December 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[Maco]

Weight change - 2 lbs:

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:
So, I lost the 2 lbs which I gained last week, happy with that. This week went well, I’m trying to reduce my salt intake further and I walked everyday.
So this week is in the pocket, I’m very happy to move forward. It helps to have these days where it just went well to look back on when I find myself in more challenging situations.

[Mark Cooper]

BambiS - Another solid week, another drop on the scale! Let us know how the cauliflower soup works out for you. You should be able to add or link to a picture under User Control Panel Profile Edit avatar

moonlight - Ongoing progress toward adherence is what it is all about! Those remaining cravings should continue to fade if they aren't reinforced, although they may hang on for some time.

Second, cravings for fat take up to 3 months to go away. The more often you feed those little fat receptors, the longer it takes for them to downregulate. Your taste buds will adjust, but you have to put up with a period of time where food doesn’t taste as "yummy" as you might want it to. I did 35 days on just 5 foods when I started. I don’t recommend that approach, but I do recommend keeping food very basic and simple, especially at the beginning.

Keep working at it, and eliminating more and more "exceptions," and you'll get there.

Rebecka22 - 2.8 pounds! Congratulations for making it an awesome week, despite those challenges! I'm sure being faced with potential threats and confinement was quite alarming. Cheers for the end of the week and a GREAT weekend!

Maco - 10 YESes! Well done, Maja! I think those "days where it just went well" are really useful for building our confidence and establishing a sense of self-efficacy. Forward!

[Artista]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -.2 lbs.

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, included a little flaxseed and soy milk with oatmeal.
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, raisins one time.
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, missed a couple days of exercise.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: It's been a busy week and I didn't get around to exercising every day. I'm trying to think of ways that I can simplify my routine and free up more time. I seem to spend a lot of time preparing meals and I'm looking for ways to change that. I bought ingredients to make the SNAP meals and I'm hoping that will help streamline my process. Also need to work on the flaxseed and soy milk at breakfast. It's been hard to give those up.

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all surviving (and thriving) during the holiday season hustle!

Weight change - .2 lbs. gain
Current weight - 127.0 lbs.
Last Week weight - 126.8 lbs.

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Mostly. I do have opportunity for improvement to get to 100%.

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.
Mostly. I do have opportunity for improvement to get to 100%.

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 am wondering if further reducing / eliminating sodium may help me to better comply 100% with #5 and 7. I may try this strategy after the holidays (if I am still dancing with the calorie dense salty stuff).

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). Yes.

6 Eliminate any added oil. Yes! I do not add oil and only have this if eating out (which I hardly ever do).

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. Mostly. 1 evening encounter with the pretzel. (in the house, in the mouth - ugh!)

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. I continue to focus on hunger and am not stuffing and not starving.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes. 7/7 days average about 60 minute walk each day.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Comments:
A big thank you to Mark, Jeff and Wildgoose for this Board and for all of the information shared. Very grateful to have this forum.

Thank you to all of the participants!! We are all in this together and are learning from each other!

Concerns:
I am still trying to break up with #5 and #7. These are (obviously) "food" items (for me) that need to be permanently kicked to the curb like a bad boyfriend. I wish that it was as easy as getting them out of house. I am going to : 1) watch Pleasure Trap DVD, 2) continue to eat recommended foods in recommended fashion (if these call to me), 3) evaluate results (next week!), 4) consider further reducing sodium (maybe will help to eliminate this habit). Any other thoughts?

Victories:
1) Have discovered that I LOVE Romaine lettuce. Eating this with other crudites.
2) Noticed that when I jog (slowly) across the street (to avoid cars, not to jog) that my heart rate / breathing are unbothered and stay steady.
3) Have gone down a jeans size. Down 3 so far. 1 to go!!

I hope that everyone has a wonderful week!! Pass the potatoes!!

