The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - September 2022 Group

[Mark Cooper]

I've got a round of applause and a big high-five for all this week's participants!

We're off and running in a new month, and it is a good time to take stock of the various obstacles and challenges that can get between us and the outcomes we're seeking to achieve. Having clarity in our understanding and application of the fundamental principles is quite important, as Jeff addresses in his discussion of the MWL guidelines.

The recommendations of Dr. McDougall and myself come from not only a thorough review and understanding of the scientific literature on these issues, but also from decades of clinical experience working with clients in a closed residential setting.

However, in the last few years, people have come up with their own personal ways to improve the MWL program ("hacks"), usually based on their own short term experience or a “N of 1.” Most often, they do not have the understanding of the literature or the long-term clinical experience we do. In addition, we are not interested in promoting "hacks" to the MWL to produce short term results that will be unsustainable for most people. As Dr. McDougall always says at the program, we are not here for instant results, we are here to get you to like the food and teach you a sustainable program. We could easily serve you an all (or mostly) vegetable diet and you would have better initial short-term results but it will be unsustainable. As Dr Lisle says, be the tortoise, not the hare.

It is important to realize that any "hacks" to the MWL that are not in the above newsletters, or that do not come directly from Dr. McDougall or myself, are not part of the MWL program, nor do we recommend them.

As Dr. McDougall said in a recent newsletter...

https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2017nl/jul/simple.htm

"many popular healthcare "gurus" have had no formal education in the potentially life-threatening matters of your health. Almost as troubling are the credentialed healthcare/diet advisors who provide advice based solely on reading other people's research articles. The relevance of their guidance must be placed in the context that many of them haven't touched a patient since their primary dietetic or medical training."

People will often say, I was doing the MWL program but it wasn't working till I also did "X," to which they are often unaware that "X" Is already a part of the MWL program. On the other hand, people will often say they are following the MWL program and doing "Y" but they are unaware that "Y" is not part of the MWL program nor recommended.

Before making any "hacks" to the MWL program, we recommend you give the MWL program with the refinements mentioned above a fair and honest chance. If you are having difficulty, then join the weekly weigh-in group and/or contact us directly.

Here are a few of the "hacks" people make that are not recommended. None of these are new. All have been around for a long time and seem to get recycled every few years

- A predominately raw food diet
- Eating only raw foods till 4 PM
- Intermittent fasting
- Restricted feeding window
- Extended fasts to lose weight
- Smoothies
- Juicing
- Basing their diet on non-starchy vegetables
- Eating only foods low in the GI/GL
- Not including starch at each meal.
- Delaying the starch component of a meal.
- Eating only fruit for breakfast
- Eating only non-starchy vegetables for breakfast
- Excessive or extreme exercise
- Food Combining
- Meal Replacements
- Supplements
- SOS free diet

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.

While anecdotal stories are interesting, and you can always find them for almost any intervention, that is not why we are here or what our programs are based on. If we go by anecdotal evidence, we open a huge door that we don't really want to because then why not believe anyone with any anecdotical stories and testimonials regardless if they are doing any of the "hacks" listed above or if they are doing Paleo, Atkins, Weight Watchers, etc.

We are here because we are an evidence & science based program.

And here is an overview of some distractions that tend to pop up.

Distractions

- Coffee & Tea
While there may be Individual reasons to avoid these, they are not an issue for the MWL program. There is no recommendation to avoid them as part of the MWL program. We serve both decaf and regular tea at the program and have no qualms if someone walks to Starbucks and gets a cup of coffee.

- Salt, Sugar
We are not a SOS 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 se, 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

- Goal Weight
We want you to focus on the 10 Points of MWL. Setting a goal weight has many disadvantages and can often be unrealistic. If one follow the principles and guidelines, they will hit upon their healthy weight.

