The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - March 2022 Group

[Obadiah]

Weekly Assessment: 3/4/22

Friday mornings are best for me. I generally don't use the computer from Friday afternoon until Sunday morning.

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
I stack most of my meals in a one-quart pyrex bowl. They generally go in order from medium density (starches) to low density. I eat from the top down. I used to mix everything. I find by eating in order, I feel fuller.

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.
After I started stacking, I realized I have about 40% starch, 60% non-starchy.

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.
I don't add salt to anything. I eliminated everything with salt except a little bit of Siracha sauce. I don't eat any foods with added salt.

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Done.

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

6. Eliminate any added oil.
Last week, someone pointed out spaghetti sauce had a bit of oil, so I eliminated it. That was the last drop.

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.
Done.

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
Done.

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
Done

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
I walked 30 minutes each day but one.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
My blood pressure dropped dramatically. My weight went down two pounds.

[BambiS]

3/4

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Yes, no issues here. I batch cook soup. I made the best cauliflower soup this 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. 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 no problem, I keep lots of herbs and spices on hand.

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes, I haven’t had any desire for these foods

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
Yes, no desire for them

6. Eliminate any added oil.
Yes, not a problem


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, no problem this week

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Yes, no problem here.

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’m trying to be more mindful of this


10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Yes
I met my daily steps goal.


Victories, comments, concerns, questions
Overall a good week.I did have a loss.
I am looking forward to warmer weather, taking walks
My company gave us a door dash credit. Tried to find something I could have. I choose a Chipotle bowl, not something I will do again. I’m sure there was oil in there somewhere.I am not liking the out to eat food anymore as much as home cooking.

[Lachoffman]

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Yes, 100% compliance. I keep a big salad pre-made in the refrigerator and fruit handy. I try not to eat more than two pieces of fruit per day, but I guess it would be okay to have it 3 times?
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, this is my goal, but I will say that due to restaurant meals I don't always get to follow this. I absolutely do so when at home, but eating out is always a challenge for me.
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 don't cook with extra sugar or salt, but I do add it when necessary. I have not been able to eat my food without some salt! I really don't know if I ever will!
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Yes, 90%; one meal out this week messed me up, but I continue to plan for and believe I can get to 100%.
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Yes, this is not a temptation for me, thankfully!
6. Eliminate any added oil. Yes, 90% (because of restaurant meal mentioned earlier) - love cooking without it!
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, 100% but I will say I look forward to bread again!
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Yes, this was a great week - 100%.
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. Yes, will try to eat a bit more at dinner so I am not so hungry at night.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Yes, 5 0f 7 days.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: I was disappointed with my restaurant experience; however, I didn't let it deter me from having an otherwise great week. I do believe this is such a healthy way to eat and I do feel better. One of the things I want to "look into" is the McDougal philosophy on menopausal conditions for women. Is there a good resource to research this topic? Thanks. I weighed in at 188 lbs, lost 1 lb.

[Rebecka22]

1.Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. YES This continued to be a habit.
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 I stuck with my regular frozen veggies again this 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. NO All my boss started Friday when I was out with my three-year-old and got vegan donuts and a latte. From there I seemed to dive off the plan and couldn’t get it together until Monday.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). YES I am committed to this one so it’s easier for me.
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). NO See number three.
6. Eliminate any added oil. NO
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. NO
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). NO
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. NO
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). YES I do well with this one.

It was strange how much I wanted everything even though I felt terrible. I think partly the Fat Tuesday mentality and tradition of excess in preparation for the Lenten season had me making terrible choices. The three days I did not feel good, but the win was that I was able to get it together on Monday and I didn’t continue through Tuesday. Also I hope the drastic difference in how I felt eating off plan compared to on will stay with me for a long time. I feel so much better these last four days. My goal for this month is to remember how much better I feel when I follow the behaviors!

[Noella]

Hi Mark! Happy 1st Friday morning for March, everyone! I have three goals for March:
1. Move More! (more cross-country skiing);
2. Veg More (more non-starchy veggies);
3. Spice More (more spices and herbs in place of salt to add that extra flavour boost).

