December 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[wstokes]

Weight change +2.8 lbs:

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 95%

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. 80%

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. 85%...some holiday nuts and chex mix

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). 70%...three meals with either shrimp or steak and ice cream 2x.

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). 80% peanuts and pecans (as mentioned earlier)

6. Eliminate any added oil.95%...bread dipped in olive oil for one meal.

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. 70% as mentioned earlier...cinnamon rolls, some cookies, and crackers

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). 90% (?). I have grapefruit with several meals and when the container empties, I'll drink the juice with which it's stored. Other than that, all my fluids are unsweetened/zero calorie.

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. 75%...two major meals where I ate way too much

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). 100%

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
If there was anything "victorious" here, it was confronting the brutal reality that these 10 MWL Points really matter. A combination of complacency and holiday temptations revealed how quickly lost lbs can find their way back! I am grateful for the weekly accountability this group creates and I can see that I am still in need of this approach.
This last report of the year gives me pause to reflect on several things. I do NOT want to regress any further and I will be very attentive to what happens between now and next week's report (if I haven't been excommunicated from the MWL group). I am down 42 lbs since 12/31/2019 and would like to drop 14-15 lbs more. I would like to continue with the group until I hit this goal and stay consistently at that level. I struggle with the idea of totally giving up certain things. I wonder if there is a mental trick or way to allow for some lapses without blowing up like this past week (actually I've gotten too complacent the last 2-3 months). I'll think about this and I am interested in your thoughts as well.

[Artista]

Weight change +/- in lbs: 
+0.4

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 for every meal except breakfast. I can't seem to get into the habit of eating vegetables 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. 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). Mostly. Some mornings I put 2 tsp of flaxseed on my oats and I used a few Tbsp. of soy milk in tea.
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). Moderate exercise. Moderate exercise over 30 min. on 5 days out of 7

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
This week went pretty well. I was a little disappointed that my weight went up. I'll just give it some time and be as consistent as I can in following the guidelines and see how I do over the long haul.

[Marla]

Weekly report for the week of 12/18-12/24 (Fri-Thurs)

Weight change: -0.8

Starting weight: 230
Weight last week: 154.4
Weight this week: 153.6

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.16/21 meals. Did it for breakfast and lunch, but mostly not for dinner. Not having soup prepared was the main reason.
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. 20/21 meals (all except Christmas Eve dinner).
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, except for Christmas Eve dinner.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Yes, except had some chocolate (dairy) on Christmas Eve.
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Yes, except for Christmas Eve.
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, except for Christmas Eve.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Yes, except for Christmas Eve (had alcohol).
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, 6 out of 7 days, though some days I only did the minimum.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
I had a pretty good week of compliance right up until dinnertime on Christmas Eve. That meal had some richer regular-program foods, which was planned, but I also indulged in off-plan chocolate and alcohol which was not planned. I have another celebration meal tonight with different family members, and then I'll be getting right back on track.

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday and a happy, healthy week ahead.

[CindyD]

Dec 18, 2020 154.1
Dec 25, 2020 153.6
Weight change +/- in lbs: -0.5
Total December Loss -7.0
Since July 6 -58.1

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. 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 95%, ate two pretzels!
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. YES
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). The daily dog walks have shortened due to sub-30s weather! I need to find an additional activity. Though, today I put together a kitchen rack!

Happy Christmas and Hanukah and Solstice and all to all! It's weird feeling sometimes that I look the same as I did back in June before everything changed, but I know that is some kind of normal distortion. People are weird! Hope everyone is managing ok in these trying and often lonely times.

[cmcavazos]

Weight change - -.4#

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 4/7
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals. 4/7
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. 4/7
4. Eliminate all animal foods. 7/7
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods. 4/7
6. Eliminate any added oil. 4/7
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods. 4/7
8. Don't drink your calories. 7/7
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. 4/7
10. Avoid being sedentary. 6/7

Victories -- Not gaining this week but I'm still working on losing from my previous last week's holiday gain of .8 pounds.
Comments -- I did not eat large quantities of food, but I was off plan during three days while we had family get-togethers. My food was more heavily processed and had added sugars and salts. I'm thankful that I did well a couple of days before falling into the food frenzy! I'm so thankful that Christmas celebrations are over and I survived.

Looking forward to continuing with the January groupa and hoping for a healthy, whole food plant based 2021.

[jkcook]

-1 — hurray. Even with my birthday, I still lost a little.

