Rosey - I hope this doctor is a good fit for your family! Fingers crossed for you, that you not only like her but that she is amenable to your dietary choices and can help you with your health concerns.
Kathy!!!! - Great to have you back.
Those are four great goals!
Choufleur - Hi and Welcome! We're glad to have you join us for some support and accountability. Starting a journal is a great way to keep track of what you are eating, where you are struggling and share how you are doing. I bet once the oil and higher fat items are removed you will steadily move your weight into a zone that makes you happy. Hope you have a good weekend too!
Svenja - We use both words in Canada (I can't speak for the States). Tights are opaque stockings and leggings are similar but can be of a variety of fabrics and do not cover the feet....said inelegantly: stretchy pants.
Glenn! - Yes!
Moonlight - Awesome! That book seems to have helped you focus your efforts. One thing that's the same is your positive attitude...that has also been working in your favour too!
Mark - Your first maintenance week is going well. I'm so glad that, so far, your health troubles have avoided some of the most difficult diagnoses. I'll hope for a continuance of that. You are doing everything you can to positively affect whatever the outcome is, take solace in that.
Marilyn - XO. I understand battle fatigue well. I have more to say, but later.
Melissa - I feel your pain, my journal from 2013 on the forums is titled
I've lost count of how many times I have restarted. I had to learn to fix one piece of broken process at a time. 1) Understand what to eat (for that there's the MWL guidelines, and all of Dr. McDougall's books). Equally important was to understand why I kept slipping up. For that it was the work of staff psychologist Dr. Doug Lisle. His book
The Pleasure Trap was instrumental in turning around how I thought about myself in order to be able to properly tackle the food issues. He has done more than 15 webinars for the McDougall's as well located on this website under the education tab. 3) Build up a playbook of strategies - common ones like, being prepared, keeping the house clear of junk food and picking 6 recipes to rotate...and very individualistic ones like not walking by the dried fruit and nut display case at the grocery store if I hadn't eaten yet. Moonlight said it so well, take it one step at a time.
I will admit the strategy I have been using to avoid political drama is to just not watch the news...the downside is that I don't get to watch the news....LOL.
OonaOwl - I am glad to hear you are not giving up. If I recall correctly you are quite close to a natural weight for your body. Do I have that correct? If so, then give it another month at least...the fat loss may be small, but may accumulate enough to be measured with just a bit more time of excellent adherence....and it sounds like you have excellent adherence.
Bel - Nice work! Keep up the strong effort.
Steph - XO. Mentoring is an awesome way to pay-it-forward...I have noticed that people who find excellent mentors tend to themselves become excellent mentors and thus keep knowledge and wisdom moving from one person to the next while forging satisfying bonds. I'm glad you are doing well enough in all of your other good food choices that the pretzels aren't having any undue effect on your weight. With regards to the pleasure trap...you know what to do.
It is hard to visualize a pretzel in a disgusting way...LOL...I think I'd better stop visualizing the pretzels...HA!
Rosey - Nice work Rosey!
Marge - Yay! I'm glad you figured out how to post your first post, this is the right spot for the weigh-ins. You've had quite a successful first week. It's not unexpected for the losses to slow down a bit, so don't be discouraged if it's not quite as high next week. I'm not sure how familiar you are with the MWL program so be sure to check out the links on the first page of the September thread. Especially Jeff Novick's lecture on
Calorie Density. Best wishes!
. Eating on plan doing MWL the 50/50 plate/bowl style & still nothing happening, it's been almost a month! Beyond frustrated as I have been at this for years literally. This morning tried the big bowl of non-starchy vegetables before any other foods. I am not giving up....
I love this whole concept!! Yes, what is better than helping someone and having a win-win for both? From a mentoring perspective, am loving a part of my job where I am coaching a wonderful recent college grad - has helped me feel less "stale" and helped her to get her feet on the ground and succeed. Your favorite restaurant sounds wonderful (bummer that it's not local for you anymore)!! The best is when you can work a local restaurant to prepare meals that are compliant... I have a local pizza place like that (not MWL compliant and haven't eaten there this year) - they actually added a button on the cash register for a no cheese, no oil pizza for me -- they reduced price because cheese is the most expensive ingredient (I did not ask for reduced price... find a chain that would do that...).
"giving up is even worse..." Agree!! Never give up!!! 
