April 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[kakapo_chick]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -2.2 (1 Kg)

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. N.
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. Y
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.Y
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).Y
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).90% - tofu once last week
6. Eliminate any added oil.Y
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.Y
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).Y
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. Y
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).70%

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Kia Ora. First time posting and so pleased to be doing my first check in. Have been doing WFPB for about 10 weeks and have lost about 15 lbs in that time. The more I learn, the more I'm drawn towards this WOE to lose weight and am mindful of and working on improving areas above.and applying simplicity and satiety etc. Looking forward to the arrival of the SS book from overseas (but who knows when that will get here to NZ). In the meantime, listening to lectures and podcasts etc online. Kia Kaha everyone (Stay Strong)

[Mark Cooper]

PonysPlants - Awesome! "In the groove" is where we want to be, Naomi! Although it would always be nice to have the scale reading be more responsive to our efforts, you are definitely scoring high marks on the most important metric: adherence. Excellent work rising to overcome the anticipated challenges of dining out, and maintaining an environment that supports your goals.

RebeccaF - You did, indeed, find the right place! Today is a great day to get started practicing the behaviors recommended by the MWL 10-Point Checklist.

trishe - TODAY is always the best day to get started! Are you planning any particular dishes for the week ahead?

bunsofaluminum - Woo-hoo! What results! I'm delighted to hear you are feeling so well, and I think your efforts and progress serve as a fabulous "proof of concept" for you husband. It makes sense to me to remove those mints from your environment if you are finding them difficult to resist; the more often YESish can become YES, the better to support further progress.

vicmor104 - Welcome! I'm happy you found this group, too. The behaviors recommended by the MWL 10-Point Checklist will put you on the path to the results you seek. Great work starting off the day right, with veggie soup and potatoes!

PotatoHead1980 - Starting the month strong, Chris, with solid adherence and a big drop! SNAP meals are the best, right? Being comfortable eating this way indefinitely really circumvents a whole host of challenges that can arise from occasional (or frequent ) "exceptions", and I think loving the food is an important piece of the puzzle. Carry on!

Rebecka22 - Woot! You SHOULD feel proud of yourself; getting right back on track is no mean feat!

I am working on using exercise and healthy choices to get me through.

That is fantastic - reading that put a big grin on my face! Keep saying YES to the right choices.

anne57 - Great progress! I think it is really delightful that your husband decided to join in on your walks; I'm sure having a partner for that activity makes it easier to maintain, and more fun, too. I think it does make sense to adjust the preload to allow for enough starch to offer satisfactory satiety. Torula Yeast is ~1475 calories/lb, so quite calorie dense; if one were to choose to use it, it should be used very sparingly - I would limit consumption to less than 2 Tbsp in a given day (as with sugar). Congratulations on making such rapid progress toward your initial goal! The links below should help you determine what sort of overall outcomes might be reasonable to pursue.

Optimum BMI

The range we recommend is 18.5 to about 22. However, realize this is a general range. Often, when people see the range, they assume 18.5 is the best, which is not true, and then go crazy trying to get there. Several studies have shown that 22/23 is best. We don't know for sure but it seems fairly clear that the bottom half of the healthy range (18.5 to 22) is probably best for most. I cover these issues in the following threads which I recommend you review.

Optimal BMI - Redux

Difference in food choices and BMI

Should we all try to get to 22 BMI?

Should we all try to get to 22 BMI Pt 2

Personally, I generally just focus on maintaining the recommended pattern of behavior from day to day, and let the scale settle where it likes (with the caveat to be mindful not to become underweight). As Jeff has said, the Plate Test is the best test.

But what is more important and what I feel to be the most important test, is what I call the "plate test." Very few people know about it yet it is one of the most effective tests and simple and easy to do and very inexpensive. You can even do it at home.

Here is how you do it.

When you sit down to eat each meal, look at your "plate" and see if it passes this "test", the "Plate Test."

Are at least 95% of the calories on your plate coming from unrefined unprocessed fruits, vegetables, starchy vegetables, intact whole grains and/or legumes? Are there at least 12-15 grams of fiber coming from whole natural foods? Does it meet my guidelines for sodium? Are any "exceptions" being kept to less than 5% of calories?

