September 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[wildgoose]

Hi Mark,
On Friday I felt brave and I was okay with seeing a weight gain on my scale. I was all about being positive and doing every MWL behaviour without worry but now, this morning, I am feeling not only worried, I feel overwhelmed and frantic...What if I won’t shed any more weight? Even worse, what if this reading on the scale is a true regain of the weight I lost in the previous months? Maybe my scale is faulty? Maybe it needs new batteries?
My experience over the eight months of following the McDougall plan and MWL has been to either drop in weight or maintain weight. I’ve never gained before. I’ve been feeling so confident about MWL. This is the first time my weight has gone up. And 5.5 pounds is a dramatic gain. I know you will tell me to keep up all of the behaviours. I will...
I would also like to buy a new scale, just in case, so what brand/type do you recommend?
Noella

Noella, I know you addressed this to Mark, and I see he just now responded, but let me assure you, your gain is not unusual. Good grief, you were traveling and eating out the week before last! Restaurants use salt. A lot of it. That in itself can put five pounds of water weight on you. Plus they use oil. In everything. Even when you ask for no oil, it’s on the pans, on the grills, on everything. They hear "no oil" and interpret it as "less oil." Sure, there are exceptions, but you have to expect to do some compromising if you’re traveling, unless you’re cooking all your own meals. If you’ve been rigorously following MWL, those compromises will lead to some weight gain, but it’s not permanent.

You can change the batteries in your scale if you want. But before you go out and get a new scale, how about trying 2 weeks of good solid adherence to the MWL principles and see if your weight starts going in the right direction again. If so, problem solved and life is good. If not, we can evaluate and see what might be going on.

It’s easy to panic. Five pounds seems like a huge gain, but believe me, you don’t gain 5 pounds of fat in 2 weeks unless you’ve been eating the worst kind of diet, nonstop. Which you haven’t been.

This is going to be OK. Hang in there, and keep going.

Goose

[Expat in NZ]

VivianS to Expat in NZ,
Try using a tape measure every morning and evening to measure your waistline. When you note or graph your results, you will be sure of your progress. It will encourage you just as much as seeing a number on a scale.
If you don't have a tape measure, make marks on a ribbon or a nonstretchy cloth or belt. It will encourage you just as much. You can even mark the results on a board or the door frame with the date, just like you measure the height of your children and mark the date. Pencil marks are easily removed or painted over. Do it in your closet so the marks won't bother anyone else.
If your children are noticing that you are "disappearing" (losing weight), be sure to tell them what you are doing so that they will be reassured that you are healthy. Growth and change is a part of life. Point out their own changes as they out grow clothes and it will comfort them about the changes in your body.
Congratulations on your success so far! I am proud of you. I liked your suggestion about slowing down and being prepared so you can do it. You are a kind and thoughtful person.
Sincerely,
VivianS

Thanks Vivian! I actually do measure myself once per month and have been tracking my weight loss this way as well. My husband is much more "techy" and graphs his using Excel. He was dubious about MWL in the beginning, but now he swears potatoes are magic.

My kids haven't commented too much on the changes in my appearance, but my husband has noticed that I look smaller and my clothes are fitting much more loosely. They do say "whoa mommy that's a lot of veggies!!" and giggle when I eat my pile of veggies first, usually a couple pounds worth at a time haha. My kids followed suit and now eat their veggies first at dinner. I will say that since we went whole food plant based oil free as a family (my kids still get a little oil via vegan cheese on a pizza now and then etc), the kids have hit a growth spurt and a half. It could be pure coincidence but they are really thriving and it's amazing to see. My daughter will be 5 in December but she is wearing 6/7 clothes! She was always on the petite side but now she is filling in and looks amazingly healthy, my son too. I was given a complex about food at a young age so I am extremely cautious to not give my kids one too. They notice EVERYTHING! haha

Thank you for your fabulous suggestions, your congratulations and for taking the time to write! I love that we all cheer each other on and build each other up. It's a very welcoming environment! Have a fantastic day and I look forward to seeing your progress next week!

[Drew*]

Hi, I missed Friday's weigh-in. My efforts are improving and I hope that I could join in this coming Friday. Oh, and I "discovered" the Dr. McDougall recipe app. It has a millet breakfast square recipe that might work well on a layered plate with non-starch veggies, peas or corn, and a SNAP meal. This could be filling and satisfy my starch cravings going forward...I will report back on Saturday if allowed to do the weigh-in. I am ready to get back on track!

