December 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

For those wanting to learn about and follow the McDougall Maximum Weight Loss Program. You can also join our monthly weigh-ins.

Moderators: JeffN, f1jim, carolve, Heather McDougall

Re: December 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby Noella » Fri Dec 03, 2021 2:06 pm

Hi Everyone!

DOWN - 0.2 lbs.
MWL Starting Date - April 1, 2020

Current Weight - 149.5 lbs.

1. Start each meal with 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). No …a piece of cake for a party.
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Yes.
6. Eliminate any added oil. No… birthday cake already mentioned.
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…The same piece of cake at a birthday party.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). No….A glass of wine at the same birthday party
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). Trying…I am still not getting nearly enough ‘moderate’ exercise each day. Many times my exercise is hardly in the ‘moderate’ range at all. I count walking through a big box warehouse for a couple hours as exercise. Why? Because it is much more than I could do when I was ninety pounds heavier. A year ago it hurt my knees so much to go shopping. I had to lean on the cart and I moved so slowly with lots of rests. Movement of all types is so much more enjoyable now! It is hard to believe that I could do anything physical carrying an extra 90 pounds with each step. My knees thank me, in their own way, by feeling sturdier, more agile and pain free with each step. Each month over the past 24 months my knees got a tiny bit happier than the month before. It wasn’t instant but the improvement in my knees has been steady. Happily I haven’t had sharp knee pain since last summer. The memory of the pain I used to have keeps me on track with MWL, though. I don’t want any more joint pain.

Victory: I got out on the cross country ski trails for the first time this season and while the snow conditions were icy, it was a beautiful sunny day. I had so much fun! I fell once and I was okay with that. I laughed to myself that I need a tumble now and then to keep myself humble. I’m so thankful. This week I stumbled with cake and wine at a family birthday celebration. it didn’t even taste good. I think I stumbled because of the social pressure to fit in, ‘belong’ and celebrate with family. Maybe a bit of social anxiety, too. The cake led me to the wine. It’s such a slippery slope, right? It would have been better if I hadn’t had a bite of cake, because once I did the flood gates to pleasure opened. I got right back to following MWL after my stumble.

Appreciation #1: I appreciate Wildgoose’s idea of December Simplicity Weeks leading up to Christmas. Simple food, simpleprep, simple decorations, simple celebrations… That suits me! My favourite thing for the holiday season is bringing fresh pine, cedar and fir branches into each and every room. Today we cut down a lovely fir tree from the forest and brought it inside our house. I am and steadily, trying to uncouple fun and celebrating with calorie dense food. In my pre MWL days every activity I did somehow always centred around calorie dense, decadent foods. I’m still trying my best to change/reduce my emotional relationship/attachment to rich food in abundance at special occasions and stressful times. For instance, my goal this coming year is to completely uncouple the joy of skiing from the joy of eating calorie dense après-ski meals, beverages and desserts. When I went cross country skiing earlier this week, I had some water at the start and an apple after, followed by a healthy starch and veggie balanced MWL meal. So much better than the pub food that’s available at the ski hill. I’m trying to do the things I love (skiing) simply because I love doing them not because it’s an excuse to indulge and overeat. I’m trying to break the historical connection I have had between food and fun and keep my focus more on the fun. At the same time, I believe it’s possible to serve delicious healthy MWL foods to guests. These can be prepared and presented to be beautifully celebratory, too. I am trying to improve my culinary skills and my craft of entertaining others.

Appreciation #2: I appreciate Jeff Novick’s post that it is a myth that yo-yo dieting damages metabolism. Prior to MWL I had received advice to not lose weight based on this myth. A friend recommended I accept being obese as my reality. I’m so grateful to know the truth. I believe that losing one hundred pounds is possible. Thanks, Jeff for explaining this and providing research as evidence.

Appreciation #3: I appreciate Mark’s gracious guidance and encouragement each and every week. Thank you for caring so much Mark!