If your meal passes this "Plate Test", then I think that is the most effective test you can ever have done and the best indicator of your future health and longevity.

squealcat - Down 2.3 pounds this week, over 20 since October, and approaching a BMI milestone! Your sustained, thoughtful efforts are certainly bearing fruit, Marilyn. I think you are wise to take your unease about the Easter ham seriously, and plan accordingly to avoid falling back into past patterns of behavior. Having adherent foods that you really enjoy on hand and ready to go seems like a great way to manage that. Enjoy that family visit with your loved ones!

It took me quite a while to figure out how to make this part of my life and I continue to tweak it as I go along. I want to encourage others not to quit when discouraged or side-tracked. You can find a way to make this work in your life.....just keep looking around and trying .

Thank you for sharing this. I think you express a very important sentiment; learning to problem solve, persevere and adjust to challenges and obstacles is the "secret" to success. Making this way of life work is not easy, but as long as we keep learning, growing, and trying, how can we fail? Cheers for a "ham free" Sunday!

texaslil - Nice progress, Laila; you deserve to feel good about that! I imagine enjoying your daily exercise activities is a great boon for maintaining that behavior. Hooray for taking the time to PLAN how to make your Easter celebration a success with respect to your goals! You are so right that social gatherings can be very challenging, and adequate planning and preparation is a great way to overcome that. Have a great week!

krebolledo - Hello and welcome! I look forward to your report tomorrow.

HoustonJason - Down a pound this week, and 43 this year! Woot! Keep chipping away at those opportunities for closer adherence where and when you see the possibility. Staying on track from day to day is what it is all about. Those spiralized sweet potatoes sound delicious!

SatyaPrem - Consider yourself counted! The SNAP template is the best; I don't know what I would do without it. Have an excellent DAY ONE!

GreenFroG - All thumbs-up always makes me smile! Excellent work scrutinizing those potential "exceptions" and taking action to reinforce your progress. How wonderful that your habits have "rubbed off" on your husband. Like you, I have to take a pass on those reduced balsamics, as I find them very easy to overconsume. Great goal for the holiday ahead and week to follow. As Jeff wrote, in relation to Thanksgiving,

The holidays are times to focus on family and friends—not just food. Catching up and sharing laughs with loved ones will allow you to feel the spirit of the holidays more than a second helping of pie.

So, during this upcoming holiday season of thanksgiving and celebration, let's not forget to take a moment and reflect, celebrate, and give thanks for those things that are truly the most important and of the most value to us... our lives, our health, our friends, and our families.

Rachael - Saying YES to all the recommended behaviors, and goodbye to 2.6 more pounds! Feeling fantastic is the very best reward! Super victory abstaining from those donuts, and especially not bringing them home to taunt you, definitely worthy of pride. Your diligence, vigilance and intentional actions are undoubtedly contributing to your success; I could not agree more about the importance of maintaining an environment that works to support our efforts. Let us know how things develop with your exercise regimen; it makes sense to me that particularly vigorous workouts could contribute to increased hunger, and further necessitate keeping adherent food prepped, ready and easily accessible throughout the day.

kakapo_chick - Congratulations on all the progress you have made already! That looks like a very adherent week for your inaugural report! Well done. Keep striving to improve where the opportunity is present and stay strong!

[cmcavazos]

Weight change +/- in lbs: - .2# loss

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. - NO
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. -- 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
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

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
Victories: I avoided Easter candy treats at work.
Comments: I'm ready for spring! It's already April!
Questions: None this week.

[birdy birdy]

Weight change +/- in lbs: no change -0.0

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.n
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.y
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.y
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).y
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).y
6. Eliminate any added oil.y
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.n
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).y
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.y
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).y

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:The planning for the upcoming wedding is taking all my effort, which is cutting into my food prep time. I'm trying to keep it simple, but even so . . . I'm going to take a month off from posting until after the wedding. Will I need to do something special to rejoin the group after May 1st? Thanks for all your encouragement. I hope everyone has a lovely April and has great success this month!

[josietheschnauzer]

Weight change in lbs: No change
1. Start each meal with soup/salad/fruit: Yes
2. Follow 50/50 plate method for meals: Yes
3. Reduce or eliminate added sugars and salts: No
4. No animal foods: Yes
5. No higher fat plant foods (nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy):Yes
6. No added oil: No
7. No higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit: Bad, bad, sugar and bad vegan sweets
8. Don't drink calories: Yes
9. Follow principles, eat when hungry & until comfortably full. Don't starve and don't stuff: Emotional eating
10. Avoid being sedentary. Exercise at least 30 minutes daily: Slipping a little!
Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Well, plenty of room for improvement in April. March was not one of my finest! Nevertheless, MWL is the best that has happened to me. April marks my one year anniversary. I have been able to maintain my regular McDougall loss and lose an additional 30 pounds with MWL. As I like to say.....I am starting my life over right now.....thank you, Mark, Jeff, and Wild Goose for your support and encouragement. Elsa.

