Buns Again

[bunsofaluminum]

Hi Buns!

I am sending you big HUGS from Illinois (hoping that you may remember me from a few years ago and don't think I am a creep... )!! Completely understand what you are saying about your recent challenges and empathize with what you are going through... Remember that you totally rock and have sustained many changes in your diet over time that are so healthy!!

I can so relate to your frustration with the scale. I really don't like how it "grades us" on how "good" we have been. Nothing should have that power, but it really does... (and power to change our emotions... BOO!!)

Seriously, wondering if you may not want to hide / put away / decommission your scale for a month or so... I only say this because it seems to be a measure that may not be helpful to you - if you are looking to follow the MWL behaviors (then you know how you did and don't need a grader). Maybe you have jeans you want to fit into -- or something else ??

In case this may help you, I want to share the dumb fact that I when I gained 23 pandemic pounds, I was "mostly" following McD... I really didn't go off the ranch (or did I??), but some stuff like peanut butter and bread (or Cheerios or rice cakes). I was still starch-based and ate produce.... So, I may have "passed" the MWL checklist except for a couple of exceptions ...

Just food for thought... I wish you the best and am pulling for you!!

Cheers,
Stephanie

Hi Stephanie! I do remember you! Even though I was only on here sporadically when I first saw your name.

Your advice and Mark's over at the MWL weigh in forum match, in that you both remind me that the behaviors are what I am aiming at, not the specific number on the scale. I really let it get to me emotionally, and even cried at the time. But when I got thinking about it, yeah I didn't follow 100%. I ate two meals out on Sunday for my day trip to Idaho (and I'd do it again, let's just be honest.)
The nachos are compliant with Starch Solution, but not MWL. I had those a few times in the past month or so. So TBH, looking at it clearly, I may have been following very closely for those days, but the scale was reflecting the prior week or something. I've been weighing every day in order to see for myself that the scale vacillates. and why did I think it was going to plummet because I was tight with it for four days?

as for hiding it or throwing it out the dang window...I don't know if I'm there yet. Seeing it go up and down sort of normalizes it for me. I *thought* I was over the emotional attachment to that number, until I burst into tears when I saw the number up four lbs. It's ALWAYS up and down on the same four lbs. Can I ditch it and not step on the scale for a month? Keep tight with the plan and make daily adherence to the guidelines my goal? Phooey on the scale? Maybe. Maybe I'll try for a week. Maybe.

I need to make the guidelines my goal. Mark says so. You say so. I say so. And no more "mostly" following the plan. Period.

Thanks for the hugs!

[bunsofaluminum]

I hear ya!! I can slip up a day or 3, the scales seem ok, but day #4!? It has caught up with me. And then it takes me the same 1-3 days to lose it. Makes me so disgusted with myself. What works for me is to DECIDE daily (sometimes hourly), no I won't eat _____ because I really like the weight I have lost, I really like my healthy blood work now, and I don't want to gain it back and then fight to lose it again. Sometimes I write myself post-it notes and put them up where I can see them.

And really, the problem isn't the problem. Meaning, the weight struggle is probably masking something else. Stress at work? unhappy at home? eat to relieve the stress. comfort food, etc. You are eating your feelings.

Hope you have a better week. Marsha

This is so smart. The problem isn't the problem. Emotional eating, unhealthy relationship with food, stress hormones, etc. There's a lifetime of emotional baggage attached to my eating issues, and it doesn't go away in a minute.

Also, remembering my current weight loss, smaller jeans size, and the relief from aches and pains DID keep me from going completely bat shizz crazy in my frustration and disgust. Yeah, I ate some things, but I didn't eat ALL the things. I said "low key screw it" and was back again the next day after one meal of off plan foods.

[bunsofaluminum]

Sending sincerest virtual hugs to you, Buns. When it seems I have about a fifteen pound difference between eating anything and everything OR being conscious and mindful, it has been tempting to say, "Eh, maybe these extra pounds aren't so bad!"
But they are. And what we ate weeks ago still shows up today. So several weeks from now, you'll reap the benefits of staying on plan now.
I just wanted to pop in here to be both a shoulder and a cheerleader.

