January 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[Hope410]

Hello MWL Group,

Weight change: -3.2 lbs.

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. YES
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. NO
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). 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). NOOO, darn it!!

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Feels great to have an additional loss this week, finally. Still the same problem points I'm struggling with, but they were less severe this week in that only 2 slices of bread passed my lips only once on Saturday evening and absolutely NO POPCORN at all. In fact, there isn't even any in the house to pop anymore. Almost a YES.

I did do about the same on the exercise point; 3 X for 30 minutes and 1X for 20 minutes. Mark, that is a good suggestion to do my best to do my exercise as early in the morning as possible and establish it as an everyday habit. I'm also going to concentrate on changing from a percentage evaluation to either YES or NO on all the points each day.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK EVERYONE!!

[texaslil]

Weight change +/- in lbs:
+ .8 lbs
171.2

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 50/50
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. 50/50
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them. YES
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). YES
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). NO
6. Eliminate any added oil. MOSTLY
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. MOSTLY
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). ONE FRUIT SMOOTHIE
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). WALKED SOOOOO MUCH THIS WEEK

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: First, I want to apologize for missing last week's check-in, I weighed in at 170.4 but with all of the hustle and bustle in my house last week.. I absolutely forgot to post! We were getting my daughter ready to head off to college, after two pandemic related failed attempts, we were finally able to take her. A very exciting time indeed She moved to a big urban center where we could walk everywhere and where there was so much good vegan food to be had I did indulge at dinners but kept it mostly in check for all other meals. I'm convinced that the several hours per day of walking kept the weight off for the most part.

I'm back home this week, with no kids or furry animals in the house (they are with family so that I can quarantine) and I am floored about how much easier it is to eat on plan. I honestly didn't realize how much I was cooking for them. So far, no avocado and no tofu which both are usually my weakness. Let's see what next week brings, I'm excited to see if this streak continues. Hope everyone is doing well!

[jnc]

Hi MWL Group!
Weight change: -1.4 lb
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. No
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Yes
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy) No
6. Eliminate any added oil. Yes
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products. 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, concern, questions: I'm pleased with a small decrease for a loss of 4.7 pounds since New Year's Day. Woo hoo! Overall, I am moving more and incorporating the principles into my meals (or at least I am aware of them when I am not following them), and feeling more satisfied with less volume of food. I'm committed to meal planning and having a fridge full of salad - that makes a difference! All the tips and encouragement have been super helpful. Thank you!

[josietheschnauzer]

Weight change: + .6 pound. In the weight dance
1. Start each meal with soup/salad/fruit: Yes--counting carrot for salad before a couple of lunches.
2. Follow 50/50 plate method for meals: Yes.
3. Reduce or eliminate added sugars and salts: Yes. Condiments too much sodium--dealing with it.
4. No animal foods: Yes.
5. No higher fat plant foods (nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy: Yes.
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: Yes.
8. Don't drink calories: Yes.
9. Follow principles, eat when hungry & until comfortably full. Don't starve and don't stuff: Yes, BUT, a work in progress
10. Avoid being sedentary. Exercise at least 30 minutes daily: Definitely, a lot more this week so I don't understand the .6 pound, but I will live with it. This is my way of living that I am working on!!!
Victories, comments, concerns, questions: It is very cold, yet for the first time ever I have exercised (run) every day. I can't believe it. Do we hold weight when we are cold (smile). Trying to figure out why I have the weight dance every week. On to February! Oh yes, no stress, emotional eating this week. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

[chrisg]

CODE: SELECT ALL
Weight change +/- in lbs: no change

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Sometimes, when I don’t have a heavy-veggie meal
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, but still use minimal salt seasonings
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Had shrimp one night
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Yes, except for small handful of nuts
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, water only other than morning cup of coffee
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). Walked 5 days

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Usually bake sourdough bread for my family, did not bake this week so I wouldn’t be tempted to eat it. Also did not order in any food. Prepared everything at home to avoid added oils. Didn’t gain, but didn’t lose either.

[Gimmelean]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -1.6
1/22/2021 128.6
1/29/2021 127.6

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 7/7
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. 7/7
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.1/7
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).1/7
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).1/7
6. Eliminate any added oil.1/7
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. 1/7
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).7/7
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.1/7
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).7/7

Victories, comments, concerns,questions:
This week I lost 1.6 pounds. I am thankful to Mark for recommending Dr. Lisle’s Cram Circuit lecture which really gave me the understanding and motivation to fully succeed this week for one full day with all of the checkpoints. Even the ones I let go of completely. I like the method of filling in the checklist template with the number of days this week that I was fully compliant for each item listed. I saw a quote which stuck with me. It’s not ok to wander even a little bit. If you want blue paint and add 10% red, you’re going to wind up with purple. I think that’s why it’s important to follow the MWL plan because of the science which impacts us physically and emotionally. It really is about the food at least to begin with. If I’ve satisfied my actual hunger I’m in a much better place to manage the emotional drive to cram. I’m coming to the conclusion that there’s a thin line for me ,if any line at all between striving for perfectionism and being non compliant. Knowing the consequences of either choice helped me get out of my slump. Like you, Dr. Lisle tells it like it is and is also very empathetic.!

