August 2018 McDougall Weigh In Thread

[moonlight]

This is a big week for me in terms of weight loss. I get to report a 2 lb. loss! I'm finally down to 176. I've been flirting with sassiness and not adhering to the MWL plan. (I swear there is a demon inside me whose sole mission is to sabotage my weight loss efforts!) I applaud everyone for showing up, contributing to this awesome thread. You are my community - no one I interact with eats this way... Thank you!

Rosey, sorry to hear about your bloated ankles this week… Your body and psyche need some tender loving care. You’ve been through a lot recently. Wishing you the best.
Mark, you are doing the very best thing you can do for yourself. Research continues to demonstrate the power of the right kinds of food on healing the body. Congratulations on your weight loss and your determination to stick to the plan. I’m keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.
Idgie, Triple Woot for you! WOOTWOOTWOOT!!! Way to go!
Lyndze, a big woooot to you, too! Thanks for the soup suggestion. I LOVE that kind of soup. I think it will be my ‘go to’ this week.
Suey, great to hear from you! I look forward to your posts. You are rocking that maintenance!! You make it look easy. I love your menus!
Jobet, I love your artistic style. Lovely food pictures. Have you ever illustrated for a cookbook? I’m so appreciative of artists! I don’t have an ounce of artistic vision in my DNA. And, I can’t sing on pitch or play a musical instrument. I am crafty in the sense that I make sure to surround myself with artist types.
Abit, is that a 4lb gain? It happens. You are here, doing your best every day. Hang in there. That scale will head in the opposite direction soon. My latest “corny saying” (which I love because I’m old and growing into a nerd) is : You don’t become a failure until you decide to be one. This is so true but sounds a little wonk wonk, yes?
Vic, you are rocking that maintenance, too! You and Suey can lead the way! Congratulations.

Amy, a great big thank you and ((((HUGS!!)))) for inspiring us to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward, no matter what the @!@#!# scale reports!

[Jobet]

Yayyyyyy moonlight! That's an awesome loss. Congrats!

Jobet, I love your artistic style. Lovely food pictures. Have you ever illustrated for a cookbook? I’m so appreciative of artists! I don’t have an ounce of artistic vision in my DNA. And, I can’t sing on pitch or play a musical instrument. I am crafty in the sense that I make sure to surround myself with artist types.

Thank you, but no, I've never had my work in a cookbook. I used to blog and had lots of food and gardening photos and my illustrations there (before plant based). I can't sing or play an instrument either. Love this: I am crafty in the sense that I make sure to surround myself with artist types. LOL

[squealcat]

This week I lost 2.2 pounds. It was a great week for me with my usual walks etc. We visited a farmers market this week too. Had to buy tomatoes, corn, melon and BEETS ! I never really liked beets much but something happened in the last year and now I LOVE them ! so good on salad and just by themselves.

Nothing else going on except a good weight loss. Now I will go back and catch up on what all of you are up to !

-Marilyn (squealcat)

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi All!

A high-five to this group all around -- for showing up, encouraging each other, getting closer to achieving goals! Love it...

My weight has gone back to a downward trajectory - down .8 lbs. from last week (but not forgetting that I was up .6 lbs. last week). I ate 3 regular McD compliant (but not MWL compliant) meals this week. So, not a banner week, but I am in this for the long haul and had planned "feasts" for anniversary and for co-worker 20th year anniversary celebrations and did the best that I could (which violated the no flour principle and maybe had minimal fat). As I start to think about being close to maintenance, know that this could be a slippery slope and would intend to keep to around 90-95% MWL compliant for going forward (including maintenance).

Felt almost like a blustery day here in Chicagoland with rain -- so, enjoyed soup / chili for 3 meals. Lentil quinoa w/ veggies for breakfast, split pea over potato for lunch, red lentil chili for dinner. Comforting and satiating!

Amy, Thanks for all that you do to inspire us!!

Jobet, Echoing what others have already said about your beautiful pictures! I want to eat that meal with you...

Sue, Love your posts - so inspiring to see you successfully maintaining! Your food sounds delicious!

