December 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[Mark Cooper]

Best wishes and Happy Holidays to all who are celebrating! Have a wonderful, MWL adherent time.
I look forward to reading about your week in the reports when I get back home on Monday.

Take care & be well!

[BambiS]

Weight change +/- in lbs:
Weight 12/24 -2.4

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

Victories, comments, concerns, questions

First I’d like to wish everyone happy holidays.

After years of trying to get out of the 200’s I finally made it this week! I weighed in at 199.2, that’s a BIG celebration! I have tears of joy.

We will be having a McDougall compliant Christmas meal this year!


.first weigh in start date 11/7 215.3
Total lost -16.1

[GreenFroG]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -0.2 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: Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!
I had a pretty good week until yesterday, when I did not choose well going out to a restaurant with family. I was going to order the rice and beans and chose the green corn tamales instead at the last minute (notice the plural - I had two). I caved with the rationale that we have not been there in a few years, it is the holidays, and I love tamales. Definitely still working on my behavior modification and choices! So thumbs down on #3, salt, #6 for lard , and #7 for masa. I realized I did not eat my potatoes ahead of time if I know we are going to go out. That usually helps me to keep on track. I have a lot of potatoes/veggies in the refrigerator for the next two days, so we shall see how it goes. I have my meals planned to go along with the family SAD. I am trying to keep mine simple and focus on the fun. Wishing everyone the best!

[Rebecka22]

141 Weight change +/- in lbs:-1 pound
1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. YES
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert. YES
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them. 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: This week was on the right track, but then my husband offered to get takeout and with all the holiday prep I appreciated the break, however this is not a place with a low-salt or oil free option. I also had some vegan ice cream that night because I just lost my willpower. Good things were that I still stuck to eating salad first, and cooked a bag of frozen veggies to keep it 50/50 and didn’t stuff myself or eat the tofu. Also yesterday was my 500th day in a row of closing all my rings on my watch (660 calories, 30 active minutes and 12 stand hours minimum). Merry Christmas everyone!

[Artista]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -.6 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). Almost. Missed one day of exercise.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: This week went pretty well. I'm surprised that I've been able to lose weight every week even though it's been in small amounts.This coming week might not be as adherent as the last week as I'll be away from home for a few days, but I'll do the best I can. I'm taking a lot of food with me and I've become accustomed to passing up desserts, oils, and animals products. Wishing everyone a happy holiday!

[Noella]

Happy Holidays Everyone!

DOWN - 4
Current Weight 151.5

1. Start each meal with 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.

Victory: Since reading, and rereading, Mark and Wildgoose’s encouraging words last week, I was steadfast about following the MWL guidelines.

Challenge: I need to prioritize getting daily activity.

Appreciation: I so appreciate your guidance and encouragement each and every week, Mark, Wildgoose and Jeff Thank you! NoeLla

“What I am about to tell you is so utterly simple and true that it may deceive you: Health feels better than sickness. You will be happier at your ideal weight than you are overweight. You will be proud of yourself. You’ll have confidence. You’ll feel so many good things that right now you cannot imagine and I cannot describe. But the net effect is that you’ll like yourself a lot more. You’ll look in the mirror and actually like what you see; you may even love what you see. You will have honored the person within yourself who longs to be healthy, beautiful, and free of all those burdens that overweight brings. Life will not be perfect, but it will be better.”
― John A. McDougall, The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss

[Maco]

My original post keeps being denied when I try to post, I will try again later.

In short, my weight stayed the same. I had a very stressful week and had some trouble to stay on plan. I really need to learn to deal with stress in another way.

I wish everybody happy holidays!

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi MWL team and all participants,

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the holiday season!!!

A special Happy Holidays to Mark - hope you are enjoying wonderful time away with your family!!!

Weight change - .5 lbs. gain (well, blaming this on boo's with #5 / 7)
Current weight - 127.5 lbs.
Last Week weight - 127.0 lbs.

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Mostly, 17/19. Going for 100% next week.

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, 16/19. Going for 100% next week.

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. UPDATE - 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). Boo to #5. Working on this.

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. Boo to #7. Working on this.

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, 6 of 7 days did a great clip of brisk walking.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Planning to be 100% MWL compliant over the holiday season!!

Continuing to work on #5 / #7 and trying to just get to considering these "non-foods". Thank you, Mark, for your feedback last week. I have put this into my plan.

Also, putting focus on #1 / #2 -- to get to 100% (which should be feasible / not a stretch).

