October 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: October 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby louie3084 » Fri Oct 22, 2021 5:57 am

This week I'm down 1kg/2lbs

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 except one meal had tahini and seeds in it whilst socialising (no more lockdown for Melbourne! :unibrow: )

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- Mark, thank-you for your kind words and tips, they really helped.
With which foods do you find yourself eating those excess added sugars? When and under what circumstances has that tended to happen? Sometimes addressing the context that produces challenges can be quite helpful. Try to make a point of only including added sugars within the constraints offered by the guidelines:

I was craving ice cream and it was when I hadn't eated enough carbs. I am getting through the McDougall book on MWL and finding it really helpful.
I was getting a bit confused the previous week about whether I should constrain my eating window as there seems to be so much talk about this being good for your overall health. This just made me ultra hungry and angry :-P So this past week I listened to my body and stuck to the program pretty well.
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Re: October 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby Rebecka22 » Fri Oct 22, 2021 7:46 am

144.6 Weight change +/- in lbs:-1.8 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. NO
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). YES
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). YES
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. 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 had one meal out again this week when family was in town, but otherwise a good week. I appreciated the post you gave me last week and made sure to make the best choices I could like choosing brown rice and no tofu. Both no’s are from that one meal, everything else was good this week. I am thinking ahead about planning for success on a couple upcoming trips and even the holidays. I find the more I plan ahead and even just think through making healthy choices in these situations, the more likely I am to be able to stick to the plan. This week I am officially all the way in the healthy BMI range, something I honestly never thought could happen before this group, and I definitely see this as a lifestyle that while not always easy, is something I’m committed to. I’m so thankful for your help!
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Mark's Replies for October 22 - Part 1

Postby Mark Cooper » Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:10 pm

louie3084 - Excellent!
louie3084 wrote:So this past week I listened to my body and stuck to the program pretty well.
:thumbsup: :nod: :thumbsup: Just in case there is still any confusion in the group with regard to "eating windows" or intermittent fasting, this post from Jeff should clear things up.
JeffN wrote:This may be one of the most common questions we get during our Q&A at our events. It was one of the top questions at the past 3-Day Weekend.

Follow the regular program or the MWL as is, eating when hungry of the recommend foods until comfortably full and not eating when not hungry.

IF violates that basic principle.

LINK to thread reflecting on 5:2 & IF


Rebecka22 - Great progress and big congratulations on attaining a healthy BMI! :D Much as you observe, I also find that "thinking through" scenarios for making healthy choices (and planning and preparing) significantly increases my likelihood of following through on my "best intentions." Carry on! :thumbsup:
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Re: October 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby missnutmeg » Fri Oct 22, 2021 2:02 pm

Weight change +/- in lbs: -3.6 lbs!!! woo hoo!

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. YES, mostly
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, mostly
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. Have added salt on top of some dishes at eating time only
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, whole grain cereal and some whole wheat bread, but not often
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). Only some days. My baby has been sick so we're hunkering down a bit due to that.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
I'm REALLY proud of a 3.6 pound weight loss this week! I feel like I'm on a roll and really committed right now. The key seems to be thinking about recipes in advance, getting those groceries and then cooking in bigger batches. So all I have to do is heat up the food and eat, it's much less decisions to make! Really thankful for my husband who is also a huge support and loves this way of eating.

Concerns - I would like to get out and walk more, but I'll do that once my baby is no longer sick and we're all feeling well! I do also want to keep finding more recipes because I don't want to burn out. It's also just hard to get used to cooking this much again! So I'm hoping to find more shortcuts and ways to have meals ready on hand. Also, I am nervous my weight will stall or slow down, but I suppose there's no sense in worrying about this until it happens!

Good luck everyone, you are doing GREAT!!! And remember, you are a beautiful soul, and WORTH IT!
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Re: October 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby wstokes » Fri Oct 22, 2021 2:54 pm

down 1 lb

1) Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
yes

2) Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, 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. 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.
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).
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

I will be travelling next week and will not be able to weigh...I will resume "reporting" the following week.
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Re: October 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby Gimmelean » Sat Oct 23, 2021 7:34 am

Weight change +/- in lbs: -.2
10/16/2021. 127.2
10/22/2021. 127

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. Had some avocado.

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 for the most part. Home baked muffins and breads are hard not to sample and this week was a challenge.

