Mark's MWL Journal

[Mark Cooper]

A 10-POINT CHECKLIST FOR MAXIMUM WEIGHT LOSS (MWL)

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
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 desert.
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.
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.
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.
8. Don’t drink your 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).

Exercise: PT Exercises X 3, 30 minutes on exercise bike - vigorous pace, leg curls, box sits, bridges.

Still very sore today, but I was able to exercise somewhat harder than yesterday. It was an exciting day, my daughter’s first day of kindergarten! She really enjoyed it. I was hungry enough for 3 meals today (although my 2nd meal was a small one) and quite full at the end of the day without being stuffed. Fruit consumption was back in line, as well.

[Lyndzie]

So sorry to hear about your accident! Get rested up. Hope you feel 100% again soon.

[Mark Cooper]

So sorry to hear about your accident! Get rested up. Hope you feel 100% again soon.

Thanks! I feel a little less sore/achy each day, but it seems like every morning I notice that I'm sore in a new spot!

[Mark Cooper]

A 10-POINT CHECKLIST FOR MAXIMUM WEIGHT LOSS (MWL)

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
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 desert.
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.
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.
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.
8. Don’t drink your 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).

Exercise: PT Exercises X 3, 30 minutes on exercise bike - vigorous pace, 10 minutes brisk walking on treadmill, leg curls, box sits.

Actually even more sore today than yesterday! I'm really hoping tomorrow that I'll finally be on the mend from the auto collision, as I'm pretty exhausted at this point. Meals went smoothly - only hungry for 2 large meals today, just two servings of fruit, full but not stuffed.

[Mark Cooper]

A 10-POINT CHECKLIST FOR MAXIMUM WEIGHT LOSS (MWL)

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
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 desert.
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.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). 1 tsp flaxseed, which I'm guessing shouldn't be troublesome, but am noting in the interest of a thorough inventory.
6. Eliminate any added oil.
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.
8. Don’t drink your 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).

Exercise: PT Exercises X 3, 30 minutes on exercise bike - vigorous pace, 10 minutes brisk walking on treadmill.

For my daily SNAP Stew today I decided to try rolled oats for the starch component (inspired by Spiral’s savory oats in the morning) and it turned out really delicious and very satiating - a definite keeper. Finally a little less sore today, although still too much rib cage pain to resume my calisthenics routine. 2 meals today & 2 servings of fruit, quite full at end of day, but not stuffed. I think I'm back in a groove again, despite this weeks craziness.

[Mark Cooper]

A 10-POINT CHECKLIST FOR MAXIMUM WEIGHT LOSS (MWL)

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
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 desert.
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.
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.
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.
8. Don’t drink your 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).

Exercise: PT Exercises X 3, 30 minutes on exercise bike - vigorous pace, 13 minutes brisk walking on treadmill.

Generally less sore today, except for my sternum - it still really hurts. Don’t know how long before I’ll be able to do calisthenics again, so just continuing my cardio. 2 Meals today, 1 serving of fruit, quite satiated. I'm going to try to eliminate my daily cup of coffee tomorrow, substituting hot water with lemon.

[Idgie]

[Mark Cooper]

Thanks, Idgie!

[Mark Cooper]

A 10-POINT CHECKLIST FOR MAXIMUM WEIGHT LOSS (MWL)

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
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 desert.
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.
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.
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.
8. Don’t drink your 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).

Exercise: PT Exercises X 3, 30 minutes on exercise bike - vigorous pace, 13 minutes brisk walking on treadmill.

Sternum still quite sore today, I think it may actually be another week before I can resume my regular calisthenics. I eliminated my daily coffee today and was pretty fatigued - I'm hoping that will go away in a few days. I was also hungry enough for 3 meals today, probably a little excessive in my fruit consumption, but otherwise a solid day.

[Mark Cooper]

A 10-POINT CHECKLIST FOR MAXIMUM WEIGHT LOSS (MWL)

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
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 desert.
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.
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.
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.
8. Don’t drink your 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). Aside from physical therapy, no real exercise today.

Exercise: PT Exercises X 3.

