March 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[HoustonJason]

From Houston Jason
Original Weight = 252 on January 1, 2021 Jan. 8 = 244 Jan. 15 = 237 Jan. 22 = 234 Jan. 29 = 231 February 5 = 226 Feb. 12 = 225 Feb. 19 = 221 Feb. 26 = 219

March 5 = 218

Total = - 35 pounds

Weight change +/- in lbs: - 1 pound

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit No, most of the time.
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, most of the time
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, I added rice cakes for a treat. When I lost weight in the 90s there were so few vegan options out there. I remember eating rice cakes as a snack, so I bought a pack and enjoyed a few.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
I still have a little unsweetened almond milk in my coffee and oatmeal.
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, I jumped on the rebounder every day.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: I’m sticking to the routine, though I could probably be a little more vegetable heavy on the 50/50 plates. I am concerned that I might be getting to the point where I won’t have any “big loss” weeks of the 3-5 pound variety like I did before. But I’m eating so much better than I was just 3 months ago.

[Wfpb2020]

Weight change - .2 lbs.

1) Start each meal with soup/salad/fruit. 5/7
2) Follow the 50/50 plate. Yes
3) Reduce or eliminate sugars/salts. 5/7
4) Eliminate animal foods 5/7
5) Eliminate higher fat plant foods. 5/7
6) Eliminate oil. 5/7 I use Vegan oil spread sometimes
7) Eliminate higher calorie-dense foods. Yes
8 ) Don’t drink your calories. Yes
9) Eating when hungry and stop when full. Yes
10) 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily. Yes usually 60 + minutes a day.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Still struggling with my love of cheese and vegan butter. Working on prepping meals ahead and more planning.

But overall this was a great week because I lost the 6 lbs I put on in February plus .2 more. I did not post the 6.2 weight loss because I was not on the Thread in February except 1st weigh in. So I am down .2 from 1st February weigh in.

February was really rough as there were 3 Covid deaths of family members in my circle of friends and 1 Covid death among my friends. Also a family member in hospital in critical condition with a different health issue. Lots of stress eating and anxiety. But all the more reason to work on my personal health and lifestyle. Just don't be fooled and remove those masks too soon. There are still a lot of people dying from this pandemic. Glad to be back. Gina

[birdy birdy]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -1.2 loss

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. N
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. 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. Y
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). Y
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. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. Y
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Y

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: 2nd dose of vaccine side effects all gone now and I'm feeling pretty upbeat about the future. Was able to hug my 29 year old daughter on Tuesday for the first time in over a year!!! What a wonderful hug that was.

I eliminated ALL salt for the entire week. Usually I add some at the table, but this is my experiment for now . . . to see exactly how long it takes for me to adapt to being completely salt free, or if I even can.

I love reading all the comments; they are so inspiring. Wishing I had some inspiration to add to the mix. Onward.

[Noella]

Dear Mark, Wildgoose, and Jeff, and all MWL participants,
Weight change -.1 pound
I enjoyed spending some time reading everyone’s entries this morning, thinking about the ten guidelines, and evaluating my progress. I decided I need to eat more of my favourite vegetables to try to replace the slightly higher calorie density fruits I seem to be attracted to.



Starting weight Dr. mcDougall Starch-based diet December 29, 2019: 240 pounds
Starting Weight for MWL diet April 1, 2020 198 pounds
Current weight 158.9 pounds
Weight change this week Down - 0.1 pound

1. Yes, I started each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. I just enjoyed eating some delicious fresh raspberries as I write this entry. What an amazing treat. I am trying my best to keep my fruit servings to two or three per day.
2. Yes, I followed the 50/50 plate method for my meals, filling half my plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert. I like the simplicity of this! If I want seconds, I do it again!
3. Yes, I have greatly reduced added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. A little bit of salt definitely makes me want to eat more so while I’m not aiming at zero salt I’m trying to keep it to a minimum.
4. Yes, I eliminated all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). So far, I haven’t wanted to eat animal products. The focus on starch actually suits me better.
5. Yes, I eliminated all higher-fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. Yes, I eliminated added oil. This was a big change for me when I started out on this journey about a year ago. Ask then, I mistakingly thought we needed oil added to our diets and I went out of my way to drizzle specialty oils on salads and soups to add nutrition, thinking I needed these. No more!
7. Yes, I eliminated all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
8. Yes, I do not drink calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
9. Yes, I followed the MWLprinciples, eating whenever hungry until comfortably full. I didn’t ever starve or stuff. I don’t need snacks. Right now Three meals a day seems to do the trick! I feel satiated.
10. Yes, I got at least 30 minutes of exercise each day.