Oh, those extra pounds ARE so bad. And you tell the truth: What I do this week will show up in another week or two. That's why the scale went up after four pretty compliant days...it was measuring from the week or two prior. SMH. everlovin scale.

Several weeks from now I will reap the benefits of this week's behaviors. It's so true! Gosh, it's motivating isn't it?

Thanks Zoey!

VivianS July 11, 2021
Congratulations, Heidi, on sticking with it another week!

Ugh. Just barely. Thanks Vivian. I'm over my little tantrum and steering back on course again.

[bunsofaluminum]

bunsofaluminum - I think it is natural to feel somewhat demotivated when a particular metric (especially one that feels important to us) seems incongruent with how we gauge our efforts, Heidi. Something I would observe is that the various "exceptions" you listed (a meal out, Subway sandwich, burrito, chips and salsa, cheese), are also quite high in added salt, which can have an especially dramatic effect on the scale. I'm sure the idea of seeing scale-measured weight loss feels really important right now (and it isn't UNIMPORTANT, of course), but it is a measure over which our individual agency is quite limited. I would really encourage you to consider orienting your goals and intentions around attaining and maintaining the recommended pattern of behavior consistently from day to day, and make that your focus, independent of where the scale is on a daily basis. Get the behavior right, over sufficient time, and the weight loss is a natural result.

Okay, this from Mark at the MWL forum made a big impact, the part about orienting my goals and intentions towards the behavior guidelines, and not worrying so much about the numbers. I might still weigh daily, but I will detach from that number. My jeans are fitting better/fitting AT ALL, I have good mental clarity and freedom from pain MOST of the time. I just need to do a solid week without hemming and hawing. Get in there solid an JUST DON'T EAT IT. I don't have control over the scale, but I do have control over what I put in my mouth. I can eat on plan.

In fact, looking at all of this, I think I let myself get quite dissatisfied with the super simple stuff there at the end of springtime: Soup, rice or potatoes, spinach for nearly every meal, and a G BOMB for brekkie once in a while...until I was flat out bored and began wanting something ANYTHING delicious and creamy and saucy...etc, etc. yadda yadda yadda. So, I got on the MWL recipes index and made some not-cheese sauce and another batch of the Asian Garbanzo spread from there. I can think of some yummy things to do with both of those and potatoes

Going to dust off my hands and give this another solid go. I'm back on track with it, after copping an attitude and "eating cheese just to SHOW that scale" But yeah, once I got over myself, I settled down and recognized the benefits and instead of saying low key screw the McDougall Plan, I'm saying a huge SCREW IT to the scale. I'll focus on my behaviors and get myself lined up with the guidelines. I don't care what I weigh anymore. Not because I'm just going to eat and stay fat, but because it isn't the most important parameter of my success. There are so many other benefits. I let myself sink into the diet mentality and I'm just not going there any more.

And besides, I got thinking. In Feb 2018 I had occasion to have blood drawn two times. They had me weigh both times and I was so proud because my weight went down from 250 to 246...this is 20 lbs more than I currently weigh. It's been super slow, yet I've lost weight. My adherence has been entirely imperfect, yet I've lost weight. The main thing I did from the beginning was try not to choose high fat foods most of the time. Then last summer...or maybe it was summer of 2019, my sister's diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolemia shook me up and I dropped foods with refined oil in them (though still had the occasional avocado or olive) ...so there is that. Going down 20 lbs in four years is so much better than going UP that much in four years!

Just need to be patient and stick with it.

[VivianS]

