The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - September 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 - September 2022 Grou

Postby carwex » Fri Sep 30, 2022 6:52 am

1. Start each meal with a soup or salad. YES for most meals this week
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. NO
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods. NO nuts are still around.
6. Eliminate any added oil. YES except when eating in restaurants.
7. Eliminate all higher calorie dense foods. YES, finally had a week without bread
8. Don’t drink your calories. YES
9. Follow these principles whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Really don’t know if I did this or not. But tried to stay on 3 meals day.
10. Avoid being sedentary. YES

I didn’t report for the last 2 weeks. I have plenty of excuses: stress around apartment problems, extra babysitting, too many social events, but actually when I find myself going down the slippery slope of the pleasure trap I get distracted from participating. Luckily, my commitment to the group and this way of life (developed by my hero John McDougall) always brings me back. So here I am again with a few pounds gained but fortunately on my way back to a fairly adherent MWL plan.
I have read all your answers to Mark’s profound questions and have found them a great source of inspiration. I would like to think on them further.
Wishing everyone a great adherent week.
Carol
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - September 2022 Grou

Postby BambiS » Fri Sep 30, 2022 9:10 am

9-30

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Most days, made a big pot of 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.
Most days definitely had potatoes


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.
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). Still no intent exercise, I was still organizing this past week

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
I am still organizing and purging I feel “lighter” with unneeded stuff but can do more, I’ve still kept to much. I think by clearing out is similar to eating habits, once I’m done a lot of weight and waste will be gone. This has really been a sad eye opener of my past habits.
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - September 2022 Grou

Postby Rebecka22 » Fri Sep 30, 2022 9:14 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
Made it through another week. It wasn’t an easy one, so many cravings, but I stuck to my plans. I was also really hungry this week, but I just ate more those days. Having the right foods around and easily cooked or reheated was key this week. I hope everyone has a good week.
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - September 2022 Grou

Postby louie3084 » Fri Sep 30, 2022 4:49 pm

I'd like to re-join the October group. I'll see you in the new thread.
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - September 2022 Grou

Postby squealcat » Fri Sep 30, 2022 5:39 pm

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. All but one meal :-D
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. All but one meal :-D
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).still working on this one
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. All but 3 meals
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).I walked in the mornings . I missed one morning .

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:I compared this week's tracker with last week's and I thought this week looked better but, alas, I am missing the same number of checkmarks as last week. :\ I am working on being more mindful of my fullness signals and noticing just what prompts me to eat when I am not hungry. I had one big problem day this week and (surprise !) it was Wednesday once again. This time it was unplanned events. I was not prepared. It totally threw me off for the day. Now, I guess I have to think about what to do when the unplanned happens. If I am home then at least I have my food here (but sometimes even then it messes with me ) but if away, it is tough. The following day went very well so it didn't totally mess up my week. It was just one tough day.

I weighed myself today and should have expected the gain since my problem day was just Wednesday. Still, it bothered me and effected my mood. Not sure I want to weigh myself every week now. It is not that number that is so all important and it surely should not make me feel bad. Anyway, that is my thought for today.

So on to the next month ! Cannot believe it will be October tomorrow !!

-squealcat (Marilyn)
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - September 2022 Grou

Postby VegSeekingFit » Fri Sep 30, 2022 7:07 pm

Hi Team Time and Adherence! :)

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Mostly no. I did do this a few times. Was excited to get screaming ripe red pears and yellow tomatoes at the Farmers Market this week!!! DELICIOUS!!! (did not eat them together... :lol: )

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. Still going oatmeal and fruit for breakfast (takes 5 minutes). Mexican salad for lunch with fruit... until I shifted to warmer starchy stew (with the chilly-ish weather coming on and was excited to make a super easy crock-pot "technique" that was super delicous!). Tons of potatoes, corn, sloppy lentils, Jeff burgers for dinner with various fruit / 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. Reduced, not eliminated.