[Cliv]

Weight change +/- in lbs:  +4lbs from 146.8

DIDN’T DO WELL WITH EATING THIS WEEK. I HAD RUN OUT OF MY PREP FOOD. I’M NOW BACK ON BOARD WITH PREPARED FOOD.

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Half time
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.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Yes, except for almond milk in coffee and oatmeal
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). 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). Walking and gardening

[chef16]

03/27/2021 225#
04/03/2021 224#
lose of -1#

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 50%
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.75%
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.100%
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).100%
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).85%
6. Eliminate any added oil.100%
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.95%
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.100%
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).50%

Back again for April! I also lost another pound! I went to the doctor this week for my annual check up. I am not a fan of doctors and this one is as good as the next. He always blames everything on my weight ,even colds and flu. His solution is for me to have bariatric surgery. He has even offered me diet pills. Neither of which appealed to me. ( not going to happen!) He was surprised at my numbers and my weight lose. He did not take me off any of the drugs he has me on though, which are few .Because I am very difficult! You can ask him he will tell you. He ask me what I was doing and I told him . I almost rolled off the table when the first words out of his mouth were: Were do you get your protein? My numbers have never been really horrible (at least I never had that impression) I would expect them to be a lot worse as big as I am. Anyway the only numbers he imparted to me were : By his records I have lost 64# , My cholesterol was133 and now it is 123. My triglycerides were 131 and they are 122 now. My A1c was 5.9% and it is now 5.2%. I am not sure about my blood pressure other than it was 128/63 which is down a lot from last time. He said it was the best blood work I have had in the last 10 years. The only spot on my blood work is my vitamin D levels , they are very low. I just thought you might like to know and maybe have some thoughts . He seems happy and it is the first time he has not tried to pressure me into something drastic! We ended with a keep it up and I will see you next year! We have that kind of relationship.

[CindyD]

March 27, 2020 140.8
April 3, 2021 141.5
RESULT +0.7

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. 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
6. Eliminate any added oil. NO
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products 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. YES
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).YES

Well. Lots of family and work stress recently, so not super strict about the diet. I also ran out of potatoes - I think this was the first time since I started last July! and I had two TJ's vegan frozen meals (they have some oil). Not the end of the world. Geez I can't believe it's April!

[Gimmelean]

Weight change +/- in lbs: +.04
3/26/2021. 128.6
4/02/2021. 129


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). 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. 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). Mostly

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. Mostly

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. Getting much better with this point.

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

Victories, comments, concerns,questions.

I’ve concluded that MWL is the best way of eating for me for a lifetime. Practice makes permanent. Having the MWL guidelines as a paradigm in my head after practicing over and over makes this way of eating the best next thing to perfect. (One of my biggest hurdles). I’m stressing much less than before with managing my weight and food choices even though I’ve crept up a bit on the scale. ( I’ll take this feeling as long as it lasts). The biggest positive difference this week is that I don’t feel out of control. Next week I hope to be contributing to the “loss” side of the group chart. Thank you and looking forward to April 2021.

[JaBee]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -.8

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 5/7
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. 7/7
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. 2/7
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).7/7
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).7/7
6. Eliminate any added oil.7/7
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.7/7
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).7/7
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
5/7
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).5/7


Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Still craving salt

[Noella]

Hi Mark, Wildgoose, Jeff, and all MWL participants,

Weight Change: down - 1 pound

1. Yes, I started my meals with soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
2. Yes, I followed the 50/50 plate method for my meals, filling half my plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and the other half with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
3. Yes, I greatly reduced added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too.
4. Yes, I eliminated all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. Yes, I eliminated all higher-fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. Yes, I eliminated added oil. ( except one retirement celebration meal described below )
8. Yes, I do not drink any calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
9. Yes, I followed the MWL principles, eating whenever hungry until comfortably full. I didn’t ever starve or stuff.
10. Yes, I got the minimum 30 minutes of exercise each day.

