August 2017 McDougall Weigh In Group

[BeHealthy]

I've got a one pound loss this week.

I wasn't perfect, but I was better than before and all my progress is in the right direction. August has been a good, healthy month.

I got more exercise in this week as well and am not hurting much more than usual so that's good too.

Thanks for participating in this discussion group and for inspiring me.

[amandamechele]

Sue - I'm glad you pulled through this week and that your husband is so good about all of this. He is so right, you've come so far. Supportive hubby and a new jeans size, that is amazing! Your simple meal looks delicious...I bet it tastes that way too. I hope everyone gives this plan a long enough trial to get to that stage where very simple food truly does taste delicious. Our palette is so altered by all of the excess sugar and salt it can take awhile to get there, but it is very worth the effort.

Susan - Wow 18 pounds released, I bet you feel great! I enjoyed reading the Daily Stoic, it is indeed a slippery slope. It's so wonderful to hear about how well you are doing and how you have kept yourself highly motivated. Pain can do that, huh. I look forward to being there through your journey and cheering you on. Congratulations.

Qwerty988 - When did you start your potato-hack? (Sorry if you've already mentioned it and I'm forgetting). How is it going? Are you eating condiments? Greens? I'd love to hear more. My family has been eating a lot of potatoes this week too. Below my little one is enjoying a potato leek soup. Ingredients: potatoes, leeks, red lentils, thyme and salt. Potatoes are so yummy!


Sirdle - Great loss. How are you doing? Does your family eat this way as well?

Lyndzie - Congratulations on all of your "days in". You don't happen to live in Canada do you? We don't have many pre-made products available here either. Whenever I'm in the states I pick up a few Engine 2 tomato sauces and other products. Jeff Novick just posted a homemade alt-milk recipe on Facebook today. Listed in the replies to Savannah Sydney's post. Speaking of Jeff, I saw your question to him about compliance in his thread. I hope you don't mind I'm going to re-post it here tomorrow for the little paragraph I usually include with the weekly tally. It was a great question and answer. You're moving this week! Where to? It sounds like you do this often?

Anna - Great loss! You're moving too!! Where to? Excited? Best wishes and I hope it all goes smoothly.

BeHealthy - Here's to a good healthy August! Good loss this week. I'm glad to hear that you're feeling good even after exercise. That's a lot of goods!

[Silver]

I am down .8 pounds this week.

I did not get back on track like I had hoped. I have been sick most of the week. I wasn't up to cooking and couldn't stomach the meals I had frozen. I need to work on a quick-to-put-together comfort meal. This weekend if I feel up to it, I'm going to try and make some quick rice pudding and see if that will do when I not feeling well.

[LadyM]

Hello everyone:

Sad to say I am up 1 lb. this week. Looked back over my food diary (yes I do keep a log of what I eat just to keep me honest) and the only thing I can see is that I did use more salt on my food than usual. I purchased some Hawaiian Black salt and used it almost every meal. Need to set that aside for awhile.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week. See you all in September!

LadyM
(Dee)

[Svenja]

Heya!

I was actually looking forward to weighing this week ... since my favourite pants started being so loose that I had to consider wearing a belt

But my scale is acting up ... it shows all kind of weird numbers ... guess I have to get a new batterie or even a new scale.
Maybe you can put me down with "0" ... till I find a solution.

I am on my second round working my way through 22 old written exams ... today I had 90% ... that was quite encouraging.
Working on getting all the laboratory parameters (blood, urine, etc.) into my head ... and trying to make them stay there

Been doing quite some walking ... weirdly my hurting knee seams to like it ...
There is a forest short walking distance from my apartment

Have a great weekend everyone!
Svenja.

[Yomom]

I am ashamed to report an astounding plus 4# this week. In the last week I have hiked four times, walked and attended two exercise classes, as my ankle seems mostly healed. I think this weight is a blip - will know in a few days.

[Qwerty988]

Qwerty988 - When did you start your potato-hack? (Sorry if you've already mentioned it and I'm forgetting). How is it going? Are you eating condiments? Greens? I'd love to hear more. My family has been eating a lot of potatoes this week too. Below my little one is enjoying a potato leek soup. Ingredients: potatoes, leeks, red lentils, thyme and salt. Potatoes are so yummy!

Aww -- what a cutie!!! And that soup sounds delish, too (thanks for reminding me about potatoes and leeks!)

I started on potatoes 6 days ago, just looking to change things up and simplify. I'm eating potatoes, sweet potatoes (and a few cantalope I bought earlier). I'm trying to have a big salad meal once a day and incorporating as many other non-starchy veggies as I can. But honestly, all I seem to want to eat are oven fries (w tabasco and ketchup) and sweet potatoes (plain). I've been having sweet potatoes in my salad as well, along with the dressing I posted earlier this week.

