September 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[Renestl]

July 1 (SW) - 239.6
Aug 28 - 229.1 (-1.1)
Sep 4 - 227.4 (-1.7)

Happy weekend everyone!

[ladevereaux]

Started 8/03/2020: 246.7
08/28/2020: 241.0
09/04/2020: 237.4
Weight change: -3.6 lbs (Total: -9.3 lbs)

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

Observations:
Overall, I did very well this week meeting 8/10 checklist. I think for 5 of the last 7 days, I was 10/10 on the checklist. I had some candy one day and a handful of crackers another couple of days. The fact that I can eat a handful of crackers and not the whole sleeve is a great improvement.

I really am shocked by my weight today. I actually weighed myself 3 times to make sure it was accurate. This is my largest drop other than the first week which I figured was mainly water weight.

I have been working on a few things.
1. I have been upping the intensity of my exercise (adding 30 second jogging intervals to my walks, alternating the walks with biking and trying to increase my speed). I exercise with my neighbor so we hold each other accountable with the exercise.
2. Since I prefer soup to salad, I realized that my starter soup can’t be a bean soup even though I love bean soup. The caloric density is too high. So I am sticking with a veggie soup made with 1 lb frozen mixed veggies, a can of diced tomatoes, with 1 lb of diced potatoes. If I want beans, then I’ll have it as part of the meal.

[NateKruse]

Height: 6' 5"
03 January 2020 weight: 276.6 pounds.
15 August 2020 weight: 221.0 pounds.
21 August 2020 weight: 219.2 pounds.
28 August 2020 weight: 222.0 pounds.
04 September 2020 weight: 216.2 pounds.


Change this week: -5.8 pounds.
Change this year: -60.4 pounds.

After last week's larger than expected gain I expected to have lost weight for this weigh-in, but nothing this dramatic. My average loss over the past two weeks is 1.5 pounds per week, so I guess it is not that bizarre.

Other than adding salt to the food, I have been completely compliant the past week and have even limited fruit to two servings per day. Previously I was eating bananas whenever I felt like it and was probably mindlessly consuming six per day.

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, but much less than I was before.
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 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
7. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). YES
8. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. YES
9. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).YES

[Kathie]

Lousy week. Gained. 224.4 this week. Succumbed to eating a homemade dessert a few days this week. And am now feeling the effects of that. Back on the MWL first thing tomorrow morning.

1) Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 75%

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. 90%

2) Choose fruit for desert. Rarely

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. Too much sugar.

4) Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Dairy in the dessert.

5) Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Had avocado one day.

6) Eliminate any added oil. 90%

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 whole wheat tortilla a couple times.

8 ) Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). 100%

9) Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. See below.

10) Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). 100%



Another poster in this thread talked about eating too fast. I think I did (and do) that, too. And I remember about when it began. At some point, back in the 80's, I realized I was subconsciously eating almost as fast as my husband ate. (He eats fast.) I also realized that with 5 young kids, I was stuffing down the food much faster in order to get my meal in before the kids finished theirs so chaos would not prevail.

Anyway, I got into the bad habit of eating too fast. Like the above poster said, I just need to slow down and, hopefully, I'll be able to tell exactly where 'full but not stuffed' is.

Thanks to all of you here. It's been so helpful to do these monthly threads. And y'all have a wonderful week!

[Noella]

+5.5 lbs.
Hi Mark! Hi everyone!
Although I followed the guidelines for MWL for this week I didn’t last week and I didn’t even weigh last week so this gain is likely from the week before when we were travelling and eating out. I’m confident that this weight will come off. I’m home again and I’m right back to following all of the MWL guidelines. I’m not going to pout or complain that life isn’t fair because I gain weight so easily...it’s just my reality.

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
2. Follow the 50/50 method for your meals, half, by visual volume, non-starchy vegetables and the other half, by visual volume, with minimally processed starchy vegetables, legumes, lentils and whole grains. 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).
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.
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).

