February 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[Gimmelean]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -2.6
2/05/21 128
2/12/2021 125.4

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 7/7. 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 dessert. 7/7
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.6/7
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).6/7
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).6/7
6. Eliminate any added oil.7/7
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. 6/7
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).7/7
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.7/7
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).5/7

Victories, comments, concerns,questions:
This week I lost 2.6 pounds. Directly attributable to success with the scale this week, I adhered to the checklist for most items, most days, and more than the past few weeks and months. This week again we had snowstorms and icy sidewalks which kept me from walking/ running every day as I’m accustomed. I exercised three times using websites and videos, ran and walked twice. After dinner most days I continued to leave the kitchen and went upstairs which helped me not to eat during the time I tend to indulge when not hungry. To set the tone for the week I made a huge pot of Jeff’s easy recipe for longevity soup which I enjoyed in quantity every day and lots of potatoes. Easy 50/50. Makes the program very livable and much more doable. Some days I really had to fight cravings not to eat foods not on MWL. I only gave in twice. Two moments vs. days or weeks at a time as I’ve been always likely to do. Progress feels good. I’ll take it.

Have an excellent week!

[moonlight]

Weight Change: - 1lbs
Points from the MWL Checklist where I succeeded this week
1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 14/21
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. 18/21
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. 7/7
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). 7/7
6. Eliminate any added oil. 7/7
Points from the MWL Checklist that need greater attention
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy) 2/7.
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. 1/7
8. Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). 2/7
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don’t starve yourself and don’t stuff yourself. 6/7
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). 3/7

General impressions & observations / resources to share / sources of excitement / requests for input & support
I am logging what I eat and how well I succeed at our MWL goals each day. I'm counting the first two goals about meals as 21 occurrences in a week. The rest of the goals are counted as one for each day. This is my first full week so I will compare next week's accomplishments to this week. What I feel good about is that I prepared food in advance. It helped me stay on course throughout the day. I plan to continue this habit as well as recording my daily outcome. I want to celebrate having one day that I accomplished all the goals. I'm disappointed that I got caught in the Pleasure Trap at night. Again, my worst time is after evening meal until morning. I ate some dairy products. This is very disappointing because dairy is such a gateway to derailing me. While this week I will focus on the other goals that need work, I plan to focus mostly on this goal. I succeeded 2/7 nights. The first was the first day of the week and the second was the last day of the week. Last night I struggled with wanting dairy but I won that battle! This all reminds me of a poem by Portia Nelson. I'll include it for anyone who is not familiar with it. (I linger in the Chapter 3 state. I can get to Chapter 5. I have before. )
There's a Hole in My Sidewalk
Chapter 1
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost… I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.
Chapter 2
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend that I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in this same place.
But, it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
Chapter 3
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in … it’s a habit … but, my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
Chapter 4
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
Chapter 5
I walk down another street.

Thank you, Mark, for encouraging all of us to return each week and keep trying to accomplish our goals. You are always inspiring. And, thank you to wildgoose and JeffN for your time and energy to provide us with the tools to succeed.

May you all have a great week!

[wildgoose]

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.

This is not to say that there’s not a certain degree of "white knuckling" involved. There is, but the degree diminishes with time as well. And it’s not constant. Get through the worst of it, and it slacks off and gives you a break (by contrast — feed it, and it returns in a few hours with a vengeance).

Help yourself out. Avoid that tempting break room at work. Don’t announce it, don’t make excuses for it, just stop going in there. Keep healthy snacks in your desk. Go for a brief stroll, weather permitting.

Clean up your home environment as much as you can. Negotiate getting rid of the most tempting stuff, and let your spouse and kids keep the stuff that’s less of a problem for you — as long as they keep it out of sight and out of easy reach. The idea is to put time and barriers between you and the junk. Make it hard to get to. Have good, compliant food ready and available AT ALL TIMES (how many "slips" are caused by "I’m starved, and there’s nothing healthy to eat, so I’ll Just This Once have _________"?).