Victories: I am feeling encouraged, so this morning I spent an hour or so trying on several classic outfits that have been tucked away in the “too small” section of my closet for several years. Not all of the items fit, but several old favourites were close to fitting again so...I am motivated to keep trying to lose more weight.
Challenge: I still need to develop the exercise habit. I know that finding something I enjoy doing all by myself is key. And I haven’t settled on anything yet.

Best regards, Noella

[Mark Cooper]

PonysPlants - Very pleasing results! I think you are doing great, Naomi; you're definitely "getting somewhere"! Your thoughtful efforts to keep the tempting snacks out of sight, out of mind, and far away were rewarded with a more easily attainable 10/10.

cmcavazos - Down 2.1 pounds! Being able to answer yes to point number 7 seems like a real victory, Christine. Effective stress management is certainly beneficial for overall wellness. In regard to a possible effect on weight loss, the quality of foods consumed is paramount; since weight loss is contingent on behavior, I would imagine increased stress could have some effect by whatever degree one might be using counterproductive dietary behaviors as a means of stress management. However, if we are carefully attending to our environment, "stress eating" is less available as an option.

Clearly, the food wins by far.

As we have seen during very stressful times in our country and other countries, if the food is not available in the environment (due to economic downturns, scarcity &/or imposed food restrictions), and to get through each day we have to be active, heart disease and death rates plummet.

Rachael - You've made a really excellent start! It does seem like that tough Sunday provided a valuable learning experience; maintaining an environment that best supports adherence is one of the most powerful ways to make success more easy to attain. If it appeals to you, why not experiment with starting breakfast with soup, salad or fruit, and see how that goes? For those more difficult evenings, have you ever tried using the concept of "opposite action?" The idea is to make a deliberate effort to act in opposition to a counterproductive or maladaptive emotional urge; e.g., when you feel that impulse to avoid starting the nightly routine, use that as a signal to immediately dive right in and get started. Maybe worth giving a try?

PotatoHead1980 - Fantastic progress! Seems like you had a really solid week. Keeping things simple definitely offers advantages. As you noted, adhering more consistently to the preload recommendation would be a great way to promote further progress, should you hit a plateau. Continue your excellent efforts, Chris!

bunsofaluminum - WOW! 6 lbs! Clearly you made some effective changes this week, and next week's results should provide further useful feedback. Your menu of soups sounds fabulous to me! Mashed beans, mashed potatoes, or even mashed cauliflower are options for thickening gravies without flour. Obviously the end result will be a little different, but still nice and creamy. Well done ditching the rice cakes.

squealcat - That is another really good week, Marilyn! Good idea to stay watchful for the cracks through which temptation could rear its head. Continue to fortify your routine and monitor your environment and you can dodge many of those "trip ups." Plain and simple is a reliable path.

Rebecka22 - 10 YESes and down 2.2 pounds! Great work making a plan to succeed and finding an appealing way to keep yourself motivated and focused this week. Congratulations on your important BMI milestone! The pattern of behavior delivers the results, and consistent adherence will take you far.

jkcook - Don't despair, you can get unstuck! I imagine specific medications could definitely contribute to fluid retention; I hope you feel better. Travel rarely makes things easier, of course. Jeff has some great advice to offer about Why We Hit Plateaus and What We Can Do About Them. Adhering as closely as possible to the recommended pattern of behavior is always the surest path forward. Since tortillas are somewhat more calorie dense than the recommended starches, eliminating those and any other rich foods will help get you where you want to be.

HoustonJason - Losing a pound this week is still good progress! Losing about 1% of one's bodyweight, on average over time, is generally a reasonable expectation when practicing the recommended pattern of behavior. The best way to support continuing results is to adhere closely to the recommendations, paying particular attention to areas where there is still available opportunity for improvement. Rice cakes are ~1757 calories/lb, so it is apparent why they might serve to hinder one's efforts.

Wfpb2020 - I'm so sorry for those recent losses and health issues among your friends and family, Gina. You are so right that the pandemic is still a real hazard, and we all have many important reasons to practice a way of living that will contribute to good health. Well done turning the start of March into an opportunity to get back on track! Carry that energy forward.

birdy birdy - Another 1.2 lbs gone! I'm so glad to hear you have recovered from your immunization; I can imagine how wonderful it felt to finally hug your daughter again! I, for one, find that very inspiring! Please feel free to keep the group apprised of how your experiment with salt progresses.

