July 2019 McDougall Weigh In Thread

[amandamechele]

APrincess - Welcome! I’m glad you have found Jeff’s links, I hope you can find some time to go through them, they are so helpful. May I ask, what bring you to the program? You don’t have to answer that, I’m just always curious to learn more about each of us who ends up here. As for your question, each month a new thread is set up and we all post our weight loss (or lack of it) on Friday, right here where you have posted. I can add you to the tally tomorrow evening with a starting loss of 0 if you are just getting started. Let me know otherwise. I love your username, I hope you truly do feel like a princess in your everyday life.

Sirdel - Nice loss! Way to get right back to it. Did you find you had any difficulties?

Hi Vegman - Welcome. I look forward to hearing from you and learning more about you. I see you’ve been a forum member since 2009, so you are a long time McDougaller. What has your experience been like? Your weight is in the normal range, so I imagine you are looking the reach the lower healthy BMI range for more healthy benefits? Was it some of Jeff’s writings, like Optimal BMI, that have you wanting to do this?

Annette - Ugh! Colonoscopies are not fun. I hope the results are whatever you hope them to be. As for a cheat week, I may be misunderstanding your post, but 7.1 lbs loss is...um...really good. LOL. First weeks can be like that, big loss due to big changes in sodium consumption.

Connie - Double woot....woot! Congratulations on a great week. Is this a new recent low for you?

Belana - I’m so happy you’ve had a good experience with the program. Weight loss is freakin’ hard...LOL... and YOU DID IT! What kind of travelling will you be doing? Hopefully it’s for pleasure. If you are interested in doing so, please consider writing about your experience for the Testimonials and Success Stories section of the website. It is also the pace to find Lindsey’s Maintenance Thread.

CmWann - Yes! You have gotten back on track, how wonderful. You’ll get back to that recent low in no time. I feel the same as you do, the off plan foods just don’t hold the same appeal as they used to (I, admittedly, still have a ways to go with on-plan calorie dense foods, I don’t want to misrepresent myself here) and I’m super thankful to have found the McDougall Program. Thank you for your snack suggestion.

ShortnSweet - Really great loss. Keeping poking along, like your profile picture of the tortoise. If I recall correctly, it’s he who won the race! Do it The Slow Fast Way! Best wishes with your new challenge to give up the wine. Do you enjoy it often?

Annette (again) - That’s a great suggestion. I’m glad to hear that you didn’t find it difficult to pare down your usage that way. Jeff Novick just updated his thread called Think Responsibly: The Risks and Benefits of Alcohol & You, if you are interested in some reading that may motivate you to make the change. (It may not, and that’s okay too; these are difficult but important decisions that need to not be made lightly.). XO.

[Rosey]

I had got down to 245lbs almost 3 years ago and gained back up to 308lbs after seeing pictures we took of me and my friend both inside my old 6x pants. Both of us had worn that size in past and we were both inside them and it freaked me out for some reason and I started gaining really fast. But yes this Is lowest in a few years.

[amandamechele]

I had got down to 245lbs almost 3 years ago and gained back up to 308lbs after seeing pictures we took of me and my friend both inside my old 6x pants. Both of us had worn that size in past and we were both inside them and it freaked me out for some reason and I started gaining really fast. But yes this Is lowest in a few years.

You’ve been working hard at this for awhile and have come so far. XO. I’m very impressed that you just keep at it.
All the best for the coming week’s choices.

Amy

[Aprincess]

APrincess - Welcome! I’m glad you have found Jeff’s links, I hope you can find some time to go through them, they are so helpful. May I ask, what bring you to the program? You don’t have to answer that, I’m just always curious to learn more about each of us who ends up here. As for your question, each month a new thread is set up and we all post our weight loss (or lack of it) on Friday, right here where you have posted. I can add you to the tally tomorrow evening with a starting loss of 0 if you are just getting started. Let me know otherwise. I love your username, I hope you truly do feel like a princess in your everyday life.

amandamechele - My real name is Amy Princess. Great for me, not so great for my husband. Haha I have been plant based for a little over a year. At first I was collecting information from all over. I bought a ton of books, and made many mistakes. I don’t want to name any names, but I followed one that was just too restrictive for my family. I need starch for satiety. Then I was following another that just seemed to want to bleed my pocketbook all in the name of all the support I would get. I do feel I have an addictive personality, but I can’t keep pouring money into this. I stumbled on a video of Dr. McDougall’s color picturebook, and it just brought me back to basics. So, I just bought the Starch Solution and Jeff N. Tips are going to be so helpful. I’ve only lost about 15 lbs. on this, but had lost 20 just before becoming plant based through WW. I am 59, on thyroid meds but I am off metformin for prediabetes and off all blood pressure meds. This feels like home and will be just the support I need without costing me a fortune. Lol Thank you for reaching out!

[Aprincess]

280.7lbs last week 276.9 lbs this week for a 3.8lb loss. BTW that also makes me less then a 100lbs heavier then my husband. WOOT!!!

Wow! Good job!!!!