Image
“What I am about to tell you is so utterly simple and true that it may deceive you: Health feels better than sickness. You will be happier at your ideal weight than you are overweight. You will be proud of yourself. You’ll have confidence. You’ll feel so many good things that right now you cannot imagine and I cannot describe. But the net effect is that you’ll like yourself a lot more. You’ll look in the mirror and actually like what you see; you may even love what you see. You will have honored the person within yourself who longs to be healthy, beautiful, and free of all those burdens that overweight brings. Life will not be perfect, but it will be better.”
― John A. McDougall, The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss
Last edited by Noella on Sun Dec 05, 2021 12:54 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Mark's Replies for December 3 - Part 1

Postby Mark Cooper » Fri Dec 03, 2021 2:23 pm

BambiS - TEN y's and down 2.8 lbs! Continue attending to the recommended behaviors and you'll be heading for that next milestone. :nod: That should make for a Happy New Year, right?

Gimmelean - I applaud you for being accountable and reporting honestly! It seems to me, for whatever reason, that oftentimes, when we lapse it can pretty easily be a string of the "wrong" foods "all at once." I think, perhaps, that an encounter with the Pleasure Trap can snowball and cause a repeating cycle. So, the key is to break that pattern as soon as possible - getting back to basics, and making the very next meal consist of the recommended foods is a good way to do that (then do the same with the next meal, and the next). A lapse needn't become a full relapse, but it can get out of control pretty easily in my experience, so a focus on returning to the previously successful form is important. You can do it. :)

Rebecka22 - Getting back on track is no mean feat, and you certainly should feel proud about adhering to the recommended pattern of behavior! Behavior is where we have the most leverage and control, so it is the focus for our efforts. The scale may not always directly reward us, but we know it will ultimately conform to the prevailing pattern of behavior we establish over time. I could not agree more that planning is essential for succeeding in the face of holiday challenges. :thumbsup:

Artista - Hi, Nancy! December seems like a great month to reengage with MWL. Moderation doesn't work for me, either. Among my all time favorite articles are Jeff's series on The Myth of Moderation: Parts 1, 2, & 3

GreenFroG - That does sound like a great, adherent Thanksgiving meal! Like you, I've discovered that "just a taste" of something like pumpkin bread, for me, inevitably leads to another and another and another. I know that isn't necessarily true for everyone, but I eventually realized that never taking that first taste, at least for me, was much easier for success at my own goals. Aiming for simplicity is nearly always a solid tactic. Onward!

Maco - Off to a nice start, Maja! Nix the soymilk, add a little more exercise, and you'll be 10/10. Just to clarify,
JeffN wrote:In regard to added salt and added sugar, we recommend buying and preparing food without either and if any are to be used, to add them at the table on the surface of the food. If either one is troublesome and create uncontrollable cravings for you, then leave them out.
So a sprinkle of salt on the surface of your food is acceptable for MWL.
Maco wrote:It is so nice to eat what you choose instead of what is seducing you.
Agreed! :D

Hope410 - Nice progress! Keep working at those exercise days and you will get that habit established! :thumbsup:

Noella - Woo-hoo! Enjoy those ski trails! That social pressure to fit in can definitely be a force acting upon us; something that has helped me is actively looking for other ways or things I can do to have a sense of "belonging" at an engagement or celebration that don't conflict with my preferred pattern of behavior. At least that stumble, given that "it didn't even taste good," wasn't the first in a series of trip-ups, right? Thank you for your very kind appreciations!
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Re: December 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby cmcavazos2 » Fri Dec 03, 2021 6:05 pm

Weight change +/- in lbs: +2# gain

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. NO
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them. NO
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). YES
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). YES
6. Eliminate any added oil. NO
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. NO
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). YES
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. NO
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). YES

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
Victories: From my Thanksgiving travels, my planned on-the-road meals were MWL complaint. That accounts for 6 of the last 14 day period. We walked daily since we took our dog with us. He doesn't skip a day of exercise! He is a big lab-newfoundland mix that walks briskly -- the MWL way.

