January 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Thread

[nat13]

Mark Cooper, (to answer your question) Even though I had a loss of nearly a pound, I struggled with “keeping my hand out of the cookie jar.” With an increase in more difficult exercise, I am a bit more hungry. If I am not prepared food-wise, I reach for a few things I shouldn’t. I can’t do moderation- it’s not for me, so sticking to the plan is huge. I’m highly susceptible to food addiction. Ugh. I’m not beating myself up though. I am confident I can do this. I’ve revisited the lines I can’t cross (SOFAS), and made sure I have a food plan for the week....written down. Sending good vibes to all!

[Wild4Stars]

Ugh. I’m not beating myself up though. I am confident I can do this. I’ve revisited the lines I can’t cross (SOFAS), and made sure I have a food plan for the week....written down. Sending good vibes to all!

I have been with the McDougall program for a couple of decades and I am not familiar with SOFAS - - ?
Can you please explain SOFAS - ? Thanks.

[wildgoose]

Even though I had a loss of nearly a pound, I struggled with “keeping my hand out of the cookie jar.” With an increase in more difficult exercise, I am a bit more hungry. If I am not prepared food-wise, I reach for a few things I shouldn’t. I can’t do moderation- it’s not for me, so sticking to the plan is huge. I’m highly susceptible to food addiction. Ugh. I’m not beating myself up though. I am confident I can do this. I’ve revisited the lines I can’t cross (SOFAS), and made sure I have a food plan for the week....written down.

@nat13, I can identify with not being able to do moderation — I’m the same way. But when I decided to eat close to 100% MWL and also to eliminate added salt and sugar (both of which are problems for me), I had to do two things.

1. Keep my nest clean. No junk food in my house, my car, etc. (I don’t struggle as much with keeping my hand out of the cookie jar if there are no cookies in the jar).
2. Be prepared. Always. Plan ahead. Cook ahead. Cook extras and freeze leftovers. Know in advance exactly how to deal with a specific restaurant or dinner at the in-laws', if that’s coming up on the calendar.

That way, I don’t drive myself nuts. I give myself a better chance of success.

You already have a great start. You know what you need to do. Having a food plan is good. Having it written down is extra motivating. Even better would be to have a lot of it batch cooked and ready to heat up and eat. The idea is to make staying on plan easier than going off plan.

If you know you’re going to be hungrier because you’re exercising more, have starches prepared. Vegetables and fruit are easier to come up with on short notice (assuming you have your freezer well stocked), so concentrate on the starch. I bake 10 sweet potatoes at a time (just as easy as baking 2 — the oven is on anyway). They keep in the fridge for a week. If I’m starved and can’t think of what to eat, I grab a sweet potato and a handful of raw veggies (which are also prepped and ready to go). The sweet potatoes are even good cold!

I cook a big pot of soup, so the Gander and I have hot soup any time we want it. I have a stash of Jeff Novick burgers in the freezer. I have individual containers of cooked brown rice frozen, and as a backup to that, I always keep shelf-stable bowls of brown rice in the cupboard (90 seconds in the microwave). If I can’t face cooking one more meal, it’s broccoli and brown rice, with fruit for dessert.

You can adapt any or all of these suggestions to your own preferences, or come up with better ideas for yourself. But take as much decision-making out of the equation as you can.

Goose

[cbritten101]

Ugh. I’m not beating myself up though. I am confident I can do this. I’ve revisited the lines I can’t cross (SOFAS), and made sure I have a food plan for the week....written down. Sending good vibes to all!

I have been with the McDougall program for a couple of decades and I am not familiar with SOFAS - - ?
Can you please explain SOFAS - ? Thanks.