Noella - You are making steady, consistent progress every single week! Sounds like a really fun morning, trying on those classic outfits; I imagine that served as great motivation for your efforts. I very much agree that finding a form of exercise you enjoy doing, even on your own, can be a key factor in helping the habit "stick." The fewer barriers our brains have to fabricate between us and getting moving, the easier it feels.

[taymariekay]

Weight change +/- in lbs: 0 (this is my first journal of the month, so I weighed in today but have no reference weight to compare to - hope this is okay)

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 desert.

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).

- I recently eliminated added salt to my food and it has already helped me to gauge my hunger better, as well as not stuff myself with food. I have known for a while that salt causes cravings and cramming, but I think I constantly justified it. I am noticing I don't have to drink as much water to feel hydrated as well. My body always thanks me when I go without the salt.

- I am excited to focus on following the checklist as closely as possible. It is simple and takes the focus off of other not important things.

- Thank you in advance to Mark, Jeff and Goose for always being so helpful!

Here's to a good weigh-in next week!

Taylor

[Rebecka22]

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!

Thank you Noella! Also if jumping is a possibility I have really loved the free jump rope workouts and challenges on the Cross Ropes App.

[CindyD]

Feb 27, 2021, 147.4
March 6, 2021, 144.5
RESULT -2.9

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 desert. 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 NO, some pretzel thins
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 YES, better!

A surprisingly nice drop this week! I did think last week I didn't weigh at a perfectly optimal time of day, but this week I did, and I know that sort of thing makes a difference in tenths of pounds. I made sure to run around with the dogs a bit more this week, plus longer walks due to less icy sidewalks. Yay! So glad to have these victories because my job was pretty stressful this week. But, it does feel like Spring is coming and that sure helps.

[chef16]

02/27/2021 228#
03/06/2021 226#

a lose of -2#

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 75%
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.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).80%
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%
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).60%

I started this in June and even though I haven't been perfect I have hit 60# today! I didn't think I would be able to stick with it but here I am and feeling so much better ! With out you being here I am not sure I would have done it so easy or at all. I appreciate you all and this program, it is the best! I have a long way to go yet and plan to stick around a while longer. Thanks again Mark, Jeff and Goose your guidance and encouragement is what keeps me coming back .

[Gimmelean]

Weight change +/- in lbs: 0
2/26/2022 128.8
3/05/2021 128.8



1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Yes. This step fortunately is not a challenge. I make a huge pot of Jeff’s Longevity soup, freeze some and it works best. Better than starch based soups. Salads become most appealing in the summer.

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. This step is easy for me.

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.Not this week. I’m doing my best to have sweets and salty snacks out of the house and not buying any.

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).I will NOT try a taste of cheese again just to see what I’ve been missing. I don’t miss it at all. This is the most shameful NO in a plant based way.

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). This week, hmmm. A jar of peanut butter and a spoon after dinner several days was my issue this week.

6. Eliminate any added oil. Did well here. I was raised with no oil and no frying before it was in vogue. Doesn’t mean that I haven’t indulged in my life and that dipping had not been a problem. But good here this week.

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. One family members visit was all it took to the Eastern European supermarket that really did me in this week. The hearty breads and not too sweet pastries that I ate made me realize that all the hard work and resolve I’ve put in to stay on track this year can seem to dissolve overnight. I’m back to “knuckling through” that #%^ pleasure trap. Thanks to you I now understand fully what it is and why I’ve needed to battle it for a lifetime. I’m NOT letting go anymore.

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).Not a problem.

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. I really need to focus on this always. Even during successful times. Better this week but still need to stop eating to de-stress because it ultimately causes more stress.

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).I worked so much overtime this week to the detriment of my daily exercise. I really look forward to a morning walk and workout. I still walked/ jogged almost daily but really did the minimum most days.

Victories, comments, concerns,questions:
This time of year has always been weight loss/ maintenance problem for me. With MWL, I was able to delay this for several months which is unusually great for me because it usually starts much earlier in the falI. I seem to have automatically put my efforts on pause and now need a new jumpstart to reinforce my reasons to want to stay healthy, energetic, and on track.
Hope you all have an excellent week and thank you all for your help and support.

[GreenFroG]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -0.6

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:Yeah! Another half pound gone and I got my exercise in everyday.It was a good week, except that I didn't get to post yesterday. Keeping this short so I get it in today. Looking forward ...Will reach for all thumbs up again next week. Hope everyone has a good week.

