April 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

For those wanting to learn about and follow the McDougall Maximum Weight Loss Program. You can also join our monthly weigh-ins.

Moderators: JeffN, f1jim, carolve, Heather McDougall

Re: April 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby carwex » Sat May 01, 2021 8:53 am

Starting weight: 141.5
Last week’s weight: 132.2
Current weight: 130.9
Loss/gain this week -1.3 pounds

1. Start each meal with a soup or salad. yes
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method, ½ starch and ½ vegetables. yes
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and salts. yes
4. Eliminate all animal foods. yes
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods. Used miso as seasoning in a dish/almond milk in porridge and tea
6. Eliminate any added oil. yes
7. Eliminate all higher calorie dense foods. Yes
8. Don’t drink your calories. I Drink only water and tea with a little almond milk
9. Follow these principles whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Yes.
10. Avoid being sedentary. No

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
First week back and I’m glad to report a weight loss of over 1 pound. It might have been more but my exercising did not happen much this week due to an overcommitted schedule.
Also, towards the middle of the week I found myself picking while preparing food for the family. An old habit which I have been working on assiduously to surrender but always seem to find myself returning to. I barely remember what I ate in these lapses and so my report on the 10 principles may not be 100% accurate. As my husband says, “You think it doesn’t count if you’re standing and eating.”

I can relate totally to Squealcat’s lament about the obsessive nature once the taste of richer foods takes hold. For me they are addictive and the longer I keep away from them the less I crave them. I am going to try her method to check on my EWS (eating while standing).

Carol
carwex
 
Posts: 76
Joined: Fri May 29, 2020 12:09 am

Re: April 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby Rachael » Sat May 01, 2021 9:19 am

Weight change +/- in lbs:
Last week: Missed weigh-in
Week before last: 146.6
This week: 151.2
+4.6


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:I missed reporting last week and I'm pretty sure 9 out of 10 were no's. It was a week of complete gluttony with eating out 4 days of the week along with a bunch of off-plan food. I felt terrible - both physically and mentally. I recommitted myself for this week and was able to adhere to all and I'm in a much better place. I'm happy to have this group to commit to eating this way.
Rachael
 
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2021 8:21 pm

Re: April 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby CindyD » Sat May 01, 2021 9:23 am

April 24, 2021 141.7
May 1, 2021 141.8
RESULT +0.1

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. YES
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, 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). NOPE, nuts and seeds
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

Well the dried fruit and pretzels are gone, but not the nuts. Also pumpkin seeds. And with ongoing family stress (mom in another state has gone into nursing home with her husband and his early Alzheimers, siblings fighting) I have been eating some nuts and pumpkin seeds. On the one hand, I am maintaining just fine because most of these guidelines I will do forever, but for another week the weight loss is stalled. Despite my intentions last week! But I have identified one reason - and that is I have not been using the Instant Pot as much and therefore no handy soups on hand for a fast snack. So, today I shall make some lentil soup, big pan of potatoes, and move forward. :)
CindyD
 
Posts: 85
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2020 10:20 am
Location: near Chicago, IL

Re: April 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby Noella » Sat May 01, 2021 1:00 pm

Hi Mark, Wildgoose, Jeff and everyone,

Weight Change -.4 pounds
156 pounds

1. Yes, I started my meals with soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
2. Yes, I followed the 50/50 plate method for my meals, filling half my plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and the other half with minimally processed starches. I had fruit for dessert.
3. Yes, I greatly reduced added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too.
4. Yes, I eliminated all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. Yes, I eliminated all higher-fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. Yes, I eliminated added oil.
8. Yes, I did not drink any calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
9. Yes, I followed the MWL principles, eating whenever hungry until comfortably full. I didn’t ever starve or stuff.
10. No, I didn’t do the minimum 30 minutes of exercise each day. 2/7

I had another really good week of adherence and following the ten principles of MWL. I still need to exercise more and I know I eat way too much fruit! :nod:
Nice bonus: some of my rings fit again! I hope that one day my Wedding rings might fit again, for now they are still not even close to fitting. I was 19 and slightly underweight when I got married.

Mark, Jeff, and Wildgoose and all the MWL participants, A BIG thank you to you all; I appreciate reading every word you write.
Best regards,
Noella
Last edited by Noella on Sat May 01, 2021 3:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Noella
 
Posts: 282
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2020 10:52 am
Location: Canada

Reporting for April 30 Weigh-In is now CLOSED

Postby Mark Cooper » Sat May 01, 2021 1:00 pm

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.
User avatar
Mark Cooper
 
Posts: 2174
Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2018 8:17 am
Location: Princeton, NJ 08540

Mark's Replies for April 30 - Part 2

Postby Mark Cooper » Sat May 01, 2021 1:06 pm

connielovesdogs - While this week was a tough one, you are still down 4.7 lbs for the month! Lack of quality sleep has a way of making everything else feel much more difficult, right? As you observed, that, along with feeling famished, can be a real "double whammy" in terms of maintaining a pattern of behavior congruent with weight loss goals. When all of that runs into a broader societal environment replete with opportunities to fall into the Pleasure Trap, it becomes clear how challenging it can be to walk this path, and how resilient our plans and routines need to be if they are to endure. Your outline for navigating that 3 day training session seems very solid; the more you can do to ensure that you always have easy access to adherent foods, the better. :thumbsup: Cheers for a success-filled May!

squealcat - Don't beat yourself up, Marilyn; the Pleasure Trap is powerful, and escaping can be an arduous struggle! It sounds like you are well-prepared to support adherent behavior, and as you noted what you have done successfully in the past can serve you moving forward. I very much endorse the practice of keeping the focus of attention, and evaluation of success, centered on the behaviors outlined in the MWL 10-Point Checklist, rather than weight loss outcomes. We have significant agency over our behavior and decisions, while our influence over a specific outcome is attenuated, both with respect to timeframe and individual measures. I believe directing our attention toward real, specific actions we can take, and following through on that plan of action is a great way to bolster self-efficacy, and create positive loops.