VivianS Monday, July 12, 2021
Familial Hypercholesterolimia...my sister and I have it, too. She is 88 has been "mostly vegan" for more than 30 years and still takes a statin drug to keep her cholesterol numbers near a normal reading. All I know is that the vegan diet is the right one for us. She is healthy.
Measuring my waistline and writing that number on my notebook motivates me. I have an old pair of pants from the last century. I measured the waistline from button to the front of the button hole to see what was required to get into those pants: 7 inches. I was able to wear those pants after a few months of using the MWL checklist daily. The weight creeped back on my middle when I added flaxseed to combat constipation. That's about 50 extra calories a day. It is amazing what a little cheating does to us. Following the Maximum Weight Loss checklist is what gets us to success and keeps us there. Heidi, you can do it.
Read that list daily. Keep your food ready and eat it. There are lots of variations on what you can eat. Try to think in terms of the YES you want to have. Water...room temperature, cold, hot or frozen? How much? When? I have glass jars with a lid that hold 20 ounces. I pour the amount of water I want to drink that day and then I will know I have reached my goal for the day. HABIT instead of remembering if I did it or not.
The YES I am struggling with now is exercise. That 30 minutes of brisk walking will suppress my appetite.
What changes can you make to get to YES on your salad? I realized that I feel better when I eat a big salad with many different vegetables. I realized I couldn't eat all I bought before it went bad. I told my niece that I am going to make a big salad and bring her a bag of it as soon as I make it. Getting to YES on veggies and soup could be as simple as sharing with someone else. Two or three of you can be happy and well nourished instead of bored and ready for a change that is NOT MWL.
T,here are plenty of ways to get to YES. I admire you for going to the recipes. You are doing great! Twenty pounds gone proves that you know what to do, can do it and will do it. Yea!
VivianS

[Zoey]

Very inspirational, Buns! I posted to you when I was kind of up and you were kind of down. Well, today is my down day, and your solid commitment is super helpful to me. Keep at it, girl!

[deweyswakms]

Okay, this from Mark at the MWL forum made a big impact. Get in there solid an JUST DON'T EAT IT. I don't have control over the scale, but I do have control over what I put in my mouth. I can eat on plan.
Just need to be patient and stick with it.

BAM! You are back! I too get bored with eating the same good ole reliable foods every darn day. Smart to look for new recipes. I have done that too; makes a big difference.

Bravo, Marsha

[VivianS]

VivianS July 15, 202Hey, did you see Jeff's Mexican beans and rice? I tried the beans, corn, tomato portion.
It was good! I will do the rice to go with it soon.
I actually made soup stock that included onion peels, red cabbage core and all the stuff that goes on the compost heap after cooking (minus a banana peel). I was surprised at how delicious it was. I strained the vegetable broth into the beans, tomatoes, corn, onions and peppers. I really enjoyed it as soup. I was surprised!

[deweyswakms]

VivianS July 15, 202Hey, did you see Jeff's Mexican beans and rice?

I love Jeff's 'fast food' meals; fast easy nutritious (FEN) and exactly right for me.

I also make my own veggie stock from saved veggie trimmings etc., a nice $ saver, but never thought to try it as soup! I will do that too.

Have a great day, Marsha

[bunsofaluminum]

VivianS Monday, July 12, 2021
Familial Hypercholesterolimia...my sister and I have it, too. She is 88 has been "mostly vegan" for more than 30 years and still takes a statin drug to keep her cholesterol numbers near a normal reading. All I know is that the vegan diet is the right one for us. She is healthy.
Measuring my waistline and writing that number on my notebook motivates me. I have an old pair of pants from the last century. I measured the waistline from button to the front of the button hole to see what was required to get into those pants: 7 inches. I was able to wear those pants after a few months of using the MWL checklist daily. The weight creeped back on my middle when I added flaxseed to combat constipation. That's about 50 extra calories a day. It is amazing what a little cheating does to us. Following the Maximum Weight Loss checklist is what gets us to success and keeps us there. Heidi, you can do it.
Read that list daily. Keep your food ready and eat it. There are lots of variations on what you can eat. Try to think in terms of the YES you want to have. Water...room temperature, cold, hot or frozen? How much? When? I have glass jars with a lid that hold 20 ounces. I pour the amount of water I want to drink that day and then I will know I have reached my goal for the day. HABIT instead of remembering if I did it or not.
The YES I am struggling with now is exercise. That 30 minutes of brisk walking will suppress my appetite.
What changes can you make to get to YES on your salad? I realized that I feel better when I eat a big salad with many different vegetables. I realized I couldn't eat all I bought before it went bad. I told my niece that I am going to make a big salad and bring her a bag of it as soon as I make it. Getting to YES on veggies and soup could be as simple as sharing with someone else. Two or three of you can be happy and well nourished instead of bored and ready for a change that is NOT MWL.
T,here are plenty of ways to get to YES. I admire you for going to the recipes. You are doing great! Twenty pounds gone proves that you know what to do, can do it and will do it. Yea!
VivianS

I sat down and read this more indepth. Isn't it crazy about the ground flax seed? I noticed similar for myself back in the day (I've been at this for over 10 years...solid for the first 5 and careless more recently) anyway, my weight loss was stable and impressive, and I started having almond milk on homemade, no added fat granola and I watched my loss stop, flat out. Stopped losing weight for the price of a half cup of almond milk a few times a week.

