September 2019 McDougall Weigh In Thread

[stillcrazy]

Marilyn, I am so sorry to hear about you husband! I surely hope he is recovering now, please keep us posted. Of course this is extremely stressful for you. Just do the best you can with food and remember how important it is for us to take care of ourselves so we can take care of those we love. Vee

[squealcat]

Thank you everyone for your kind words. It was funny how I kept telling everyone that I was "just fine". In reality I was eating everything in sight, not sleeping well, just staring into space, not in the mood to watch anything on TV , etc, etc. Now I see that I was indeed stressed. Many times I do not recognize it in myself until later.

Yes, my husband is doing very well and back to his old self. He is on two new meds that thin the blood. That makes me nervous but so far so good ! He was back to mowing the lawn today and doing all he normally does. I am sleeping much better and feel like myself again.

Back to much better eating too! Oatmeal for breakfast, salad and then bean soup for lunch and rice and beans and cauliflower for dinner. Many trips to the restroom as I get rid of a lot of unwanted and extra water weight. I am sure it is more than water but hope for the best.

I look forward to reading all your words of wisdom. Don't' know if I will lose this week but know that this good eating will continue now.

-squealcat (Marilyn)

[stillcrazy]

Marilyn, good to hear that you are both doing well. Stress really does mess us up at times!

[moonlight]

I've gained weight again... I'm up 2 more pounds... Back at 175lbs. I guess if I keep checking in eventually I'll get motivated again and start being compliant about everything,,,

[vegman]

Last Thursday: 163.4 (BMI 24.3)
Today: 161.2 (BMI 24.0)
Change: -2.2 pounds

Goal: < 148 (<BMI 22)

Last week’s gain reversed, plus additional loss.

Calorie density back down: more salads, soups, corn on the cob. Plenty of walking.

[stillcrazy]

Last week: 229.2
This week: 226.2
Loss: 3.0

I am thrilled with my loss this week! I expected a smaller loss because I had two good losses in a row this month. I have been off my Mary’s Mini with potatoes for a week now but I still like them and eat them. But I went out to eat this week and had a farro salad, first time I have ever eaten farro. It was really good! I went out and found it, with a little searching, at my grocery store so I had several farro meals this past week. Also quinoa and barley. Yesterday I went out and picked all the tomatillos in my garden since we have a hard freeze predicted for the weekend and made a huge batch of salsa verde. I will freeze most of it but I will have some on a potato today. Salsa (usually red) is my favorite potato topping. I have kept geo’s journal in my mind with the idea of commitment and consistency and that has been helpful. Maybe the most important thing for my good week has been that I am trying very hard to only eat when I am truly hungry. I realize that food thoughts most likely aren’t about hunger for me. They are habits or addictions or whatever you want to call them. My tummy actually doesn’t feel hungry all that often!

[Shortnsweet]

I lost 2.1 pounds this week!

I'm still on-track with my plan to lose 100-lbs in 100-weeks. I'm on week 17 and I've lost 18.6 pounds.

And, I'm half way to re-losing the weight that I regained. After a loss of 38-pounds last year, I regained it all over the course of 9-months.

I haven't been able to really, REALLY enjoy the weight loss this time as much as last time. I was feeling REALLY good about myself last year and then life happened and the wheels came off the bus.

I think that I won't be able to regain that same sense of satisfaction and accomplishment until I enter brand new weight loss territory. Hopefully, it won't take that long or that much more for me to start feeling truly satisfied, but if it does it does.

Anyway, back to work!

[sirdle]

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.

Amy,

Thanks for some very perceptive comments. I am sorry you're struggling with this, but I agree that the most important thing when suffering a setback it to treat oneself with compassion. It seems to me that compassion allows us to take a mental break, reevaluate where we are, and plot a course for improvement.

Coincidentally, I was just reading about this in Dean Ornish's book "The Spectrum" in which he argues that a healthy diet/lifestyle is not an all-or-nothing proposition, but rather a continuum along which are many paths to success.

The language of behavioral modification often has a moralistic quality to it that turns off a lot of people (like "cheating" on a diet). It's a small step from thinking of foods as "good" or "bad" to seeing yourself as a "good person" or a "bad person" if you eat them, and this stress creates a downward spiral in a vicious cycle. You flog yourself, saying that gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins.

For example, once you feel as if you're a bad person for eating some ice cream, it's all too easy to say, "Well, I blew it, so I might as well finish the entire pint." In reality, although we often project moral qualities onto it, food is just food.

Also, the term "patient compliance" has a fascist, creepy quality to it, sounding like one person manipulating or bending a patient's will to his or her own. In the short run, I may be able to pressure you into changing your diet, but soon or later )usually sooner), some part of you will rebel. That's why I said earlier that I'm not trying to get you to do anything in this book. I'm just sharing information that you can use to make informed and intelligent choices.

Wishing you all a little kindness.

Cheers,

[squealcat]

Sorry, I did not help this group at all this month. I am up 0.6 pounds this week. BUT I weighed myself as this week went by and my weight was WAY higher last week I am sure ! So I am proud that I got on track with my eating and am enjoying what I eat.
See you next month !