Lyndzie, The soup sounds great and I'll be looking to the low-sodium V8 for a base. I used to make my veggie stew with V8 (but the sodium kicker one before I knew better) and did 50 / 50 between that and veggie broth. Thanks for the tip!

Idgie, Exciting news!! Congratulations! I know you have worked hard, but you make it sound so easy --- you go girl!!!

Mark, Congrats on incorporating the checklist and shining! Wishing you the best in what you are facing here. I don't think anyone would say TMI here - appreciate when people share - makes it feel more like a community of optimizing health with like-minded folks.

Abit, I had an up last week too... Keep on ….

Vic, Great goal!! I like to do whatever prep I can in the evening too. Makes the morning before work less stressful.

Rosey, Hope that your feet feel better!!

Moonlight, OMG - Love this "I've been flirting with sassiness..." Congrats on your weight loss!

Squealcat, Way to go! Sounds like you have some great habits in place. Funny how when we start this way of eating we find new foods to love that we may have shunned before.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week!!

[Idgie]

Hey, everyone! I'm really super tired, so this will be brief, but I've read every word, and I'm super-happy to have this community around me.

Mark, not TMI. We are here for you, and I hope everything goes as well as possible with the tests. I've had cancer twice and precancerous cells another time, so I know how scary and, frankly, exhausting/boring/enervating/sad it can be at times. I will say, though, that it's also a chance to reconnect with your body and dedicate yourself to a good relationship with the good cells in your body, the ones that want to fight the cancer and keep you well. <3 <3

[Svenja]

Good morning!

I gained 3 pounds during my little break.

On one hand I am ok with it because I had non-MWL but plant based meals.
On the other hand ... we biked, walked and swam like crazy ... and my friend who I went with ate aaaaall the non-vegan junk food and didn't gain.

I'll keep it short I am on my way to another outing

I'll will miss next week. I will be on another 4 day trip.

I took most beautiful pictures at the last trip, but don't know how to upload them here.

Have a great time everyone!
Svenja.

[amandamechele]

Idgie - That's too bad that things didn't work out with your daughter's roommate. How did she like the place that she looked at last Sunday? I hope it was nice; 20 minutes away isn't too bad at all. A big congratulations for reaching a significant number this week. You really do make it look easy (even as we all acknowledge it doesn't always feel that way). Your efforts are taking you into new territory over the next month or so and it's so exciting.


Svenja -

Jobet - Thank you for checking in this week. Your quinoa salad sounds delicious and was very similar to mine, except I had some small zucchini chunks in there too and my onion was just a plain old red one. Super good, none the less. Please wish your McDougalling son a very happy birthday from all of us here! Wow does your breakfast ever look delicious, especially those tomatoes. Did you use a filter on your photo or are they really that red and juicy? Yuh-um! Aren't friends with gardens great.

Sue - Thanks Sue. XO. I have quite honestly forgotten what I ate last week...but I possibly have a photo of it in my Flickr account*, I'll have to take a look. I have a feeling it was probably something like, um, potatoes and veggies and beans...LOL. Your weekly menu looks great and I'd love to hear how the paella turns out. (* Nope... I seemed to have only taken a picture of the blackberries we picked from the yard from that day)

Lyndsey - Great loss this week. That soup sounds superb, thanks for sharing the recipe.

Mark - Jeff's 10-Point Checklist is really working for you, congratulations! We are all here to help support you through this uncertain time; I find typing my feelings into a blank page is sometimes more cathartic than sharing them with an actual person face-to-face. There are no visual distractions and by thinking about what I want to say I am forced to really figure out what I'm feeling and why. It's wonderful to hear that writing about your medical situation is helpful for relieving a bit of the anxiety the waiting is causing, so please continue to share as you wish. Definitely not TMI, and you are doing the exact right things needed for your current situation: seeking appropriate medical advice, eating an optimal diet and keeping your stress as low as you can. Keep up the great work!