Have a good week everyone. For everyone who did well this week, keep doing more of the same on purpose. For those of us who have struggled,keep at it and don’t give up.

[Growing a Pear]

Weight change +/- in lbs: +0.1#

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).

I was doing very well this week until yesterday, when I had one night of crap sleep and everything felt inexplicably hard. What I should have done was headed for my rower and settled for a half hour at less than peak effort. (I have been experimenting and morning exercise is definitely preferable to what I was doing prior. Helps with my sleep, which helps with my food choices, etc.) From there, I allowed in popcorn with salt and 6 crackers.

I'm someone who slides easily into the ego trap. It's not enough to exercise for X minutes consistently and go as hard as my body is willing. After a few days, I'll be pushing myself to go to X+1, and so on. Then it becomes a daunting prospect. Inevitably, I "treat" myself to a day off which only results in disappointment and annoyance, not to mention the mindset which encourages pleasure trap indulgences.

I can see Jeff's hand in trying to help someone like me in the guidance about the soup pre-load. (Don't worry about the amount so much as getting 'er done, is how I read it.) I'm going to do my best to follow the principle with exercise. So my specific goal for this next week is to accomplish #10, but never expect more of myself than the 30 minutes. I can't be certain that will help with my decisions around the other points, but I'm hopeful.

By the way, for anyone interested in my experiment, we still have Clif Bars in the house, but my husband removed them from sight. We still have bread, but it's inside a breadbox. Since implementing those changes, I haven't indulged once. More importantly for me, I haven't struggled to refrain.

[Rita<3]

Good morning fellow McDougallers!
I do hope you’re well this week & weekend ready!

Previous weight 160.5
Weight change .5

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.Y
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. YChoose fruit for dessert.Y
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.N
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).Y
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. Eliminate any added oil.Y
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.Y
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).Y
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. YDon'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).Y

Help!! Help!!!!!
I fell into the
S
A
L
T
Trap!!
In my love for soup, (even the McDougall brands- 1 in particular) I believe I fell into a pleasure trap! I had no real idea what that could’ve been before; but now, thankfully, I’m more aware & prepared to face it down starting today!!

I was successful in exercising this week, the only struggle I had was the noodle soup.
Thank you for your time & loving kindness for taking the time to read & moderate these posts! They give us a great space to vent, track, & discover our weight loss more directly & YOU provide hope.
One day at a time right?

[Growing a Pear]

PonysPlants - Hang in there, Naomi! In addiction treatment one will frequently hear that "relapse is part of recovery." I think that statement is quite applicable to our efforts here, as well; when we fall back into the Pleasure Trap it seems important to "pay attention" to how that makes us feel, how difficult it may be to work our way back to baseline, and whether all that work was "worth it" for the sake of "treating ourselves." These incidents give us a great deal of information about where we may place our value and the relative advantages or disadvantages of particular choices; ultimately, that can influence our decision making process. E. g., nowadays I "treat" myself by buying the fancy (and pricey) Sumo oranges and Cosmic Crisp apples; both are delicious, but don't put me in the position of crawling back out of a (all too familiar) hole. Onward!

Thank you for this, Mark and Naomi. You've alluded to this before, Mark, but for some reason the context helps. I feel like I'm excavating layers of limiting beliefs and that, in some ways, they are as important as the food and movement itself. Or rather, that they are mutually interdependent, as when I eat and move, my thinking becomes clearer, too.

[JaBee]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -1.5, current weight 185.3, lowest in a very long time!