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).
Yes. :-D

6 Eliminate any added oil.
:nod: 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.
:-D 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. I did not stuff or starve....


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
OK, well... seriously both the colder weather and the early AM darkness are going to prompt me to shift a bit... Not going to be sedentary, but not loving cold and dark AM walking... (fine so far, but we are still in September!!! )


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Comment:
1): Well, knock me over with self-awareness... I seem to have a tendency to be doing "ok" and then wanting to raise the bar... Not helpful to sustainability of new habits that I want to just maintain and make easier and easier (which has been happening)... So, announcing my plan for Q4 2022 --- A) Follow the 10 point MWL checklist (holistically, without emphasis on any particular point), B) Will be looking to best re-deploy some of my "nice weather" AM walking time into other productive activity (like meditation, relaxation, stationary biking, strength / balance training), C) If I get it into my head to make additional goals, refer to this post!!! :lol:
2) Wishing folks the best... Not sure if anyone in group is in path of Hurricane Ian... Hoping all are ok. Have a friend in Fort Meyers who is ok and Riding the Storm Out gracefully (and hosting some coastline peeps)... so sorry to see the devastation...

Question:
Have an upcoming long weekend where some parameters for preparation are not in my wheelhouse. Hoping if anyone could weigh in to critique my plan / offer additional suggestions. My baseline assumption would be that I should pack all of my meals (but I will be happy to be proven wrong!!!). Hotel we are staying at does not (and will NOT ) have microwave (no control over where we stay as with a large group)... Pretty packed schedule of activities... (so, not seeing time to do something different...).. Anyway, here is my plan (bringing a cooler):
1) Durable / portable fruit --- bananas, apples / pears, grapes
2) Veggies --- Carrots, grape tomatoes, cauliflower
3) Starches --- Jeff Burgers, potatoes (just a bunch of whole ones baked)
4) Vinegar --- small bottle in purse

Considering pasta salad, hummus... I am pretty not picky (but do prefer at least room temp food!!)... Maybe simpler to eliminate what I am considering --- as I don't see opportunity to "do own thing" except maybe breakfast...

Beyond critique... anyone eat oats made with cold water??? Never tried... but curious... or maybe I try before going??

Sorry for perhaps dumb question...

Leaving all with this quote:
"Cover me in sunshine
Shower me with good times
Tell me that the world's been spinning since the beginning
And everything will be alright
Cover me in sunshine" --- Pink and Willow Sage Hart

Hope that everyone has a wonderful week!!

Cheers,
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 - September 2022 Grou

Postby Ejg » Fri Sep 30, 2022 7:40 pm

This week there were a few setbacks.

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Think I did this more often than not, didn't really keep track but if I ate (roughly) 21 meals, at least probably 15 started with salad or cut up peppers
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 probably mostly did this too, although I still think its easiest for me to actually eat from a plate and for each meal, split in half with non starchy vegetables. I didn't really employ that this week, however. Instead of 50/50, I found myself eating a huge portion of steamed vegetables, then later, eating some beans and potatoes. I have no idea if it all equaled out to 50% but was probably close. I didn't do so well with fruit in the evenings, although it wasn't totally unreasonable. This week revealed to me that I am definitely somebody who eats to relieve stress.
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. Don't recall any added salt or sugar although salt was likely in the salsa I ate
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). I ate some of my daughter's goldfish crackers so technically, ate cheese
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Didn't eat any of these
6. Eliminate any added oil. Didn't cook with oil but I'm sure it was in the goldfish crackers
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. Again, goldfish crackers. Eventually I recognized this was a problem and threw them away. I also ate a couple corn tortillas I found in the refrigerator, and had some of my daughter's pasta I made her. I rationalized the pasta by telling myself that they were made from chickpea flour, but I still count as a flour product.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Didn't drink calories
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. Found myself doing a bit of mindless eating in the evenings
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Probably about half the week I did this

