October 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[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

Thank you for the encouragement, Mark. Yes, the pleasure trap is awful! I need to remember that BEFORE stepping into it next time! And I DO tend to beat myself up and feel sorry for myself, but I am changing that story. I am doing much better since my post, and I am planning my week for success, even with my husband out of town, even with house guests...I can do this. I appreciate your support and helpful suggestions.

My guests will be here for 3 evening meals, one we will eat out to celebrate one of their birthdays. I am making Bean and Corn Enchilada Chili - a High Carb Hannah recipe and a proven crowd pleaser, the other dinner I'm planning is grilled veggies with Jeff's Bean burgers and fruit salad. I will be making a compliant apple crisp for dessert, and a vegan birthday cake which I won't be eating. (Writing that here for accountability). I'll make Banana ice cream to have with the cake and happily have that instead. For lunches, I'm making tun-o salad and vegetable soup. Breakfast will be oatmeal- pumpkin one day and apple cinnamon the other, and one day of oatmeal blueberry pancakes. It feels good to have a plan in place.

Wildgoose- thanks for outlining how you stay compliant and at goal weight. I want to be you when I grow up! You are so right about the pleasure trap! Soooo not worth it!

[VegSeekingFit]

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.

Hi Wildgoose!!

Congratulations on your results!! I so look up to you as someone who has achieved "equilibrium" - knows what it takes - does what it takes - knows self - shares "roadmap" with others. Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Thank you so much for what you share. Beyond being a great example of how to make the Program work, you are an incredibly articulate and colorful writer with a great knack for making the mundane exciting!!

Best,
Stephanie

[VegSeekingFit]

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

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:

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

Hi Mark,

Thank you so much for sharing these links from Jeff N. on BMI. Lots of information to process here - and great threads to make you think.

I've read these before (and was great time for a re-visit) - one thing that really sticks in my mind is in the first link "Optimum BMI" thread on bottom half of page 6 of the thread. The data visualization on the USA map of the obesity epidemic by state by decade never fails to gobsmack me. If anyone hasn't seen that / read that far, check it out. Disheartening.

Regards,
Stephanie

[Noella]

Hi Mark,
+/- 0 lbs.
No change.
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! My family eats these; I'm not interested.
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). No: I was aware as I ate a couple walnuts and a tiny slice of avocado as a garnish. It was an education: I found that I don’t miss eating these and I didn’t crave more.
6. Eliminate any added oil. No! I had some meals prepared by others that I decided to eat. These meals upset my stomach.
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 one slice whole grain bread and one tortilla when there wasn’t enough prepared starch available.
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. Seems like I focused on helping others and didn't prioritize taking care of myself.

We travelled to visit with our daughters and their families for four days. We went grocery shopping ahead and brought MWL food with us. We had also carefully planned out our menu ahead. My husband helped me prepare the meals for family. Every meal was two or three courses. It REALLY helped because we made sure there was starch available (and vegetables) for me to eat at every meal.

[Rebecka22]

144.4 Weight change +/- in lbs: -0.2 pounds
1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. YES
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert. YES
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them. YES
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). YES
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). YES
6. Eliminate any added oil. YES
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. YES
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). YES
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. YES
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). YES

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: This was a very stressful week and I would say my success was sticking to the behaviors and not using chocolate to cope. I’m happy to be moving in the right direction still. I also appreciated the article about BMI and all the personal experience you have shared to help me see next steps. Here’s to hoping for a better week!

[GreenFroG]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -1.2 lbs

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. Eliminate any added oil.
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Things are starting to get fixed around our house again, and I had a better week on the eating front! Stayed on track and ate at home. I read the links Mark posted from Jeff N. on the Top 10 reasons for failure. I tried to assess where I am at, and came up with adherence fatigue. I think I just got tired of doing the right thing and was slipping up. I logged my after dinner snacks for a few days, and was eating a lot after finishing dinner, when I really wasn't hungry. So I stopped snacking after dinner, and if I did get hungry, I had one piece of fruit. Also, I did not eat out this week, which probably helped more than anything.
Then I just read the post from Wildgoose and loved this point...
"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?"
So I am trying to work on being a contented potted plant in my growing conditions!