So far, it's been super-satisfying. If I could line up a good source of cheap Hannah or Japanese sweet potatoes, I'd happily go full out Okinawan!

Something about this time of year makes me crave potatoes!

[gaylerobin]

Hello, all!

I'm up 0.8 lbs this week.

Probably not the best of weeks to track everything I ate -- a couple birthday celebrations and where I am in my cycle -- but at the same time, it was truly enlightening. I've ended up with a list of habits/patterns that I noticed, and I'm planning to work on one at a time over the next few weeks. I have a tendency to rebel if I try to change too much all at once. That inner toddler just pitches the nastiest fit...

One of the things I'd also like to do is come back and read posts on this thread/forum during the week. I just read everything since last Friday, and I love the beautiful and inspiring words everyone's shared. Such a lovely and supportive group here!

Gayle

[sarabee]

Sorry to be so late to post. I gained 1.5 pounds this week. I'm not feeling too bad about the gain considering that I spent four days visiting my daughter at her house and had some eating-out as well. I'm home this week and can get back to my routine for eating, exercising, and 12-16 hours of non-eating/day. Hopefully next week I can report a loss. Thanks to everyone for all your sharing.

[amandamechele]

Hi All,
I'm having a hard time believing that August is almost finished and all of the little people in my life will be heading back to school. Where did the summer go?
We did just fine this last week of the month. Thanks to all of you who stuck-it-out with us for the summer. Hopefully you all came out of these hot months a little lighter and healthier, or at the very least none the worse for wear.

This week Lyndzie posted a question in Jeff Novick's forum that caught my eye and I wanted to share it with any of you that may not have seen it. I'm posting it for everyone that struggles, like me, with compliance. Not to say see this is hard and that's why I haven't gotten it right yet but to say gee I've just got to keep working at this, the stakes are too high not to.

I have a co-worker with Lyme disease who also suffers from migraines. She regularly misses work due to her health issues. Years ago she did an employer-sponsored Engine 2 immersion program, but she does not follow this way of eating. She has food restrictions, but I'm not sure if they are medically warranted or self-imposed. Just yesterday she told me how she is going to try a ketogenic diet because she needs to lose 40 lbs.
Why is it that someone with health issues who has been presented the information and is in a supportive work environment still end up overweight and eating chicken?
Is not fully incorporating the program, and then not seeing results, part of the issue? What other factors are at play?

The program we teach is very simple but doing it in this toxic environments is very (very) hard. Therefore, the compliance rates for this are very low. We have people come to us with a foot in the grave, spent a fortune, take a huge amount of time out of their life and travel around the world. Yet, they are unable to comply.
We are greatly influenced by our environments and the social, cultural, emotional and psychological pressures we feel. In many ways, this is a solitary journey. Until we change the environment, compliance will be extremely difficult.
I have a nephew (in law) who just married my niece. They are in their early 30's and just had a baby 4 months ago. Yesterday he was in ICU with a heart attack and they put a stent in him. I can't think of anyone else in any better situation to be motivated to change. New wife, new baby, new life, new career, new house, etc. Unfortunately, and sadly, the odds are less than 1% that he will make the necessary changes.

At the current 10-Day program we had a return guest who is in his early 50's and over the last 4 years has done remarkable and we have become good friends. . His best friend who is about 49, was hospitalized in January with diabetes and open sores on his toe. They ended up amputating his toe. My friend tried to help him. He wouldn't listen. Two months later, he was in the ICU with infections on his leg. They amputated the leg above his knee. Again, my friend tried to help, even set up a visit to a program and was willing to pay for it for him. Spent lots of time with him encouraging him to do this and that he would help. His friend didn't go. A few weeks ago he was back in ICU with the other leg infected. They were about to amputate it over the knee. They never got to as he died about 2 weeks ago in the ICU. Young, married, kids, future yet couldn't do it.

On Compliance
https://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=44133
When we discover this, we all want to change the world but eventually through hard knocks learn, the world doesn't want to be changed.
In Health
Jeff

Lyndzie and Jeff, I truly hope for the best for your co-worker and nephew. They're both lucky to have you there if they do decide to hear what you're trying to tell them.

That's a bit of a sobering end to this month's posts. Every decision we make alters what decisions we will get to make in the future, so let's continue to try and make good ones for our health and happiness in order to be a living example of the values we hope others will embrace.

"We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. […] We need not wait to see what others do." - Gandhi

So...be the change you want to see in the world ...because maybe changing the world is like weight loss, it just takes a heck of a lot longer than any one of us expects.

