April 2018 McDougall Weigh In Thread

[amandamechele]

Hello All!!

Thank you to everyone weighing in and checking in this week. I hope you're all having a fabulous weekend. We're celebrating a birthday in my home and did all sorts of birthday things like hosting a BBQ and going to a movie.


It's been a day full of fun and laughter and situations rife with temptation. I felt a bit like I imagine a boxer on the defensive would, circling around the ring just trying to avoid the blows.

Read this in your best Don Dunphy voice:
In the match between Amy VS Potato Chips, Amy came out the winner by a huge margin! This fight wasn’t even fun to watch it was over so quick.

Next was Amy VS Movie Popcorn.** She used her signature move of buying soda water and sneaking in cut fruit. Another win. Woo hoo! She's on a roll!

Tired from those matches, Amy was just not at her best for Amy VS Ezekiel WW buns. She had thought she could eat her curried sweet potato burger with some lettuce, but alas somehow the bun came out victorious.

That was a bit hokey, LOL...what can I say, it's late. Overall I'm happy with how my eating went for the day. Social gatherings can be tricky situations and this one was tough because we served a lot of food that isn't on the McDougall menu. I managed to stay regular program adherent, but not MWL. My mom made a special dessert full of nuts and seeds and dried fruit, called vegan crack (I hope that name doesn't offend anyone, since it's making light of a terrible addiction). It lived up to its name in my case. I'm going to have to convince everyone tomorrow morning that the party food has to be gone by the end of the day. I can handle tonight - it's late and I'm tired and I have this message to write which has been helpful to keep my mind focused on not screwing up. I know, however, that my self-control has its limits.
Dan Ariely, a professor of behavioural economics at Duke University, whose books I enjoy, has a great little TedX talk on self control.
Dan Ariely: Self Control TedxEast 2011
It's 22 minutes long and he discusses his thoughts, observations and research on what he calls the conflict between now and later. Why is it that most people eat a little more than they think they should, exercise less, text while driving, spend more and save less?
What I appreciated about this short lecture, in addition to the fact that Dan's an engaging speaker, is that he poses possible solutions, much like the ones we are always discussing here. Strategies to keep us focusing on our long term goals of good health and weight loss while battling the immediate desire to eat all of the foods in the house...hahaha. He proposes these strategies for the problem of self control: A)Reward Substitution. B) Self Control Contracts

What is reward substitution? He explains this process by talking about his battle with cirrhosis of the liver caused by Hepatitis C. He was told that he could die horribly of liver failure or try the then experimental drug Interferon and only suffer 14 hours of nausea three times a week for a year and a half to, hopefully, get well. It was all still experimental, so no one was truly sure it was going to work. How does one motivate themselves to do that when the outcome is uncertain? Why was he one of the few people able to put himself successfully through this program? It was not due to having better self-control than others he surmises, but a process he put together on injection days. He would get up and go rent a few movies that he really wanted to see and at the end of the day grab his blanket and his bucket and watch the movies while feeling all of the negative side effects of the treatment. Pair something you enjoy or look forward to with the necessary thing that you don't. We can call it skewing the cost/benefit ratio a little more in favour of the long term desire (get well) over the short term one (not feel nauseous). I've talked about doing this kind of thing too with regards being consistent with the food prep necessary to be successful in the long term eating a MWL diet. I set up my schedule to listen to a podcast or watch a webinar while doing my chopping. Preferably something live, that can't be changed by my own momentary whims or lack of motivation.
Dan also suggests something called Self-Control Contracts, which is to create a mechanism that eliminates temptation or ensures compliance of something that you know is good for you in the long run but isn't necessarily fun in the moment. Consider going for a walk: what we know is great idea the night before can feel quite differently from the vantage of being snuggled warmly under our covers, still groggy with sleep...LOL...he mentions a fun little device called Clocky. Dr. Lim did a presentation about this very subject at an ASW that I attended. He had historically struggled to stop fiddling with his presentations right up to the last minute and decided he wanted to be done with them the night before. He used an app to incentivize this decision. It's similar to an app mentioned in this Dan Ariely video, so if you are curious be sure to watch it.
In the end he thinks its possible to figure out strategies in our own lives where we face temptation and want to improve our odds of success.