Comments: Thanksgiving Day meal went well. -- The days following Thanksgiving were overly food focused and lots of leftovers for meals. I let down my guard after Thanksgiving. My food choices were not horrible, but I ate between meals and did not stop eating when I felt full at mealtime. I ate seconds which I do not normally do. I did not weigh myself last Friday and did not weigh myself until today. I'm sure that earlier in the week my weight was even higher. I easily got back on track when back home in my routine. It's good to be home!

Moving forward in the MWL way for December...
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Re: December 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby VegSeekingFit » Sat Dec 04, 2021 1:05 pm

Hi Everyone!

I so appreciate all of you for sharing your travels in following the MWL checklist. Always so many things to relate to!!!

Also, much appreciation to Mark, Jeff, and Wildgoose for consistent great advice!!! I always read all of Mark's comments -- there are usually questions / suggestions / thread links posted for a fellow member that are beneficial.

Weight change - .2 lbs. (gain...) :oops:
Current weight - 127.4 lbs.
Last Week weight - 127.2 lbs.

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Yes. At least breakfast & lunch. Not always dinner. This is per my usual pattern and is a future opportunity for improvement.

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. Trying to keep this 100; one miss at dinner. Again, per my usual patter that is future opportunity.

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. :D

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Yes.

6 Eliminate any added oil. Yes! I do not add oil and only have this if eating out (which I hardly ever do).

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. I continue to focus on hunger and am not stuffing and not starving.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes. I walked outside 6/7 days - generally 45-70 minutes - doing this at lunch when the temperature is usually warmest. Had a couple of unseasonably warm days that were GREATLY appreciated!! Also, have added balancing activity on most days. Will be moving on to strength & stretch on consistent basis.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Victory - one more week of adherence to the checklist..

Comments -
For month of December, planning to focus on the following:
1) Keep on with the MWL Checklist (like other fellow members have stated -- including unwritten rule 11 - keep it simple)
2) Focus on mindfulness vs. reflexive behavior (so, in all honesty when I fail on #7, the pretzels didn't just jump into my mouth....)
3) Connect, engage - the season should be fun and not focus on food. Enjoy opportunities to spend time with family and friends.

Wishing all a wonderful MWL 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: December 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby CUgorji22 » Sat Dec 04, 2021 1:33 pm

*Weight Change: -0.8 lbs (loss)*

*Guidelines:
Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Compliant 7/7 days
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. Compliant 7/7 days
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. Compliant 6/7 days
Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Compliant 7/7 days
Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Compliant 6/7 days
Eliminate any added oil. Compliant 5/7 days
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. Compliant 6/7 days
Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Compliant 7/7 days
Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don’t starve yourself and don’t stuff yourself. Compliant 7/7 days
Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Compliant 2/7 days 

*Summary:
Well, Mark...I'm back. Lol! And I'm glad to be here. Thank you for the questions you posed last week that helped me make a decision about sticking around this month...or not. I even read your feedback to my husband; we had a good discussion about my health, motivation, goals, and embracing habits. 

*Challenges:
- Ordering take-out for my husband's birthday resulted in added salt + oil + a flour product.
- I felt I had to use sesame oil for a fried rice dish I made...which prob isn't true but I was so fearful that it wouldn't turn out the way we're used to eating it. I think I was afraid to accept a change that would have (in the end) been better. Practicing the guideline "Eliminate any oil" requires me to rethink my recipes...even ones that boast "plant-based." I want to grow to have the conviction that making healthy changes/choices trumps taste...because our taste buds will adjust, eventually.  
- I went backwards this week with exercise. UGH! My youngest daughter tested positive for Coronavirus so my husband & I tag teamed nursing her back to health for most of the week. I have 2 personal training sessions each week; I had to cancel one session to care for my daughter. She is getting better; it seems the worst is behind us!