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 95%
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals. 90%. Need more veggies
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. 100%
4. Eliminate all animal foods. 95%. Had a couple of salmon sushi, but mostly stayed with veggies
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods. 90%. Realized that after eating two giant veggie sushi rolls I really didn’t have to eat all of the avocado on top. But it was really really good. Also ate some cashews this week, maybe 20. Is that #5or6
6. Eliminate any added oil. 100%
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods. 95%
8. Don't drink your calories. 100%
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. 95%
10. Avoid being sedentary—less than normal

Did better at sticking to salads and potatoes. This was after my way in, but it’s going to be a positive force. I got a french fry Cutter machine today, so I am more likely to eat french fries made in my air fryer, since they’re now easier to prepare. And for Christmas dinner tonight, which was also after the way in, but I’ll forget by next week, I made roasted potatoes to go with my Gardein holiday feast, so I did not participate in any of the other evil foods my children made. For Christmas Yves, we had a cool sushi platters. They made our sushi rolls look like Christmas trees. It was really fun. And like I said, I mainly stuck to the vegetarian rolls, like a good kid. Hope everybody had a good holiday week.

[Hope410]

Hello Everyone,

Weight change: -2.4 Lbs

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. 100%
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. 100%
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. 95% Had plain popcorn twice.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). 100%
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). 50%

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Still needing to work in exercise everyday. This and bread and popcorn are areas that need better compliance, so that is my goal to work toward this week and in the new year in order to make these new habits.

See you all next year.

[carwex]

26 December 2020

Weight last week 136 pounds.
Weight today: 134.
Goal weight: 130.

1. Start each meal with a soup or salad. I have soup ready 90% of the time/if not- a salad
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method, ½ starch and ½ vegetables. yes, I love this symmetry
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and salts. Reduced salt, yes, eliminated no
4. Eliminate all animal foods. Xmas day I did taste all the nono’s on the table
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods. Miso and tofu are still part of some soups
6. Eliminate any added oil. yes
7. Eliminate all higher calorie dense foods.[/i]No nuts/ no bread But did make humus with a little tahini/some soy[/i]
8. Don’t drink your calories. Sometimes when I am going to add a little almond milk to my tea I get this overwhelming urge
to drink it straight up. I realized this week that it happens when I am thirsty. The solution is to drink more water.
9. Follow these principles whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Yes. If I’m hungry between meals, I take an
additional small meal like a small potato and a veg.
10. Avoid being sedentary. This week I swam more.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Xmas dinner was so beautiful. I rarely spend it with family since my children and grandchildren have lived far away for so many years. Now that I have moved closer to them, I really loved the celebration of being together and sharing the food that everyone had prepared so lovingly. I tasted everything including the desserts. Nothing happened (except that probably next week my weight will show it). However, this did not set up any cravings that evening or the next day. The party did not continue. If I had attended more parties, the situation would surely have been different. Today is Boxing Day here in Oz and I am back on track with MWL.

My grandson who lives with us when he attends school is now on holiday and it is much easier for me with the food. He is not a demanding child. It is me that feels the onus of having healthy and tasty foods always on hand. This is something I need to contemplate.

Have been developing more easy recipes since I really like variety. I found that a combination of brown rice (3 parts) and red rice (1 part) is nice for a change in starch.

Easy soup recipe: Fry 1 cup frozen chopped onions in a little broth til soft
Add some curry powder and cumin.
Add 2 cups of frozen mixed vegetables/ 1 or 2 garlic cloves/one
potato and one carrot, peeled and cubed/ and veggie broth to cover.
Cover and let this cook for a while til soft.
Add a cut up tomato or some canned tomatoes (1/2 a can).
A dab of miso or salt can be added for flavor, also a squirt of lemon.
Put the soup in a blender and blend.
A splash of plant milk can be added for creaminess
Sprinkle with greens like coriander, parsley, basil, thyme

I always have frozen diced onions on hand for soups since it saves time chopping.

Every morning right after breakfast I make a large salad for me and my husband for use during the day.( It encourages a greater veggie consumption.) It always gets eaten during the day. Also good for snacks.The salad plus always having a soup or 2 in the fridge means that I worry less about having to prepare a meal when there is little time. Soup and salad are always present.