Drew*

[Noella]

Thank you for your reassurance, Wild Goose. I appreciate your comments so much. What a relief to hear you say it will be okay.
Noella

Noella, I know you addressed this to Mark, and I see he just now responded, but let me assure you, your gain is not unusual. Good grief, you were traveling and eating out the week before last! Restaurants use salt. A lot of it. That in itself can put five pounds of water weight on you. Plus they use oil. In everything. Even when you ask for no oil, it’s on the pans, on the grills, on everything. They hear "no oil" and interpret it as "less oil." Sure, there are exceptions, but you have to expect to do some compromising if you’re traveling, unless you’re cooking all your own meals. If you’ve been rigorously following MWL, those compromises will lead to some weight gain, but it’s not permanent.

You can change the batteries in your scale if you want. But before you go out and get a new scale, how about trying 2 weeks of good solid adherence to the MWL principles and see if your weight starts going in the right direction again. If so, problem solved and life is good. If not, we can evaluate and see what might be going on.

It’s easy to panic. Five pounds seems like a huge gain, but believe me, you don’t gain 5 pounds of fat in 2 weeks unless you’ve been eating the worst kind of diet, nonstop. Which you haven’t been.

This is going to be OK. Hang in there, and keep going.
Goose

[Noella]

Thank you so much, Mark. I appreciate your guidance. You are absolutely right: I SO want to “keep building a lifestyle that best supports [my] health, wellbeing and personal goals in a safe, sustainable way.” I will follow your advice to “attend to my daily decisions, routines and pattern of behaviour.” Thank you for your very thoughtful and encouraging words. I feel stronger and more in control after reading and contemplating your suggestions this evening.
Noella

Noella - I think feeling some anxiety after the shock of that big change on the scale is a natural response. I know I definitely have a tendency to feel worried in situations where it feels like I don't have control, or a clear understanding of exactly what is happening. When I'm feeling this way, it seems especially important to refocus and direct my attention onto the things I can control; in regards to weight loss, that means concentrating on aligning my behaviors with the recommended pattern. Sometimes I also find it helpful to follow those frantic, overwhelming feeling questions toward surfacing their unspoken assumptions and implications. What if this reading on the scale accurately shows that you have regained weight that you previously lost? It seems pretty unlikely to me that you gained 5.5 pounds of fat in the span of one (or even two) weeks, but even if that is exactly what happened, you don't have a time machine, so all you can do is continue to work on following the MWL guidelines, and commence "re-losing" the weight. What if you don't shed any more weight? Again, if we take a look at your recent past history and experiences, that seems an unlikely scenario, if you follow the MWL 10-Point Checklist and adjust your behavior accordingly. But, let's say you don't ever lose another pound - if that were true, what would you do differently? Start eating a bunch of troublesome foods that promote inflammation, make you feel lousy, and ultimately lead to gaining more weight? Or keep building a lifestyle that best supports your health, wellbeing and personal goals in a safe, sustainable way? These setbacks happen, and unfortunately, we can't rewrite the past, but we absolutely can take positive action moving forward by attending to our daily decisions, routine, and pattern of behavior. If you feel able to, take some deep breaths, realize you know what to do, and you are going to be OK, and treat yourself with compassion.

Personally, I have one of those My Life Digital scales that ostensibly measures body fat %, as well. I don't put much stock in the accuracy of the specific body fat percentage it shows, but it does seem to be quite consistent, and accurate in relative terms; i.e. neither the body fat, nor weight reading jump around erratically across a series of reading a few minutes apart.

[Mark Cooper]

Hi, I missed Friday's weigh-in. My efforts are improving and I hope that I could join in this coming Friday. Oh, and I "discovered" the Dr. McDougall recipe app. It has a millet breakfast square recipe that might work well on a layered plate with non-starch veggies, peas or corn, and a SNAP meal. This could be filling and satisfy my starch cravings going forward...I will report back on Saturday if allowed to do the weigh-in. I am ready to get back on track!

Drew*

I'm glad to see you back! Coincidentally, we just had millet, peas, corn and broccoli for dinner a few days ago - delicious! My daughter is especially fond of millet; according to her, "because it is yellow." See you at the next weigh-in!