Best,
Stephanie

[GreenFroG]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -0.00 lbs - stayed the same

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: Stayed the same but was pleased with that this week. Had a extended family in for a few days, so tried to stick with the plan. Ate out but tried to choose wisely. Put a thumbs down on #7 due to oil in restaurant food. Will post quickly to make sure I get it in. Happy Holidays to everyone!

[Noella]

Hi Everyone!

up + 3 lbs.
MWL Starting Date - April 1, 2020

Note we are celebrating Christmas as a family this week, starting last Wednesday and ending next Wednesday. Seven days that we are all together in one house for the first time since December 2019.
Current Weight - 155.5

1. Start each meal with soup and/or salad and/or fruit. No and…Yes, I am trying to follow and maintain MWL guidelines for meals but it’s not 100% of the meals. We are at my daughter's house again and our other two daughters and their families are here, too. I just can’t seem do pure MWL at every meal...last week I tried my best to follow MWL when I helped my daughter Michelle with her new baby but this week, with so many more people and dynamics, I am just not getting enough starchy and nonstarchy vegetables, grains and legumes. When I get hungry I have trouble controlling myself around the non MWL fare. I really want to keep with MWL but I’m out of my very carefully food-curated home environment and I’m also not wanting to spoil meals for all the others in our family by being picky or demanding. Today I feel particularly miserable and grumpy. I’m looking at the food my husband, kids and grandkids are joyously eating and I’m feeling sad, mad and frustrated I can’t join in on the pleasure. All of my daughters and sons-in law are chipping in to help with the cooking and they sometimes add non-MWL ingredients to otherwise perfect MWL foods: Like putting a spoonful of olive oil on the whole wheat pasta so it doesn’t stick, and tossing an entire bowl of salad with salad dressing. I need to communicate better about setting aside some pasta and salad for me before they embellish it.
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 and Yes…I’m getting hungry at times. Not enough starch I guess… I really am trying my best, though. We brought several MWL approved meals along for the family (Spanish rice and refried beans with all the veggie toppings; homemade marinara sauce with 100% whole wheat Italian pasta, lots of veggies for salads and side dishes) and my husband and I are doing some but not all of the cooking. So far this week has been way harder for me than last week, I suppose because our family is fully into celebration mode.
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 and Yes. I am trying but this week I feel like I am failing on this one big time. I am trying but it’s so hard to cook for others and not include some salt. My palate has changed but theirs have not. I put salt out on the table and say, “ this will need some salt”
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). No and Yes. Its so hard to avoid the inclusion of egg or milk in some special meals. Vegetarian Indian dishes often have ghee and cream. So, with our family I am surrounded by traditional British Christmas Celebration foods ( chocolates, sweets and pastries) and sometimes some flavourful Indian curries. I have a strong desire to eat MWL and choosing only MWL approved foods in this family food environment is really a challenge for me. I’m surrounded by tempting yummy high calorie foods. Foods that could be adapted if I was at home but are being made the traditional way for the Christmas celebration.
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Yes. Thank goodness, this one is easy enough
6. Eliminate any added oil. No, (because I know some is sneaking into the foods others are making even when they say they aren’t adding it)and Yes… because of course I am really trying my best in this temporary environment. This point seems very hard. How can I take what I have learned over many months and convince my family that it will be fine to sauté without oil,etc. Most of our family thinks olive oil is a healthy choice. I cooked whole wheat pasta and then my son-in-law promptly put oil on all of it. I ate it so I didn’t ruffle any feathers, but I truly like MWL pasta better without added oil and I like marinara sauce better made without olive oil and Parmesan. This experience shows me how much my food preferences have changed over the past months of following MWL. I like food better without 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. No, but yes I am trying. sometimes whole grain bread is the only starch that is quickly available when I am hungry. I need to bake some potatoes! I plan to be able to say yes to this guideline as I learn to navigate eating MWL in this completely non- MWL zone. Five days to go!
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). yes, I seem to be able to ignor the wine and other beverages. I’m happy with water and lime.
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. Yes. Trying to keep this one going. Usually their is a baby that needs to be held so that’s a good excuse to leave the dinner table and take a walk.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Yes, I am somewhat active Definitely Trying… still not !00% though. Can’t wait yo get home and get out on the ski trails. No skiing this week because all seven grand children are under age five.

