The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - February 2023 Group

[Mark Cooper]

FEBRUARY 2023 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 (or broth for those who don't like tomatoes)
1- 14 oz Can No Salt Added Beans (which is about 1.5 - 2 cups)
1- 16 oz Bag Frozen Mixed Veggies (any type)
**optional - 1/2 cup Frozen Greens
1.5 to 2 cups of a *Cooked* Starch
~1 tbsp. Salt Free, Dried Seasoning/Spice

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"
Finding The Sweet Spot: Balancing Calorie Density, Nutrient Density & Satiety
Calorie Density & Satiety In Action
Amy's Giant List of Links to Dr. Lisle's Lectures

[BambiS]

2-3


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


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 desert
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, not an issue here

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

6. Eliminate any added oil.
Yes


7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
Yes

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

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

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

Victories, comments, concerns, questions good week, nothing eventful.

It was a good week. My husband ate foods that I ate, he feels better, swelling going down, and sleeping better. Best part is his spirit is better. I didn’t buy any tabu foods at the grocery’s this week, just lots of fruit and vegetables.

I moved my Cubii in front of the couch so I ride it when sitting with my husband in the evening.

It was good reviewing my reason WHY last week to get me back on track.

[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. YES
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). YES
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). YES
6. Eliminate any added oil. YES
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. YES
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). YES
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. YES
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). YES

Stayed focused on my goals this week when I was tempted with convenience. I made sure to plan also so I was not faced with being hungry and tempted. I know every week I stay on track makes the next week easier, but sometimes what you know is overshadowed by what is always tempting you. Not this week though! Of course the relatively clean home environment helps tremendously. I hope everyone has a great week!

[Lizzy_F]

Hello fellow Time & Adherence travelers! Bambi & Rebecka your solid weeks are an inspiration to me! I can't believe we are in February already. Hopefully this means spring will eventually be here!

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Yes – I think. Last weekend I didn’t get to check in due to some unexpected circumstances which also created some unexpected eating situations. It’s a bit of a blur in my memory. I did the best I could to stay on MWL – I think I did OK on this one.

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 at meals. I had some SS, but non-MWL snacking going on this week which did not comply with this.

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 eliminated.

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. Last weekend I’m sure there was added oil (restaurants and other people’s food)

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. Had some Ezekiel bread and some dried fruit this week in addition to the questionable stuff last weekend.

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 will just reiterate for my OWN benefit and reminder here, that is simply takes a lot of food for me to feel satisfied. I am verifying that more and more as I work on this whole maintenance gig. I just can’t afford to stray off of the MWL reservation because the volume of food it takes to make me feel satisfied = way too high overall calorie density if I try to work in these SS, but non-MWL foods. I feel a bit like a broken record reporting this issue again. It is just taking me a bit of time and struggle to work on true acceptance that this is my reality. If I want to stay slim, I have to stay MWL. There is just no other way this is going to work. Thank goodness I love the simple food! I just must accept my own reality and need to leave the other stuff alone.

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Pathetic. I’m going to resurrect the dot calendar this week. Will exercise always be my nemesis? Probably! Gotta just do it.

Victories: I’m still here! One thing I am proving to myself in addition to the idea that I need to stay compliant with MWL is that a non-compliant eating event does NOT have to = a deep dive into the ditch for days, weeks, etc. That has ALWAYS been my MO in the past. That is why “I’m still here” is such an important statement. Some bread and some dried fruit does not have to equal a complete and total derailment.


Comments: More later when I catch up reading.


Concerns: I want to really focus this week on just doing the behaviors. I have done them all for long enough that I know what to do and just need to do it with consistency. TIME & ADHERENCE. One foot after the other. Rinse, repeat. I'm not where I want to be, but I'm a long way from where I was! Weight is 3 pounds over the top of my goal weight range. I want to get this reigned in STAT. 7 and 10 need my full attention this week!

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Fellow Team Time & Adherence Travelers,

Yay – we made it to February!!! Boo to the groundhog this year… OMG… he says 6 more weeks of winter. Hope everyone is having an awesome start to the month regardless!

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Mostly. Only a few meals / snacks that I didn’t preload. Maintaining weight back in range, but not wanting to ride the top or the bottom. Anyway, I have found that I really like to preload breakfast with finger food salad --- so at least this will live on!!!

