April 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[Belana]

"Belana
- Substantial progress! Sorry to hear you were suffering from bothersome side effects. That is no fun. I think you have a good sense for what rate of weight loss is sustainable for you. Best wishes for a easy second vaccine, and enjoy that transition into full cycling form!"

Thanks so much for the encouragement and validation Mark!
Your acknowledgement helps keep me going.
I sincerely mean that!

~b

[carwex]

Current weight: 132.2

I’m back. I joined the MWL about a year ago and stayed for quite a few wonderful months. I thought I had internalized the 10 principles. It was life changing. In that time I accomplished my goals. I had been plant-based on Dr. McDougall plan for over 10 years but some of the higher fat items were gradually causing me to overeat and gain weight. I learned that I need not gain weight again if I adhere to the MWL. I lost the extra 10 pounds. I felt great. Twice I left and then came back. Same pattern. I’m ok for awhile then life happens (family, crises, emotional problems, whatever) and gradually the extra food and non-compliant foods become more important than the 10 principles. The only way I can think of to keep those principles in the forefront is to return to this forum and NOT leave.
So just for today and this week, I am rededicating myself to the 10 principles of the MWL -which means making soups (winter’s coming) making sure my meals are on hand and following and reporting on the principles. I’m looking forward to getting feedback and encouragement from Mark, Jeff and Wildgoose.
In preparation I have read every word that was written in April on this feed. It was lovely to see some of the old timers who may have started a year ago when I did and to read the progress they have made- Noella, Squealcat, Josietheschnauzer, Gammelean, as well as reading what newcomers have to share.
I’m borrowing a passage from Squealcat for my morning meditation: “Making this way of life work is not easy, but as long as we keep learning, growing and trying, how can we fail?” A-men.
See you all next week.
Carol

[squealcat]

I’m borrowing a passage from Squealcat for my morning meditation: “Making this way of life work is not easy, but as long as we keep learning, growing and trying, how can we fail?” A-men.
See you all next week.
Carol

Carol, I came here to the MWL board to re-read some things and cheer myself up because I did not do well this week. It was NOT an easy week for me. When I read your post and read my quote I realized that sometimes what I write can make a difference to people and it even make a difference to ME ! Thank you for that !

I wander off sometimes and think I can eat differently and do well. I just fool myself. Then I get myself back to eating the MWL way and think: " this is so easy ! I can do this forever !" Well I know I can do this forever and I AM doing it. Sometimes a little back and forth happens. I am not perfect. I continue on for this next week. My goal is to follow those 10 MWL points one day at a time. Thank you carwex (Carol) ! I feel so much better now.

-squealcat

[PonysPlants]

Down 1lb this week. Yay! I was honestly beginning to wonder if getting rid of the last few pounds might be impossible but I definitely feel buoyed by losing a pound.

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 After backsliding on this I paid special attention. Swapped sweet potatoes for potatoes which I never want to salt and used lemon juice and vinegars otherwise.
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). NO. I accidentally bought the wrong fizzy water. Instead of flavoured water it was water flavoured with fruit juices. Same brand, almost identical packaging! It tasted so sweet I didn’t finish it. Considering that they’re low sugar drinks to help people consume less sugar I can’t imagine how horrendously sweet a Coke would taste to me now!
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. NO. Only managed 6 of 7 days this week.

I feel like it’s taken me so long to lose the weight some days but in a lot of ways this is the absolute easiest “diet” I’ve ever been on. It’s absolutely true that for me any slips show on the scale but normally just in the form on not losing. Now I don’t even want to have a cheat day of pizza or burgers, those things have very little pull over me now. Such food freedom is really wonderful.

Thanks everyone for their good wishes about my husband. It was so lovely of you. And thanks to the moderators, especially Mark, for all of your incredible support.

Onwards to next week!

Naomi

[PotatoHead1980]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -1.9

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). Yes

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
Well I did a better job at following the MWL principles this week and I lost more weight, go figure!

[bunsofaluminum]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -1
DOWN ONE POUND!

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). SOMEWHAT

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: The scale dropped to 219 this week! Below 220 where I haven't been in five years. There are clothes in my closet that I kept because "I'll lose weight" and I lost weight, and now I'm wearing jeans and tops that I haven't been able to.

