July 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[gigieve]

Lost 2.5 pounds this week which is thrilling!

As a long time vegan, my weight loss is stubborn so I was happily surprised that this is working so far. Took some will power to not have hearty wheat bread toast but stuck to the 50/50 plates and only fruit for dessert. Loving the potatoes

Daily yoga & meditation & walks.

[Growing a Pear]

Net rolling average this week: -0.6#
SW this week: 150.2#
CW: 149.6# (thrilled to have a rolling average below 150 for the first time in 3 years)
GW: ~135#

A 10-POINT CHECKLIST FOR MAXIMUM WEIGHT LOSS (MWL)

1) Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Doing better at this. Gazpacho is refreshing. Also now have a hot veggie soup I can put together quickly and that I enjoy. Fruit with oatmeal works great for breakfast.

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). See notes for #7.

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.I'm struggling to ditch my once-daily Clif Bar in the late afternoon or evening. With the increased fruit and veggie consumption, my stomach is rumbly. Might just be digestive process and I'll acclimate, but it feels like hunger and just eating more fruit/starch or veg/starch combo does not take the feeling away. The Clif Bar does. If I white knuckle it for a few days, will this go away? Or does anyone have a suggestion about a single serving size "sweet" that would work? (If I make baked oatmeal squares, they do work but they also call to me incessantly and I want to eat them rather than the 50/50 plate.)

Anyway, this is the point I need to most work on for success.

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. Getting better about this.

10) Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). ~70%. Would like to be more consistent, especially wrt resistance training.

[MartiB]

Weight Friday - 167 - I’ll count this as my beginning weight
Start with a soup or salad....did okay. Need to find a good recipe for with blue ‘cheese’ or ranch dressing
Eliminate all animal products - good on that one
Eliminated added sugar and salt - good on sugar, still find myself using salt in food (although I am using less)
Eliminate high calorie - okay on this one. Had some nuts as a snack
Eliminate added oil - doing well on this one
Eliminate higher calorie flour products - have taco shells.
Exercise - the days I work, I average 6,000 steps
Overall, I give myself a “C”... I’ve just started a new job and re-learning taking a meal with me. My energy is also low when I get home, so I’m not too excited to cook...plus, it’s hot and hot food just does not sound good to me.

[Tyler]

Hi. I lost 3 pounds this week since July 1.
I was successful on all 10 checklist and guidelines.

[moonlight]

Weight down 1 lbs
Points from the MWL Checklist where I succeeded this week
I feel that eating soup or salad before a meal is becoming routine. I was able to give up the salt shaker without it being a hard thing. That took about two weeks for the cravings to go away. I have been getting more exercise. I feel that my body is stronger.
Points from the MWL Checklist that need greater attention
The same ones for me are all of them from time to time... I can nibble on dairy things, I can snack on air-popped popcorn, I can have a slice of bread from time to time... I think these behaviors are occurring less frequently. I wish I could have some absolutes, like at least absolutely no animal products.
General impressions & observations / resources to share / sources of excitement / requests for input & support
Mainly, the success I had this week was to get back on track when I strayed. I know that may be a given for most people but I will celebrate not going off into binge land. I noticed how weak I am to emotional eating when I get in a really bad place mentally. I will celebrate not staying in the bad place and making it worse by starting some kind of binge.

Good luck to everyone!!
Thank you, Mark, JeffN, and Wildgoose. You all are such great support team. I appreciate your time and effort to this group.

[laurag]

Hi people! Loss one lb! 147!

50/50 did very good
Walking needs work!

Will still work on creating behaviors at night that are on program

[Drew*]

Weight as of 7/3/2020: 178 lb.
Weight as of 6/26/2020: 181.3 lb.

For the beginning of the month, I will note a few additional points:
Height: 5' 9 1/4"
BMI: 26.1
WHR: 1
Age: 57

Thanks Mark for your condolences on my Dad. I am one of three brothers and have two sisters and we all were able to see him beforehand. By mid-May, I think it was his time to go due to health. He was 89, but had complications from diabetes and other issues. My Mom has survived him and I am still around for three days out of the week and the rest of the time with my wife. It is an arrangement that I am getting used to and it will probably last for a while in one way or another!