Anyway, I also found a creamy salad dressing recipe that works for me. I don't mind salad, TBH, but the dressing has to be creamy. Never could stand Italian, you know? So I've got plans for salads the next few days, either front loading or as the actual meal. I like to prep a big batch of romaine and spring greens, chopped. Keep in a gallon ziploc in the fridge, and grab a handful or so, and top with veggies. This is easy to do, and I plan on it now that I have a salad dressing that I like.

[Daydream]

Anyway, I also found a creamy salad dressing recipe that works for me. I don't mind salad, TBH, but the dressing has to be creamy. Never could stand Italian, you know?

Hi Buns! What salad dressing recipe is it that you like so much?

[bunsofaluminum]

Friday, July 16, 2021

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. yes...watermelon ftw!
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert. yes
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them. no. Starlight mints
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

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: I didn't post my stuff on the MWL forum this week. It was just a strange week and I guess you could say I'd post a no for everything except 10 and 8. So I'm doing a reset at this point.
For the sake of the guidelines, not the scale, I'm going to follow through for the entire week until next Friday. However, the scale is down by one half a pound. Go figure.

Today I did extremely well. As mentioned before, I am still eating the starlight mints to give myself something of a treat in the midst of rather stressful stuff in my life. It's sweet, and low or zero fat. I could do with less of them, but I'm counting it as better than cheezits or something stupid like that.

I will continue with weighing every day, but I'm detached from it. Don't care what the number is. My daily goal is following these guidelines. Period. I also have some tasty sauces in the fridge and will keep that up. I can't let myself get bored again, because that's when I sabotaged myself, after weeks of eating VERY similar to Mary's Mini with soup and a starch and vegetable for pretty much every meal. Just want to enjoy my food again, you know?

[bunsofaluminum]

Anyway, I also found a creamy salad dressing recipe that works for me. I don't mind salad, TBH, but the dressing has to be creamy. Never could stand Italian, you know?

Hi Buns! What salad dressing recipe is it that you like so much?

Hi Daydream!

It's the Caesar Dressing from this site. https://www.drmcdougall.com/recipes/caesar-dressing/ The recipe calls for almond meal, but I had just finished making some tofu mayonnaise and used that instead. I'm going to try it with cannellini beans next time. The flavors are just amazing! I had a huge salad yesterday, and one today, with about three TBSP of dressing on it each time. Scrum!

But I am absolutely loving how the recipes are presented in this new & improved version of drmcdougall.com! Easy peasey, and a lot of good pics. Love it!

[Daydream]

Thanks Buns! That recipe looks good. It's great when you find the salad dressing that makes you really enjoy your salad.

[bunsofaluminum]

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

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Triumph today, like majorly...we had a potluck with my team at work. We haven't seen each other in person for over a year, and got together today with people bringing dishes to share. I made baked beans and brought a fruit platter and had a great visit. It was so nice seeing everyone's face! loved it! ANDDDDD-ah ...I ate compliant! I didn't have "just a spoonful" of the potato salad or "just one" of the cookies. I ate some baked beans, some fruit, and one of the late comers brought a big bowl of watermelon so I had that for dessert. I did put a spoonful of pasta salad on my plate...just curly noodles with slivers of red pepper. One bite told me there was oil, so I didn't have any more of that.

This is literally the FIRST TIME I've done this while at a party or eating out. Well, when I first got started, right? I ate on plan all the time when I first started. And here I am, satiated. At dinner time I've got a salad and a baked potato ready. It's a huge victory. I ate on plan while surrounded by foods that I have repeatedly "treated and cheated" myself. Noice