November 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[Mark Cooper]

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.

[Noella]

Thank you so much Mark and Wildgoose and everyone who encouraged me last week. It made a huge difference. I got some great advice and was really able to turn things around this week. I went from feeling discouraged and hopeless to feeling empowered. I remembered that I was the one making the decisions and because the decisions are mine, I have all the power. I also tried not to even think about my weight and really focus on the process. It was a complete mindset shift, and the pleasure trap food just didn't have the same control over me for some reason.

My favorite day this week was my birthday. I think it might have been the very first birthday EVER that didn't center around food! Like ever in my entire life! And I had the most wonderful day. My husband took the day off work and we went on a beautiful hike in the mountains. We took cold potatoes on the hike and packed a salad with chickpeas and some fruit for our lunch. We put Chili in the crockpot before we left and had a delicious meal by the fire when we got home. My husband made some chocolate banana nice cream for dessert. I didn't miss not having cake. I didn't wish we could have gone out to dinner. I got lots of calls, texts, cards, and my kids even sent me flowers! It was a delightful day and I felt very loved and celebrated without it being at all about food! It felt like a complete shift in my way of thinking and I am very encouraged.

Hi KirstyKay! Thank you for sharing your ‘complete mindset shift’ and the wonderful description of how to enjoy the best birthday fun that isn’t centered around food! This is inspiring! Cheers to your success at feeling empowered!
Warm regards,
Noella

[Mark Cooper]

wstokes - Kudos for your progress! Would taking some time to put together a plan for Thanksgiving (if you haven't already) help overcome the anticipated challenges? Continue your efforts to adhere more fully to those remaining behaviors that diverge from the recommendations.

kirstykay - Woo-hoo, Kirsty! Down 1.7lbs and a calmer, clearer, more adherent week! I totally agree with you that it is often far easier to "say no" to troublesome foods at the grocery store, rather than having them as a taunting presence in one's immediate environment. Happy Birthday! It sounds like you and your husband had a really wonderful day, and your decision not to center the celebration around food clearly felt like a real success.

It felt like a complete shift in my way of thinking and I am very encouraged.

Kappagator_96 - Congratulations on your improved waist to hip ratio! Having that and your BMI both into a healthy range seems like a laudable and reasonable goal. Experimenting with tea as a means to eliminate the creamer seems like something worth trying. Keep aiming for ongoing improvement; do you have a plan for achieving your exercise goal for next week?

cmcavazos - Kudos! Opting out of a situation that felt like it would present too many temptations seems like great action in support of your efforts! Potatoes are so great, right? I'm so glad to hear your sugar cravings are subsiding; keep up your efforts with that and omitting the more calorie dense foods.

josietheschnauzer - Down a pound! Personally, I find it helpful to frame the limit on fruit in terms of refraining from overindulgence, rather than a hard, black & white line, particularly since the sizes of individual fruits do tend to vary. The question I ask myself is "have I been eating fruit when I am not hungry or past the point of being comfortably full?"

In regards to fruit, Dr. McDougall stated long ago that if you want to lose weight you may want to limit your fruit consumption to two servings per day because some people have a tendency to overindulge in fruit. That being said, fruit is very low in calorie density, and we believe that eating fruit is a great way to still achieve your weight loss goals; however, if you find yourself eating copious amounts of fruit every day and are not seeing the results you want, that is an indicator that you may want to slow down on your fruit consumption.

The limit of 2 servings of fruit is based on Dr. McDougall’s personal experience and, like the limit on beans, is just a weekly average. His main concern with fruit in regard to weight is that he says he sees participants “binging” on fruit.

In my experience, entrées labeled as vegan in most restaurants nearly always have some oil (and typically other higher fat ingredients, and lots of added salt/sugar). Cheers for putting plans in place to achieve "MWL VICTORY!"

texaslil - Nice loss, Laila! And no smoothie! Like you, I found that the preload recommendation really made a significant positive impact on my progress. Here is Jeff's discussion of the Impossible Burger; it is quite an eye-opener. Enjoy all that preparation and cooking for your adherent Thanksgiving celebration! What fun!

alishana - Congratulations on your progress! I'm glad you are feeling good and had a good week! Some organization, planning and preparation for those times life becomes hectic definitely makes consistent adherence more easily attainable. Eliminating the banana oat cookies should definitely help support continuing advancement.

Zoey - As long as you are committed to trying to follow the MWL guidelines, you are very welcome to stick with this group for as long as it serves you! The efforts and results we are most interested in are behavioral, not just numbers from a scale. I can certainly imagine how receiving loving gifts (of non adherent foods) and being sensitive and mindful of our relationships with loved ones (and their feelings) can make for a path that is tricky to navigate, particularly at this time of the year. I'm glad that didn't set off any triggers for you.

