February 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Thread

For those wanting to learn about and follow the McDougall Maximum Weight Loss Program. You can also join our monthly weigh-ins.

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Re: February 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Thread

Postby ltolar » Fri Feb 21, 2020 7:43 pm

Weight loss for 2/21/2020: -0.2 lbs

This week had several week-end days (3) that I was not following the diet. It took several days to recover. Hopefully next week, I will do better.
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Re: February 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Thread

Postby colleenaprn » Sat Feb 22, 2020 5:21 am

I find myself getting frustrated this week with my slow progress. I feel that is is taking forever to lose this weight! I now have a mantra I have been saying to myself "trust the process." It took me years to gain this weight, it is not going to go away overnight. I continue to keep a journal of what I eat, follow the rules of this group, get my water in daily and exercise at least 150 minutes a week.
This week:
weight: 216
lost 3 pounds

For everyone that is struggling, including myself, this WOE works! Trust the process and take it one day at a time.
I hope everyone has a blessed week :D
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Re: February 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Thread

Postby moonlight » Sat Feb 22, 2020 6:57 am

Weight change - 1 lb
Points from the MWL Checklist where I succeeded this week

Starting each meal with soup, salad, or fruit has become fairly routine. My meals don't feel complete without the "first course".
Reducing salt has become routine, which took some effort in the beginning and is now routine.
I had no problems with eliminating oils and high fat plant foods and flour products.
Points from the MWL Checklist that need greater attention
Lately, eliminating animal foods needs a lot of focus and attention. I succeeded at that this week but it took a lot of focus and discipline.
General impressions & observations / resources to share / sources of excitement / requests for input & support
I really appreciate the support of this group. When I headed down the slippery slope toward the SAD I leaned heavily on comments from people on this forum. I realized how I really had no one to talk to about this in my daily life who really understands the challenges we face. It dawned on me how isolated I am with regard to my approach to eating. Thank you all for being here. :D

I feel much stronger this week, like I've grown in some way. Some new realizations and some finer points to my approach to this WOE. I watched a couple of videos. I really enjoyed the video by Andrew from Spudfit, which was recorded at one of the McDougall weekend retreats. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=52853 I'm not advocating for the potato only diet. I just found his talk about the way he decided to change his SAD to a more healthy diet inspiring.

Thank you, Mark, for your patience and dedication to this group!! :D
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Re: February 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Thread

Postby stillcrazy » Sat Feb 22, 2020 7:43 am

Up 2.2 lbs. this week.

I had a difficult week, including a couple of times of eating out. I know my salt intake was higher than usual, so I hope I can see a loss again now that I am back to normal. I definitely overate this week too. Pretty much off plan with MWL but the good thing I can say is that I was totally with the McDougall plan though, which feels like progress to me because in the past my bad days would include really bad food, like cheese and ice cream in particular.

Also weight gain weeks for me in the past often meant not posting here. So at least I am still here! Vee
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Re: February 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Thread

Postby JaBee » Sat Feb 22, 2020 8:37 am

Down 2.4#
Success: Was able to resume half starch/visible at meals, but -
Challenge: trouble feeling satisfied but too full if I eat too much at one sitting and unable to eat frequently — any suggestions
Otherwise, adhered to all 10 points
Thanks,
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Re: February 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Thread

Postby Carrieann » Sat Feb 22, 2020 9:00 am

200.3 -- February 21, 2020
Weight change = + .04

Points from MWL Checklist that need greater attention:
1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. – Did this for 4 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. – Did this for 4 days
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). – Didn’t get 20-30 minutes of exercise this week. – To get ready for 5K walk at end of March, upped daily steps to 5,750. Hit this goal yesterday at 5,840, and 4 days I was at 5K+ steps.

Points from the MWL Checklist where I succeeded this week
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. – Continued using only Dulse flakes once a day as directed by doctor instead because I need the extra iodine.
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Ate the 3 Brazil nuts/day most days. However, did not have any nuts or nut-based anything this entire week!

General impressions & observations / resources to share / sources of excitement / requests for input & support
Drank more water this week, along with getting the extra movement and upping my daily steps. Not sure why I went up .04 this week, but it’s not the end of the world. I know that our weight constantly fluctuates. I need to work on making certain that I continue planning my meals out in advance. That seems to be the area where I need to improve most. Still quite tired and lacking energy as I work through adjusting thyroid med.