- Nutrients and the RDA/DRI
The RDA/DRI’s do not always apply to those following a healthy starch based diet. However by following the guidelines, especially starting meals with a soup or salad and the 50/50 guideline, ones diet with be very nutrient dense. In regard to weight, we do not recommend tracking your nutrients. Follow the plan, and the nutrients will be there.

- Advice
If you are new here, you are here to learn. Please learn our approach first and how best to implement it before giving out any advice. You can be supportive but keep the focus on you and the 10 point checklist. This is not a negative but a positive. It is not self-centered but self-nurturing. Along with myself, we have 2 wonderful moderators who have long-term success following the MWL program who keep an eye on the questions begin asked.

- Vegan
While we recommend eliminating all animal products, we are not a “vegan” program per-see. The reason is, vegan is a word that just tells you what not to eat (animal products). Our message is focused more on what to eat (minimally processed starches with the addition of fruits and vegetables). While there has been an increase in the amount of vegan food available in grocery stores and restaurants and meal delivery services, most all of it fails to meet our guidelines.

Enjoy the weekend, have a great week, take care & be well!

[Drew*#]

Hi Mark and all again, I read a little about a checklist and I think this will be a good tactic. I plan to use this in the week going forward. Here is the template for each day. I do not need to check them all off if not hungry but I will then cross out...

• Breakfast: MWL? □
• Snack: MWL? □
• Lunch: MWL? □
• Snack: MWL? □
• Dinner: MWL? □
• Snack: MWL? □

Drew

[Mark Cooper]

Hi Mark and all again, I read a little about a checklist and I think this will be a good tactic. I plan to use this in the week going forward. Here is the template for each day. I do not need to check them all off if not hungry but I will then cross out...

• Breakfast: MWL? □
• Snack: MWL? □
• Lunch: MWL? □
• Snack: MWL? □
• Dinner: MWL? □
• Snack: MWL? □

Drew

Seems like it will be a useful tool.

[BambiS]

9-9

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.
Some days


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, not an issue here

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

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.
Did grab crackers, unprepared this week

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). No exercise with intent. Was busy all week cleaning


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
I was on vacation this past week. I went through clothes, tried on take off, lifted bags. I made quite a donation of to large clothing.

I didn’t eat the maximum plan, but ate whole plant based. I got involved in trying to use my vacation time to get a lot accomplished.

[carwex]

1. Start each meal with a soup or salad. YES
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method, ½ starch and ½ vegetables. YES
3. Reduce or eliminate added sugars and salts. Yes
4. Eliminate all animal foods. YES
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods. YES except where I had no control over what was in the soup or sauce
6. Eliminate any added oil. YES except for restaurant food
7. Eliminate all higher calorie dense foods. YES
8. Don’t drink your calories. YES
9. Follow these principles whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. YES still doing half meals when feeling hungry between meals.
10. Avoid being sedentary. YES Started back to the pool and the gym as well as walking.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
The week was a very social one and there were restaurant meals with family and friends and entertaining
of family also. Too much having to cope with the environment of food. On the other hand
I am much more relaxed about the apartment situation and believe that I have found a place. Much
smaller than I thought, much less expense expensive than I was expecting . But my inner self says yes this is for
you. It gives me joy. I hope the negotiation go smoothly and I will be settling in soon.
Now more relaxed, I was able to free up time for the pool and gym and although I have been walking a lot,
reworking muscles which have been unused for a while is difficult. I asked a friend, how will ever get back in shape and she said, “slowly”. I am trying to establish a routine around this so that I have to think less about it. And just do it.
Thank you Stephanie and Beth for your lovely feedback. Also gives me joy. And to the lovely Mark whose feedback keeps me coming back.
Carol

[Lizzy_F]

Hello Mark and Goose and Team Time & Adherence!

Boy "time" sure seems to be flying by!