Progress

There are some pluses to my living situation that definitely helped in the last week or so.

Exercise: I am jogging 2-4 times a week for 40 minutes. I run in a large neighborhood or in a track across the street. I've started wearing a mask (without filter) on the track. On two days out of the week, my wife and I have done some Vinyasa Yoga that is really intense. The sessions last between 40-60 minutes and I am sweating by the end. Some of the moves are too advanced, but I do other moves during this timeframe! I am hoping to add something else for Mondays...

Second, diet. I have been way more careful this last week. This includes a batch of Jeff Novick's basic 5 ingredients and spices. For starch I add a boil-in-the-bag portion of rice and one can of low sodium beans. I had a little over two days in servings. When I am with my wife the foods are similar and I will sometimes have McDougall Right Foods with veggies. For the most part, things have gone well so far.

Challenges

On Fridays when I get to my condo, I need to keep my food and beverage consumption in mind. A few exceptions could lead to more if I am not careful! To counter this, I have bought some fruit for this Saturday when my wife and I watch a DVD.

Despite the progress this last week, I have overall gained some weight since last April when I was involved in the MWL group until the middle of the month.

Final Comments

Overall, things have improved. I definitely need a strategy going forward to limit the exceptions on Fridays and Saturdays. Things have improved with MWL principles.

As side note, it is great to see all the people involved in this MWL group. I'm going to try to read through the postings or at least the highlights!

Drew*

[francnm]

Hello. I just checked to see if my weigh-in was posted. It looks like I did not click submit.

minus 1.6 lbs
I followed the 10 point checklist, as I understood them, but learned yesterday that decaf coffee (depends on the beans) can raise LDL. I found a short video where Dr. McDougall recommends no coffee, so... no coffee going forward:)

[MDavidson]

63 y.o. female 274.2 lbs. Down 3.2 lbs.
Height 5'11''
I succeeded in all the points and guidelines this week although I got started late in the week. I do need to take more care in eating slowly and frequently as well as walking daily. I can't wait until both of these become a habit.

I started following this program on January 1st of this year, but came to the conclusion that without any accountability, such as this forum, I am a food addict. This forum will be very helpful in this area.

I have been an insulin dependent patient since my double knee replacement in 2011, I chose to medicate with insulin sine I didn't like the side effects of the various pills I could take.

For 8 1/2 years, I tried to get my sugars in line without success. Finally on December 31, 2019, I took a morning fasting blood sugar. I was shocked to find it at 340! I had reached the end of my rope and spent all day researching how to quickly get my diabetes under control. Thanks to what I found out about The McDougall Program, I started eating a "monotonous" diet on January 1 and in 7 days had dropped my fasting blood sugar to 88! I continued to stick with it through the beginning of the pandemic, but "fell of the wagon" with addictive and harmful food. When I received the email a few days ago, I knew that I had found an answer to my challenge. Thanks for the invite!

[KDoyler]

Hello Mark,
I’d like to join July’s weight loss group please.
I’m new here, and I’m not sure where I put my current weight to start, or where that group page is.
Thanks,

[Mark Cooper]

Hello Mark,
I’d like to join July’s weight loss group please.
I’m new here, and I’m not sure where I put my current weight to start, or where that group page is.
Thanks,

Welcome! This is the thread - you can post your report here.

[Belana]

Holding steady.
No great weight loss this week for me.
I'd like to get rid of these 8 lbs that have stubbornly hung on. Actually it was a bit more with all of my traveling...
Next week, I'll be embarking on another road trip, so losing, let alone maintaining will be a huge challenge, but it's either that or being stuck in a place where I really don't have anyone close or have much going on all due to Covid, so I'm definitely splitting.
I hope to be staying in places with kitchens, so that I can cook my own food.
I hate packing up food on a road trip, but on MWL, it's unavoidable!
Weight: 108
Loss: 0

[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]

This is the second half of my responses to the reports for our July 3 Weigh-In. The first half is linked below.

Mark's Replies for July 3 - Part 1


kirstykay - Huzzah! Way to go, Kirsty!

the scale is not a direct correlation to behavior, although, over time it definitely is. So slow and steady wins the race.