Like I said, it was a stressful week, although I'm not using that as an excuse to justify going off the rails a little bit. Stressful weeks will happen so I'm just trying to think about how I'll respond next time. By last night, I recognized that I was starting to slip and vowed to get back on track. At least a dozen times today I found myself resisting eating something that I knew was not part of the plan (bagels, salted pistachios, etc.). I just told myself that many, MANY times before I have looked closely for stress relief in the bottom of a bag of potato chips (or whatever) and to date, haven't found it sitting at the bottom of the empty bag. Therefore there was no point in looking again. Those small decisions, which were numerous today, definitely felt like victory. I recognize that participants in this group are no longer required to report weight changes as part of the new format, but frankly I think its helpful for me if I do (keeps me honest). Therefore, cumulative change: -2, week over week change: 0
Though it feels malevolent, resistance operates with the indifference of rain and transits the heavens by the same laws as the stars. When we marshal our forces to combat resistance, we must remember this.
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - September 2022 Grou

Postby wildgoose » Fri Sep 30, 2022 8:16 pm

VegSeekingFit wrote:... anyone eat oats made with cold water??? Never tried... but curious... or maybe I try before going

Stephanie, I have a wonderful routine for overnight traveling oats. It requires a wide mouth Thermos (mine is this one) and a small electric kettle (only big enough to heat sufficient water to fill the Thermos — mine is 0.5 liter. You can use the hotel coffeemaker in a pinch, but I don’t like to do that). Plus a plastic bag of steel cut oats and a 1/8 cup measure.

Technique (adjust quantity of oats if your Thermos isn’t the same size as mine):

The night before you want to eat oats…
  • Fill kettle with water, bring to boil. Fill Thermos with boiling water, screw stopper cap on. (This preheats the Thermos, a must for nice warm oats.)
  • Refill kettle with water, bring to boil.
  • Empty hot water out of Thermos.
  • Put four scant 1/8 cups (not quite full measures) of steel cut oats in the bottom of the Thermos. (Yes, you can use a 1/2 cup measure — I use the 1/8 cup because it fits inside the Thermos, along with the plastic bag of oats, for easier packing.)
  • Fill Thermos with boiling water, screw stopper cap on snugly (you don’t want leaks).
  • Shake Thermos well to distribute water and oats.
  • Wrap Thermos in a towel. Lay it ON ITS SIDE (important) overnight.
In the morning, unwrap your Thermos and you will have delicious warm oats.

I’ve done this a lot in hotels over the years. Having a nice familiar hearty breakfast goes a long way toward getting the day off to a good start.

But definitely try before you go. You need to get the amount of oats determined for the consistency that you like. I’ve never done this with rolled oats, only steel cut. The Gander sometimes shares, but he likes them so well that I’ve gotten him his own Thermos.

By the way, to answer your original question, people do make overnight (rolled) oats with cold water, refrigerate them overnight, and either heat them (which I know you can’t do) or eat them cold in the morning. I’m just not a fan of cold oatmeal.

Goose
My story: MWL works!
How I determined my "goal weight"
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - September 2022 Grou

Postby moonlight » Fri Sep 30, 2022 10:48 pm

wildgoose wrote:
VegSeekingFit wrote:... anyone eat oats made with cold water??? Never tried... but curious... or maybe I try before going

Stephanie, I have a wonderful routine for overnight traveling oats. It requires a wide mouth Thermos (mine is this one) and a small electric kettle (only big enough to heat sufficient water to fill the Thermos — mine is 0.5 liter. You can use the hotel coffeemaker in a pinch, but I don’t like to do that). Plus a plastic bag of steel cut oats and a 1/8 cup measure.