Abit - Up weeks can happen to the best of us. I can't tell how you are feeling because of the sparse details on how the week went, so I hope that you are not feeling too negatively about it. I know I'd be looking for motivation while also going through what I did well this week with regards to the dietary guidelines and what I could have improved upon (once I was finished procrastinating...LOL...so I may not always be the best example). Here's 17 minutes of motivation from Dr. McDougall: The Food We were Born to Eat: TedX Freemont. Here's another good talk from Dr. Lisle, the staff psychologist: Losing Weight Without Losing your Mind, or same talk-different location: Losing Weight Without Losing your Mind - Extended Version

Vic - Well done maintaining your weight this month. Best wishes with your goal this week. What do you think threw you off this week? Extra busy?

Rosey - I'm sorry to hear about your poor feet. Is it something you would be concerned enough with to seek out some medical advice? Any ideas what may have been the cause? (Like extra sodium or being on your feet all day? I hope it clears up soon. Perhaps put your feet up for a few hours and see if it clears up a bit. XO

moonlight - Happy happy happy! That about sums up my feelings on your post...LOL. I'm glad you had a loss, I'm glad you are battling (and slowly winning) against that cheeky inner demon. I'm glad you enjoy this community...I do too! Thank you for continuing to show up!

Marilyn - Congratulations on your loss and your dedication to your walking. How did you prepare your beets? (I love them...but in small doses)

Stephanie - High Five back at you!

My favourite baby has a meme for every phrase...it's quite amazing to me...LOL.
You did good this week, you made a plan and you stuck to it, that takes effort and follow through.

Svenja - Thank you for weighing-in this week and advising of next week's plans so we won't wonder where you were. I will find and repost the way that I post photos sometime this week and hopefully that will help. There are many ways to do it, from what i understand, however. I love seeing photos of everyone's week and hope you can figure out a way to put up your photos too. Speaking of biking...here's a cute one that I saw today while dropping the kids off at kayaking camp:

[Jobet]

Jobet - Thank you for checking in this week. Your quinoa salad sounds delicious and was very similar to mine, except I had some small zucchini chunks in there too and my onion was just a plain old red one. Super good, none the less. Please wish your McDougalling son a very happy birthday from all of us here! Wow does your breakfast ever look delicious, especially those tomatoes. Did you use a filter on your photo or are they really that red and juicy? Yuh-um! Aren't friends with gardens great.

Amy, I've found that most anything works with quinoa for a delicious salad. I like it with fruit too as a salad. I love, love, love quinoa. Thanks for the birthday greeting to my son, and I'll pass it on. I process my photos in Photoshop CC 2018 and adjust for exposure and color. But, these tomatoes are the reddest I've had to date and my camera doesn't pick up the color the way I'd like it too, so I adjust. Plus, the tomatoes are sooooo juicy and makes them shine with deliciousness.

Amy, I was thrilled to find you are on Flickr. Just friended you on there a little while ago. Here is my Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/b-j-martin/

[moonspirit]

Hi everyone, it's great to be back.

So the week of August 11-17 I was traveling with my Dad, his wife, and my brother. We ate out for two meals a day, and I fasted for breakfast. I didn't try to stay compliant so that I could just go with the flow. I decided to "enjoy" a week of feasting, and not feel guilty about it. I only see my dad once a year or so, and it was clear that he really wanted to treat us. I ate the "healthiest" option on the menu for most meals, but I was in no way compliant. I was walking and getting exercise pretty much every day, but I definitely noticed that I was feeling toxic and sludgy. Sure enough, I gained back 7.6 pounds that week (though some of it was water weight from all that restaurant salt).

This past week, getting back to MWL, I lost 4.4 lbs. I noticed some resistance at first. Fortunately, my daughter arrived last weekend and she really wants to do this with me, so that was motivation enough for me to get back on track. I also started school this past Monday (masters in counseling), and was able to stick to plan, even with spending 12 hours at the school (one hour from my home) on Monday. In preparation for school, I had bought a large compartmentalized thermos, and had leftover split pea soup for lunch and quinoa and broccoli for dinner. It worked. Plus I joined the rec center there and did cardio all three days I was on campus.