Challenges are all around me right now.: travelling and staying with family is very tricky, food-wise. . I don't want to stand out as being different. I also don’t want to be seen as the demanding mother-in-law but this morning I really failed at this, big time, because I suddenly got my back up and got so grumpy with one of my daughters for our family for not being more respectful and supportive. The worst thing was that by me being grumpy, it meant that I also am not being respectful and supportive. Now I’m more mad but I’m mad at myself for failing to stay 100% MWL By not being 100%, feel like such a hypocrite. I asked my daughter to not use any added oil, or salt but then she saw me eat not just one, but five, small Christmas cookies from a fancy tin. She said she had noticed and counted the biscuits and wondered how I can have the nerve to ask her to cook without oil if I am going to eat cookies. She was correct, of course. Those were the first cookies I had eaten in many months and I had lost my way with MWL for a few minutes. I didn’t realize Ivwas being watched abd scrutinized.so…I’m not perfect at MWL, and this environment is testing me to my limits. I want to be with my family more than anything in the world and I am struggling to find my way tostay on the MWL plan. I can’t seem to navigate the food world outside of my own house very well, yet. Maybe that will be my main goal in 2022.

[Health 1st]

Weight change +/- in lbs:   ?  We're at my aunt's home.  She was the 1st person I ever knew to have a digital scale, but now I found out she got rid of it became she became fed-up with never losing weight.  (She knows about McDougalling + MWL, but always pooh-poohs it.)

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.----Have actually improved quite a bit on this one.  The simplest thing I found for me this week was to always have available a 3# bag of (I think it's called) garden salad mix:  iceberg, carrot, + red cabbage.  I ate at least 2 huge handfuls just plain as a pre-load before a lot of lunches + dinners.  I usually haven't pre-loaded for breakfast...yet, but have oatmeal with 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.----Doing okay, but not as good as in the past.  Have been a little starch heavy.  Need improvement.  Excelled at this point in the past, + am confident will again.

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, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).----Had 2 slices of thin crust veggie pizza.

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).----Had Mary's Crackers a couple times this week.  They contain seeds + too much salt. 

6. Eliminate any added oil.----Yes.

7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.----Had the above mentioned Mary's crackers, raisins 2 times, + 1 That's It dried fruit bar (1 apple + [I think] 1/2 a pear).

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).----Yes; didn't have anything.

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.----Several times got way too hungry.  Need improvement.

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

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

----I am so sorry to have been missing! I posted this:

Hello, Mark + Everyone!

I just wanted to let you know that I haven't skipped out on you. Unfortunately the months of little sleep + not always eating well (MWL) finally caught up with me this past Friday. I hope to join you all by posting this Friday/Saturday.

And thank you, Mark for replying: ":thumbsup: Most importantly, TODAY is always the best day to renew our attention to the recommended behaviors. "

Very true + wise words, Mark; thank you! Unfortunately, I was a bit vague. What I neglected to say was that my health literally crumbled; I had a health crisis. If I had gone to a doctor or the ER, I know I would have been hospitalized. Not only couldn't I afford a possible risk of exposure to covid, but I could not leave my dad because I am his caregiver. I took the calculated risk, + thank God, it all worked out. But I had all I could do to take care of my dad's + my basic needs + that was it.

----I have by no means been perfect, but am learning to implement the MWL principles so that I can improve upon them + continue this way for a lifetime, not just for some months doing it perfectly only to fall of the wagon for months + sometimes years on end. ....I admit that getting back on the wagon has been harder at this time of year with memories of loved ones no longer here + the ways we would celebrate together (ALL included non-healthy "foods".)

