The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - November 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 - November 2022 Group

Postby VegSeekingFit » Sun Nov 20, 2022 8:39 pm

Hi All!! :D

You are doing great, Holly!!! :-D :) YAY!!!! (I do relate to this ... I just sent assessment... and now it is time again... :) )

Mark -- Thanks for phenomenal support !!! You also help me build my vocabulary!!! :lol: Cannot love both of these enough!!! Hope that you have an amazing visit with your family for Thanksgiving!!! Appreciate you a ton!!!

Beth ... So, I was in this to just keep going as I was in losing (like - yes, pretty content to keep on with MWL)... I think we are all different!!! :D This is good !!! I am pretty happy to just keep going with the MWL recommended foods / behaviors. I am small framed and tend to go to the bottom of BMI / healthy. OK... SO, I just adjust starch / veggie and fruit %... And, activity would fit in here too, but not trying to be less active (that would be a BOO!!)... but just realistic about seasonality.

https://www.drmcdougallforums.com/viewt ... 4w#p611743 This is WildGoose --- determining goal weight post --- which is pretty awesome. I feel like she has another amazing one that I just can't wrap my brain around.

Happy Thanksgiving to All!!! :D :-D :)

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 - November 2022 Group

Postby Mark Cooper » Wed Nov 23, 2022 4:44 am

Hello, everyone!

This week my family and I are traveling to visit my mother and brother; this will be the first time we've visited them since before the start of the current pandemic. I won't have reliable access to this discussion board until I return home, but participants here can check-in as usual during this week's reporting period, and I will post my replies and the summary for the week after I get back on Monday the 28th. :) Have a great rest of the week, and for those who are celebrating, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - November 2022 Group

Postby BambiS » Wed Nov 23, 2022 6:42 am

11-23

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Some days


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
Some days


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). Most days

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: I reluctantly weighed myself, trying to cut back on starch’s is not working. I’ve had a gain. I’ve slipped and ate stuff I shouldn’t due to not being satisfied. I plan on getting back on plan and not trying to do short cuts.
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - November 2022 Group

Postby VegSeekingFit » Fri Nov 25, 2022 8:29 am

Hi Team Time & Adherence, :D :)

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week practicing the checklist!! It is going pretty well for me.

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Mostly no.

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. :-D Lots of oatmeal and fruit. Bowls of brown basmati rice with veggies. Tons of bean / sweet potato and veggie soup. POTATOES!!!! Sloppy lentils and corn. So, eating pretty much the same stuff.

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. :cool:

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Mostly. :mrgreen: One exception is that I made party hummus for Thanksgiving and topped it with a sprinkle of sesame seeds – wasn’t thinking about that, but not a large amount (and not going to make me go seed-crazy).

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. :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 –no starving or stuffing. :)

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes. :D Walked briskly 6/7 days outside. I take a “break” every once in a while – bad planning on my part where I skipped a nice 50+ degree day… (but walked on a not-so-nice 12 degree day).

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
Hope all who celebrate had a spectacular Thanksgiving! Sharing here picture of the “fruit turkey” tray that I brought --- Thanks, WildGoose for sharing that link! It went over well (and totally will make it again next year)!
Image

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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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - November 2022 Group

Postby Hjklost55 » Fri Nov 25, 2022 2:35 pm

Week ending 11-25-22

Hello MWL group,
I Survived Thanksgiving!! YAY!! I can’t say I was 100 % MWL compliant, but I was 100% McDougall compliant. So that is a VICTORY in my book. I went prepared, and came home comfortably full, and happy with my accomplishment.

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
YES. I have been eating soup 3 times a day still. Think I need to buy a bigger soup pot. I have been going through the soup pretty fast.

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
YES, generally. I still need to be more aware of the amount of starches vs veggies. I think I may be over 50% on my starch. But at least I am aware.

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).
NO, didn’t eliminate. Had a little bit of pumpkin seeds in my holiday salad, and a few walnuts in my apple dessert. But it isn’t a daily occurrence and it didn’t set me off, so doing well.

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, didn’t eliminate. Had some raisins in my apple dessert for Thanksgiving.

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 think I may be making a little headway with the DONT STUFF yourself. I have been eating my regular meal, then setting the timer for 15 minutes before I have seconds. I am usually off on another project by then, and not thinking about it. So will continue with this method and hopefully be able to cut back on my volume eating. It is all in the “being present” for me.