[josietheschnauzer]

Weight change +/- in lbs: Gain, +.6
1. Start each meal with soup/salad/fruit: Yes
2. Follow 50/50 plate method for meals: Yes, sometimes more green...whoops, except for Christmas Day, while I had soup and salad, I didn't have any green to go along with my baked potatoes. The restaurant had steamed asparagus, but it is steamed with butter and water......so I didn't order.
3. Reduce or eliminate added sugars and salts: No. Raspberry Sorbet at Restaurant on Christmas Day.
4. No animal foods: Yes
5. No higher fat plant foods (nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy): No. Made WFPB treat for Christmas Eve. Please see comments.
6. No added oil: Yes.
7. No higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit: No. Made WFPB treat and had two rolls and raspberry sorbet at restaurant on Christmas Day.
8. Don't drink calories: No. Had almond milk latte from Starbuck's on Christmas Day.
9. Follow principles, eat when hungry & until comfortably full. Don't starve and don't stuff: No. Ate more at Christmas Eve Dinner and Christmas Day Dinner.
10. Avoid being sedentary. Exercise at least 30 minutes daily: Yes.
Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
First of all, thank you to everyone and Mark, Wild Goose, and Jeff for helping me stay focused. My salt intake was increased for Christmas Eve. I made homemade miso soup with dried mushrooms and seaweed but No tofu. That and the soy sauce with the vegetable tofu probably increased my sodium from its usual amount. I also made for Christmas Eve celebration Cathy Fisher's carrot cake. While it was WFPB and without added sugar, oil, or salt it did include dates, walnuts, and cashews. I ate about three pieces (they weren't that big in my defense, but I still did stuff) and gave the rest of the cake away to my guest who loved it. On Christmas Day, I went to restaurant. I ate at home before the restaurant my soup. At the restaurant I had MWL chopped salad and two big baked potatoes. But because of ?? who knows. I was still hungry so I ate two small rolls and ordered red raspberry sorbet for dessert. It was very cold, and it is very cold now. That is one of my excuses. Does the cold make us hungry? Or is it my imagination. I deliberately waited until this morning to weigh in. Thank you all again!!! Leaving in the cold at about 7:30am to meet my running group. I just have to get out the door, one foot at a time Happy New Year!

[PonysPlants]

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that you’re feeling better, Mark!

Gained 2.2lbs this week so I’m slightly coming here hanging my head in shame but I have to be accountable so here I am. It’s quite crazy how quickly the weight can come back on. I didn’t go mad eating everything in sight but a couple of indulgent meals and 2.2lbs heavier.

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. NO. Christmas Eve supper was a mainly junky snack foods.
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. YES.
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,) NO. Pick one and I ate it.
6. Eliminate any added oil. NO. Had roast potatoes in oil and made a vegan Wellington that had oil in it.
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 pastry, bread, crisps, nuts, not in large amounts but you get the idea.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). YES. Hurray!
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. NO. Let’s be honest. Haha!
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily. NO. Full disclosure: I didn’t even try.

Here in the U.K. our area was put into the highest level of lock down which meant the plans we had to see family were cancelled at the last minutes. And in my sadness and disappointment I just threw caution away and ate what I wanted.

BUT!

Positives to take away:
Seeing the difference in my body after 2 days of poor eating is shocking. My belly came back overnight. That might not sound like a positive but it’s a good motivator.
I’m straight back on eating the MWL way, because this is my normal now.
There is no waiting until new year to start some horrendous diet. I’ve had my indulgence and now normal service is resumed. Previous years the week of Xmas and NY was just a free for all. Knowing how crap I feel after 2 days I don’t know how I ever did that to myself.

Thanks to the moderators as always! You’re absolute stars.

Naomi

[chef16]

12/18/2020 233#
12/25/2020 233#
0
Stayed the same

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 50%
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%
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. 95%
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). 85%
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.85%
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). 100%
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). Total fail.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas and Santa brought you lots of goodies!
I am on the other side of Christmas with not to much damage . No lose but no gain! Getting through next week will be almost as hard , but after that everyone goes on a diet and things like cookies ,candy and holiday cheer disappear. Diet foods and drink show up(YUK) and everyone starts focusing on their health and I can start focusing on getting back to the program. Hope you have a Happy New Year!

[Growing a Pear]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -1.2#

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals. Choose fruit for dessert.
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. Eliminate any added oil.
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).

A belated Merry Christmas/happy holidays to all! May 2021 bring us good health and banish the specter of Covid from our lives.

This week's rolling average loss is due to the cumulative tightening of the MWL diet over several weeks. If not for Christmas dinner, virtually all the above items would be a . I'm going to work very hard to limit my indulgences going forward. Unfortunately, it's going to take time to remove them entirely from sight but it helps to arrive at the holidays in a losing streak. I know what is possible and that I do NOT feel deprived when I settle into the program. (Speaking of which, I still have those 2 "emergency" Clif Bars that I haven't touched. It has now been 13 days. Whenever I've felt the urge to indulge, I've gone to my steel cut oat "pudding", added frozen berries and been satisfied.)

