The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - March 2022 Group

[Mark Cooper]

The window for reporting this week's behavioral results has officially closed.

The remainder of my replies and the weekly summary will follow.

[Mark Cooper]

carwex - Pretty near perfect sound pretty darn good, Carol! Your main dish + veggie, soup/salad + starch template for accommodating your guests sounds like a useful approach. Much as you describe, I find abstinence to be much easier to sustain than "moderation" with respect to alcohol (and troublesome foods, for that matter). Cheers to a successful week ahead!

Obadiah - I imagine your lowered blood pressure reading comes as a relief. You seem to have arrived at a pretty reasonable food prep routine for yourself - keep at it! Best wishes for a satisfactory and pleasant appointment with your doctor.

squealcat - Always nice to notice positive changes and areas where we are improving, right? Confining all the thumbs down to a single occasion seems like definite progress, Marilyn. Practice, evaluation, adjustment, and further practice keeps us getting better over time. Keep at it!

Gimmelean - Solid effort! That lasagna sounds delish. I really identify with the feeling you describe of struggling to disengage from stressors related to outward focused attention, and squaring my need for self-care with my vision of myself as an engaged and empathetic person. Something that has helped me detach from perseverating over the crazy newscycle: I ask myself whether interacting with all of that would inform or change my actions or behavior in my daily life. Would I do anything differently? When the answer is NO, as it often is, I feel much more comfortable focusing my attention on areas where my actions serve a useful purpose for myself or my community of mutual care.

josietheschnauzer - Nine weeks of dedicated efforts have delivered admirable results, Elsa! That is great! I think your list of goals is inspiring; they seem like a solid blueprint toward assembling a way of living congruent with health, happiness and wellbeing. We're walking that path toward living with equanimity, right? I think your intuition that you can trust your "common sense" with respect to feeling satiated is sound. Some thoughts on the same general topic from 2020 -

It should not require Holmesian levels of attention to know when you are full. Do you feel uncomfortable? Are you stuffed? If you overshoot the mark, take note and do your best to slightly adjust next time, but don't spend energy fretting and beating yourself up over that - if you stuffed yourself on MWL suitable foods, the calorie density was low and it seems unlikely that you will be continuously stuffing yourself at each meal, each day, on an ongoing basis. Don't overvalue the importance of these episodes, or think you need to perfectly manage hunger cues, as compared to the impact from including troublesome foods in your menu or planning not to adhere on a consistent (or occasional) basis. If you are over consuming problematic foods, the problem isn't your appetite, it's the food, and you can direct your efforts accordingly.

Drew*# - Glad to see you back reporting! Your self-assessment gives you a roadmap for working toward closer adherence.

Bottom line is I got to work on adding soft foods that are composed mostly of veggies, fruit, grain, and beans. I don't need the other stuff and will tell members of my family my plans and request that they respect it.

That seems quite attainable! I expect the key will be planning and prep, so that adherent foods are on hand, ready to go, and easy to access; the more simple and easy you can make it to assemble an adherent meal "in the moment," the more likely that will be the meal you eat. Letting your family know about your goals, and what you are working to achieve seems like a valuable step to take. They'll be much more likely to support you if they know how to do that, right? Seems like you are doing great with exercise! If that PAI score feels motivating, perhaps you could apply a similar framework toward the other recommended behaviors, and "score" yourself with the checklist each day (if that feels helpful for you)?

VegSeekingFit - HEY! There is a big YES!!! under number 5, Stephanie! And six days with 100% adherence! Way to go! I'm sure it feels great to see a path that avoids fighting against temptation/appetite every night. You are on your way to meeting that March goal you set yourself! Huzzah!

[Mark Cooper]

Please note - I replied to reporting participants in the two posts linked below.

Mark's Replies for March 4 - Part 1
Mark's Replies for March 4 - Part 2

All right! Thanks for getting March off to such an exciting and encouraging start! The enthusiasm and dedication exhibited by the members of this group is a source of joy for me!