Plan. Plan. Plan. Plan as though your life depended on it, because it does. Plan so MWL becomes easy, so you’re not so tired and fed up that you rebel and eat whatever you want. Plan so you’re not facing next January 1 with the same extra pounds, tight clothes and health issues that you faced at the beginning of this year.

Keep it simple. Get really good at a few meals that you really like. Stop chasing recipes. Stop thinking that you can find a sauce that tastes just like cheese or a dressing that tastes just like Hidden Valley Ranch, because you can’t.

OK, enough honking and flapping from the Goose here. Time to settle in for a leisurely paddle around my pond (figuratively) and hope you all can do the same.

Goose

[josietheschnauzer]

Need to post fast before noon. I haven't read wild goose's post yet but my scanning it, wish I had taken it to funeral.

Weight change +/- in lbs: +3
1. Start each meal with soup/salad/fruit:
2. Follow 50/50 plate method for meals: Yes
3. Reduce or eliminate added sugars and salts: No, too much sodium
4. No animal foods: Yes
5. No higher fat plant foods (nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy): Yes
6. No added oil: No!
7. No higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit: No!
8. Don't drink calories: No!
9. Follow principles, eat when hungry & until comfortably full. Don't starve and don't stuff: Stuffed!
10. Avoid being sedentary. Exercise at least 30 minutes daily: Yes
Victories, comments, concerns, questions: SOOOOO, my success is weighing today and writing it down. I had major emotional turmoil and eating with death and funeral of an old friend--not covid related. Yes, at "repast" I ate fat foods and plain bread. Yes, it was the pleasure trap. Yes, I am now dealing with the aftermath......thank you.

[josietheschnauzer]

Yes, I definitely should have read Wild Goose's post before the funeral and my subsequent eating . Thank you for writing it. I have copied it.

[wildgoose]

SOOOOO, my success is weighing today and writing it down. I had major emotional turmoil and eating with death and funeral of an old friend--not covid related. Yes, at "repast" I ate fat foods and plain bread. Yes, it was the pleasure trap. Yes, I am now dealing with the aftermath......thank you.

@josietheschnauzer You bring up something else I should have included in my post. Sometimes life throws you a curve and then kicks you when you’re down. You just have to pick up and start again. No guilt, no recriminations, just keep going — in other words, do exactly what you’re doing. You’re not letting a hard emotional time and the consequences of that lead you to 6 months down the rabbit hole (from which you then emerge, blinking, 20 pounds heavier, wondering "what happened?"). That's success in my book.

Goose

[Ejg]

Starting weight: 204
Last week: 201.4
This week: 201.6
week over week change: +0.2

Despite a +0.2 lb gain this week I was pleased with the effort and feel confident moving forward. I try to keep it "positive" and not dwell too much on where I veered from the path, but once this week I found myself very tired and rushed and ate toast, apples and peanut butter (x4) which is not terribly off track, but the PB isn't helping to dilute the calories consumed. For reasons I can't explain I also bought a package of dates at the store this week because I like to eat them frozen.....I knew dried fruits are a no-no but....somehow rationalized. Despite this I feel like I have an awareness of what happened, and strategies to deal with it in the future, and so still feel positive about things despite a 0.2 lb gain. I can completely understand why obesity could be considered a behavioral problem. So much of what I've had difficulty controlling for has been purely behavioral. Not stopping though.


1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Yes, I started every meal besides breakfast with salad.
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. Filled my plate with steamed broccoli or cauliflower for nearly every meal.
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 added sugar or salt.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Yup
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Yup
6. Eliminate any added oil. No added 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. Ate frozen dried dates
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Yup
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. I think I did pretty good with this one this week.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Swung kettlebells at least 5 out of last 7 days.

