The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - August 2022 Group

[Mark Cooper]

AUGUST 2022 RESOURCES
This section will be updated throughout the month with links to useful resources, as they are added to the thread.

Orientation Information for Time & Adherence:
The Behavioral Path to MWL Success
MWL 10-Point Checklist
MWL Program Guidelines
Calorie Density: How To Eat More, Weigh Less and Live Longer
MWL Recipes
SNAP Meal Template

1- 28 oz Can No Salt Added Tomatoes
1- 16 oz Bag Frozen Mixed Veggies (any type)
1- 4 oz Frozen Green Leafy Vegetables (collard, turnip, mustard, etc)
1- Around 200-250 Calories of a Cooked Starch (Brown rice, Yam, Potato, WW Pasta, etc)
1- Seasoning (to your preference)

200- 250 Calories Of Starch options
~ 1.25 to 1.5 Medium Potatoes
~ 1.25 to 1.5 Cups (Cooked) Whole Wheat Penne Pasta
~ 1 to 1.25 Cups (Cooked) Brown Rice

The Road to Success: Creating Healthy Habits
The Pleasure Trap: Dr. Doug Lisle at TedxFremont
How to Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind with Dr. Doug Lisle
Dr. Doug Lisle on The Ego Trap
Dr. Doug Lisle: The Story of Willpower – What it Is & How it Works
Dr. Lisle's Three Top Tips for Dietary Success
Jeff Novick, RD - Nutrition & Health FAQ: Answers To The Most Asked Questions
A Review of the Rules & Guidelines for Reading Labels
Passive Overconsumption: The Unintended Intake of Excess Calories
Can You Really Eat As Much As You Want?
Why We Hit Plateaus and What We Can Do About Them
Top 10 Reasons for Lack of Success
Dining Out and Travel Food
Exercise, Health & You: How Much Is Enough?
Optimum BMI? / Optimal BMI - redux
Building Self-Efficacy
You Are Not Broken
wildgoose - How I determined my "goal weight"
Amy's Giant List of Links to Dr. Lisle's Lectures

[JaBee]

Hello All,

I’m back again and glad to return to where I was most successful in the past. I truly missed the support and guidance.

I have reviewed and studied the pertinent items, again and agree to adhere to the guidelines, progress not perfection, but will strive to do my best. I am glad to see emphasis on behavioral changes which I now appreciate is needed to make permanent habits.

I have maintained a 36 pound weight reduction since my last encounter with this group a couple of years ago…was thrown off by world events of last couple of years. I’m ready to complete the adventure and obtain healthy weight range as I follow these guidelines, more importantly I want to make all the MWL guidelines a permanent part of my life.

[Mark Cooper]

JaBee - Hello! I'm thrilled you'll be back with us this month. Congratulations on maintaining that substantial weight loss in the interim!

[Drew*#]

Hi Mark and all, I have successfully used this program or the standard McDougall program in the past for weight loss and health and managed to keep it off for quite some time. However, as a vegan I have gradually increased the processed foods and oils that are now readily available but unhealthy. It is time to get back on track, if allowed to rejoin the group, as I have a strong motivation. I have a recurrent inguinal hernia that is reducible. I have complications from prior mesh (pain at different intensities since my last operation quite some time ago) and either need to get another standard operation or a non-mesh surgery. I am leaning towards the non-mesh approach that involves removal of the mesh and use of my own bodily tissue. The chances of long-term success is virtually the same as with mesh and the pain from mesh is perhaps avoided as the onset of pain is fairly high for mesh. Also, my exercise is reduced before the operation because I have tendonitis on one of my feet so I just walk, do a little yoga, and physical therapy (takes over 30 minutes just for the physical therapy). At any rate, I know I am not a medical doctor and the above are based on my limited resources and feelings about the matter. I would like to lose at least 15 pounds through this program before an operation.

At any rate, I am determined to pursue a plan that makes sense and works for me. I am a 59 year old male and the weight does not roll off with the standard McDougall approach because of the way I eat. The MWL McDougall approach works for me when done and maintained. I am aware of the approach here and will do a further review before posting on Saturday. Thank you for considering my request to rejoin the group. I hope it is OK to rejoin.

Best,

Drew

[Mark Cooper]

Drew*# - Hi! As long as you're willing to participate in the manner outlined in the Orientation, you would be a welcome addition to the group. Cheers!

[Drew*#]

Drew*# - Hi! As long as you're willing to participate in the manner outlined in the Orientation, you would be a welcome addition to the group. Cheers!

Mark, glad to be back. I agree to participate in the manner outlined! Best,

Drew

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi!!

Yay, we have JaBee and Drew joining us for August... Welcome!!!

I'm in too...

Have a great week everyone!!!
Stephanie

[JaBee]

Greetings all,
Thanks for the hearty welcomes…so glad to be back and look forward to reporting behavioral results for the week!