Walking. It got cold over the past couple of weeks so there have been a few days that I didn't walk. I've gotten steps in around the house, and I'm back in the habit of parking at the farthest space in parking lots whenever I go anywhere. I had a Dr visit, and several stops at grocery stores, and just parked it far away...this adds steps. I walked yesterday, and will today and then I'll walk lots and lots and LOTS next week.

... because I'm going on vacation! Southern California and getting excited. We're staying in a full suite with a kitchen so I'll be able to cook my own food...though my travelling companions have already reminded me that there's no calories in vacation food ...but anyway, I plan on eating out for probably one meal a day. I'll have on plan stuff in our suite for breakfast and plan on filling up with compliant foods...but I bet there'll be some snacks around that won't be on plan so I'll have to be careful about that. And I am going to eat out, no avoiding that as we'll be out and about every day. Which also means I'm going to be walking a LOT.


All that to say, I won't post next Friday since we'll be on the road and I won't have a scale to check my weight. Keeping my head on my shoulders where it comes to food, and also planning on some restaurant meals. I'll be careful. I've come to far to blow it.

[anne57]

...

[Rebecka22]

163.4 Weight change +/- in lbs: +1.6 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: I feel good about getting back on track this week. I did feel hungrier at times and ate more fruit after dinner a few nights, which combined with the big loss last week may have been my problem. While I am disappointed , I know I just need to keep working on consistency.

[curcubit]

Weight change this week: 0

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. I think I am overdoing the fruit. Fresh pineapples were on sale this week and my husband and I ate three this week between us, in addition to my normal apple a day.

3) Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts.  I never cook with salt or salt my food at the table. I do use some sriacha or lower sodium salsas though, but for this month I strictly avoided them. This past week I noticed I am developing very low blood pressure...100/55. I dont have hypertension, but I started adding back a little salt and it seems to be helping the dizziness when I stand up.

5) Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). 8/10. My husband bought a big bag of pecans, I have indulged in a few on several days. I need to put them in an opaque container so I dont "see" them.

8 ) Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). I had a miller lite beer in the sunshine after a day of gardening.

I followed the others well.

Comments: This seems to be the pattern for me I noticed over the winter...some weeks I loose half a pound, other weeks just stay the same. I wish I was loosing faster, but I cant seem to get the right ratio of starch and veg to keep myself from feeling deprived and also loose weight. Happy news, I had my yearly doctor visit and my HgA1c, insulin, cholesterol were all perfect. She said I was the most metabolically healthy overweight person she knew. Not sure if that was a compliment or what...but I will take it. I really do want to loose 30 pounds for my knees though. I got my first vaccine shot, and besides some arm soreness, that went well. I have alot to be thankful for and try to accentuate the positive and dwell in gratitude. Hugs to everyone.

Curcubit

[GreenFroG]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -0.6lbs

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: Overall I had a pretty good week. Went out to eat twice at various events and felt like my choices were a little better than in the past. Fist time I had a low fat vegetable soup and side salad. I ate a potato before I went to make sure I was not very hungry beforehand and that helped a lot. The other time I had cucumber sushi and I ate a salad before I left the house. I tried to think of it as my preload for #1 and it kept me from eating anything else. That felt like a victory. I am hoping that this next week I can eat at home more to make sure I can keep my groove. I also am really trying to prep as much as I can on the weekends to make my week go smoother and that is helping me a lot. So my question for you, Mark, is do you have a favorite food you eat beforehand when you have to eat out? One that is your go-to food?

[HoustonJason]

From Houston Jason
April 16 = 207
April 23 = 206

Total = - 46 pounds

Weight change +/- in lbs: - 1 pounds

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. 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, I had a few treats over the week like baked tortilla chips.
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). I jumped on the rebounder 5 out of 7 days and danced in my classes as usual.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: This week I looked back on my nearly 4 month journey and felt great about my 46 pounds of weight loss. I have been doing carpool duty getting the students into their cars in the afternoons and have been getting some nice compliments from parents and other teachers. It’s my birthday week so as I planned all along, I’m going to go off the maximum weight loss plan for this week and have some vegan food I haven’t had in a few months including an avocado and cheeseless pizza which I have missed greatly. Most likely next week there won’t be a loss. Then I’ll go back on plan until I get to 195 which will put me into the “normal” BMI range (I’m 6’ 3”). Thanks as always for the forum to check in with!

