March 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[Noella]

For me, it was losing 55 lbs and getting into mere "overweight" category and THEN drifting away and gaining 60 lbs on high fat non-animal foods. Enough to make you feel bad about yourself, eh? Anyway, you're doing fantastic! Looking forward to seeing your continued results.

Thanks so much, bunsofaluminum. I appreciate your encouragement and I look forward to following your journey. I wish you the best of adherence and commitment to MWL.

[Mark Cooper]

PotatoHead1980 - Hi, Chris! Welcome to the group. I still eat a SNAP meal for lunch pretty much every single day; they are hard to beat - simple, fast and delicious.

[taymariekay]

Hello! I would like to join for March. I have read orientation I have been eating only starches, veggies and fruits the last week or so, but not in particular MWL fashion. I am having a hard time reeling in the fruit intake. Any tips on that for the coming week? Thank you!!

[Mark Cooper]

taymariekay - Welcome back! How much fruit are you eating? Keep in mind Dr. McDougall's primary concern with fruit is overindulgence or bingeing:

Fruit for dessert is also a guideline not a rule. Dessert is not served everyday at the 10-Day, and when it is, it is fruit. 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.

For the record, there is also unlimited fruit (and unlimited McDougal bean soups) served at the 10-Day program in the snack room for the participants to choose from.

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.

Are you eating fruit mainly for dessert, as a snack, or as part of a meal? Something I find helpful when moderating my fruit consumption is to use fruit in a singular "role," i.e. only as a snack, or just for dessert (or as part of a preload salad, in my case). Consider what the fruit is replacing in the broader context of your overall dietary pattern, and whether it is serving to help, or might be a hindrance. I think this thread offers a fairly nuanced perspective of how to approach fruit intake.

[taymariekay]

Thanks so much for the info!

Are you eating fruit mainly for dessert, as a snack, or as part of a meal? Something I find helpful when moderating my fruit consumption is to use fruit in a singular "role," i.e. only as a snack, or just for dessert (or as part of a preload salad, in my case). Consider what the fruit is replacing in the broader context of your overall dietary pattern, and whether it is serving to help, or might be a hindrance.

To answer this, I would say I for sure have a tendency to "binge" on fruit, between meals. It's easy to grab and eat, even when I am not hungry. I think I tend to overeat certain fruits, anything really sweet like watermelon, grapes, bananas, etc. So sticking to fruit that isn't easy to grab or as enticing is probably helpful for me. Also only allowing myself to eat them as desserts or part of a meal (like oatmeal) and not allowing myself to snack, is best. My tactic from the past was to only buy mostly frozen fruits which allows me to only have those as part of my oatmeal, then buying berries for desserts. I am not as inclined to "binge" on berries! And even if I did, they seem to have a lower risk of overconsumption.

Recently, I came from being stuck in the "pleasure trap" and as a result I've allowed myself to eat as much fruit as I want, as a means of keeping me away from the junk. Which has helped! But I know it isn't beneficial long term, since I could probably eat 3 lbs of fruit per day if I let myself!

I think the info you provided helped me to remember what I need to do! Thank you!

[PonysPlants]

Down 1.2 lbs this week! Yes! Very pleased with that.

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
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,) 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. 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. YES. My 8pm workout is habit now.

So, I successfully avoided being lured in the the salty snacks this week! Thanks Mark for sharing that you too stumbled with this lesson. Makes me feel like less of a moron. Haha! My husband wanted some more treat style snacks this week which I got for him but I’ve made him keep them in the office which has been fine. They’re things that I don’t like but yet will be tempted by if I open the cupboard. Having them 2 flights of stairs away and knowing I’d have to ask him for them is enough of a block.

100% compliant weeks are getting much easier now. It’s taken a while but I feel like I’m getting somewhere. Not too too long to go until I’m at my goal weight. Although actually I was at my goal weight a few weeks ago, my new goal weight just seemed like a completely ridiculous pie in the sky weight. MWL is just brilliant.

Thanks as always Mark for your support and encouragement.

