The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - February 2022 Group

For those wanting to learn about and follow the McDougall Maximum Weight Loss Program. You can also join our monthly weigh-ins.

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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - February 2022 Group

Postby BambiS » Fri Feb 25, 2022 6:17 am

2/25

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Yes, no issues here. I batch cook soup.

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, I did better with 50% green vegetables.
I still can’t wait till the farmer’s market opens!


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 no problem, I keep lots of herbs and spices on hand.

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes, I haven’t had any desire for these foods

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes, no desire for them

6. Eliminate any added oil.
Yes, not a problem


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, no problem this week

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Yes, no problem here.

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. Yes, I’m trying to be more mindful of this. Although one meal I probably ate too fast and felt like I overate later.


10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Yes
I met my daily steps goal.
I actually got out and took a sunny walk this week, as the weather improved. It was nice and will be glad to do it more often


Victories, comments, concerns, questions
Overall a good week, I bought a smaller pair of jeans.
I am not posting my weight loss weekly, although I did enjoy posting it. I will post occasional updates

We had a steakhouse gift card for ages. I just got baked potato , steamed broccoli. My lips were sliding after I ate it, they clearly coated the potato skin with some type of oil, ugh. I still had a loss this week.
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - February 2022 Group

Postby Rebecka22 » Fri Feb 25, 2022 9:13 am

1.Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. YES This continued to be a habit.
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 I stuck with my regular frozen veggies again this week.
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 No eating out or treats although it was tempting.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). YES I am committed to this one so it’s easier for me.
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). YES Tends to be easier as long as I eat at home.
6. Eliminate any added oil. YES Same as number 5.
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 Still tempting, but stayed away.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). YES I did okay saying no this week.
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. YES I did good here this week.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). YES I do well with this one.

Overall I feel good about the week and my progress. Thanks!
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - February 2022 Group

Postby carwex » Fri Feb 25, 2022 9:28 am

Dear Mark and all you courageous MWL followers,
I say courageous since this is not a program for the faint of heart. I had a great week, mainly because Mark's remarks last week gave me a jolt about where exactly I am in this program. After thinking about it for a while, my decision was to stick to the MWL even though I am at goal weight. When I start to add higher fat foods (#5) and bread (#7), I'm soon going down the slippery slope back to the Pleasure Trap. Then I was excited to join the off-topic group and that extra support was just what I needed. Imagine my chagrin when I got the notice that it will be closed. But you can read my reaction (a rant really) over at the off-topic thread.

How I did on the 10 Principles:
1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. YES cold weather inspires soup-making. See below for new recipe
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 I am going heavier on the starches so as not to lose more weight.
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 difficult for me since I tend to add salt in cooking. This week I added a little salt at table if I felt I needed it.
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 especially no tahini
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 -YAY no bread. With the added starch during meals I dont feel the need for a snack between meals and snack leads me to bread often.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). YES, always felt this was a waste of calories
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. YES, I added extra starch- enough so that I do not feel hunger between meals. One night I must not have eaten enough because I was hungry so I ate a small baked potato and some leftover salad.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). YES, Walking at least 30 minutes a day. Sometimes an hour.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: I really felt great this week about my decision to stick with MWL and how I carried it out. My weight remained stable.
I accepted an invitation from a friend who is making dinner tonight. She knows i am "vegan". I am expecting oil to be in the food. But I will stick to ONE 50-50 plateful of food. And pray that the foods do not trigger me. My eating history is to be "good" in the company of people then pig out when I get home. When i get home i will immediately do bath and bed routine and bypass the kitchen. Another problem with dinner invitations is that they usually start too late and i am starving by the time i get there. So I am going to have a snack of a cup of leftovers from lunch to prevent coming to table too hungry.
Here is my recipe for pea and spinach soup with mint. Very easy like Jeff's recipes. Everything from the freezer.
Throw into a pot: 1-2 cups of frozen chopped onions/10 0z. frozen chopped spinach or creamed spinach (with no cream)/
10 oz. of frozen peas. 10 minutes before it's done, add a crushed garlic clove or 2 and as much fresh mint as you want. If no mint around, dont add anything or try cilantro. When done, whiz in blender or food processor. For the non-compliant add a dash of coconut milk. I add a dab of almond milk to lighten mine a bit. Good hot or cold.Top with something red to make it pretty against the dark green.
Gamelean: I also love the likker from greens. Kale especially is very strong and tasty when freshly cooked.
Carol
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - February 2022 Group