This is exactly what we talk about here (which is why I thought of this video)! Reflect on both your successes and failures in the arena of compliance to the MWL style of eating. What are the little situations that are keeping you in the pleasure trap? When are you least likely to be prepared? Or tempted?
With a few of those identified, now its time to dream up situations where you can succeed.
Have a lovely week! I look forward to seeing all of you in the May group! Let's hope those April showers bring May flowers.

Amy

**Sadly the movie was too scary for one of the children so I spent the second half at the arcade. Please, no one tell me how the new Avengers movie ends. I imagine they somehow save the galaxy from Thanos while teaching us about friendship and respect and sacrifice or something along those lines. (Based on the faces of everyone coming out of the movie, it didn't end the way I have imagined...now I'm so curious!!)

Here are the results for the fourth week in April:

Next Weigh-In is on Friday, May 4th, 2018

Total group loss reported in 2018: 183.4 pounds

April 2018 Weight Loss Group :: Monthly Weigh-In Results
Total group loss in January 2018: 54.7 pounds
Total group loss in February 2018: 49.3 pounds
Total group loss in March 2018: 52.5 pounds
Total group loss in April 2018: 26.9 pounds

Week ending 04/27/2018: 10 participants reported a total loss of 0.3 pounds
---------------------------------------
Galooop - 2.8
Victw - 0.6
Jobet - 0.8
---------------------------------------
Total gains: 4.2
--------------------------------------
Rosey - 1.8
Landog - 1.5
Sundog - 0.2
Kirstykay - 1.0
Svenja - 0.0
Moonlight - 0.0
amandamechele - 0.0
---------------------------------------------
Total losses: 4.5
---------------------------------------------

Total group loss in April 2018: 26.9 pounds
Week ending 04/27/2018: 10 participants reported a total loss of 0.3 pounds
Week ending 04/20/2018: 8 participants reported a total loss of 1.7 pounds
Week ending 04/13/2018: 10 participants reported a total loss of 12.9 pounds
Week ending 04/06/2018: 11 participants reported a total loss of 12 pounds

[landog]

In the match between Amy VS Potato Chips, Amy came out the winner by a huge margin! This fight wasn’t even fun to watch it was over so quick.

Next was Amy VS Movie Popcorn.** She used her signature move of buying soda water and sneaking in cut fruit. Another win. Woo hoo! She's on a roll!

Tired from those matches, Amy was just not at her best for Amy VS Ezekiel WW buns. She had thought she could eat her curried sweet potato burger with some lettuce, but alas somehow the bun came out victorious.

Thanks for the laugh!
You are definitely a winner, Amy!

[moonlight]

Hi Amy, I agree with Landog. You are a winner! You made me laugh, too!

I watched the Dan Ariely TedTalk. Thanks for posting the link. I've got to come up with some rewards for staying on MWL plan with NO cheats. I've gotten comfortable with little cheats. I read a few threads from the Ask a Star McDougaller. There's plenty of comments about letting non-compliant food creep into your diet and before you are willing to take action you weigh 20 lbs or more than you want. So, I'm hoping to come up with a reward for myself. Any suggestions?

[landog]

I've gotten comfortable with little cheats....
...I'm hoping to come up with a reward for myself. Any suggestions?

It's pretty rewarding to see progress towards your goals.

Mid-February, I had an epiphany that I was not on a good path. I had started on the right path, but I had since veered off enough that I know that I lost my way. The right path leads to good health. Veer off that path, and you get heart disease, cancer, or death. We know this, intellectually, but it's hard to use that as motivation for staying on a course that is so far removed from the paths that nearly everyone around us takes.

