July 2018 McDougall Weigh In Thread

[Idgie]

Vic, it's silly, but it never occurred to me to make my morning salad at night. Thanks for the idea! I'm a little groggy in the morning, and this will help me.

[victw]

@Idgie

This video was mentioned a while ago. It's the ultimate on salad prep.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwEfAW70W2I&t=53s

It's my goal.
I was investigating batch cooking for the week. But it feels overwhelming - so I'm going to try to add some new prep each week.
This weekend I'm going to try and make my salad dressing for the week.

[JeffN]

A few thoughts....

Salads, especially raw salads, are not required for success on MWL. Adding vegetables (raw, cooked, and/or as soup, etc) does lower the overall calorie density of a meal so are a part to the MWL program. However, when we look at the research on this, the form of vegetables that lowered overall calorie density the most and was the most filling, was vegetable soup.

Salads can be very time consuming (and expensive), which are often key issues for many. All the time and energy (and $$) often expended are not only not necessary, it may not the best way to incorporate veggies in regard to MWL.

In Health
Jeff

[Chumly]

I've found pre-chopped bags of non-leafy vegetables (typically carrots, broccoli & cauliflower) are a lot easier than typical salads. I can just dip them into hummus, bean spread or any other healthy dip. It's much easier than salad prepping.

Michael

[Idgie]

I prefer soup during usual times, but in this heat wave, it's either salad or canned soup, and I like salad better. Not for the weight loss (which I'm not having any trouble with) but for enjoyment.

[victw]

A few thoughts....

when we look at the research on this, the form of vegetables that lowered overall calorie density the most and was the most filling, was soup.

Salads can be very time consuming (and expensive), which are often key issues for many. All the time and energy (and $$) often expended are not only not necessary, it may not the best way to incorporate veggies in regard to MWL.

In Health
Jeff

Jeff - Thanks for the thoughts.

My salad usually goes with soup. Yep soup and salad for breakfast. But my soup tends to be a lentil or bean soup. It's rarely veggie based. I will ponder this nugget of info as I continue to tweak.

Wow - love this thread.

Vic

[Rosey]

Well even though I wasn't perfect on eating this week I still lost 1 lb. from 289.3 lbs. to 288.3 lbs

[Esther Loveridge]

It has been a good week (isn't every week when we enjoy the program)? Last week, I weighed 150.8 and today I weighed 149.3. As of today, I have been on the program for two years and want to support newcomers.

[Idgie]

Thank you, Esther! I can use all the help I can get.

[amandamechele]

Sue - And a beautiful sermon it was. XO. I love when you come and visit us here. Re-reading The Pleasure Trap is a great idea. I think I may be due for that. Or, maybe I'll purchase the new audio version once its available digitally to listen to while I clean. I love your comment on reducing decisions in your life to conserve mental energy - you probably saw this post but Dr. Lisle talks a bit about willpower and how it's depleted in his talk called The Willpower Paradox, which I briefly summarized in February (down in the middle of the post).

Idgie - Your white lie strategy sounds like a winner! I'm not even sure I'd consider it a lie because part of you may want the donut, but part of you doesn't....and that's the part of you we want to empower. XO. Your mom is a keeper too! Wonderful loss and dedication to the guidelines this week. Weight will fluctuate day to day, but it's great to see your overall trend is heading in the right direction.

Stephanie - I like the line you've drawn in your household about being okay with others eating what they want but you won't be cooking it for them. With regards to:

I think that we are all social creatures and unless you live on an island you will find that most people don't follow this way of eating and you will be questioned, teased, etc. I like people and I don't know anyone in real life that follows this diet (or anything like it).

I do happen to live on an island and people still keep finding me and questioning me (LOL...sorry I couldn't resist the bad joke). But you are correct, learning a way to deal with the conversations that is comfortable and won't negatively affect your relationships is so important. You've set some great rules of conduct for yourself and they obviously work well for you, thank you for sharing them. Also, thank you for sharing a bit more about what brought you here and keeps you McDougalling. I have never-ending curiosity about these things, but I understand that everyone will share things in their own time. I loved your response, it wasn't rambling at all!

Michael - Oh my, what happened with the dog? Has your hand healed well? What kind of yoga do you practice?

Rosey - I use the same strategy as you (and Sue) do with certain off-plan foods that are just too tempting. My husband will put them in the trunk of his car and therefore they don't end up in the house with me all day. Most times I'm too tired and lazy at night to wander out in the dark to get them. I will admit, however, that wasn't always the case. In my early years McDougalling (if it could be called that) I was still highly motivated to seek out junk if it was even remotely convenient to do so. The amount of energy I'm willing to dedicate to this kind of thing has lessened over the years I'm happy to report (don't get me wrong, I still have my moments if I get too tangled in the pleasure trap but I see a definite trend in waning motivation to go too far out of my way...and that is a wonderful thing).