Technique (adjust quantity of oats if your Thermos isn’t the same size as mine):

The night before you want to eat oats…
  • Fill kettle with water, bring to boil. Fill Thermos with boiling water, screw stopper cap on. (This preheats the Thermos, a must for nice warm oats.)
  • Refill kettle with water, bring to boil.
  • Empty hot water out of Thermos.
  • Put four scant 1/8 cups (not quite full measures) of steel cut oats in the bottom of the Thermos. (Yes, you can use a 1/2 cup measure — I use the 1/8 cup because it fits inside the Thermos, along with the plastic bag of oats, for easier packing.)
  • Fill Thermos with boiling water, screw stopper cap on snugly (you don’t want leaks).
  • Shake Thermos well to distribute water and oats.
  • Wrap Thermos in a towel. Lay it ON ITS SIDE (important) overnight.
In the morning, unwrap your Thermos and you will have delicious warm oats.

I’ve done this a lot in hotels over the years. Having a nice familiar hearty breakfast goes a long way toward getting the day off to a good start.

But definitely try before you go. You need to get the amount of oats determined for the consistency that you like. I’ve never done this with rolled oats, only steel cut. The Gander sometimes shares, but he likes them so well that I’ve gotten him his own Thermos.

By the way, to answer your original question, people do make overnight (rolled) oats with cold water, refrigerate them overnight, and either heat them (which I know you can’t do) or eat them cold in the morning. I’m just not a fan of cold oatmeal.

Goose


I want to thank Wildgoose for the Thermos oatmeal technique. Thanks!! This sounds perfect. I've taken a new job where I will stay in a hotel 2-3-4 nights once a month. And to Stephanie, I love cold oats in the morning. I put them in water at night in the fridge then add frozen blueberries in the morning for a perfect very cold morning jar of oats. :)
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Re: Summary for September 23 Reports

Postby moonlight » Fri Sep 30, 2022 11:15 pm

Mark Cooper wrote:**NOTE: edited after I realized I had omitted one of my question & answers. :eek: :oops: :lol: **

WOW! The quality of the discussion over the course of this week really knocked me off my feet! Thank you to everyone who participated for all your amazing responses! If you haven't taken the time to go back and peruse the discussion, I really encourage you to do so (here's a link to where wildgoose started things off). I found reading through everyone's thoughts about "success" to be a truly profound experience. Something that seemed particularly significant to me: while there were many different ideas, measures, and situations described, ALL of them seemed completely appropriate and relevant to that person, and IMPORTANTLY, to my mind they all describe a very healthy and reasonable assessment of what "success" looks like. That feels important.

As promised, my own responses are below. I want to note explicitly that these are just my personal thoughts and ideas, and not necessarily any kind of "model" for anyone else. I think you all gave some of the best answers I could imagine, and you've certainly inspired me in a powerful way. :!: I am so thankful to be a part of this group.

What does "success" look like to you?
With respect to my health and behavioral pattern/choices, my model of "success" is pretty simple and surely familiar:
SUCCESS = ADHERENCE + TIME

Jeff often refers to the MWL program as the program for Maximum Health, and I sincerely believe this to be true (at a minimum, it seems true for me in particular), so my mental picture of "success" is occupied by that pattern of behavior, now and on into the future. I also try to keep in mind Jeff's "health formula":
Health = CR-ON + appropriate exercise/fitness + adequate rest, relaxation & sleep + adequate sunshine + emotional poise + pure air + pure water

That is pretty expansive, right?!? Speaking more generally, and more from the "emotional side of things," a lot of my thoughts about how to frame success, and particularly how to differentiate that frame from my, sometimes maladaptive, inclinations toward perfectionism are discussed in this post.
The earlier discussions of direction, mindset and motivation are spurring me to share some thoughts on the perspective I use in driving myself forward and encouraging ongoing progress.

My personal default tends to be aiming toward perfection, but that path is clearly fraught with troubles; we humans are imperfect by our very nature, so if our goal is perfection we are guaranteed to fall short. Circumstances also sometimes intervene, making perfection unattainable despite all our efforts. Often the very best we can do still won't measure up against "perfect."