[Noella]

Hi Mark, Wildgoose, Jeff and everyone,

Weight Change -.4 pounds
156.4 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. 3/7

I had a good week of adherence and following the ten principles of MWL. I need to exercise more.

Following up on some advice from Jeff a few weeks back:

Thank you so much for responding to my question about the best sources for fibre. I want to alleviate mild diarrhea. I added psyllium husk (1tbsp.) yesterday and it has helped for today. However, I’m not sure if it is recommended for daily use. I appreciate receiving your suggestions.
Best regards,
Noella

While I can't give out individual personal health advice on these boards, I think it is important to note that psyllium is usually given for constipation and too much of it can result in diarrhea.

If you were my client, I would not worry so much about the fiber (which is usually not a problem) but the history of the situation, a detailed look at your lifestyle including your food and fluid intake over this time. You may be treating the symptom and not the problem.

In Health
Jeff

Special thanks to Jeff for encouraging me to take a detailed look at my food and fluid intake a few weeks back. I have tried my best to do this and have now figured out that apples don’t agree with me. I really like apples and I wish they liked me back. I didn’t do a full elimination diet, but instead, I decided to do a modified elimination diet and I started with removing apples. This was as an experiment to see if the chronic diarrhea might settle down; if nothing changed after a few days I was simply going to put apples back in and try removing something else and proceed from there. Happily, apples were the problem and not having two or three apples a day has settled this mild digestion problem. A persistent spot of eczema that I have been troubled with for five years has also vanished and it’s such a pleasure to not be feeling so itchy. I also haven’t had hives since I removed apples! So, I am planning to stay away from apples for a few weeks. Then, I might decide to do a challenge to reintroduce apples into my diet to see if these really are a problem for me. But for now it looks like apples are the culprit, as each day without apples my health is a bit better.

I am a full of profound gratitude and relief because my husband and I had our first dose of vaccine!


“The meaning of life is making yourself meaningful to other people.” (I heard this on BBC Reel earlier this morning but I didn’t catch the name of the philosopher’s name.) Mark, Jeff, and Wildgoose and all the MWL participants are definitely making themselves meaningful to me! A BIG thank you to all; I appreciate every word you write.

Carol- Welcome back to this MWL weigh-in group, Carol (Carwex). Checking in with Mark, Jeff Wildgoose and all the MWL weigh-in group participants really does help, doesn’t it? I’m going to borrow that passage you mentioned from Squealcat for my daily inspiration, too, it’s such a good one: “Making this way of life work is not easy, but as long as we keep learning, growing and trying, how can we fail?”

I hope that everyone has a great week of “learning, growing, and trying.”
Best regards to all,
Noella

[Mark Cooper]

carwex - Happy to see your post, Carol! I think making such significant, lasting lifestyle changes is best imagined as an ongoing project, with ups and downs, and periods of assessment, reevaluation, and renewal. The pattern you describe will feel familiar to many participants; it is all part of a broad learning process, I would say. Cheers for your rededication!

squealcat -

I wander off sometimes and think I can eat differently and do well. I just fool myself. Then I get myself back to eating the MWL way and think: " this is so easy ! I can do this forever !" Well I know I can do this forever and I AM doing it. Sometimes a little back and forth happens. I am not perfect. I continue on for this next week. My goal is to follow those 10 MWL points one day at a time.

Like the pattern Carol described, I think the "back and forth" you mention will ring true for many in the group, Marilyn. Great goal!

PonysPlants - YAY! You have come so far, Naomi! Isn't it interesting how dramatically one's palate can change in the absence of hyperpalatable stimuli? I can very much relate to no longer even wanting to "cheat;" it's liberating isn't it?

PotatoHead1980 - Diligent attention to the recommended behaviors and an impressive weight loss to report! Seems like everything is working just as it should, Chris. Keep it up!

bunsofaluminum - Down a pound! Congrats on that FIVE YEAR low and your "new" wardrobe! Have a wonderful vacation. Kudos for "keeping your head on your shoulders." Jeff's principles for Dining Out can help with your planning for those restaurant meals.

anne57 - Nice progress! On that one particular day, were the rich foods something you had planned, or more of a spur of the moment occurrence? Some special frozen vegetables sound like a fun treat. Good for you!