Vintagesan - Wonderful loss this week.

Moonlight - I love that you're continuing to monitor your progress in such a detailed way for this period of time in order to understand where your stumbling blocks are. What is the goal for this week? Maybe choose 2 items from your list to focus on, while continuing with what you are already having moderate success with. They could be to go 7 days without meat and flour products. Make whatever you choose priority number 1 for the week. Tell yourself you can handle it for 7 days. (I did this a couple of years ago in my McDougall online journal when following a 10 day Mary's Mini to try and get myself on track and support my sister who was attempting one too - journaling it and committing to both the time period and the journaling made me feel like I had to follow through - now it's never a guarantee of course, but it happened to give me just enough discomfort at failing that I was able to pull it off.)
I am sending you much support this week...you are here and posting and giving this your all and I admire that a lot!

Stephanie (again) - Great loss this week. You are really rocking the plan. I hope you do spy a starchivore with your little eye! Potlucks with other veg people are the best.

Vic - I know, right! Everyone has been really supportive and sharing great tips this month. I am so grateful for this. You are doing great, it can be hard to convince our minds to let go of the idea of putting a timeline on the weight loss, especially if you are giving it your all - which you are! Keep chopping wood and carrying water, as Jeff would say, and you will get there in your body's own sweet time.

Jeff -

Rosey (again) - Excellent - it's progress, not perfection, that we're after.

Esther - I agree, every week is a good week when we are treating ourselves to the Healthiest Diet on the Planet. Congratulations on 2 very successful years. What strategies or information sources did you find helpful when you were new to the MWL program? From your success story, I understand that you were highly motivated to gain mobility and get off of some medications.

[Svenja]

Good Morning!

I have to report a gain of 3 pounds (was even more earlier this week)

It might partly be hormonal ... but it's usually not this much.

Other than that I am not sure what happened. Because I tightened up my diet this week, ate a lot of vegetable-rice meals. And I exercised even more this week (longer tours with the bike) than usually.
Oh well ... I'll work it off again.
Maybe I'll write down for a few days what I eat.

Looking forward to a great walk in the forest later today! Summer is the best!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!
Svenja.

[moonspirit]

Hi everyone,

I'm back from vacation. I stuck to plan for the first few days, but then fell off. I'm back on today. I kept my weight under 180, at least. I'm not going to report gain/loss since I wasn't on plan, so I'll just post a new starting weight: 179.6.

One key for me is being at home and keeping it simple. Complicated "old meal" replacements don't work for me - I end up missing what is not there. Typically, I make oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, a veggie and quinoa or potatoes for lunch, a green smoothie for a snack, and then a big serving of some dish I made enough of to last a week.

I thought I could get by with that strategy while on vacation, but... the big pot of dinner only lasted 1-2 nights when I was feeding more people. Trying to cook healthy alternatives for a decadent meal made by someone else felt a bit like deprivation. Going out to eat and getting uninspiring meals after much wrangling was depressing. It brought a lot of emotional baggage up for me from last time I did McDougall and was ostracized by my extended family. My grandmother wouldn't even visit me because "I ate funny." My kids and their dad do not treat me that way, but it's clear to me that they consider my discipline a hardship. (My son is 25, and my daughter is 22 - they were vegan (as was their dad) until he started introducing meat and dairy in their teens. Now they are both overweight, and my daughter is obese. They were both very fit growing up, but got tired of eating differently than their friends.) When I'm home, it's just easy. No servers to make requests of, no looks of pity, no statements of "I could never do that".

My husband does not eat McDougall at home. But... he also cooks simply. He enjoys the simple foods that I make, and knows how to make them too to support me. If he wants meat or dairy, he will make those simply, with no fuss, and it's just about eating - no fancy recipes, no continual "feast" mentality. So I'm not tempted. He keeps dairy in one drawer in the refrigerator that I don't go into.

My daughter will be coming to stay with us in the fall. She wants to eat more healthfully. I don't know if she will be doing MWL all the time, but I have already warned her that that is the food I'll be making. I'm planning to share the book with her. I think it will be more doable since she is coming into my world rather than me trying to make ripples in the world she shares with her dad and brother. I have told her that we will keep checking in about how it is working for both of us.

One thing I have learned that helped reduce the damage while being in feast mode was to only eat one meal on days that I did that, and water-fast for the rest of the day. I find that is an easier way to control calories when feasting. It's still not the healthiest thing to do, but it seems to limit the damage. However, I'm hoping to not have any more of those days until I've reached goal, and to let them be very rare after that.

Anyway, I'm all-in again.