Here is my report for the week ending 9/9/22:

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Dinners – all started with veg soup. Lunches – all started with non-starchy cooked veg first. Breakfasts, when eaten, are oats + fruit mixed together. I look forward to the day when I can eat more raw veg again! I am missing salads, baby carrots (raw), etc. But that is still at least 1.5 years away (braces), so I’m just working on peaceful acceptance.
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 for all lunches & dinners. Breakfast when eaten is oats & fruit. For now I am not stressing about this. Let me know if I should consider working on any change to breakfast.
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.
Done – greatly reduced. No salt/sugar used in cooking. Salt used in very modest amount sprinkled on top of food.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes 100%.

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.
A small amount of rice flour used in Mary’s Golden Gravy last weekend.

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Yes 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 still feel like I eat more than I need to sometimes. The struggle is real on this point for me. I love the feeling of being full and satisfied, and I’m just not sure if I’m over-filling or not. I’m realizing that a lifetime of dieting mentality leaves me with many cognitive distortions around food. This uncertainty about volume and what is “enough” and what is “too much” is just one of many.

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

I have continued with normal daily activity, which is pretty high in terms of step count (avg 7,000 steps per day last week). I still have a sore heel, although it is getting better. My right knee – the one with the torn meniscus that was scoped, but never right again, has been sore as well. I suspect I’ve shifted things to take pressure off the left heel, which has aggravated the right knee. So I’m still on a break from intentional walks, which I really miss. Especially at this time of year when it’s cool in the mornings – I just want to be outside walking!!! Hopefully I can resume soon.

Victories: Continued slow weight loss. Steady with my food – no cravings for Pleasure Trap foods that were SO problematic for SO long! It is so wonderful to feel FREE!

Comments: I continue to have deep gratitude for the structure and support of this Time & Adherence group!

Mark – thank you for the re-post from Jeff regarding “hacks,” etc. I appreciate the food for thought that you provide each week to help us reflect and stay on track. It really IS easy to get distracted by a lot of well-intentioned “noise” that is actually NOT part of “MWL” or “Starch Solution.” The links contained in Jeff’s post are so valuable as well – I really enjoyed reading Dr. McDougall’s July 2017 linked newsletter article, and plan to re-read that one from time to time!

Drew – I like your checklist!!

Bambi – congrats on your clothing cleanout and being able to donate your larger clothing!!!

Carol – What exciting news about finding a place you want to buy! I hope the negotiations go smoothly for you and that it all works out well. Also congratulations on getting back to your exercise groove. Sounds like you are taking amazing steps for your health and your peace of mind!

Hello to everyone else – I look forward to reading more weekly reports tomorrow!

Concerns: Nothing new this week!


Questions: None at the moment!

[squealcat]

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.NO not all the time. I would say every breakfast and lunch and most dinners.
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).No.
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 This has been a troublesome one in the past so I am keeping careful watch 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.Yes.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).Yes ! except for one day (last Sunday) I had a lazy day. Today I walked 3 miles and did some work in the garden . I am tired now !

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:It is very nice to be back ! I hadn't read Mark's final summary from last week until just now. I saw myself in a few parts of what was written. This was a very good thing for me to read and re-read !

I have to work on a couple of things. The pre-load before dinner ? Many times I am not very hungry and I always fear eating a pre-load will fill me up too much and I would not be hungry for anything else....until bedtime ! I tried having a small plate of cucumbers and tomato from our garden for a couple of days....using that as my preload. That worked pretty well. I am stopping at the market for more cucumbers this afternoon as our supply (sadly) is down to one.

My other issue is that I have gotten in the habit of using tahini with vinegar as a salad dressing. I am working on that one this week. I want to enjoy my salads so I will play around with that one. I have some hummus without oil or tahini that I have made and will work on getting used to that instead . I like my hummus on potatoes with a little added salsa so I wonder if adding salsa to my hummus and putting it on the salad will help my taste buds.....will see !

That's it for this week ! My goal is to be healthy , Happy and Wise ! I am a little healthier and feel pretty happy ....don't know about the wise part but I am working on all three !

