October 2017 McDougall Weigh In Thread

[Qwerty988]

Yayyyy Svenja!!! Congratulations on passing!

And congrats also Amy on an absolutely adorable new nephew! What a cutie. I've really been enjoying your challenge pics too, so thanks for sharing that as well!

I've been keeping things super-simple the last month or so, with just potatoes for starch and really working to keep veggies near 50% of the plate at every meal. This upping of the veggies percentage has been a game-changer and I've gotten some great results so far. I'm going to see if I can transition back to incorporating other starches now, but keeping to the 50% veggies rule. Right now, it's all about fine-tuning and seeing what works for the long-term.

[Suey51]

Svenja - congrats on passing the exam! Wonderful news xx

[Roxy59]

Hi - sorry I started this post last night but the universe intervened. Down 3 lbs this week - a stunning accomplishment for me given Cdn Thanksgiving, a family birthday celebration and some stressful times. I credit the success to trying some new versions of old standbys (eg using honey in orange cranberry sauce rather than sugar, a meatless meatloaf for protein source for Thanksgiving (while preparing delicious turkey on hand for the fam) and sticking to commitment to get in my exercise notwithstanding crazy schedule.

Hope this post isn’t too late to count!

Where is the cool weight loss ticker everyone adds to their posts??

Amazing resources available through this forum. Just need to find the time to review and digest (pardon the pun).

[JeffN]

One of my favorite things to do each week on these boards is to check out the monthly weigh-in thread and see how well everyone is doing, the support that you give each other and the great job Amy does at facilitating it all.

You are the real heroes and success stories.

In Health
Jeff

[LadyM]

Hey everyone:

No change for me this week. I'm happy with that as I am starting to add back more foods to my meals. Looking for my new normal!

Son in law reported he has lost 12 lbs. so far and is feeling great. He has a doctors appointment this coming week to check his A1C levels and hopefully he can drop the Metformin meds. No more diabetes, fingers crossed. Daughter and granddaughter still won't say if they have lost anything but did say they are staying with the plan. Kids you got to love them even when they torture you.

Okay I need some help here. I guess I missed the memo about where Amy is moving to. I know she said she was moving but I guess I assumed it was to a new street or the next town over. Now I see from her journal that she is driving and driving and driving. Where in the world Amy are you going to?

Svenja congrats on your test results. Good job. I'm positive you'll get 100% on the oral part. Keep up the good work.

Hope everyone has a great week and please continue to keep Dr. John, Mary, Heather and the kids in your thoughts and prayers.

LadyM
(Dee)

[Qwerty988]

Where is the cool weight loss ticker everyone adds to their posts??

Check out Tickerfactory.com to set up a ticker, then you just paste the URL into your signature here on this site.

[Purposive]

Reporting a 6 pound weight loss! 234 -6 = 228.

I am really enjoying reading everyone's posts. Thanks for those who take the time to make it so personal
It was an interesting week for me as I had family visiting on Sunday. Our family celebrates happiness together by sitting at the table and eating, and guess who usually does the cooking and planning? Yep me. I kind of dreaded it, but got into it and had a great time. The hardest thing was not tasting, which is how I usually prepare the family favorites. Long story short I didn't break my eating plan and still had a great time.

Looking forward to taking some time to plan some new menus this week.

So thankful all the Mcdougall family is safe. Material loss is so minor compared to human loss. See you all next week.

[Bougainvillea]

Weight this morning 193!

Lost 1 pound

Wahoo!

[Bougainvillea]

Where is the cool weight loss ticker everyone adds to their posts??

Check out Tickerfactory.com to set up a ticker, then you just paste the URL into your signature here on this site.

Those tickers are soo cool! I'm afraid I'll jinx myself if I put a goal weight. Maybe every week I could just make the goal weight one pound less LOL. Then, I'll meet my goal nearly every week!

[Sedrexel]

I'm down 1.5 pounds this week. Feeling strong.

[amandamechele]

Svenja - As Boogie says it...Wahooo! (I love it!) I bet you feel as if a huge weight has been lifted off of your shoulders. Your dream sounds like a stress dream that ends well...kind of like what you just went through. Congratulations on such a great mark, we never doubted you! Thank you for the well wishes! My food's pretty boring right now, but if I got too fancy I'm not sure I could stay on track with all of the changes that I'm facing. XO I am looking forward to making Sue's risotto recipe once I have a functioning kitchen again.

Anna - Yes! Great week for you.

Sue - Thanks for the recipe. I don't like squash very much, but for some reason I love it in risotto. I used to make a similar recipe to your decadent one, it uses cashews for creaminess. I can way overeat that one, but guests love it! I'm still enroute to our new home, just 1 more day of travel. The house is under renovations so we will be staying with some of my husband's family for up to a couple of weeks. We aren't doing much to it, just bedrooms for the kids and opening up the main floor so that it's brighter. Once we're moved in I'll be refreshing the kitchen with elbow grease, white paint on the cupboards, and a new tile backsplash.

BeHealthy - You've got this! I hope I'm not sounding too repetitive, but some weeks are better than others. Keep on trying and it will happen.

Qwerty988 - Thanks...he is adorable! I feel very grateful to have gotten to meet him before moving so far away. I agree with you about upping the veggies to between 25-50% for a faster or more consistent loss. I just always need to be sure I'm getting enough potatoes or grains to feel full too. For me its a moving target each day. Just like you are saying its all about the fine tuning.