[Lyndzie]

Hi guys! Just wanted to say hello, I haven’t posted here in a while. This summer group has been so supportive and helpful. Everyone is having success, both weight-wise and non-scale victories. You are on the right path, keep on rockin!

[AnnetteW]

Annette - Ugh! Colonoscopies are not fun. I hope the results are whatever you hope them to be. As for a cheat week, I may be misunderstanding your post, but 7.1 lbs loss is...um...really good. LOL. First weeks can be like that, big loss due to big changes in sodium consumption.

LOL...not cheating by eating wrong, I meant I cheated with such a large number by doing the colonoscopy prep. it's already up 2 lbs. Also, though I'm relatively new to MWL/SS, I have been following Dr. Fuhrman for a few months, though a bit loosely when out of the house (eating out). Like someone else mentioned, and I don't doubt she was talking about the same diet, it's just too restrictive. I know I will be taking a lot of good habits away from it, the extra greens for one, and I really learned a lot, but I just keep exploring the different plans to find what works for me. They are all so similar, honestly.

I do look forward to the weight being gone and being a little bit freer with other food items, such as a sprinkling of seeds on my salad, etc. For now they are all packed away in my freezer, buy my gut has always liked nuts/seeds.

As far as the alcohol avoidance goes, today would be an opportunity for me to have 2 drinks. I'm going out with my girlfriends for lunch, and we've always just had a glass of wine. And also going out for dinner with my husband and a friend. I already know if I have a glass at lunch I'd be more likely to have one at dinner too. And I've also made the conscious decision that it's time to have even less. So I'll skip it at lunch, have a nice tea, and also probably just skip it at dinner. The more I do it, the easier it gets. I know it's not healthy, I just have to keep at it. It is definitely a bad habit and an addiction I don't need in my new healthy lifestyle.

Now it's time for me to work on the exercise habit, put on my walking shoes and enjoy a cool morning.

[vegman]

Hi amandamechele and everyone,

I’ve been eating a whole foods oriented vegan diet for decades.

After my weight became an issue, in 2011 I read all of Jeff Novick’s writings here and on his website, which clarified the principles of a scientifically supported healthy vegan diet, and cleared up my confusion due to incorrect information from certain vegan MDs. I restarted the McDougall program, which worked well when I did it for a few years in the past. This time I tried to keep to MWL.

My weight went down. It fluctuated, but my BMI almost always stayed below 25 and often below 23, sometimes below 22.

A few years ago, after a temporary health issue that caused weight loss, I regained weight and overshot the mark, becoming less consistent about MWL and eating more calorie-dense regular McDougall program foods. After my BMI was lingering above 25, on June 10 I re-committed to MWL. I reread the guidelines, re-watched Jeff’s calorie density video, and started salads and/or soups before most meals, and walking more. I feel healthier.

My BMI is now barely back into the official normal range, but in my experience, for me a reasonable BMI is under 22, and I've seen the information suggesting that.

After a good experience with Lyndzie’s recent 21 day challenge that happened to coincide with my reboot, I decided to join here.

[Aprincess]

Hi amandamechele and everyone,

........My BMI is now barely back into the official normal range, but in my experience, for me a reasonable BMI is under 22, and I've seen the information suggesting that.

After a good experience with Lyndzie’s recent 21 day challenge that happened to coincide with my reboot, I decided to join here.

Hi there,
I am new here too and it seems like a great place. I need to find some challenges, too. Right now figuring all this out is my challenge. Haha. I don’t have much experience with message boards.

[sirdle]

Sirdle - Nice loss! Way to get right back to it. Did you find you had any difficulties?

Actually, I think most of that loss was from all the walking we did in Germany, but the loss didn't show up until we got home and cut the salt from our diet.

Haven't had too many temptations... except for yesterday. Very tasty non-compliant (free) food at work. I managed to avoid temptation in the morning by eating my lunch salad at 8:00 AM! Then I avoided the lunch temptation by eating my afternoon minestrone soup at 11:00.

But I fell at the last jump...

... and paid the price last night. Good, solid, negative reinforcement! LOL!

Cheers,

[laurag]

So I am a little late to weigh in still 153, no loss but I did have a very positive feeling about food, I was eating my favorite potato kale and lentils with salsa and sriracha when I felt overwhelmingly happy about the food I was eating and I knew it couldnt hurt me. It was like ok to love food and not have to feel bad I was enjoying it. So then I was in a good place but we went to taco bell which is a little tradition, I always get the fresco style bean and rice burrito and tostada Then I knew it wasnt the same I didnt feel good after and such. My goal this week is to find that healthy relationship with foods and just pack meal wherever I go even the bell. Good Luck everybody I know we are all on a good path

[laurag]

So I am a little late to weigh in still 153, no loss but I did have a very positive feeling about food, I was eating my favorite potato kale and lentils with salsa and sriracha when I felt overwhelmingly happy about the food I was eating and I knew it couldnt hurt me. It was like ok to love food and not have to feel bad I was enjoying it. So then I was in a good place but we went to taco bell which is a little tradition, I always get the fresco style bean and rice burrito and tostada Then I knew it wasnt the same I didnt feel good after and such. My goal this week is to find that healthy relationship with foods and just pack meal wherever I go even the bell. Good Luck everybody I know we are all on a good path

[Michele613]

Wow everyone...such positive, happy and uplifting posts. Let's be encouraged...do what's working right and move away from what's not working.