Postby josietheschnauzer » Fri Feb 25, 2022 1:36 pm

Thank you for the recipe, Carol!
MWL Check List for2/25/22
Lessons learned: Actually, lessons reinforced! Watched Jeff Novick’s calorie density program again that Mark linked. I strongly recommend we all re-watch this on a regular basis. It is easy for me to be complacent and think “I know it all”. Reinforcement on a regular basis is my new mantra! Also, why am I so much better at eating when I report in on MWL? I am amazed that I go off the deep end into pleasure trap waters when I don’t report weekly. I also look forward to all of your comments and Mark’s report when I am an active part of the group! I am typical, as usual, nothing original with me—according to research, right? Programs with accountability work better than those that don’t have it. I just made a mushroom, lentil chile for my reading group with lots of onions and corn!
1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit: Yes.
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals: Yes.
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. Yes.
4. Eliminate all animal foods: Yes.
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods: Yes.
6. Eliminate any added oil: Yes
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products, popcorn and dried fruit: Yes.
8. Don't drink your calories: Yes
9. Eat when hungry & until comfortably full. Don't starve and don't stuff: Yes. Watched calorie density by Jeff again. Yes.
10. Include 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily: Yes, I walk every day at 5am.
I have completed eight weeks on this go-around. I lost 1.8 pounds last week for a total of 11.8 pounds in that time frame.
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Mark's Replies for February 25 - Part 1

Postby Mark Cooper » Fri Feb 25, 2022 2:04 pm

BambiS - Needing smaller clothes is always a fun non-scale victory, right? I'm glad you were able to enjoy the improved weather and sunshine; I'm sure that made for a lovely walk!
BambiS wrote:We had a steakhouse gift card for ages. I just got baked potato , steamed broccoli. My lips were sliding after I ate it, they clearly coated the potato skin with some type of oil, ugh.
That can be so frustrating! It is funny how often these restaurants feel like they need to "improve" perfectly satisfactory food by adding things like oil, sugar and salt. You seem like you're doing great; the behaviors we maintain deliver the outcomes we ultimately experience. Keep up the good work!

Rebecka22 - Awesome week and progress! Feeling good about that seems very appropriate. :D Was there any specific tool or practice you applied this week that felt like it contributed to your success?

carwex - 10/10!
carwex wrote:I really felt great this week about my decision to stick with MWL and how I carried it out.
I agree with you, Carol; you are clearly pursuing these habits with a great deal of thought, care and diligent effort. :thumbsup: I want to let you know that we are taking into account your observations and reactions with regard to the off-topic thread. I'm sure Jeff will be responding in that thread directly, and I'm confident we will find a path forward that can accommodate the needs and concerns that have been discussed thus far.
carwex wrote:Another problem with dinner invitations is that they usually start too late and i am starving by the time i get there. So I am going to have a snack of a cup of leftovers from lunch to prevent coming to table too hungry.
Excellent strategy! I agree with you that it can be pretty easy to get "pushed around" by the many and varied social, political and economic forces that often seem at odds with our efforts; indeed, it is not an easy pursuit for the faint of heart. Carry on with courage!

josietheschnauzer - Woo-hoo! Very nice progress, Elsa! I couldn't agree more with your recommendation to periodically review Calorie Density: How To Eat More, Weigh Less and Live Longer! It is like a masterclass in the principals of healthful eating, and it is FREE.
josietheschnauzer wrote:Programs with accountability work better than those that don’t have it.
In my professional life, the old expression was "it is hard to manage what you don't measure." The self-assessment with the checklist gives one a clear, useable accounting of their prevailing pattern of behavior over each week (or day, or meal) and helps to see where progress is being made, and where opportunities for further progress may lie, right?
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - February 2022 Group

Postby Lachoffman » Fri Feb 25, 2022 5:23 pm

A) Weight change +/- in lbs: It seems that I read somewhere that we are posting weight info under the last entry (C) - correct? This is probably an older template.