That is a very keen observation! We shouldn't overvalue any single point of data from the scale vs. consistently practicing the recommended behaviors over the duration. Keep doing an excellent job!

SGarcia - Focusing on building the recommended behaviors into habits is an effective approach. I can imagine that working in food services presents a particularly challenging environment to navigate - you are wise to be mindful of not letting yourself become overly hungry. You are right that those commercial sauces often don't meet the MWL guidelines - here are some MWL acceptable sauce recipes that might be of help.

Hope410 - Hang in there! Calorie rich processed food rarely fails to have an effect.

I am neither happy or proud of this, but I do recognize how this happened and believe I am back on track after the wake up weight gain.

That is great, you are finishing this week and starting the next with a positive and proactive mindset!

wildgoose - What an EXCELLENT post! I especially want to highlight two particularly important pieces -

I found that if I was asking "is this OK?" it usually meant that I was very attached to what I was asking about. I ended up not being able to use it in moderation, and it kept me on a never-ending craving cycle. This may not be the case for you, but be ruthlessly honest with yourself here.

The longer you keep up really good compliance, the easier it gets. Cheating all the time leads to cravings and a generally harder road, in addition to slower weight loss.

simon - Kudos! I am one of this forum's most epic salad lovers, so I can totally relate! Just do your best to keep reducing added salt, remembering that a sprinkle at the table on the surface of your food is acceptable under the guidelines. Cheers!

BeadLady - In case you missed it, Jeff offered some excellent and thorough direction for you.

Tobinterri - If you are ever needing to find your own posts, just click on your username and then click "search user's posts" - that will give you a list of all your posts from most recent to oldest. Give yourself a little time practicing the guidelines, continue doing the best you can, and know that excellent adherence to the MWL 10-Point Checklist will produce results eventually.

KathleenK - There is no wrong time for a fresh start! I'm glad you're feeling focused and your day went well!

MaryE - Welcome! I'm glad you decided to take the plunge and join! It can be especially challenging to make these changes "on our own" and in an environment replete with temptations; under those circumstances it is even more important to be sure that whenever you are hungry, you eat of the recommended foods in the fashion outlined by the MWL 10-Point Checklist.

cmurphy - Not only does almond creamer include nuts, but it is also a form of liquid calories - so definitely worth eliminating. As you say goodbye to that creamer, almond yogurt and other non adherent foods, be kind to yourself and perhaps make a special effort to eat whichever starches, non-starchy vegetables and fruits you most enjoy. Enjoying the food is important. Here is Jeff's full rundown on coffee, which is worth reading to get a clear picture.

While coffee is not a health food and I don't recommend it, as I said in my Coffee vs Tea post..

Out of the two drinks, tea is clearly the better "choice" if you were looking to choose between the two. If you were to choose coffee, keep the intake below 2-3 6 oz cups a day, have it black, and make sure it is paper filtered.

jkcook - Let me offer congratulations for the 20 lbs you've lost already! As you adjust to eliminating those higher fat plant foods, be mindful to satisfy any cravings with an adequate proportion of starches - for me, potatoes are great for this, as they are easy to have cooked and waiting in the fridge for ready access. When practicing the 50/50 guideline, portion control is usually less of an issue, just eat until you are comfortably full, however many servings that involves. Thanks for the useful advice you offered for dining out -

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.

I'd add that one could also request they prepare dishes without added salt or sugar, as well. Jeff shows an example of a card to hand to a server to describe an appropriate meal.

Judy_Bell - It is definitely the case that the last few pounds are often the most recalcitrant, and typically require a strict attention to the MWL guidelines. The checklist points you toward the areas where further efforts will be rewarded. I'm pretty confident that if you can just get that first exercise session in as soon as you can (whatever form it may take), it will be much easier to continue doing so.

lauradwight - Thanks for contributing! Isn't it interesting how we always seem to "stress eat" calorie rich, higher fat, or processed foods - people "stress eating" celery or carrots seems to be a rarity, right? Give yourself a big pat on the back for diligently following the MWL plan for 2 weeks!! Keep it up!