CLARITY: That’s what I am getting from belonging to this discussion group! Let me describe my experience this week:

My husband retired last week on Wednesday March 31, 2021. After a long career he took the plunge into retirement. It’s pretty exciting! We celebrated by going skiing and staying at a luxurious mountain resort. It wasn’t all about the exercise, the fragrance of an alpine forest in spring and enjoying the dazzling sunshine sparkling on the white snow, though. One retirement celebration dinner brought me the clarity to see that addiction to salt, oil, sugar, alcohol and excess food intake is real and it really does rob us of our health and joy. It’s more like a thief that steals our good health and happiness. What did I discover last Wednesday?
-Food really does taste better without all of the oil, salt and sugar.
-Romance really is better without all of the chocolate and wine.
-Relationships and conversation are really better without the brain fogging, foolishness and sleepiness brought on by drinking alcohol.

Each time I stray from the principles and guidelines of MWL, usually for social reasons, I discover just how lousy and life-stealing our diet and lifestyle was prior to MWL. Each time I stray from the MWL path I re-discover the fact that I don’t want the heavy, oily, salty, sweet foods anymore. I am absolutely not interested in those foods anymore. The flavour of oil, salt and sugar don’t taste good to me anymore. Food drenched in olive oil and/or salt and/or sugar seems unappetizing, the oils, sugar and salt ruins the natural fresh flavours in these foods, really. Pre-MWL, while I was never one to consciously drink wine with the goal of getting tipsy, it did happen occasionally and when it did happen by mistake I didn't like that feeling of being slightly intoxicated. Now after a year of following MWL even a sip of wine and I immediately feel its unhealthy effects. I so much more aware of what I eat and drink. I not only don’t like the taste now but I don’t want to engage in social drinking as part of my lifestyle anymore. It has taken a year of following MWL for my taste preferences in food and beverages to not just change, but to change beyond belief. I need to pinch myself to know it’s true.

Seeing (watching) my husband enter into ‘celebration mode’ for his retirement celebration, briefly liberated from our healthy plant based home cooking to enjoy a restaurant meal and drink with abandon was interesting to witness. I was able to see, clearly, how we used to eat all the time when we went out to celebrate and how excessive restaurant celebration meals truly are. As I watched my husband enjoy his retirement celebration last Wednesday I could see how happy he was to to freely eat a restaurant meal for the first time in months. He was also pleased to drink some beer while relaxing in the hot tub before dinner, too! He would only retire once, right!!? But then, modestly inebriated from the beer, he became a bit like a child in a candy store while eating his dinner to excess. I could clearly see the truly addictive rich qualities of the salt, oil and sugar in the restaurant food and alcoholic beverages engulfing him, and more he ate and drank the more obvious it became. I witnessed the way he ate his food more quickly than at home; he devoured a larger quantity of food and wine, too. I had only a tiny sip of wine so he ended up basically drinking an entire bottle on his own. The idea that we were celebrating an important life milestone had liberated him to indulge himself in food and drink and so he did, and yes, he overindulged. As I watched it happen my observations brought me extra clear vision and the excess amount of everything we used to eat is obvious. A year ago, this was just how I lived. We ate and drank rich foods and beverages with abandon. CLARITY! I can clearly see the light of how our own choices had led us down a destructive path. I now have the clarity to see that the MWL path is the exact opposite and that this new way of living is steadily giving me my life back.

Thank you, Mark, Jeff and Wildgoose for your wonderful support! Thank you to all of the participants, too. All of your thought provoking suggestions, comments, and answers to questions sustain my commitment and determination to follow the MWL lifestyle. Thank you!

Ten pounds to go!!
Best regards,
Noella

[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]

cmcavazos - Cheers for avoiding the Easter candy, Christine! I'm SO ready for spring, too; the weather has been teasing me with a couple warm, sunny days followed by freezing temps with lots of wind. Onward!

birdy birdy - 8/10 for this week! I can imagine the substantial demands wedding preparation is placing on your attention and focus. Do the best you can, keep things simple, treat yourself with compassion and consideration, and enjoy this exciting time with your loved ones. You can just post when you are ready to reengage with the group. See you then!

josietheschnauzer - Happy MWLiversary! Are there any specific factors contributing to those sugary, calorie rich sweets worming their way into your menu? Is it possible to get them out of your environment? You have accomplished a lot over the past year, Elsa, and you know what to do to make April a month filled with success. Here's to living our best lives!