B) 10-POINT CHECKLIST
1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Yes, mostly just one or two on occasion, rarely all three.
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, doing this for all meals although I have found myself a little hungry before going to bed which makes me think I'm not eating the right amount at dinner. I also noted Jeff's note to me last week and are beans limited to one cup daily? If so, then I am eating too many beans!
3.Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them. Yes, doing well - 100%
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Yes, 90% - there was one time of weakness this week where I made a snack that had cheese.
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Yes, 100%.
6. Eliminate any added oil. Yes, 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. Yes, 100%
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Since I was out of town last weekend, I had a little more trouble with this simply because I had a glass of wine. Other that that, 100%
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. I mentioned in #2 that a couple of nights I was hungry right before going to bed. This makes me wonder if I should eat a snack like a piece of fruit before going to bed?
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). I am so proud of myself because I accomplished this goal 5 days this week! The weather was MUCH warmer this week than previous weeks, so that helped. I am going to go for 7 next week.

C) Victories, comments, concerns, questions: I weighed in at 189 lbs. this week. I really love the MWL recipes and how quick it is to make a meal! I made a big salad (to eat with lunches and dinners) earlier in the week and have used it for several days which has been helpful. It feels good to be more active now that the weather is getting nicer.
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - February 2022 Group

Postby squealcat » Fri Feb 25, 2022 7:10 pm

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. :thumbsup: fruit at breakfast, salad at lunch and soup before dinner
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. :thumbsup: I am pretty good at this but sometimes have a little more starch than veggies
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. :thumbsup:
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). :thumbsup: no problem
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). :thumbsdown: I think I had a little almond butter the beginning of the week
6. Eliminate any added oil. :thumbsdown: vegan butter once
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. :thumbsdown: oil free bread, two slices this week and that is all
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). :thumbsup: no problem
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. :thumbsup:
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). :thumbsup: Still walking 4 or 5 days a week and also doing my stretches for 30 minutes most days

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:I am losing weight slow and steady but don't really concentrate on that. I concentrate on having plenty of starch foods all ready to eat, having veg soup for before dinner and exercising almost every day. I feel good and work on this way of eating daily. I have room to improve and keep working to get all thumbs up for each of those 10 points. I believe that since my mind is on this path and not the weight, I don't swerve and crash whenever I don't get it perfect. This new way of thinking has helped me be more steady and more positive.

Have a good week everyone! See you next weekend !
-squealcat (Marilyn)
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - February 2022 Group

Postby moonlight » Fri Feb 25, 2022 11:25 pm

    1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.I slacked off on this one this week. In the mornings I didn't take time to sit and eat breakfast. It was usually on the go, eating in the car. I ate a few salads. I didn't have any soup made...
    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.I think I met this goal everyday at every meal.
    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, I met this goal.
    4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).I met this goal. I think it is a first!
    5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). I was off a couple of times, eating a few nuts...
    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.I'm still struggling with this one.
    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. :thumbsup:
    10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).I got 5/7 days this week.

Overall, I feel better, more in control. I've stopped marking the checklist every day. I'm going to start using it again. My weight has plateaued so I think I may be taking more liberties than I remember. :eek: I'm getting ready to make a menu for the week and start a grocery list for curb side pick-up tomorrow morning. My plan is to cook an entree tomorrow - I'm thinking the lasagna recipe that Mark posted. I should get 6 servings. Plan one more entree and I'm probably good for the week.

Good luck to everyone! Thank you, Mark, Wildgoose, and Jeff, for providing so much support. :D
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - February 2022 Group

Postby Gimmelean » Sat Feb 26, 2022 8:18 am

Post for week ending 2/24/22

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

Yes.
Rediscovered raw baby rainbow carrots and jazz apples this week. Thank you Trader Joe’s. Read labels. It can really be Traitor Joe’s for us.


2). Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals:

Yes.
I’m going to make a lasagne casserole with a tube of air fried polenta with fresh mandoline sliced eggplant, zucchini, and mushrooms and homemade marinara for the week. No recipe. I’m just going to throw it together with a focus on lots and lots of veggies.

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.
For the most part yes but not perfect.

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

Yes. Filling up on water. Fancy flavored seltzers are really good for an occasional treat. No sugar or artificial sweeteners - reading labels carefully here.