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, challenges: Greetings everyone. The past two weeks have been very stressful and mindlessly, I turned to comfort foods as I have always done but not any where near what I always did. Eating poorly due to stress is a double whammy. It doesn’t solve anything and only adds more stress! Despite the lapses in the quality of food, I lost .2 pounds. My goal this week is to be saying yes to all 10 MWL checklist points by this time next week as I reflect on the week that has passed. Not only for weight loss, but for optimal health and that certain sense of well-being that I wish could be bottled and patented. Thank you for this forum and to everyone for your support, motivation, hard work, and sharing. Have an excellent week.
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Re: October 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby kirstykay » Sat Oct 23, 2021 7:46 am

Weight change +/- in lbs: +2.2 pounds

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. ❌ Had a couple vegan restaurant meals that had oil in them. This is no problem when I cook at home.
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). ❌ Had soy lattes from Starbucks. A weakness I need to eliminate.
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. ❌ I have been stuffing myself.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). ✅ I've got this one down, at least

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: I struggled to get back on track this week. I found myself overeating a lot and eating off plan foods. I'm frustrated with myself and discouraged. Reading everyone's entries has been helpful and motivating. I'm not really sure why I'm struggling so much except that my vacation threw me back into the pleasure trap, and my husband was traveling this week so I haven't gotten into a good rhythm/schedule. I also tend to overeat and eat poorly when he is gone. I've been questioning my decision to rejoin this group since I haven't been doing very well at all this month, but I want to keep trying to get this right. I'm sorry for the bad report. I hope to do better this week. My challenges this week are: my husband is traveling again, and we are having house guests Wed-Saturday. I have control over the menu, so I'm working out a plan and shopping before they come. We will probably eat one meal out, but I can choose the restaurant. I think I just need to remind myself that I am in control and capable of making better choices.
"Remember, It's the food." ~Dr. McDougall

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Re: October 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby cmcavazos2 » Sat Oct 23, 2021 8:33 am

Weight change +/- in lbs: 0# loss/gain -- weighed the same as last week

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. 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). 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:
Victories: My weight stayed stable this week, even during the week of my birthday. My birthday celebrations included one breakfast out and one lunch out. I made good restaurant choices and only had a small slice of birthday cake. I did not take any of the extra birthday cake home.
Comments: Everything went smoothly for my birthday plans. I selected restaurants where I could find something close to MWL guidelines and I decided ahead of time what I would have to eat. I also was very deliberate in not taking any leftovers or extra cake home with me.
Concerns: One more hurdle this month. Next Friday, we have the monthly birthday celebrations potluck at work. I'll plan ahead to not let it throw me off course. -- I also am aware that from Halloween through the New Year, it is one food temptation after another. These are the times that I appreciate this group and the opportunity to be honest and accountable during the holiday season.

I'll be checking in again next week. Thanks so much!
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Re: October 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby GreenFroG » Sat Oct 23, 2021 9:25 am

Weight change +/- in lbs: -0.2

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

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Stayed about the same even though things are still a little in flux this last week as we had to do some work on our house. Trying to eat healthy but had two take out meals, so thumbs down on 3, 5, and 7. Also found myself snacking after dinner, usually fruit or a potato, but I don't think I was really hungry - more stressed. I am going to try to log what I am eating after dinner this week to see if that will help me.
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Re: October 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby VegSeekingFit » Sat Oct 23, 2021 9:26 am

Hi MWL Community!

It's that time of the week again!! :-D A big thanks to all of you who participate here! Really helps to hear from you - what is working and what challenges exist. Nice to be on a journey together!

Weight change - No change / maintain
Current weight - 132.0 lbs.
Last Week weight - 132.0 lbs.


1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Inconsistent. I need to do better here.

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, 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, of course. :D

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). No, still trying to change non-compliant after dinner snack "habit". Have gained some ground, but was not on point each day.

6 Eliminate any added oil. Yes! I do not add oil and only have this if eating out.

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, still trying to change non-compliant after dinner snack "habit". Have gained some ground, but was not on point each day.

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. Hmm... I was going to automatically answer "yes", but I think that my #5 and #7 may not always be happening due to physical hunger. So, going to say --- usually - but room for improvement with post-dinner snacking.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes, 4 of 7 days - one was a nice long hike of 2.5 hours.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

This weekly assessment definitely is a habit that I am going to keep going forward. It really shines a spotlight on where there is room for opportunity to refine behavior to reach goals.

I have hit a bit of a plateau - which is not surprising given off plan snacking and less activity than prior months. I do know that I have 17 more lbs. to lose -- and I need to comply with all of the 10 points to get there. I am pretty confident that my goal weight is spot on because I have been at this weigh: 1) high-school, 2) my wedding, 3) in early 2019. To get there, I have to jump all in and not half-way... (like try for 10/10)...

I may take a 20 lb. jug of kitty litter for a walk to get more excited about losing the excess weight... HA! :lol:

Hope that everyone has an excellent week.

We can all do this!!!!!