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. I enjoy a wide variety of vegetables for appetizers.
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. So many choices, right? I enjoy Tuscan kale, fennel, roasted root vegetables...
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. I sometimes enjoy 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon, a tiny pinch each of cloves, nutmeg and allspice, and fruit (finely chopped apple) to add more flavour to oatmeal; then, I don't miss having salt or sugar at all.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). The more I eat this way, the more I want to eat this way: whole grain pasta, lentils, legumes, veggies and fruits.
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). I look forward to the day when I am at my goal weight for six months so that I can then, occasionally, and in moderation, say yes to some of these foods again.
6. Eliminate any added oil. It was such a surprise to me! We don't need oil to cook our food, and the best thing is that food tastes so much better without fat on it.
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. I was craving a sweet dessert, so I substituted a couple of dried figs for fig newtons. These are healthy high-fibre fruit but very calorie-dense, so I limited them to two. I was aware of what I was doing and mindful of savouring the flavour and texture. One of my main goals for March is to slightly reduce the number of fruit servings I have each day.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). I enjoy drinking water.
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until comfortably satiated. Don't starve yourself, and don't stuff yourself. I felt hungrier this week- I ate full meals on a regular schedule, but I still felt hungry and wanted to eat additional meals of MWL food again at varying times. I couldn't figure out if I was hungry or not but decided that if I had an appetite for steamed veggies and starch, it must be hunger.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). This is my goal for March. I need to move more!

Victories: I love looking and feeling healthier. One of my daughters was looking at some family photos from fifteen years ago, and she commented that her dad and I look healthier now than we did then. I'm enjoying that my knees are primarily pain-free and moving so much more smoothly and quietly, too - this is the cherry-on-top of everything else that following MWL provides!

Best regards to you all,
Noella
C.W.: 145 lbs.

[Noella]

...eating richer foods makes us (of course) wish for MORE rich foods, and it also makes us NOT want the whole, more simple foods that are healthy for us. I have experienced this before. In the past, after eating all sorts of take-out food, sugar-based treats, fatty foods...I then look at my plant-based simple recipes and say, "YUK !" (I have even said it out loud!) During the following weeks, I will follow the plain and simple, leaving out sugar and salt while delving into the many salt-free spices and herbs in my cupboard. I am doing it for myself, but I am also thinking (and praying) for those in eastern Europe and other places suffering and have no choice but to eat what may be available. I want to continue to fall in love with simple, whole foods and not say "yuk" anymore...
-Marilyn

Thanks for this, Marilyn. I want to do the same thing! You are right. It is so plain and simple. As for your youngest son's upcoming wedding, what an excellent event for you to look forward to. You have three months - that is plenty of time to get every detail 'just right.' Exciting times!

Carwex, I hope you can enjoy every moment of your sorting and pack for your upcoming move to Australia. I have six cousins who live in Queensland, and when I visit them, I am always so impressed by the tropical beauty of the northeast coast. I like your idea of prepping food first thing, as a priority each morning, before you start your decision-making about what to keep and what to pack. So many decisions!

Wildgoose: I wish you the best with the major dental work you need to have done. I enjoyed hearing your funny story about repeatedly asking to go to DQ while sedated. Isn't it a wonderful feeling to be free of those unhealthy habits?

Best regards to all. I look forward to reading the rest of the reports and Mark's encouraging remarks for each of us.

Noella
“..change to a natural, normal behaviour: eat delicious food to the satisfaction of your healthy appetite. This intelligent lifestyle transformation results in permanent weight loss – a new you from new nutrition.”- from Dr. McDougall's Newsletter, January 2005: https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2005nl/jan/setpoint.htm

[jaccisimms]

Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. I've been having homemade tomato soup. I add two handfuls of spinach and then blend with the immersion blender. Yum
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. I've been having black & pinto beans as my starch and a rainbow of veggies. Choose fruit for dessert. I discovered star fruit and dragon fruit over the weekend. I didn't know what I was missing! Right now I'm eating 4 pieces of fruit a day. Is that too much?
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. This has been a bit a challenge for me. I'd love to hear what spices you all use instead of salt. I have a shelf full of spices, but don't know how to use them
Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). No problem. I haven't had these in 13 years and don't miss them at all.
Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). I haven't, but I really like air fryed tofu.
Eliminate any added oil. No problem. I read a lot of labels.
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 problem; I did have those 3 prunes on Wednesday at the beginning of my journey.
Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Again, no problem.
Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. This one is a little harder for me. I felt guilty going back for a second cup of soup.
Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). I need to work on this. I want to walk outside, but I'm not finding the time. I will pledge to do an indoor walking workout that I found on YouTube.