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

Yes. The food will still be there for me if I can’t finish it and no one will take it away!

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

Yes.
I do my best to walk 30 minutes daily and have also added yoga to my morning routine. Wonderful classes on Insight Timer. No subscription or mandatory fee required.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: I loved Carwex’s comment about Mark and everyone being so courageous living the MWL way and it’s very true. It’s hard to always be doing something so different than the mainstream and to have to defend our choices when just adhering to them is difficult enough. However, by being willing to try something much different, we know that the quality of life results are 2nd to none and that the learning and sharing experience is incredible here.
Thank you and a good week!
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - February 2022 Group

Postby GreenFroG » Sat Feb 26, 2022 11:47 am

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. 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. Yes
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: Had a great week. Was able to say no to snacks brought to two different meetings. I was very excited about that. I have been trying to bring my water bottle everywhere, so I always have something in my hand when I face temptations. So at the meetings instead of reaching for the cookies, I drank water. This week it worked well!
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - February 2022 Group

Postby VegSeekingFit » Sat Feb 26, 2022 1:44 pm

Hi Team Time & Adherence,

I loved reading everyone's comments this week!!! Congratulations all for another week !!!
* Have to +1 on the like for Carol's comments with "Courageous" -- love it!!!
* I am so with Bambi on being eager for the Farmers Market to open. We are almost in March!!!
* Agree with Elsa on the recommendation to re-watch Jeff's Calorie Density. Maybe I will do this weekend...

For this week, I had 5 days with 100% compliance and 2 days where I missed - one miss each on 5 and 7. I am going to work to continue to improve for upcoming week (and started good yesterday with 100% compliance). Have more comments on progress at the bottom of post.

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
:) Yes. I have been eating salad this week as a preload (for B, L, D) since I am mainly eating soup for main lunch and dinner (due to the cold weather). Have also had some cold roasted veggies - delicious!

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.
I have had oatmeal with fruit every day for breakfast (again).
I have mainly had Mexi Soup (sometimes over rice or potato) for lunch.
I have had Split Pea Soup for dinner (cannot get sick of this; keep making more).
I have had oranges (Sumo and Cara Cara) or frozen fruit and additional veggies (again).
So, I am pretty boring - all is same as last week.


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.
:D Yes.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
YES, of course. :D

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
:twisted: No, but doing better - only 1 miss.
* I continue to have periodic after dinner mental struggle with the nuts.
* I will work to slightly increase starch at lunch / dinner to head this off. This has helped over the week to keep :mrgreen: at bay!
* Next time that these tempt me, I will wait 10 minutes to be sure hungry and if so, then will eat salad, fruit, and soup or bean burger.
* I plan to continue to record observations of what may have gone on differently if I consume at all this week to help better develop future action plan.


6 Eliminate any added oil.
:D 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.
:twisted: No.
See #5 above. Comments are same including 1 miss - (except pretzels is :mrgreen: ).


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, met but less than recent time spent exercising.
* Weather has not been conducive to walking outside, so mainly did indoor pacing and exercise routine!!! :shock:
* Came close to goal of averaging 8K steps / day over the week. Yearly average steps / day exceeds the 8K - which I would like to increase, but waiting for Spring to do so.


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Mark --- THANK you!!! Your question to me last week helped me to identify what all may be going on with my continuing # 5/7 troubles.
"Can you think of any significant-seeming differences between those 4 days and the other 3? Any changes in situation, context, or routine?"
* This made me think that I have focused efforts on tracking food in general (i.e., carrots or cucumbers, potato or rice, apple or banana) --- and NOT enough time tracking what may have caused a non-compliant "episode".
* It is more important for me to get to the root cause of the non-compliance than understand the specifics of the other foods (since they are all compliant / recommended).
* I did not have all of the data points to effectively answer your question for last week (would have been guessing) - so I have started to pay better attention / record these impressions for non-compliance episodes in my daily planner.
* Amazingly enough, I think part of what I hadn't identified before that is a driver with this issue is sometimes not enough starch. For instance, I have been eating soup for lunch and dinner every day (because it is so cold and I love soup). Sometimes, I will have soup over potato or rice - other times just by itself. I think that when I don't eat the soup over something that I may be less than 50/50 starch for that meal. I did find a couple of times when that was at lunch that I am hungrier earlier. I suspect that when I do that at dinner that I leave too much room for to be Pleasure Trapped at the end of the day when my willpower is at its weakest...
* I don't measure anything except for oatmeal that I make bowl by bowl. However, I did a little experiment to consider amount of starch in my soup without the extra rice / potato - which leads me to think that it is low. For instance, roughly 1/4 c. dried split peas and 1 small potato or 2/5 c. cooked beans - based on each of the soups that I am considering all starch (and comparing to veggie / fruit volume).
* Will be making sure to eat a bit more starch with the soup. I don't think I have much risk of gaining weight from this - as I rely on #9 and don't ever like to feel overstuffed.
* This obviously isn't the only issue - I still have to get completely out of the Pleasure Trap!!!