My sternum was really sore today and I was feeling totally exhausted, so I slept in an extra hour and skipped my morning exercise session. I’m not sure whether it is down to giving up my 1 cup of coffee, if I’m battling some sort of oncoming bug or am just wiped out from the auto collision, but I’m really hoping I feel more energetic tomorrow. I wasn’t really hungry enough for 3 meals today, but added a couple of snacks between meals. I’m feeling satiated at the end of the day, but went overboard on fruit. I’ve noticed on the days when I’m in the most pain, I really get cravings for fruit, not sure why that is.

[Mark Cooper]

A 10-POINT CHECKLIST FOR MAXIMUM WEIGHT LOSS (MWL)

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
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 desert.
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.
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.
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.
8. Don’t drink your 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).

Exercise: PT Exercises X 3, 30 minutes exercise bike - vigorous pace, 13 minutes brisk walking on treadmill.

Felt a little better today, although still pretty worn out. I was able to resume my morning ride on the exercise bike and walking, but my chest is still way too sore to do calisthenics. 2 meals today, with a “snack meal” of soup and fruit salad in between. I’m feeling comfortably satiated at the end of the day. No headache from eliminating coffee, but I’m wondering if that absence is part of the reason I’m feeling so tired.

[Mark Cooper]

A 10-POINT CHECKLIST FOR MAXIMUM WEIGHT LOSS (MWL)

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
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 desert.
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.
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.
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.
8. Don’t drink your 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).

Exercise: PT Exercises X 3, 30 minutes exercise bike - vigorous pace, 13 minutes brisk walking on treadmill.

Still feeling pretty fatigued today. I had my appointment with the Heme / Onc Specialist today - apparently I’m a bit anemic, so more blood tests and now an ultrasound. It would be really nice to figure out what is going on with my health! That took up most of the first half of the day, so I didn’t have a chance to eat my first meal until about 1:30 pm. At my second meal of the day, I couldn’t actually finish my usual portion of food, so I packed it away for tomorrow - I’ll be curious to see if I’m extra hungry tomorrow morning. Pretty pleased with myself that I was able to stop eating without stuffing myself, and only one serving of fruit today.

[Mark Cooper]

A 10-POINT CHECKLIST FOR MAXIMUM WEIGHT LOSS (MWL)

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
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 desert.
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.
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.
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.
8. Don’t drink your 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).

Exercise: PT Exercises X 3, 30 minutes exercise bike - vigorous pace, 13 minutes brisk walking on treadmill.

My energy level today was a little bit higher, so it seems like I am gradually recovering from the collision (and maybe adjusting to no coffee?). Quite a bit of foot/ankle pain today, but the soreness in my chest seems to be lessening (very gradually), I’m hoping maybe I’ll be recovered enough to resume my calisthenics on Monday. 2 meals today, feeling quite satiated, maybe even a bit overfull.

[Mark Cooper]

A 10-POINT CHECKLIST FOR MAXIMUM WEIGHT LOSS (MWL)

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
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 desert.
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.
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.
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.
8. Don’t drink your 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). No real exercise, aside from physical therapy exercises.

Exercise: PT Exercises X 3.

I felt really exhausted this morning, so took a break from my morning exercise bike - I’m hoping I just need a recovery day to get my energy level back up. Went totally overboard on fruit for my first meal, again I’m noticing a correlation to my pain level being high and a major craving for fruit. The rest of the day was on track for eating, but my ankle pain is about as bad as it has been in quite a while. I’m really hoping I feel better tomorrow!

[Mark Cooper]

A 10-POINT CHECKLIST FOR MAXIMUM WEIGHT LOSS (MWL)

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
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 desert.
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.
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.
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.
8. Don’t drink your 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).

Exercise: PT Exercises X 3, 30 minutes on the exercise bike - vigorous pace, leg curls, box sits.

My energy level still feels pretty low today, but foot & ankle pain is not as bad - exercise always helps, provided I can muster the energy to exert myself pretty vigorously. 2 meals today, and a big fruit salad as a snack - feeling pretty good, but quite tired.