The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - June 2023 Group

For those wanting to learn about and follow the McDougall Maximum Weight Loss Program. You can also join our monthly weigh-ins.

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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - June 2023 Group

Postby trueunity » Sat Jun 03, 2023 9:38 pm

June 3,2023

Feedback post to all the questions I have been asked by Mark. Not sure if this is right but here they are. I will answer the question each week now that I know how to post responses.

Thank you Mark for taking the time to ask these questions. I'm still green on how to use this site, so as I learn I'm definitely feeling a bit more confident. Not sure if I'm doing this right but here's the questions that I have been asked since May 2023.


March 2023:

Any specific area where you would most like to focus?

I'm pretty focused these days on weight loss. I feel that once I get to my weight goal, my health will follow and make there be less pressure on my joints and may help my hormones regulate.

May 2023:

When you felt that craving for sweet fruits, what was your starch consumption like?

Everyday my starch consumption is in my mind high, most likely higher than it needs to be and that's probably why my weight is stalled.

Was there anything different of unique about the context for that day? Can you think of anything that might have served as a trigger for the craving?"

Everyday Tuesday through Saturday I'm triggered because I work at Walmart in the digital shopping department so for 8 hours a day my mind is bombed with an unclean environment. It doesn't take much to trigger me. I get triggered by rude customers, rude co workers, my mind when I get thoughts of worthlessness etc.

What do you do to manage stress or cope with feeling overwhelmed?

Normally I binge eat on fruit so that, I don't by crap food that's going to make my feel like crap. Then after I binge on the fruit, I kick myself for eating so many extra calories. that I then eat everything else in sight. its all healthy but still in excess.

Why are you making the effort to make these changes in behavior?

I'm trying to change my behavior because I want to lose weight and be healthy. I went to be thriving and fit. I want to be desirable to a potential partner. I want to love myself and actually believe it when I tell myself that I'm loved.

What are your most important goals, and why are they important to you?"

My most important goal is to lose weight. I want to get to a place where I love myself fully, where I'm fit, healthy, have higher self esteem and I want to be desirable.


How do you know when your are comfortably full?

When I'm comfortably full, I feel like I have had enough, I feel satisfied to the point that I could easily to a workout and not want to throw up.

What does that feel like in your body?

I no longer feel hollow

How does that feel different when you 'force down what is on your plate'?

When I force down the food on my plate, I feel gross like I wish I could breath. I feel like I will have to roll off the couch. I feel like I wish my pants weren't cutting me in half.

What would happen if you didn't clean your plate?

I would probability lose weight

Is there an experiment you could try that feels to you like it might help?

I can put less food on my plate, eat my meal, wait 20 minute's or so and if I'm still hungry go back for more.

I can put 1/2 the normal amount of food on my plate, put away any leftovers so that I can not grazes on foods left out.

Take some time to consider what tools, methods or activities you can turn towards when feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or otherwise in need of comfort, or a means of coping or self-regulation.

What do you typically do?

I eat, I watch T.V., I play on my phone, I mindlessly scroll social media, or I go down the google rabbit hole looking at random stuff I really don't care about.

Does it seem to work?

Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes I just have to go to bed and hope that I wake up with a different perspective the next day.

How do you feel about your primary coping mechanisms?

Since my primary coping mechanism is to eat my feelings, I don't particularly enjoy it. I wish I had some other things I can turn to when I get triggered at work. When I'm at home, I can usually find something to do that distracts me from food tell I'm actually hungry.

June 2023:

How have you been feeling about journaling?


So far I feel good about the journaling. I hope that I'm providing enough information to be able to get to the bottom of my food issues, so that I can lose weight.

When you observe that you think you "overeat with the 50/50 plate," what specifically is happening?

I feel like I'm putting to many veggies and starches on my plate. I'm concerned that my visual measurement is off. I don't know if it should be 1 cup veggies / 1 cup starches or 2 cups veggies to 1 cup starches. I think that my heaping plates of veggies is to much and one of the reasons the scale is going the wrong way.

Do you mean that you are eating past the point of being comfortably full?


Most days no, I really try to stop before I'm completely full so that I don't go to bed feeling uncomfortable.