----For a variety of reasons, our plans for Christmas are still up in the air. We may be away + the cell service there is spotty. So if I don't post, that would be why.

----If you celebrate Christmas, I wish you + yours a wonderful one filled with love + the hope that the birth of Jesus brings! If you celebrate Christmas as a winter holiday or don't celebrate at all, I still wish you a wonderful week + all the best!!

[CUgorji22]

Hooray for the weekend!!

*Weight Change: -1.4lbs (loss)*

*Guidelines:
Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Compliant 6/7 days
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. Compliant 7/7 days
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. Compliant 6/7 days
Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Compliant 7/7 days
Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Compliant 6/7 days
Eliminate any added oil. Compliant 7/7 days
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. Compliant 5/7 days
Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Compliant 7/7 days
Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don’t starve yourself and don’t stuff yourself. Compliant 7/7 days
Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Compliant 3/7 days

*Summary: I'm getting my summary in at the last minute...just finished hosting a virtual Birthday Bash for my Mom! So my comments will be brief so I can make the deadline. Overall, good week. Still working to be compliant each day. I know the areas where I need more diligence.

*Challenges:
- I missed one starter with dinner...UGH! My hubby had a meeting that night and I was rushing. I need to be more prepared during those "crunch time" moments.
- Wanted to work out yesterday to get to 4 days but had a bad headache which was discouraging.

*Victories:
- No oil this week...YAY!
- For my birthday Wednesday, my Mom is gifting me a fitness VR game for my Oculus Quest! SO EXCITED!! I traded in a massage for more fitness in my life. Lol! I'm starting to think more about investing in my body/health, long term!!

Have a great weekend, Mark!!

-Chesca

[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.

[wildgoose]

Noella, sometimes you just have to do the best you can and leave it at that. Don’t let lack of perfection steal the joy of celebrating the holidays with your family. You are not failing, you are coping. And that’s OK.

I know it’s easy to get grumpy when things don’t fall into place (and yes, I can imagine what a grumpy Goose I’d be if I were at someone else's house for an extended period). Food-wise, the best thing to stave off the stress of being in a different environment is starch. Make sure you get enough of it. It’ll help keep those cookies from leaping into your mouth. Also see what you can do with raw veggies or fruit. Get enough of those, and you won’t be eating as much of the higher-calorie-density stuff.

Ask your family for a little help on the basics (like let you cook and store a batch of potatoes to have on hand, let you make a raw veggie tray for everybody to snack on....), then don't sweat the rest. It’s not forever. You will be back in your own environment soon enough, and while you may have a tough week or so climbing out of the Pleasure Trap, you’ll be able to do it.

In the meantime, breathe. Take a walk. Play with any available child. Carve out some alone time if you need it. Make memories that don’t involve food. Have a very Merry Christmas.

Goose

[Mark Cooper]

Artista - Nice progress! SNAP meals are a great way to simplify and streamline your routine, Nancy; typically they can be prepared in ~10 minutes. Keep moving toward adherence and you'll continue to support your progress.

VegSeekingFit - A fantastic list of victories for this week! "Breaking up" with those rich foods can be an arduous and challenging process, right? Your 4 point plan for addressing that seems spot-on to me. The only thing I might add - if troublesome foods can't be removed from the immediate environment (for whatever reason), it often still helps to place some barriers in the path of accessing those not recommended foods. The more effort required to pursue an undesired course of action, the better odds of choosing a different path, Stephanie. Pass the potatoes, indeed!

GreenFroG - It sounds like your ability to "stick with the plan" through varied circumstances and environments has continued to improve; that seems like something worth heralding! I know what you mean about "staying the same" being a pleasing outcome during certain weeks. Have a very Happy Holiday!