*Victories:
- Preparing a starter is becoming a habit!
- Building a 50/50 plate is becoming a habit!
- I only had 1 personal training session, with my Trainer, this week but decided to exercise on my own yesterday when my daughter was sleeping. YAY!
- I am more aware than ever about my level of satisfaction while eating. Not pushing myself for seconds or overindulging feels really good!
- The day (this week) I found out my daughter tested positive, I was SUPER emotional. I had a deep desire to eat my way out of sadness because I blamed myself. I was in the car that night (I had already scheduled a contactless, grocery pickup before we got her results) and it felt like EVERY fast food place was calling my name. I knew what I would order at each of them. I played out in my mind how I would eat in the car then throw everything away so my husband wouldn't know, which I've done MANY times in our marriage. There was such a HUGE battle in my mind because I simply wanted to be satisfied. Long story short, I didn't give in! YAY!! I stuck to the guidelines for dinner and had blackberries at the end of my meal. THAT.WAS.HUGE!!!!!
- Later in the week, the rest of my family tested negative. I didn't "reward" myself for the good news.  

This month won't be easy for me, which is why I'm here. My Dad's birthday is this month & this will be my 1st Christmas without him. Between my faith, my family, my Grief Recovery Group and this Forum, I believe I have the support I need to stay focused on my health! (fingers crossed!)

Take care, Mark! Thank you for your support!
-Chesca
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Reporting for December 3 Weigh-In is now CLOSED

Postby Mark Cooper » Sat Dec 04, 2021 2:01 pm

The window for reporting this week's weigh-in and behavioral results has officially closed.

The remainder of my replies and the weekly summary will follow.
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Mark's Replies for December 3 - Part 2

Postby Mark Cooper » Sat Dec 04, 2021 2:01 pm

cmcavazos2 - I would imagine being adherent on the road and making Thanksgiving go well were hard-earned accomplishments, Christine; I can see how one might find themselves letting there guard down in the wake of a successful effort. Getting right back on track afterward is what is most important. The post-celebratory struggles probably also offer some information that can be applied to the way you might approach those festivities still to come. Enjoy being home!

VegSeekingFit - Your week looks pretty great, Stephanie! Right there with you regarding those warm days being much appreciated. :nod: Your 3 planned foci for December are right on target, excellent areas to direct your efforts. :thumbsup: Have a lovely week!

CUgorji22 - Hooray! Glad you are back for December, Chesca! Wishing your daughter an easy and uneventful recovery from COVID-19, and glad to hear she is on the mend and that the rest of the family tested negative. In case you haven't seen it already, Mary McDougall's fantastic article on Cooking Without Oil was updated in June; it is full of great information, that can help to overcome hurdles in eliminating oil. Great work with those habit-building victories. Big kudos to you for winning that mental and emotional battle against maladaptive eating behaviors! Keep at it and take care!
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Weigh-In Report Compilation - December 3, 2021

Postby Mark Cooper » Sat Dec 04, 2021 2:08 pm

Please note - I replied to each participant individually in the two posts linked below, provided that their reports followed the guidelines for weigh-ins.

Mark's Replies for December 3 - Part 1
Mark's Replies for December 3 - Part 2

By my count, 10 participants reported for our first December 2021 MWL weigh-in! If I neglected to include anyone, or you notice an error in the tally, please let me know (via PM so we can keep the thread as tidy as possible, or in a post here if you cannot PM).