Or rather, that at present you aren't yet seeing the feedback from the scale that you would like?

Yes, The scale feedback and the way my clothes fit are my guides, my number 1 priority. When the scale goes up it triggers me to give up and just eat everything insight. It pretty much because a what's the point in trying mindset, since I'm such a loser. I will never lose weight. The negative mindset runs wild and tells me all kinds of bad things about myself.
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - June 2023 Group

Postby Mark Cooper » Mon Jun 05, 2023 12:33 pm

trueunity - Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to those questions; I really appreciate it, as it helps me build a better understanding of your situation.

I want to start by acknowledging the frustration and despair you are feeling. Those are not easy feelings to experience, manage and process. I also want to say that health is not an obligation nor a barometer of worthiness. Nor is one's weight. In a just world, attaining a particular weight should be completely unrelated to our worth as a living being and our entitlement to love and care. Making the changes in behavior that we recommend in this group isn't an easy task, particularly in the context of a broader society that often seems to operate in opposition to our behavioral goals. Given the work environment you describe, you are confronted with numerous daily challenges and stressors that often feel overwhelming, I am sure.

What I would encourage you to try, if you are willing, is to forget about calories, forget about the scale, and try to move your measure of progress away from specific outcomes and onto the process of practicing the recommended behaviors as fully and closely as possible. Whenever you feel hungry, eat the recommended foods in the recommended fashion, stopping when you feel comfortably full. Evaluate your success based on adherence to the behaviors outlined in the MWL 10-Point Checklist. Focus on those things over which you can exercise control: your actions and behaviors. If you run into an obstacle interfering with your adherence, try to see that as an opportunity for learning and growth; finding a solution to that obstacle solves it from that point forward, and leaves you more resilient and capable. Also, allow yourself and the program time to work; give yourself the time needed to build and accrue an overall, cumulative pattern of behavior that can deliver and sustain the results you are seeking. Success isn't the result of any single day; but rather, it is a product of a sequence of excellent days strung together over time. I talk a bit more about this in this post, and in this one and this one.

Another experiment that I think could be worth trying is to intentionally choose a few tools or activities to use for positive self-regulation and comfort. Something that you imagine will feel calming and supportive, but also leave you feeling pleased with yourself and capable. This week's discussion includes a broad range of examples that might suit you. Since your work life can feel so stressful and triggering, having some basic, easy, accessible techniques you can turn toward when things start to feel overwhelming could really make a difference.

You are not broken and you are not a loser. To me, you seem like a smart and competent person who has achieved many positive things, but is presently dealing with some setbacks. Those setbacks and the accompanying dysregulation can be overcome by attending diligently to the process, and allowing that process of building a health-supporting pattern of behavior to deliver outcomes over the course of time.

I know this isn't easy, but try to imagine a world where you deserve to love yourself and offer yourself care and compassion, independent and detached from any particular achievement. From my perspective, that is the world where you are living. You deserve it.
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - June 2023 Group

Postby BambiS » Thu Jun 08, 2023 8:59 am

6-8


1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes, made some new soup recipes


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 walked and rode mycubii

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

After reading a story posted on McDougall FB page of Beth’s success story, I realize that I’m not alone in eating when hungry, and stopping when satisfied, and #10 - getting 30 minutes a day of walking or other exercise. She also has soft tissue, arthritis issues. Her story inspired me to get 100 percent on tract this week.

When tired at night, rather than grabbing some to eat, I had herbal tea.
It was a good week!
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - June 2023 Group

Postby Ejg » Fri Jun 09, 2023 5:40 am

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. yes, I ate a ton of salad 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, also ate a ton of corn on the cob and potatoes
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 (I started putting in a fence and am too cheap to pay somebody, so insist on doing it myself, and did a lot of digging and/or mixing and pouring cement)

I finally had a week where I put it all together and could reply with a simple "yes" to all the points above, so nothing much more to say. Just doing the thing but trying to remain vigilant. I read once that your demons may have left the building, but they aren't gone: they're out in the parking lot doing pushups. I know that if I start to slip, the positive momentum could all very easily fall apart. Have a good week
Though it feels malevolent, resistance operates with the indifference of rain and transits the heavens by the same laws as the stars. When we marshal our forces to combat resistance, we must remember this.
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - June 2023 Group

