Hi Everyone,
Thank you to everyone who checked in. I appreciate you and your kind words of encouragement to each other.
Marilyn, I hope things are going as well as can be expected for your husband, we are all rooting for as best an outcome as possible for him. You will be an excellent resource and support in his recovery. Remember to take good care of yourself through all of this.
I wanted to share a bit about my day today, as it didn’t go so well and it all began with stepping onto the scale...
After what I considered a very VERY successful week - all MWL foods, though not staying within the suggested fruit guidelines or doing the more restricted version of a 50/50 plate -
I was up 0.8 pounds. 
I have only just started to weigh myself again as of last week and I told myself before I stepped on the scale it didn’t matter what it read, that I had done well this week. But saying these things to myself never really has any effect when my expectations are violated. I expected to lose weight. I felt like I deserved to lose weight. I felt like it was something I had earned.
When I got off the scale I continued to rationalize, I told myself it didn’t matter, it’s just some random fluctuation due to some of the many things we talk about here that can affect any given instance of measurement. All of that is actually true, but, the feelings of disappointment slithered in anyway and took up residence in my brain.
Around mid-morning I decided to go to the cafeteria and fill up my thermos with hot water. I typically walk in the back way through the cashier stations because the hot drink service is right beside them and I can avoid having to go through the rows of pastries made by the local culinary school, the hot food bar and breakfast buffet which has proven to be a place of temptation and downfall in the past.
For unknown reasons, nothing to do with having a bad weigh-in (right?! LOL), I decided to go through the front entrance today. I stopped to squeeze the buns to see if they were fresh, admire the danishes and other pastries, peer at the breakfast buffet and smell all of the soups and curries ready and waiting to be eaten.
I had just wanted to fill up my thermos with hot water, I told myself, but deep down even I didn’t believe that. With a solid month of following the guidelines very closely I haven’t been feeling any unmanageable cravings lately. They still visit me, but they are weak and I am usually able to just close the door on those thoughts and move on.
Today, however, feeling a bit peckish while exposing myself to a multitude of temptations turned into feelings of longing. I don’t want to call them cravings, I had battled down that extinction curve this month. I could have still said no, there was no feeling of compulsion behind my choices this morning, like there is with an active
Cram circuit going. This was merely an impulsive decision influenced by a feeling of disappointment. It led to a second impulsive decision to purchase lunch while I was in there and as you may all have guessed there were no MWL adherent prepared meals available. I ordered a fruit cup, a minestrone soup and a couple of whole wheat dinner rolls. With palpable cognitive dissonance, I went and paid for my meal. Then I ate it.
Normally, when I string together enough of these impulsive decisions they turn on the compulsive aspect of my overeating. I have a name for this (and it’s not a gentle one, so please forgive me if it is offensive - I will remove it upon request). I have always called it my
Ah F*@K It Tendency. I once heard
Heather Goodwin of
The Butterfly Effect refer to it as the
What the Heck Effect. This is that feeling you get after eating a couple of off-plan foods and you decide to pack it in for the day, week or month. May as well just eat all of the foods and start fresh tomorrow.
That became my battle today. Was I going to let my disappointment-led single poor decision turn into a whole day, or longer, of getting off track and digging myself into another pleasure (and pain) stimulating hole?
No!
As suggested in the linked article above - and something we are always trying to do here - is practice self-compassion. Be kind to yourself! Try not to let a single mistake, or a whole bunch of them, derail your intentions for healthy eating. Also try to treat yourself as you would others. When someone comes into this forum and is struggling to follow the plan we rally around them, we don’t criticize them; this is something you can try to do with yourself too. Additionally, by building in a little wiggle room with regard to your adherence level, you are much less likely to succumb to the
What the Heck Effect. So, understand that a slip up here or there is not the end of the world. Find your
Sweet Spot as Jeff may say.
Though we are all here for the single purpose of losing weight using what we have decided to be the healthiest dietary pattern, the differences between us will lead to many alternative ways of reaching those goals. I want everyone to know that you don’t have to be following the plan in exactly the same way as someone else may be to belong here. Aim for very good adherence and see where the chips fall. We are a community of people who recognize and are appreciative of the lessons that
Dr. McDougall and his team are sharing. This whole online forum has a variety of areas to appeal to any number of different personalities and application styles. Find which area fits you best (and that can change over time) and hang out there. Do your best to attempt to connect with someone eating this way on a personal level. This will also help keep you involved through times of hardship or waning motivation.
I am going to do my darndest not to let today’s set back become a large one, or a long one. For some of us putting on weight is vastly easier than taking it off....and taking it off is hard for almost everyone. So do your best not to let a small slip turn into a long one.
Very best wishes to you all this week.
Amy XO
Here are the results for the third week in September:Next Weigh-In is on Friday, September 27th, 2019Total group loss reported in 2019: 391.92 pounds
September 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: 37.3 pounds
Total group loss in August 2019: 23.8 pounds
Total group loss in September 2019: 19.3 poundsWeek ending 09/20/2019: 11 participants reported a total loss of 1.7 pounds
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Frowsyowl - 0.6
Vegman - 1.8
Moonlight - 1.0
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Total gains: 3.4
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ShortnSweet - 0.3
Stillcrazy - 2.2
Squealcat - 0.0
Deweyswakms - 0.2
AnnetteW - 0.8
Sirdle - 0.4
Laurag - 0.0
Rosey - 1.2
---------------------------------------------
Total losses: 5.1
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Total group loss in September 2019: 19.3 pounds
Week ending 09/13/2019: 11 participants reported a total loss of 1.7 pounds
Week ending 09/13/2019: 12 participants reported a total loss of 17.8 pounds
Week ending 09/06/2019: 12 participants reported a total loss of -0.2 pounds
by GlennR » Thu Sep 19, 2019 6:38 pm 
I guess my off-plan eating was just too much... Onward!! I'm slowly getting back into an exercise mindset and I don't have any trips planned. Annette, you made me laugh with the cutting off a limb thought. It's tempting!! But I don't think it would be worth the limb. I'll take the slower weight loss method!
Amy, thank you for all your hard work toward helping us stay motivated. It is very much appreciated. 