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Re: February 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Thread

Postby BlackBeanSoup » Sat Feb 22, 2020 9:42 am

OK, I am back!

I am feeling much better this week and my appetite is back to normal. I noticed I am sliding away from 50/50 so I am going to watch that more carefully this upcoming week. Still struggling with daily exercise, but spring ahead will be here soon and I am starting to feel like I *want* to exercise so I am sure I will turn the corner soon.
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Re: February 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Thread

Postby Drew* » Sat Feb 22, 2020 12:23 pm

Weight change on Friday: 174.6 lb …-1.7 lb
Down 10.6 lb since January 2020 start date (plus calculation from week before).

Success: Made a great batch of longevity soup (a recipe from 2010) that I find myself cooking more than the other recipes. This time I added garbanzo bean, cannellini bean, and cubed squash to the mix that included kale other veggies. I doubled it up and added a little water when cleaning out the containers. Here is the link to the recipe:

https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2010nl/apr/recipes.htm

Also, I did not snack on anything that was not part of the plan (except, see below).

Greater attention: I did not do as much exercise this week, unless my walking during the day counts (see below under “request for input”). However, I exercised at the gym last week on Saturday and will do so again today. Today it will be Yoga, weight lifting and perhaps running and biking. Or it could just be walking to a restaurant that serves brown rice, veggies, etc… On Thursday I did my straight lifts and hope to increase doing that this week. I am mostly compliant with some liquid calorie on Friday/Saturday, but that is it.

Request for input: Does walking (I do walk fast when on the street, but my google fit app records all walking)? Averages are in following order: walking+specific exercise (lifts/running/yoga)=total minutes:

Sat: 38+55=93
Sun: 67+0=67
Mon: 45+52=97
Tue: 51+0=51
Wed: 0 (not sure why there is no recording because I walked some)=?
Thu: 55+30=85
Fri: 72+0=72

Have a great week.

Drew
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Re: February 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Thread

Postby Mark Cooper » Sat Feb 22, 2020 3:33 pm

Stephanie - Huzzah for no snack attacks and congrats on your excellent adherence! Enjoy your walk & your week! :D

ltolar - Going off plan for a period of days can certainly lead to a struggle in "recovering." Any ideas for how you'll make your path to adherence more attainable in the coming week?

colleenaprn - Let me take a moment to affirm and acknowledge that 3 lbs in a week is great progress! Also, unless I'm mistaken your weight has dropped 13 lbs since the start of January, which is a nice, steady and safe progression of weight loss over that duration. I can imagine how frustrating it can feel when our progress toward a goal is happening more slowly than we would wish (especially when it feels incongruent with the level of effort we are making). I think you are wise to concentrate on "trusting the process" - keep in mind our goal is for you to learn the program, enjoy the food and change your lifestyle in a way that will be healthy and sustainable. It is somewhat analogous to "cramming" for a test vs. really studying and learning to integrate the new information and concepts. One can stay up all night frantically trying to study, take the test in the morning and maybe even get an "A," but was anything really learned? Most of the time that info vanishes from the mind almost as quickly as it was crammed in. Similarly, there are numerous ways that people can lose weight fairly rapidly, but how many sustain that weight loss in the long-term, much less build a lifestyle that promotes health? I think your continued attention to journaling, and adhering to the MWL 10-Point Checklist is exactly the right tactic, and is worthy of taking a moment to acknowledge that it is no small achievement. Good for you!

moonlight - Having several MWL principles become routine is great progress, and kudos for successfully eliminating animal foods even though it was difficult this week! I appreciate knowing that the group helped to provide beneficial support in enduring that struggle; I think many of us (myself included) easily forget what an important part community plays in all our lifestyle choices and habits. Thank you so much for your kind words. :)

Vee - I'm sorry your week felt difficult - dining out can be such a challenge. Making decisions consistent with the McDougall plan rather than retreating to a SAD diet is certainly progress worth noting. I applaud you for showing up and reporting even during a week that you consider less than ideal. :thumbsup:

JaBee - Kudos on a nice loss and putting the 50/50 plate into action! One idea might be to make your "helping" of food slightly smaller, then go back for similarly modest portions for seconds (or even thirds), so you have a bit more granular control over feeling satiated without being stuffed. Another strategy might be to slightly increase your ratio of starch and see how that works in relation to satiety. Your weight loss generally seems to have been quite steady, so fine-tuning the amount of starch might be worth some experimentation.