SOFAS are salt, oil, flour, alcohol, and sugar. From Chef AJs program

[Mark Cooper]

nat13 - I very much can identify with the struggle you are describing. The advice from wildgoose above is excellent and from my perspective covers pretty much all the important points. A thought I would add is that when I have struggled with eating behaviors that felt out of my control in the past, I would often "come down really hard on myself" and then sometimes try to "eat less" or restrict portions to make up for my lapse and that would lead to another lapse and more recriminations, &c. So, if you do stumble, it helps to be kind to yourself, take a moment to really think through where you went off track, recognize that one imperfect decision doesn't erase or invalidate all the good decisions you have made in the past and are able to make in the future, review what you value and move ahead with intent. Just to share, when I was facing these struggles it was nearly always a result of either not eating sufficient servings of adherent food (lack of satiety) or lack of planning / failure to account for the challenges of a situation. I also was troubled for nearly a year by the lingering notion that I ought to be able to have certain calorie dense but "healthful" foods, on occasion as a "treat," to celebrate. In my case, I CAN'T do that; moderation doesn't work for me at all. This was a very difficult lesson to learn, because the answer is different for many people (several of my dear friends in the maintenance group can be less adherent and do just fine and of course all the "experts" on youtube seem to be able to eat a much more expansive sampling of treats ). However, after more than enough episodes of eating an entire box of Rip's Big Bowl in a single sitting, I FINALLY realized that I personally need to just eat MWL exclusively to maintain my health (and sanity ). Once I accepted that I should and could just eat 100% in adherence with the 10-Point Checklist, and I logged sufficient days doing so, things started to become MUCH easier (but it did take TIME).

Good vibes right back at you.

[Mark Cooper]

Just to reiterate and clarify for the group - The MWL Guidelines and the MWL 10-Point Checklist serve as our textbook and are the only program that we follow in this group

In regard to added salt and added sugar, we recommend buying and preparing food without either and if any are to be used, to add them at the table on the surface of the food. If either one is troublesome and create uncontrollable cravings for you, then leave them out.

[alishana]

Thank you so much Mark ! I'm going to check this 2 videos and follow your advices. I'm very grateful for you to take the time to answer.

[Abe]

Thanks wildgoose for commiserating with me regarding my exercising.

I am saddened to learn that Nutritional Yeast is on the caution list. I had be enjoying it on my cooked vegetables and had also just made a weekly batch of the “cheese sauce” https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/education/recipes/mcdougall-recipes/?recipe-id=1452&recipe-name=%E2%80%9CCheese%E2%80%9D-Sauce

Mark Cooper thanks for clarifying the recommended amount of beans as 1 cup or less per day. That is now another area where I can cut down going forward.

[Mark Cooper]

Thanks wildgoose for commiserating with me regarding my exercising.

I am saddened to learn that Nutritional Yeast is on the caution list. I had be enjoying it on my cooked vegetables and had also just made a weekly batch of the “cheese sauce” https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/education/recipes/mcdougall-recipes/?recipe-id=1452&recipe-name=%E2%80%9CCheese%E2%80%9D-Sauce

Mark Cooper thanks for clarifying the recommended amount of beans as 1 cup or less per day. That is now another area where I can cut down going forward.

In regard to nutritional yeast, my understanding is that it is not recommended, but could be allowed if used in moderate amounts (similarly to the recommendations for sugar). The recipe you linked calls for 1/4 cup, which if you were consuming moderately over the course of a whole week, doesn't seem like it would be a major problem. On the other hand, if one were to be eating the whole batch of sauce in a couple days, it could definitely have an impact on progress. When I think about this category of choice, I try to view it in the context of my broad pattern of eating. Is this my only area of concern, or one of several? Overall has it helped me to stay on track, or is it ushering me into the pleasure trap? Keep in mind, as well; what is sufficient for one to see progress at one weight/BMI may not continue to be sufficient as that weight/BMI declines, so decisions may need to be reassessed in the future. Does that make sense to you?

[Abe]

MWL - The M is for Maximum! I want to follow as many guidelines as possible, as often as possible when I am eating at home and in control of what I eat. I will save the borderline slightly inadvisable food for situations when I am traveling or dining out and may need to compromise.