[JaBee]

Weight change +/- in lbs:

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 6/7
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. 7/7
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. 7/7
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). 7/7
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). 7/7
6. Eliminate any added oil. 7/7
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. 7/7
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).7/7
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
6/7
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). 6/7

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: better compliance this week, food prep helped and also Mark’s suggestions last week to keep compliant foods available

Some Useful Links

[JaBee]

Oops- forgot to include loss for last week- down 1.4 lbs

[Noella]

Dear Mark, Wildgoose, and Jeff, and all MWL participants,



- .2 pounds Yay! Another teeny tiny change in the direction I am always hoping to see when I get on the scale.

1. Yes, I started each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
2. Yes, I followed the 50/50 plate method for my meals, filling half my plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
3. Yes, I have greatly reduced added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. I find a tiny bit of lemon juice brings things up a notch. I’m trying to use less vinegar as it was getting to be too much on almost everything!
4. Yes, I eliminated all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. Yes, I eliminated all higher-fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. Yes, I eliminated added oil.
7. Yes, I eliminated all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
8. Yes, I do not drink calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
9. Yes, I followed these principles, eating whenever hungry until comfortably full. I didn’t starve or stuff. Comfortably full for me might be quite a bit more than it should be...for fruit especially... I know I am still overeating on fruit. I’m trying SO hard to use the principles of calorie density to allow myself to eat heartily of more volume of lower density foods.
10. No I’m not getting at least 30 minutes of exercise each day. Too cold! -20 - -25 degrees Celsius all this week, happily the cold spell is ending today and it will be a lot warmer...so I will be back out on the cross country ski trails starting tomorrow

I SO appreciate all of the information and encouragement from EVERYONE.
Moonlight: Thsnks for sharing that! I really like the poem called ‘autobiography in chapters’ by Portia Nelson. Thanks for posting that!
I really enjoy reading about each person’s experiences and inspirational ideas.
Wild Goose: Thanks so much, Wild Goose, for your last entry. You have the clear voice of experience! I have copied what you wrote today and saved it to my collection of inspiring thoughts that keep me on this track to better health!

For Valentines Day, instead of a big family dinner at a restaurant, I have booked a horse drawn sleigh ride through the forest for our family of nine (extra fun for one of my daughters who loves horses!). I love being outdoors in the alpine fir forests in winter. It’s an extravagant purchase but its a great way to celebrate with an experience (one I have always wanted to do!) rather than food and probably at close to the same cost we might of spent on a restaurant meal for nine people with desserts and wine etc. ...also we will hopefully get some great family photos to keep and enjoy. More and more I’m trying to change our lifestyle to include more recreational activities that do not involve eating or drinking or unhealthy food.


My best regards to everyone. Please keep sharing your stories; I love to read them

Have a great week following the guidelines because they lead to better health. Choose healthy living over all else that’s out there. Happy Valentines Day!

Noella

[Mark Cooper]

The window for reporting this week's weigh-in and behavioral results has officially closed.

The remainder of my replies and the weekly summary will follow.

[Mark Cooper]

birdy birdy - Excellent work with the majority of the recommendations! Since you assessed that being unprepared was substantially responsible for the turn to calorie rich foods, any changes you might make in your routine to help yourself be better prepared moving forward? Always onward!

carwex - Down a pound! Definitely a good week, Carol; solid attention to the fundamentals. I'm sure feeling everything lighten up and smooth out is very gratifying. Great idea to use some richer "add-ins" to supplement MWL recipes for your son and grandson!

squealcat - Way to stay consistent with those daily walks, Marilyn! I know it probably doesn't feel like it during this "white knuckle" phase, but with sufficient adherence over time you'll be able to integrate the fundamentals of MWL into your daily life in much the same way as walking. As you observe, you won't lose anything of value, and eating, feeling and being well will likewise be something you won't want to give up. Do you think the times when your behavior went astray were driven mainly by cravings and temptation, lack of adequate preparation, social situations or some combination of all these?

chef16 - Really good progress, Doreen! I'm so happy you found your way back onto the path! Your intuition that foregoing the first bite or drink of non adherent foods is a great way to prevent the parade of exceptions that typically follow will ring true for many of us. I've definitely found abstinence an easier path than "moderation."