Observations: Rather than feeling discouraged and having a whole bunch of negative feelings regarding my weight gain at weigh-in today, I am focusing on giving myself positive self-talk and building confidence in myself to do better going forward. “Self-efficacy reflects creating and maintaining confidence to exert control over one's own motivation, behavior, and social environment.”

Abe: Thank you for your candid report this week. It helped me to read your post. I have been at this since January ,too. I believe that you will achieve that 36” waist, And a normal BMI.
patience, progress, plateaus...more patience, more progress, more plateaus... let’s keep at it... let’s go for it!

Best regards,
Noella

[Hope410]

Hello All,

Weight change: Stayed the same!!??

Well I know I had a better week than the scale showed this morning. Two days ago my weight was down 1.4 lbs. All points were 95%-100%.

It was discouraging, so needed to change the self-talk to keep plugging away and working the guidelines and checkpoints. Looking forward to losing next week.

Have a successful week everyone.

[Mark Cooper]

Expat in NZ - Another 1.8 lbs gone, Lindsey! Congratulations on hitting that 20 lb mark! I'm somewhat predisposed to "wolf down" my food, as well; like you describe, making a point of slowing down, and really chewing and tasting my food is something that really seems to have helped, and it makes for more pleasant, enjoyable meals, too. Well done figuring out where you could tweak your routine to accommodate less hurried meals!

LesleyMills - Losing a pound in a week is great! Looking back over your weeks participating in the group in aggregate, you show an average of 1.9 lbs lost per week, which is excellent progress! I don't think you were doing anything "wrong" this week, from the standpoint of adherence it seems to be very much a success. It certainly seems possible that, to whatever extent your scale is varying in accuracy, some progress may be "hidden" right now. I know it isn't easy, but try to be patient with yourself; I would very much encourage you to frame your success in regard to adherence to the MWL 10-Point Checklist - keep doing an excellent job with that, and the scale will get sorted with time. Jeff discusses misunderstandings about "starvation mode" in this thread.

Diane Marie - 2.2 lbs! Kudos! It sounds like you have made a good start. Continue to concentrate your attention on the recommended pattern of behavior described by the MWL 10-Point Checklist; the more closely you adhere to the MWL guidelines, the more progress you are likely to make.

PonysPlants - Way to go stopping the "bread habit!" It appears you had a very solid week, apart from that takeaway meal, and that seems to have offered a valuable lesson. The amount of added salt in most restaurant dishes is stunning; isn't it crazy how immediately a single high salt meal can affect us (both on the scale and in regard to the Pleasure Trap)? In my experience, most restaurant Indian dishes are also loaded with oil. Taking note of the way that meal spurred further cravings offers useful information for making future choices.

Waterfit - Wow! Very exciting! It sounds like things are working well for you as you make your way toward that next milestone. Aren't baked potatoes the best? Easy and always delicious.

Wfpb2020 - Nice work ditching the half & half! Keep working toward those 7/7 assessments. If those "cheese" recipes contain nutritional yeast, just be mindful of the concerns and recommended limits for that ingredient. In my opinion, nothing is going to replicate cheese, so it may be more practical to just try to find an adherent sauce, gravy or condiment that you really like, rather than something that tastes really "cheesy."

josietheschnauzer - I'm glad you are recovering from that road trip and starting to feel back on track. I know for me, the longer I went without putting myself in the Pleasure Trap, the more powerful the effect felt when I did make non adherent choices. Considering how onerous it felt to drag myself back out each time, versus the dubious situational "benefits" of the deviations played an important role in my journey to strict adherence to MWL.

Abe - I'm sure this situation feels quite frustrating, which certainly doesn't make things any easier. Losing fifty pounds is a big deal, in and of itself! I don't think you are unreasonable in wanting to pursue further weight loss, and it seems likely that it will happen, albeit gradually. If I were going to try to tackle that 50/50 challenge, I might make some big batches of Jeff's simple recipes and use those for my meals, since they generally satisfy the 50/50 guideline. Jeff's guidance for dealing with plateaus seems applicable, so aiming for that balance between starches and non-starchy vegetables would appear to be your best point of leverage. Try to also remember that your ongoing pattern of close adherence to the other 9 points continues to build all those healthy habits, and over time the siren of those troublesome calorie rich foods you are preventing yourself from indulging in will likely become less of an impending menace.