My daughter is doing well with the plan but doesn't want to weigh herself. I think it's hard for her to face the number on the scale, even if it's going down, and I don't blame her. She was always fit in high school, and it wasn't really until she got to college that she started gaining weight. Most of it has been in the past year. It's relatively new for her to be heavy and out of shape, and I think she feels a lot of regret about it. But she's doing this. The hardest thing, I think, is that I have been gone a lot during the day, and she sometimes doesn't eat while I'm gone. And she's not used to the simple food. We're going to be working on her confidence around her cooking skills. Last night we had ww pasta with chunky sauce and mushrooms and broccoli. I think that felt a little more familiar to her. She didn't really like the mushroom barley soup I'd made earlier in the week. I'm proud of her for sticking with this.

We watched Jeff Novick's extended video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CdwWliv7Hg) on calorie density her first night here. I think it was really helpful for her to understanding what we're doing and why.

Anyway, my week of indulgence probably cost me about 3-4 weeks of weight loss. I will think twice about making the same choice again. It was easy and spared my dad's feelings, so it was worth it in that sense (he's 82). But next time I may suggest meeting where they live so we can minimize the restaurant eating. Weird thing is, I don't think he was feeling that great either that week, but he blamed it on the altitude.

Sounds like you all had a great two weeks while I was "gone" from the forum. And, Mark, I'm glad you feel safe sharing about your journey here. When any of us share, it brings us all into deeper community with each other.

Much love,
Becca

[amandamechele]

Hi All,

Cheers to another week weighing-in and working really hard towards following the MWL guidelines well .
Last week Jeff bumped-up a conversation in his thread that I thought was really relevant to those of us in the weight-loss phase of this lifestyle. It's called How Many Non-Starchy Vegetables Should We Eat? The gist of the thread is that when you get the food right there is no need to weigh or measure your food to experience weight-loss and satiety.
In the most recent post Jeff added a comment from Star McDougaller Cathy (Kate) Stewart (from another thread) to examine getting the food right just a little bit more.

I used to worry that I was eating too much starch. Then I was diagnosed with EE and had to go on the elimination diet - which is about as pure of a starch-based diet as you can get. I ate a TON of starch and cooked vegetables - and my weight dropped like a rock off a cliff. I got scary thin for a while. What I think happened, is that is that it wasn't the starch that made me struggle with my weight - it was all the condiments I was used to using. A little maple syrup here, some salsa and ketchup there, a bit of chutney, some homemade salad dressing, a little honey in my tea - it all added up. But forced onto a diet of unlimited amounts of plain, unprocessed brown rice, sweet potatoes, winter squash and a few cooked non-starchy fruits and vegetables...well, it really made me see that my ideas about "fattening" starches were wrong. It's not the starches, it's what you do with them...

This could be an interesting challenge to undertake if you are unsatisfied with your current weight loss progress. Do you pay attention to the amount of accommodations you include in each meal? I took a look at some of my recent food photos to get an idea of what I consistently add to my whole plain starches and veggies. Here is a non-comprehensive list:

Salt
Brown Sugar
Salsa
tahini - in my homemade hummus -it's not a lot but it's there
Nutritional yeast - I find this yummy enough to eat by the (very tiny) spoonful
Sriracha
Rice vinegar
Sweet with Heat Mustard
BBQ Sauce
Green Tea

That list's a bit bigger than I thought it would be, had I not had those photos to remind me. Yikes!

Why not take an inventory of you own condiment intake? Even if you're happy with your weight loss and with what you are eating, you may be surprised by the results. My ah-ha realization is that my brown sugar consumption is still at 6 teaspoons for the week (my memory tells me I have eliminated it from most breakfasts and when I combine that thought with the intention for elimination my mind tricks me into thinking I have done better than I actually have...crazy huh?).

I'm sending out thoughts of strength and support for all of your efforts this coming week! Best wishes to everyone.

Amy XO

PS. Please weigh-in in this thread next Friday/Saturday. I'll post the tally in the September thread on Saturday.