-squealcat (Marilyn)

[moonlight]

Hi Mark,

I wondered if I could join the monthly MWL group. I have been away for a few months. Slowly I have lost a lot of my good habits! This group is such a great support for setting intentions and trying to keep goals. Without the support I tend to fall off the wagon. None of my friends or family eat with such intention and effort toward good health. I would like to start tomorrow with the goal of adhering to the 10 point checklist and checking in next Friday. Are check in days still Friday - Saturday at noon?

Moonlight

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Team Time and Adherence!

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
I did this for lunch only this week.

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. Mainly had oatmeal plus fruit for breakfast this week (again). Trying different fruits... so far, all are good (best was mango & dark cherry)! Also ate tons of potatoes, whole wheat rotini, more sloppy lentils, corn, split pea soup. Various veggies and fruits.


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. Reduced, not eliminated.

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

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. No starving or stuffing.


10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes.
* 7/7 days walked briskly
The weather is still great, but a couple AM's had a bit of the fall "chill" to come!!!


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

As others have commented, can't believe how time is flying by this year!!! Wondering if anyone else finds this funny --- have a neighbor who put out his Halloween decorations on Labor Day... Talk about being prepared!

Very much appreciate this group. Thank you, Mark and JeffN!

Drew, I used a similar tracking method and found it super helpful. Also good for looking for any patterns, if needed...

Carol, Wishing you the best on your home negotiations. That is awesome that you found a place. Good luck with the exercise... can totally relate to the difficulty of re-starting...

Beth, Totally agree with how awesome it is to feel free / no cravings for non-recommended foods...

Moonlight, Happy to "see you" back...

Big HI to everyone else!!!

Hope that everyone has an awesome weekend! Planning to do some gardening and hiking with a friend. Will definitely be eating potatoes...

Cheers,
Stephanie

[louie3084]

10/09/2022

1. Start each meal with a soup or salad. YES
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method, ½ starch and ½ vegetables. YES
3. Reduce or eliminate added sugars and salts. Yes
4. Eliminate all animal foods. YES
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods. No 5 out 7 days. Had a mojor slip up this week and deviated from the plan. I just need to put this behind me and get back on course.
6. Eliminate any added oil. YES except for restaurant food
7. Eliminate all higher calorie dense foods. YES
8. Don’t drink your calories. YES
9. Follow these principles whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. No 5 out 7 days - see point 5, I fell into the pleasure trap!
10. Avoid being sedentary. YES .

Comments:
Again I seem to go well for half a week, then not eat enough for lunch one day, then slip into peanut butter and honey pleasure trap!!! I am quite busy as you know, getting over my fear of carbs and need to just stick to this program.

I was trying to dig into Mark's journey and found his diary. But there were so many entries I could not see how much he lost. I found that he is now maintaining which is amazing, but would be interested if there is a "summary" post somwhere here Mark??
I also got out my MWL book that I have to try and reinvigorate myself and plan a little better.

Thanks for reading.

[Mark Cooper]

Hi Mark,

I wondered if I could join the monthly MWL group. I have been away for a few months. Slowly I have lost a lot of my good habits! This group is such a great support for setting intentions and trying to keep goals. Without the support I tend to fall off the wagon. None of my friends or family eat with such intention and effort toward good health. I would like to start tomorrow with the goal of adhering to the 10 point checklist and checking in next Friday. Are check in days still Friday - Saturday at noon?

Moonlight

Sure! Be sure to check out the updated Orientation information, and then jump right onboard!

