June 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[josietheschnauzer]

Weight loss this week: -3.2 pounds
Total loss since March 21: 20 pounds

Welcome to May! The restaurants are opening around here, and my favorite Asian one reopened for take out. I think one of the reasons I have been successful during the pandemic and MWL is that I couldn't eat out. I had to eat at home. I am going to try and REMEMBER that and not go back into the eat out mode. Plus, I save $$$. All of this to say, I was so excited I ordered takeout combination vegetable sushi and forgot to tell them, "NO AVOCADO". Amazing, as those of you know who have this type of sushi, there is not much avocado, still, I quit eating it months ago and when I tasted it, I realize I truly do PREFER the cucumber option. Nice lesson to learn!

I have been diligent at starting my lunch and dinners with soup. This week I added more salad. So I had 5 courses for lunch and dinner! Soup, salad, kale, potato (and beans at some meals), and fruit for dessert. I would say I had a feast!

I am still practicing, "go out and take a walk or wait 15 minutes" after eating an appropriate amount of food for dinner. I am trying very hard to get to bed by 9.... The walking and the waiting helps my "stuff myself" habit. I also realize that some of the time, I am actually tired not hungry.

Thank you!

[josietheschnauzer]

Me again, sorry, I should have previewed my post. At lunch and dinner, I also have another non starchy vegetable with my potato/bean/rice/grain course. That is in addition to the kale. I am really trying to eat more greens. Thank you.

[jan_npr]

Weight change - 0.4 lbs

Not super happy about the loss but I think I had a great week and more loss will show up in future. My blood pressure is so good that I have allowed a little more sprinkling of salt and that would affect weight obviously. Glad to be back for second month in an MWL Weigh-In group. Thank you to the moderators.

UPCOMING CHALLENGE: A big source of challenge for me is being a people pleaser when I have company. And now that things are loosening up here regarding social distancing, I have had two requests for people to come and visit us overnight at our cottage. Three nights in total to entertain people. We have said yes. I am going to try really hard to stay compliant but there will be non-compliant foods around. A good test. Wish me luck. I don't want to ruin my week when I have been doing so well.

A 10-POINT CHECKLIST FOR MAXIMUM WEIGHT LOSS (MWL)

1) Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.  
2) Follow the 50/50 plate method 2) Choose fruit for desert. a couple of evenings I had potato for a snack without balancing it 50/50
3) Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. 
4) Eliminate all animal foods
5) Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). found some nut butter in my fridge (thought I had cleared out all nut butters) and had some. I've been having a little soy milk in my one coffee in morning
6) Eliminate any added oil.
7) Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
8 ) Don’t drink your calories Had water based cocoa a few times (cocoa, water, syrup). IS THAT OKAY?
9) Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full.   Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
10) Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily NEED TO DO WAY BETTER HERE

[jan_npr]

" I think one of the reasons I have been successful during the pandemic and MWL is that I couldn't eat out. I had to eat at home. I am going to try and REMEMBER that and not go back into the eat out mode. Plus, I save $$$. "

I so relate to this. This is one of the reasons we (hubby and I) started this now because when was there ever a better time (without the eating out temptation). We ate out "a lot" sometimes three times in a day! Always plant-based, but still. Not fast food through a window; I enjoy the whole social aspect, sitting at a table and being served. We seem to talk to each other more when we eat out and take our time eating. I definitely don't want to go back to eating out so much, and I'm enjoying my food so much. Yesterday we ate outside at home for the first time this spring. It was lovely but I still wolfed it down.

And YES, money savings!!! Have a great week Josie.

[chaz01]

Weight Change
Week: -1.4 lbs*
Year: -66.0 lbs

I put a "*" next to my weight loss this week because I think the loss might be influenced by two things unrelated to fat loss.

1). I got a haircut this week for the first time in 3 months. I'm only half-joking here, as I have no idea how much 3 months of hair weighs, but it sure feels to me like I lost 1-2 pounds just on this haircut alone.