My 3 favorite "non-recipes" that I have been eating a good amount of this week:
* Finger food salad - pile up plate with raw veggies like lettuce leaves, carrot sticks, grape tomatoes, celery, broccoli, persian cucumbers, bell pepper - no dressing required... can be PL or part of 50/50.
* Roasted veggies - cut & pile up Pyrex with veggies like broccoli, onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, summer squash or zucchini. Roast in oven at 425 for about 30 minutes. Eating this cold for PL or part of 50/50.
* Roasted potatoes - microwave or bake a bunch of potatoes. Let potatoes cool and peel / cut them lengthwise (in half or thirds). Season them - using rosemary / smoked paprika / garlic OR parsley / black pepper / garlic. Put on parchment paper in oven at 425 for 20-30 minutes until they brown a bit.

Notes to Members:
Bambi -- Congratulations -- what an awesome accomplishment!!! Keep going!!!
Green Frog - I know what you mean about potatoes first!! This helps me too!!
Rebecka23 - Awesome achievement on the 500 days!!! Woot!!
Artista - Steady is great !!!
Noella - Wow!! Great job! So inspiring to hear how support on this forum helped you!!
Maco - Hope stress level goes down... Happy holidays!!!

Happy holidays to all!!

Cheers,
Stephanie

[moonlight]

Weight Change: 0lbs.

Behaviors achieved this week:
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.
6) Eliminate any added oil.
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).

Behaviors I'm still struggling with:
4) Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). I was able to achieve this goal 4 times this past week. I will keep trying for better food choices.

5) Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). peanut butter is still finding its way into my diet!

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. chips, WW sandwich bread

Comments;
I am making progress. It seems slow but I have been nursing an injured toe for 5 weeks now. I had surgery to remove the toenail last week, so I am hoping to recover quickly. I have not been as active. I use my rowing machine daily for 30 minutes.
I'm so grateful for this group. I wish everyone success as we move into a new year. This time of year always inspires me for a little while to work harder at my goals. This week I plan to continue focusing on NO CHEESE. Maybe I will let it go from my diet.

[CUgorji22]

Merry Christmas Y'all!

*Weight Change: -1.0lb *loss*

*Guidelines:
Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Compliant 7/7 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 5/7 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 5/7 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 5/7 days
Eliminate any added oil. Compliant 5/7 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 4/7 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 5/7 days 

*Summary:
This week was pretty epic...we celebrated 3 family birthdays back-to-back. One was mine! Usually my compliant & non-compliant days are split half-and-half. This week I had more non-compliant days than compliant days. UGH! The days I wasn't compliant (non-compliant for 1 meal each day reported) were the days we ate out/ordered take-out as a family. For my birthday (a few days before my special day), we had brunch at my fav vegan restaurant. Going in, I knew the specific guidelines I would sacrifice BUT wasn't expecting to have leftovers which made me feel obligated to eat the rest of my food the following day...so that was 2 days with 2 meals that were non-compliant. We ordered take-out for Christmas Eve as well. 

*Challenges:
- I was mindless in skipping one 50/50 meal, very hungry and rushing to put my meal together. 
- Added oil & salt + tofu = the 2 meals from my birthday brunch.
- I ate bread 3 meals this week from brunch+take-out.

*Victories:
- After skipping one 50/50 meal, I cooked 2 big batches of green veggies (Trader Joe's collards/mustards/spinach blend and also cabbage) which were my staples this week. I didn't have to think about what to add to my plate or take more time to cook something. Lifesaver!
- My husband received holiday gifts from colleagues: (1) a HUGE sweet/savory gourmet popcorn sampler, (2) a sampler box of gourmet brownies. I made the decision not to eat ANY of the food he was gifted...and I stuck to it. I watched my family devour all the treats but I was resolute because I had already had non-compliant days with brunch. I didn't want to throw away my entire week!
- Much better this week with my starters! YAY!! I made a big batch of Mary McDougall's "Simple Zucchini Soup." So good, kept well...a hit with my family! 
- I cooked a compliant dinner on my actual birthday! I planned it out and it was great! I told my husband ahead of time I did not want a birthday "treat." He put a candle in a pomegranate, which is my new fav fruit! It looked different but different is good! LOL!  
- I refused sparkling cider on my birthday because of my non-compliant brunch. I was really proud of myself for doing that! I told my husband the rest of the family could drink it and I would be fine. He decided not to open it since I refused to drink it, which was very kind!
- There was a good amount of food left on the table from our Christmas Eve dinner. I really wanted to keep eating and eating and eating BUT I stopped myself when I was comfortably full. It would have been SO easy to stuff myself but I didn't. Guideline #9 was in the back of my head. Lol!
- I really pushed myself to exercise 5 days straight!! I was determined to do better than last week. It felt really good!

