Moonlight - I’m glad she is doing well. I think joining
the 21 day program in
the Lounge is a great idea. It provides daily support and camaraderie that is well guided.
I’ve found Scott’s medical struggles and what he has to do keep them at bay so inspiring. That he can remain so dedicated to his health and following the plan is very impressive. I knew you had explored all of the avenues you could with regards to how to manage the issues at your mum’s house. How did you fare while home? Have you arrived back at your mum’s place?
A dietary distraction hotline is an interesting idea, private sector ( 1-900-DONT-EAT or 1-976-STOP-NOW, LOL, just $2.99 per minute) or as a state level/federal public health initiative. I wonder if there has been specific research into whether this sort of instant outreach works for obesity in particular. It sounds akin to addiction sponsorship programs like AA - (I also wonder how much difference it makes to have a sponsor you know, respect and always talk to versus an anonymous stranger). Canada has a program called
Telehealth. It is a hotline that anyone can call and speak with a registered nurse who will help them decide whether whatever they are experiencing requires them to goto the hospital, make a doctor’s appointment or just for management suggestions. It is used as a way to keep people from unnecessarily going to the hospital during the off hours of their primary care physician and thus reduce government healthcare spending. I’ve used that hotline a number of times for children fever/congestion concerns when my kids were babies. I also used it when trying to figure out what was going on with my oldest when he developed Type 1 diabetes and that was an instance when they advised me to go to the hospital right away.
I wonder if a case could be made for a pilot program to see if access to this kind of thing would reduce an individual’s BMI or healthcare spending over the course of a year (this would be handled very differently in our two different countries). What a fun idea to consider! I’m trying to decide if I would be too cheap to call. Probably would give it a try, based on how much I’ve spent over the ears on other dietary interventions. Who do you think should answer the phones?
Cmwann - Congratulations! How wonderful you must feel. A relaxing vacation that didn’t lead to any weight gain. Here’s to eating well and to satiation!! Thank you for your kind words, McDougall groups are such a great place to find community for so many different sorts of people. I have belonged to the McDougall Friends FB group in the past, and it seemed like a nice place to find new friends and information. I wanted to pare down my social media usage, so I removed myself from a number of groups because they were so large and talkative that I would spend way too much time reading the posts. Some people really love this kind of action and can get great value out of knowing they are 1 post and a few minutes away from receiving some sort of supportive answer. Jeff created a cautionary post called
The McDougall Message and Social Media to point out that since these non-official groups are not monitored by actual McDougall staff you need to be aware that they may sometimes inadvertently promote inaccuracies.
ShortnSweet Month 1 down and you beat the goal! 4.7 lbs is
faster than 1 pound per week.
I know, I know how you feel - I want to be
done with this too. It is a mental battle that will get easier; keep doing what you are doing. You may wonder if it is more difficult to lose weight the second time around, because it can certainly feel that way. Here is a fabulous interview that answers this question:
Weight Loss Wisdom from Dr. Doug Lisle Spoiler alert: It is not more difficult. We just gotta do what we did before. XO.
Belana - Yes! Great loss. I see that Lindsey has linked the Maintenance thread (thanks Linds!!), this will be your next step. With regards to your comments about historically having difficulty transitioning from “diet” to “maintenance” mode. This is understandable when you are going from a period of willfully restricting your calories to no longer doing so. However, the point of this plan is to not have to do that. The hope is that you are eating until satisfied on whole natural foods. You will not continue to lose weight if you can listen to your body and eat the amount
it wants you to. If you really are concerned about gaining any weight back, I suggest:
- continuing to eat the MWL plan, but remove any portion restrictions you may have been unconsciously setting.
- continue to avoid alcohol as this can produce unintentional food choice errors due to it’s effects on inhibitory control....and it is high in calories itself.
- continue to not eat after dinner.
- if you do the above and still feel unsatisfied add more starch or fruit.
- if you have removed salt or added sugar and miss it, add it back in very sparingly and very carefully.
May I ask, can you explain in more detail what you mean about being strict, and what you are finding unsatisfying that you can’t keep eating like this. The devil is in the details here and we can find a way to make this work for you!
Laura - Hugs to you! Let us be your still waters in the current maelstrom you are facing. Congratulations on the good choices you made this week. They were tough and you did it. I’m glad you enjoyed the video links. Take a look at the one I linked above for
ShortnSweet too. Some people just need to change the food to get well, others also need to change their mindset too. That’s where those videos come in. Keep me posted on how things go this week. Be strong for your husband, he needs you right now. You get to be his light at a dark time, and your own as well, by making good choices that will lead to greater feelings of calm and control.
Liz - Yahoo! Going off grid suits you.
You have discovered what the program professionals suggest: Jeff Novick discusses the necessity to have a clean environment in many threads including this one:
Compliance of a Healthy Diet. Dr. Lisle likes to say
work harder on your environment than on yourself, and Chef AJ has a catchy phrase too
If it’s in your house, it’s in your mouth! And not about the environment exactly but still my favourite
It’s the food! from Dr. McDougall. Have a great week too!
Moonlight - Part 2 - Yes! I’m so glad daily accountability is working for you. Best wishes to your mum from me...and to you my friend.
Guitarist 1 by Max Ellis, on Flickr
Oh well, it could be worse I suppose. I'm sure I'll be back down next week anyways.