Carrieann - It sounds like the points that you feel require more attention would all probably get easier with some extra time spent on planning and preparation, so I think your intuition there has you on the right track. Nice progress on your daily activity and good for you not allowing other nuts, nut butters, &c. to work their way into your daily meals. (Carrieann, I know that you are already aware of the following sentence on calorie density; I want to tell you directly that I'm not intending the information below as a way of second-guessing your doctor's advice or decisions related to your medication and present health situation). Just so there is no confusion for the group in regard to the principles of MWL, and particularly for the benefit of newer participants or guests who may be reading along - brazil nuts are not recommended for MWL as they are higher fat and calorie dense. Jeff covers some additional considerations for brazil nuts here.

BlackBeanSoup - I'm relieved to hear you are feeling better and your appetite has improved! Now that you are actually feeling more hungry, it makes sense to allocate some attention to the 50/50 plate. I'm so anxious for spring! What type of exercise are you considering?

Drew* - That soup sounds like a dish after my own heart! Yummm! Kudos for you excellent adherence this week. Speaking for myself, if I was walking briskly (for me that's ~4 mph) and getting in an aggregate amount of walking at that speed in excess of 30 minutes, I would consider myself as having successfully fulfilled the guideline that day.
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Weigh-In Report Compilation - February 21, 2020

Postby Mark Cooper » Sat Feb 22, 2020 5:18 pm

By my count, 24 participants reported for our third February 2020 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).

Here are the results for the third Friday in February:

Week ending 2/21/2020: 24 participants reported a total loss of 20.40 pounds
--------------------------------------------------
Stillcrazy +2.20
LennieP +2.00
Frowsyowl +1.60
Carrieann +0.40
Pbnew +0.30
--------------------------------------------------
Total gains: +6.50
--------------------------------------------------
NO CHANGE / MAINTAIN / STARTING OUT
Laurag 0.00
--------------------------------------------------
Ltolar -0.20
VGuzman -0.20
BlackBeanSoup -0.40
VegSeekingFit -0.60
NomeOslo -0.80
Butterfly043 -1.00
Lbell -1.00
Moonlight -1.00
Wstokes -1.00
Abe -1.10
Rlechols -1.50
Drew* -1.70
Aprincess -1.80
Chaz01 -2.40
JaBee -2.40
Deweyswakms -2.80
Colleenaprn -3.00
Stormy -4.00
--------------------------------------------------
Total losses: -26.90
--------------------------------------------------
Cumulative group loss for February 2020: -78.60 pounds
Average loss for third week of February 2020: -0.85 pounds
Cumulative group loss for January 2020: 384.15 pounds

Next Weigh-In is on Friday, February 28, 2020

A big WOOT-WOOT!!! for everyone who made the choice to report and participate this week! Well done!

The practice of using the MWL 10-Point Checklist to evaluate behaviors each day seems to have proven useful for several participants during this past week. Taking a moment to note and assess that day's choices (i.e., 9/10, 8/10, &c.) was definitely a tool I valued greatly in my own efforts to habituate MWL behaviors (as evidenced by my journal). Yesterday, Sue mentioned in the Maintenance thread that she had been using the Checklist for the regular McDougall Plan in a similar, but slightly different way. She's been scoring each of her meals against the checklist and equating them proportionally to contribute to a total "grade" for the day; e.g., each of three meals comprising a third of that day's score. What I found REALLY interesting about this was that she noted this method had helped her to better stay on track throughout the course of the day by eliminating the opportunity to make a "Oh, I've already deviated from rule XYZ during lunch, so I might as well go ahead and make that same deviation at dinner . . ." rationalization for further off-plan choices. I have to admit, I had never really thought about that problem in this particular way, but after reading her thoughts it totally makes sense to me. This seems like a method for making use of the MWL Checklist that could be really helpful for some people - for others that level of granular attention may be counterproductive. I would encourage everyone to take a moment to consider whether using this idea might work for them. If I were to do this, I'd just score each meal out of 10 and add up the results for a cumulative score; so 30/30 would be 100% adherence or an A+. I'd include my exercise for the entire day in the score for each meal, so by exercising I automatically have 3/30 (or 2/20 for two meals). That's just my first thought for a way to use this concept, but I think it may have value for a couple reasons - in addition to helping provide an immediate opportunity to get the day back on track at the very next meal, it also provides a fairly precise way to quantify one's level of adherence from day to day and week to week. Rather than having the general sense that I need to pay more attention to salt or the 50/50 plate, I would be able to see precisely how many meals were affected and be able to tell how much I was improving over the course of the week or several weeks. Again, this may not work for everybody (or even anybody) in the MWL group, but I'd be curious to hear what some of you think and how you might apply the concept. If anyone wants to give it a try for the week as an experiment, I'd be very excited to hear how it goes.