Cathy Ann - Look on yourself with compassion, making these changes, especially in the face of immediate temptations, isn't an easy thing! Did you have any particular alterations this week in your routine, preparation or schedule? Setbacks are bound to happen, so learning to get right back on track at the next opportunity is a valuable skill. You had five days that were good, and two that provide opportunities to do better - did those two days seem different from the others in any particular way? Hang in there! Getting over these hurdles is why the group is here.

squealcat - Nice result, Marilyn! I'm glad you made your way out of "the trap" and elected to continue! 9/10 is great progress, and having a ready and prepared "go to" for those times you're craving more calorie dense foods seems like a wise practice. I hope you enjoy that soup!

Amberlina - Congrats on losing 2 pounds and getting back on track! Jeff's Mexican Fiesta is one of my favorites! Bringing the baby along for your walk sounds like a great idea.

CindyD - Goodbye to another 1.3 lbs! It looks like you are doing really well, and being attentive to the appropriate behaviors. Jumping rope sounds like a fun way to stay active. I couldn't agree more with you about tackling things one meal at a time - we always have a fresh opportunity to behave in a way that serves our goals.

calharv - Woo-hoo! Adherence does make a difference. Maybe you can plan some scheduled activities into your day at home, to help with having something to do? Thanks to your adherence to the MWL guidelines, at least whenever you are eating, the overall calorie density should be low.

VivianS - Nice loss! Seems like a good week overall - glad you were able to keep that bread from becoming a recurring event. An evening swim sounds lovely!

Creaky - Looks like you've made a thorough assessment of where to focus your attention! The more you can set up a plan and establish a routine that supports ongoing adherence, the easier it should be to minimize off plan "incidents." If you feel like the beans are giving you some trouble, you could certainly try reducing (or even eliminating) them for a while; beans are among the recommended foods for the starch portion of a meal, but they aren't specifically a requirement for this way of eating.

rlechols - Another pound! It's so fun to have a ringside seat as you make your way to wherever your weight ultimately ends up. Feeling great and loving it, who could ask for more?

oneesotericgirl - Nice loss! It appears you are making progress and have several "wins" of which you feel deservedly proud! Personally, I found it really helpful to sit down and think about some specific non-food activities to turn toward when I'm feeling in need of comfort, e.g. meditation, taking a walk, yoga, talking with a loved one. I see Jeff has already provided some great answers and analysis regarding the seasoning products you mentioned; his Rules and Guidelines for Reading Labels are very helpful when evaluating packaged goods.

GreenFroG - Kudos on sticking to weighing once weekly and keeping your attention on the recommended behaviors! There are very likely positive developments happening and as you keep at it, the scale will eventually "catch up."

laurag - Welcome back! You seem to have a good handle on where you can focus your attention to support progress. I find that the more I can do to make "following the plan" as easy as possible for myself in the moment, the more likely I am to follow it. Onward!

connielovesdogs - WOW! Another big loss, indeed; I can see why you feel excited! You are making excellent headway. This McDougall recipe for mashed potatoes uses a little of the cooking water to add moisture. In my case, I like to mash some well-steamed cauliflower into my potatoes; it adds some moisture and helps fulfill the 50/50 plate.

jkcook - Another pound down! A week that is generally very good on all 10 points is usually a good week! If that restaurant offers gift certificates, perhaps you could show your support by purchasing a few of those and sending them to local friends?

wstokes - Kudos! Adhering as closely as you are able to the recommended pattern of behavior should offer the best support for the week to come.

Beeshell - Goodbye to 1.8 lbs! As far as including more non starchy vegetables - might it help to get those prepared and ready to go as much as possible when you feel most energetic, so that it is relatively easy to combine them with your starch at mealtime? I usually only get an upset stomach when I'm ill, and don't typically feel like eating anything, so don't have much advice to offer. Relatively mild foods would make sense, so rice and vegetables seems like a reasonable option. Keep doing your best!