I could lose 40 more pounds before anyone might call me skinny, so I want to maximize my results safely without getting hungry. So far this diet fits the bill, and I am happy to continue to learn how to maximize my results.

Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences, and to Mark Cooper and JeffN for the good advice.
Abe

[Mark Cooper]

I want to follow as many guidelines as possible, as often as possible when I am eating at home and in control of what I eat.

[MaryP]

[quote][/quote]I'm still here I wobbled more than normal so it's time to look at the 10 points and make a plan I'm starting to get tired of the tomato sauce in veggies so I will change that up this week. Maybe just veggies on side might help with the 50/50 plate to see it. [quote][/quote

Try to find some flavored vinegars. They really help to perk up vegetables. I use a really good quality balsamic from Costco. Compared to vinegars at specialty shops, it is cost effective to buy it at Costco because of its quality and size. But I like to shop at specialty shops for flavors. Currently my favorites are lemon and cherry. It's amazing what they do for any vegetable. I use garlic and And a teaspoon or two of one of vinegars and sometimes a teaspoon or two of reduced sodium tamari sauce, which of course adds some sodium. The tamari could be deleted but it does add a lot of flavor.

[laurag]

I'm still here I wobbled more than normal so it's time to look at the 10 points and make a plan I'm starting to get tired of the tomato sauce in veggies so I will change that up this week. Maybe just veggies on side might help with the 50/50 plate to see it.

[/quote

Try to find some flavored vinegars. They really help to perk up vegetables. I use a really good quality balsamic from Costco. Compared to vinegars at specialty shops, it is cost effective to buy it at Costco because of its quality and size. But I like to shop at specialty shops for flavors. Currently my favorites are lemon and cherry. It's amazing what they do for any vegetable. I use garlic and And a teaspoon or two of one of vinegars and sometimes a teaspoon or two of reduced sodium tamari sauce, which of course adds some sodium. The tamari could be deleted but it does add a lot of flavor.

Thank you Mary P I will try the flavors! Love Costco idea

[laurag]

Also Thank u Mark for your thoughts on rice I'm trying to get hubby on board with anything and he likes white rice he is diabetic and it's hard to watch him eat wrong things but if I can concentrate on adding good things , and not yelling at him which I know didn't work and is wrong but it's just so scary and frustrating when I know the solution

[SherryW]

Hi - I'm new to the site and have enjoyed reading about the progress you guys have made over the month - as well as the struggles.

This is actually day 1 of the MWL plan for me. I watched an interview with Dr McDougall last night on YouTube and got interested. I've been pretty much WFPB for a little more than 2 months, but my weight loss seems to go up and down and I learn what to eat. This sounds like what I need to get things moving along.

I'm guessing there will be a new thread next week for February? I should just join in then, but wanted to get something down while it's Day 1 for me.

Weight is 171.6 lbs as of this morning.
My starting point on WFPB was around 190 lbs, I'm 5'2", 53 years old, and trying to get out of the obese category.

For the 10 points -
1. I'm going to add a salad to every meal for now.
2. I'm probably over 50% non-starch right now, so I'll need to work on it.
3. I''ve been eating WFPB with no oil, salt or sugar so got that one covered.
4. Same as 3.
5. Stopped eating those as of today.
6. Same as 3.
7. Stopped eating any whole wheat bread and raisins as of today. That's all I had from the list.
8. I have only drank water for over a month, so that one's covered too.
9. This is a work in progress for me, but something to be mindful of.
10. This is probably what I need to work on most. I'm working up to 30 minutes a day.

I do have a question though.
I know you're not really supposed to count calories, but my calorie count today was really, really low.
I was satisfied, ate when hungry, didn't stuff myself, enjoyed my food, but I put it into an app out of curiosity, and only came up with 716.
Do you guys have any rules about how low is too low? Or is this how the maximum weight loss is accomplished?

I look forward to getting to know you guys better. It seems like a very supportive, helpful and non-judgemental community.