[moonlight]

Hi Amy,
Thank you so much for your time with this support group. It does me a tremendous amount of good with your links to information and your encouraging words. I can identify with what you and Rosey were commenting on with regard to seeking out junk food. I’ve been busy doing that this last week with my husband gone. I think I’ve got that under control – mostly because I’ve eaten or thrown away everything that was tempting. I’m encouraged that it will get better. You comment about that kind of behavior lessening for you over the years was good news. I’ve purchased The Pleasure Trap. It should arrive tomorrow. I’m looking forward to having a book in hand to read and refer to when I’m feeling weakened willpower.

Taking the time to really task analyze my compliance with the MWL plan is helping me. I have significantly increased my vegetable intake. It feels like a permanent change in my behavior that I will keep with me always. I can make very simple delicious meals in less than 10 minutes. I’ve got to eliminate all animal foods. If not, it will derail me at some point. I don’t want to be someone who dabbles in a little cheese from time to time because it will creep in and take over every meal. You asked about my goal for this week. That’s the area I want to score a 7 on next week. It’s something that, even if I chose to eat out, I can avoid. The other goal is to increase exercise to 5-7 days this week. Thank you for asking!

Sometimes I feel like adherence to the MWL plan is like trying to hold a handful of jelly.

I’ve already lost the 2 lb. gain I reported yesterday. Hopefully I’ll keep that plus some more. Good luck to everyone! I hope you have a great inspiring week!!

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Amy! Thank you! Poor choice of words on my part... More unless you live on a deserted island or on Dr. McDougall's island... LOL! May I ask, do you live in British Columbia? (If yes, I am jealous!!!)

[amandamechele]

Hi All!

Thank you for weighing-in this week. Jeff's comments about soups vs salads in a previous post have bowls of delicious soup dancing through my head tonight. Not his exact point, I know, but it's made me want to explore soup and satiety a bit, right after we exchange recipes!

A few thoughts...

Salads, especially raw salads, are not required for success on MWL. Adding vegetables (raw, cooked, and/or as soup, etc) does lower the overall calorie density of a meal so are a part to the MWL program. However, when we look at the research on this, the form of vegetables that lowered overall calorie density the most and was the most filling, was vegetable soup.

Salads can be very time consuming (and expensive), which are often key issues for many. All the time and energy (and $$) often expended are not only not necessary, it may not the best way to incorporate veggies in regard to MWL.

In Health
Jeff

Now, I know that Jeff is referring to vegetable soups here, but I thought I'd share some of my favourite soups which happen to also include potatoes or beans and can be hearty enough to be a meal unto themselves:
What are your favourite soups? Mine are:

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease - Tarrazon Soup (Split Pea/Sweet Potato)
Oh She Glows -Not Your Average Potato Soup (omit the oil)
Potato Leek Soup - (my own very plain recipe - but I think it's delicious)
McDougall Morracan Red Lentil Soup - (hold the orzo)
Corn Chowder from Straight Up Food
Homemade Lentil/Barley Soup - this is our everyday soup of all of the odds and ends in the kitchen. Base of onions/carrots/celery with green lentils, barley and what ever greens need cooking. Add your favourite spice mix, salt at the table if you so desire, and enjoy!

It's not the prettiest soup in the world, but it's super tasty and super filling!

I also thought some of you might want to take a look at what Jeff has written about the subject of satiety (if I've missed anything important please chime in with a link). Here is a small selection of links:

Blended Soup vs Smoothies

Blended Soups vs Smoothies - Redux

Soup & Satiety

Jeff, blended soups, etc

Satiety Index

Bonus Section: Calorie Density:
Calorie Density and Weight Loss: Fill 'er Up!
Calorie Density and Satiety In Action
Energy Density Studies
Daily Food Volume and Satiety

Best wishes with your MWL McDougalling this week!

Amy

Here are the results for the second week in July:

Next Weigh-In is on Friday, July 20th, 2018

Total group loss reported in 2018: 300.1 pounds

July 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
Total group loss in May 2018: 50.8 pounds
Total group loss in June 2018: 54.3 pounds
Total group loss in July 2018: 11.6 pounds

Week ending 07/13/2018: 10 participants reported a total loss of 11.1 pounds
---------------------------------------
Svenja - 3.0
---------------------------------------
Total gains: 3.0
--------------------------------------
Vintagesan - 3.0
Idgie - 4.0
VegSeekingFit - 3.8
Victw - 0.8
Chumly - 0.0
Rosey - 1.0
EstherL - 1.5
Moonspirit - 0.0
Moonlight - 0.0
---------------------------------------------
Total losses: 11.1
---------------------------------------------

Total group loss in July 2018: 11.6 pounds
Week ending 07/13/2018: 10 participants reported a total loss of 11.1 pounds
Week ending 07/06/2018: 10 participants reported a total loss of 0.5 pounds