Postby Rebecka22 » Fri Jun 09, 2023 6:24 am

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

It was a good and uneventful week. I have been thinking about summer and the challenges it brings, but hopefully doing the mental preparation will help. I know I can do it. My youngest has her last day today, but the rest of us have three more weeks until school gets out. I hope everyone has a great week.
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - June 2023 Group

Postby trueunity » Fri Jun 09, 2023 10:38 am

A 10-Point Checklist for Maximum Weight Loss
Week of June 2nd -- 9th
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.... except that I have had the equivalent of 2 tsp sugar this week

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

Absolutely Always

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

No...had 1 Tbsp of flaxseed in my oatmeal a couple of days this week.

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

I do drink coffee (black) which has minimal calories.

Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full.

Yes....I believe that I'm doing this, but at the same time maybe I'm doing it wrong.

Maybe what I think is hungry really isn't.

9. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.

Yes, I feel like I'm eating adequate calories for my body. But the scale is still not moving. I'm starting to get super frustrated and almost ready to give you on the posting of this check list and the daily journal that I'm doing.

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

Absolutely Yes. 60 to 90 minutes a day and 10,000+ steps a day at work


Weight this week:

SW: 134
CW: 132
GW: 115


Self reflection:

I so badly want to get this excess weight off, but I don't want to starve myself to get there, but I'm not seeing any other way. Nothing I seem to do is working. I'm flustered and overwhelmed and don't understand what I'm doing wrong.

I read all the books, watch all the podcast, read the articles but still stuck. There's no way that my current weight is my bodies happy spot, because I keep going up and down, I'm 45 and only 5'2. There has to be something that I'm missing. "Help"!!

This self reflection is still where my current mindset is! I'm still lost as to why I can't lose weight.
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - June 2023 Group

Postby Hjklost55 » Fri Jun 09, 2023 2:27 pm

June 9, 2023

Hello MWL group. Hope everyone is having a great week.

1.Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
YES, more soup….. make a new pot about every other day. Haha :-D (Love it cold now that it is finally hot outside) :-D

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 :-D

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 :-D

4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
YES :-D

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
No, had avocados on a Yumm bowl. (Rice, beans, cabbage, carrots) Forgot to tell them no when I ordered. AND…. Obviously once I saw it, I couldn’t take it off and leave on the side of my plate. :mad:

6. Eliminate any added oil.
YES :-D

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 :-D '

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

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
NO, I didn’t make it 7 out of 7 days with this concept, maybe more like 5/7, but I do feel like I am more aware of my hungry cues, and practicing mindful eating. ;-)

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

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Overall, I had a pretty good week. The scales are stable but waiting for them to go down some more. As I have previously mentioned, I am FINALLY in my BMI healthy range, but would really like to be closer to mid-range so I have a little wiggle room. Will stay the course, and eventually, I know it will go down. We just got settled into our summer location. It is beautiful here. I packed cold cooked potatoes, and vegetables for the drive and I survived my first “outside my comfort zone” dinner. A friend invited us for dinner so I wouldn’t have to cook the first night we arrived. After a 6 hour drive, unpacking, and trying to get all set up, I appreciated it. I just took my soup, potatoes, and veggies. Came home feeling good. This is a different environment than when I am in my own home, but with planning I feel confident that I will be fine. Went out on the lake fishing this beautiful morning, with my baggie of potatoes, bowl of soup, and baggie of veggies….. Keeping it simple!

Have a healthy happy week,
Holly
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - June 2023 Group

Postby Lizzy_F » Sat Jun 10, 2023 8:58 am

Hello fellow Time & Adherence Travelers!