Check-ins and self-assessment reports are on Friday; participants have until noon pacific time (19:00 UTC) on Saturday to post their report for the week

[Rebecka22]

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. NO
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). NO
6. Eliminate any added oil. NO
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). NO
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

Last week Mark, you said, “Food isn't really a solution for any problem other than hunger, but our brains sure seem to try to convince us otherwise.” Unfortunately I didn’t get back to read that until today. This week was rough and my decisions weren’t great. We are on strike and I have been averaging about 13-14 miles a day on the picket lines. It’s exhausting. Then I still have to parent. I don’t know when this strike will end, but I am committed to not using food to try and feel better. One issue is my teenagers and their food, I feel like I have really strong willpower and then just lose it all. I have also realized that drinking a mocha seems to just lead to a waterfall of off plan choices, so I’m going to avoid that this week in hopes it will help. At the same time I did plan and stick to all my own meals this week and skipped all the donated food it was just the evening snacking that got me. Here’s to a better week in every way.

[Ejg]

Hi, I’m Eric and would like to join the group. I’ve completed the orientation and look forever to getting back on track.

[Gimmelean]

Post for week ending 9/9/22

Hello everyone!

1) Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes. The one good thing about the crazy weather we’ve had is that my fig trees had more fruit this year than ever and of course they had to be eaten and shared right away. After a very short season I’m going back to cutup raw veggies; the more colorful the better.
My neighbors gave me two huge home grown bottle gourds which I quickly learned to cook in a variety of ways for the last two weeks.

2). Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals.
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. It took a long time to score here!


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,Questions,Challenges: Returning to the office 3 days per week will be a challenge after 2.5 years of working from home. I loved the convenience of always having “my” food available and not having to resist the temptation of junk food at work. I’ve planned to keep an insulated pack always prepared with my MWL “staples” to take with me. It doesn’t take much effort to pack an apple and a potato with a bag of those colorful veggies.( sugar snap peas, baby carrots, mini cucumbers, little tomatoes, radishes, etc). I take a daily walk before work and will need to figure out when and where I’m going to do that now that my routine is changing. I’ll need to plan to cook in advance of the days I’m not home to have good food ready to just heat up after work. Fingers crossed!
Thanks to each and everyone of you for sharing your successes, challenges, recipes, advice, and moral support. I’m ALWAYS learning here and hope to pay it forward too.

Have a good week everyone.

[Noella]

Hi Mark, Wildgoose, Jeff and all MWL September 2022 Participants,

1. Start each meal with soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals.
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 stop 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).
6. Eliminate any added oil. Two of our three daughters and four of our seven grandbabies visited us for ten days, and my daughters cooked dinner twice. They know we cook 'oil free' now but still added a "tiny" bit of olive oil to their delicious lentil dahl and black bean/sweet potato. They don't quite understand. I didn't want to be unappreciative of their cooking efforts, they didn't add any salt, and they used legumes and veggies, so the food was, in fact, very close to perfectly MWL. So, I ate it anyway. It tasted delicious; they are excellent cooks and know how to get spices just right. However, I prefer my food without any oil now, and I find it tastes better without adding fat. It's hard for them to believe (I've been 2 1/2 years oil-free!). When I quizzed them about adding fat, even when they know how important it has been for me to lose weight and regain mobility/improve my knees, they said, "food needs a bit of oil to taste good - we didn't use much." Ahhh! But that is their belief, and I love my daughters, so I needed to be flexible. They also expressed their disappointment in me that I don't cook delicious food or bake delicious bread, cakes, and cookies for everyone's tastes, anymore... Ahhh! The dilemma of cooking for others...in family and beyond!
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 got into some of the bread we bought for my daughters.
8. Don’t drink calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself, and don't stuff yourself.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). My needs have been on the back burner this week, and I'm not forceful enough to demand time for myself. Still learning...

I have a tiny skin rash that comes and goes that I haven't been able to figure out, but as I thought it might be food-related and aggravated by eating paprika, chilli pepper flakes and black pepper, I have gone a week without adding these hot spices and the rash is gone! I'm disappointed to limit spicy foods.

We are off to the seaside for eight days to enjoy the last days of warm summer sunshine before fall. We will be on our own for meals, eating MWL strictly and taking long seaside walks daily.

Best regards,
Noella

My weight remains stable at about 145

“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