I just started this path on Wednesday, 2 March. I'm looking forward to learning at lot from all of you and sharing.

[Mark Cooper]

Obadiah - It seems encouraging that you are seeing some positive results! Do you feel like your "stacked meals" are more or less the same as having a preload followed by a 50/50 plate? It seems like that could be the case. Anything you were doing this week in the way of planning or prep that worked particularly well to support your efforts?

BambiS - That definitely looks like another good week! Unfortunately, you are correct about Chipotle; for some reason, they use rice bran oil in both their rice and beans. Like you, I find myself enjoying my own cooking over anything I'm likely to find at most restaurants. If you do decide to give dining out another try, Jeff's resources on the topic are very helpful. Onward!

Lachoffman - Kudos to you for not letting a disappointing restaurant experience deter you from making it a great week for yourself! This link should take you to a search page for "menopause" on Dr.McDougall.com; the McDougall's Moments video might be a good place to start on the topic. Congratulations for your progress!

Rebecka22 - Those sociocultural traditions like "Fat Tuesday" feel like they wield powerful influence over our psychology and choices sometimes, don't they? Getting everything back together on Monday and staying the course from Tuesday onward is a definite win! What do you think enabled you to do that? Any tools that helped? Powerful sense memories of our unpleasant physical response to calorie-rich, highly processed, hyperpalatable junk can definitely serve to inform our future pattern of behavior and decision-making. I'm glad you are feeling better now; the experience of feeling well is MUCH better than the taste of that C.R.A.P. food, no?

Noella - Great goals for March, Noella! More, more & more, all of GOOD THINGS!

I couldn't figure out if I was hungry or not but decided that if I had an appetite for steamed veggies and starch, it must be hunger.

I think that is a safe assumption. Remember,

You don’t have to figure it out or work out it. Only follow the guidelines. When hungry (regardless of whether you may think it is true hunger, appetite, or something else) just eat. Eat of the recommended foods as outlined in the 10 point checklist.

Over time, it will work itself out.

What a beautiful comment to hear from your daughter! That must have made your day.

jaccisimms - Off to a nice start! This thread should help give an idea of how to think about fruit consumption. You might consider adding some other starches to your menu, if Dr. McDougall's recommendation to limit beans to ~1 Cup per day on average is a concern for you. Personally, I really like the DASH-brand spice blends; Lemon Pepper is my favorite. I know it can be a significant adjustment in mindset, and you realize this already, but I just want to reiterate for the whole group that there is no need to feel guilty for eating whenever you are hungry. By eating the recommended foods, in the recommended fashion, we guarantee that our overall dietary pattern will be calorie dilute and in support of our efforts. Carry on!

[carwex]

Hi Mark and all the MWls who are doing SO well on this program,
1.Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. YES especially soup
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 adding more starch and not gaining weight
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 have found that adding lots of garlic somehow makes up for the lack of salt.
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 except where food was served to me at a restaurnt meal..
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 but one evening I drank too much liquor
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.YES
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). YES

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: I have been pretty near perfect all week. Now I have friends visiting from Sydney and I am cooking a lot for them and I am not 100% adherent, but I feel I’m doing rather well. I have my own main dish -usually legumes- in the freezer and I make a veggie, soup or salad, and starch for all of us which is compliant. Having to report to our group makes it easier somehow.
Last week we went out to friends to eat and I did not find the food difficult to manage but the liquor was, I have decided to surrender any thoughts of drinking wine with meals. Do I need another problem? No. Better to surrender now even thoughts of having just one-- before I have a problem.
Here's to a successful week for newcomers and old-timers.
Carol

[Obadiah]

Obadiah - It seems encouraging that you are seeing some positive results! Do you feel like your "stacked meals" are more or less the same as having a preload followed by a 50/50 plate? It seems like that could be the case. Anything you were doing this week in the way of planning or prep that worked particularly well to support your efforts?