Hope you enjoyed the holidays & your time away, Mark! Take care!

-Chesca

[Health 1st]

My reporting below is from my fully recommitted start date of 12/20/21:


Weight change +/- in lbs:  0 (Due to new recommitment and fresh start)


1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.----No.  Definitely need improvement. 

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.----Did pretty good.  Again, room for improvement.

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).----Yes, except for 4 or 5 small store-bought Christmas cookies.

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).----Yes.

6. Eliminate any added oil.----Yes, except for above mentioned cookies.

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.----Was ill prepared Thursday + succumbed to what was easily on hand:    3 slices of NSA Ezekiel bread, raisins, + the above mentioned cookies.

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).----Yes, did not have any.

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.----Yes, except for Thursday afternoon/early evening when I didn't have enough MWL food on hand.  I got too hungry + then had the above (#7) after holding out for MWL food + just not being able to have any.

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).----Did worse on this point this week, though I'm still dealing with ramifications from the health crisis earlier this month, especially after several nights of little sleep.


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

To help me do better with Point #1, yesterday I bought baby carrots, seedless cucumbers, + lots of cherry tomatoes.

I have some more thoughts to share that I just can't pan out right now.  If time allows, maybe by Sunday evening I can "edit" this post by adding those thoughts before Mark comes back.

A huge thank you to Mark, Goose, Jeff, + all my fellow MWL Participants.  Your words are not just words, but cut to the heart + mind.  Whether it's wise advice, gentle "prodding", or sharing your plans, victories or failures, all are so helpful; thank you!!  Of course I am indebted to Dr., Mary, + Heather McDougall + their Team!   Hoping you all are having a really nice Holiday Season despite loses of loved ones, finances, etc..  Please take care!! 

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, + a wonderful day to you, whatever you may celebrate!

This past Monday, December 20, 2021, I fully recommitted to MWL.  The weeks leading up to this I was definitely trying to get back to + implement the Principles, but I still had 1 foot on the other side of the MWL fence, + at times it was an entire leg or more.  While I have not been perfect at MWL since 12/20, I am really committed + trying, + just as importantly for me, I am learning to be okay with the times I fail at the MWL Principles; because, as many of you know, I have a long history of falling of the wagon after even months of near perfection on MWL.

[Gimmelean]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -.9
12/17/2021. 127.6
12/24/2021. 126.7

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). No - cream cheese

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. No-often my biggest 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, questions: Wildgoose, thank you for your special insights and reply. You helped me get back on track this week which finally made a big positive difference for me. I felt that I was managing very well throughout the summer and fall until I realized that I wasn’t -with a little taste of this and a smattering of that which started to become a regular pattern. When I read your posts I said, “That’s me”!!! I had one 100% compliant last day of this week and it does feel good to experience that sense of empowerment when making the right choices. Even one day made the difference. Most importantly it’s knowing and practicing the science behind the food and food drive that helps me to adjust. That’s my first step for what I will do for the rest of the year.
Mark, I re-read all of Jeff’s articles that you posted on the board on 12/3/21 for inspiration and motivation and thank you for all of your ongoing hard work for our group.
Everyone in our MWL group- thank you for sharing your successes and challenges.
See you next week in 2022. I hope everyone has a bright new year ahead..

[Mark Cooper]

BambiS - Congratulations to you for achieving that significant milestone! Your diligent adherence is serving you well. Cheers to a wonderful & adherent holiday!

GreenFroG - Kudos to you for keeping on track for the first 5 days of the week! Eating some adherent food in advance of a restaurant excursion really does help out in the "willpower" department, right? Lesson learned for next time. Keeping things simple and focusing on having fun seems like a reasonable approach not just to the holidays, but to DAYS in general!

Rebecka22 - 500 days in a row staying active! That is awesome! Despite the detour into a takeout meal, you didn't use that as a reason to let the recommended behaviors completely drop away, which is worth recognizing. Keep at it!

Artista - Aside from missing one day of exercise, that is a perfect week of adherence, Nancy! Consistent adherence over time is what delivers those results. Bringing adherent food on the road, and being prepared to pass up non adherent stuff should put you in a good position to do your best. Our best is all we can expect of ourselves, right?

Noella - Back with steadfast attention to the recommended behaviors, and the results to match! There you go, Noella!

Maco - Sorry to hear about the difficulty posting. Do you have a "go to" method for managing stress that isn't associated with food-related behaviors? Having a well-specified, clear "toolbox" of healthy coping mechanisms has been essential for me, personally, in managing my condition. I think sitting down and and spending time identifying some specific stress-management options is almost always worth the time it takes.

