Hi Dr.McDougall, Mark, Wildgoose and Jeff,
Weight change this week: -1pounds
Weight Change since starting this MWL weigh-in group in April 1, 2020: -36 pounds!!
Weight change since starting to follow Dr. McDougall’s starch plan: December 29th, 2019: -78 pounds!
1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.YES Always! Meals seem so satisfying and complete by including an appetizer or two! Colourful, too! I think it really adds a lot to each meal and it’s such a simple step to follow.
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 Always! It’s a great way to plan all our meals. I think of the starch first then add a few veggies and/or fruit. It’s straightforward!
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 Always! I am SO aware of saltiness and sweetness and prefer the natural flavours of food more and more. I’ve been at this for 11 months so my palate has steadily adjusted to less added sugars and salts. I am so pleased to find that I don’t need to add much salt at all...just the tiniest sprinkle is often enough to make my food taste 'just right'.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). YES Always. Giving up dairy products was probably the most dramatic change I needed to make and I made the change ‘cold turkey’ last December 29, 2019. I haven’t had ANY dairy products for eleven months so it is possible and also this is proof anyone can do it! Pre-McDougall, my go-to stress relieving food was the ultra-high-fat lemon yogurt. I’m pretty sure it’s what caused my weight to climb steadily over about five years (spurred by stress at work). Looking back it is clear to me that it was definitely the fat content 14% that I ran to for comfort when stressed. Now that I eat starch at every meal, I don’t miss the fat at all. It’s really quite astonishing! It'sfreeing, too!
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). YES once this week I had a teeny tiny bite of my husband’s avocado, just to see what I’m missing. Nothing!!! Yay! I didn’t even like it. I didn’t like the feeling of fatty foods in my mouth anymore. Then I tasted his store bought hummus...yuck! also too oily. My homemade hummus without added oil is what I like best now. I know it’s not fair to say “yuck!’ to my husband as he is eating, but I did! All through this past eleven months I have tried my best to keep quiet about the high fat foods my husband eats. They are all healthy fats, from plants, after all. If he ever decides to lose weight all he will need to do is down on his higher fat plant foods.
6. Eliminate any added oil. YES Always! Our tall bottle of extra virgin olive oil just sits in the cupboard, getting older, unused, unwanted, unneeded... Bonus: our kitchen stays SO clean! Everything sparkles because there isn’t a film of oil or grease anywhere. We have an electric stove so that helps ,too! Everything I cook is super easy to clean...everything I cook is
water soluble, so I can almost wash the dishes with cold water! Who would of guessed that this would be the case!? It’s so much easier without oil!
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 Always I have no interest in these. My husband eats these, though, so they are in our cupboards. Somehow the commitment I made to myself last December means that I don’t have any interest in taking a taste of these. They have lost their appeal for me, so I have no trouble having these available for my husband. And like most, since COVID-19, I don’t need to entertain. It’s sad to not have our kids or company visit but the silver lining is it has really allowed for me to eat simple repetitive menus without trying to impress guests with my cooking.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). YES Always. I keep telling myself that I can have a glass of wine or champagne at a special event if I want to, but then, when I’m there I don’t want to. I have given myself permission to make the choice. So far, in eleven months I have had two small glasses of wine. It was a sweet Reisling, from my favourite vineyard in our grape growing region. So that’s the other thing...I am very aware of what I like and also what I don’t like. My palate is more sensitive to subtle tastes. Why would I drink a wine that isn’t extraordinarily exquisite? It would have to be really worth it when I play out the cost benefit analysis in my mind. As I get closer to being back in to a normal size again the benefits of drinking a high calorie beverage cant compete with the fantastic feelings associated with getting my health back on track.
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’m actually able to distinguish between my feelings of hunger and satiety much more with each passing month of eating the McDougall way. Before I started on the McDougall starch journey I was overeating at almost every opportunity and the result was that I never had a chance to feel hunger. I appreciate the fact that MWL encourages eating until comfortably full because not counting calories or measuring means I never ever feel deprived or shortchanged. I get to eat heartily...from high quality healthy starch based veggies, grains and legumes!
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Yes and this alsois the area I need to improve the most. I try... this week I had a setback when my legs suddenly hurt so badly and my knees were too I couldn’t walk at all one evening. The pain went from my hips down to my ankles and I could barely move. I finally figured out that the pain was originating in my back and decided to add my very firm Therm-o-Rest camping pad onto my side of our mattress to help my back have a more firm rest. Next morning, I felt back to normal! Who knew that a saggy mattress could produce back pain that could extend down both legs!? So, I’m not only right back to moving around I'm planning to go cross country skiing this week! I think we need to buy a new mattress!
My measurements are down many inches since I started eleven months back! When I look in the mirror now, I recognize myself again! Something that propelled me to start this journey was that I saw someone in a photo, they were standing in my kitchen. I wondered who they were...then I realized they were wearing my clothes...and it was me!? I hadn’t recognized myself. Finally, I’m getting back to being my old self. What a relief! I encourage anyone just starting to hang in there. It will take quite a while to lose 95-100 pounds, or whatever amount is necessary for me to find the real me that was hiding away! I’m slowly and steadily getting there! About 15-20 pounds more and I’ll be there so I need to be patient.
Thank you so much everyone! Thank you for your inspiring reports. These are such an inspiration and help! Being a part of this group really makes all the difference for me.writing our reports once a week is very helpful to think through what needs to be considered for continued success. I thank you all for participating by sharing your personal MWL journey through these weekly weigh-ins and discussions.
The visit to our discussion group from Dr. McDougall was SO unexpected and totally exciting! He is my hero for unlocking the truth about healthy eating to me. Without his guidance I would still be eating high fat foods and wondering why I can’t seem to lose weight. It’s absolutely wonderful to receive your encouragement, Dr. McDougall. Thank you SO much!
Thank you everyone and warmest regards,
Noella