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
YES, getting lots of exercise. Some days 2-2.30 hours of pickleball. Feeling good.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Victory as mentioned above, made it through Thanksgiving at a non-vegan household. They had a TON of non-compliant stuff, but went prepared, and survived. I did make me an apple dessert that had some walnuts and raisins in it. But was satisfied with that choice. My goal is to just stay the course as best as I can through the busy holidays. Hope everyone had a great week. I have to remember, this is a forever lifestyle. Not just today!

Take Care,
Holly

PS Beautiful fruit platter Steph!!! LOVE IT!!
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - November 2022 Group

Postby Ellen Withrow » Fri Nov 25, 2022 3:38 pm

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
YES. I've been eating bigger simple salads this week and enjoying greatly.

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
ALMOST

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 - 5 cookies, soda, and jarred Kalamata olives packed in water on top of my daily salads.

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, didn’t eliminate. Ate Sliced Kalamata olives packed in water on my salad and an avocado a day on my white rice with pico starch meal.

6. Eliminate any added oil.
I ate one slice of cheeseless vegan pizza from Whole Foods Market on Monday -- it was shiny with oil. Didn't taste good.

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, didn’t eliminate. Ate 5 shortbread sandwich vegan cookies with strawberry and apple preserves from Whole Foods Market self-serve pastry case. (the vegan blueberry scones were sold out).

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
NO - had Pepsi and Coke again this week.

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, high daily step count.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
Down 1 pound from last week. The tread is now in the right direction.
Last edited by Ellen Withrow on Sat Nov 26, 2022 7:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - November 2022 Group

Postby Rebecka22 » Fri Nov 25, 2022 4:21 pm

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. 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). NO
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
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). NO
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

Dessert got me, but I did good with the meals and I am trying hard to just let it be a meal, not a day, week or season.
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - November 2022 Group

Postby Noella » Sat Nov 26, 2022 6:07 am

Hi Mark, Jeff, Wildgoose and everyone participating on the behavioural path to MWL success forum,
Nov. 18th-25
1. Start each meal with soup and/or salad and fruit. :-D Yes, almost always, although I missed doing this at 1 out of 21 meals this week. It was a special Christmas event at a conference, and there were no soup, salad or fruit options available, and I hadn't thought to bring anything with me.
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals. :-D Yes... I ALWAYS balance the starchy with the non-starchy when I'm home and serving myself. This was much trickier at the Christmas buffet when someone else was serving. I asked for lots of veggies, and the person served me two scoops of potatoes, which was great, but only a small spoonful of mixed veg and one Brussels sprout - not quite how I would have served it if I could have done it myself!
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 stop them. :-D Sugar: Yes...I NEVER add sugar while cooking or at the table; I almost ALWAYS use a reduced amount of salt, which is a bit of a problem for me. Salty food tastes so good to me it often makes me want to eat more than I need to...this is an area I'm still learning more about myself. I am trying to keep my salt level down at a reasonable level so that I don't have to eliminate salt from my food entirely.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). :crybaby: Yes...I RARELY eat dairy, meat, seafood or eggs -- but I did eat some of these at the Christmas dinner today.
5. Eliminate all higher-fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). :-D Yes... I did fine this week. I seldom eat these, and I am only tempted occasionally. They usually don't appeal to me, so it's easy.
6. Eliminate any added oil. :crybaby: Yes...NEVER use oil when cooking at home; the exception was today, at lunch, I had some at a Christmas party.
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. :crybaby: Yes, except for some stuffing at the Christmas luncheon.
8. Don’t drink calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). :crybaby: :-D Yes...Usually, NEVER, but I had some sparkling apple juice instead of champagne at the Christmas party. I had to join in socially by clinking the glasses for the toast, but then I went ahead and drank the whole glass of juice and, even worse, had another. It tasted very sweet ( I haven't had juice in two years!), and I didn't even enjoy it, so why did I drink it? It doesn't make any rational sense, but I think some social situations make me weirdly nervous, and I overeat/drink. It suddenly becomes hard for me to be around so much non-compliant food and beverages -- this is an area I need to do more self-analysis and pre-planning for ways to succeed.
9. Follow these principles, eat whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself, and don't stuff yourself. :crybaby: Yes. Trying. I could do a bit better on this. I have a hearty appetite sometimes, and when I take more food than I need, I always seem to finish everything on my plate. This principle guideline has been hard for me this week - 'enough' doesn't seem like enough this week, and I need to get back to being satisfied without 'stuffing.' I did overeat at the Christmas party. I feel I let myself down.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). :| Yes, trying...It has been a bit too cold lately, with some arctic air bringing temperatures to 0 degrees F ( -18 degrees Celsius), but it's the time of year to head out on the nordic ski trails, and I will when the weather warms up a bit. It's not worth taking the chance of getting frostbite. We have two three-day ski trips booked for early December ( one in BC and one in Quebec), so we hope for perfect winter weather - sunny skies and temperatures just below freezing.