In a recent webinar, I heard Doug Lisle mention something that Dr. Goldhammer would ask of people that start on the way of life. "How much pain are you in?" I think that Doug Lisle said that Dr. Goldhammer would like to hear that people were in a lot of pain. Pain is a great motivator!

The pain of a cancer diagnosis or the chest pain associated with heart disease (if you're lucky - the first sign of heart disease is often sudden death) would surely be a great motivator to embrace this way of life one hundred percent!

You might want to avoid this type of pain. With my family history of heart disease, being heart healthy is my motivation. What's my reward?

There are some markers that are related to heart health. Normal blood pressure. Cholesterol levels. A BMI between 18.5 and 22 is a goal of mine.

I can see the effect that 100% McDougalling is having on these markers. I've lost 14 pounds in three months and that BMI range is in sight. I'm happy with my BP. Cholesterol levels are improving.

That's my reward.

Don't wait for the pain to motivate you!

Do you really want to reach your goals? This plan works. Sticking to it is rewarding!

Put a few months of 100% together, and it becomes easier and easier to maintain. Long term adherence - another goal!

[amandamechele]

Landog - Thank you I'm so glad to get a comment or two because I'm aware that that little vignette probably falls under the category of so bad you can't help but laugh...lol...hey, I'll take any laughs I can get. Your current determination is very inspiring and I'm very much enjoying following your progress from good to great.

Moonlight - Those little cheats certainly add up, sometimes into quite big cheats. It's a difficult situation to be in (its also a place I visit often, so I understand your pain).
With regards to rewards, I think the best way to conceptualize them is that maybe they are best combined with process and not outcome. I have tried, and maybe you have too, the old trick of buying a pair of jeans 1 size too small to try and incentivize myself to do better on a diet. Or we promise to take ourselves out for a manicure once we hit a certain number on the scale. I haven't personally found those kinds of things to work. More accurately, they haven't worked more often than they have, which makes this type of strategy somewhat of a waste of time. You have to be highly motivated for whatever your prize is (and that kind of motivation appears to come more from pain avoidance - like Landog said, quoting Dr. Goldhamer.)

So, I was wondering, can you describe a typical little cheat pattern? That may be helpful to identify a way to reward-substitute your way out of the situation. I find its important to be very specific and understand the exact sequence of events that you hope to change.

For example, there was a time when I would grab a bag of dry fruits whenever I walked towards the cashier at my local discount grocer (I shop 1 to 2 times a week, so this was not a rare event). I wish I could say it was to share with the family, but it wasn't. I developed quite a sticky habit of eating prunes in the car...LOL...gross but true. So, noticing this pattern I realized I would have to change something to make it more difficult to do. I wasn't about to change grocery stores because I am all about low, low, prices, but that would be one way to disrupt the cycle. I decided to try walking around the longer way to the cashier in order to avoid that aisle, and thankfully it walked me past the book and magazine section, which I quite enjoy looking through. Now I look forward to that little diversion just enough that I am able to ignore any pleas from the prunes to be purchased.

[amandamechele]

Woah...I just hit the thousand post mark. I'm beginning to feel like a long-term McDougaller...LOL!
(It's either that, or I'm just a bit too chatty).

[moonlight]

Thanks, Amy, for clarifying the strategy of pairing the reward with the process of changing the behavior. And thanks Landog for your input. Rewards haven't really worked for me in the past. They're not motivating. Getting on the scales is motivating - when the scales are going in the right direction. Lately I've gotten complacent with the weight I've lost and started letting little cheats creep in. Like other things in my life, it's a struggle for me to be a Finisher. I'm inspired to start things but lose interest in the mundane tedious effort to complete the goal.

So, for me, little cheats are eating a few corn chips, eating honey on popcorn, eating processed WW sandwich bread, drinking a small glass of juice, eating a few olives. These probably don't add a lot of calories. I can do these and still lose weight, most of the time. But the mentality of staying within the MWL guidelines is broken. The other unhealthy eating habits are not eating enough vegetables, relying on starches mostly, and overeating when I'm not hungry.