Gimmelean - Big congratulations on achieving a "new low" for your adult weight! The behaviors deliver the results, so MWL works when we "work it." You are so right to point out that rigorous, consistent changes in behavior can add up to some big changes in outcome over time. Keep at it!

Renestl - Your downward path continues! How are you feeling about this week, in terms of the MWL guidelines?

ladevereaux - Woo-hoo! What a result! Doing very well with the checklist on most days seems to be paying off. Keep making those improvements where you can, and you'll likely see more "shocking" results in the future.

NateKruse - Quite dramatic! It always feels great to have measures start heading in a favorable direction! You may be getting a sense for how closer adherence can work for you. Well done paying attention to not going overboard on bananas, I find them easy to consume mindlessly, as well.

Kathie - Hang in there! You know what got you headed off track, and making an immediate return to the MWL guidelines is a wise approach. When we eat too quickly, I think it can be pretty easy to eat somewhat more than we otherwise might. Concentrating on eating the recommended foods, taking your time, and having adherent foods ready to go should all be helpful.

Noella - I applaud your confidence that you will achieve the results you want with adherence and time! Well done getting back to the MWL guidelines and keeping your focus on the things over which you have the most influence - behaviors. Those nodding heads next to each point should serve you well moving forward.

Hope410 - Well done! Nearly 100% on all points is great! Your approach is astute, keep "plugging away and working the guidelines and checkpoints." By that measure, it looks like you had an excellent week!

[wavingwheat]

Hello Mark and everyone
This is my first weigh-in here. Last Friday I was at 166.8 and this morning was at 166.2 so a .6 lb loss
I'm good with most of the points on the checklist. I need to be better at starting each meal with a soup or salad; need to eat less fruit and need to eat less in general. This week I have been more sedentary than usual because I've had some things interfering with my sleep and making me more tired than usual.
Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Carol

[laura_delao]

Weight change: 0
9/4/20 136 lbs.

I'd like to continue with this group because I am learning so much. I know what I need to correct (eat less fruit, exercise 5 times a week, don't eat pancakes once a week) but I know I will change those behaviors eventually. I am happy to see that I don't by crackers, corn tortillas nor bread anymore since starting this group. I always have baked potatoes and yams in the fridge along with a pot of veggie soup. I get so tired and sore from the gym that I don't have the energy to walk the rest of the days. I am hoping eventually my body will get used to it, will it? Have a great weekend everybody and thank you Mark, Jeff and Wildgoose for yiur dedication!

[josietheschnauzer]

Thank you, Mark, and all the participants for your comments. Mark, you hit the nail straight on the head with your comment copied below: The POWERFUL effect when I ate that junk--amazing that it had such a rolling effect. Please, please, I am telling my brain to remember this!
"josietheschnauzer - I'm glad you are recovering from that road trip and starting to feel back on track. I know for me, the longer I went without putting myself in the Pleasure Trap, the more powerful the effect felt when I did make non adherent choices. Considering how onerous it felt to drag myself back out each time, versus the dubious situational "benefits" of the deviations played an important role in my journey to strict adherence to MWL. "

Also, Abe, I am cheering for you! You will do it!

[Reni]

Hello Everyone,

I'm down to 163.2 this week from 166.2, so a loss of 3 lbs! . I think most of this loss was because I became ill this week with a good case of vertigo which caused severe nausea.

The checklist:
1) Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 50% (ran out of green/yellow veggies midweek and was too ill to go to the grocery store)
2) Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals. 50% - same as point #1
2) Choose fruit for desert. 80%
3) Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. 70%
5) Eliminate all higher fat plant foods. 70%
6) Eliminate any added oil. 70%
7) Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products . 70%
8 ) Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). 100%
9) Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. 50%
10) Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). 100%

Thoughts on this past week: Being ill made it so that the precarious window of eating between 2-5pm wasn't so much of an issue, although if I wasn't nauseous, I was so starved that I ate whatever was the fastest/easiest resulting in some poor food choices. Also, since movement made the vertigo worse, I was not able to add to my exercise regimen. (but I still was able to walk 60 minutes a day at albeit a somewhat drunkenly gait) This week my blood sugar numbers were pretty much in the non-diabetic range! Woohoo!