Victory - I lost a lb. this week!!! :) Sorry, I have to celebrate each one... :nod:

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend and upcoming week! Keep going!! :D

Best,
Stephanie
"Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path.
Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back." - Martina Navratilova
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - February 2022 Group

Postby Noella » Sat Feb 26, 2022 2:00 pm

Hi Mark and Everyone,

:-D :nod: 1. Start each meal with a soup AND/OR salad AND/OR fruit. Going great!
:-D :nod: 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. Going great!
:-D :nod: 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.Going great!
:-D :nod: 4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). I went out for lunch once and carefully didn't eat the meat on my plate. I just ate the veggies, and thank goodness there were lots of yummy veggies! I felt so proud that I could push the off-plan food to the side without saying a word and fit in with the group of friends I was socializing with. Getting so much stronger and more steadfast in this.
:-D :nod: 5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Going great! I tasted a tiny bit of almond butter that was left on a knife, swished it around my mouth and found it so salty, oily and unpleasant that I immediately spat it out and rinsed out my mouth. I discovered that I do not enjoy the sensation of oily food in my mouth anymore..

:-D :nod: 6. Eliminate any added oil.
Going great! Everything I try cooking without oil is turning out to be delicious.
:-D :nod: 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.
:-D :nod: 8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).Going great! I'm not interested in wine anymore even though we live in an area with many beautiful vineyards, and socializing often involves wine
:-D :nod: 9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until comfortably full. Don't starve yourself, and don't stuff yourself.Going great!
:-D 10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). [/color] I did a bit better again this week, thanks to the pep talk from Mark two weeks ago.


Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Yesterday I went to a get-together and wore a small size outfit from my closet -- one II haven't worn since 2000 because it was too small! It finally fits because my waist is coming back down to what it once was! I have lost so many inches on my waistline. I have now had a taste of "looking good," and there is no way I am ever going back to being overweight. Thanks to this forum, I have completely changed my lifestyle. Yes, that's what it takes to lose so many pounds of excess weight -- a 180-degree change. I didn't like vegetables or salad...now I do! I used to love specialty sweets/treats and rich gourmet cooking -- now I only cook oil-free! Significant changes, big results. I am SO thankful for my knowledge, and I learn more every week with this thread. Thanks to everyone!

I look forward to continuing to make progress in March. I'm coming up to my second anniversary with MWL on April 1st, as I joined on April 1st, 2020.

I love winter; I love to see the snow in the mountains! February - April are my favourite months to head out on the trails for cross country skiing. The days are getting longer, and the sunshine warms each day a bit more than the one before. Spring is right around the corner.

I'm looking forward to reading everyone's posts in the March Time and Adherence Thread Mark will be posting on Monday.


Best regards to you all,
Noella
Starting Weight - 240 lbs. BMI 36.5
Current Weight - 145 lbs. BMI 22
Goal Weight -140 lbs. BMI 21.5
I started the Starch Solution on Dec 29th, 2019 and Maximum Weightloss on April 1, 2020. Slow and steady, right?...as Dr. Lisle says, "Be a tortoise, not a hare."
Last edited by Noella on Fri Mar 04, 2022 9:05 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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Reporting for February 25 Assessments is now CLOSED

Postby Mark Cooper » Sat Feb 26, 2022 2:06 pm

The window for reporting this week's behavioral results has officially closed.