Here are the results for the first Friday in December:

Week ending 12/3/2021: 10 participants reported a total change of -1.20 pounds
--------------------------------------------------
Cmcavazos2 +2.00
Gimmelean +2.00
GreenFroG +1.00
Rebecka22 +0.80
VegSeekingFit +0.20
--------------------------------------------------
Total gains: +6.00
--------------------------------------------------
NO CHANGE / MAINTAIN/ STARTING OUT
Moonlight
--------------------------------------------------
Noella -0.20
Hope410 -0.40
CUgorji22 -0.80
BambiS -2.80
Maco -3.00
--------------------------------------------------
Total losses: -7.20
--------------------------------------------------
Cumulative group loss for December 2021 to date: 1.20 pounds
Average loss for week ending December 3: 0.12 pounds
Cumulative group loss for January 2021: 117.20 pounds
Cumulative group loss for February 2021: 39.40 pounds
Cumulative group loss for March 2021: 73.20 pounds
Cumulative group loss for April 2021: 48.30 pounds
Cumulative group loss for May 2021: 35.90 pounds
Cumulative group loss for June 2021: 34.10 pounds
Cumulative group loss for July 2021: 64.95 pounds
Cumulative group loss for August 2021: 49.30 pounds
Cumulative group loss for September 2021: 18.84 pounds
Cumulative group loss for October 2021: 7.10 pounds
Cumulative group loss for November 2021 to date: 43.80 pounds
--------------------------------------------------

Next Weigh-In is on Friday, December 10, 2021.


OK, everyone! December is off and running. Given that we are in a season that can be fraught with temptations, social pressures, and other challenges, I submit for your consideration some insightful articles:

The Myth of Moderation Pt 1: Do All Foods Really Fit?

The Myth of Moderation, Pt 2: The Impact of "Just A Little Oil.

The Myth of Moderation Pt 3: Is Your Diet Exceptional?

The Myth of Moderation Pt 4: Is that a glass of wine (5 oz) you are having, or 1/2 a bottle?

A Date With Disaster: The Pleasure Trap of Whole Natural Foods

Know thyself - Dietary Lapses
JeffN wrote:As this study shows, for many of us, it is that occasional lapse on a "forbidden food" that is going to start the downward spiral.

Looking at the full study, it was forbidden foods, usually consumed at home, usually in the evening, usually on the weekend. So, to be successful, we have to keep our home and our environment a safe place and to avoid feeling deprived, which we can do by eating when we are hungry until we are comfortably full of the approved foods.

As the old saying goes, "out of sight, out of mind." For many of us it is also, "in the house, in the mouth."


I hope you find value in these readings, and principles to apply when making your December plans.

Have a great week, take care & be well! :D
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Re: December 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby Health 1st » Tue Dec 07, 2021 11:33 pm

Hello, Mark + Everyone!

I just wanted to let you know that I haven't skipped out on you. Unfortunately the months of little sleep + not always eating well (MWL) finally caught up with me this past Friday. I hope to join you all by posting this Friday/Saturday. :)
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Re: December 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby Mark Cooper » Wed Dec 08, 2021 4:36 am

Health 1st wrote:I hope to join you all by posting this Friday/Saturday.
:thumbsup: Most importantly, TODAY is always the best day to renew our attention to the recommended behaviors. :)
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Re: December 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby BambiS » Fri Dec 10, 2021 6:04 am

Weight change +/- in lbs:
Weight 12/10.-1.2

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.y
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.y
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.y
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).y
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).y
6. Eliminate any added oil.y
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.y
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).y
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.y
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).y

Victories, comments, concerns, questions

MWL has been easy so far, and I’m finding I don’t think about when I need to stop eating. It’s coming naturally!

I know I’m not close to a goal, or supposed to be thinking about it, but how do you know when your at goal?

.first weigh in start date 11/7 215.3
Total lost -12.9 in a month, yes!
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Re: December 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby moonlight » Fri Dec 10, 2021 9:06 am

Weight change +/- in lbs: -1.2 lbs!! Yay!

Behaviors I was able to do consistently:
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 dessert.
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.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).

Behaviors that I couldn't do consistently:
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.
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
I like the scales going down instead of up!! I can make it through the day with compliant meals. I take food with me if I need to go out for the day. I have been exercising daily. I'm having soup, salad, or fruit before my meals. I am making sure I have a 50/50 plate with veggies and starch. This has all come back fairly easily with a little effort. It is such a relief to be back on this plan. I have struggles with evening time eating. I will nibble on cheese, cereal and almond milk, peanut butter and bread. I was hoping I could get at least one whole day on plan but that did not happen. I'm pleased with my exercise routine. I will continue to try to eliminate the night time eating.

