carwex - Congratulations! Your attention to the MWL 10-Point Checklist paid off! It sounds like you are figuring out a method and routine for consistently assembling adherent meals; I totally agree that one is better off when that process is as effortless as possible.
Abe - Kudos on your continuing dedicated adherence! Just keep doing the best you can putting the principles into practice, focus on the areas where you feel you have an opportunity for further improvement, and give yourself time.
josietheschnauzer - No problem about the question posts! I misread things all the time.
Sounds like you had a very successful week! Congratulations on all your exciting achievements thus far.
jan_npr - I'm so glad to hear you're feeling well! Those topsy turvy weeks happen, I'm sure dealing with that health concern was stressful! With that week in the past, you know exactly where you can make efforts to support a great week to come.
Ren1999 - It looks like you did an excellent job executing 7/10 points from the checklist! That isn't easy! Specific factors of one's age, sex, activity level, how much weight one has to lose, height, &c. all contribute to that balance between intake and output of energy. The best opportunities to favorably alter that balance are those behaviors outlined in the MWL 10-Point Checklist. Would you be willing / able to try working on putting together 50/50 meals, and starting those meals with soup or salad or fruit? Making these changes in behavior is rarely easy, but it is the most effective approach for sustainable weight loss.
AnnetteW - I'm sure this week felt really arduous, but in reviewing the checklist, you did great with over half the points! So far, you're averaging -1.5 lbs / week, which seems reasonable; 12 weeks at that pace would be 18 lbs. Changing behavior can feel REALLY difficult, most especially in the early stages. If some extra fruit seems helpful to avoid reaching for more calorie dense choices, that might be a reasonable tradeoff as you get into the swing of things. Almonds are ~2600 calories / lb and 72% calories from fat vs. watermelon at ~136 calories / lb and 4% calories from fat. When you feel like you are overeating, are you uncomfortably full? And on which foods do you feel you're overeating? Keep in mind it is really important not to neglect including an adequate amount of starch in each meal, for the best lasting sense of satiety. On to next week!
Miss Kim - I'm so glad that you, your husband and your son are all together and all well! Doing your best to stay on track while away from home or on the road is definitely something in which to take pride. It is great that a day practicing this way of eating is starting to feel like a regular, normal day for you. Keep at it, keep doing your best, and it will likely feel more and more "normal" as the days go by.
chaz01 - If you can, try not to feel too discouraged, Chuck; maintain a dedicated focus on adhering to the MWL guidelines as closely as possible, strive to improve where you have the opportunities to do so, and you'll see that 70 lb total loss again in the future.
Jeff addresses the concept of muscle vs. fat / changes in body composition in his response to
this post.
JeffN wrote:The human body naturally can change several pounds a day in weight from water balance alone. This is not fat or muscle weight. This is why if you choose to micro-manage your weight and weigh yourself very frequently, you may see fluctuations that have nothing to do with changes in fat and/or muscle. Weight yourself before going to bed, and then weight youself in the morning when you wake up. You may see a 2-5 lb difference.
I have seen the actual weight of someone change around 20 lbs in a day just from changes in fluid balance. Granted it was a very large person on a very hot summer day who had been working out all day in the sun. This is also why I do not recommend anyone weigh themselves more than 1x a week when losing weight and when they do weight themselves to do it on the same scale at the same time of the day wearing the same clothes. Weighing yourself naked in the early morning after voiding is the best and most accurate weight
However, if your weight stayed exactly the same and we theoretically took off 5 lbs of fat from you and replaced it with 5 lbs of muscle, you would weigh exactly the same, but because muscle is more "dense" than fat, the 5 lbs of muscle takes up less space and so you would appear slightly leaner and/or thinner.
A person can not add actual true muscle weight though without being in a calorie excess. A starving person who lifts weight is not going to build much muscle if at all and they are not going to gain weight without having the extra raw material available for the muscle to be build. You can't build something from nothing. They may become leaner looking. Now, if they were able to build some muscle, they will do at the cost of some other tissue as you can not violate the laws of physics. So, it is possible that they may burn up some of their fat and use those calories to help build some muscle but it would not be much muscle at all.
No one builds just muscle and/or fat or loses just muscle and/or fat. So, if you are truly gaining weight is is because you have added some fat, muscle and/or water.