CindyD - Another .8 lbs gone! Happy Birthday! I'm glad the vegan pizza didn't foreshadow impending challenges; knowing that it didn't taste very good seems like valuable information to inform future decisions. Stay warm!

UncleMike - Fantastic progress! Congratulations on those significant changes in your biomarkers! I'm sure seeing those concrete improvements as a result of your efforts is very encouraging. Keep it up!

Gimmelean - Awesome! Two momentary exceptions vs. days or weeks of the same is a powerful contrast, and a real testament to your attention and effort. You planned and prepared to succeed, made a point of staying active, and applied tactics and strategies that have worked for you in the past, as needed. Finding those specific practices that make the program livable and adherence most attainable is the key to durable success.

Moonlight - Down a pound! Big congratulations on your 100% day! Having adherent food prepared is a great way to support your efforts; well done! That evening / night interval can definitely be very fraught. Would it help to set your intention on always (at minimum) eating adherent foods BEFORE you indulge in anything non adherent? Something else that I've found useful: after dinner, I brush my teeth. I never eat anything after that, because I don't want to brush my teeth again. (Of course, if one is actually hungry, eating adherent food is always the wise choice.) Thanks for sharing the poem, it seems very relevant to our efforts here.

josietheschnauzer - My condolences for the loss of your friend, Elsa. I want to reinforce your observation that reporting today, given the turmoil and challenges, is a success worth noting. I don't really have much to add to wildgoose's excellent post, except to say that you have broken free of the Pleasure Trap before, and you have the knowledge, tools, and dedication to do it again.

Ejg - I think you should be pleased with your efforts, Eric; you gave consistent attention to the recommended behaviors! It sounds like you have absorbed the lessons presented by this weeks deviations, and built some strategies for further improving adherence. If you don't mind, would you be willing to share some of those ideas with the group (in case other participants could apply similar strategies in their routines)? Not stopping!

JaBee - Outstanding! Definite progress with the recommendations. I'm glad the time spent on preparation seemed helpful. Carry on with your diligent efforts!

Noella - YAY! Those teeny tiny changes add-up to you getting closer and closer to your ultimate goal! -20! Stay warm! Your Valentine's Day celebration sounds amazing; what a wonderful way to mark the occasion. I'm sure you will come away with some great photos and great memories.

[Mark Cooper]

Please note - I replied to each participant individually in the two lengthy posts linked below, provided that their reports followed the guidelines for weigh-ins.

Mark's Replies for February 12 - Part 1
Mark's Replies for February 12 - Part 2

By my count, 23 participants reported for our second February 2021 MWL weigh-in! If I neglected to include anyone, or you notice an error in the tally, please let me know (via PM so we can keep the thread as tidy as possible, or in a post here if you cannot PM).

Here are the results for the second Friday in February:

Week ending 2/12/2021: 23 participants reported a total loss of -13.40 pounds
--------------------------------------------------
Josietheschnauzer +3.00
Hope410 +1.80
Texaslil +1.80
Squealcat +0.90
Ejg +0.20
--------------------------------------------------
Total gains: +7.70
--------------------------------------------------
NO CHANGE / MAINTAIN / STARTING OUT
birdy birdy 0.00
Cmcavazos 0.00
Jkcook 0.00
--------------------------------------------------
GreenFroG -0.20
Noella -0.20
Wstokes -0.60
CindyD -0.80
Carwex -1.00
HoustonJason -1.00
Moonlight -1.00
PonysPlants -1.00
JaBee -1.40
Artista -1.60
UncleMike -1.90
Chef16 -2.00
Gimmelean -2.60
Rebecka22 -2.60
Belcimo -3.20
--------------------------------------------------
Total losses: -21.10
--------------------------------------------------
Cumulative group loss for February 2021 to date: 15.00 pounds
Average loss for week ending February 12: 0.58 pounds
Cumulative group loss for January 2021: 117.20 pounds
--------------------------------------------------

Next Weigh-In is on Friday, February 19, 2021.