Thank you Dr. McDougall, Mark, Jeff, and Wildgoose for all your advice. It is invaluable and I love that you provide it at no cost. I could not afford it otherwise. Thanks again and Happy birthday Wildgoose.

[Mark Cooper]

Rebecka22 - Kudos! Sticking to the recommended behaviors, and not engaging in counterproductive coping strategies during a stressful week definitely counts as a big success! And you are down 3.6 lbs for the month, I believe. Carry on!

GreenFroG - I applaud the dedicated effort you put in to this week's adherence! That sort of fatigue you describe is definitely an experience shared by many - here is a thread where some other forum members (and Jeff) engage in some discussion on the topic. I have to imagine that a focus on growth with contentment will be a fruitful path.

[cmcavazos2]

Weight change +/- in lbs: 0# -- no loss/no gain --- stayed the same weight 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. YES
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. YES
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). YES
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. YES
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). NO

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
Victories: No Halloween candy!
Comments: I missed two days of exercise this past week due to a busier than usual work week. -- No change in my weight, but I'll keep trying...

See you in November. Thanks so mucyh.

[Beatrice Lavendar]

Hi Everyone! I just joined this group and I'm so excited to be here. I love love love MMWL and just feel a desire to be part of a community eating the same way I eat.

I will be checking in with the format used here. I have a little trepidation about Halloween, but knowing that I have things to report to you will help me keep my food the way I really like it. I look forward to getting to know you.

Beatrice

[squealcat]

Hi Mark and everyone else !

I would like to jump in for the month of November and join the MWL Weigh-IN group once again. I took a break for a bit but missed all of you. I have been journaling on and off but it is not the same. I weighed myself today to get ready for next week's November weigh-in. My first goal is to get into the 180"s. It is time !

I have to say, I read Wild Goose's last entry and it really spoke to me. She really speaks from her heart. Thank you Wild Goose ! I also read some of the discussions from the past on BMI . Very enlightening !

I look forward to Mark's words of wisdom and also look forward to reading what other's are doing this coming week.

-squealcat (Marilyn)

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi McDougallers!

Hope that everyone is doing well and having a great week!!!

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. Most of the time. Inconsistent for dinner.

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, of course.

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Doing better than last week. Trying new strategy to stop post dinner snacking that may be mindless.

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. 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. Mostly. Working on #5 and post dinner snacking that may be mindless.

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 am somewhat amazed to weigh the same for 3 weeks in a row to the tenth of a pound!! More from a "how could this be possible to get the same result" perspective than anything else. Today I weighed myself 3 times to validate!!! Then, I weighed myself with my cooperative cat to make sure that the scale was able to show other numbers...

Anyway, I am working to change my mindset around thinking of a goal weight, etc. I read the BMI threads again (that Mark posted last week). I have also had direct feedback that maybe there would be no medical reason for me to seek a BMI lower than 22.0 (my current BMI). So, when I "re-started" in May -- I was committed to change and part of that is not "always doing what I've always done"... Therefore, I am going to TRY not to think of this journey in terms of goal weight, etc. and just continue to do the weekly weigh in's but more importantly the behavioral assessments.

With regard to #5 and 9... the pistachios are out of the house. I am going to batch cook some Chubby chips / oven fries as a potential replacement, if needed (and if not, they will be great for meals). At least these aren't at a 2800 + / lb. calorie density... I am also going to wait a few minutes and make sure that I am actually hungry before eating --- and if not --- will have a water or tea. Will see how this works over the next week.

Thank you so much, Mark for all of your support to everyone in this group! Hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Cheers,
Stephanie

[George Ohwell]

Hi everyone. I'm going to join the November weigh-in Group, but I thought I'd check in here as I'm starting MWL again today. So next week I can check in with my weight gain/loss and status for the week. See y'all next week!