The food that is not on the MWL plan is in my house. My husband has been good about keeping trigger foods out of sight for the most part but I know it's in the kitchen....

Analyzing the sequence of events leading to a cheat has helped already. Amy, you are a pro at this! You are a true McDougaller! I'm wanting to have a little taste of something different from what I'm mostly eating. It's not when I'm really hungry. Redirecting my attention away from food would help. Treat them more as cravings. I don't seem to have that burning desire to eat a particular food, like I did when I first started the plan, so I haven't thought about it being a craving. It's more a feeling of complacency, I think. I need to find another activity I like that doesn't take too much energy. Mainly I'm cheating when I don't feel motivated to do anything. It's like a little break or procrastination from another job that needs my attention.

Thanks for your input. I like the process of brainstorming to find what works.

[amandamechele]

Hi All,

Here's a link to the May 2018 McDougall Weigh In Thread.

I hope to hear from you all on Friday!

Amy


PS. Moonlight, I will continue our conversation a little later this week. You are so sweet. Semi-regular battles with the pleasure trap can make me feel like anything but a pro. I enjoy brainstorming too, lets continue to do that this month.

[amandamechele]

I just noticed that I missed responding to a few people last week. My apologies!

Svenja - You are doing so well. To be able to sit at the table and watch what the others were eating while not partaking is fabulous progress. You are getting out of the pleasure trap, slowly but surely. It doesn't necessarily mean that those situations are comfortable yet, but at least they are now controllable. I hope your relaxed long weekend was lovely!

Jobet - Thank you for the kind words in the May thread! My condolences to you, your family and you friend's family. Try to fill the hole in your heart with happy memories until it starts to heal a bit. With regards to the bananas, don't let them drive you bananas (LOL...you may groan at that if you wish...I'm sitting here laughing at my own terrible joke). It's definitely a good idea to try and stay with the guidelines, which recommend 2 fruits a day. However, don't sweat it too much. Once they're gone then you'll get back to it, no use wasting perfectly good bananas.

Vic - Thank you for the soup recipe links. I love Dahl and will definitely give that one a try. Soup for breakfast, how yummy!

[Jobet]

Thanks, Amy, you're so very kind. And, I liked your banana joke! Too late, I've already thrown the remainder of the bananas out. I simply can't be trusted with them, or at least so many at once. But, here is the good thing. A year or so ago I was thinking the raw diet might be good for me, so I tried it for three months. I ate so many bananas in smoothies during that time I must have formed a sensitivity to them. After trying that WOE I couldn't eat bananas at all anymore. They made me feel nauseated, a bit of a tummy ache, caused the lymph nodes in my neck to swell, and general all over yuck. So, I stopped eating them altogether. For some reason when I saw them marked down so low recently, I decided to try them once again and this time I had no problem with them at all, except I ate too many and added some weight. Perhaps this way of eating is healing whatever is going on inside me (leaky gut perhaps) that makes me so sensitive to so many foods and environmental chemicals. My lymph nodes haven't swollen since I started the MWL plan. Maybe at some point I can actually eat oats, wheat, and brown rice without the problems those foods give me at this time. Fingers crossed and feeling hopeful!!

[victw]

Enjoyed the TEDx talk by Dan Ariely.
He also has a Wall Street Journal column - Ask Ariely.
I read it on his blog.
http://danariely.com/category/ask-ariely-2/

He has a few books.

I have not yet figured out how to implement any of these contracts. But I might need to implement one to handle the candy jar that I have been lobbying to get rid of - but so far have won the battle.

Vic

[amandamechele]

Enjoyed the TEDx talk by Dan Ariely.
He also has a Wall Street Journal column - Ask Ariely.
I read it on his blog.
http://danariely.com/category/ask-ariely-2/

He has a few books.

I have not yet figured out how to implement any of these contracts. But I might need to implement one to handle the candy jar that I have been lobbying to get rid of - but so far have won the battle.