Here are the results for the fourth week in August:

Next Weigh-In is on Friday, August 31st, 2018

Total group loss reported in 2018: 405.3 pounds

August 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: 50.3 pounds
Total group loss in August 2018: 66.5 pounds

Week ending 08/24/2018: 13 participants reported a total loss of 8.5 pounds
---------------------------------------
Abit - 4.0
Svenja - 3.0
Moonspirit - 3.2
---------------------------------------
Total gains: 10.2
--------------------------------------
Jobet - 0.0
Lyndzie - 1.9
Idgie - 6.0
Mark Cooper - 4.0
Victw - 0.6
Rosey - 0.0
Moonlight - 2.0
Squealcat - 2.2
VegSeekingFit - 0.8
Amandamechele - 1.2
---------------------------------------------
Total losses: 18.7
---------------------------------------------

Total group loss in August 2018: 66.5 pounds
Week ending 08/24/2018: 13 participants reported a total loss of 8.5 pounds
Week ending 08/17/2018: 13 participants reported a total loss of 22 pounds
Week ending 08/10/2018: 13 participants reported a total loss of 16.1 pounds
Week ending 08/03/2018: 16 participants reported a total loss of 19.9 pounds

[moonlight]

Why not take an inventory of you own condiment intake? Even if you're happy with your weight loss and with what you are eating, you may be surprised by the results.

I love this idea. I'm going to start logging my condiment intake. I'm sure the sodium alone is higher than I realize. Thanks, Amy, for the great JeffN thread on non-starchy vegetables and this suggestion about condiments.

[amandamechele]

Jobet - I never would have thought to make a sweet quinoa salad with fruit. That's a neat idea, thank you. I am also thankful for your Flickr friendship... my 4 person following which includes you and Sue and another McDougaller named Donna (who isn't a forum member) is a small but mighty group. YOU are quite the amazing photographer and have a huge following. I hope everyone takes a look at your account. Truly beautiful work! Now I understand your username too... I had always mentally pronounced it like a French word JO-BAY, and now I see it's a portmanteau of your name.

Becca - Welcome back. You've gone from pattern destroying yet fun vacation to crazy-busy student and mom. Life doesn't always stop to let us get our ducks in a row but thankfully you have a daughter who wants to help and join in...how awesome is that? I'm so glad you had a wonderful visit with your Dad and completely understand the desire to make him comfortable on his vacation too. I can't wait to hear about how you navigate your new circumstances and find a new balance that includes your school-work. I'm also highly impressed how you continue to prioritize your healthy lifestyle, even with your new responsibilities. Kudos to you. When assignments or tests begin cutting into your prep-work time try to remember that shopping and chopping are just as important as homework ...and way more important than housework . Maybe that's just how I justify my messy house...LOL. Best wishes for week two of back to school.

Moonlight - Awesome . I look forward to seeing your inventory list. Maybe you will discover that you're doing just fine. XO

[Idgie]

It's been pointed out that since I occasionally eat some air-popped popcorn, I'm not really on MWL (which is a reasonable critique, but I don't plan to cut out my weekly bowl of air-popped popcorn), so I wanted to ask if I should stop posting on the weigh-ins. Besides the popcorn, I'm striving for 100% MWL, and it's working, but I don't want to mess anyone up by posting in the wrong place.

[moonlight]

Idgie, my thoughts on your question about reporting on this thread: 1) Dr. Lisle has indicated that striving for 80% is a good goal. I don't think he was referring specifically to the MWL weigh-in group but I consider that a reasonable goal to be included; 2) if this thread was for people who are only 100% MWL compliant I doubt many people would be checking in. I view this thread as for people who are striving for their diet to be approximately 80% or more MWL. If the consensus goes another way, I can't check in either.

[Lyndzie]

Good points. I’ve been working to be more compliant with MWL, but am nowhere near perfect! This week I’m working on daily exercise, which is just walking around the neighborhood. I am planning on having a burrito for dinner, which will include a flour tortilla and guacamole. But that’s my big “splurge” for the week. This isn’t about perfection, if about doing your personal best, and as far as I can tell, you are rocking it!