The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - October 2023 Group

[Mark Cooper]

OCTOBER 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
Some of Jeff Novick's Quick and Easy Recipes
Jeff's Simple Recipes on Facebook
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
Is long time adherence really possible?
Amy's Giant List of Links to Dr. Lisle's Lectures

[Drew*#]

Hi Mark and all, I am back from about a year ago. It will be great to start up again and put the 10 points into practice. Without this group I found that it was easy to slip into some old ways of doing things. Looking forward to reading the postings on the 10 point plan and participating with you all.

Drew

[Mark Cooper]

Hi Mark and all, I am back from about a year ago. It will be great to start up again and put the 10 points into practice. Without this group I found that it was easy to slip into some old ways of doing things. Looking forward to reading the postings on the 10 point plan and participating with you all.

Drew

Welcome back! Glad to have you participating this month.

[BambiS]

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
most days


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).some days

Victories, comments, concerns, questions good week,

I had a class reunion this past weekend, I got the vegan meal. They sure could use some help cooking! It was mostly pasta with a few veggies. I brought it home and made a cauliflower sauce and added veggies. I don’t have pasta, but made the best food choice they had. I will say that my complexion looked good compared to others!

[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

I felt good this week physically and mentally. I am traveling this weekend, but I feel well prepared and plan to just bring all my food to make it easier. I appreciate knowing that this works and being able to ignore all the bad advice out there. I hope everyone has a great week.

[Starflower]

October 6th

Hi team!

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). NO

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:

This week was much better. Other than some nut butter, I stayed on plan. The extra refrigerator space and cooking capability helped a lot. One step closer!

Wishing everyone a wonderful and successful week!

[Gimmelean]

Post for week ending 10/6/26

Greetings everyone!

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,)
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.
No- some tortilla chips

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’m doing much less here. I injured my hip jogging and pushed through it making it worse. So this week I walked really slowly for about 15 minutes each day along with gentle yoga and stretching. No gym until it heals. It seems to be getting a little better but it will take time.

Victories,Comments,Concerns,Questions:
Not a bad week, but not a perfect one yet. Habitually planning, preparing meals, snacks, and having the right foods on hand before hunger strikes really drives success.
Have a good week everyone and welcome to October.

[Drew*#]

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.****Mostly
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.**** Mostly
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).*** Mostly except some measured raw nut butter
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. *** Mostly.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). ****Mostly.
Had some low sodium Ezekiel bread.
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.**** Mostly
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). ****Somewhat. Going for a hike today. Yoga tomorrow. It is the other 5 days that need a plan

Victories, challenges, remarks about this week

Hi Mark and all that are here. I see some familiar names. I kind of dropped out for 10 months or so but do hope to get back on track. I started Sunday with the plan and despite a lot of "mostly" remarks I was following the plan and have seen some results in finding satiety through the bulk four food groups:

vegetables (non-starchy)
fruit
cooked whole grains / root veggies (potatoes, sweet potatoes)
legumes

The plan is to keep it up.

I am liking instant split pea soup with air fried no oil fries with vinegar and some spices at the end. Includes efforts to find purple potatoes and mini purple sweet potatoes. Plan is to add frozen steamed veggies each time...

Have a great week you all. You are doing great!

Drew

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Team Time & Adherence,

Happy October!

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Frequently. I am still at about 80% of meals with preload. Not consistently preloading lunch which is usually a huge salad with brown rice, corn, and beans. Thinking some veggie soup first may hit the spot for this chillier weather.

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.
Mostly. I did eat 4 Brach’s hard peppermint candies on Tuesday night after Pickle Spears (so sugar, yes?). They had a table of “treats” with Halloween plates that I ignored except for the above. I think about the why kind of like Defect Management --- as I did not plan / intend to do this. I believe it comes down to willpower can be low if energy is running low. I had a really long day that Tuesday and ended up scrambling home from work to change into pickleball clothes and head back out. This night, I didn’t pack any food to bring with me (usually I eat something before). If I find myself in this situation again, will grab a banana and potato(es) to eat in the car.