@mark cooper

On the stacked meals. I forgot the salad would be separate. They are close to 50/50

I need to 'fess up on how bad my blood pressure was two weeks ago: 181/90. I just took it about 10 times in a row, and it was close to 105/60 every time. That's after stopping the medication. Last week, before joining this group, I logged my meals to see the percent fat and the amount of salt. I'm consistently at 6% fat and close to 500 mg of salt.

Every other day, I made brown rice and beans from scratch. I get up early, so I started the beans around 1:30 and cooked them in the crockpot on low for 8 hours. I added onion, cayenne pepper, and a clove of garlic. I made two servings each for my son and me. I used bags of frozen vegetables with one variety at a time. I used bananas or frozen fruit.

I microwaved everything I could from baked potatoes to oatmeal.

The first thing I did that worked was watching Jeff's LONG video on calorie density. I made up my mind beforehand to believe him and follow him. I don't do much prep except for the rice and beans. I pick a starch, fruit, vegetable, tomato, coleslaw mix; stack it, and eat it.

I watched Dr. McDougall's recent video on hypertension. I'm hoping I'm paraphrasing this part correctly. Hypertension doesn't cause heart problems; heart problems cause hypertension. That motivated me to get strict.

For the next week, I'll do little preplanning except for beans. When it's time to eat, I'll stack the right stuff in and eat it.

I have a doctor's appointment next Friday. I hope he doesn't send me to the ER for low blood pressure.

[squealcat]

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. This one is working well for me
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. not a problem
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. I am trying no salt but so far no salt at breakfast and just a little the rest of the time but that is still ok
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). I had one day where I was having a tough time
and had a little cheese
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). same as number 4
6. Eliminate any added oil. same as number 4
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. same as number 4
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). still walking and doing essentrics stretches. I even got outside for a walk twice !

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:Although I had some thumbsdowns, it was only once this week. I think I am getting better at all of this . My weight was steady this week maybe because of that day.
I am always assessing how I feel as far as hunger is concerned and I am so much better at this than I used to be ! Just today I came home from an appointment and looked at the bananas while thinking about eating one.....and realized that I was not hungry and didn't want one. Now, in the past I would have grabbed one (or something else ) when getting home as a habit. It is different now ! Nice to notice changes !

-squealcat (Marilyn)

[Gimmelean]

Glad to be back for March. Is this year already 2 months old?


Post for week ending 3/4/22

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

Yes.

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

Yes.
Polenta lasagne was easy and delicious. Prepared on the weekend and easy to grab a portion to reheat for midweek dinners. 50/50 in advance. Tasted better 2-3 days later. Also prepared compliant pulled jackfruit topped with shredded cabbage, carrots, chopped apple slaw.

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.
Still No.
For the most part yes but not perfect.

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: News, headlines, and markets were so stressful this week for so many worldwide. I have to overcome the feeling that hyper-focusing on myself is not a bad thing and is not selfish to the exclusion of others.
Thank you and here’s to a good week all around.

[josietheschnauzer]

MWL Check List for 3/4/2022
Goals: 1. To stay with MWL and report weekly for one year beginning with January 1, 2022. 2. To learn Jeff Novick calorie density principles so that I can easily explain the concept to others and ingrain it into my brain. 3. To practice the 10 principles with no “planned deviations.” 4. To learn how to accommodate “unplanned deviations” at restaurants without entering the slippery slope of the pleasure trap. 5. To try and figure out by December 2022 when I have reached the proper weight. I don’t believe that the BMI is a good measurement for me—height and weight charts are my preference. 6. To listen/or read all the recommended information on a weekly basis from Jeff, Mark, and Goose. 7. To continue to enjoy all the participants on the health pilgrimage. Thank you all and especially Jeff, Mark, and Wild Goose.
1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit: Yes.
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals: Yes.
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. Yes.
4. Eliminate all animal foods: Yes.
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods: Yes.
6. Eliminate any added oil: Yes
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products, popcorn and dried fruit: Yes.
8. Don't drink your calories: Yes
9. Eat when hungry & until comfortably full. Don't starve and don't stuff: Yes—having trouble “knowing” if I am eating too much. Using, hopefully, my common sense—one pound of broccoli is easy for me to consume. I don’t feel “stuffed” when I eat it.
10. Include 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily: Yes, I walk every day at 5am.
I have completed nine weeks on this 2022 trip with MWL. I lost 1.8 pounds last week for a total of 13.6 pounds in the nine week time frame.