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. In addition to my standard meals, made an awesome whole wheat spaghetti with roasted veggies, garbanzo beans, and Pomi with Basil. Delicious!!! Also, created a new “recipe” for brown rice and lentils in the oven (which goes great with 50/50 plates)--- made it up:
“Smells Like Stuffing” – Rice & Lentils:
½ cup brown rice
¾ cup lentils
3 cups water
1 chopped small / medium onion
Herbs --- basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary (about 1/8 t. of each)
Garlic powder (used ½ t. but I LOVE garlic)
Black pepper
Poultry seasoning – NSA
Pre-heat oven to 350.
Put all ingredients in 2 qt. casserole dish with cover.
Stir it up!
Bake for 45 min. and then stir it up again.
Bake another 45 min. and EAT!
My husband actually thought I had made stuffing --- and the herbs do make it smell that way – ridiculously aromatic!!!

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 eliminated.

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 - eating recommended foods when hungry. No starving or stuffing. I do totally eat more now and faster, but this is ok.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
YES. 6/7 days. Took a rest day that was prudent – so maybe should say no? Anyway, I think I am in the spirit of this.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:
So, celebrated following MWL checklist with increasing adherence for 21 months on Groundhog Day… In all honesty, I feel 21 years younger now and I also would note the following: more energetic, more productive, more positive, more calm, more happy … For me, any challenge in following the Checklist pales in comparison to these benefits. My intention is just to keep on!!!
Thank you a ton to Mark and Jeff for this group!!! Also, much gratitude to fellow participants who never fail to inspire me. Keep going!!!

Hope that everyone has a phenomenal week!!!

Cheers,
Stephanie

[Hjklost55]

Hello fellow McD’s…. Hope everyone had a good week.

1.Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
YES …. Continue to have my fresh veggies (salad) for my preload. Sometimes when I get to my 50/50 plate I’m not very hunger. But still eat my other plate.

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 Specifically putting half potatoes, half usually broccoli/cauliflower.

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 very happy I haven’t been sneaking any salt on my taters. The more I do that, the more I want. (Pleasure Trap)

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
YES No problem with this one…..

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
YES No problem with this one either

6. Eliminate any added oil.
YES No 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 Keeping it simple, potatoes, and my veggies

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 Getting better with this. Still occasionally feel like I may have overeaten, but starting to recognize the cues

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
YES I am pretty happy with my progress in this area. I converted a bedroom into an exercise room. Have been doing 30 minutes of stretching every morning before going to play pickleball. Then I have a favorite game show I like to watch. I won’t let myself watch it if I’m not on the elliptical. So…. Been getting lots of exercise this week.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Have been following Mary’s Mini now for 19 days, and incorporating MWL 10-pt checklist. It seems to be working for me. I feel great, the scales are moving, and have more energy. I love the ease and simplicity of potatoes and vegetables. For me the key is to keep the fridge full of cooked potatoes, and cut-up fresh vegetables. Grab a bag of frozen veggies, pop in the microwave, and my meals are ready…. Boring and Monotonou…. Yes but feel like it is resetting some bad habits that I was getting into. I hope this method is still compliant for this forum??

Exercise…. If you haven’t played pickleball and are looking for some other fun activity (Stephanie) check it out. It is great exercise, have met a lot of nice people and it is FUN!!! Looking forward to being warm enough to go outside with it.

Have a GREAT week everyone, and spring will be here before we know it!!

Take Care, Holly

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi (again!),

Wanted to say awesome week to everyone who already posted!!! You ladies are setting the bar high!!!

Bambi -- Love how you are able to just fit in exercise with your nightly activities. Very cool!!!

Rebecka --Your comment "stayed focused on my goals this week when I was tempted with convenience" completely resonates here. I wish that it were more "convenient" to just eat real food - like why should this be harder than eating crap??

Beth --Feeling like, "I'm still here" is so important!!! Kind of like possession is 9/10 of the law --- showing up is 9/10 of the battle?? Maybe??? Anyway, you are doing great and are so inspiring!!!!