Attention to food preparation and batch cooking seem like common threads through many of this week's reports: BambiS batch cooked some yummy cauliflower soup, Lachoffman kept a big salad ready to go in the fridge and fruit close at hand, Rebecka22 used frozen veggies to make a quick and easy 50/50 plate, Obadiah prepped brown rice and beans on an every other day basis, and Gimmelean made lasagna on the weekend for serving through the week. Being able to easily assemble an adherent meal whenever hunger strikes makes success SO much more attainable.

I realized I haven't shared Jeff's 10 Healthiest Packaged Foods in some time; they are so much a part of my daily routine that they tend to fade into the background of my attention, but that list is INDISPENSABLE. Obviously, numbers 8 & 9 are not recommended for MWL, but the remaining items are absolutely consistent with the recommended pattern of behavior. They serve as the primary ingredients for Jeff's Quick Recipes, which I use all the time. For those who participate in Facebook, he has many recipes included there, as well (with PICTURES!).

If you would like some additional reading this week, check out Science vs Sensationalism: A Simple Lesson in Critical Thinking. Jeff breaks down 8 key points for making sense of "Today's Breaking Health News". It offers real insight and education regarding how to put information in the proper context.

Have an amazing week! Take care and be well!

[JeffN]

Greetings

Now that we have finished our first check-in on the March T&A Group, I have moved the posts of those in the March group from the "Off Topic" Thread to here. Due to the time stamps on the moved posts, they will appear at the top of the March thread, even before Marks opening post.

If you have any questions or comments, just let me know.

Jeff

[squealcat]

I just looked at Jeff's recipe pictures on facebook and saw the bean burger recipe. So easy ! I will make it today ! I already have the cooked rice and, (I think) kidney beans and oats so I am good to go !

Thanks Mark for providing that link ! I hadn't seen it before !

-squealcat

[wildgoose]

I just looked at Jeff's recipe pictures on facebook and saw the bean burger recipe. So easy ! I will make it today ! I already have the cooked rice and, (I think) kidney beans and oats so I am good to go !

Jeffburgers are fabulous, and the recipe is very accommodating. Right now my favorite variation uses half kidney beans and half pinto beans (I make a double batch and use a can of each), garlic and onion powder, a little tomato sauce, and all oats (no rice). Let the patties set up in the fridge for a couple hours. I broil them (but it doesn’t matter how you cook them), then freeze the leftovers. I put Westbrae mustard and chopped raw onion on top and eat them with a side of Chubby Chips and a huge bowl of broccoli.

Goose

[squealcat]

My mouth is watering, Wildgoose ! Great idea to make a double batch ! I have a can of pinto beans in the cupboard as well and will try your suggestions ! Going to cook up some potatoes also so I can make some chubby chips too !

-squealcat

[Noella]

March 4, 2022
...My husband and I are preparing to pack up and move to Australia, where our children and grandkids live. We have to review all of our “stuff,” and much of it will be disposed of. This can be incredibly stressful and time-consuming, but I am determined to put the food preparation of MWL as my first priority in our daily routine...
Carol

Carol: It's incredible, impressive, and inspiring that during this hectic time of packing, you are "determined to put the food preparation of MWL first priority." Way to go!

Your upcoming move to Australia got me thinking about how challenging this must be for you. Decision fatigue is a real issue to guard against because you have to make a choice, or a series of choices, about every single thing you have. I hope you allow yourself frequent breaks to stay fresh as you pack all your items.

Following the principles of MWL has helped me avoid decision fatigue with all the essentials for getting healthy; I refer to the MWL guidelines for organization, meal planning, shopping and prepping multiple times daily.


Best regards,
Noella

[George Ohwell]

Hi everyone, I'd like to join this group. I am only 2 lbs from goal weight, and am looking for extra motivation to get me to the finish line and stay on track afterwards too. I do MWL regularly. However, I sometimes fall prey to the advice out there to eat healthy fats and get selenium from Brazil nuts and take vitamin D and so on and so forth! I recently watched Jeff Novick's nuts talks and realize I want the reinforcement of the McDougall program to keep me sensible and sane! (also I read JN's threads about Brazil nuts!)
I'll report in tomorrow for my week if that is okay.