VivianS - Kudos! Eliminating those remaining troublesome items will definitely make a difference. If using a bowl works for you, that isn't a problem, just do your best to "eyeball" an equal visual volume of starches to non-starchy vegetables in your bowl (same as on a plate). Jeff's general discussion of Omega 3 fatty acids includes some information on flaxseed and may be worth a read. It sounds like one of the most important things upon which to focus (in addition to eliminating those troublesome foods) is being sure to eat an adequate amount of starch at each meal, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches.

Sherr61 - 2.8 lbs is a nice loss! Perhaps when you work up a powerful appetite with that hard labor, you might sate it with starches, vegetables and fruits - enjoy whatever favorites are among the adherent options. Jeff offers some helpful tips for Dining Out, when you must. As you say, we can face each day anew!

Rbw - Good for you! It sounds like your first day was a success! When you are faced with those cravings, you can beat them by choosing healthy foods, including starches, and take heart in the fact that they will pass and fade eventually. One day at a time, doing your best will get you there in the end!

Precursoragirl - Have you made a start using the MWL 10-Point Checklist?

Kathy62 - Congratulations on all the progress you've made already! MWL absolutely works!

Amberlina - Attentive focus on the MWL 10-Point Checklist and diligent effort at executing those fundamentals is absolutely the way to proceed!

vegyluvver - Your journal is in exactly the correct section. I'm glad you feel you are doing well with the checklist. Let me know how you like your cooked, then refrigerated oatmeal - I actually love that, it reminds me of pudding!

sandraa325 - Hello! Doing our very best is all any of us can do! The longer you can adhere to the program, the easier it will be!

inverts99 - Glad you are looking forward to the program! Now is a great time to get started!

Jan Daley - Hi! Be sure to review the introduction for all the important information, and get started!

MelMoore - Congratulations on attaining that milestone! Keep up your very diligent efforts, you seem to be doing great!

ukeplayer - Those can indeed be challenging changes to make - keep doing your best practicing the recommended behaviors and that effort will be rewarded!

AnnieB20 - Welcome! You have posted your weigh-in correctly! Be sure to review the introduction; have you made a start following the MWL 10-Point Checklist?

laura_delao - That is a nice loss, and you have made a great start tackling the checklist! Onward toward getting physically active and eliminating those few lingering calorie dense foods!

RiceBurner - 75% can indeed be a big improvement from one's previous patterns, and with 25% remaining you know exactly where to direct your efforts!

NatalieJ - Hopefully that new scale will serve you well! Have you made a start on the MWL 10-Point Checklist?

jenniferhopeful_ - I'm so sorry this has been a difficult year for you so far; I'm sure that doesn't make things any easier. The best way to avoid those "cheats" is to make sure whenever you are hungry, you eat of the recommended foods, in the manner described by the guidelines. Be gentle with yourself and do the best you can, aiming for continuing progress.

Pann - I'm curious to see how you put MWL into action for yourself, too. Way to go eliminating meat and wine, now to tackle those remaining animal foods. Loving the food is an important piece of the puzzle!

EmmaLW - Hello! Have you gotten going with the MWL 10-Point Checklist?

avanburen - Welcome!

Zoey - Thanks for your wish of good luck! I needed it! Way to go hitting those checkpoints and continuing your progress! That feedback from the scale makes for a nice reward!

Dennis h - Glad to have you "aboard!" How are you doing with the recommended behaviors?

briea - 100% proves to be an easier path than 90% for many of us. Oatmeal and fruit is always a popular choice for breakfast, but really any starch you like with an equal visual volume of non-starchy vegetables (and / or fruits) can serve as the main course for any meal of the day, keeping in mind the totality of the recommendations.

CJean - That is a substantial loss! Give yourself a big for so diligently curating your environment to best support your efforts! That can be a big change, so very well done!

amyd60 - It is totally fine to have any variation of an adherent meal at whatever time of day, so if you would like oatmeal and fruit for dinner, have that. Recognize, too, that setbacks inevitably happen, they are part of the process of learning how to make this work - try to be kind with yourself, learn from mistakes and let them go, and make your very next choice the best you can. The only way you can "mess it all up" is by giving up completely, and as long as you have a future ahead, there is the opportunity to improve and grow.

chaz01 - Another pound down, Chuck! I hope the back half of this year holds as much progress as the front - enjoy your weekend!