Holly -- You go girl with the potatoes and veggies!!! Love your tenacity!!! Also, you have lit a fire under me with the Pickleball reference. I've been hemming and hawing about doing it for maybe a year --- so this morning, I got my act together and have joined our local club. So, more to come. Thanks for the nudge!!!

Waving a big hi to everyone who posts later. Happy weekend!!!

Cheers,
Stephanie

[Gimmelean]

Post for week ending 2/03/23

Greetings and happy February MWL ers!

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.  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. Nuts

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- cookies, bread.

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. Even in the cold with lots and lots of layers. The groundhog saw his shadow, so 6 more weeks of winter. To emphasize his point, the temperature plummeted to 7 degrees F today and bRRRrrrrrrr, but we will be seeing 53 degrees by Wednesday!


Victories,Comments,Questions,Challenges: this week was pretty much a repeat of last week with the same strengths and same lapses. This time of year has always been a challenge and despite best efforts, still is. To stay on track I’ll need to keep working the checklist hard until April when it becomes easier to manage and very grateful to have this group as a lifeline.

Mark, your comments as always are very kind and reassuring. Also very reinforcing!

Thank you all for ideas, tips, recipes, and for sharing what keeps you going.

[Greens]

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 desert. 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). One meal had veggie sushi which has small amt of avocado bought when at store picking up prescription for husband (he had knee replacement) on way home from hospital.

6) Eliminate any added oil. Yes

7) Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e. bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. Yes

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

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

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

Hello Team Time & Adherence!
Things that went well this week: Feeling good about how the week went. This week I really noticed how I am happier with my own food. When the person I am eating with is having something in my previous life I enjoyed instead of wishing for it, I just think that would make me feel ill. Nice shift for me. I’d like to stay in that space.
Things a little more challenging: I brought thermos and fruit meals while doing the hospital runs with husband. The sushi wasn’t perfect but worked for me with late release of hubby.

Thank you all for sharing your stories! I get so much encouragement for seeing how others negotiate the toxic food world!
Marilyn

[Noella]

Hello Mark! Hello Everyone!
Thanks to Stephanie for the recipe: "Smells Just Like Stuffing Rice and Lentils" and the idea for the roasted veggies with Pomi on WW Spaghetti. These both sound delicious, and I am inspired!

I've been in a funk and sleeping a lot. My cast came off, and the healing of my wrist continues. I find the physio exercises exhausting. After a wrist /hand exercise session, I need to rest -not just for five minutes but for a half hour or more. Sleeping has become my way of avoiding the discomfort and pain with my wrist, I suppose (better than binging on ice cream, which is what I would have done before MWL! ) It's still early days on my wrist healing journey, so I'm eating tons of greens; chard, lacinato kale, spinach, and lettuce, to help reduce the joint inflammation. If anyone has tips on healing a broken wrist (ulna and radius) and starting to regain range of motion for fingers and wrist, it will be greatly appreciated. My fingers and hand stiffen up, and every hour, I need to do the exercises to be able to move them again. It's unbelievably difficult. I'm usually an optimist with lots of gumption, but mobilizing my wrist is challenging and testing my self-efficacy to its limits.


1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes, I almost exclusively have sliced vegetables or salad greens as my appetizer.


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 love the simplicity of this! This week, there are lots of cooked greens (lacinato kale and rainbow chard are my favourite) on half and lots of delicious brown rice and 'refried' beans on the other. In addition, I've been cooking HUGE pots of pinto beans with onions and garlic - usually 6 cups of dry beans at a time- soak 24 hours, cook for a couple of hours, and add about 4 cups onion and two cloves garlic and simmer two more hours...delicious!!


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 salt...I use a brand of sea salt called Herbamare that I like very much, and also Hernbamare Spicy. I couldn't manage without the Pomi tomatoes and Herbamare. I NEVER use sugar. I will add fruit to salads etc., if I want a sweetener.

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
Yes, I saw a scene on a show I enjoy on PBS. It's new. James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small..,. Last week's episode had a scene at a renderer, and it is enough to make anyone vegan! Instantly!

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...seem to be focussing on my hand—/wrist exercise. I need to get my whole body moving again!

[Mark Cooper]

The window for reporting this week's behavioral results has officially closed.

My replies and the weekly summary will follow.