I wish you all a fantastic week filled with excellent opportunities! Take care & be well.
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Re: February 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Thread

Postby Carrieann » Sun Feb 23, 2020 8:42 am

Mark Cooper wrote:
Carrieann - It sounds like the points that you feel require more attention would all probably get easier with some extra time spent on planning and preparation, so I think your intuition there has you on the right track. Nice progress on your daily activity and good for you not allowing other nuts, nut butters, &c. to work their way into your daily meals. (Carrieann, I know that you are already aware of the following sentence on calorie density; I want to tell you directly that I'm not intending the information below as a way of second-guessing your doctor's advice or decisions related to your medication and present health situation). Just so there is no confusion for the group in regard to the principles of MWL, and particularly for the benefit of newer participants or guests who may be reading along - brazil nuts are not recommended for MWL as they are higher fat and calorie dense. Jeff covers some additional considerations for brazil nuts here.



Hi Mark,

There is some personal irony in the whole plan & prepare message. I know how well it can work. So that's what I need to work on within the specific points in the checklist.

I appreciate the links provided regarding brazil nuts and selenium/zinc which Jeff posted. I would much rather eat other foods that I enjoy the taste of--I don't like the brazil nuts. As for my doctor's advice, I have not seen eye-to-eye with her, and we did go round and round about added oil--she stopped pushing me when I said that it's not good for my epithelials. She also has not paid much attention to my repetitively mentioning I have absorption issues. Sometimes it is just a hit-and-miss with her. I also keep in mind something I have heard said--that many physicians do not receive that many overall hours in nutrition training.

When it comes to sources of selenium (and in general where she kept pushing me toward having more fats in my diet), I will chock that up to her not being aware of the alternatives. Although I am still learning to enjoy mushrooms, I can certainly start mixing up the other veggies and beans that contain selenium instead.

This is why I'm am so thankful for the MWL forums and the support it has provided all of us in our quest to be our healthier selves!
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Re: February 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Thread

Postby Mark Cooper » Sun Feb 23, 2020 10:33 am

Carrieann - I certainly have found that my own personal doctor has very little insight into nutrition. I'm so glad you find the group to be a useful support, I agree that the entire Dr. McDougall discussion board is a remarkable resource. I thought I'd include the list of foods you referenced, so it was easily at hand here in the thread -
JeffN wrote:For Selenium (per 200 Calories)

Mushrooms, brown, Italian, or Crimini, raw Selenium: 193mcg
Mushrooms, straw, canned, drained solids Selenium: 95mcg
Mushrooms, shiitake, cooked, without salt Selenium: 89mcg
Mushrooms, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt Selenium: 85mcg
Mushrooms, portabella, raw [Portabello] Selenium: 85mcg
Mushrooms, white, raw Selenium: 85mcg
Asparagus, cooked, boiled, drained Selenium: 55mcg
Asparagus, cooked, boiled, drained, with salt Selenium: 55mcg
Asparagus, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt Selenium: 43mcg
Couscous, cooked Selenium: 49mcg
Spaghetti, whole-wheat, cooked Selenium: 42mcg
Spinach, frozen, chopped or leaf, unprepared Selenium: 41mcg
Oat bran, cooked Selenium: 39mcg
Mushrooms, canned, drained solids Selenium: 33mcg
Selenium: 32mcg Mushrooms, shiitake, dried Selenium: 31mcg
Seeds, sesame seed kernels, dried (decorticated) Selenium: 31mcg
Seeds, sunflower seed kernels, dry roasted, without salt Selenium: 27mcg
Broccoli, frozen, chopped, unprepared Selenium: 22mcg
Broccoli, flower clusters, raw Selenium: 21mcg
Lettuce, red leaf, raw Selenium: 19mcg
Rice, brown, long-grain, cooked Selenium: 18mcg
Beans, pinto, mature seeds, canned Selenium: 17mcg
Cabbage, red, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt Selenium: 16mcg
Broccoli, raw Selenium: 15mcg
Lima beans, large, mature seeds, canned Selenium: 11mcg
Beans, navy, mature seeds, canned Selenium: 10mcg
Grapefruit, raw, pink and red, Florida Selenium: 9mcg
Strawberries, frozen, unsweetened Selenium: 4mcg
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Re: February 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Thread