Naomi

[cmcavazos]

Weight change +/- in lbs: - 2.1# loss

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). -- 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. -- 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). -- NO

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
Victories -- I was able to say YES to #7.
Comments --Overall a very good week.
Questions -- Is there a link between weight loss and lowered stress? I have struggled over the last few months with weight loss even when the guidelines were basically in place. There were less cravings and the weight came off easily this week after a reduction in my stress. I received stable test results from my 6-month cancer follow-up (after waiting 3 weeks for results), and I have just received my second COVID vaccine. Both of these have lessened my stress level. Does the body hang on to weight during stressful times?

[Rachael]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -1.6 lbs

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. All meals except breakfast.
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).Sunday was a tough day. Although it was within this week, technically this was February but I'm including it anyways to hold myself accountable. We had leftover peanuts and I binged on them. I haven't kept peanuts in the house in months and caved by buying them when my 3 year old asked me to. I am looking at this as a learning experience though and will not bring peanuts (or any nuts) into the house again. I just can't handle it.
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. Once again, Sunday was tough. Once I started on the peanuts, I started on the sleeve of saltines which I completely devoured. Another lesson - once I start bingeing I don't want to stop. Surprise, surprise.
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: Like I mentioned above, Sunday was not a good day for me but I was able to adhere to the program for the remainder of the week! For breakfast, I normally do the 50/50 plate method of a starch and veggies and I don't start with a fruit, salad, or soup. I'm wondering if starting with a fruit would be beneficial for me though. I find that after breakfast I'm satisfied but maybe it will help me in following the program throughout the day. I find evenings the hardest part of the day where thoughts creep in to overeat. I'm finished with work and then the process of getting the kids fed and bathed begin. I notice that in the past, I would avoid having to begin this whole process by eating. I'm trying to just embrace that this is the routine and eating doesn't make it go away. It just makes me feel worse about myself and that in turn makes me impatient with the kids and my husband. If anyone has any feedback, I would love to hear it.

I hope you all have a great Friday!
Thank you!
Rachael

[PotatoHead1980]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -2.7

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. No
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. 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). Somewhat

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
This week went great. I have always sprinkled some salt or sugar on the surface of my food, but for the last two weeks I've eliminated sugar and salt as an experiment. The SNAP meals were pretty bland without salt at first, but they are already starting to taste normal again, and I can tell that it's easier to not go back for seconds when it's not salted. I'm going to continue this sugar & salt free experiment for a bit longer. I don't start my meals with soup or salad because the SNAP meals are already pretty calorie dilute and I want to keep things very simple so I can stick with it. If my weight-loss stalls at some point then I'll consider adding this step. I do eat a piece of fruit or two between lunch and dinner if I start craving a snack.

[bunsofaluminum]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -6 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:

First official weigh-in of March, and I'm down 6 lbs. This happened when I started the Rice Diet, so I'm not clicking my heels together just yet. Six lbs in a week, you know a lot of that is water, eh? I want to see what next Friday brings. I think that'll tell a more accurate story, if the six lbs stays off and I lose another pound or two.

Two items on the guidelines this week have a regular, not a beaming, smiley face. Those are the added oils and the sedentary. The sedentary is from getting punky on Wednesday and Thursday, so Weds I didn't take a walk at all, and pretty much hunkered down under my blanky. Short walk on Thursday. The no added oil. Wylie made a batch of lentil stew, amounting to 12 c of food. He did use olive oil for sautéing the onion and leek at the beginning. *shrug* I had that stuff twice this past week, and I'll probably have some today. I talked to him about sautéing with water. Maybe some day.

Anyway. I made a massive batch of cabbage soup for my front load soup, and it's nearly gone. I think I have three cups left frozen. This morning I made a batch of "not chicken soup" which also uses cabbage, but is not tomato based. It's got all the seasonings of a Thanksgiving turkey with stuffing, and uses sliced cabbage as a sort of non-noodle. Garbanzo beans as the not-chicken. I only put about 1/3 a can of those in, as that is what I had left of a can I opened for another meal. If there hadn't been an open can, I would've left the garbanzos out due to calorie density, but I figure less than 1/2 c. of beans in eight cups of soup is still pretty darn calorie-not-dense.

The not-chicken soup will last for let's say three days if I have one cup to front load lunch and dinner. The plan is to try a new soup recipe, called Winter Harvest soup. It has cabbage, too...and turnips, parsnips, potatoes, onion, carrot, butternut squash. I'll make a recipe of it and if it's any good, some time I will make a massive batch. Meanwhile, another huge batch of cabbage soup is also on the docket. If I can make it as yummy as I made the current batch, all is well with the world. In fact, I enjoy this "eat soup at the beginning of every meal" so much, I plan on carrying on after soup season ends.