-George

[Noella]

Hi Mark,
+5lbs.
!!??
I'm back to 155 lbs.!
I truly am really shocked by the numbers on my scale this morning; I'm perplexed by these numbers, in fact. I was totally totally launched into analysis mode as soon as I stepped off of the scale. Before getting on the scale I felt slimmer than usual, my clothes feel loose and I had 'felt' or 'thought' that today was the special day I would see my first numbers in the 140's. I was hoping to see 149.8, or something like that, so I'm very disappointed, although I'm trying not to be. It has taken me so long to get down to 150 pounds and so here I am humbly trying to figure out what went wrong during the past week. Here I go with my weekly MWL behaviour analysis:

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Yes, definitely doing this and I'm really enjoying starters at each meal. I often have fruit and salad.
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, but I just added up my fruit portions for yesterday in my mind and this may well be why I have gained weight! I had at least nine servings (My husband reminded me that I ate a whole can off pineapple) I seem to have fruit at every meal as dessert/starter and then I have fruit for snacks, too. I think I have taken on the idea of eating fruit "ad libitum' and its area of eating excess calories now. Fruits a source of natural sugar and I have over done the fruit over the past couple weeks.
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. I just bought several jars of the Seasonello brand sea salt with iodine that Jeff Novick recommends. It was tricky to find in Canada but I finally found a store in Toronto that carries it, and had it shipped to me. I'm happy to have an easy source of iodine. Maybe I have overdoing the salt???
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Yes! These do not enter into the equation. I'm not interested anymore. When I dabble I find they don't taste good to me anymore. It;'s not the meat in the sandwich or burger that I like; its actually the lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard and pickle.
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Yes. It's not a problem for me to avoid these foods even though they are in our fridge for my husband. so, I know I have no problem with the foods in this category.
6. Eliminate any added oil. Yes, we are back at home now so it's easy to avoid. I don't use any oil and I don't even have it in my pantry cupboard any more.
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, I've done perfectly with this. I haven't touched any flour products other than pasta, which is allowed and I which have eaten continuously(3x week +) throughout the 22 month of steadily losing weight (almost 90 pounds), so I know pasta can't be the problem.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Yes, I mainly have water and herbal tea.
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. Yes, I eat three meals each day and really enjoy my food. I don't overeat and I actually recognize when Im comfortable full. (Recognizing satiety is a skill that took me months and months to achieve!)
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). No. I write the monthly bulletin for an association I belong to, and it tends to take over my life for a week. so, no, I didn't really do much in the way of moving this week.

Problem areas: I need to take the following more seriously: #1 and #2 show me that I'm eating way too much fruit (How do I stop? Is that the pleasure trap that Im caught in? I seem to be in denial) and for #10 not moving enough... Yikes why can't I do better I want to do do more.
I'm going to weigh every day this week and start taking a rolling average.

[Mark Cooper]

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.

[Mark Cooper]

cmcavazos2 - Woo-hoo! No Halloween Candy! Seems like a very solid week, Christine. Keep it up!

Beatrice Lavendar - Welcome, Beatrice! If you haven't seen it already, all the necessary information for the group is included in the Orientation materials. A great way to manage that Halloween trepidation is by making sure to have adherent foods ready and easy to access, ideally easier to reach for than any troublesome temptations. Best wishes and let me know if you have any questions.

squealcat - Hi, Marilyn! Kudos to you for jumping back in for November. To my mind, this is an ideal time to engage with the group, particularly since the months ahead can be replete with sometimes challenging seasonal events. It is great to be able to go into those situations prepared, and to have a sense of community in managing things.

VegSeekingFit - Kudos, Stephanie! I think trying to frame things in terms of maintaining a continuing pattern of behavior (with regular self-assessment), rather than against progress toward a specific goal weight has great utility; that is definitely the path I employ personally, too. The actions you are taking to address points 5 & 9 seem quite reasonable to me. Let us know how it goes. Onward!

George Ohwell - Welcome back! TODAY is ALWAYS the best day to practice the recommended pattern of behavior! I look forward to seeing your report next week. Take care!

Noella - Don't despair! If the iodized salt is a new addition to your previous routine, that could certainly account for some change in weight with changes in fluid balance / retention. In general, I would advise you not to get too worried based on a single weigh-in result; the prevailing trend over time is what we are primarily concerned with, right? Based on your thorough and considered self-assessment and analysis, it might make sense to pay attention to fruit, and whether you are consuming fruit in the absence of hunger. How much added salt would you estimate you've been including on an average day? Stick to the guidelines and you will get this worked out.