[Mark Cooper]

BambiS - Excellent adherence! I'm so happy to hear your husband is feeling better, and especially that his spirits have raised. The Cubii sounds fun. Having a clear perception into our reasons WHY we want to take action feels so important, right? Carry on!

Rebecka22 - Awesome focus and planning! You are so right about our environment and various "temptations" feeling powerful enough to sometimes overshadow our experiential knowledge. Our "willpower" can only do so much; in that context, doing what we can to distance ourselves from those "temptations" and arrange our environment to support our efforts becomes an invaluable tool. Have an amazing week!

Lizzy_F - "I'm still here" IS an important statement! Being present and staying engaged in the practice of this way of living is, perhaps, the most important victory of all. Speaking as someone who seems to be calibrated, or at least inclined, to require a substantial volume of food to feel satiated, I really identify with your experiences in that regard. Coming to acknowledge and accept that in myself was definitely a struggle and involved some big, sometimes uncomfortable, feelings. We all have to negotiate and explore the contours of what we want our life to be and how best to achieve that. To the extent that it is possible, removing judgement or reproach (particularly when extrinsically driven) has been a helpful practice for me. Cheers to you for recognizing that imperfection does not have to equal disaster, despair and derailment. Keep at it, Beth!

VegSeekingFit - Wow, Stephanie! What an inspiring list of benefits! Who would want to trade away any of that? I found your "Smells Like Stuffing" recipe very intriguing; it seems like something my family might enjoy, so I'll have to give it a try. I would agree with your perspective that taking a rest day, when it seems prudent and appropriate to do so, shouldn't be viewed as a problem. Have a phenomenal week!

Hjklost55 - It seems like you've established a really good groove for yourself, Holly! Well done, you! From my perspective, your current practices are very much in keeping with our goals for this group. You continue to practice and adhere to the recommended behaviors. Making an effort to keep things simple, both for ease of adherence and to reduce the "salad bar effect", is something Jeff frequently recommends (here is one great example). Keep doing what is working for you!

Gimmelean - It was 7 degrees for us this morning, too! I've definitely been bundling up when going for my daily walk or "function runs." Spring cannot arrive fast enough for my liking! Do the challenges you describe experiencing during this time of year primarily relate to the weather and other seasonal changes, or is it something else? Personally, I do notice changes in my tastes and preferences during the winter vs. summer months (mainly preferring some extra fruit in winter, in my case). As you observe, practice builds success and we're all a work in progress. Onward!

Greens - Yours definitely seems like a week worth feeling good about, Marilyn! I hope your husband is feeling well and recovering nicely from his surgery. I am right there with you when it comes to being happier with my own food. So many dishes I once would have consumed as a regular matter of course now seem utterly unappealing to me (often even revolting). Definitely a space that feels comfortable and one I enjoy inhabiting. Doing the best we can, within the context of our present understanding and the constraints of a given situation, BEATS perfection nine times out of ten, I think. Thank you for sharing your experience!

Noella - Solid adherence; you really have your food locked into a great groove! I feel for you in dealing with the experience of pain and the ongoing challenges of physical therapy and recovery. It isn't easy, and rest is part of the healing process, too, right? At the same time, I can recognize and identify with reaching toward various tools to cope with and manage pain. You are a LONG distance away from the days of bingeing on ice cream, and I think it is important to acknowledge all the progress your dedicated efforts have attained and sustained. I wish you the very best as you continue to heal and recover. May you have all the care and support you need as a salve for those mending bones!

[Mark Cooper]

What a wonderful start for our February 2023 group! Your efforts are an inspiration, and the care, kindness, and thoughtfulness present in this group is something for which I'm continually grateful.

This week I'm sharing some of my favorite posts by wildgoose:

This one is a general rundown of whether certain foods are "OK" for MWL. It opens with this amazingly insightful paragraph -

There are several questions here about whether certain foods are OK on MWL. Remember that "OK" is always a relative term. OK for what? What are your goals? What are your special weaknesses? (I found that if I was asking "is this OK?" it usually meant that I was very attached to what I was asking about. I ended up not being able to use it in moderation, and it kept me on a never-ending craving cycle. This may not be the case for you, but be ruthlessly honest with yourself here.)

Here is a great post discussing various sauces, gravies and toppings.