-George

[Mark Cooper]

Welcome, George! Glad to have you here!

[Rebecka22]

1.Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. YES This continued to be a habit.
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 I stuck with my regular frozen veggies again this week.
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 Back on track this week!
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). YES I am committed to this one so it’s easier for me.
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). YES No eating out during Lent so this is easier and hopefully by Easter I will be in a good place!
6. Eliminate any added oil. YES No eating out and nothing processed.
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 I did find myself wanting some of this, but no surprise after last week. Stayed strong though.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). YES Pretty much only stray here when eating out, so no eating out helps here too.
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. YES Tried to get back to just eating when I was hungry, not waiting.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). YES I continued to do well with this one.

While the social/memory pressure of Fat Tuesday made last week hard, the Lenten season made staying strong through the cravings easier this week. Some big wins recently were great blood work for my physical, even my good cholesterol was good this time and going through my clothes again to get rid of so many things that no longer fit. With this being a lifestyle for the first time I don’t feel compelled to hold onto too big clothes because they might fit me again. While I may have the occasional lapse in behaviors, I feel the commitment to this way of living and so appreciate the accountability and support of this group.

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi MWL Team!

Hope that everyone is having a great week!! It is almost time to Spring ahead for Daylight Savings Time. Looking forward to being able to walk again (in daylight) at the end of the day.

Really enjoyed the discussion a few posts back on Jeff's Burgers. These are a staple for me too -- I keep the freezer stocked with them. Love that the template is so easy to follow and tweak to your spice preference. I like to add finely chopped veggies and hot sauce sometimes ... also, these work great as crumbles for in a 50/50 pasta / veggie dish. Appreciate the thought that could use all oatmeal (in lieu of rice + oatmeal) - may give that a whirl this weekend (as I am down to last 2 burgers in freezer).

I am so happy to have FINALLY after MANY MANY MANY weeks achieved 10 !!! I so appreciate this group - without which I am not confident that I could have banished the 5/7 struggles that I kept having. Thank you to Mark for continuing positive support and for nudging me to figure out what was causing this issue, to Wildgoose for great posts on "MWL is a choice" and the description of the Pleasure Trap, to Jeff for support of this group, all of the forum materials - especially the awesome Calorie Density presentation and the MWL checklist! Thank you to everyone who participates in this group. Appreciate the sharing and camaraderie.

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes. I have been eating mainly salad this week as a preload (for B, L, D) - used fruit a couple of times. Kept in refrigerator carrot and celery sticks and chopped radishes for easy grabbing. Also, have various lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers to add in to make this starter quite easily.

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.
*I have had oatmeal with fruit every day for breakfast (again - yes, I am BORING).
*I have continued to be vigilant to ensure that I am not shorting myself on starch to better manage hunger (and keep away the calls of ).
*I have switched one of the soup meals for a 50 / 50 plate - which makes it easy to not make mistake in estimating that volume is equal (starch, veggie / fruit).
*For the meal that I have soup, I have made sure to include a bit extra potato / rice / beans.
* This has continued to help tremendously in adherence to 5/7. I still get some nighttime thoughts of 5/7 snack, but am more readily able to control them!!!


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, 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.
As part of my issue with 5/7, I think I may not always be consistent in eating when hungry and I am trying to be more mindful here.
A few times this week, I have felt a little "peckish" and have made sure not to let that get to "ravenous" by eating some roasted potato slices.
For some reason, I don't seem to notice the gray area in between these too.
Let me know if this isn't right approach - it seemed to work for me this week, but I don't want to stray off into left field....


10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes, got in 6 walks outside! Better weather!!!
* Met goal of averaging 8K steps / day for the week.
*Yearly average steps / day exceeds the 8K - which I would like to increase.