One other thing I did this week was to make some Vegan Brown Gravy for over potatoes with my dinner. I made enough to top off lots of starches. It's got flour in it, so I need to be careful with it. But it adds flavor and a creamy texture that'll make things more interesting as time goes on and I need interesting in order to stick with the plan.

That is all for now.

edited to add: Forgot about the rice cakes I had as after dinner snacks pretty much every night. Those are gone now and I won't buy more. I have been using them to munch instead of say chips, but they are calorie dense so I'll ditch them.

[PotatoHead1980]

I find evenings the hardest part of the day where thoughts creep in to overeat. I'm finished with work and then the process of getting the kids fed and bathed begin. I notice that in the past, I would avoid having to begin this whole process by eating. I'm trying to just embrace that this is the routine and eating doesn't make it go away. It just makes me feel worse about myself and that in turn makes me impatient with the kids and my husband. If anyone has any feedback, I would love to hear it.

I can totally relate to this. Food is a great distraction or way to procrastinate for me when the evening routine begins. To fight this, I get busy with the tasks at hand, think about the great MWL meal that I'm going to have a little later, and make sure there is no non-MWL food within sight or reach. If I'm truly hungry then I have a piece of fruit, but limit myself to 2. I don't know if this is helpful for you, but at least know that you're not the only one experiencing this, and I'm sure it's quite common.

Chris

[squealcat]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -1.3 pounds

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.yes, except yesterday when I ran out of soup
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.I had two slices of my husbands homemade bread on two separate occasions. I ate them dry with no spreads so as not to make them too tempting. That is all .
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).Walked 6 out of 7 days this week for 3 miles (two miles on one of the days). I feel that that is a good amount for me.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:I carry on into this month! This week was another good week and I am thankful for another loss but more importantly thankful that I was able to follow the 10 MWL guidelines pretty well. The temptations seem weaker now but I know from much experience that they are hiding just around the corner. I must be watchful for the trip ups that can easily occur. I am preparing my mind for when we go out to eat again. I must keep it plain and simple if I want to keep on this road.

I am sticking to a few simple recipes and have added a couple this past week which I like. It is a balance for me between eating plain and also not getting bored. I still like plain sweet potatoes for lunch and have steel cut oats almost every morning. My soup this week was an old Weight Watcher's recipe made with veggie stock. That one is one that I like. Haven't found another that I like as well.

Have a wonderful week everyone ! I read everything that is written and it inspired me !

-squealcat (Marilyn)

[Rebecka22]

169.4 Weight change +/- in lbs: -2.2 pounds

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. 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). YES

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: This week felt a little easier which I can attribute to good planning and bribing myself. At the beginning of the week I told myself if I was 100% then I could order an outfit I had been going back and forth on, which helped keep me focused on not giving in. Of course that is only a one-week deal because I definitely can’t be buying clothes every week! The push this week finally got me officially out of the obese section of the BMI chart for the first time in years. I have to be honest that another 29 pounds to not being overweight sounds crazy to me, but I am committed to sticking with the plan and seeing where it leads me. Thanks again for all the support!

[Noella]

This week felt a little easier which I can attribute to good planning and bribing myself. At the beginning of the week I told myself if I was 100% then I could order an outfit I had been going back and forth on, which helped keep me focused on not giving in. Of course that is only a one-week deal because I definitely can’t be buying clothes every week! The push this week finally got me officially out of the obese section of the BMI chart for the first time in years. I have to be honest that another 29 pounds to not being overweight sounds crazy to me, but I am committed to sticking with the plan and seeing where it leads me. Thanks again for all the support!

Congratulations on getting into the next section of the BMI chart, Rebecka22! I think buying yourself a new outfit is a brilliant idea!

[jkcook]

Weight change +/- in lbs: +2

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit — 85%
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 — 95%
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) —90%
6. Eliminate any added oil — 95%
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 — 90%
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) — 100%

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: stuck. Need to exercise more, but am averaging 5000+ steps. Ate a lot of Pollo Loco rice and beans with corn tortillas because I was traveling. Took a medicine that makes me puffy. Hopefully it will be gone and I’ll feel better by next week.