It seems advantageous to me to forfeit perfection as a goal, and instead pursue excellence. I can put forward my best efforts each week to do an excellent job working on the fundamental principles, behaviors and skills that are important and relevant to me. When I inevitably make mistakes, I try to exercise self-compassion, recognizing it's OK not to be perfect and that mistakes are a natural part of the learning process, as Jeff has so eloquently said.
JeffN wrote:5) BE PERSISTENT AND WORK HARD: Success is a marathon, not a
sprint. Never give up.

Like in all things, there will be some setbacks on the road to
health, and some difficult times ahead. This IS part of the
process. Relapse/setbacks do not equal failure, they are part
of the process of change (and success) that we all go through.
You will also encounter some obstacles. These are not there
as a sign for you to quit, but as a challenge to strengthen
your commitment to reaching your goals.


I think perhaps the difference between the pursuit of excellence vs. perfection is differentiated in our response to mistakes and obstacles - when I was seeking perfection, and made a mistake I often tended to "knock over the table" and give up for that day (or days or week :shock: ). That usually left me depressed, with a lot of practice at giving up, but very little practical experience overcoming obstacles or learning how to mitigate future mistakes.

In pursuing excellence, mistakes and failures can provide an opportunity for growth; I can learn something each time, surmounting that obstacle (usually not on the first attempt) and be better for it. That feels like the path to mastery - not being perfect or free from mistakes, but navigating situations with confidence and poise, knowing how to apply the fundamentals, recognizing what "doing the best I can" looks like in a given situation, and striving to do even better next time. That may be a goal that is always just out of my reach, but I find the chasing of it inspiring.


What markers, milestones, or other signifiers do you use to view your progress?
For me, the fundamental answer for this question is fully summed up in this post.
JeffN wrote:There are many biomarkers used to help determine/evaluate someones health.

These include (but not limited to)

BMI,
Waist Circumference
Waist to hip ratio
Waist to height ratio
Percentage Body Fat

Total Cholesterol
LDL
HDL
LDL/HDL
Total Cholesterol/HDL
Triglycerides

Blood sugar
insulin

Etc, etc

BMI is just one marker, as are all of the rest, and no one marker alone can predict someones health outcomes. And, they are just markers.

Or as the old saying goes, they are "fingers pointing to the moon" but not the "moon" itself.

I still think the "plate test" is the best test there is :)
Particularly, that very last bit. For me, the "plate test" is paramount.
JeffN wrote: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.
That is my favorite metric, largely because I tend to frame any of these "fingers pointing to the moon" in terms of "what would this information cause me to do differently?" It is my belief that the pattern of behavior described in the MWL 10-Point Checklist is the very best for maintaining my health and well-being, so if I have ADHERENCE through the passing of TIME, what would I want to change? (Assuming I am happy, feeling well, maintaining positive relationships, &c.)

I would be remiss if I didn't also mention that, in my case, another measure that I can't realistically ignore (even if I might like to sometimes) is the state of my disease progression/remission. As I've mentioned in the past, CRPS/RSD has no known cure at present, and very few treatments that are scientifically proven to be effective. Sadly, diet doesn't seem to be a curative, either; however, maintaining my adherence to MWL DOES seem to make it much easier for me to control and manage my symptoms and achieve something like a "normal" life (at least normal for me :lol: ). I have good times and bad times, and I've had to come to a kind of "radical acknowledgement" that "doing my best" still doesn't always mean I will be free from the effects of this disease. But IT DOES make that much more likely, and that is important. SO - a pretty powerful motivation for me.

In what context do you situate your goals, achievements and struggles?
For me, the most important context at present is my overall health and happiness, informed by my past experience with this way of living and my current sense of self-efficacy (if that makes sense). I try to view things not in terms of "how much I can get away with" or "the least restrictive," but rather "what pattern of behavior do I believe, informed by an understanding of the best applicable science of which I'm aware, is most likely to deliver health and well-being?" I also try to situate all my efforts within the context of what feels challenging but achievable for me at present, trying to be mindful of the fact that I do have a chronic illness with which to contend. It isn't always easy, but I try to treat myself compassionately under any circumstance I'm facing. I attempt to frame challenges as opportunities to learn, and struggle as a force that strengthens my practice.