Here it is for 6/10:

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Most of the time. I haven’t felt as hungry as usual on several days over the past week (I really need to start journalling about this every day! A habit I have yet to make progress on!). I’ve also been really busy so several meals where I would normally start with soup or salad or fruit were just 50/50. I didn’t run around hungry and didn’t overeat, so I feel OK with how this went, at least for the past 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. Since I started studying up on the osteoporosis situation, and have learned about the connection between sodium intake and calcium in the body. (I don’t know all the detailed mechanics, just that more sodium in the diet can result in more calcium out of the bones). So I am going back to a review of my condiments. Some of the ones I love really are high in sodium, especially when I use them together! I haven’t worried to much about this since I also have the other issue – TOO low in sodium seems to cause feet/let cramps at night. Since I don’t have high blood pressure I sort of gave up paying a lot of attention to sodium. Now I am back at it and will be seeking a closer balance between ENOUGH to avoid the leg cramps, but that’s it.

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. I feel much better about this area this week! The stakes just got a lot higher for me and it’s amazing what a difference that makes in how important each of the 10 points has become to me.

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). YES!!! I feel good about my progress here. I did my PT exercises and other exercise every day, despite having a horrible cold all week. I had to cancel my PT appointments and my ortho doctor appointment (didn’t want to spread my germs) but made it a top priority to do these things at home. Our weather was positively gorgeous this week and that really helped. Since I was sick there were some other household projects that didn’t get done, but I will no longer sacrifice exercise for any reason as long as I can get out of bed and do it. Dr. Lim told me yesterday that my exercise needs to be my #1 priority alongside my diet in order to deal with my bone density issues. Now it’s up to me.

Victories: I am back in my goal weight range. I had a really great consultation with Dr. Lim and have also had communication with Jeff about adjustments to make to best protect my bone health. I am beyond grateful for the support of the McDougall Medicine team. My local doctor is pushing D3 & calcium supplements, and her notes in the patient portal say that she is going to recommend Prolia when I have my official follow up to the Dexa scan with her in a couple of weeks. There is NO WAY I am taking Prolia or calcium (after discussion with Dr. Lim & Jeff). I am at least going to get D3 levels tested before deciding what to do about that (DUH!). I’m frustrated that the local doc didn’t even suggest testing before telling me to take D3. I have requested a D3 test. I can’t imagine her refusing that, but if she does I will just go out of pocket and do it. I’m so glad to not be alone facing these decisions and the ”medical machine” that seems to want to suck in seniors on Medicare, especially if you have a good supplement policy. I can totally see why Dr. McDougall says “don’t go looking for trouble – it just leads to anxiety and stress and lowers your quality of life” when it comes to many of these common screening tests.

Concerns: My first step to level up my exercise is going to be once and for all working on Jack Dixon’s functional six. Hold me accountable next week! I will also be working to level up my diet – first step there is doing several days of food tracking to see where I am right now and what adjustments make sense. In a broad general sense, Dr. Lim suggested making sure I get in a serving of beans/legumes each day (I am currently feast/famine with beans/legumes) and that I be intentional about high calcium content greens. So I am going to start working on those things this week and see if I can make just a little progress (along with examining sodium).
Beth

"Long-term sustainable change is what we are really after." ~Jeff Novick
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - June 2023 Group

Postby Gimmelean » Sat Jun 10, 2023 11:48 am

Post for week ending 6/9/23.
Greetings.
This week, the Canadian wildfires created a never seen before blanket of smoke for three solid days and nights over parts of the NE US. The sun was a red dot in the sky. I never thought breathing quality air was the one thing that could not be taken for granted. NYC was labeled as having the worst AQI ( air quality index) of any city in history anywhere in the world. Now that things seem to be clearing and Canada is getting international help, I hope that everyone impacted on the front lines are doing ok and will get through this safely.

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).
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. I typically make it a point to walk outside, but not until the air improved. I don’t have any underlying health conditions fortunately. I’ll walk outside today for sure. There is always some type of movement and exercise I can do. My goal of an hour per day 7 days per week, is usually fulfilled.

Victories,Comments,Concerns, Questions:
Mark, I was especially moved by your words-
“I know this isn't easy, but try to imagine a world where you deserve to love yourself and offer yourself care and compassion, independent and detached from any particular achievement. From my perspective, that is the world where you are living. You deserve it.”

Have a good week ahead everyone.
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - June 2023 Group

Postby VegSeekingFit » Sat Jun 10, 2023 11:56 am

Hi Team Time & Adherence, :)

It is looking to be a beautiful weekend here in Chicagoland… Hope everyone is enjoying some “summery” weather!