Wishing you all success during the week in all ways...sometimes non-food challenges keep us on or off our preferred path. May it be good!

[amandamechele]

Hi All,

Nice job this week! It’s great to see all of you continuing to work towards your goals.
Ok, I am briefly hijacking the post tonight because....I recently had my DNA genotyped with 23andMe and I got the results back today. Super fun! Have any of you had this done?
I discovered that I have the muscle composition common in elite power athletes, but I bet you all could tell that just by looking at my pictures...LOL. Well, maybe not, due to also discovering something much less surprising, I am genetically predisposed to weigh more than average, and even more so if my diet contains high amounts of saturated fat.

I think my genes are telling me I need to follow the McDougall MWL plan! LOL.



For those of you here to actually learn more about the program, and not just more about me (hee hee), here is an important summary of the Refinements for Maximum Weight Loss. Dr. McDougall starts off discussing the efficacy of the program:

How Well Does the Maximum Weight Loss Program Work?

This past month (January 14 to 23, 2005) we held our first 10-day live-in program based upon the principles of Maximum Weight Loss – designed by Mary and John McDougall almost 20 years ago to help people lose weight faster and easier, and to maintain that new size. Thousands of people have successfully followed this program at home. Some implement the rules strictly, all of the time, and others simply use the more limiting program for short periods to lose a few stubborn pounds, returning to the "regular" McDougall Program for most of the year. (The most significant difference, as you will soon learn, is that the "regular" program uses whole grain flour products, like breads, bagels, and muffins, and more fruits, juices and other simple sugars.)
The average weight loss achieved in this first ever Maximum Weight Loss Live-in Program held at our clinic in Santa Rosa, California was slightly over 4.5 pounds in 7 days – in other words, about one pound more than is lost in the usual program for the week. (That's 52 extra well-deserved pounds in a year from that extra effort.) Our guests never suffered a moment of hunger and they thoroughly enjoyed the tastes of the meals we served to them. That was obvious; they ate 2, 3, 4 and more servings at each meal. Most importantly, they loved the results – easy weight loss, relief of headaches and arthritis, and dramatic reductions in blood sugars, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. They got their lives back – all by eating delicious foods.

Goto the link below to read the whole list of refinements that can be made to your McDougall program to best maximize your weight loss:

Pushing Your Set Point To the Limits: The McDougall Program For Maximum Weight Loss

Best wishes this week!

Amy XO.

PS. I also learned that 4% of my genes are Neanderthal!! [mind blown] My husband’s family is having a field day with the cave man jokes. I just told them to keep on joking because with the way that I eat, I’ll be laying flowers on their graves....they didn’t get it. LOL. (Sadly, the veracity of Neanderthal flower burials has come into question in recent years making my bad joke even more so)

Here are the results for the second week in July:

Next Weigh-In is on Friday, July 19th, 2019

Total group loss reported in 2019: 340.52 pounds

July 2019 Weight Loss Group :: Monthly Weigh-In Results
Total group loss in January 2019: 140.53 pounds
Total group loss in February 2019: 78.64 pounds
Total group loss in March 2019: 7.4 pounds
Total group loss in April 2019: 33.55 pounds
Total group loss in May 2019: 38.2 pounds
Total group loss in June 2019: 13.4 pounds
Total group loss in July 2019: 28.8 pounds

Week ending 07/12/2019: 10 participants reported a total loss of 20.9 pounds
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Total gains:
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APrincess - 0.0
Sirdle - 1.8
Vegman - 1.5
AnnetteW - 7.1
Rosey - 3.8
Belana - 0.2
Cmwann - 2.2
ShortnSweet - 4.3
LauraG - 0.0
Michele613 - 0.0
---------------------------------------------
Total losses: 20.9
---------------------------------------------

Total group loss in July 2019: 28.8 pounds
Week ending 07/12/2019: 10 participants reported a total loss of 20.9 pounds
Week ending 07/05/2019: 10 participants reported a total loss of 7.9 pounds

[moonlight]

Hi Amy,

I think you'll get a laugh from this quote from Oscar Wilde: I can resist everything except temptation. HaHa!

I apologize for being late to report. My husband came home for the weekend and I got too busy... The exciting news (there is a positive side) is that I haven't gained any weight.... I thought I would have lost some but I'm still at 171.2 - so close to dropping another pound... I really think the reason for no weight loss has been a lack of exercise rather than over eating, even though I had a little of that, too. I hurt my back and wasn't very active most of last week. My back is better so there's hope for next week! I'm not giving up! I want to lose 25 more pounds!

I love hearing about your DNA report. I've been curious about mine. You may have pushed me to doing it. I didn't know it gave you so much information. Interesting.

Cheers to a new week!! Congratulations to all who are brave enough and strong enough to be here! Reading everyone's stories this week is very inspiring for me. Thank you, all! Good luck this week!