How does it feel like you are doing at the present moment, and what informs that feeling?
I guess I feel like I'm doing pretty well! All my biomarkers fall in a healthy range, my MWL 10-Point Checklist is 10/10, and I'm passing the plate test everyday. My pain is minimal and I experience very few symptoms from my disease. I feel healthy, fit and capable. Perhaps most importantly, I'm happy! I feel connected and loved in my daily life, I feel like I make a positive contribution to my "tribe", and I really enjoy my daily routine. I have things to which I'm looking forward, and new goals toward which I aspire. All in all, I can't think of much more that I would ask for than all of that. :)


Again, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for your generous and open participation in the discussion. You're the best!

Have an amazing week, take care & be well! :D


Wow, thank you Mark for these questions and posting your answers. I especially liked your answer to: What context... Also, I really appreciate the quote from JeffN on the "plate test", and on his BE PERSISTENT AND WORK HARD comments. Whew, some good stuff there! I've really been struggling this week and I found those comments truly inspiring.
Thanks! And koodos to you on your persistant Adherence through struggling with health issues and harnessing your eating to comply with one of the hardest yet simplist diet plans.

As for me reporting on my week, I left Thursday for an out of town trip and forgot my 10pt checklist. It definitely wasn't going to be a 10/10 for me ( :eek: ) but I made progress this week compared to last week. I went off the rails on Wednesday night but since I have had a few comlipant meals but not great... I will be back next week with a better report.

Thanks to everyone for posting. I wish you all a great successful week coming up.

moonlight :)
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - September 2022 Grou

Postby MakeHealthLast » Sat Oct 01, 2022 3:13 am

Hello Stephanie,

Yes, you can definitely eat oats "raw" + cold. Late Spring through early Fall, that's how we eat them every morning (well when I'm eating on-plan :roll: ). I don't even soak them overnight, but just let them sit for maybe 10 minutes in room temperature water with a dash of ground cinnamon and add a fruit to it.

In less than ideal circumstances, no matter the time of day or night, I've taken the individual packets of plain oatmeal, torn a strip off the corner, poured a little in my mouth and then had some fruit and lots of water to drink + repeated until I had 1-2 packets. I know that the instant oatmeal packets aren't ideal, but they're still a LOT healthier than a lot of other foods. Another quick and easy thing to pack along with the oatmeal packets and bottled water are those applesauce packets where you twist off the top and squeeze them in your mouth. There are ones that are just apples and water, maybe a little ascorbic acid. Again, a raw apple would be a better choice, but these are easy to pop into a purse, briefcase, fanny pack, luggage, trunk of the car, etc..

Some stores carry small bowls of already made rice in the rice aisle. A lot of them contain oil, salt, etc.. But I have gotten a couple different brands over the years that had just rice and water. I've gotten both white rice (of course not ideal) + brown rice. I've eaten them without being able to nuke them + they're kind of chewy (especially the brown rice), but at least they're filling + healthy + starch! :)

Ideally it would be nice if you could take a little water heater with you. Then not only could you have warm/hot oats, you could whip up some yummy mashed potatoes if you use Bob's Red Mill Potato Flakes + some garlic powder, Mrs. Dash, etc.. These have been a life saver while travelling + at home.

Maybe you could get some of the Dr. McDougall Right Foods meal cups, if you have heated water. Do the rooms at least have a coffee maker where you could make hot water? If not, there are electric water kettles. I've even seen a collapsible silicone one on Amazon. There's also an old way, something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Immersio ... %3D&sr=8-1 . Very easy to pack, too!