This post covers "maintenance", both what that has been like for her and how one might best go about exploring and negotiating that terrain themselves.

Finally, this one covers feelings of temptation and how to manage and overcome them. Here's the first part -

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

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

The process is also cumulative. The more times you surf through those urges to eat off-plan, the more time you are building up between now and the last taste you had of what you’re trying to avoid. The memories of that taste are less fresh, less acute. In addition, your successes mount up and you believe in the process more and more. It gets easier.

Our discussion this week relating to perfectionism and mindset made me think of this post I wrote in June 2020; it still feels relevant to me.

Have a beautiful, joyous week, everyone! Take care and be well!

[Noella]

Quote from Mark Cooper on Sat Jun 27, 2020 12:58 pm in the MWL Weigh-In Compilation:

The earlier discussions of direction, mindset and motivation are spurring me to share some thoughts on the perspective I use in driving myself forward and encouraging ongoing progress.

My personal default tends to be aiming toward perfection, but that path is clearly fraught with troubles; we humans are imperfect by our very nature, so if our goal is perfection we are guaranteed to fall short. Circumstances also sometimes intervene, making perfection unattainable despite all our efforts. Often the very best we can do still won't measure up against "perfect."

It seems advantageous to me to forfeit perfection as a goal, and instead pursue excellence. I can put forward my best efforts each week to do an excellent job working on the fundamental principles, behaviors and skills that are important and relevant to me. When I inevitably make mistakes, I try to exercise self-compassion, recognizing it's OK not to be perfect and that mistakes are a natural part of the learning process, as Jeff has so eloquently said.

JeffN wrote:
5) BE PERSISTENT AND WORK HARD: Success is a marathon, not a
sprint. Never give up.

Like in all things, there will be some setbacks on the road to
health, and some difficult times ahead. This IS part of the
process. Relapse/setbacks do not equal failure, they are part
of the process of change (and success) that we all go through.
You will also encounter some obstacles. These are not there
as a sign for you to quit, but as a challenge to strengthen
your commitment to reaching your goals.

I think perhaps the difference between the pursuit of excellence vs. perfection is differentiated in our response to mistakes and obstacles - when I was seeking perfection, and made a mistake, I often tended to "knock over the table" and give up for that day (or days or week ). That usually left me depressed, with a lot of practice at giving up, but very little practical experience overcoming obstacles or learning how to mitigate future mistakes.

In pursuing excellence, mistakes and failures can provide an opportunity for growth; I can learn something each time, surmounting that obstacle (usually not on the first attempt) and be better for it. That feels like the path to mastery - not being perfect or free from mistakes, but navigating situations with confidence and poise, knowing how to apply the fundamentals, recognizing what "doing the best I can" looks like in a given situation, and striving to do even better next time. That may be a goal that is always just out of my reach, but I find the chasing of it inspiring.

Thank you, Mark. You shared this post and it is just what I need to hear today! Changing my mindset to "doing the best I can" is exactly what I need to do. I need to differentiate between a mindset of attaining perfection versus excellence. A growth mindset allows for mistakes and imperfection along the way.

The other day I was helping my three-year-old grandson with something tricky. When I finally accomplished the task, I gasped and said, "Wow...That was hard work!" He looked up at me and said in his baby voice, "Hard work pays off!" I smiled and gave a little chuckle. I felt surprised to be getting such sage advice from this tiny child. I later learned that it was a repeated line he had heard in a storybook about a tractor, haha. But those wise words echo in my mind...MWL is hard work that pays off.

I hope we all have a productive and successful week pursuing excellence at our own pace by doing "the best we can!"

Best regards,
Noella

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi (again 2x!!)...

WOW, Mark --- awesome threads that you posted --- thanks for that!!! Amazing!!! OMG, Wildgoose is wise!!! Not much that I don't totally relate to here!!!

HI!!! Noella,

You are doing so great with following MWL behaviors under crummy circumstances...

I wish that I knew and could share how to heal best a broken wrist... I totally empathize with the PT thing ... and pain... and being tired. Sometimes I think that may mean your body needs to heal and maybe rest is just fine... (i.e., no need to push yourself too hard when recovering...)...

Wish I could send you the real thing... but here is a picture... Wishing you the best!!!



Cheers,
Stephanie