Vic

Hi Vic,

Thanks for the tip about the WSJ coloumn, I'll have to check it out.

Hmmmm, with regards to the candy jar affair, I am right to assume it is at your workplace?
What have you suggested up until now? What is the feedback you are receiving about removing it?
What does it contain? Is it something you have sampled from in the past?
Is it in plain sight all day, or do you have to walk by it a number of times?
Is it an actual jar? Is it clear or opaque?

I'm just trying to get an idea of the full extent of what you face with this issue each day. That way any solutions that people come up with may be a little more applicable than generalities. Here are some general suggestions, however,

Would not being able to actually see the candy help? (E.g./ switch the jar to something you can't see into)
Would adding an additional jar and filling it with a healthy choice work as a strategy? Using Dr. Lisle's little rule about eating something healthy first before deciding to sample? (You've done great so far by NOT sampling. There is the possibility that your desires for anything there will fade quite significantly, as suggested in The Cram Circuit.)

With regards to reward-substitution, I find it can work for changing a behaviour you are already facing or procrastination type behaviours , and so far you haven't indulged, so you aren't trying to find a more attractive alternative to an already set pattern or force yourself to do something you don't want to. This may not be the right strategic fit for this problem.
If you were already consistently sampling from the jar throughout the day, I would suggest you still do something during the times that you would get up, go over there and take a snack break. For me it would be getting a tea, for example...but that's not the right reward for everyone. Visit a friendly co-worker instead. Allow yourself to check your social media accounts (I know I'm suggesting replacing one bad habit with another potentially negative one...but you see what I mean...LOL).

With regards to the apps where you make a monetary contract to avoid or spur on a certain behaviour, it could work here, but you will need a third party who is willing to hold you accountable. Meaning setting up a contract to not eat any of the candy, and if the guardian of the jar catches you, they must be willing to hit the right button to take the money out of your account. You would also have to make it a non-trivial sum. (I'll admit these are not my favourite type of incentivizers, but I know people who swear by them).

You will figure this out, I have no doubt, through trial and error. Just try not to let any of the errors weigh down your motivation to continue to work on the problem. Errors are par for the course.

Amy

[amandamechele]

Thanks, Amy, for clarifying the strategy of pairing the reward with the process of changing the behavior. And thanks Landog for your input. Rewards haven't really worked for me in the past. They're not motivating. Getting on the scales is motivating - when the scales are going in the right direction. Lately I've gotten complacent with the weight I've lost and started letting little cheats creep in. Like other things in my life, it's a struggle for me to be a Finisher. I'm inspired to start things but lose interest in the mundane tedious effort to complete the goal.

So, for me, little cheats are eating a few corn chips, eating honey on popcorn, eating processed WW sandwich bread, drinking a small glass of juice, eating a few olives. These probably don't add a lot of calories. I can do these and still lose weight, most of the time. But the mentality of staying within the MWL guidelines is broken. The other unhealthy eating habits are not eating enough vegetables, relying on starches mostly, and overeating when I'm not hungry.

The food that is not on the MWL plan is in my house. My husband has been good about keeping trigger foods out of sight for the most part but I know it's in the kitchen....

Analyzing the sequence of events leading to a cheat has helped already. Amy, you are a pro at this! You are a true McDougaller! I'm wanting to have a little taste of something different from what I'm mostly eating. It's not when I'm really hungry. Redirecting my attention away from food would help. Treat them more as cravings. I don't seem to have that burning desire to eat a particular food, like I did when I first started the plan, so I haven't thought about it being a craving. It's more a feeling of complacency, I think. I need to find another activity I like that doesn't take too much energy. Mainly I'm cheating when I don't feel motivated to do anything. It's like a little break or procrastination from another job that needs my attention.

Thanks for your input. I like the process of brainstorming to find what works.