Everything about this way of eating has become super easy and enjoyable for me, and that's where I want to stay, even if it takes me another six months to see my goal number on that scale.

That seems like exactly the perspective from which to proceed!

Gimmelean - It sounds like you made some very valuable observations and realizations over the course of the week! I think those powerful, subjective experiences with the impact from troublesome foods can be quite helpful for framing our future behaviors, when we are mindful of them.

Eating the right foods, and exercising regularly no matter what has a huge impact on my entire outlook.

I totally agree. Weathering the winter months without losing ground seems like a reasonable and achievable goal. Have a happy, safe, and healthy Thanksgiving!

chef16 - During a particularly trying week, holding steady can be its own sort of victory! Keep aiming for progress in adhering more closely to the recommendations, where you have the opportunity to do so. Are there any actions you can take to help ensure that your hope for next week is realized?

Growing a Pear - I'm imagine ending that 125-day streak feels like a heavy weight, but keep sight of the fact that you were solid for 6/7 days!

Can't do anything about yesterday other than to learn from it.

Learning what you can when setbacks occur and adjusting accordingly is, I think, the most important piece of the puzzle. Mashed potatoes and bean gravy seems like a great place to turn toward if you see a future "crash" ahead. Have you tried out any particular activity or routine for indoor exercise that you've enjoyed? Onwards!

JaBee - Down 1.1 pounds and quite a few 7/7s! Keep doing what you can to make progress eliminating those calorie-dense foods. Do the occasions when #9 is an issue coincide with the inclusion of those particular foods?

Wfpb2020 - 1.4lbs lighter! Making these significant changes in our way of eating and pattern of behavior can be such an arduous adjustment; remaining committed to the effort 5 months on is definitely a win! Even though your husband isn't ready to eliminate all animal foods from his diet, do you think he might be willing to keep the foods you find most troublesome out of the house? Keep doing the best you can!

GreenFroG - Cheers for 8 THUMBS-UP! Root canals are definitely no fun; I'm glad you were able to keep to your routine, in spite of that, and you are feeling better. Being mindful of how we, as individuals, react and respond to specific things (like added salt) seems quite valuable. For some, salt can be a particular issue in triggering cravings, for others (like myself) it might be sugar, or both together.

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.

Thank you for your gracious Thanksgiving wishes! I wish you the same!

lmggallagher - Another pound takes its leave! Lots of s, Michelle! Big Congratulations for being able to send all those overly large clothes to the donation box! That is awesome! Sorry you have been beset with intense fibromyalgia symptoms; that can't be easy to manage. A "starch cook day" seems like a great way to support yourself. Thanks for taking the time to highlight the silver lining within this pandemic-restricted holiday season. Best wishes to you!

Noella - Goodbye to 2 pounds! Congratulations on those gratifying changes in the fit of your clothes! 10 MWL Checklist points with a big YES next to them will always pay off in the end. You are so right that being able to eat heartily of the recommended foods whenever we feel hungry is one of the most amazing facets of this way of eating. Isn't wonderful not to feel deprived or shortchanged in regard to meals? I love Japanese sweet potatoes, too! Warm regards to you.

[Mark Cooper]

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

Mark's Replies for November 20 - Part 1
Mark's Replies for November 20 - Part 2

By my count, 29 participants reported for our third November 2020 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 third Friday in November:

Week ending 11/20/2020: 29 participants reported a total loss of -24.30 pounds
--------------------------------------------------
Rita<3 +2.00
GreenFroG +0.80
Gimmelean +0.40
Growing a Pear +0.10
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Total gains: +3.30
--------------------------------------------------
Abe 0.00
Chef16 0.00
Jkcook 0.00
Zoey 0.00
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Wstokes -0.20
Alishana -0.80
Hope410 -0.80
Wavingwheat -0.80
Cmcavazos -0.90
Kappagator_96 -0.90
Josietheschnauzer -1.00
Lmggallagher -1.00
PonysPlants -1.00
JaBee -1.10
CindyD -1.40
Veganjo -1.40
Wfpb2020 -1.40
Squealcat -1.50
Rebecka22 -1.60
Texaslil -1.60
Kirstykay -1.70
Expat in NZ -1.90
Noella -2.00
VivianS -2.00
Marla -2.60
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Total losses: -27.60
--------------------------------------------------
Cumulative group loss for November 2020 to date: 57.20 pounds
Average loss for week ending November 20: 0.84 pounds
--------------------------------------------------
Cumulative group loss for January 2020: 384.15 pounds
Cumulative group loss for February 2020: 96.60 pounds
Cumulative group loss for March 2020: 60.10 pounds
Cumulative group loss for April 2020: 218.00 pounds
Cumulative group loss for May 2020: 191.50 pounds
Cumulative group loss for June 2020: 120.63 pounds
Cumulative group loss for July 2020: 524.80 pounds
Cumulative group loss for August 2020: 240.30 pounds
Cumulative group loss for September 2020: 172.61 pounds
Cumulative group loss for October 2020: 216.25 pounds

Next Weigh-In is on Friday, November 27, 2020.