The actual amount of muscle someone may gain in a year on a truly healthy diet without supplements/medication and/or excessive protein, is actually quite small and for a women may be 8 lbs in a year and for a man a little more. Divide that by 52 and that is about what you may be gaining in a week, on average.
Now, there is something else that can happen that will result in a weight gain and will show up in the muscle tissue and may increase the size of the muscle and it is not more muscle. It is glycogen (which is 75% water). Glycogen is stored glucose and the body stores about 2-6 lbs or more and does so in muscle tissue. So, if you are glycogen depleted in any way and go on this program, you will fill your glycogen stores and you may see yourself gaining a few lbs and appear a little leaner and/or muscular. There are actual studies documenting this phenomenon and showing changes in muscle weight and size (and % Body Fat) coming strictly from increased glycogen stores.
The answer is, keep doing the right thing and keep your eyes on the bigger picture. If you are not losing weight as fast as you would like (though slower weight loss is best, especially for body composition issues), then adjust the calorie density of your meals and/or your activity levels and do not worry about minor fluctuations in weight along the way.
This thread also has links to some great resources. Keep at it and have a great week.
NateKruse - However "low-focus" this week felt, I would say it looks pretty good based on your assessment of the MWL 10-Point Checklist! Way to go working at reducing your added salt and sugar.
The volume of food that some of us consume while following MWL can be quite substantial - I typically eat my meals out of a giant stainless steel mixing bowl. Like I wrote last week, if that cheese sauce contains
nutritional yeast, just be mindful of the concerns and recommended daily limits for that ingredient. Keep attending to the checklist and keep working on those points where you see an opportunity for improvement.
rlechols - Kudos, Rachel!
rlechols wrote: I am not perfect, but the places where I sometimes don't achieve all 10 MWL guidelines are lack of including something, not a lack of excluding something, if that makes sense.
That makes complete sense to me.
rlechols wrote: I just plan on continuing with MWL and focus on my exercise routine and being fit and seeing what happens.
That seems like a very wise approach to take, you are in a groove that is worth preserving. Travel away from home certainly presents challenges, but it sounds like you are going into that situation well-prepared and ready.
GreenFroG - I think recognizing that making these changes is real work, and setting about getting started doing that work is an astute approach. You made a great "re-start" successfully implementing the majority of the guidelines and you've identified the exact areas that will benefit from greater attention moving into next week. Both feeling and being prepared makes adherence more easily attainable. Apart from serving as motivation, I don't think it is necessary to have a specific goal weight - make your goal adhering to the checklist and you'll arrive at a weight that is right for you in the end. I think
wildgoose's story about how she arrived at her goal is particularly instructive. Keep on working!
Sue Ancora-imparo - You are absolutely right that making these behavioral changes within the context of the broader food environment is REALLY HARD! I would encourage you to pursue whichever plan feels like what you are willing / able to work toward following intently. From my perspective, we don't expect perfection, but we do want people to concentrate on and put effort into doing their very best. I think it's important that participants are headed in the same direction, making an honest effort to work toward adhering to the guidelines vs. intentionally planning not to be adherent or not making efforts to improve where there is an opportunity to do so. If the
regular McDougall program is what you would prefer to put your energy into pursuing, no worries and no hard feelings.
Conversely, if you would like to devote the remainder of June to working on the behaviors outlined in the MWL 10-Point Checklist, you are welcome to continue here. You are the best judge of what you want to do.
kirstykay - Exciting! I'm delighted to hear your are recovering so well, and things feel like they are moving back into your normal groove. How wonderful that you found a walking buddy! You get to enjoy the company of a new friend AND get your exercise; that is a win. From my perspective, an equal visual volume of oatmeal and berries is a perfectly adequate way to constitute the 50/50 plate (or bowl, in this case) at breakfast. Personally, I do always eat a salad before each meal, but I love salads; I think wildgoose often uses raw or steamed vegetables to serve as a preload (e.g. steamed broccoli to start a meal) if I'm remembering correctly. Soup works best for many - just keep honing in on what will best suit you. I think you're doing great! As far as eating past the point of being comfortable, you could try modestly reducing your overall "serving size" while maintaining the 50/50 ratio, and have seconds if needed, and see how it goes. I very much relate to what you shared about gradually, but finally learning to trust the program and viewing success in light of that - that was a game changer for me, too.