[texaslil]

+.8
Current weight: 174.8

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). HAD SOME AVOCADOS & TOFU IN SPRING ROLLS
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. HAD HOMEMADE OIL-FREE PIZZA
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). HAD SOME WINE
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. DID MUCH BETTER WITH THIS, EXCEPT FOR ONE MEAL
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).5/7 FELT GOOD TO BE MORE REGULAR WITH THIS.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: I DID MUCH BETTER THIS WEEK WITH MY EATING, I STUCK TO THE PLAN WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE ITEMS LISTED ABOVE. I HAD ANTICIPATED A WEIGHT LOSS BUT ALAS, THAT WAS NOT IN THE CARDS. I'M TRYING TO NOT TAKE IT TOO HARD AND KEEP MY CHIN UP AND CONTINUE ON THE PLAN THIS WEEK. I WILL NOT BUY AVOCADOS FOR MY FAMILY THIS WEEK AND ELIMINATE THAT TEMPTATION. I AM ALSO PLANNING TO SIMPLIFY MY MENU THIS WEEK, AS I FEEL THAT MAKING MORE ELABORATE MEALS FOR MY FAMILY HAS BEEN TAKING ME OFF TRACK, DESPITE THEIR PLANT BASED INGREDIENTS. I AM WONDERING ABOUT THE 1ST POINT OF STARTING MY MEAL WITH SOUP/SALAD/FRUIT, AND THEN SHIFTING TO THE 50/50 PLATE, CAN I JUST INCREASE THE VOLUME OF THE NON-STARCHING VEGGIE ON MY 50/50 PLATE IN ORDER TO COVER THE FIRST POINT? WOULD THAT WORK?

[Growing a Pear]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -0.8#

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. (5/7)
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. (6/7)
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). (5/7)

Re #7: I slipped and ate dried cereal twice when I was after something quick and on the sweet end of the spectrum. Had already eaten that day's fruit allotment but it would have been a better choice instead. This week's specific goal is to improve on this point.

Re #9: I notice a definite pattern of wanting to stuff myself on days that feel chaotic.

Re #10: Sidewalks are nearly de-iced here, so I expect it'll be easier to fulfill #10 consistently. I enjoy a long ramble with or without podcasts.

We're still awaiting our vaccine here, but already my husband is talking about how much he wants to return to restaurants, etc. I feel a certain amount of pressure and incentive to do better WRT my diet now, because the temptations are about to increase, and I'm concerned about my ability to navigate them. Re the hubster: the pandemic has helped him lose the 60 pounds he's carried all his adult life, which is great. Not so great? That I can see the "treat" mindset taking hold. Interesting how easy it is to detect in others, yet how easily I ignore it in myself. At any rate, thank you for this thread, Mark and crew!! Suspect I'm going to need it for the foreseeable future as I seek to establish and maintain healthful habits in what promises to be the new normal.

[moonlight]

Weight Change: - 1 lbs

Points from the MWL Checklist where I succeeded this week
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.
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. Eliminate any added oil.
8. Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).

Points from the MWL Checklist that need greater attention
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). one time this week..
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. bread several times
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don’t starve yourself and don’t stuff yourself.ate during the night once

General impressions & observations / resources to share / sources of excitement / requests for input & support
Overall, I don't feel that great about this week. I grabbed off-plan food several times this week.... The good thing is I'm still here striving to have a better week! Here's a situation on which I would like advice.
Controlling the environment: Suggestions, please!
We have learned that controlling our environment goes a long way toward success with our diet goals. Willpower will only get us so far. When we are tired, for example, willpower is nil. My husband follows the SAD diet so there is no way I can control the environment the way I would like. We have rearranged a lot of food and the system works great. However, he must cook, eat, and leave his dishes until kitchen clean up time. If I’m triggered too much while he is cooking, I can go to another room. We do like to spend time together while we eat our meals, though. We have the refrigerator to deal with, too. We have separate shelves, but I can see what is on his shelves. He keeps all his different varieties of cheese and lunch meat in the drawer, so I don’t see it. Many times, I can think “Not Food” when I actually look at what he is eating but sometimes the smell of an old favorite, like pesto and pasta, just drives me crazy! I just wonder if anyone in a similar situation would care to share their strategies for how to cope with this. Most of the time I can get past it with self-talk, diversion, or eating something compliant, but other times I cave….

Thank you to the MWL Team for your continued support. You are all awesome.

Wishing everyone a great week!!

[JaBee]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -1.6

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 5/7
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). 6/7
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. 6/7
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). 6/7

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Good week overall. One off day due to late work schedule and skipped dinner. Can someone share recipe for Jeff’s chunkie fries as unavailable to locate it? Thanks.