Best,
Stephanie
"Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path.
Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back." - Martina Navratilova
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Re: October 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby Gabby7 » Sat Oct 23, 2021 11:20 am

Weight change +/- in lbs:  -1.5 lbs

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. YES
3. 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
5. 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
7. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). YES
9. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). YES
11. Eliminate any added oil. YES
13. 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
15. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). YES
17. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. YES
18. 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: missed the check in deadline last week but was down .5 lbs that week so this week I focused more on walking and weight training and balancing my meals. Really happy to see the progress I’m now only 6-8 lbs from my new goal since I’ve passed my original goal. Glad to have the cooler weather for lots of soups! Hope everyone has a great week ahead.
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Reporting for October 22 Weigh-In is now CLOSED

Postby Mark Cooper » Sat Oct 23, 2021 1:02 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.
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Mark's Replies for October 22 - Part 2

Postby Mark Cooper » Sat Oct 23, 2021 1:05 pm

missnutmeg - Woo-hoo! Great progress! :D I totally agree that planning ahead and putting in the effort to have adherent food prepared and easy to access is a key contributor to success. :nod: No need to worry, the best way to support ongoing progress is to adhere to the recommended pattern of behavior; Jeff covers this in Why We Hit Plateaus and What We Can Do About Them. One possible "shortcut" is the the "conveyor-belt" described here. Onward!

wstokes - Down another pound! Have safe and pleasant travels; if you need a framework for maintaining adherence on the road, check out Jeff's threads on Dining Out and Travel Food.

Gimmelean - Kudos to you for not letting yourself get totally derailed! Managing stress is among the more significant challenges we face in life, right? "Bottled well-being" would be nice, but I wonder whether it would feel as invigorating and encouraging as those well-earned victories we achieve after diligent (and sometimes hard-fought) efforts. :) Have a great week!

kirstykay - Hang in there, Kirsty! It can be a real struggle to escape from the Pleasure Trap, and I'm sure it has felt quite discouraging and frustrating at times. Try not to beat yourself up; instead, focus on what you can do to make things easier for yourself. As much as you can, arrange and align your environment to work in service of your goals. Having adherent food prepared, close at hand, and easy to access makes it much more likely that we will eat that food, and removing the most troubling foods completely makes them simpler to avoid. To the extent you can, make adherent choices in advance, and then make those the most (or only) available options. You will get there. :)

cmcavazos2 - Looks like a pretty solid birthday week, Christine! Kudos to you for really making a considered plan and following through on it. :thumbsup: Anticipating challenges, and taking them seriously so they can be addressed is a habit that will serve you well through the "season of temptation." Happy birthday and may you have many happy returns of the day!

GreenFroG - Keeping your habits mostly stable, during a week where many things were "in flux" seems like an important achievement! A food diary can be a great tool for making patterns visible and keeping our attention focused. Let us know how things go.

VegSeekingFit - Cheers, Stephanie! I totally agree with you about the checklist self-assessment; it really helps give a realistic picture of our current pattern of behavior and where we have the opportunity to achieve further progress by focusing our efforts. Keep at it, continue refining your practice, and you will advance toward that goal. :nod:

Gabby7 - That is great progress; I always love to see ten big YESes! :D Congratulations on attaining your initial goal, and being well on the way to your new one! Have a great week.
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Weigh-In Report Compilation - October 22, 2021

Postby Mark Cooper » Sat Oct 23, 2021 1:22 pm

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

Mark's Replies for October 22 - Part 1
Mark's Replies for October 22 - Part 2

By my count, 10 participants reported for our fourth October 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 fourth Friday in October:

Week ending 10/22/2021: 10 participants reported a total change of -8.10 pounds
--------------------------------------------------
Kirstykay +2.20
--------------------------------------------------
Total gains: +2.20
--------------------------------------------------
NO CHANGE / MAINTAIN/ STARTING OUT
Cmcavazos2 0.00
VegSeekingFit 0.00
--------------------------------------------------
Gimmelean -0.20
GreenFroG -0.20
Wstokes -1.00
Gabby7 -1.50
Rebecka22 -1.80
Louie3084 -2.00
Missnutmeg -3.60
--------------------------------------------------
Total losses: -10.30
--------------------------------------------------
Cumulative group loss for October 2021 to date: 10.70 pounds
Average loss for week ending October 22: 0.81 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
Cumulative group loss for April 2021: 48.30 pounds
Cumulative group loss for May 2021: 35.90 pounds
Cumulative group loss for June 2021: 34.10 pounds
Cumulative group loss for July 2021: 64.95 pounds
Cumulative group loss for August 2021: 49.30 pounds
Cumulative group loss for September 2021: 18.84 pounds
--------------------------------------------------

Next Weigh-In is on Friday, October 29, 2021.