[Drew*#]

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.****Need extra effort here...
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.**** Not a pass but close to 50/50.
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. **** Need extra effort here to eliminate some processed foods...
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).***** Pass!
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).*** Need extra effort on the eliminating avocados.
6. Eliminate any added oil. ****Need extra effort with this as the extra oil in recipes is something I can do without.
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. *** Need some extra effort here to eliminate the crackers.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).**** Mostly followed this with a couple minor exceptions that were VERY low added sugar.
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.**** To me this is the key in the week ahead. Whenever I feel like some food because of hunger or for whatever reason I got to stop and think with the rational side of my brain!
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). ****This has been easier for me. On average I would say I did 30 minutes or more a day. On Thursday I should have done a minimum of 30 minutes. See more below on PAI...

So, I am back and glad to be back. I had some major dental work (two operations) that set me back and led to some soft food choices that were not so good (see above). Bottom line is I got to work on adding soft foods that are composed mostly of veggies, fruit, grain, and beans. I don't need the other stuff and will tell members of my family my plans and request that they respect it.

I can say that in the last couple months I have lost some weight but need to get out of my plateau of staying the same weight each week. This is one of the reasons I am joining the group! Holistic health is also a goal.

As for exercise this is going well. I am using a PAI (personal physiological activity indicator) score to track my progress. Right now for the last 7 days I have a 94. Today, I hope to top 100 points. The algorithm on my sports app tracks things like resting heart rate (pretty low), age (59), sex (M), and elevated heart rate during exercise. It is not a perfect indicator but will help me stay motivated this week!

Good to join the group again and hope to be more in compliance next week.

Drew

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Everyone,

Thank you to Mark, Jeff, Wildgoose for this group. Thank you to everyone for sharing your experiences as we all work toward common goal.

I did better this week with compliance with 6/7 days 100%. Also, feeling good about being able to improve that and meet my March goal of a week of all .

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes. I have been eating mainly salad this week as a preload (for B, L, D) - maybe 3 times used 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.
Yes.
*I have had oatmeal with fruit every day for breakfast (again).
*I have tweaked approach for lunch and dinner a bit as I am confident that I was inadvertently not eating enough starch, with my focus being on soup for both meals in recent prior weeks (because of the cold and because I love soup). User error in estimation... But, lesson learned.
*I have switched one of the soup meals for a 50 / 50 plate - which makes it easy to not make mistake in estimating that volume is equal (starch, veggie / fruit).
*For the meal that I have soup, I have made sure to include a bit extra potato / rice / beans.
* This has helped tremendously in adherence to 5/7 -- and not fighting each night (and frequently losing that battle).


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).
YES!!!! First time in a long time that I can say that!

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. On Saturday had a handful of pretzels.
See #2 above. I am feeling good about being able to nip this in the bud and put the in the rear-view mirror.

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, met but less than recent time spent exercising (again).
* Got in 3 walks outside! The rest was inside.
* Did not meet goal of averaging 8K steps / day for the week. Unfortunately, had a few lunch meetings (when I usually walk).
*Yearly average steps / day exceeds the 8K - which I would like to increase.


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

The slight adjustment to increase lunch and dinner starch has really made a difference. Thank you, Mark - for pointing me in the direction of reviewing root cause of struggles with 5/7. I had to record this and was really surprised at partial cause.

I still have some Pleasure Trap component, but it is not as strong or as frequent --- meaning, the urge to "nosh" after dinner is mainly gone. Priceless. Outcome - I have lost 2 lbs. this week.

Hope that everyone has a peaceful, happy, and compliant week.

Take care,
Stephanie