Mickeysmin - You are counted!

Cdbrailsford - Kudos! How has it been going for you with the MWL 10-Point Checklist?

Whitehawk - Congrats on that significant loss! Are you finding that any aspect of the MWL guidelines is presenting a challenge to you?

bblair - It sounds like you are off to a good start, if the week seemed great! Dining Out in a way that meets the guidelines is definitely tough, and perhaps easier if avoided completely; Jeff has some tips for Dining Out that could help.

Lucas - Another pound down! Nice! It seems like your week was a pretty successful one, considering you were traveling; I imagine it will be a relief to get back to your normal routine, though.

marb - Kudos! It appears you are making exciting progress! Just keep eating, whenever you are hungry, in the recommended manner and your appetite will work itself out.

geributter - Nice loss! You are doing great and well on your way! Keep up that diligent work.

Gigieve - That is thrilling, for sure! The MWL program works, when you put in the work, so good for you.

Growing a Pear - The principles of MWL are the best for getting that scale "rolling" in the desired direction! It appears that you have made impressive progress following the guidelines. The recommendation would be to ditch the Clif Bar, for all the reasons Jeff discusses here -

A Cliff Bar is not the best choice & a very unhealthy product.

There is nothing magic in it other than the calories, fat, sugars, etc. Protein is a poor source of energy. The 2 main and primary sources of energy are carbohydrates & fat, not protein. Depending on which cliff bar you consume it is most likely contributing most of its calories from fat & sugars and not protein anyway.

If you feel like you need to eat, and eating in the recommended fashion until comfortably full doesn't sate that feeling, it would seem you could be struggling with Pleasure Trap driven cravings - if you can refrain from indulging those cravings for enough time they will fade away, but it takes time. Be sure, too, that you include adequate starch in each meal throughout the day, as too much calorie dilution without starch can sometimes spur those cravings. Dr. Doug Lisle's webinar on the Cram Circuit could potentially be of use in approaching the issue you describe.

Moonlight - Woot! Another pound bites the dust! Getting back on track when we face setbacks is an important skill to employ. Try not to think of those occasional lapses as failures (and "kick over the table" as a consequence); they are signals that you have some areas where you need to fortify your strategies and make sure everything is in place to support your adherence. Keep those steady improvements rolling!

laurag - Way to go! 147! Would putting into practice some type of "hard cutoff" for the evening seem helpful?

Drew* - What a blessing that you and your siblings were able to spend that time with your father. Good work putting Jeff's simple recipes to work for you and staying active! You are correct to observe that a few exceptions can often lead to many more than a few. When you think of where you were at in April, try not to lament, know that you can make it there again, and further, with diligent efforts over time. The practice of the principles produces the results.

francnm - Kudos for your excellent efforts! If you behaved consistently in accordance with the checklist, you did great! Try not to sweat the small stuff.

While coffee is not a health food and I don't recommend it, as I said in my Coffee vs Tea post..

Out of the two drinks, tea is clearly the better "choice" if you were looking to choose between the two. If you were to choose coffee, keep the intake below 2-3 6 oz cups a day, have it black, and make sure it is paper filtered.

MDavidson - Fantastic efforts! You succeeded in all the points and guidelines - that is excellent work! If you have any questions about the guidelines, or roadblocks arise, feel free to post here for clarification and support.

KDoyler - You've been added to the group.

Belana - Holding steady is better than some alternatives! You know from experience how stubbornly those last few pounds can hang on, but you also know the behaviors that lead to losing them. Do your best to navigate the coming challenges with consideration and preparation. Happy travels!

Cinderoli - Going forward, please be sure to post your report in this thread - July 2020 MWL Weigh-In Group. Kudos on your nice loss and for doing such an excellent job putting the recommended behaviors into action! Keep it up!

MartiB - For next week, be careful you post your report in this thread - July 2020 MWL Weigh-In Group. Do the best you can to practice the recommended behaviors, and that "C" will be an "A" before you know it!

Tyler - Great work!

[LindaDi]

Hello: I'm new to posting. Where do I post my weight loss?