July 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[JennyDianne]

In spite of all my bloops, I lost 1.4 pounds since my weigh in. July 4th began my downfall even last night, melting Hersheys kissses covered in marshmellows.
Today I will saddle up and review the guidelines etc.
I found it frustrating to not find this forum except for one time to say, I'm a mess, and could never find the group post again.
Spouse will help me put this July MWL on my toolbar.because if I post, I can never see if my post was commented on, or see what other folks post. .... So back on my pity pot I go.
I stayed on MWL until I "got off" then I'd return and try again. Then I'd rebel, and think before I return I'm getting me a Blizzard and an Out Law Ribeye. I'm just "saying" I didn't do it

[minisweet]

Good morning everyone!
Last week weight: 214.2
This week weight: 210.0
Weight loss: 4.2

This week has been a lot better for me as I've gotten into a groove of sorts. I eat pretty much the same thing everyday which is getting kind of boring, but the weight is coming off so that is good.

Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. I have oatmeal with fruit for breakfast but have salad with starch for my other meals.
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
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
Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Yes
Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Yes, I even quit the soy sauce.
Eliminate any added oil. Yes
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
Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Yes, except for a very small amount of rice milk with my oatmeal.

Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). The exercise is till a problem. I have done some yardwork which is helpful though it's not enough. My reasoning was that I wanted to make MWL a habit before I started the exercising so I wouldn't quit on everything which I've done so many times before. I don't know if that's a good reason or not.
Have a good week everyone!
Sarah

[AnnetteW]

Jun 26 - 151.4
July 3 - 151 (down 0.6 lbs)
July 10 - 148.8 (down 2.2 lbs)

Very happy to see my numbers going down. I'm down about 9 lbs since the beginning of June when I got back on track after my few months being off track.

I've just been careful eating, as we have company in the house. Just doing my best but not being perfect. I'm not going to "think" too much about it right now. I have company for another week.

[vegyluvver]

So tempting to just slink away or not report my weight gain, but I honestly did learn a lot about myself this week, so I'm just going to move forward. I'm sitting here eating tomato and kale soup for breakfast and as soon as the kitchen is clean I will make a big pot of potatoes and one of vegetable soup.

SW: 319
CW: 319.6

Didn't consistently do any of the 10 points on the checklist and it shows. But it encouraged me (along with several posts on the boards) to go all in from now on.

[Wfpb2020]

Start date 7/1/20

7/3/20: - 1.2 lbs
7/10/20: - 3 lbs
Total Loss: - 4.2 lbs

1) Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Yes
2) Follow the 50/50 plate method; Choose fruit for desert. Yes
3) Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. Yes
4) Eliminate all animal foods 6/7 days
5) Eliminate all higher fat plant foods. 4/7 days had some nuts
6) Eliminate any added oil. Yes
7) Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. Yes
8 ) Don’t drink your calories. 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. Yes

[JaydaMax]

CW 208.4
SW 205.6
+2.8 lbs

I have no excuses. I only followed the 10 Guidelines about 50%. Yesterday I had so much added salt and CRAP food. It wasn't the first time this week that I was off plan. The 1 place I believe I excelled was exercise, I ran 4 miles everyday and walked my dogs 2x a day for about 2 hours of exercise a day. It's the food.

I am committing myself to this new week. When my daughter was a teen I used to tell her we have a choice everyday when we wake up, we get to decide who we are, what kind of person we want to be, so make good choices. I need to take my own advice and stop letting my emotions and things beyond my control push into overeating and eating off plan.

[VNiehoff]

Weight loss this week: -2.2 lbs
Total lost: 2.4 lbs.
I find I am not as hungry in the mornings so I am eating my first meal about 10 amor later. I still miss bread. Making veggies one meal and turning the leftovers into soup. Exercising 30 minutes a day besides the other things I usually do. It’s been hot so I really want a beer. Drinking iced herb tea.

[BarbaraLynn]

Good morning!

This week's update is:

Weight loss: -1.8 lbs

There are only two areas in which I am not completely compliant.

1. Salt - I did MUCH better this week having given my son my hot sauce and pickled pepper collection. I am still using a few sauces that are too high in salt, but have mostly made and used compliant gravy recipes this week. (Found on this site, btw.)
2. Exercise - I did begin to move a bit this week, but felt some real tightness in my hips and back, so in an effort to keep moving forward with my healing, I am taking this one slowly. Progress is being made though.

The other areas just seem so much more routine. I've been in a good groove since May and don't even really think about the other areas. This way of eating does become habit as long as I stay away from sugar. Living alone helps with compliance for sure and I've been having my groceries delivered so I'm not tempted to impulse buy at the store. All in all, it was a great week.

Wishing everyone an easily compliant week!

[Amberlina]

Weight change +/- in lbs - (-1)

Points from the MWL Checklist where I succeeded this week- I added in exercise, followed the eating principles really well this week

Points from the MWL Checklist that need greater attention- point 7 will always be continuous improvement. I still have had a small amount of bread/dry cereal .