Roxy59 - Great loss this week. I'm Canadian too, it was a decadent weekend! Good for you for being able to stick to your plan while also enjoying time with your family and their traditions. Great pun too! XO

Jeff - Thank you. These guys and gals are rocking it!

Dee - I'm glad your transition to maintenance is going smoothly. Yay! Double yay to your family's fantastic changes. I'm so glad to hear my kids aren't the only ones who are just a little bit sadistic...lol Thank you for asking about my move! I'm going from Toronto, the center of the Canadian universe according to Torontonians (hee hee) to the Canadian West Coast - Vancouver Island specifically. They are about 4,400 km apart...hence all of the driving. I hope you have a great week!

Purposive - That's a loss! Woot woot! I love the way you put that...our family celebrates happiness together by sitting at the table and eating...I think that's so many of our experience too. I'm so proud of your dedication to yourself. I bet you feel great.

Karen - Wahoo! Congratulations on your loss. I still haven't figured out the ticker thing either...lol

Sedrexel - Going strong too!

[amandamechele]

Hello Everyone!

Thank you for checking in. Our October numbers are looking good and our engagement score is even better!

This past week brought tragedy to the McDougalls and many other families that we know and admire in Santa Rosa.
With multiple streams of information coming at us from social media, television news, the radio and the good old-fashioned newspaper, its possible to put blinders on and not give much thought to local catastrophes and the misfortune of others from all over the world due to being overwhelmed by the number of these occurrences happening all of the time. It sometimes only becomes real when it affects our own communities or loved ones.
I think that's why this is hitting a nerve with so many of us and has us trying to figure out if there's anything we can do....some of our own are suffering.

Dr McDougall has advised us that there is no need for any sort of monetary aid. If he needs it, he will let us know. Programs will continue to run, people's lives will continue to be changed for the better.
Like many of you, however, I can't help but feel the need to come to the aid of someone who has helped me so much. I realized that the best thing that I could do was continue to do what I am doing, or as Sue's favourite lyrics say keep on keeping on. So my MWL challenge continues, in hopes of being a tiny bit of motivation to others - with all of my frivolous comments and attempts at finding the joy and fun in life while eating this way and struggling through my personal foibles.
So I think a good way to help is for all of us to continue to do our best to reach our goals by eating the way that Dr. McD advises. By being a living model of health we are showing the world the value of Dr. McDougall's lifework and thus supporting him in the best way that we can.

If I am ever faced with such adversity, I hope I am able to traverse it with the same grace and dignity that the McDougalls have. Their lives will, no doubt, be out of sorts for awhile but if history is any indication they won't let this challenge slow them down!

While driving today I listened to this song from my road trip playlist and it had me thinking of them.
Rare Earth - I just want to celebrate

Best wishes to everyone for the coming week!
Amy

PS. Here are some other suggestions for supporting Dr. Mcdougall from a thread in Jeff's forum: How Can We Help?


Here are the results for the second week in October:

Next Weigh-In is on Friday, October 20th, 2017

Total group loss reported in 2017: 655.96 pounds

October 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
Total group loss in September 2017: 41.9 pounds
Total group loss in October 2017: 25.8 pounds

Week ending 10/13/2017: 19 participants reported a total loss of 15.4 pounds
---------------------------------------
Pippi Lemon - 1.0
Svenja - 3.0
BeHealthy - 1.0
---------------------------------------
Total gains: 5.0
--------------------------------------
Suey51 - 1.8
Sirdle - 0.7
Zsilent1 - 2.0
Galooop - 0.0
Katie3 - 1.4
Qwerty988 - 0.0
LindaHisme 0.0
Talita8 - 0.0
Peach1 - 1.0
AnnaUK - 2.0
Roxy59 - 3.0
LadyM - 0.0
Purposive - 6.0
Bougainvillea - 1.0
Sedrexel - 1.5
amandamechele - 0.0
---------------------------------------------
Total losses: 20.4
---------------------------------------------

Total group loss in October 2017: 25.8 pounds
Week ending 10/13/2017: 19 participants reported a total loss of 15.4 pounds
Week ending 10/06/2017: 23 participants reported a total loss of 10.4 pounds

[amandamechele]

Day 14 Amy's MWL Challenge.

[zsilent1]

Hi Amy and All,

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend. Here is the basic recipe I use for falafel. You can use fava (broad beans) or garbanzos/chickpeas. I put in alot of spices and I add about 1 tablespoon of sumac. They are pretty easy to make. Soak the beans overnight, put them in the food processor with the spices, onion etc. I never fry them. Bake. They are so good and you can make them any size your want. If you make them bigger (like small burger size) just bake them longer. My daughter likes them bigger.

Instructions for Baking:
1. With an oven rack in the middle position, preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cover baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Using your hands, scoop out about 2 tablespoons of the mixture at a time. Shape the falafel into small patties, about 2 inches wide and ½ inch thick. Place each falafel on your pan.
4. Bake for 13 minutes, then remove the falafel from the oven and carefully flip each one. Return the pan(s) to the oven for another 13 to 15 minutes, until the falafels are lightly browned on both sides

https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/falafel

Hope the link works. Tori Avey's recipe. She frys hers so I included instructions for how I bake them.

Susan

[amandamechele]

Susan - Thank you for the recipe and baking instructions. Are you using the sumac as a salt replacement? Someone I know recommended that to me so I bought some but can't tell if it works. What do you think?

Day 15 Amy's MWL Challenge