I appreciate this group! The accountability is so important and the wise words from people who have succeeded with this approach is so very helpful. Thank you! Good luck to everyone! Next week I hope to report at least a few days of 100% compliance!
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Re: December 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby Rebecka22 » Fri Dec 10, 2021 9:12 am

144.8 Weight change +/- in lbs: -1.6 pounds
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

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: I tried to really stick to the behaviors this week and especially not eat more than I needed to be comfortably full. While I wasn’t stuffing myself I was thinking I was eating more than I needed at dinner. I teach high school and we’ve been watching the new documentary They’re Trying to Kill Us in class. It’s been inspiring to talk about healthy food choices and all the misinformation out there with my students. Thanks again for everyone in this group.
Rebecka22
 
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Re: December 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby VegSeekingFit » Fri Dec 10, 2021 11:30 am

Weight change - .6 lbs. LOSS
Current weight - 126.8 lbs.
Last Week weight - 127.4 lbs.

Hi Fellow MWL'ers,

Hope that everyone is having a great week!!!

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Most of the time. At least breakfast & lunch - for this week, I had a starchy day also where I didn't do this. Opportunity for improvement.

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.
Mostly. For this week, I had a starchy day where I didn't consistently do this. Opportunity for improvement.

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. I think that I have done better with added sugars (I don't use) - so have escaped the Pleasure Trap. I do add some salt after cooking. Sometimes the salty, fatty, calorie dense calls to me. I may need to re-think the salt.

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.

6 Eliminate any added oil. Yes! I do not add oil and only have this if eating out (which I hardly ever do).

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. I continue to focus on hunger and am not stuffing and not starving.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes. Got a good clip more than 210 minutes of moderate activity / brisk walking for the week. Had 1 day of pure slothfulness and 1 day of a very short walk (but BRISK!) due to cold and high winds.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

I am really just trying to keep "status quo" with following the MWL checklist this month (i.e., December I am not expecting some great weight loss result and I am not actively working to reduce calorie density or increase exercise -- maybe January!)... I am focusing on not eating foods that aren't recommended and making sure that I get in the moderate 30 min. daily activity (walking) and making sure to eat recommended foods (in the recommended fashion).

Question (of a sort):
I did have a weird day where this is probably emotional eating ... but I was heavy starch. Fighting with myself to NOT eat non-recommended foods - #5 / #7. I did not eat them. So half victory. On the bad side, I didn't do a good job with eating veggie / fruit that day. I went right back to my "regular" pattern the next day. I could "feel" the war going on in my brain. Not sure if this makes sense to anyone??? For sure, I was highly time deprived (started day too early!!! ) and annoyed - both work. I ate: potato, veggie soup with more potato, more veggie soup, rice (plain). Does anyone have strategies to defeat the "devil" part of brain??

Wishing everyone a wonderful week!! Keep on - we can all make it through the holiday season without adding baggage!! :D

Best,
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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VegSeekingFit
 
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Location: Illinois

Re: December 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby Maco » Fri Dec 10, 2021 12:34 pm

Weight change +/- in lbs: + 2 lbs

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. Ate to much sugar as my weight is showing…..
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Yes
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). No had some tofu
6. Eliminate any added oil. No
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. No
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). 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). Is getting better, try to walk everyday,

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
We had 4 and 5 decembre a national celebration. The day itself went okay, I planned the food for myself, had only some oil from dishes off others. More difficult were the days after, there were leftovers especially candy, which I ate and I gained 2 lbs.
At this moment I’m back on track but I realise that with the coming holidays that I have to be aware constantly, not only the days itself but also afterward. The most difficult part of the day is the evening when I have sugarcravings….
Maco
 
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