2) I changed my routine up a bit this morning, getting up before dawn to get my exercise in for the day. I'm sure I had some temporary water loss from sweating during exercise prior to my weigh-in that artificially inflated my weight loss. But I feel good about getting up early and will try and keep this routine up consistently. If I ever go back to my old routine of exercising after my weigh-in or miss my work-out completely that day, I'm sure I'll have the opposite effect and it may be difficult to lose weight that week.

In terms of following the 10 MWL Guidelines, I had a Dr Jeckyll/Mr. Hytde experience. I started the week off with some really bad eating episodes and I think I was batting 1 for 10 in following the MWL guidelines Friday and Saturday (still managed to get my exercise in). Maybe I was a bit frustrated that my weight loss in May fell a bit short of what I've been used to earlier in the year, or maybe I just got too tempted with all the bars and restaurants starting to open back up now, but I definitely had a bit of setback in changing my habits. Fortunately, two things helped me get things back on track for the rest of the week.

1) My fitness club resumed Spinning Classes (high intensity/low impact group cycling class) this week (the reason why I got up early today to get my exercise in). I'm a big fan of this form of exercise as it's much easier on my knees and joints and still provides plenty of opportunity to get your heart rate up while still being fun and enjoyable. I think I've done a good job of getting my exercise in during this health crisis, but I've never been able to quite replicate the intensity levels from one of these classes. Now that Spinning has resumed I'm hoping this will burn some additional calories that will hopefully elevate my weight loss going forward.

2) The CSA (local organic vegetable farm) season has finally started, being delayed a week or so due to rainy weather. If you are familiar with this concept, you've probably played what I call the CSA-game before. To play the game, you get a big box of vegetables each week, not really sure exactly what vegetables you will receive that particular week, and the object is to figure out how to use all your fresh produce before they go bad. To win the game, you need meal planning skills, time management skills and a little bit of creativity - exactly the same skills I think you need to stay on track of the 10 point MWL Guidelines!

Bottom line, this week was probably a wash given the external factors that likely influenced my weight loss this week (although I'll still count it this week ), but two events this week have definitely rejuvenated my motivation, and I'm looking forward to having a solid June!

Hopefully, everyone is staying well.

Chuck

[Abe]

Weight Change: +.8 lbs.

Thanks Wild Goose for the perspective on my starch indulgence.

I was 100% compliant this week, so no reason for the gain as far as I know. I am back to work and very busy.

My job is half in front of the computer, and half out in the field, often driving a lot between locations. I am looking for good food ideas for the car cooler days. Right now I am mostly packing a lot of cold potatoes and sweet potatoes, which I really enjoy, a quart bag of cut raw vegetables, and a serving of fruit. It needs to be food that is as convenient and as fast to eat in my truck as a sandwich or potato. No time or way to deal with salad, stew, or soup on those days. Any ideas? I am just checking to see if there are any other food ideas that I might be missing.

Sorry, if someone just mentioned this last week. I have not had time to read all of the posts.

Thank you.

[kirstykay]

Weight Change: -.5

I don't have a lot to say today. I'm happy with my .5 lb loss. I'm happy anytime the scale goes down.

I had some oral surgery on Wednesday, so I've only been allowed to eat cold, soft foods. I've been having mostly green smoothies and also some "pudding" made from sweet potato or pumpkin and banana. I can start having warm soft foods today, but nothing hot. I'm thinking about maybe mashed potatoes or possibly some oatmeal. Right now, smoothies and pudding are satisfying and keeping me comfortable. I'll be glad to have this ordeal behind me.

[Tian-De]

Hi Mark,
Thanks for all the feedback over the past two months. It's been really helpful. I appreciate the option of trying the maintenance group, but I feel like I need to continue working on getting solid with the ten points. I notice that when I think of transitioning to a more Starch Solution way, rather than MWL, I tend to add in a lot more calorically dense foods (more than I'd really like). Earlier this week I feel like I went way overboard on the maple syrup and hemp seeds. And need to keep focusing on getting solid with whole foods as a defult rather than something I'm willing myself to do.

Things I need to work on this week. 1) Eat more fruit for dessert (as opposed to hemp seeds and maple syrup). 2) Eat more cooked veggie (I often neglect these).