[Drew*]

I'm glad to see you back! Coincidentally, we just had millet, peas, corn and broccoli for dinner a few days ago - delicious! My daughter is especially fond of millet; according to her, "because it is yellow." See you at the next weigh-in!

Mark, It does sound good! I am liking the baked millet "breakfast" squares with fruit or veggies--they do look yellow! Thanks for the welcome. Will weigh-in Friday!

Drew*

[ChristinaElizabeth]

Hi

I am new and have reviewed all of the orientation materials. I would like to be added to the group. Thanks!

[Mark Cooper]

ChristinaElizabeth - Hi! Welcome to the group!

[frowsyowl]

Hi, I've read orientation and want to try again.

[Mark Cooper]

frowsyowl - Great! Glad you decided now was a good time to return to MWL.

[oneesotericgirl]

I've been MWL for 22 days and I wondered something...
I find myself not feeling hungry, mentally. Like less of a desire to eat sometimes. Disinterested in food. As an emotional eater I'm "enjoying" it in a way. But lately, my stomach will do that deep growl that feels like it's eating itself or my blood sugar will be low and I still have no desire to eat. I wonder if it's a lack of pleasure from eating what I'm allowed... Like I'm disinterested in the salad I brought for lunch, but maybe I'd be interested if it were a bag of potato chips, maybe not even then though. Not really having cravings for bad food currently. (Knock on wood )

So I was wondering if I should be forcing myself to eat when my body signals it's hungry even though I have no desire to eat? Or is it no big deal as long as it doesn't happen all day or every day and I make sure I'm not getting low BP?

[Mark Cooper]

oneesotericgirl - I can't offer any specific advice, in reference to individual medical conditions; if you have concerns regarding your blood sugar, perhaps that is something worth addressing with your physician.

Does your desire to eat return at some point during the day?

Speaking generally, eating should be in response to hunger and the urge to eat, so if one isn't hungry they needn't eat.

Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don’t starve yourself and don’t stuff yourself.

[Mark Cooper]

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's weigh-in and seeing everyone's reports! Friday is this group's weigh-in day, and participants have until noon pacific time (19:00 UTC) on Saturday to post a report of their result for the week. Reports posted outside that window of time won't be included in the summary that I compile for Saturday evening. This group is all about changing patterns of behavior, so it seems reasonable to me to expect those who choose to participate in the weekly weigh-in to honor that time frame for reporting. In addition to reporting your weight change in pounds, more importantly, please be sure to evaluate your behaviors within the context of the MWL 10-Point Checklist, if you please. I will respond to everyone's reports in a cumulative post on Friday evening and Saturday evening, and the summary for the week will be posted Saturday night.

For more information on why participants are recommended to weigh themselves once a week while in the weight loss phase, check out this excellent and thorough article from Jeff - To Weigh or Not to Weigh

My very best to all, and I'll see you tomorrow!

[Expat in NZ]

Happy NZ Friday


Aug 28 - 188.1lb
Sep 4 - 186.3lb
Sep 11 - 184.6 (-1.7lb)

I might actually start October under 180! That would be amazing

I did well on all the points except that I did have a slice of sourdough bread that my husband made. It was small and with nothing on it, of course, and I was pleased with myself that I was able to leave it at that. It wasn't that I didn't *want* to eat the rest of the loaf - I definitely did - but the voice in my head was quite clear and I listened I also had a cup of dairy free hot cocoa (it's very early spring here) with my kids last Saturday morning.


Mark - I have a couple of questions/insights for you (and anyone else who has noticed similar effects). Firstly - I find that my appetite has gone down quite a bit. I used to feel the need to snack between meals on raw carrots or an apple, but I find that I am barely hungry enough to eat all my veggies at dinnertime most nights now. I get through my veggies and have to either wait an hour or two to get hungry again and eat some potato or I wait and never do get hungry again, so all I will have eaten at dinner is a couple of pounds of steamed veggies. Obviously last night I compromised by having a bit less veggies so I could get some starch in, but it surprised me. I even thought maybe I was coming down with something at first, but I feel completely fine. Has anyone else had this happen? Mark, have you seen this happen very often?


My other question is - I seem to (visually) have just as much subcutaneous fat as when I began, but I am clearly losing fat and not muscle. With this way of eating - is it the visceral fat that goes first? Logically it would make sense because that's the most dangerous stuff...and I am sure the subcutaneous fat will get gone at some point, just an observation/pondering.


Can't wait to see how everyone did!