cmcavazos2 - Still heading in the right direction, Christine! Travelling nearly always presents a challenge, and it sounds like you feel quite good about your effort while away.
Just think, if you're ultimately able to master
Dining Out in an adherent fashion, that's another big obstacle you can vanquish for good.
George Ohwell - Hang in there! It seems to me you did a pretty good job adhering to the guidelines during a week with some substantial excitement and anxiety (apart from the seeds). If you felt like the social context for the week led to stuffing yourself on adherent foods, of course that is worth attending to, but it doesn't seem like you are likely to consistently and systematically overeat on these adherent foods, right? What we are aiming for is healthy, durable weight loss over time, which is why I encourage participants to focus on the pattern of behavior, and not overvalue a specific weigh-in result from a given week. The behaviors are where the leverage is, and they will deliver results, given sufficient time. Something I personally find helpful, when it seems like I'm eating past the point of satiety, is to take a moment to SLOW things down. For me, that can mean being mindful to eat more slowly and chew my food, or take a break before dishing up an extra serving (e.g., going for a walk or doing some chores). I would implore you not to consider counting calories, Jeff explains the folly of doing so in
How to Successfully Count Calories! From my perspective, it is not only ineffective, but can be actively counterproductive to our goals. Trust the process, focus on the fundamental principles, and be patient. You will get there with time.
Noella - Don't despair! Falling into the Pleasure Trap is never fun, but you know exactly the pattern of behavior that will lead you back out again; it just takes adherence + time. That number on the scale, which I'm sure felt shocking, can be erased in due course. What is most important is to get directly back on track, and preserve
the many quality of life improvements you've worked so hard to attain. Do you feel like there was some specific development or change in your day to day context, environment or preparation that opened the door for the detour into non adherent food? If so, tackling that obstacle should help. Make it as easy as you can for yourself to reach for the recommended foods whenever you feel hungry, and block your access to anything troublesome, as best you can. I know you can do it; after all, you've done it before, right?
carwex - Kudos to you for not letting isolation and lockdown lead to being sedentary!
carwex wrote:I find that if I keep close the 10 principles, the weight takes care of itself.
I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight this point; this is exactly how the behavioral approach to weight loss is supposed to work.
Keep working to eliminate the remaining exceptions, aiming for improvement from day to day and week to week. In examining and assessing those condiments, Jeff's
Rules & Guidelines for Reading Labels are invaluable. There can be all sorts of "hidden" junk, even in condiments, and his handout will help you cut through any confusion. Have a great week, Carol!
Zoey - YUP, consistent losses for sure and cheers for your dedication and feeling "comfortable"! You are doing everything right - no need for a "magic scale" (although it would be nice, right?
) Onward!
Gimmelean - Nice loss and congratulations on all you have attained! I feel like a thoughtful focus on attending to our behavior gives us great power over our situations; as you say, it is never easy, but it IS simple.
(It does get easier with time and practice, too).
Stick to the principles as closely as you are able, and you can be confident you are on solid ground.
texaslil - I know from experience a pulled hamstring is no fun; I wish you a smooth recovery, Laila. Staying on track while travelling is among the most commonly recurring challenges participants bring up, and planning and preparation can be essential to success. Might be worthwhile to review Jeff's recommendations for
Dining Out (particularly
these links with some things to watch for in vegan / wfpb restaurants) and
Travel Food. Give yourself an awesome birthday present by focusing on the behaviors that will secure your goals.
Best of luck!
chef16 - I'm so glad your sister is home and doing well; great news! Exigent circumstances can always arise and throw obstacles in our path, right? You seem to be maintaining where you are with your current pattern of behavior, so the question becomes: What else do you want to achieve, and to what extent are you willing and able to move toward closer adherence by changing your behaviors in service of achieving that? It might be worthwhile to assess what your goals are, and what feels most important for you right now. Clearly you have some recognizable and known hurdles on the horizon, so it becomes a matter of taking the time to plan how to circumvent those challenges, and investing the effort to do so. Only you can answer those questions for yourself.
VegSeekingFit - Awesome progress and real victories!
You are doing well, Stephanie; keeping a special eye out for where "hidden" sugar / salt might be creeping in makes sense.
JeffN wrote:In regard to added salt and added sugar, we recommend buying and preparing food without either and if any are to be used, to add them at the table on the surface of the food. If either one is troublesome and create uncontrollable cravings for you, then leave them out.
It is fun to watch those ratios of adherence climb upward, right? Your focus for the week to come seems solid to me; carry on!
JaBee - Ugh! Loosing electricity is the pits! Kudos to you for holding yourself accountable and reporting your self-assessment. Getting back on track in the wake of a setback is what is most important; now you can focus on making consistent adherence readily attainable from meal to meal.
Fingers crossed for no more storms!
Drew*# - Further progress in the right direction! I like how you have paired an area where there is opportunity for better adherence with some actions to take in service of that.
So it is just a matter of putting those plans into effect, yes? Reach for the recommended foods when you are hungry, and crowd out the remaining "trouble spots."
) Jeff covers the sad state of the "quality" of restaurant meals, offers simple, basic principles for how to successfully dine out, covers some of the problems that can arise with vegan and wfpb restaurants, links to important studies, and even shares a suggested 