Highest Weight 2007: 226ish
Starting Weight 03/2020: 170 lbs
Current Weight: 161.3 lbs
Change this week: +1.5 lbs

[carwex]

Hi MWLers,

I am carwex, formerly signed in as carolw.

This week I lost 600 grams= 1 1/3 lbs. I am getting more exercise because my foot is much better. In another week my swimming pool will reopen and I will happily be getting lots of exercise.

I decided this week even before seeing the weight loss that losing more weight no longer matters. I have lost close to 10 pounds since starting in April. My BMI is a normal healthy 22.7. The important thing now is not to gain. My big realization is that going forward, the MWL way of eating is best for me, without all the higher fat foods (avocado, soy products, nuts, bread). I believe that at this rate I will naturally get to my ideal weight for MY body. I can now understand why Mark and Goose adhere to the MWL of eating in order to maintain weight.

This is not to say that I cannot have from time to time a tofu dish or some avocado, tehini or bread , but it is wiser for me to adhere to the MWL at home and have the non-compliant foods at a restaurant on a once a week basis. As Pootsy said above, one needs to balance socializing and MWL.

Something nice happened this week apropos. I have a friend who has decided to try this “diet” even though she is not plant based. She is using it for weight loss but it felt so nice to share the MWL with someone my age and stage. In the last 10 years of doing McDougall, and talking it up (without pushing it upon people) and mainly just being a model of health I have convinced NO ONE (aside from my daughter) to try WFPB. Some of this has to do with the age of my peers- 70’s early 80’s. Difficult to change habits so late in life, the young seem to be more open to veganism because of animal rights. I sometimes really feel lonely since I am quite dedicated to this lifestyle, not only for my own health but the health of my community and the good of the environment.

If anyone has ideas on how to carry this message to other older people in the community, I would love to hear them.

Have a great week everyone

[goal140]

Good morning everyone,
My post from last weeks weigh in showed as being successful but it disappeared, so I had to go back to my journal to find my weight.

Last week 167.2
This week 165.4
-1.8

My main issue this week was with compliance. There were a few days where I had bread ( I love bread). I have been better at eating 50/50% veggies and starch. I have been working on increasing my fiber intake and eating more variety of foods ( my gut will thank me for it)! I tried yucca for the first time. I boiled it, let it cool and and air fried it, had yucca fries. Man, we’re they good! My goal this week is to add a couple of new root vegetables to my way of eating ( trying not to use the word diet).

[Ejg]

Starting weight: 203.5
Last week: 199.7
This week: 199.5
week over week change: -0.2

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. Room for improvement exists in non-starchy vegetables and fruit consumption.
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. Didn't use any salt. Still eating the nutritional yeast. I think I'll just throw it away when I'm done writing this.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Yup
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Yup
6. Eliminate any added oil. No added oil. I ate air popped popcorn one night with my daughter.
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. I had a few handfuls of pretzels (again).
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Yup
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. Yup
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). I run every day my daughter is not with me, and when she is we go on epic walks and chat. Also continue to landscape and work on my house.

This week was more or less a no-change. Summer is dangerous for me because I love fruit and could eat a ton of it, and it is currently cheap and plentiful. It occurred to me that I could be overconsuming it because it tastes good, not because I'm actually hungry, and this could be hampering weight loss efforts. Same thing with corn on the cob. I love it and it is in season, but according to Fuhrman, this counts as a starchy food. Likewise with rice. I usually cook a big pot of it and eat it during the week. So this week I'll make an effort to reduce consumption of the starch and replace with green vegetables. I'm not 100% clear on why it is recommended to avoid starch but my best guess is that its because it is eventually stored in muscles as glycogen, and your body uses this for energy rather than stored fat.

[wstokes]

down 1.2 lb
managing portion control a little better last week and working towards eat when I'm hungry, stop before I'm full

[AnnetteW]

June start weight - 156

That's down 2 lbs since in May, but I'm doing a fresh start.

This week I started getting back on track, the past two days were 100% compliant, so it will be a work in progress.

Here are my comments on the checklist, based on my last two days only:

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. I don't always understand this guideline. Sure I can do it with dinner if I'm having a salad prior, but what about breakfast when it's oatmeal with blueberries, or my lunch which is a large salad with a grain and legumes added. I tend to just plate my food.