General impressions & observations / resources to share / sources of excitement / requests for input & support- I also want to focus on calorie density and get more nutrient meals in. Looking at trying the SNAP template. Making a grocery list today and going a little deeper in this week. I live off grid so my fridge is small(solar powered). I cant meal prep and I have to use a lot of pantry/canned goods. I think upping the canned greens and nutrient density will really help me this week.Im thinking more soup!
I feel great doing this again! I am going to lose the 10 pounds I originally lost before the pandemic and then I will continue to lose the rest.(around 30 pounds total).

[GreenFroG]

Hello everyone,

weight change -1 pound

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. Had a take out steamed veggie bowl with teriyaki sauce which probably had sugar and salt
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. Teriyaki sauce had 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).

Succeeded in: 1, 4, 5, 7
Need greater attention: 2 and 10
General impressions: Felt good about the week with the Fourth of July celebrations over the weekend! Kept on plan pretty much except for eating out once. I read a lot of posts before the Fourth to help me keep motivated. Thank you Mark, Jeff and Wildgoose for all the work you do! It does help to keep reviewing the guidelines and posts to focus on the goal. I want to work on filling my plate with the 50/50 plate method, making sure I have enough of each. Also to avoid being sedentary after I walk in the mornings. I will try to move more throughout the day and incorporate some stretching at night. The work continues

[rlechols]

Hi everyone!

Last week: 149 lbs
This week: 147 lbs
Loss of 2.0 lbs
Total loss since Jan 2019: 74 lbs

I am back home this week from my trip to Utah (last 2 weeks). I was pleasantly surprised to find I lost 2 pounds while I was away. This is really significant for me because I have only been losing 2-3 lbs per month lately, as I am technically not overweight any more and approaching an equilibrium. I have now lost 74 lbs total, 24 of those in 2020 after joining this group in January.

I did very well while away from home. We did eat out a bit, but I quite often brought my own food to combine with whatever was compliant and available at the restaurant. At my mother-in-law's house I used the Instant Pot to make steel cut oats, steamed broccoli or summer squash, sweet potatoes, etc, and ate a lot of salad and some fresh fruit. There were a lot of family gatherings and I navigated all of those fine. My MIL was uncharacteristically cooperative with me NOT eating what she fixed. I continued my daily walks, but most of them were 2.5-3.5 miles instead of the 4 miles I do at home. I also was able to not miss one day of strength training while away, thanks to having a simple routine that only requires 1 pair of free weights and a chair. I borrowed the weights from a friend while I was there.

Once again, I am so thankful for the MWL plan and the ability to travel and keep on track. That has always been a stumbling block for me in the past. I am amazed that I am at a weight I haven't been at since I was in my 20's (I'm 47) and that it is EASY. I don't feel deprived or wondering how long I can "keep this up."

Just as an encouragement to the newbies, I keep a calendar where I track the days I do my workouts (walking plus strength training) and the days I feel confident that I followed the MWL guidelines. Since we are more than half way through the year, I decided it would be good to go back and tally the days I accomplished those goals. From Jan 1-Jun 30 (6 months), there were 182 days. I felt I hit all the MWL eating guidelines 144 of those days, and the other days my "off plan" foods were minimal, usually "a taste" of a date or sometimes whole wheat bread. As for strength training, my goal is to do it 5 days a week, and I have not missed ONE DAY since Jan 1. With walking, my goal is 5-6 days a week, and I have taken a purposeful walk 2-4+ miles 148 out of 182 days this year. So my message is, CONSISTENCY WORKS!! When you don't accomplish what you set out to do, learn how to do better next time and keep trying. Don't give up! Also, tracking your progress over a period of time can really show you how far you have come, and is very encouraging.

I hope everyone has a great upcoming week!

[chaz01]

Weight Change
Week: -2.0 lbs
July: -2.0 lbs
Year: -72.4 lbs

Mark, I know you must be swamped trying to keep up with all the new activity, so I'll keep it short this week. No issues or concerns following the guidelines and progress seems to be going well. Hope everyone has a great week!

Stay safe,

Chuck

[AmandaL]

+.5
Succeeded in 50% non starchy vegetables
Overate fruit
Need to track to keep Accountable

[Merwoman]

Hi,
SW, 7/3/20- #179.6
CW, 7/10/20- #179.2, (-.4)
GW- #115
Height- 5'2"
Age- 63

I have to work on the checklist still.

I had no animal products or added oil.

I have to work on:
Exercise
Avoiding alcohol & air popped corn
Starting meals with fruit, salad or soup

[OrangeBird]

SW-240
CW-233.2

Loss -6.8 pounds...probably. My initial weight in was on my daughter's scale as I was at her house dog sitting...so might be different than my scale. Should be consistent going forward.

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Yes except when having only a salad
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. See #1 above
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, including plant based creamer for coffee
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. 99%...I had 1 small bite of garlic bread
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). Have struggled with activity this week. On my list for this week