Rebecka22 - 10/10! Fantastic work getting back on track! It is natural to feel some disappointment when the scale doesn't reflect our excellent efforts, but I wouldn't worry. You've reported some substantial weight loss this month, and it can often take a little time for the scale to "catch up" with where we are at in behavior. You are absolutely right that consistent, diligent adherence is the best foundation for results. Onward!

curcubit - Congratulations on that very happy news from your doctor's visit! I think this post does a great job of explaining considerations with fruit.

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 an 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.

Also, this thread collects some previous group discussions on fruit consumption. Jeff's Rules & Guidelines for Reading Labels can help you determine which condiments would be most suitable for MWL. Great idea to get the pecans out of sight (and, ideally, out of mind). Keep accentuating the positive!

GreenFroG - All THUMBS-UP! Your attentions to the recommendations while dining out sound like real victories! Speaking for myself, I often just eat my whole meal before heading to a restaurant - I tend to view restaurant time as an opportunity for socializing, rather than a meal. At other times, depending on where I might be dining, I bring 1 or 2 cooked sweet potatoes with me; it works great for a restaurant that has steamed vegetables or a good salad on the menu, but no adherent starch. I've never had an establishment complain, since I'm usually dining in a group. In general, sweet potatoes tend to be my "go-to" food; they're a favorite of mine, and they taste good hot or cold, with vegetables or fruits.

HoustonJason - Another pound gone, and 46 cumulatively! I imagine those compliments make carpool duty a cheerful task! Have a very Happy Birthday! If you decide to include non adherent foods for that occasion, I would encourage you to decide in advance what that will look like, and what the constraints will be. It can be pretty easy for a day of "celebration" to turn into a weeklong affair. Of course, there are also adherent foods that can be festive - particularly special fruits, vegetable or starches that you really enjoy but don't have as often, perhaps? In either case, getting back (or staying) on track offers the surest path to that BMI milestone. You can do it. May you have many happy returns of the day!

Noella - Another drop on the scale! I'm sure receiving that first dose of vaccine was an incredible relief. I'm so happy to hear that your digestive issues have ceased (and the eczema and hives). I think the approach to the elimination diet that Jeff describes here is very helpful in understanding what to consider and how to go about the process, just in case you haven't seen it already.

The meaning of life is making yourself meaningful to other people.

What a beautiful sentiment!

[connielovesdogs]

Last week: 167.8
Today: 165.3
Loss-2.5 lbs

Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Yes
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
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
Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Yes
Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Yes
Eliminate any added oil. Yes
Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e. bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. No (had some nuts and dried fruit as part of a trail mix while backpacking)
Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Yes
Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don’t starve yourself and don’t stuff yourself. Yes
Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Yes

Comments, Concerns, Questions: Feeling good about this week, especially exercise. I have a lot of work stress that isn't going away anytime soon, so it is helpful to have a solid week of adherence and loss. Onward!! Thanks, as always, to this forum, the moderators, and the collective energy of the group. My quote for this week: I've never regretted a workout after it's done;)

[squealcat]

Weight change +/- in lbs: Ok, I have to post before I "chicken" out. Today I saw a gain of 6.2 pounds. Ouch !!

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.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.no
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).no....I think I had a couple of slices of cheese
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).no
6. Eliminate any added oil.no
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.no
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).no. I had one smoothie this week
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).I walked my usual 5/7 days this week. That works for me as I usually walk 3 miles each time.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:I woke up this morning and looked in the mirror. I didn't recognize that person. I saw puffy eyes, puffy face and just felt overall out of sorts. I walked for 1.5 miles today which is short of my usual 3 miles. I know what happened. I did a really good job on three days but not the other 4. I am hoping that a lot of this gain was water weight but I am sure not all of it is. I know what I did and I know what I have to do.

I went to the store today and picked up a few more veggies for a big batch of veggie soup. I will follow MWL point # 1 each day this week. Tomorrow I will pop some sweet potatoes and yellow potatoes in the oven. This is what I do most weeks when I have a really good week. I need a week like that !

Again, I send thanks to all here in this group. It is funny that I have never met any of you but I feel I know you all. Have a great week everyone !

-squealcat (Marilyn)