Amy XO

Here are the results for the last week in August:

Next Weigh-In is on Friday, September 1st, 2017

Total group loss reported in 2017: 588.26 pounds

August 2017 Weight Loss Group :: Monthly Weigh-In Results
Total group loss in January 2017: 137.25 pounds
Total group loss in February 2017: 102.91 pounds
Total group loss in March 2017: 111.3 pounds
Total group loss in April 2017: 56.1 pounds
Total group loss in May 2017: 41.8 pounds
Total group loss in June 2017: 44.4 pounds
Total group loss in July 2017: 34.9 pounds
Total group loss in August 2017: 59.6 pounds

Week ending 08/25/2017: 14 participants reported a total loss of 3.3 pounds
---------------------------------------
LadyM - 1.0
Yomom - 4.0
Gaylerobin - 1.0
Sarabee - 1.5
---------------------------------------
Total gains: 7.5
--------------------------------------
Suey51 - 1.4
Zsilent1 - 4.0
Qwerty988 - 0.0
Sirdle -1.1
Lyndzie - 0.0
AnnaUK - 2.0
BeHealthy - 1.0
Silver - 0.8
Svenja - 0.0
amandamechele - 0.5
---------------------------------------------
Total losses: 10.8
---------------------------------------------

Total group loss in August 2017: 59.6 pounds
Week ending 08/25/2017: 14 participants reported a total loss of 3.3 pounds
Week ending 08/18/2017: 15 participants reported a total loss of 9.3 pounds
Week ending 08/11/2017: 17 participants reported a total loss of 19.8 pounds
Week ending 08/04/2017: 19 participants reported a total loss of 27.2 pounds

[amandamechele]

Sorry for not getting back to every one of you sooner!

Silver - I'm sorry to hear that you haven't been feeling well. How are you doing now? Oatmeal is quite easy too. When my stomach is off I find sipping on sparkling water or broth helpful. XO

Dee - Good thought on that salt. Maybe that was it, or maybe it was just a blip that will work itself out. What is Hawaiian black salt? Does it add a distinct flavour? (I'm just curious...thanks)

Svenja - Woot woot! Keeping acing those practice exams and you are going to rock that test. It's nice that you have a forest nearby, that must make your walks very relaxing and beautiful. I love walking in the forest (maybe except for the bugs...)

Kathy - It's got to be a blip or maybe salt sneaking in? I'm jealous of all of your hiking...sounds glorious!

Qwerty988 - Your plan sounds great. I hope its continuing to go well. I've never had Hannah sweet potatoes, but saw some talk about them on the forums or Facebook. Are they sweeter than yams (by that I mean those orange sweet potatoes common at the grocer)? I've been wanting to incorporate more sweet potatoes too, but find them too sweet sometimes.

Gayle - I think this could potentially have been the best 0.8 lbs you've ever gained (and best week to track)...lol...because it sounds like its led to you learning something about yourself. That new understanding of your habits/patterns will lead you to better strategies on how to better adhere to the guidelines. My inner toddler is cheering for yours!

Sarabee - I hope you had a lovely visit with your daughter. How has this week been going? Have you had any issues getting back into the swing of things?

[Qwerty988]

Qwerty988 - Your plan sounds great. I hope its continuing to go well. I've never had Hannah sweet potatoes, but saw some talk about them on the forums or Facebook. Are they sweeter than yams (by that I mean those orange sweet potatoes common at the grocer)? I've been wanting to incorporate more sweet potatoes too, but find them too sweet sometimes.

Thanks, I'm really enjoying it! I think you have to be in the right mind-set for these types of regimens, and for whatever reason, I'm just 100% on board with potatoes right now.

I'm also not a huge fan of regular yams, but I'll eat them sometimes. Hannahs are a whole different animal though (so to speak). Rich and creamy and pale yellow to white inside. The flavor is sort of like pancakes. Or custard. Pancakey custard? You get the drift.

I love the Japanese sweets too, when I can find them -- which I'm hoping to this week, since I'm running out of Hannahs!

[amandamechele]

Thanks, I'm really enjoying it! I think you have to be in the right mind-set for these types of regimens, and for whatever reason, I'm just 100% on board with potatoes right now.

I'm also not a huge fan of regular yams, but I'll eat them sometimes. Hannahs are a whole different animal though (so to speak). Rich and creamy and pale yellow to white inside. The flavor is sort of like pancakes. Or custard. Pancakey custard? You get the drift.

I love the Japanese sweets too, when I can find them -- which I'm hoping to this week, since I'm running out of Hannahs!

Hope the potato hack is going well! I'm having a hard time imagining a potato that tastes like a pancake...lol... I'm intrigued.

[amandamechele]

Here's the link to Friday's weigh-in:
September 2017 McDougall Weigh In Group

Looking forward to hearing from you all tomorrow!

Amy

[ANNAUK]

1 pound loss for me x