[BambiS]

8-5

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Yes, enjoying fresh vegetables and salads.


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, or larger salads


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, not an issue here

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

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, no problem

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’m really wanting to make a personal goal by the end of August. I started a healthy eating plan a year ago at the end of August. I’m hoping to reach 52 lbs off, an average of 1 lb a week. I seem to be good at maintaining lately, up and down!

[Rebecka22]

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

As I finished my trip and once I got home I made some good choices and some less good ones. We went out to eat and my sister had picked what she thought was going to be a vegan restaurant or a restaurant with vegan options. After a 45 minute wait for a table in the 105 degree weather we saw their menu, but I felt fine with just not ordering anything as it was just a bunch of egg dishes and French toast that they claimed could be made vegan, however when I said I’d just wait to eat my sister decided we needed to go somewhere else. To be fair nobody was excited about their menu. So when we went to the Mexican restaurant I felt I needed to order. I asked for a bowl of brown rice and veggies, but the waiter just couldn’t understand that I wouldn’t want more so there was also beans, guacamole and tortilla strips in it. My problem was that once it was in my bowl, I ate it. They did have a simple romaine salad with pick de gallo for a starter. That night I offered to cook dinner, so that was good. I also ate a shave ice at the water park and then tried the brownies I made at home as I was testing a recipe for a vegan dinner I have to make that was sold at my daughters school auction. Overall I have room for improvement, but I also remembered the advice you’ve given a couple times that it’s okay to wait when in a situation with no compliant food, and I in fact did not starve. I hope everyone has a good week and I’m glad to hear you are feeling better Mark.

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Team Time and Adherence! Happy August!!!

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes. Still mostly salad / raw veggies - sometimes fruit. Loving Tuscan melon, frozen mangoes and cherries this week. Also, loving various tomatoes, Romaine lettuce, and carrots... This has gotten really simple for me since I just pile it up on a plate. I actually enjoy the preload at this point... where it used to be a sometimes struggle.

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.
My favorite meal this week was Sloppy Red Lentils (made with double veggies; almost like a "gravy") over Romaine.
Also ate a lot of potatoes, split pea soup, and whole wheat pasta (found a great fusilli!)...
Added raw or roasted veggies and fruit to the meal. Made some tiny chopped veggies via the new pull-chopper...


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. Reduced (not in cooking or product; at table only). I used salt a few times on potatoes and had some BBQ sauce (sugar) one day.

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).
I had a miss here this Monday night (also impacts #7). I did eat recommended foods first (fruit + potato). I have to say that this is probably the first time that I have "walked the walk" for NOT beating myself up. (So, THANK YOU, Mark Cooper for continuing to stress the importance of this --- very helpful!) The circumstance where I ate this --- my willpower was in short supply and I was tired, but needed to stay up for a work checkpoint. Good news is that I have NOT had any thoughts / desires to double / triple / quadruple down on this slip. Just got right back to eating the recommended foods. So, even though not a happy face / YES answer --- I take this as progress.

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.
See #5

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 didn't stuff or starve.
I keep recommended foods READILY available to snack on (as needed).


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 walked briskly
The weather has been beautiful this week!!!


Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Hope that everyone has a wonderful week!!!!

Best,
Stephanie

[JaBee]

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
— Yes, 5/5. Found this method to helpful in filling satiated sooner.

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, 5/5. Able to adhere to this one easily.

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, 5/5. Added no sugar or salt while cooking or on surface.

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
— Yes,5/5. Was able to eliminate these items few years ago.

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
— Yes, 5/5. Nuts have been an issue in the past but no longer bring in our home to avoid being tempted by them.

6. Eliminate any added oil.
— Yes, Was able to eliminate oil completely few years ago;

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.
— Somewhat, yes 4/5; this one continues to be a challenge; one day I automatically ate a piece of dark chocolate, not sure if this is the appropriate area for this info. Didn’t have remainder of week, however. Spouse agreed to place these items in another area so I won’t be tempted by them as I continue this challenge.

8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
—Yes, 5/5. No liquid calories consumed as we don’t keep them in our home

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
—Yes, 5/5. With the pre-loading and eating high volume food, I feel comfortably satisfied.

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
—Yes, 5/5 - walked for 30 - 45 minutes every day which has been a habit for the last few years

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
—My reporting is for the last 5 days as I began this journey on Monday, August 1. Will report for 7 days at the end of next week. I made a chart so I can check off each guideline at the end of the day and hoping the checklist will help me to develop these habits. Found the checklist to be helpful so far. Hope everyone has a great week

[Gimmelean]

Post for week ending 8/5/22

Hello everyone! Welcome to August.

1) Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes. I really love summer fruit. Please remind me what the recommended limits are!

2). Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals.
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.
Not entirely but much less than last week. Eliminating bread and sometimes dry cereal still remain my biggest challenges for MWL but biggest keys to maintaining success.