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

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. Love my meals and they continue to be the same (except switching fruits, veggies, beans). So, no decision fatigue here.

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 – not starving or stuffing. A good clip of eating!!!

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes - 7 /7 --- lots of walking and pickleball. My PB league 1 started yesterday and was amazing. I have the funny PB league starting this week. PB playing makes me happy!!

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Question --- I am wondering if anyone in the group has close family that McD’s with them? If so, how did that occur? Has anyone inspired (or convinced) family members to join them? At best, I am able to influence increased intake of produce. At worst, I walk the line of being annoying (so, I am back to standard "say nothing" approach)…

Mark, I ❤️ how you gathered the group’s collective self-care / coping strategies in one post last week!!! This is definitely an area that I continue to focus on as a growth opportunity and I appreciate ALL of the sharing!!! Lots of inspiring ideas!

Noella, I am impressed with how you articulated your cleaning --- and your pride in that. Hoping to take your lead here.

Trinity, Wonderful that you have started to journal!!!! Mark has a great journal from years back – link is in his signature. This practice has helped me enormously as well. Not sure if you have seen this clip from Dr. Lim? I found it helpful in reframing my mindset – which was critical to me moving forward. Maybe will be helpful to you? It’s only a couple of minutes.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgaMbFM5kVA&t=7s

Bambi, Cool that you found inspiration in Beth’s story!! I am also inspired and one of the reasons that I love this group as to not feel alone.

Eric, Great quote – thanks for sharing about the demons still being out in the parking lot doing pushups. Agree it is critical to remain vigilant!

Rebecka, Have fun preparing for summer!

Holly, I am going to join you in the cold soup this week! Will be trying gazpacho – need to experiment with “recipe”!! Great how you are acclimating to your summer home routines.

Beth, Wishing you well in pursuing new focus! Awesome how you were able to get in activity at home when you weren’t feeling up to par this week.

Gimmelean, I love that Mark quote as well!!! With regard to the wildfires, was on a Teams meeting with some folks from Toronto a couple of days ago and could see thick fog in the background. Yes, we can't take air quality for granted. :-(

Wishing everyone an amazing week – with radiant sun, delicious recommended food, and a good clip of activity!! Going for this as well!

Cheers,
Stephanie
"Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path.
Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back." - Martina Navratilova
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Reporting for this week's Assessments is now CLOSED

Postby Mark Cooper » Sat Jun 10, 2023 1:05 pm

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

My replies and the weekly summary will follow.
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Mark's Replies for June 9

Postby Mark Cooper » Sat Jun 10, 2023 1:09 pm

BambiS - Awesome progress! Three cheers for aiming to be 100% on target. :thumbsup: I think it is really cool how inspiring Beth's story was for you; it always helps to know that we aren't alone in addressing the challenges ahead of us, right? Enjoy those new soups and keep it up! :D

Ejg - Really excellent efforts, Eric! Kudos to you for putting it all together. I enjoyed your observation about one's "demons" being in the parking lot doing push-ups; thank you for sharing that. Best wishes with your fence construction, and carry your positive momentum forward into the days ahead!

Rebecka22 - Great work! Uneventful weeks often make for good weeks (at least in regard to adherence), right? I think you are very wise in preparing for the expected challenges of summertime, and I agree that you can effectively manage those challenges with preparation. Have an amazing week!

trueunity - Hang in there! Try to evaluate the relative success of your efforts within the context of a given week on the basis of adherence to the recommended pattern of behavior, rather than the scale. The best advice I have to offer is posted above. From my (admittedly outside) perspective, it seems like the feedback you are getting from the scale, and the attendant influence that has on your mindset, may be undermining your efforts. I would encourage you to have a look at a couple of articles from Jeff: To Weigh or Not to Weigh and How to Successfully Count Calories. Keep in mind -
Weight loss is an outcome contingent on behaviors; to change that outcome, it is necessary to change those behaviors. The most effective behaviors for achieving healthy, sustainable weight loss are outlined in the MWL 10-Point Checklist. In this group, our focus is on bringing our behaviors into adherence with the MWL 10-Point Checklist, not our weight change from one week to the next. The MWL program is not about rapid weight loss, but rather establishing a pattern of behavior and a way of living that produces steady, healthy, and lasting weight loss.