Have you thought about taking some canned or boxed beans with you? I haven't been to Whole Foods for close to 2 years, but I used to get asceptic boxes of no salt added beans and I've been known to eat them right out of the box. You can always sprinkle a little pepper, etc. on them. If I go over the 1 cup/day of the recommended amount of beans, I have less or none the next day or more.

You've got this; I just know you'll be successful! :nod: If you don't mind sharing, I'm looking forward to hearing how it all went.
I formerly posted as Health 1st but forgot my password. My new Username came from a video I saw on YouTube. It can be taken 2 ways: I want to make my health last for decades, + never again want to make my health last place in my life.
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - September 2022 Grou

Postby MakeHealthLast » Sat Oct 01, 2022 3:57 am

P.S. Our favorite Dr. McDougall Right Foods Cups are the Split Pea + Black Bean. We never use a whole seasoning packet in each cup because they'd taste + be too salty. Cut up grape/cherry tomatoes are delicious in the Black Bean soup which can go over one of those rice cups.

P.P.S. I've done the oats with boiling water in a thermos in the winter with great success.
I formerly posted as Health 1st but forgot my password. My new Username came from a video I saw on YouTube. It can be taken 2 ways: I want to make my health last for decades, + never again want to make my health last place in my life.
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - September 2022 Grou

Postby Gimmelean » Sat Oct 01, 2022 8:43 am

Post for week ending 9/30/22

Hello everyone!

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.  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, I had some bread

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 but I really need to maintain awareness of this.

10) Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes. Explored the new corporate campus on foot this week. Got my steps in, took a nice little break, and became familiar with the area. I tend to do this when traveling too.

Victories,Comments,Questions,Challenges: Mark, thank you for sharing your success post with us. It is very inspiring. When I read everyone’s posts I always hope that I will find some words of inspiration that will make this effort more doable. I’m no longer looking for the illusion of making it easy or looking for a magic key that will make it stick with no work.
9/10 checklist successes this week. Glad to have this feedback loop to keep me aware of what I’m doing and not let sneaky old habits creep in and become commonplace again. Seems like when the weather starts getting colder my appetite increases. I’ll be working on making sure that I am taking smaller portions by starting with smaller plates and bowls. I can overeat even the most compliant foods that are prepared in advance if not watching out. No auto pilot for me this week or maybe the next few months.
In Europe, it’s commonplace to eat cold raw rolled oats with grated raw apple for breakfast that hasn’t been soaked overnight. They just don’t bother. Swiss Bircher muesli was the original version of overnight oats.
I’ve been making oat groats, the most intact version of the grain ( thank you Jeff) in the InstantPot using a Nutmeg Notebook recipe found easily online. It comes out just like brown rice. I also prepare barley which I rinse so it’s not mushy. Hulled barley is just labeled barley( thank you Carol) and is the most intact version of the grain while pearl barley is always labeled pearled barley. Once you have a recipe it’s really no effort nor time consuming at all and you’ll be glad you did. Almost all hotels can provide a mini fridge upon request if it’s not in every room where prepared foods can be stored. I like the idea of the thermos and mini kettle too.

Have a good week everyone!
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - September 2022 Grou

Postby Lizzy_F » Sat Oct 01, 2022 10:49 am

Hello team T&A! I hope this post comes through in time! I apologize for coming in (hopefully) just under the wire two weeks in a row.

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. YES, in a way that makes sense for me as described previous weeks – no change. :D

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, as described previous weeks – no change. :D

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 (salt), no added sugar that I know about this week. :D



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



5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). YES!!! Absolutely none again this week. My husband’s nuts looked good to me one day, but I turned away from that with ease, which feels like a miracle! :D



6. Eliminate any added oil. YES!!! Not eating out is a huge advantage here! I have had exactly one restaurant meal this entire year, that I can think of anyway. :D



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! And this feels like a miracle too given how resistant I felt initially to the idea of not eating bread, etc. :D



8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). YES!! :D



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 feel so improved in this area. Not perfect, for sure, but far from where I started.
:-D