Cliv - Kudos for climbing back on board! As you observed, having an adequate supply of prepared, adherent foods on hand greatly contributes to the ease of adherence. Jeff's "conveyor belt" system is one simple, easy and inexpensive way to solve that particular problem. Keep at it!

chef16 - Yet another pound gone, and you seem to have made some lasting progress toward the recommended behaviors! Congratulations on the improvement in your biomarkers, and the positive feedback from your doctor. That old protein canard never seems to go away, does it? Dr. McDougall addressed it specifically in one of his "McDougall's Moments." Regarding Vitamin D, Dr. McDougall has written several articles on that topic; this newsletter from 2011 offers a solid overview. Jeff has collected several threads discussing Vitamin D here, and he addresses the issue comprehensively in this post. Continue making steady progress, and I'm sure you'll have more opportunities to pleasantly surprise your doctor in the future.

CindyD - During a week replete with stress and social pressure, you still stuck to 8 of the 10 recommended behaviors! Running out of potatoes would definitely be a dire emergency in my house! Keep aiming to act in accordance with your important goals.

Gimmelean - Cheers to you from a fellow member of the "MWL for Life" club! Consistent, thoughtful practice does indeed lead toward permanency. Not feeling out of control seems like a very positive development; I'm sure that is a very welcome and comforting state to inhabit. Always onward!

JaBee - The scale is moving in the right direction! Don't sell yourself short, your self-assessment illustrates the great progress you have made in adhering to the recommendations. Do you feel like you are consuming an excess amount of added salt? Keep in mind, a sprinkle on the surface of your food at the table is acceptable within the guidelines.

- Salt, Sugar
We are not a S-S free program. We only ask you to reduce the amount to a true condiment, and to just sprinkle it on your food at the table. You don't have to eliminate them if they are not a problem for you. Understand that for many people, the real issue is not sugar (or salt) per see, but how they are consumed and with what company. Most sugar is consumed as liquid calories (sugar sweetened beverages, sports and energy drinks) or as part of ultra processed highly palatable food (donuts, cupcakes, brownies, etc). Same with salt. Most all the salt we consume is in the form of ultra processed foods.
Most people find that when the eliminate the sugar filled liquid calories and the ultra processed foods that are high in sugar, salt and are also high in fat and calorie density, they can use salt and/or sugar as a condiment without a problem.

Is some added salt helping you to enjoy the food, and better adhere to the recommended behaviors? Or is it contributing to further troubling cravings? Certainly dealing with powerful cravings is no fun. Jeff addresses the primary sources of excess sodium in this post, as well as offering some general analysis.

Whole natural foods straight from the garden will provide around 300-500 mgs of sodium per day. The IOM recommended amounts are 1200-1500. The Upper Limit is 2300. So, this leaves you a little lee-way of around 700-1000 to still be within the recommended amounts and up to 1800 mgs to be under the upper limit. With no added salt coming from anywhere else, this leaves most people the ability to add around 1/2 to 3/4 tsp a day without increasing their risks.

Noella - Down a pound! Congratulations to you and your husband on his retirement, and thank you for sharing those insightful and powerful observations from the past week. I think you are right that CLARITY in regard to how our choices and patterns of behavior affect and direct the path of our health and wellbeing is something that often accompanies significant time and effort devoted to MWL. There is a clear line of connection between our prevailing pattern of behavior over time, and the outcomes we experience. Like you, feeling in control of myself with agency over my behavior is a state of being I greatly value. I can't imagine that being healthy, happy and energetic ever truly makes a situation less fun, right? Keep saying YES to your new way of living!

[connielovesdogs]

I've been away from the forum since November and have re-reviewed the guidelines for MWL. I've kept fairly steady over the past 5ish months, but would like to do better than steady. My starting weight is 169.4 and I'll post next Friday with progress!! Great to be back. Best wishes and effort to everyone engaging in helping ourselves be successful!!

[Mark Cooper]

I've been away from the forum since November and have re-reviewed the guidelines for MWL. I've kept fairly steady over the past 5ish months, but would like to do better than steady. My starting weight is 169.4 and I'll post next Friday with progress!! Great to be back. Best wishes and effort to everyone engaging in helping ourselves be successful!!

Glad you are back! See you next Friday!