We ask that you refrain from setting a goal weight and focus on the 10 points of MWL. If you follow the fundamental principles and guidelines, you will arrive at a healthy weight in due course.


Hjklost55 - Seems like good progress to me, Holly! You are totally right that "staying the course" with adherence across time will deliver the results you're seeking. :nod: Great work navigating the transition to your summer locale. Enjoy the beautiful environment and carry on with your excellent efforts!

Lizzy_F - Awesome progress! I want to applaud you in taking advantage of your access to the McDougall team and putting together what seems like a really good plan to address your bone density concerns; that is what the team is for, right? Best wishes in your continuing PT, adoption of the functional six, and mindful attention to your diet. Making "just a little progress" consistently over time can compound to BIG results!

Gimmelean - Excellent efforts! I'll echo your sentiments in hoping everyone impacted by the recent wildfires, and particularly those on the front lines, will be safe and well. I don't imagine our air quality in Princeton was quite as extreme as NYC, but it was plenty bad enough for a couple of days; I'm used to wearing a mask indoors, but putting one on to go outdoors was a new experience. :eek: Thanks for your kind words and wonderful contributions to the group. Onward!

VegSeekingFit - Your progress continues, Stephanie! I'm glad you found the compilation of tools for self-regulation valuable; I think it is a great resource. I love the clip of Dr. Lim! Thanks for sharing it. I wish I could say that any of my close family practice this way of eating; alas, the best I can state is that Beth and (sometimes) Posey will usually eat the evening meals I prepare, so I guess they are McDougallers for one meal a day.
VegSeekingFit wrote:Wishing everyone an amazing week – with radiant sun, delicious recommended food, and a good clip of activity!!
What a great wish! Seconded! :D
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In Closing,

Postby Mark Cooper » Sat Jun 10, 2023 1:24 pm

We are well and truly into June now with outstanding efforts being exhibited throughout the group! Kudos, everyone!

During the Thursday McDougall graduate Zoom meeting, Jeff referenced an article Dr. McDougall wrote for the newsletter: Pick a Category to Work on This Year. It is really great, so I thought I would share it here. A few highlights:
In the late 1970s when I was developing the McDougall Diet after reading the bulk of the nutritional science published since the early 1900s, I came to the conclusion that starches, vegetables, and fruits were ideal for human nutrition. These humble plant parts supplied all of the calcium, iron, and high quality protein that any person of any age, beyond infancy (a time for breast milk), would ever need during any activity, including those as demanding as pregnancy and running triathlons.
A Starch Focus is emphasized in every possible way. The McDougall Diet has always been taught as a starch-based diet with the addition of fresh or frozen vegetables and fruits. Until people eat most of their calories from higher calorie plant foods, such as rice, corn, beans, and potatoes, they struggle. Emphasizing these comfort foods makes everything about the McDougall Program work easily.
Simplicity in meals is a key to better health and appearance. Mary's cooking style in our home has become focused on simple meals. She prepares dishes such as sweet potatoes and broccoli or rice with steamed green veggies, which are topped with delicious sauces. With simplicity, advantages like greater weight loss, better health, and lower food costs are enjoyed.


Just as relevant in 2023 as it was on New Year's Day 2010!

I'll close by echoing Stephanie's lovely well-wishes: Have "an amazing week - with radiant sun, delicious recommended food, and a good clip of activity!!" Take care & be well! :D
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - June 2023 Group

Postby BambiS » Thu Jun 15, 2023 5:51 pm

6-16


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 walked and rode my cubii

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

It was a good week, I was really focused and the scale showed it!
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Re: The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - June 2023 Group

Postby Rebecka22 » Fri Jun 16, 2023 8:01 am

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

This was a good week. I felt prepared and in a rhythm. My exercise has been up because I added a six week running program with my daughter to help her get ready for cross country, but it hasn’t thrown me off so I feel good about it.
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