For future reference, stocking the fridge with a veggie-bean soup and having that for breakfast has been key to my recent success. (Or having savory oatmeal.) There's no decision-making required, I enjoy it, and it settles my sweet tooth in a way that oatmeal and fruit cannot.

Am still working to establish an indoor exercise routine that allows me to conquer #10. It's closer, and I can see improved muscle tone for my efforts. Still not where I want to be but I'll get there.

Onwards to 2021, though. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

[Gimmelean]

Weight change +/- in lbs: +1.4

12/18/20 127
12/25/20 128.4


1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Yes.
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert. Yes
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.yes.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).yes
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).yes
6. Eliminate any added oil. No
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. No
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).yes
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.yes
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).yes

Victories, comments, concerns,questions:
This week my weight increased by 1.4 pounds. I am very much aware of my lapses with the 10 point checklist this week.
Items 6 & 7 only were a no. But a big no. I had “exotic and artisanal “breads dipped in imported olive oil, popcorn, cookies, “healthy” cake and chips over the course of the week. After eating those things I felt increasingly more awful. Not what I’m used to anymore at all. To get my momentum going in the right direction I shopped Instacart for healthy fresh fruits and vegetables,prepared homemade vegetable broth, roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes,and vegetables to have on hand.I read postings from the discussion board and watched Dr. McDougall videos for motivation. Yesterday, I can honestly say that I was very much back on track.Saying no felt so much better mentally and physically than not thinking at all and feeling guilty and lousy from eating the wrong things. Overeating because of social queues and changes in exercise routine as the weather turns snowy and cold this time of year means that I need to adapt my eating and exercise routines in order to prevent weight gain between now and March. That’s during normal times. Not pandemic times when I need to muster extra resolve and a lot of conscientiousness in order to keep my weight down in the year ahead. Thank you for everything!!!

[lmggallagher]

SW: 241.9 lbs.
GW: 150.0 lbs.

Last Weigh in: 214.0 lbs.
This Week: 213.4
Lost: 0.6


Weight change +/- in lbs:

Lost: 0.6 (not really sure about this my scale has become erratic and is being replaced).

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. Eliminate any added oil.
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
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 (i.e., brisk walking).

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Well, Christmas week good grief the temptations tossed my way were overwhelming, but for the most part - I've done OK. I hope wildgoose drops in today and reads this as while Mark was away - she read my post about my neighbor (thin as a rail and exercise addict) who KNOWS I am dieting yet regularly brings my cookies and muffins. This time her daughter added her homemade Christmas cookies to the assortment of vegan muffins. I did as wildgoose suggested tossed them - with only one bite of each. However - note this The card that came with the delightful morsels began thusly ..... "I know you are dieting but....."..

But let's not stop there - this week my Instacart delivery came with a bag that was not my order. Due to Covid they can't take back and assure the bag gets to the right home after all. You're stuck with someone else's groceries. Just some of what was in this errant bag - 2 bags of semi-sweet chocolate chips, one big bag of walnuts, a pound of butter, a bottle of olive oil, garlic croutons and 2 boxes of Pomi tomatoes. I kept the tomatoes and put the rest in my car. The idea was to take the eventually to the Food Closet, however just now the Food Closet is taking no donations except "rubber bands and zip lock bags. They are stuffed to the gills with food from the Second Harvest. I know because I write up their request list every week for various church bulletins.

However, as luck would have it - my Cousin Steve came by to do a present drop. I asked him if he'd be interested in those items. He said indeed and I grabbed up the butter from the fridge before he left.

However...... among my gifts was a box of See's chocolates from my dear Auntie Evelyn - at this point I succumbed from being virtuous (as the Gods, I presumed were going to continue to toss me food grenades until I caved) and I ate three - just three - and tossed the rest.

I know this is nothing -compared to the restraint of folks who live with SAD eaters and these types of foods are in their cupboards and pantries all the time. But I am not a Saint when it comes to avoiding sweets - but I could have been so much worse than I was this week.

Hope all is well with everyone and that we all had safe and Happy Holidays - Michelle

[GreenFroG]

Hi all,
Weight change +/- in lbs: +1.8 lbs

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. Eliminate any added oil.
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
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 (i.e., brisk walking).

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: I got off track on Christmas Eve and Christmas with popcorn, crackers, a couple of cookies, chocolate and sparkling apple cider. I have learned that my trigger is more the salty snacks than a sweet tooth, but that my will power does not last forever. Once I started down the salty path with the popcorn, I soon moved on to the cookies and chocolate. I am glad to be posting today so I can get back on track and hopefully move forward. I was able to exercise more this week, but still did not get in everyday.

Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and am looking forward to getting healthier with you in the New Year!