Good Sunday Afternoon!
In keeping with having this be a journal of my health (or unhealth
) journey, I am going to now post some things that have been written elsewhere so that my journey is much more able to understand + to see the time line. And, I'm hoping eventually I'll be able to see patterns of good + bad that I can learn from + make positive changes.
From the September 2021 MWL thread:
---Saturday, September 11, 2021
Hello Mark + everyone else,
Just a quick post to say I won't be participating this week. Was hoping to write more to explain but don't have time now, so will do so ASAP.
Hoping everyone is well!
P.S. Hadn't signed in for 8 days, yet had to login twice + rearrange the non + acceptable foods. Said I attempted too many logins.
From Mark Cooper:
Health 1st - Thank you for letting us know; I hope you are doing well, and wish you the best.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
----Thursday, September 16, 2021
Hello Mark,
Thank you for your well wishes!
For as long as I remember, any time I've lost weight in the past 30+ years (from Weight Watchers + Jenny Craig to McDougalling, etc.), the weighing in has always been a problem for me. Years ago, if I lost a lot, I tended to reward myself with, you guessed it: an off-plan "treat". If I didn't lose, or just a tiny bit, I'd figure, "I might as well have x, y, z.".
But, I am very,
very happy to say that I did not feel this way
at all in my recent weight loss journey with MWL!
I think a lot of it is because of the checklist, the support from you + others, + I was ready to put my "Health 1st".
However, the last few weeks posting to the MWL Group, as hard as I tried, the #'s on the scale were becoming too important to me. Admittedly, I believe my weighing daily did me no favors. And the "funny" thing is that, except for the sweaty/hardly ate anything week, I was super shocked to lose so much each week. I never thought it would continue for so long!
So there's that whole weight thing, and then the other big thing is that my already very busy life has just ramped up all the more. I'm consistently not getting to bed until 3am or later, + surviving on little sleep.
During the Labor Day weekend I started analyzing all of this, including that each week I was doing less + less of #1 from the checklist + frankly realistically don't see myself improving a lot on that one right now with my crazy schedule + still dealing with some physical limitations from the pain + discomfort.
So then I thought, maybe I need to take a break from the MWL Group, but still try to keep up MWL on my own except for "worrying" about #1. Also, I was hoping to finally treat my family to McDougall compliant cornbread, fat-free black bean brownies, + fat-free apple cider "doughnuts". When I'd actually find time to make these is anyone's guess, but I figured if I made them, I could have a serving + not be off-plan if I'm not MWL.
But I have
so enjoyed being a part of the Group! Knowing there are others out there doing this with me, us checking in, + you wisely commenting is such a blessing! Unfortunately, with everything going on, I did derail. At 1st it was "just" a vegan BOCA burger + some Lay's Potato Chips on Labor Day + then I got right back on MWL. So, I was very excited about the strides/behavioral improvements!!!
But about half a week later, with everything going on (+ me still weighing daily--duh!
), I got off plan + now am in the weeds...tall weeds. I am up in weight, + most importantly, I have already seen my health digress. So I'm thinking maybe I should try the MWL Group again, only weigh every Friday morning, + try my hardest to not let whatever the # is phase me.
But what if I'm not doing #1 with any consistency? What if I do have a McDougall (but not MWL) approved piece of cornbread, brownie, or even a sandwich on no salt added Ezekiel bread? In my mind, I should keep getting better + better on each of the 10 of the checklist, but this would be back tracking once in awhile. ...maybe this is me focusing on perfection rather than direction...?
Please give me your honest thoughts. I don't want you to feel obligated to say it's okay for me to be in the MWL Group, + I do believe with my recent successes that I can pull it off on my own--+ check in with my journal/post there.
I just want to clarify: I do
not have any immediate plans to eat anything non MWL + I'm going to strive to do MWL, but maybe as we get closer to the Holidays--1 bean/banana (no oil, dairy, eggs, or sugar) brownie for Thanksgiving.
If it's okay for me to stay on, can I post a weight this Friday or would it just be a zero?
Thank you for all your time + wisdom! I'm sorry I didn't write days earlier, as I had planned. Looking forward to your response.
From Mark Cooper:
Health 1st - Everyone stumbles sometimes, and one purpose of this group is to aid participants in "picking themselves back up."
Health 1st wrote:
I just want to clarify: I do not have any immediate plans to eat anything non MWL + I'm going to strive to do MWLThis is what is important; we don't expect perfection, just that everyone tries to do their best. We recognize that these are hard changes to make, especially within the context of the broader food/cultural/societal dynamic. I think this post will help to answer all your questions, and offer some food for thought. Please feel free to report & weigh-in on Friday, if you feel that participating in the group serves your goals.
Health 1st wrote:
So I'm thinking maybe I should try the MWL Group again, only weigh every Friday morning, + try my hardest to not let whatever the # is phase me.I certainly would encourage you to do this, for all the reasons Jeff discusses in To Weigh or Not to Weigh. (I'm sorry. When copying + pasting, the links are not linking.)
From me:
Thanks so much, Mark!
Yes, I am ready to recommit + will post tomorrow. I just read the link from Jeff about weighing. I've read it in the past, but it's always a great read! I will definitely only weigh once a week--lol--I had enough of that daily weighing!
Looking forward to reading the 1st link tonight.
I know my weight tomorrow will be demoralizing, but my main concern truly is putting my health 1st, + I know it'll go down. I'm also hoping I can be an example of what not to do so that others maybe can learn from my experiences rather than them doing the damage to their health.
"See" you tomorrow; and thank you, again!
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----From Saturday, September 18, 2021
Hello Mark + everyone!
I was going to do the checklist for this week, but the more I thought of it, it doesn't really make a lot of sense as I can unfortunately honestly say that the last week + a half, I have not focused on any of the points except for #10, + #10 (slow walking) has been just for movement + enjoyment, no thoughts of it helping me lose weight.
I have not been on track at all + really am starting from ground zero again. So please put me down as a 0, like a new member.
Thank you!
----From Mark Cooper:
Health 1st - I know starting over from the ground up often isn't an easy thing, with respect to both the actual effort involved, and the potential burden from self-recrimination. Take a moment to acknowledge that making these changes is hard, treat yourself with kindness, and concentrate on the things that you will do to enable yourself to return to the recommended pattern of behavior in the present. Given that self-assessment with the checklist is one of the specific requirements for the group, I'll exclude you from this week's compilation, so as to be fair to all the participants. If you are facing specific challenges in getting back on track, and you'd like some support, feel free to share that here - collectively, the group might have some useful thoughts to offer.
From me:
Thank you for your advice + encouragement, Mark! I apologize as I forgot that the checklist is a requirement---I'll be sure to fulfill this requirement for next week.
Thankfully, my recent successes are still helping me in that instead of mentally beating myself up (I did a little), my main focus has been on why + how I fell off the wagon to the extent I have. I plan to type out these realizations. Should I just post them in my journal or maybe here, too...in this month's Weigh-In thread or make a new subject under the MWL category? If someone can glean from my experiences, then that would help this fall from not being so much in vain.
Even though I've kind of been M.I.A. the last 2 weeks, know that all your effort helps us so much, because without you + the Group, I do not think I would be feeling as hopeful as I do that my full return to healthy eating/MWL is imminent + that I will continue to keep heading in the right direction for the rest of my life.