PonysPlants - Down 0.4 lbs this week, and 1.6 for April! I applaud your willingness to let the pattern of behavior take the lead and set the pace for you, Naomi. :thumbsup: Congrats on your vaccine eligibility - very exciting news! Even if it takes longer than you might wish, your diligent, consistent adherence will get you to that last big milestone in the end. Not bad at all. :) Onward!

Gimmelean - Hang in there! I second your efforts to move away from self-recrimination; calorie rich foods exert a robust allure for many of us - some days (and weeks) it gets harder to resist.
Gimmelean wrote:I know exactly which foods and behaviors were not compliant. I’m going to resume keeping my written journal, stay out of the kitchen after dinner, follow the checklist, revisit the Pleasure Trap video and resources.
That seems like a sound plan of action; might I add to the list adjusting your immediate environment to be supportive and conducive to your efforts to adhere to the MWL guidelines?

chef16 - You dropped 2 pounds this month, I believe, so your progress didn't completely stall out. Everything can feel more challenging when life grows hectic. Can you think of one thing you might be able to do, that would make adhering to a particular principal more achievable for you on an ongoing basis? When times are tough, the less stable areas of our practice reveal themselves; if we can adjust and strengthen those areas, we emerge better off than before.

carwex - Nice progress for your first full week back, Carol! Troublesome foods have a sneaky way of creeping into those spaces where we are feeling distracted, depleted, or just generally unmindful, don't they? Would it help to have an adherent snack before you start preparing the family meals? I totally agree that the longer one abstains from hyperpalatable foods, the less pull they exert. :nod:

Rachael - Cheers for recommitting and returning to full adherence to the MWL guidelines! Sometimes feeling terrible post-indulgence can serve as a powerful reminder of why we are pursuing this way of eating, right? It helps us more accurately assess whether those rich foods are actually "worth it" to us. Glad you're feeling better about things now. :)

CindyD - Great work putting in the time to identify an action you can take to help support achieving your goals! Having enjoyable, adherent food prepared and on hand will always make things easier. :nod: I'm so sorry you have been faced with that stressful family situation; my best wishes to you, your mother, her husband, and your siblings. These sorts of major life events are rarely easy to manage and process. With the pretzels and dried fruit gone, that's 2 out of 3 down, now for the nuts and seeds. Keep moving forward, and enjoy the lentil soup!

Noella - Your excellent adherence continues to pay off; you are down 0.4 pounds for the week and 1.8 for the month! Being able to comfortably wear that jewelry seems like a very nice bonus. Carry on with your exemplary habits and you are sure to get closer to wearing your wedding rings again.
User avatar
Mark Cooper
 
Posts: 2174
Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2018 8:17 am
Location: Princeton, NJ 08540

Weigh-In Report Compilation - April 30, 2021

Postby Mark Cooper » Sat May 01, 2021 1:33 pm

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

Mark's Replies for April 30 - Part 1
Mark's Replies for April 30 - Part 2

By my count, 15 participants reported for our final April 2021 MWL weigh-in! If I neglected to include anyone, or you notice an error in the tally, please let me know (via PM so we can keep the thread as tidy as possible, or in a post here if you cannot PM).

Here are the results for the final Friday in April:

Week ending 4/30/2021: 15 participants reported a total gain of +3.40 pounds
--------------------------------------------------
Gimmelean +5.20
Rachael +4.60
Connielovesdogs +0.80
Squealcat +0.20
CindyD +0.10
--------------------------------------------------
Total gains: +10.90
--------------------------------------------------
NO CHANGE / MAINTAIN / STARTING OUT
Chef16 0.00
HoustonJason 0.00
Ruff 0.00
--------------------------------------------------
Cmcavazos -0.40
Noella -0.40
PonysPlants -0.40
GreenFroG -0.60
Texaslil -0.60
Carwex -1.30
Rebecka22 -3.80
--------------------------------------------------
Total losses: -7.50
--------------------------------------------------
Cumulative group loss for April 2021 to date: 48.30 pounds
Average for week ending April 30: gain of 0.23 pounds
Cumulative group loss for January 2021: 117.20 pounds
Cumulative group loss for February 2021: 39.40 pounds
Cumulative group loss for March 2021: 73.20 pounds
--------------------------------------------------

Next Weigh-In is on Friday, May 7, 2021, in the May MWL group thread.


This was a pretty tough week for many participants, but you haven't given up or flipped over the table; you are here, continuing to report, assess and put in the work to change your pattern of behavior in service of important goals. Challenging times are almost always a great opportunity for learning and growth, and overcoming challenges builds confidence and poise in the face of future challenges.

Given that several among us are enduring some pretty stress inducing events, I want to share Jeff's instructions for Basic "Awareness" Meditation. It is extremely easy to learn and simple to employ, so why not give it a try? If you could use a laugh, as well, this video covers a similar technique, in a more humorous fashion. :D

Remember to treat yourself with compassion, focus on process, practice, and behavior over outcomes, and just do the best you can. Every day presents new opportunities for betterment - take advantage of them! I hope to see you in the May thread, which will be posted on Monday.
User avatar
Mark Cooper
 
Posts: 2174
Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2018 8:17 am
Location: Princeton, NJ 08540

Previous

Return to Maximum Weight Loss Program

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 12 guests



Welcome!

Sign up to receive our regular articles, recipes, and news about upcoming events.