BambiS — Happy for you that you're back on the "loss" side, and that you're so close to the 50-lb. loss mark! That's a huge milestone, well done! The Celtic festival sounds like a good time, and avoiding temptation makes it all the sweeter.
CindyD — Moving apartments is a big deal, and any disruption in routine can easily cause a disruption in behavior. All things considering, I think you're doing very well. Take your time and make small improvements as you can.
Salad dressing is always something that takes time to work out. Individual preferences vary widely, and what one person just loves, others may find not to their liking at all. There are a lot of recipes out there, both "creamy" (made with beans -- stay away from the cashew based ones!) and vinaigrette-style (oil-free, of course). One thing that I discovered for myself was that it was a bad idea to try to come up with a compliant replacement for a "favorite" dressing from the past. It never worked, and I was always disappointed and frustrated (ranch dressing, I'm looking at you!). Better to find a new "favorite" that's totally different and compliant. I like several of the Well Your World dressings too.
Rebecka22 — I'm so sorry to hear about your family's COVID struggles. Multiple people testing positive, one after the other, is a huge stressor. Treat yourself as kindly as you can. Walking can be helpful. You can either use it as a time to unwind and listen to music, a book, or other diversion; or as a kind of "walking meditation" to be alone with your thoughts and see if some of the world's craziness can unwind in your brain a little.
VegSeekingFit — Congratulations on the YES YES YES for that pesky #5! Stay strong on your 90-day resolution. Extinguishing the craving for fat usually takes that long. Any listening to that toddler voice and giving in will make the process longer. (Ask me how I know this....
![frown :(](./images/smilies/frown.gif)
) It's not linear, though, as you found out. The deeper into the 90 days you get without caving, the easier it gets.
Great non-scale victories: Energetic, calm, focused, positive.
Artista — I never got to "automatic" on pre-loading either, but the more you do it, the better it gets. Semi-automatic is a perfectly acceptable goal.
![smile :)](./images/smilies/smile.gif)
The miso is probably too much sodium for regular use, but if it's truly occasional and if it's a small part of your meal (1 tsp in a dressing that covers a large salad -- think of Jeff's "dilution is the solution" principle, which works for ingredients as well as calories), then it might work. Be aware of your total sodium intake, though, on days when you're using the miso.
The cholesterol issues will resolve. My HDL is very low too, but as Dr. McDougall pointed out in his
article on cholesterol and how to treat it:
HDL cholesterol levels, or so-called “good” cholesterol
.....
[H]igher is better, but a healthy diet makes this fraction of total cholesterol lower because all fractions of cholesterol are reduced. So don’t be misguided into thinking something is wrong when your HDL level falls with a healthy diet.
Noella — Well done for all those smilies! As far as the unavoidable oil in the one dish, I know exactly what you're saying. Oil in a dish that SAD eaters wouldn't notice or would consider normal is unpleasantly oily for McDougallers. One's taste buds do adjust!
The simplicity of following the guidelines is much of the reason why I've chosen to continue to follow the MWL way of eating, even though I'm not actively losing weight any more. I don't like to have to pay too much attention to the way I eat. It's better when it's as simple and automatic as possible. It's gone from being a program that I've dedicated a lot of time and effort to following to the best of my ability (because I very much believe in it and because I am very happy with the results) to an almost seamless part of my life. How did I do that? The same way you're doing it. Time and adherence.
squealcat — I agree, re-reading McDougall material is always helpful. Looking at Jeff's older posts can be an eye-opener as well. MHP (Maximum Health Program) is really what we're hoping to achieve.
********
The reports were a combination of successes and struggles, which is a good definition of life in general. It's a crazy time for many of us. I take my cue from my duck cousins -- live my life paddling like crazy under the water but keep my feathers smooth and calm on the surface (as much as possible -- ruffled feathers are unavoidable!). Eat well, sleep well, move enough, try to stay in balance. Do as well as I can, aim to do better, don't obsess or get upset that it's not enough. It is enough for now. Next week is always there, with more opportunities.
Dr. Doug Lisle likes to advise being a myopic tortoise in the process of losing weight and regaining health. The tortoise never looks past the end of its nose, concentrates just on what's in front of it, and moves forward slowly and steadily. The tortoise doesn't look months or years ahead. Goals are fine to have, sub-goals can be useful, but day to day it's a matter of sticking to the checklist as well as possible, checking off the day, and moving on.
Artista wrote: Whether it’s concern about weight or health issues, I keep coming back to “time and adherence” and that’s exactly where I want to be.
Well said. This is the bottom line. It's why we're all here. We drift away, or we intentionally seek out something that we think might be better, and then we keep coming back. We know that MWL and the Starch Solution have value for the long haul. How many other programs can make that claim?
Noella has a new tag line, a quote from the original MWL book. I think it's what we look forward to, in terms of both weight and health.
“What I am about to tell you is so utterly simple and true that it may deceive you: Health feels better than sickness. You will be happier at your ideal weight than you are overweight. You will be proud of yourself. You’ll have confidence. You’ll feel so many good things that right now you cannot imagine and I cannot describe. But the net effect is that you’ll like yourself a lot more. You’ll look in the mirror and actually like what you see; you may even love what you see. You will have honored the person within yourself who longs to be healthy, beautiful, and free of all those burdens that being overweight brings. Life will not be perfect, but it will be better.”
― excerpt from The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss
And I'll repeat
Stephanie's non-scale victories:
VegSeekingFit wrote:My top non-scale victory is that I usually feel energetic, calm, focused, positive...
![smile :)](./images/smilies/smile.gif)
All the best wishes to everyone in the group for a successful upcoming week. Hope Mark is enjoying his well-deserved time at the beach.
July is almost upon us, with a long weekend coming up for some and a holiday for those in the US. I'm looking forward to neighborhood fireworks and simple food. The July group thread will be up by the end of the week.
Goose