**Nov. 30th additional comment about last week: It is interesting to note that I have been in physical pain since I reported some off-plan eating at the Christmas lunch last Friday. My knees, which have been pain-free for many months, had pain immediately after I had eaten those non-MWL foods and beverages at the Christmas luncheon!!! I've been in pain ever since (four days and still no relief). I can't think of any other cause for this arthritic flare other than dietary. It wasn't worth leaving the b behavioural path to MWL success, and I don't know how long it will take for my knees to feel happy again. I am learning from my mistakes and am back on track to following the MWL guidelines 100%.

This quote inspires me:
“Day by day, you’ll be making your best effort at creating better health. And day by day, you’ll find yourself looking better, weighing less, and feeling more energy and confidence. It doesn’t happen without effort. But that’s what makes it great. You earn the right to be healthier, happier, more vital, beautiful, and alive. Enjoy it. You deserve to look and feel great.”
― John A. McDougall, The Mcdougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss



Happy Thanksgiving and wishing everyone the best of health and happiness,
Noella
Last edited by Noella on Tue Nov 29, 2022 11:15 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - November 2022 Group

Postby Greens » Sat Nov 26, 2022 8:44 am

Hello Team Time & Adherence!

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Most but not all.

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. No. Had bread and stuffing this week. I can skip the dessert but boy, those really call to me.

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 had some vegan butter on a roll and used it to bake rolls.

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. Stuffing, rolls, some in the mushroom gravy.

8. Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). No. Had wine with Thanksgiving dinner and the night after with the leftover feast.

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). 5/7 plus lots of cleaning.

Hope everyone had a great holiday! Thank you Mark for the link for your food diary. You truly are the link master.

Stephanie, the turkey fruit platter posted looked great!

I made Thanksgiving for 10. I’m the only one following this way of eating. I don’t find the turkey or the pies tempting but bread… I can avoid the bread that my husband uses for his daily sandwiches but find stuffing and good chewy rolls very tempting. Had my son and his family over last night for leftovers so little is left now. I love having family over for the holiday. The conversations are fun and worth all the fuss. I used Mary’s sweet potato recipe and really liked it with the white sweet potatoes. I had made some lentil bites and other family members tried those. I can really tell in my hands that I have had salty meals, rings aren’t sliding around this morning.

I need to make a good veggie soup for preloading as salads aren’t quite as inviting in colder weather to me. Holly, what are your soups like?
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - November 2022 Group

Postby Gimmelean » Sat Nov 26, 2022 9:26 am

Post for week ending 11/25/22

Greetings MWL Time and Adherence community.

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.

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,Questions,Challenges: For those of you in the US, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

This week I was for the most part back on track.
Working from home the whole week helped too. Next week, not a choice and will be challenging but not insurmountable.

I found myself in the kitchen at night after dinner a few times, and although I stuck to adherent foods, recreational eating was a habit that really got me into trouble in the past. I worked really hard to stop. I wasn’t hungry, just picking. Jeff’s article on passive overconsumption was helpful to me in this situation and I was able to talk my way out of the kitchen before it led to grabbing non adherent junk.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. We had a small family gathering at my house and everyone brought dishes to share to complete our traditional dinner buffet.
I made stuffed delicata and acorn squash filled with grains and corn on the cob. I served fresh fruit for dessert. I had no desire whatsoever to eat pie. I packed up all of the non adherent leftovers for everyone to take home and felt good about it. Plus I was so busy preparing and cleaning up I had little time to overeat. I felt even better that I had no need to give into the myth that eating too much is par for the course on this holiday.

Practicing MWL adherence does take time,and patience,and is frustratingly hard, but the return on this investment is positively immeasurable. I can’t pinpoint when or exactly how I got to this point of where I need to be, but I know it has a lot to do with all of you, the science, education, resources and support so generously offered here.