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 3/7
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. 7/7
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. 7/7
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). 7/7
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). 7/7
6. Eliminate any added oil. 7/7
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. 5/7
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).7/7
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself
6/7.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).7/7


Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Not perfect but Overall, a successful week! Ever onward —

[Cliv]

Weight change +/- in lbs:  -1 lbs from 157.6 (starting weight 160)

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Y
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, but NEED TO ADD FRUIT AT END
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). 5/7 days
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Yes, except for almond milk in coffee and oatmeal
6. Eliminate any added oil. Yes, 7/7
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 eating some of kids leftovers 2/7
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). No, need to work on

[DisneyPrincess]

Starting Weight: 254
Last Weight: 249.1 (Jan 16 - missed last week's weigh-in)
Current Weight: 247.8
Total Weight Loss: 6.2
Weight change +/- in lbs: -1.3 (since Jan 16)

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 90%
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.98%(had some vegan ice cream)
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).99% accidentally ate some noodles from a Chinese restaurant that I thought were compliant, but after further research the sauce contained oyster sauce
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).99% (had a tofu burrito)
6. Eliminate any added oil. 95% (I ate out a lot since last weekend and tried my best to alter items and request no added oil, but sometimes it wasn’t possible)
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. 80%
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). 98%
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%. Did so much walking this week!

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
I missed last week’s weigh-in as I was on my early birthday celebration weekend at Disney World with my best friend and the hotel room did not have a scale. During that weekend I tried to eat as on-program as possible, but I caved several times and just ate whatever I wanted because compliant foods were not available. I didn’t eat super terribly, but definitely not 100% MWL compliant. But I figured I was active enough over the weekend to make up for anything I ate. I did weigh myself on Monday after returning home to find my weight had crept back up to 251, I was disappointed but glad it wasn’t worse than that. I had a very busy week this week as I have been redecorating my home and spending about 6-10 hours a day walking every square foot of every home decore store I could find within an hour drive of where I live! Since I was not home to cook, I tried to eat as healthy as possible. I ate at restaurants 2-3x day. I tried to stick to Asian restaurants since I knew I could get rice and steamed veggies. I did get noodles once as stated above, but upon discovering they were not 100%WFPB I did not get them again. All things considered, I am very happy with my loss this week. I was a little nervous to weigh myself after my gain from the weekend before, so I was just happy to be back in the 240’s!

[Drew*]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -2.2 lbs. (179.3 lbs., 26.29 BMI, 1/29/2021)

MWL checklist

This week is a bit of a bust, due to two nights in the hospital:

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Started each possible meal with fruit, but the time in the hospital included almost 24 hours with no food or drink...hospital food is not MWL, but I had a vegan option...before admission at urgent care was the worst...they had vegan cookies and crackers that I ate due to no food that day...yesterday was a bit better with soup and veggies or cooked cereal...
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've started up again with the non-starchy vegetables since the hospital stay...
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. Some of the processed foods this week had salt, but it does not seem to be over-the-top. I will work to eat more foods this week without added salt...
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). 7 of 7 days
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). The hospital food included tofu except for breakfast.
6. Eliminate any added oil. I did not add any oil to foods, but the crackers from the hospital and some that I ate afterwards had some.
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 couple slices of bread on Thursday morning, but have a plan on how to add more starch to the meals to overcome this urge. Not having it around could also help.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). I did not drink my calories except before the hospitalization I drank a few bottles of Gatorade as I thought I might be dehydrated. No alcohol since January 9 on advice of my doctor and attending physician. I was never addicted to the stuff, but sometimes drank a tad much on a Friday and/or Saturday. I've decided to forgo the same for health concerns.
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. Done although I was a bit hungry after the medical condition resolved and all they would give me was a little water or ice.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Starting up again with walking, mini-stepper, or stationary bike...

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Well I am alive and released from the hospital! Lost a little weight in spite of my medical conditions which included including acute pancreatitis (mild to moderate) and portal vein thrombosis (blood clot near liver). The swelling of the pancreas resolved, the blood-work improved, and I am taking the medication recommended (blood thinners). The doctor noted that the clot would likely resolve over time by the thinners and my own body. He was a fit and trim doctor who recommends the following, with an emphasis on the first one:

1. No alcohol.
2. High fiber foods, fruit, vegetables, whole grains, beans.
3. No tobacco (not a problem since 2000).
4. Limit foods that are high in fat, processed sugars, fried and sweet foods.

I believe I read exercise is also important so that would be # 5.

The above list seems consistent with the MWL steps so I will strive to be strict in the MWL. This hospitalization for a guy that is in his late 50s has me a little concerned and resolved to do what needs to be done! Thank you all!

Drew*

[wstokes]

Weight change +/- in lbs: +3.3

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. No
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). No
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). No
6. Eliminate any added oil. Yes
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. No
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Yes
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. No
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:
I had an unfocused week and have wondered whether my approach to the priorities of our group is sufficiently in sync for me to keep reporting. I have been reporting every week for 13 months and I am going to think carefully this week on whether to continue or take a break for a while. I have no doubt that our weekly reports have helped me be accountable at some level and have helped me make great progress over the past year. I just don't want to be the person that sets a bad example or otherwise detracts from the spirit of the Board.

[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.