.2
-2.8

So overall I did pretty well.
Weigh in at 169.2 lost almost 3 pounds since I joined.
Doing pretty good with the eating plan 10 point list... except today after two days of wood chipping (8 hours hard labor.. I did have some wine (arthritis pains on top of my pains) and the only restaurant where I live had nothing for me to eat. So I had pizza... vegetarian of course, but with cheese.
Big FAIL
Any way tomorrow I will be doing hard labor again chipping for many more hours. But no party after.
Maybe next time I work really hard I can avoid the reward of wine and a restaurant with nothing on the menu for me.
Trust me, in rural Maine... it's all about 4 wheelers and eating fried. My restaurant has good stuff, but not MWL stuff.
Tomorrow is another day. Hopefully I can get rid of the toad belly before I am too old.
BTW Jeff N... I love your video!!!!! You are so funny and get your point across really well. One day soon when I can save up I will try and get a consult with ya's.

[Rbw]

This is my first weigh in. Starting wt. 172 lbs. struggled today with sugar craving, but I made it, did not cave in to it. Taking it one day at a time

[Precursoragirl]

Start weight today: 175
Height: 5’2”

[jkcook]

[quote="Sherr61"]Hi Everyone.
I am not sure why, but the last few days I have received emails with all the new posts... today none.

Trust me, in rural Maine... it's all about 4 wheelers and eating fried. My restaurant has good stuff, but not MWL stuff.

I was wondering, since there’s probably not a lot of restaurants around, can you go to your favorite restaurant or two during a non-busy time and talk to them about creating a couple of dishes that are compliant? I have several restaurants around here are trained to fix my food without oil. I always tip a little bit extra, for their trouble. It’s worth a try.

[Kathy62]

I weighed 318 this morning. I started last year at 365. This starch program is the only program that’s worked for me ever.

[Amberlina]

I am weighing in. My first day back on track so zero change in weight yet. I plan on focusing on the checklist and observing this week. It's going to be great to feel good again!

[vegyluvver]

Oops, put my journal in the wrong place! Doing well on the checklist, if you don't count my inadvertently non-compliant breakfast.

[sandraa325]

Hello I want to join this program as well. I tried my best to follow the guidelines today. I need y sticking to the program. Lots of motivation needed. I gained more weight during quarantine and desperately need help and guidance. The scale scares me. But I did it