Hi Again Moonlight,

I am writing to you by the light of the moon...LOL. Your home sounds like mine, full of lurking traps. The advice that you will hear about keeping your environment clear of temptation is top tier guidance to making compliance easier. I wanted to be sure to say that because I will follow it up with, that just isn't possible for everyone...at the current moment in time or ever. So sometimes other strategies are necessary, as long as we recognize that they may be second tier suggestions. But even 2nd tier suggestions can help put the odds a bit more in your favour. (These are just my non-professional, personal experience and anecdotal opinions.)

I have found if I'm not in The Pleasure Trap, out of sight is usually enough to keep those foods out of mind. I hear you when you're saying it's complacency, but I wonder if there is still a tiny bit of craving feelings going on. You could test that theory. Would your husband and family agree to packing up every single triggering food and taking it out of the house for a week or two. Let you get into good standing and then they can return the food (without announcing it to you, or advising you where it is). Then you could see if you still wander by the pantry and snack on it.
We have had success with this in my home, especially with Halloween candy. This year we got lazy and I faced issues with it being around, even hidden. That was because I had allowed a bit of indulgence and fired up those cravings a bit which led to much higher motivation to find it. Usually, holiday junk gets packed up and put in my husband's car trunk. That way it's not around the house when I'm alone and I'm less likely to wander out in the dark to get it when everyone is home and around me. I've just added a few extra steps of difficulty.

I guess some questions are also in order here: (there's no need to answer them if you don't want to - just think about them. You can also PM me the answers if that's more comfortable)
Are you retired? Or around your home all day?
What kinds of jobs are you procrastinating on? Regular household stuff?
Do you have hobbies/responsibilities that get you out of the house regularly?

XO
Amy

[moonlight]

Hi Amy,

Thanks for writing back! I love that you were writing while the moon was shining. I love moonlight. That last full moon was awesome at my house.

I wish I knew how to capture your message and highlight it in mine. I did it once but I can't figure it out anymore...

I appreciate what you said about keeping the environment clean. I'm triggered by seeing something. When I'm watching TV I really try my best to not look at the commercials with food. I think I'm getting better about it but I know my limits. My husband is willing to help me out but I'm not sure to what extent he would go. I'm really trying to overcome these little annoyances because I know I have to live in a world were food is readily available. It's up to me not to eat it. The first few months I was much more assertive about asking him to move things out of sight. He bought sourdough bread not long ago for his sandwich bread and I told him I loved that he was buying that brand because I wasn't tempted to eat it. He said he would continue to buy that kind. Then the last time he needed bread he came home with the WW bread I like. I think he forgot. I'm going to try to keep his bread stocked so I can purchase the other kind! He is away for the whole month of July. I'm looking forward to not having any trigger food around.

You wrote: Are you retired? Or around your home all day?
What kinds of jobs are you procrastinating on? Regular household stuff?
Do you have hobbies/responsibilities that get you out of the house regularly?

I'm not retired but I do a lot of work at home. Maybe about 10 -15 hours a week are spent away from home. I procrastinate on work related things that are hard for me, mentally challenging. Yesterday my new sit/stand desk arrived ( ) so I think I'll feel better with the ability to sit or stand. I like to garden and the weather is finally conducive to putting in a garden. That can keep me busy. I like to hike in the mountains. Those are my hobbies, I guess. I've thought about learning to knit. It would keep my hands busy when I'm watching TV at night!

I'm having a better week than when I first wrote about feeling out of control on the little cheats. It's all such a gradual process, isn't it? I feel calmer for the most part that I did when I started in November, with regard to my diet and food choices. This thought process has helped. I really liked Landog's comment about lip service - I think she said something about that. Am I just giving lip service to this notion of changing my lifestyle? I've been contemplating that this last week. It has helped me stay more focused on my goals.

I'm not sure I can apply the strategies from the TedTalk. I like the idea of pairing something positive with something I want to change in my behavior but I haven't really found any way to apply it yet.

Thanks for your willingness to discuss/brainstorm this issue with me. You input is very helpful.

XXOX

[Rosey]

303lbs this morning. so .2 loss better then nothing.