Kudos, everybody! One more week for October - let's make it count! :-D

Since there was some discussion of goal weights and what might be reasonable to pursue this week, I wanted to share Jeff's collection of links discussing optimal BMI:
JeffN wrote:Optimum BMI
https://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/view ... =22&t=6916

The range we recommend is 18.5 to about 22. However, realize this is a general range. Often, when people see the range, they assume 18.5 is the best, which is not true, and then go crazy trying to get there. Several studies have shown that 22/23 is best. We don't know for sure but it seems fairly clear that the bottom half of the healthy range (18.5 to 22) is probably best for most. I cover these issues in the following threads which I recommend you review.

Optimal BMI - Redux
https://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/view ... 22&t=52375

Difference in food choices and BMI
https://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/view ... 22&t=46837

Should we all try to get to 22 BMI?
https://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/view ... 22&t=30838

Should we all try to get to 22 BMI Pt 2
https://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/view ... 22&t=43218
I also think wildgoose's post "How I determined my 'goal weight'" is quite instructive in this regard.

My own ultimate inclination was to just diligently adhere to the recommended pattern of behavior over a substantial period of time, and let my "goal weight" be wherever I arrived (provided that weight was / is in a safe and healthy range).

Best to you all for an amazing week! Take care and be well!
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Mark Cooper
 
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Re: October 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby wildgoose » Sat Oct 23, 2021 7:56 pm

I was looking through my food journal today. Two years ago, I was happy to have arrived at about the same weight I am right now. Since then, I have maintained my weight within a three-pound range, and I’m doing it without too much effort. I know there are elements of my way of staying adherent that won’t appeal to everyone, but I try to make it easy on myself.

I was texting with one of the grown Goslings today, and she commented on how awful it was that I’m going to have to cook for my birthday tomorrow. The Gander should take me out to eat, she said. My response was "Why? If I cook, I know I’m going to be eating just what I like, fixed exactly the way I want it. No restaurant can do that for me." What I didn’t tell her is that no oily, salty, overprocessed and overpriced restaurant meal is worth a day of McDougall's revenge and a week of cravings. I’m making lentil chili, which will be just perfect on a cold and rainy day. I’m going to put a candle in a baked apple for dessert. :-D

This is the kind of thing I do. Avoid temptation whenever possible. Don’t eat out. Don’t socialize much. Do low-key holidays with simple food. Keep the junk food far, far out of this nest. Give out pencils, stickers, and other inedible fun stuff on Halloween. Keep my hands and my mind occupied so that I’m not prone to snacking.

Willpower is a limited resource, so I try, like Mark said, to not have to use it. Dr. Jen Howk, a colleague of Dr. Doug Lisle, talks about being like a potted plant. The plant does best in the environment that’s most appropriate for the type of plant it is. A sun-loving plant is going to struggle in a dark room. A tropical plant won’t thrive if it’s too cold. The idea is to build your environment to work best for whatever kind of potted plant you are. I’m introverted, I like structure, I don’t need much variety or fancy food, and I do better with absolutes rather than "moderation." So I create an environment where I’m likely to thrive, and I stay in it as much as possible. If I find myself out of that environment, I bring as much of what I need to my new surroundings as I can. Even if it’s more expensive, even if it’s inconvenient, even if it causes a few raised eyebrows.

Other people are different. They travel, for business or pleasure. They socialize. They have a wide circle of friends and family who may or may not support their efforts. They get bored with simple food and want more variety. But I wonder, if they looked at what they could do to be a more contented potted plant given their growing conditions.....could they figure out a way to not need so much willpower?

There was a question here about if some scheduled, planned deviations from MWL could help a person to stay compliant in the long run. For me, the answer is no. For me, one "treat" leads to six more. Pleasure Trap food comes in single-serving containers (box of cookies, quart of ice cream, "party size" bag of chips...). A cheat meal becomes a cheat week. Deviations mean that my body never gets used to the new way of eating, and the cravings are always there, either full-blown or right under the surface. It’s just not worth the fight.

I’m not 100% MWL now that I’m at goal weight, but I’m consistent in the almost-MWL behavior that maintains the equilibrium between what I eat and what I weigh. I know what I need to do, and I do it. No willpower required, very few decisions.

Your mileage may vary, but I still recommend consistent behavior (that’s why the MWL Checklist works so well), and making that behavior as easy to achieve as you possibly can. This is not a "diet" that you’re looking forward to being finished with. This is a process, for the rest of your life. People may think that I’m either crazy, or boring, or doing something impossible, but here I am, two years later, still at goal weight, still in good health, and looking forward to many more birthdays with the same report.

Goose
Last edited by wildgoose on Sun Oct 24, 2021 12:48 pm, edited 2 times in total.
My story: MWL works!
How I determined my "goal weight"
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