Feel good, be healthy, and have a good week everyone. See you in December.
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - November 2022 Group

Postby JeffN » Sat Nov 26, 2022 11:20 am

Ellen Withrow wrote:1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
YES. I've been eating bigger simple salads this week and enjoying greatly.



Hi Ellen,

Please check your PM and/or contact me at my email which you should have from the 12 day program. If not, you can contact me here…

https://www.jeffnovick.com/contact

Thanks
Jeff
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - November 2022 Group

Postby Lizzy_F » Sat Nov 26, 2022 12:01 pm

Hello fellow Time & Adherence travelers! Here is my report for the week ending 11/26/22:

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). No – I am still fighting the craving monster that I woke up with the almond butter episode. At least this time it was PB2 instead of full fat nut butter, so I’m relatively OK with it. Although it is not MWL compliant, which I realize! Still a better choice, so I’m going to acknowledge the better choice rather than beat myself up for an imperfect choice.

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 made a Starch Solution compliant pizza this week using a Plantstrong crust & sauce kit. I bought this thing a long time ago, and had never tried it. Especially with my braces, NOT WORTH IT!! I have other crusts in the freezer (they come in 5-packs) but if I were a betting person, I would bet these go in the trash before they get eaten.

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. I’m still working to pay closer attention here. My goal is to put less food on the plate to begin with, recognizing that I can go back for seconds (thirds, etc) if I am still hungry. Why is this so hard? Well, I know why. I grew up in an environment where you better get plenty of food the first time around, because there won’t be any left for seconds, unless Mom cooked liver & lima beans, LOL. I’m a work in progress.

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). No – I had a minor surgery this past week so exercise is off the table for another week or so. By 12/1 I should be able to start with a fresh calendar and work on doing something intentional for at least 5 minutes.

Victories: Did not dive into any “traditional” holiday CRAP food!!! Recognized that Starch Solution compliant pizza is not worth departing from MWL guidelines for. Made a better choice than almond butter. Just RECOGNIZING that the better choice is a positive thing rather than beating myself up for not being perfect is probably the biggest victory of all!


Comments: More later – gotta get this in under the wire! I did take advantage of the holiday sale and treated myself to both the MWL and the Aging mini-courses. I can’t get enough of Dr. McDougall – I benefit so much from watching / listening to the message over and over. This helps me ingrain this stuff as my WAY OF LIFE rather than a diet or something else that is less permanent.


Concerns: None – I’m really feeling confident that I can keep on keepin’ on.


Questions:
Beth

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

Postby Lizzy_F » Sat Nov 26, 2022 12:46 pm

Comments on other’s posts this week:

Gimmelean: I loved reading about your successful Thanksgiving gathering, and your assessment of what made it successful for you. And I especially love your comments and insights about how practicing these MWL principles over time creates such a difference!! I totally did not understand when I first started participating in this group back in May or June how this whole thing PROGRESSES OVER TIME in ways that are just hard to explain to a newcomer or sometimes hard for me to even understand for myself. Knowing what is on the 10-point checklist is not enough. DOING IT over time, and allowing the subtle changes to just take place from week to week by focusing on slightly different things has been a game changer, hasn’t it? I don’t know if I’m articulating this well, but your words sure spoke to me!!

Greens – I love soup at this time of year too, and in addition, I can’t really eat salads right now because I have braces on my teeth. I’m not Holly, but soup is my pre-load go to!! I make a large pot every 5 – 7 days that usually ends up 9 – 12 servings, depending on what all I throw in there. The liquid base is usually 2 boxes of low sodium veg broth (I use Pacific). One or two cans of NSA diced tomatoes. Sometimes a can of NSA tomato sauce or a bit of NSA tomato paste to give it a thicker consistency. Before putting the liquids in the pot, I water sautee a large onion and some celery. And LOT of garlic (I usually just use minced garlic from a jar to keep it simple and fast) I steam a bunch of cut up cabbage in the microwave (so the soup doesn’t have to cook as long on the stove). Same with some chopped carrots unless I’m using frozen ones. The “secret sauce” for me is 2 packets of Mrs. Dash no salt either Taco seasoning mix or Chili seasoning mix. Then I add some extra Mrs Dash Southwest Chipotle. I like it spicy! I add a bunch of frozen veg – whatever I have on hand. Some combo usually of green beans, okra, peas, corn (or the frozen combo packs of peas/green beans/carrots/corn). If I have a zucchini, I will chop that up and add towards the end of cooking. I also keep zip bags of frozen greens (I usually have a spinach/baby kale mix) in the freezer. I just squish the frozen zip bag which “chops” the greens, and that is the last thing I add. This sounds like a lot, but I have it down to such a routine it takes very little time. Once the zucchini, baseline ingredients are simmering, I let them be for maybe 30 minutes then call it done. I am no gourmet cook, but this works for me as something easy and routine to accommodate the pre-loading with veg soup.
Noella – Just wanted to wave to you as a fellow member of the load-up-the-plate-and-clean-it club! I continue to be a work in progress on that one as well.