A hearty congratulations to all who participated this week! You are here, continuing to work and practice at making these changes, your perseverance and dedication deserves recognition!

For those who will be celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday this week, I encourage you to decide in advance what you would like your celebration to look like, and dedicate some time to planning and preparing accordingly so that you are able to realize that vision. Mary McDougall's article on Holiday Meal Planning & Recipes is an excellent resource, and many of the included recipes can be adapted to fit the MWL guidelines with some substitutions, adjustments or omissions. The MWL recipe section is also a valuable resource for planning your "feast." Keep in mind these tips from the McDougall Program

Tips for Staying on Track During the Holidays

During this time of uncertainty, staying on track with our health and diet is more important than ever. While we may not be gathering in large groups this year, the holidays can still be a challenging time to navigate. Simply going to the grocery store, temptation is all around. With some pre-planning, you can make it through the holidays with little stress and feel good about your eating choices.

• Don’t go to a gathering (or the grocery store) hungry. Have a meal or a snack before you go.
• When going to visit family and friends for a gathering, bring along something you can eat. This could be a dish to share or simply a couple of baked potatoes.
• If you’re caught unprepared, remember, it’s ok to go hungry, you will eat again.
• If you do end up eating something that's off plan, don’t be too hard on yourself. Remember your next meal is a chance to get back on track.

Whether you are looking forward to a big celebration, a more modest observance, or another normal week, decide how you personally will define a success for the days ahead, and then set about planning and intending to succeed!

The holidays are a time to celebrate, give thanks and, yes, perhaps for some of us, to even overindulge a little. It is important to remember, however, that Thanksgiving is just one meal on one day and is not the start of a month–and–a–half-long celebration. The very occasional indulgence on the very occasional holiday (i.e., the actual day and meal itself) will most likely not be damaging to overall health and well-being for most of us if healthy eating and exercising take place on a regular, consistent, daily basis throughout the rest of the year.

The holidays are times to focus on family and friends—not just food. Catching up and sharing laughs with loved ones will allow you to feel the spirit of the holidays more than a second helping of pie. If you do indulge a little to celebrate, be careful and do so without throwing all caution to the wind or hurting yourself. And remember, your body is never not watching!

So, during this upcoming holiday season of thanksgiving and celebration, let's not forgot to take a moment and reflect, celebrate, and give thanks for those things that are truly the most important and of the most value to us... our lives, our health, our friends, and our families.

Have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.
Jeff

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you observing it, and a joyful, health-supporting week to all!

[Growing a Pear]

Growing a Pear - I'm imagine ending that 125-day streak feels like a heavy weight, but keep sight of the fact that you were solid for 6/7 days!

Can't do anything about yesterday other than to learn from it.

Learning what you can when setbacks occur and adjusting accordingly is, I think, the most important piece of the puzzle. Mashed potatoes and bean gravy seems like a great place to turn toward if you see a future "crash" ahead. Have you tried out any particular activity or routine for indoor exercise that you've enjoyed? Onwards!

Yes, thanks, Mark. I so appreciate your thoughts.

For the initial months of Covid I took online Zumba classes with my regular instructor. It felt both fun and social as a lot of my former classmates would show up. It also had the advantage of being an established appointment I could plan my time around.

Then she became unreliable. I have tried various substitutes as the dance component makes the hour fly by, and I'll willingly push myself. I just haven't found anything consistently available that's of the same quality. And using the treadmill while I watch TV is adequate but feels like drudgery.

After posting this morning, though, I cranked the music and tried more of a HIIT type workout and ended up enjoying it and going longer than I planned. I'll just have to keep experimenting with the type of activity and the time of day.

[Mark Cooper]

Growing a Pear - Those online Zumba classes sound fantastic! Too bad that isn't still reliably available for you. I quite enjoy HIIT workouts myself (low-impact versions, in my case). I've seen several dance workouts on various YouTube fitness channels, but I've never tried one myself (or Zumba, for that matter). Maybe I'll give one of those a shot one of these days. Enjoy your ongoing experiments!

[John McDougall]

Great to see this group has stayed together - helping each other - and showing successes in many ways.

I just want to emphasize: It is the QUALITY of the food, not the QUANTITY.

You are guaranteed success when following a starch-based and a simple diet. Monotony can be a key helper.