My congratulations to all our participants! You are here, week-in, week-out, putting in the work, learning, occasionally getting knocked down, picking yourselves up, and persevering. That counts for something!

In case anyone missed seeing it, I want to direct your attention to the solid gold advice and analysis wildgoose offered this week.

It inspired me to share a sampling of the many excellent posts wildgoose has contributed over the past year, since newer group members likely missed out (and a refresher for veterans is nice, too).

Here is an awesome discussion of the difficulties inherent in the notion of "is this food OK?"

She explains being committed to the journey, and what maintenance looks like day to day here.

This look into how to handle the Pleasure Trap (from November) seems particularly applicable to some of the challenges raised in this week's reports. It closes with a sentiment I find really inspiring -

MWL is a choice. A choice you’re making for your health and your weight, to get where you want to be. It gets easier with time. Does the Pleasure Trap ever quit tempting you? No. You learn to stay away from the biggest temptations, and how to get right back into the groove if you stray. But are you ever totally immune? No. It’s always a choice. I look at a year-plus at goal weight, a level of health that I haven’t known in years, a wardrobe where everything is comfortably loose and everything in the closet fits — and I’m OK with not having some of my old comfort foods around.

MWL is a choice! You are choosing to behave in ways that best serve your health and wellbeing, and satisfy your important goals. Remember, you always have the opportunity to make that choice RIGHT NOW, irrespective of past history. So think about what you want in your life, and choose wisely.

Best wishes for an amazing week!

[josietheschnauzer]

Thank you, Mark! Yes, it almost "killed" me to post that gain after eating that fat..... Yes, I am now eating correctly.....but just as you reminded us through Wild Goose's earlier post and something I think Jeff wrote....the pleasure trap won't go away...our environment is saturated with ways to deviate....yes, yes, yes, I need to plan for these emotional times. Thank you, all again.

[birdy birdy]

"Since you assessed that being unprepared was substantially responsible for the turn to calorie rich foods, any changes you might make in your routine to help yourself be better prepared moving forward?"

Thank you for your question, Mark. A couple of thoughts. I am definitely a morning person and so I try hard to accomplish 80% of my tasks in the morning hours. I struggle between exercising and preparing food for the day. Exercise is always how I begin my day unless I have to go grocery shopping. (During Covid, this is an early morning adventure.) So when I get sidetracked after exercising and don't get right into the kitchen to prep, if there are not enough leftovers to carry the day, then I'm sunk.

It seems like I have limited productive hours to accomplish these two main tasks. Afternoons and evenings are caught up with meetings and meet-ups. I try really hard to batch cook and keep enough basic starches in the fridge that are ready to combine for recipes but I am not the only person in the household who dips into these prepared ingredients. Since I have made these MWL changes, my husband has been quite supportive while at the same time he will get into my prepped food and sabotage my preparations. I don't want to get mad at him, but it's not helpful for me overall. I am struggling with this.

More often than not, evening meet-ups occur spontaneously and they can get in the way of dinner due to time zone differences. Also, the meet-ups often involve alcoholic beverages. I'm pretty good about avoiding that aspect of it, but not always.

I bought a new set of freezer containers for individually packaging meal portions and freezing them, to get ahead. I also have announced a section of the fridge as "my territory" for my containers of veggie soup that I use as a preload for all my meals. My husband got his nose out of joint about that, so I'm not sure how long that plan is sustainable. So as you can see, I'm trying to figure this all out. Right now it just seems as though there are simply not enough hours in the day to get it all done.