Postby MaryP » Sun Feb 23, 2020 4:27 pm

Hello, all. I'm still in Hawaii for another week. I'm in a resort with no scales, not even in the gym. I still wanted to report, though. I was not 100% compliant this week. We ate out twice. I had salads both times with dressing on the side but the first one had avocado (gave most of it to my husband) and the second one had nuts. Other than that, the rest of my week went well.

I am exercising at least an hour per day, mostly water aerobics. I am finding my energy level is greater and I push myself to get a good workout. I've added laps to my pool sessions and hope to increase the time for these as the weeks go on.

I will be back home in a week and will report my weight at that time.

I've enjoyed catching up on all your posts. Good luck this week!
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Re: February 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Thread

Postby Mark Cooper » Sun Feb 23, 2020 5:09 pm

MaryP wrote:Hello, all. I'm still in Hawaii for another week. I'm in a resort with no scales, not even in the gym. I still wanted to report, though. I was not 100% compliant this week. We ate out twice. I had salads both times with dressing on the side but the first one had avocado (gave most of it to my husband) and the second one had nuts. Other than that, the rest of my week went well.

I am exercising at least an hour per day, mostly water aerobics. I am finding my energy level is greater and I push myself to get a good workout. I've added laps to my pool sessions and hope to increase the time for these as the weeks go on.

I will be back home in a week and will report my weight at that time.

I've enjoyed catching up on all your posts. Good luck this week!


Hi, MaryP! Thanks for checking in; I'm glad your week went pretty well and you're feeling energetic. Have a safe trip home!
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Re: February 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Thread

Postby Carrieann » Sun Feb 23, 2020 6:35 pm

Mark Cooper wrote:Carrieann - I certainly have found that my own personal doctor has very little insight into nutrition. I'm so glad you find the group to be a useful support, I agree that the entire Dr. McDougall discussion board is a remarkable resource. I thought I'd include the list of foods you referenced, so it was easily at hand here in the thread -
JeffN wrote:For Selenium (per 200 Calories)

Mushrooms, brown, Italian, or Crimini, raw Selenium: 193mcg
Mushrooms, straw, canned, drained solids Selenium: 95mcg
Mushrooms, shiitake, cooked, without salt Selenium: 89mcg
Mushrooms, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt Selenium: 85mcg
Mushrooms, portabella, raw [Portabello] Selenium: 85mcg
Mushrooms, white, raw Selenium: 85mcg
Asparagus, cooked, boiled, drained Selenium: 55mcg
Asparagus, cooked, boiled, drained, with salt Selenium: 55mcg
Asparagus, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt Selenium: 43mcg
Couscous, cooked Selenium: 49mcg
Spaghetti, whole-wheat, cooked Selenium: 42mcg
Spinach, frozen, chopped or leaf, unprepared Selenium: 41mcg
Oat bran, cooked Selenium: 39mcg
Mushrooms, canned, drained solids Selenium: 33mcg
Selenium: 32mcg Mushrooms, shiitake, dried Selenium: 31mcg
Seeds, sesame seed kernels, dried (decorticated) Selenium: 31mcg
Seeds, sunflower seed kernels, dry roasted, without salt Selenium: 27mcg
Broccoli, frozen, chopped, unprepared Selenium: 22mcg
Broccoli, flower clusters, raw Selenium: 21mcg
Lettuce, red leaf, raw Selenium: 19mcg
Rice, brown, long-grain, cooked Selenium: 18mcg
Beans, pinto, mature seeds, canned Selenium: 17mcg
Cabbage, red, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt Selenium: 16mcg
Broccoli, raw Selenium: 15mcg
Lima beans, large, mature seeds, canned Selenium: 11mcg
Beans, navy, mature seeds, canned Selenium: 10mcg
Grapefruit, raw, pink and red, Florida Selenium: 9mcg
Strawberries, frozen, unsweetened Selenium: 4mcg


Thank you so much, Mark!
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