Rebecka22 – OMG your comment about “one meal” versus “one week, month, season….” Really hit home with me. In the old days, one slip up easily could lead to months or more off plan. I think it is so important that we acknowledge our collective progress in that area!!!
Ellen – congrats on your weight loss!

HOLLY!! Congrats on your success on Thanksgiving! I don’t know what others think, and I’m sure thoughts and experiences vary. But to me, I think making a conscious choice on a one-day holiday to follow Starch Solution rather than strict MWL sounds like success to me! I also love your idea of setting the timer before having seconds. I need to try that!

OMG Stephanie – that turkey is SO COOL!!!!!! How long did it take you to assemble it? Just curious!

Bambi – that sounds like such an important recognition that short cuts, while seeming tempting, aren’t worth it and don’t work. My brain likes to go there too, and I appreciate your reminder not to do it!

Mark – I hope you are having a great time on your trip!
Beth

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

Postby VegSeekingFit » Sat Nov 26, 2022 6:20 pm

Hi Everyone!!! :-D

Beth -- the fruit turkey tray took me about 20 minutes to assemble (super easy and fun --- and other folks liked it). I will admit that I cheated with buying pre-cut kiwi and pineapple. :lol: I am the person least likely to cut a whole pineapple!!! :lol:

Greens -- Beth shared a really cool veggie soup recipe and I bet Holly will weigh in as well with hers!!! I make a ton of soups in the cold weather (many not pre-load / heavier starch)... I do like JeffN Longevity Soup --- it is like a template --- where you can use also mixture of fresh / frozen veggies if you like and season to your tastes. https://www.drmcdougall.com/recipes/jef ... vity-soup/ I like to use garlic / smoked paprika / rosemary!!!

Mark -- Hope you had a wonderful visit with your family!!!

Was thinking as reading Thanksgiving stuff... I remember when Mark was helping me figure out how to conquer my 5/7 snack issues (at home) --- I had an epiphany --- I am lucky to not live in house with "non-healthy eating" vegan... Lots of stuff completely off my radar / not tempting (in non-veg world, which is most of the world).... Maybe this goes back to "Know Thyself"? We have our holiday work party coming up this week. I am on planning committee (more for GAMES!!!)... so, I know what will be served and I am bringing Jeff Burgers in my purse (and my salad dressing bottle)!!!

Hope all have a great upcoming 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 - November 2022 Group

Postby Hjklost55 » Sun Nov 27, 2022 10:59 am

Hello Everyone,

WOW!!! Can’t believe that November is almost over. I’m happy to say, I have gone ALL month without a binge! Pretty excited about that. Have had a few non-MWL compliant foods, but those are rare and nothing that has thrown me off the deep end!! YAY!!!!

Greens: My soup, that I believe has helped me tremendously, is very similar to Beth’s. (Mine may even be less prep than Beth’s) I need fast and EASY!!!!! I also start with Pacific low sodium vegetable broth, add one can of no salt added diced tomatoes, 1 can tomato paste, then any or all the veggies I can find in my freezer. Corn, green beans, peas, carrots, Lima beans, spinach, collard greens (new favorite), frozen onions, cauliflower rice, mixed veggies, OR whatever veggies I have in the fridge that need used up. I add a couple teaspoons of minced garlic, and couple tablespoons of taco seasoning. (I now make my own because I found out lots of the packaged ones have palm oil, and weird stuff I can’t pronounce). THAT’S IT!!!! Let it all cook together until veggies are unthawed, and ENJOY!!!! Takes me, maybe 10 minutes to throw it all in a pot, put the lid on and DONE. I am considering a bigger soup pot because the one I have only lasts me about 2 days. Then of course I would probably add more of everything. (I don’t add any starches to this soup)

I want to again thank everyone on this forum that continues this lifestyle day in and day out. You are encouraging to me and are helping me to succeed. Consistent over time!!!!

Take Care,
Holly
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