Noella - What a happy occasion having your whole family together for the first time in 2 years must be! That seems like a real blessing. Offer yourself kindness and compassion, recognizing that these environmental, social, familial and emotional dynamics are powerful and rarely easy to navigate. Perfection is often unattainable, but we can always take a deep breath, forgive ourselves, reset, and aim to simply do the best we can under a given set of circumstances. Try to learn what you can about how to make it through these trying situations, and remember that you will eventually return to a context over which you have greater control. I wish you the very best.

Health 1st - I'm so sorry to hear you were facing a health crisis! I know how scary that can be. Glad everything worked out with that. Ongoing, consistent improvement in one's pattern of behavior is a laudable goal. Do what you are able to support your ability to adhere to the recommendations. Happy Holidays!

CUgorji22 - Nice results and NO Oil! Way to go, Chesca! You'll have to keep us informed about what that VR fitness game is like; it sounds fun! You've come quite far already, carry on toward adherence and you'll go further still.

[Mark Cooper]

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 December 17 - Part 1
Mark's Replies for December 17 - Part 2

By my count, 10 participants reported for our third December 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 third Friday in December:

Week ending 12/17/2021: 10 participants reported a total change of -4.60 pounds
--------------------------------------------------
Noella +3.00
VegSeekingFit +0.20
--------------------------------------------------
Total gains: +3.20
--------------------------------------------------
NO CHANGE / MAINTAIN/ STARTING OUT
GreenFroG 0.00
Health 1st 0.00
--------------------------------------------------
Artista -0.20
moonlight -0.60
BambiS -0.80
CUgorji22 -1.40
Maco -2.00
Rebecka22 -2.80
--------------------------------------------------
Total losses: -7.80
--------------------------------------------------
Cumulative group loss for December 2021 to date: 10.80 pounds
Average loss for week ending December 17: 0.46 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
Cumulative group loss for October 2021: 7.10 pounds
Cumulative group loss for November 2021 to date: 43.80 pounds
--------------------------------------------------

Next Weigh-In is on Friday, December 24, 2021.


Three cheers for this amazing group of people! I find your ongoing efforts very exciting and inspiring! Given the challenges and temptations that may possibly be waiting in the holiday week ahead, I thought I would highlight and link to a couple posts by wildgoose that seem useful and relevant. First, this potent explanation of how we are not obligated to satisfy our maladaptive desires.

Sometimes it feels like a tempting food is reaching out, grabbing you by the collar, prying your jaws open, and leaping into your mouth. The desire is so strong, it feels like you HAVE to satisfy it, RIGHT AWAY.

But you don’t. Nothing awful will happen to you if you don’t inhale that sweet, salty, fatty thing that’s calling to you. You will be uncomfortable for a short while. Maybe for a little more than a short while. Ignore it. Distract yourself. It will pass. And then you will be all right. Better than all right, in fact. In addition to feeling physically better, you will have achieved a mental and emotional victory that is worthy of pride.

Secondly, this well-considered discussion about how to handle the Pleasure Trap.

MWL is a choice. A choice you’re making for your health and your weight, to get where you want to be. It gets easier with time. Does the Pleasure Trap ever quit tempting you? No. You learn to stay away from the biggest temptations, and how to get right back into the groove if you stray. But are you ever totally immune? No. It’s always a choice. I look at a year-plus at goal weight, a level of health that I haven’t known in years, a wardrobe where everything is comfortably loose and everything in the closet fits — and I’m OK with not having some of my old comfort foods around.

Both posts have a lot to offer.

I will be away from home on December 24, 25 & 26, so my replies and the summary for the week will be later than is usual. I'll reply to everyone who reports and post the week's tally when I return home on December 27. Thank you for your patience and understanding. I encourage each of you to think about what you would like to achieve between today and the end of this year, consider how you would like things to go, and take action to support yourself in attaining what you wish for. Preparing for success is a good way to make that success happen.

Wishing you all seasons greetings of peace and joy. Take care & be well.