Hope410 - Kudos! It looks like you had a very successful week practicing the MWL guidelines. I think your plan is the right one - keep following the MWL 10-Point Checklist, improve where you are able, be patient, enjoy your meals and have a great week!
Tian-De - I love that! MWL can indeed be "ridiculously" effective! I'm a fan of
Jeff's take on the "grading" system - foods that meet the
MWL guidelines get an A, foods that fit the regular
McDougall program (with a clear understanding of that program's guidelines) are a B, everything else is an F, the less the better.
Although I would say the "
plate test" is the best metric of all.
Moonlight - Woot!!! Way to go eliminating bread for the whole week! Having that "off your radar" is worthy of celebration. And you've identified your next challenges on which to focus, so you've set some clear next steps. I can say that a daily journal was essential to my own process in building both adherence and confidence that my changes were durable. Those daily and weekly measurable and noticeable successes are very good fuel for forging ahead. Keep fine-tuning those strategies and overcoming those obstacles.
abible - In my experience, "belly-bombers" that are within easy reach tend to get eaten, particularly when circumstances conspire to put us in a state that is less than our best. I think some planning, organization and preparation is a crucial component of durable adherence; each of us has to figure out how we can assemble meals that fulfill the guidelines on a consistent, ongoing basis, and effort exerted to that end is very well-spent. I also typically eat my meals out of a big bowl (the same one I use for my salads), I just "eyeball" the 50/50 putting in half non-starchy vegetables and half minimally processed starches, before I mix them together. Nearly all of Jeff's
Fast Food recipes and the SNAP template fulfill the spirit of the 50/50 rule, as well. Because our society is riddled with those "food traps" you mention, some days will always feel like a struggle, but by following the MWL 10-Point Checklist consistently to the best of our ability, we're certain to have more days that are good than bad.
lmggallagher - Way to go, Michelle; another week, another pound! Sorry your foot is still causing trouble. It is very true that even "low sodium" soy sauce isn't
that low - a single Tbsp contributes about the same amount of sodium as 1/4 tsp of salt. As Jeff says, always read the Nutrition Facts label and the Ingredient List.
I wish you the best with your "weeding" of the cupboards.
Noella - Hi! I'm sorry you were feeling poorly, but very glad to have you back this week! A big congratulations on everything you've achieved thus far! Doing the best job you can working on the appropriate behaviors and not giving up is the whole ball game. During the periods when I have chosen to include added salt in my diet, I would usually measure 1/2 tsp into a small salt cellar, and sprinkle pinches from that onto my food at the table. Managing it that way, I was always sure I'd be limiting added salt to 1/2 tsp or less for the whole day. Often, I wouldn't even end up using all the salt I had allotted. Presently, I don't use any added salt - Mrs. Dash Table Blend or Kirkland No Salt Seasoning fill that role pretty nicely, and I use those liberally. Being generous with herbs and spices can go a long way toward making meals flavorful with no (or minimal) added salt.
wstokes - Congratulations on your 38 lb loss since the start of the year! That is quite an achievement! It's nearly impossible to change behaviors that we aren't consciously and deliberately attending to, so assessing our day to day actions against the checklist (and putting our focus where it is needed) makes us much more likely to succeed at building the habits we are seeking. Use the checklist to highlight where you have the chance to do more, and keep on doing the best you can.
Last edited by Mark Cooper on Fri Jun 19, 2020 6:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.
by Sue Ancora-imparo » Fri Jun 19, 2020 10:07 am 
). Also did make an aquafaba/cashew mayo last night, that was the best copy I have tried so far. I am not missing meat, really, but I used to make a delicious America's test Kitchen chicken salad, with tarragon, that was so yummy. So I recreated it with jackfruit, and the aquafaba/cashew mayo and it turned out great. My husband asked what was in it when he came home and I offered it to him, and I answered, "try it first, and then I'll tell you" 
Well, we both liked it quite well. Where does jackfruit fall in the MWL plan? I guess it's a fruit, but the young jackfruit isn't sweet at all. I probably should have looked harder at the can. 