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


Victories: Still on plan and it feels like regular life now – not like something I have to put extraordinary mental effort into. I do have to stay on my planning game so that meal prep and batch cooking happen. One day I ate the very last of my pre-cooked starches, and I could feel the anxiety start to build. That is not worth it! On a positive note, I was reminded that I DO have “emergency” type foods that are very fast to prepare – i.e. That pre-cooked “sticky white rice” from Costco, frozen rice, Minute Rice, and potatoes can be cooked in a flash in the microwave or instant pot. McDougall Right Foods cups, all manner of frozen fruits and vegs, etc. This experience (using the last of my pre-cooked batch cooked starch) served to show me that my “emergency foods and plans” need to be committed to memory and/or a piece of paper hanging on the fridge! I am NEVER more than a few minutes away from a meal around here!


Comments: Sorry I am so woefully behind reading everyone’s reports AND commenting!
TIME & ADHERENCE REALLY WORKS!!! I never understood before what it would feel like to go this long without straying. This feels effortless to me now. I never ever want to go back to the Pleasure Trap, which leads to that CONSTANT mental battle over whether I’m going to eat off plan or on plan. I am so very grateful for the McDougall Team and the 12-Day Program for helping me get here, and the MWL T&A accountability group for helping me STAY here! THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE!


Concerns: I feel like cr@p today after getting my second Shingles vaccine. So I spent the morning doing a LOT of food prep and running some errands, but this afternoon I’m going to veg out, and do the same all day tomorrow watching FOOTBALL! The Bears may be my home team, but Joe Burrow is my Style Icon for sure!


Questions: Am I crazy for stepping on the scale every day? I know the powers that be in the program do not recommend it – at least Dr. Lisle doesn’t. I know and expect the scale number to go up and down in a cRaZy way, especially now that I don’t have as much fat to lose. After a lifetime of dieting, I am so afraid of “out of sight, out of mind” type stuff – i.e. THINKING I’m doing fine, when in reality things are moving in the wrong direction. That has happened to me SO MANY TIMES where I fooled myself, only to find a big weight gain when I DID get on the scale. I use an app called “Happy Scale” which allows me to record my daily weight as a data point, but this it calculates my moving average or whatever – I feel pretty good using it. It keeps me out of the “daily panic” business and shows me that I am still making progress with weight, even when the scale is bouncing up and down. Using this app has definitely brought peace to my daily weighing habit, so I guess I’m saying I’m pretty comfortable right now with daily weighing. So is there a good reason to change?

Looking forward to rocking along with this group in October!
Beth

"Long-term sustainable change is what we are really after." ~Jeff Novick
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - September 2022 Grou

Postby Drew*# » Sat Oct 01, 2022 11:39 am

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.****Yes, mostly.
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, mostly.
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. **** 6/7
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, mostly
6. Eliminate any added oil. ****Yes, mostly
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 but working on it
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). ****Yes, mostly.
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). ****2/7 (going on a long walk today, yoga tomorrow)

I ran out of celery and added California Blend to my red beans and rice mixture, which is free of oil. My meals were either with a fruit and oat dish in the morning or the Blend. I deviated a little but have been careful this week to limit the same. While not required to lose weight from the doctor in my network before the operation, some other doctors using a similar non-mesh approach to recurrent inguinal hernia recommended that I be a certain weight based on my BMI. I can say that with a month to go I am on my way to the recommended BMI.

Have a great week!

Thank you Wildgoose for the oats recipe. I will try it out when traveling.

Mark, you make some good points about calorie dilution with grains rather than processed starch. My main meals consisted of this and I added more veggies to my last big batch of red beans and rice! Tastes good and is easy to eat even with braces.

Weight loss since last posting is 3 pounds. Weight is 181 lb per weigh-in.

Have a great week!

Drew
Last edited by Drew*# on Sat Oct 01, 2022 10:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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