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. Did not starve or stuff.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes - 7 / 7. Had a wonderful consult with personal trainer and will be starting up next week with CONSISTENT strength training. We discussed goals and walked-through a sample workout. He was quite patient and encouraging --- which I greatly appreciate. I am confident that he will not be discussing my diet, protein supplements or yelling – so looking forward to getting STRONG!

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Welcome back, Drew!

Wishing the group an awesome weekend and a successful starch-filled week ahead!

Cheers,
Stephanie 

[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 - Congratulations! I think it's wonderful that you were able to come away from your class reunion with positive feelings about yourself and a sense of the positive changes you have experienced. Making the best choice we are able to attain in a given situation is all we can reasonably expect from ourselves, right? Good idea to supplement that meal with your own adherent additions. Keep it up!

Rebecka22 - Really excellent adherence and efforts! Your travel plan seems like it is well-considered and solid.

I am traveling this weekend, but I feel well prepared and plan to just bring all my food to make it easier. I appreciate knowing that this works and being able to ignore all the bad advice out there.

That feels like an important observation to me, particularly the value of doing what you know works for you even if that is contrary to prevailing "advice." So happy to know you are feeling good both physically and mentally. Carry on as you are!

Starflower - Significant progress this week! Great to know that your new, more "prep-friendly" environment has been a valuable support and you are feeling like things are going much better. One step closer, indeed. Keep taking those steps!

Gimmelean - Kudos! We will always take progress over perfection, right?

Habitually planning, preparing meals, snacks, and having the right foods on hand before hunger strikes really drives success.

Very true! Wishing you continuing healing from your injury, a good week, and a great October!

Drew*# - Congrats! Taking action to adjust behavior and get back on track can feel like a big, intimidating step, but here you are. Now it is a matter of deciding which areas need more focus and working to shift some "mostly" behaviors toward "YES"es.

I am liking instant split pea soup with air fried no oil fries with vinegar and some spices at the end. Includes efforts to find purple potatoes and mini purple sweet potatoes. Plan is to add frozen steamed veggies each time

Seems like a pretty good plan, and tasty, too. Onward!

VegSeekingFit - Your efforts and progress continue forward, Stephanie!

I believe it comes down to willpower can be low if energy is running low.

That is my belief, as well.

If I find myself in this situation again, will grab a banana and potato(es) to eat in the car.

Perfect - problem solved! I'll be cheering you on as you journey toward STRONG!

[Mark Cooper]

Woo-hoo! Great start for October! It always feels thrilling to see the outstanding efforts toward behavior change and maintenance on display in this group.

A trio of links this week:

Some recent writing from Jeff discussing calorie density and the "sweet spot," in case anyone missed it.

A really thoughtful and funny post where Jeff describes what his "average day" looks like, and why that information might not be be particularly useful.

What works for me, works for me, and may not work for anyone else. What matters most is finding what works for you, within the principles and guidelines.

And a post linking to some favorite threads.

Happy reading!

May your week be amazing and filled with success! Take care & be well!

[Artista]

Hi Mark, I would like to join the MWL group for the rest of October and hopefully longer. I followed MWL last year for a couple of months but then fell off in a way that truly scared me. Since then I’ve been slowly creeping my way back and I’m at a place now where I think I can follow MWL again. I'm going to try anyway. My goal is to focus on longterm adherence rather than absolute perfection and just take it one day at a time. Thank you for all you do!

[Mark Cooper]

Hi Mark, I would like to join the MWL group for the rest of October and hopefully longer. I followed MWL last year for a couple of months but then fell off in a way that truly scared me. Since then I’ve been slowly creeping my way back and I’m at a place now where I think I can follow MWL again. I'm going to try anyway. My goal is to focus on longterm adherence rather than absolute perfection and just take it one day at a time. Thank you for all you do!

Welcome aboard! We are glad you are here.

[Mark Cooper]

Hello, all! I just wanted to let the group know that wildgoose will be the steward for this week's behavioral self-assessment, as I have a family outing this weekend. The group will certainly be in the very best of hands! Best to all and take care!