The remainder of my replies and the weekly summary will follow.
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Mark's Replies for February 25 - Part 2

Postby Mark Cooper » Sat Feb 26, 2022 2:18 pm

Lachoffman - Looks like you made some further progress this week!
Lachoffman wrote:It seems that I read somewhere that we are posting weight info under the last entry (C) - correct? This is probably an older template.
You are correct; the most current template is here. In regard to feeling hungry before bed, it might be worth experimenting with slightly increasing the overall volume of food you are eating at dinner, to see if that helps. Having a snack before bed could also work; remember, the recommendation is to eat adherent foods whenever we feel hungry. Congratulations for your progress with getting active out in the nicer weather!

squealcat - You are making headway, Marilyn!
sqealcat wrote:I concentrate on having plenty of starch foods all ready to eat, having veg soup for before dinner and exercising almost every day.
That seems like exactly the right place to focus your effort and attention. :D I'm so happy you have found yourself better able to continue working for improvement, while recognizing that acknowledging imperfection doesn't mean resignation and failure. You are treating yourself with compassion, thought and grace! Onward!

moonlight -
moonlight wrote:4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).I met this goal. I think it is a first!
Way to go!!! I think reengaging with your checklist each day is an excellent step to take for breaking through a plateau, and investing some time in menu planning, grocery shopping and food prep is ALWAYS time well spent. If the current plateau continues to feel like an obstacle, you might review Jeff's article discussing Why We Hit Plateaus and What We Can Do About Them. Best wishes!

Gimmelean - That is another pretty solid week! "Traitor Joe's" made me laugh; it is SO true! That "thrown together" casserole sounds scrumptious. Let us know how it turns out.
Gimmelean wrote:It’s hard to always be doing something so different than the mainstream and to have to defend our choices when just adhering to them is difficult enough. However, by being willing to try something much different, we know that the quality of life results are 2nd to none and that the learning and sharing experience is incredible here.
Great observation. Adhering to the recommended pattern of behavior in the modern food environment is PLENTY hard enough, without having social pressures piled on top, right? Getting Along Without Going Along by Dr. Lisle offers a useful perspective on those challenges.

GreenFroG - 10 out of 10 again! :thumbsup: Great work taking a pass on the communal snacks at those meetings - very exciting! Having a specific, non-maladaptive action to take when temptation comes calling seems like a great tool and a very good idea. Thank you for sharing!

VegSeekingFit - Kudos! Your count on "misses" continues to drop, pretty soon you will be "all hits," Stephanie! It makes sense to me that "sometimes not enough starch" could be a driver for the after dinner non adherent snacking, and that it could happen without being easily noticed, too . I believe that was an issue with the old "hasty method," where starch was dropped to less than half the visual volume - people got too hungry!
Mark Cooper wrote:The 1/3 to 2/3 "Hasty" ratio was given up, as it was leading to insufficient satiety and bingeing; the current recommendations have proven to be more sustainable. I think the degree to which the MWL recommendations have been fine-tuned, tested and updated over years of application is a real hallmark of their ongoing value in the present
Eating the soup on top of starch, or just being mindful to include a bit more may be just what is needed. Let me know how it goes, and you don't EVER need to apologize for celebrating!!! ;-)

Noella - Woo-hoo!
Noella wrote: I felt so proud of myself that I could just push the off-plan food to the side without saying a word and fit in with the group of friends I was socializing with.
This is an awesome achievement, and something I know you have worked hard toward doing. :thumbsup: Congratulations on your many victories, both on and off the scale! You, too, have things to CELEBRATE! YAY!
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Re: Mark's Replies for February 25 - Part 2

Postby Noella » Sat Feb 26, 2022 3:01 pm

Mark Cooper wrote:...Adhering to the recommended pattern of behaviour in the modern food environment is PLENTY hard enough without having social pressures piled on top, right? Getting Along Without Going Along, by Dr. Lisle, offers a useful perspective on those challenges.


Thank you for recommending and reminding us to watch this video. I have watched it three times over the past two years, and I will watch it again this weekend. Dr. Lisle describes a critical piece to the puzzle. I am one of those people who wants to belong and get along, so this video is one I need to revisit regularly.

Is there a link to Jeff Novick's excellent series of videos with cooking lessons? I need to watch those again, too!

Noella
Last edited by Noella on Fri Mar 04, 2022 8:48 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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