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 don't eat dessert, I'm not hungry for dessert. I also don't snack at night. I love watermelon in the afternoon when it's hot, a big bowl of frozen watermelon. Is that okay. I think the 50/50 is okay and I do that easily enough, except for breakfast which tends to be oats/fruit. Is this something that needs to be changed? I don't want veggies for breakfast.

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. Difficult but I did it these past two days. No salt in my oats make it taste like glue. Breakfast is a meal that doesn't need to excite me though, so I did it. I did sprinkle some salt on my potatoes and quinoa, but a little added afterwards is okay.

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Easy Peasy

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).Not so easy peasy but I did it the past 2 days. My soymilk is gone, which I love on my oats, or in coffee. No chia or flax in my oats either, and no hand in the bag of almonds.

6. Eliminate any added oil.Quite doable, as long as I am strong. Not 100% doable out at all restaurants, will work on this.

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. Earlier in the week I had corn tortillas in a restaurant, but at home none of my fresh baked bread. Luckily summer makes bread baking less desireable. I will admit that I will eat some when I bake some, but without nutbutter, I won't overeat it

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).Gave up wine once again, dang....but I do feel better without it and I know it's so bad for me

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.Need to work on feeling my hunger, I tend to just eat too much all the time and am rarely hungry, I just eat.

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).Started back on daily 3 mile walks, though today I'm taking a break to rest my feet/ankles. Very upset as my gym is restructuring and moving to private clients only. I need to figure out my exercise situation.

~~~~~~~~~~~
I think I'm retaining a lot of water so it will be cool to see if the low sodium helps flush me out. Also my blood sugar is elevated, fasting was 109 the last two days, so I know my lousy diet and weight gain these past 3 months has hurt me tremendously. I look forward to it being lower again. Also my blood pressure the past few days was in the 138/88 range, give or take. I'll try to take my blood pressure a few times during the week, and the fasting blood glucose next Friday again.

[NateKruse]

29 May 2020 weight: 225.6 pounds.
05 June 2020 weight: 222.2 pounds.
Weekly Change: -3.4 pounds.

After a gain two weeks ago followed by a tiny loss, it's nice to see the number on the scale as a reward for the process I have been putting in.

I've been eating A LOT of homemade air-fried French fries with ketchup this week. I'm loving it and I'm dialing in the recipe to perfection. Breakfast is still the same everyday (salad, waffle maker hash-browns, and canned vegetables) and I've been having homemade soup and either Plantiful Kiki's Chana Masala recipe or the french-fries with canned vegetables for lunch and dinner).

Also snacking on oranges and bananas.

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.100%
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. 90%. Still room for improvement by having less starchy vegetables.
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. 50% Still using canned vegetables with sea salt. Also adding garlic salt at the table. Regular ketchup with the fried.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). 100%
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). 100%
6. Eliminate any added oil. 100%
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. 100%
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). 100%. One gallon of water every day.
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. 100%
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).100%. 45 minute morning walk with the dog and a 45 minute home workout every day. This week I used the WaterRower for the full workout every day.

[Miss Kim]

Starting weight on 3/29/2020: 191 lbs
Last week's weight: 169 lbs
This week's weight: 169 lbs

I've struggled most of the week. Two days ago, I started reading last month's posts, and they were very encouraging. I was thinking of leaving the group, but after I read the posts, I realized I need this group.
Saturday night I think I didn't eat enough for dinner and started a binge. Also, my husband was on his last weeks of non-weight bearing from his hip surgery 5 weeks ago. This last week or so has been stressful for him and me. I'm glad to report his pain has lessened since starting weight bearing a few days ago and his attitude is back to normal as well. My binge was on vegan food, but not compliant with MWL.

Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Half the time this week.
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. 100%
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. Added a little salt to a few dishes
Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). 100%
Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Had a granola bar and half an avocado Saturday night
Eliminate any added oil. 100%
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. Ate several servings of crackers and a white flour tortilla Saturday night
Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). 100%
Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. 4 out of 7 days
Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). 5 of 7 days

Thanks everyone for all your posts. Big thanks to Mark, your encouragement is priceless.