Write me anytime, I am always interested in your successes and failures:
[email protected]

John McDougall, MD

[josietheschnauzer]

Thank you, Dr. McD! You, Mary, and your team saved my life...with help from potatoes of course. My time at the live in program during August 2019 was truly one of the highlights of my life! Happy Thanksgiving!

[Mark Cooper]

Thank you so much, Dr. McDougall, for all the work you have done and are still doing to improve life and make a better world! And thanks, as well, for the important reminder that choosing foods with the right qualities is what is important; when we do that, we needn't fret over the quantity. Eat (the recommended foods) when hungry.

[Zoey]

What a nice surprise, a visit from the doctor himself! Happy Thanksgiving to all.

[Expat in NZ]

What a pleasant surprise visit from the legend himself! I owe you a lot, Dr McDougall - you are my hero!!

Happy NZ Friday all!

Beginning of November - 180.2
Nov 13 - 181.2
Nov 20 - 179.3
Nov 27 - 178.6 (-0.7)

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 100%
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals. 100%
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. 100%
4. Eliminate all animal foods. 100%
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods. 100%
6. Eliminate any added oil. 100%
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods. 100%
8. Don't drink your calories. I never do
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Still a work in progress but there are definitely some improvements being made here. The “fear” of being hungry isn’t as strong anymore - so I am eating less at mealtime but snacking often through the day on raw veggies or fresh fruit or leftover veggie soup. It’s not the most convenient thing ever but it’s definitely worth it!
10. Avoid being sedentary. Always!

[VivianS]

VivianS November 26, 2020
Yea, Expat! You have a lot to be thankful for everyday!

[PonysPlants]

Gained 0.6 lbs this week. It’s always pretty mortifying to report a gain, especially when I was getting into a good groove but due to an incident with a large bag of popcorn and some Chinese noodles, here I am.

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. YES. It’s just automatic for me now to decide on a starch and base my meal around that.
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. No, popcorn and soy sauce and miso in some noodles.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). YES Easy. Vegan for life
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados,) YES
6. Eliminate any added oil. NO. There was oil in the popcorn.
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. Had popcorn and a lot of it. Our weekly shop came with some popcorn that was a substitute for some crisps for my husband. He doesn’t like it so I had a “bit”. Fell into the pleasure trap completely and ate the whole sharing bag. It was honestly a bit weird. Really feel like I wasn’t in control of it. No more popcorn in the house! Also, we had some noodles with a soy and miso sauce because my husband wanted them and I was too tired to make 2 meals.
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. NO. Didn’t manage every day this week.

Well, not much point being in an accountability group without holding myself accountable! I’m hoping that some of the weight gain is water weight from all of the salt (also it’s that time of the month). I guess I’ll see next week. I have ordered some freezer containers so I can make some stand by meals this weekend. I’ve lost 45 lbs since I started trying to lose weight with 10 ish left to go. So I need to remind myself how far I’ve come, not just how much is left to go.

Back to it!

Thanks so much to Mark and the rest of the moderators as always. Probably would have given up a while ago if not for your support.

Naomi

[Abe]

Weight Change: 0 lbs.

MWL Points:

1. Start meals with soup or salad.
2. Follow 50/50 plate volume.
3. Eliminate sugar and salt.
4. Eliminate animal based foods.
5. Eliminate higher fat plant foods.
   I got rid of the natto to avoid becoming a soy bean junkie.
6. Eliminate oil.
7. Eliminate higher calorie dense foods.
8. Do not drink your calories.
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.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
Thanksgiving was small and short this year, which made it easier to stay on track. I left before dessert.

I have now officially reached my 1 year mark for this healthy way of eating. Down 52 pounds, and in much better shape inside and out. I am thankful to Mark, Goose, Jeff, and of course Dr McDougall for showing me the way. This board has been a good aid for building good habits and learning how to eat right. Thank you everyone here.

I am celebrating my 1 year anniversary with a try at Mary's Mini Diet. I have been stuck for a while and I would like to see if it can help me get closer to a healthy BMI which is still 17 pounds away. I started a bit earlier in the week, but my Thanksgiving meal included some baked butternut squash so it officially starts today.

I have updated my goal weight to reflect the healthy BMI number that the charts say is correct for me.

https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2006nl/jun/mary.htm
https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2006nl/july/marys2.htm

[Veganjo]

-.2 lb. Friday, November 27th

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 50%
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals. 100%
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. 100%
4. Eliminate all animal foods. 100%
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods. 100%
6. Eliminate any added oil. 100%
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods. 100%
8. Don't drink your calories. Yes
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Yes
10. Exercise: Monday & Wednesday group exercise (1 hr. class). Everyday, my husband and I walk, usually 7500 to 10,000 steps.