VegSeekingFit - Thank you so much for the holiday wishes, Stephanie! A great thing about the MWL 10-Point Checklist is how it directs our effort and attention where it is likely to have an effect, yes? Speaking just for myself, I do not presently include any added salt in my diet (although I have in the past). Eliminating added salt isn't required, but given what you are describing, it might be worth trying as an experiment. If you find it makes maintaining adherence more difficult, it is easy enough to change course. I LOVE your "non-recipe" favorites! The "finger food salad" you describe is something I often do while travelling, and roasted veggies are pretty much a daily feature of our menu here. YUM!

moonlight - Making progress in adhering to the recommended behaviors is what is most important, since our results are contingent on our prevailing pattern of behavior. Slow progress in the right direction is better than no progress, or backsliding. The more you can turn toward adherent foods whenever you feel the urge to have something that is to be eliminated, the less likely you will be to stray (and if you do, the less of the non adherent food will you indulge). Use that New Year's inspiration as fuel for success!

CUgorji22 - Yowza! 3 back-to-back birthday celebrations! Happy birthday to you, Chesca! And an adherent birthday meal, too! That is an inspiring list of victories for this week; several nice examples of preparation and planning paying off, and sticking with the intentions you set. If restaurant meals are a primary challenge, finding somewhere that meets the needs of other people, but also has at least one dish that suits your taste and can be made MWL adherent would solve that, no? Jeff's thread on Dining Out offers some great advice and information. We had a great time on our short holiday trip! Thanks!

Health 1st - Recommitting to MWL and bringing your focus toward how you can implement the recommended behaviors into your daily routine is an important step in the right direction! The more you can do to arrange, prepare, and adjust your environment so that it supports your efforts to achieve adherence, the less difficulty you will have. Likewise, planning and preparing so that you have access to the recommended foods at any given time, and can maintain a focused routine makes everything less challenging. None of these things are EASY right off the bat, but with time, effort, and experience they can become so (or much more so, at least). Progress is more important than perfection, and consistent progress comes with diligent practice.

Gimmelean - Cheers to you for closing out the week by getting back on track! I'm so glad wildgoose's reply spoke to your needs, and the articles from Jeff are proving to be motivating. Practical knowledge can be quite hard-won, but it is what makes success feel attainable, right? See you in 2022!

[Mark Cooper]

Please note - I replied to each participant individually in the post directly above, provided that their reports followed the guidelines for weigh-ins.

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

Week ending 12/24/2021: 10 participants reported a total change of -9.60 pounds
--------------------------------------------------
VegSeekingFit +0.50
--------------------------------------------------
Total gains: +0.50
--------------------------------------------------
NO CHANGE / MAINTAIN/ STARTING OUT
Health 1st 0.00
moonlight 0.00
--------------------------------------------------
GreenFroG -0.20
Artista -0.60
Gimmelean -0.90
CUgorji22 -1.00
Rebecka22 -1.00
BambiS -2.40
Noella -4.00
--------------------------------------------------
Total losses: -10.10
--------------------------------------------------
Cumulative group loss for December 2021 to date: 20.40 pounds
Average loss for week ending December 24: 0.96 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
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Next Weigh-In is on Friday, December 31, 2021, in the new January 2022 group thread.

Congratulations and wishes for an amazing NEW YEAR to all our participants! This post brings the December group and 2021 to a close. Since next week's reporting window straddles the transition to a new year, it will be a lead-in for the January 2022 group! After some thoughtful discussion among Jeff, wildgoose and myself, we'll be making some adjustments to the structure and expectations for the group as we head into 2022. Jeff will be posting with an explanation of the changes and the reasoning behind them, and I'll update the Orientation materials appropriately. Suffice to say, we will be honing our focus on the behavior-based approach to weight management, and taking the emphasis off reading the scale. Weight loss is an outcome contingent on behavior, so changing the pattern of behavior is where we should direct our efforts. The January 2022 group thread will be posted on Wednesday, December 29th, and we can all test drive a revised self-assessment report format for this Friday. As mentioned above, there will be more information to come soon, both here and in the Orientation information.

It is such a privilege to accompany all of you on this journey, and I wish you all a New Year full of health and joy.

Take care & be well.

[squealcat]

I will read about the structure and expectations for this coming year and look forward to it. Thinking about joining you for this next year but want to know about the changes. I will check back on Wednesday ! Even though I have net joined you this month, I have been reading what everyone has written. I need a refresh but want to de-emphasize some things and put more emphasis on others. Looking forward to reading what you all have come up with.

-squealcat (Marilyn)