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.
I did much better in this area in terms of eating at night after dinner. 5/7 days. I bit the bullet remembering advice from a year ago and knuckled through just leaving the kitchen. The last two nights I did leave the kitchen after dinner but went back downstairs and regretted it. It’s almost like starting over after doing so well for so long. There is no other way to stop this habit but I know I have to. When I lapse here, I eat too much and always the wrong foods at this time of night. Aiming for a daily yes this week for this checkpoint. I’m going to try a paper journal that stays front and center and see if a tangible vs. digital reminder makes a difference too.

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

Victories,Comments,Questions,Challenges:
-I find it very helpful to review MWL prior weeks and years of posts for ideas and support that never become outdated.
-For meal prep, to build bowls, I made quinoa, steel cut oats, and barley. I made a 50/50 pasta salad with a mix of blanched and raw veggies and herbs. Added just balsamic vinegar at the table and it was terrific.
-I also like my pull chopper and have a vegetable/onion chopper that speeds thing up in the kitchen.
-Carol, thank you. I’ve looked for hulled barley but as you said, it’s just labeled barley vs. pearled barley. It was available at a conventional supermarket in one pound bags for $1.49 each.
-Lots of fruits available this time of year from conventional to fancy and I think I’ve tried them all.
-Lastly, with the steeply rising costs of meats and groceries, my wallet is a lot healthier eating this way too!

Have a good week!

[Lizzy_F]

Happy August Team Time & Adherence!

Welcome JaBee & Drew!

Weekly behavioral report:

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

Breakfast, when eaten, is all one bowl. Lunch or dinner starts with soup. (no salads due to braces – cooked veg is much easier) The other meal is veg + starch (most often potatoes) + fruit. When I don’t have soup first, I eat the veg first and then the starch. I’ll be glad when I can eat salad again, but that is still a long way off so no use pining away about it. This seems to be a workable routine for now. Feedback for fine tuning is always welcome!


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.

I am definitely a volume eater, so focusing on lots of veg so I can end up with lower calorie density overall is really working for me. No matter how much veg I eat, I can always find room for plenty of starch. I’m pretty sure that if I only ate 10 or 20% veg (as an example) that I would end up overeating starch. So I’m finding it helpful to really keep a focus on calorie density.

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 feel like I’m in a really good place here. The simpler I keep my foods, the easier this is, and my food is really simple right now.

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).

Zero high fat plant foods this week!!

6. Eliminate any added oil.

Done.

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.

None this week! Victory! I wanted a piece of Ezekiel toast with my soup on a couple of days, but repeated Tiffany’s suggestion to myself that I will wait until I’m at goal weight to experiment with foods like that to see how they work for me.

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

None this week!

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

I still feel like I over fill the tank sometimes. It’s interesting how quickly that feeling passes compared to the old SAD days when feeling “stuffed” lasted for hours and was a miserable experience. So I think I’m still trying to figure out what “satisfied” really means while eating the McDougall way. #slowlearner

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

I’m still hit and miss with intentional exercise. I really need to prioritize attention to this point.

Victories: I continue to chug along with super high compliance to the diet and I am so grateful for this miracle! I continue to show weight loss each week despite the fact that it’s slowing down.

Comments: I’m going to make daily intentional exercise my focus this coming week – even walking for 10 minutes daily would be a step in the right direction to build a habit here. I also want to continue focus on figuring out this whole satiety (v. stuffed) thing. Mark – I’m really loving your simple lentil recipe! I made more this week to go with mashed potatoes.

Concerns: I’ve been eating a LOT of fruit. Summer fruits are my favorites – watermelon topping the list. Once watermelon season is over I probably need to back off of the fruit just a little.

Questions: I’m curious how much fruit other people are eating. I’m also curious to know if there are other non-salad eaters in the group and if so, how do you do your meal sequencing.


On to another week of time and adherence!

[Drew*#]

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.****No, but 50/50 for breakfast.
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 except for a couple meals.
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. Not ordering any more of these items in my groceries now that I have started again...
6. Eliminate any added oil. ****No. One 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. *** No. Eliminated most of the usual culprits. Plan this week is to eliminate bread (the only one left).
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 two-three days.

Hi to everyone. Thank you for the warm greetings! It is great to be back and see many of you here.

My first step for this coming week is not to buy any groceries that are not on the list. This will help. I've also ordered a whole wheat pasta that has sweet potato inside. It should work well in the SNAP menu when I get it on about Tuesday. I've got lots of California Veggies and some other varieties. My breakfast is compiled together but on track! Exercise is not easy because of several challenges. But I won't let this stop me and my goal for the coming week is 6 days of at least physical therapy exercises and walking. On one day I will do "hot yoga" style poses in the Y's normal temperature studio with an instructor. Lost 3 pounds this week and am on track...

Drew