[Gimmelean]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -.6
12/10/2021. 128.2
12/17/2021. 127.6

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). Almost entirely

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. Much better this week.

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: Hi everyone. I hope you are all doing well. I lost a bit more this week mainly because I always had compliant foods ready and cooked. The non compliant foods
I ate were far less in quantity. Wildgoose, your post made me realize how just a few tastes keep reinforcing the desire for fat in foods. For me, sweets do the same. I need to completely stop and wonder what the five foods you started with were if you could please share. Was your structure a Mary’s mini of sorts?

Sorry for posting so late. Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday.

[wildgoose]

Wildgoose, your post made me realize how just a few tastes keep reinforcing the desire for fat in foods. For me, sweets do the same. I need to completely stop and wonder what the five foods you started with were if you could please share. Was your structure a Mary’s mini of sorts?

Gimmelean, I agree with you that eating fat or sweet reinforces the desire for those elements. Unfortunately, the fastest way to kill the cravings is to Just. Not. Eat. The. Junk. Hard to do, but effective if you can get through it.

I’m definitely not recommending that anyone do what I did. Yes, it was a little like a Mary's Mini (in that the idea was to drastically reduce variety), but it was also like an elimination diet (in that I ate foods that I knew agreed with me). What I ate was broccoli, brown rice, oatmeal, blueberries and bananas. No real reason for my choices except that I liked those foods, knew I could eat them repeatedly for a while, and knew I didn’t react negatively to any of them. If I were to do it again, I’d swap out the bananas for a second vegetable.

But you can get the same results without being so drastic. I was looking to find foods I was reacting to as well as to climb out of the Pleasure Trap. Since that’s not your objective, you could expand your list of foods considerably, or do a Mary's Mini with a single starch. Just keep it simple. Stay away from condiments. Avoid processed foods. Forget recipes for a while. Don’t eat out or eat anything you don’t prepare. Eat plain, basic food. Starch, vegetables, a few fruits. Repeat.

You could design your own experiment and see what happens. Like the Mary's Mini, what you would be doing is a reset, not designed to last for a long time, just to break a pattern and readjust your tastebuds. MWL is still the recommended way for ongoing success.

Goose

[Noella]

Noella, sometimes you just have to do the best you can and leave it at that. Don’t let lack of perfection steal the joy of celebrating the holidays with your family. You are not failing, you are coping. And that’s OK.

I know it’s easy to get grumpy when things don’t fall into place (and yes, I can imagine what a grumpy Goose I’d be if I were at someone else's house for an extended period). Food-wise, the best thing to stave off the stress of being in a different environment is starch. Make sure you get enough of it. It’ll help keep those cookies from leaping into your mouth. Also see what you can do with raw veggies or fruit. Get enough of those, and you won’t be eating as much of the higher-calorie-density stuff.

Ask your family for a little help on the basics (like let you cook and store a batch of potatoes to have on hand, let you make a raw veggie tray for everybody to snack on....), then don't sweat the rest. It’s not forever. You will be back in your own environment soon enough, and while you may have a tough week or so climbing out of the Pleasure Trap, you’ll be able to do it.

In the meantime, breathe. Take a walk. Play with any available child. Carve out some alone time if you need it. Make memories that don’t involve food. Have a very Merry Christmas.

Goose

Noella - What a happy occasion having your whole family together for the first time in 2 years must be! That seems like a real blessing. Offer yourself kindness and compassion, recognizing that these environmental, social, familial and emotional dynamics are powerful and rarely easy to navigate. Perfection is often unattainable, but we can always take a deep breath, forgive ourselves, reset, and aim to simply do the best we can under a given set of circumstances. Try to learn what you can about how to make it through these trying situations, and remember that you will eventually return to a context over which you have greater control. I wish you the very best.

Thank you, Mark and Wildgoose! I have read your advice several times, and it’s just what I needed to hear. I’m trying my best to follow it. Thank you so much.
Merry Christmas, Noella