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

I am going to quote a bit of Dr. McDougall from MWL book (p. 73)... "The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss works, as long as you follow it faithfully. You can fail yourself. Little lapses can make the difference... You may very well be eating better than ever before, but that might not be enough. Or you may not be eating as close to the rules as you have led yourself to believe."

My victory this week is that I am much more confident that I can manage my way out of the Pleasure Trap and 5/7 compliance issues. This feels really good in comparison to being super frustrated at myself for MANY consecutive weeks (and feeling a bit foolish consuming calorie dense foods). That is priceless. Outcome - I have lost 2 lbs. this week. Over the 3 week period that I have slowly "cleaned up" 5/7, I have lost 5 lbs. and I am likely within spitting distance of "compliant" weight. I know that this will need on-going attention and is NOT a given. So, my goal for next week is also 10 ....

Encouraging everyone to KEEP GOING... we can all do this!!!! Have a great week!!

Best,
Stephanie

[Mark Cooper]

Rebecka22 - Awesome! Way to make the prevailing cultural tradition of this week work in congruence with your intentions! Congratulations on the great test results AND the downsized wardrobe.

With this being a lifestyle for the first time I don’t feel compelled to hold onto too big clothes because they might fit me again. While I may have the occasional lapse in behaviors, I feel the commitment to this way of living and so appreciate the accountability and support of this group.

It was a real thrill to read this. Keep it up!

VegSeekingFit - 10/10! Hooray! Way to go, Stephanie; I'm so excited for your achievement! It serves as an outstanding illustration that these challenges ARE SOLVABLE; it isn't always simple or easy, but with continuing attention and thoughtful effort, obstacles can be overcome.

A few times this week, I have felt a little "peckish" and have made sure not to let that get to "ravenous" by eating some roasted potato slices. For some reason, I don't seem to notice the gray area in between these too.

That seems quite sensible to me, particularly if you have noticed yourself feeling "ravenous" seemingly out of the blue in the past. Onward!

I want to let everyone know that my remaining replies and the summary for this week will be posted later than usual, either Saturday night or Sunday morning. Tomorrow is the day we're taking Posey to see a show on Broadway, so I'm not sure what time I'll be back home, but I'm sure it will likely be late. Thanks in advance for your understanding. Best to all for a successful close to the week.

[squealcat]

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. No problem
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'm pretty good here
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. reduce is the word. Someday I hope to eliminate but have to get over a few other things first.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). explaination below
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). see below
6. Eliminate any added oil. see below
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. see below
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). I don't drink my calories
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. see below
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). I continue to walk and also do stretch exercises. Looking forward to warmer weather next week !

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:I had a pretty good week until yesterday (Thursday ) when I met a friend for lunch .
I had fruit and oatmeal for breakfast which was fine but then met my friend for lunch and ordered best I could asking for my potato/veg scramble to be cooked on a dry skillet. Well, it didn't taste very good. I thought I was ok with that but then later on I got take-out and really ate beyond full and then was "full" of regrets. I know I can do better than this and yearn for a week with all I think I let my disappointment about the taste of the food turn into a feeling of being deprived and that set something off. That take-out food (which I used to really love) really didn't taste good either So I continue on and got out my MWL checklist which has helped me in the past. I wasn't perfect today but a lot better. I got right back to my exercise routine along with preloading and plain food.

Anyway. Lesson learned. I am thinking about eating at home next time I meet with my friends and maybe just have a fruit bowl and some tea. They really won't mind. I don't think I will either as long as I am not hungry. Will see.

-squealcat (Marilyn)

[BambiS]

3/11

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Yes, no issues here.

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 could have done better with this


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 no problem

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, but found myself craving a piece of toast.

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Yes, no problem here.

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’m trying to be more mindful of this


10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Yes
I met my daily steps goal, took a couple walks this week.


Victories, comments, concerns, questions
Stayed the same this week, my losses have slowed down. I still need to be more mindful of the 50/50 plate, I’ve gotten sloppy with that. I’m looking forward to trying McDougall stew for St Patrick’s day!