I thought also about Mark's comments and will continue to do so. Off-plan food is usually kept out of sight. I love what you said about each day/week/meal is a new opportunity.

Thanks everyone for being in this journey together!

-Reni

[kirstykay]

Hi everyone! I am excited to be back for September, and the rest of the year. I stepped away for the month of August to try to regain my focus by doing a Mary's Mini. Since this group sticks strictly to the MWL program, I didn't want to be a distraction here so I didn't post. If you want to know more about Mary's Mini, you can do a search for the Newsletter Dr. McDougall wrote about it or the webinar he and Mary did on it.

It was just what I needed!. I'm not sure how you want to record my weightloss, Mark. I am down a total of 10 pounds since I last weighed in here in July. But if I'm just counting this week, I'm down 2.6 pounds for the week.

Also, I'd like to share some other exciting news! A little background first...
I started the New Year 2020 as I do every year: Vowing for this to be THE year I actually lose weight and restore my health. I started out ok, but once Covid-19 hit, I decided it was time to take advantage of the lockdown (eliminating all my distractions and excuses) and really get serious! I've been strictly following MWL since Mid-March. I spent the month of August doing a Potato Mary's Mini.

I went in for my check-up yesterday, and my lab results are in! Note: I am not on any medication.

I went from an A1c of 12.1 in January to 7.8 yesterday! (I was diagnosed with T2D 15 years ago).

Total Cholesterol went from 181 to 138, with my LDL dropping from 99-69! (I am "heart-attack proof" for the first time!)

My blood pressure was 116/70 (I don't remember what it was in January but it was creeping up.

I have lost 33 pounds in that same amount of time. I still have 45 pounds left to lose, but I am more confident than ever that I WILL reach my goal weight!!

I am beyond excited to watch myself walking away from illness and obesity and toward health and LIFE as I approach my 53rd birthday in November!

Remember...IT'S THE FOOD!
Thank you, Dr. McDougall! And thank you for all the support, encouragement, and "tough love" I have found here from Mark and Jeff! I wouldn't still be here if it weren't for you! I'm excited to be back in this group and doing MWL all the way to the finish line!

[Kelly140]

This week: -1.5
Total: -11.5

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--Did not do as well on this, & will be my focus for this week.
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). NO--Still a struggle---Almonds that my family loves, too. However, I did consume a small amount.
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. This has become surprisingly easy!
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

Doing better with the daily exercise and really trying to make it habit. Some food choices this week were not great, but I am aware of improvements that need to be made. Just sticking with it and being determined to get to my goal. I have a long way to go, but feel like I'm on my way.

[Joanne_elon]

Hello...I started the MWL journey in July.
Starting weight was 131.
Been mostly following the program. Its been a hugh help
to have this accountability.
Been walking consistently 4 miles a day.
This morning I weighed in at 124.


In 2 months I lost 7 pounds. Very happy with my progress.

Thank you so much for this support group.
joanne_ elon

[chef16]

Hi Mark ,
Back again for September, If that's okay.

weight on 8/28/2020 254#
weight on 9/4/2020 253#
1 more pound gone
Stuck with 4,6,8,and9 almost 100% ( may have been oil in something I didn't know).
Stuck with 1,2,3,5,and 7 most of the time .( choices are slim at work.)
I have been getting a lot of exercise at work. 10 is a yes.(Not sitting in my house any more watching TV all day.) On my feet and moving for most of the day.

I am still working out the bugs at work. It is sometimes a compromise on what I eat. I have ate something because it was a better choice than something else . Sometimes I will have peanut butter on whole wheat bread, than any thing with animal products in it . I don't always know all the ingredients that are in the food, so I go by sight. If it looks oily or looks like it has milk or butter in it I don't choose it . If I chose something and I taste it and it has more sugar, salt or oil in it than I thought I throw it out. It is a work in progress. At home I stick with it as closely as possible. Still lost a pound!