-squealcat (Marilyn)

[AnnetteW]

Aug 29 - Wt. 149.8
Sept 5 - Wt. 150.6 (gain 0.8 )
Sept 13 - Wt. 149 (loss 1.6)
Sept 19 - Wt. 149.8 (gain 0.8 )
Sept 26 - Wt. 149.6 (loss 0.2)....if you can even call that a loss

This whole month was a wash for me. BTW, I'll be gone next week so no weighing. I'll start new on Oct. 10. So I'll consider next week's weight to be the same as today's.

[amandamechele]

Marsha - I hope your smile is even brighter after your visit to the dentist last week. Good loss then! Thank you for your kind words last week. The food does taste so good!

Annette - Whether you have lost weight or not, you say that people are noticing a difference so that tells me (and hopefully you) that positive changes are occurring - fat loss and muscle being built. So I would like to reframe your monthly recap from right back where I started to: people think you are looking better, you can see a difference in your muscle definition, and you are no worse off than last month with regards to your scale reading; I know it may not have been the win that you had hoped for, but it is a win! Great month. Enjoy your travels next week and I’ll keep your place in the tally.

Moonlight - XO. Yep, keep up the good fight (I’m with you sister). Keep chipping away at your food related decisions, keep your goal on your mind and continue to attempt to create a set of circumstances that will make compliance to the guidelines as easy as they can be. You have been doing quite well of late, hovering around a recent low. Focus your efforts on keeping your home free of tempting items and navigating or avoiding social situations that consistently lead to choices that take you further from your goal. All things that you know and I say them in lieu of giving you a hug. They are meant the same way. (Related tangent: My husband and I talk about my helping words sometimes because he finds that I sometimes don’t react as empathically as he expects, when I really do feel like I’m being empathetic. It caused me to look up the word empathy to get an understanding of what he meant. One source identified 3 types of empathy - cognitive empathy (which seems to be where I skew according to him, especially when time crunched - it’s more rational perspective taking; think trying to help someone solve their problem), emotional empathy (which is probably what most of us think of when we imagine an empathetic person; someone who feels and understands the feelings someone else) and compassionate empathy (which is described as the best mix of the above two types of empathy). All that said, I hope I don’t come across as not understanding of the struggles. Sometimes I just feel the need to fill the space with some words just to let you know I care.

Rosey and Sirdle - Congrats on your losses for last week. I’m playing a bit of catch up here with my responses, my apologies.

Laura (also from last week) - How did the past week go with regards to your intention to minimize your small forays into off-plan eating? Thank you for the kind words, also, I’m just doing my best like all of us are. Often it isn’t quite good enough to reach my goals, but when that becomes painful enough I sometimes get spurred into action again. That’s what keeps me trying, in order to be ready to take advantage of that burst of motivation when it presents itself.

Marilyn - Thank you for the update on your husband, but mostly for the one on yourself. I’m glad your husband is home and hope he goes easy on the strenuous exercise while he is healing. I’m so glad you are feeling more like your old self. When someone we love goes through such a scare it is so easy to stop doing everything we need to do to keep ourselves healthy in service of trying to be there for them and serve their needs. Don’t worry about whether you lose or not this week. Just think one meal at a time. Do the foods that I am about to eat fall into our MWL guidelines? Stop and consider this before you eat. It may create just enough of a delay before eating something to give you a chance to reconsider any sub-optimal choices. Vee is right, stress really can mess things up. I’m glad your home is feeling a bit more settled this week. Be proud of your efforts this week.

Vegman - Calorie density and consistent diligence for the win!! Nice loss.

Vee - I’m thrilled for you too! Woo hoo! I love hearing you speak about your journey to understanding yourself. Very inspiring, keep up the great work. XO. I love pico de gallo on potatoes, with homemade hummus too.

ShortnSweet - Awesome loss this week. You are on track. I understand how you feel, as I am experiencing the same phenomena. Keep doing what you are doing and when you do get to new ground it will feel so much sweeter for the extra effort that it took...but prior to that it does feel like a bit of a slog.

Sirdle (responding to this week’s post) - Thank you for the kindness. I enjoy Dean Ornish’s books and his perspective. I don’t find it easy to separate the sin and the sinner when it comes to myself; I may have been born this way but I’ll keep working on staying on the right track, baby! LOL.


My love of Sound of Music and Lady Gaga really came together in this meme...I have no idea of the creator’s intent, but I still think I love it...LOL!

[deweyswakms]

Hope not too late to 'weigh in'. I forgot yesterday was Thursday. Well, I am shocked and surprised to report a 2.4 lb loss! wahoo!!! I weighed several times thinking the scale must be wrong, moved it to different place. Nope, 189.4. Was 191.8 last week. Now, how did I do that?! Lots of beans, rice, potatoes, veggies, 1-2 fruits a day.

9/19/19 weighed 191.8
9/27/19 weighed 189.4

It's a good day. Marsha

[deweyswakms]

I lost 2.1 pounds this week!

I haven't been able to really, REALLY enjoy the weight loss this time as much as last time.

I do hope you will enjoy and be pleased with yourself for buckling up and starting again. That's the real success. Congratulations for reclaiming your goals and vision.

Marsha

[AnnetteW]

Annette - Whether you have lost weight or not, you say that people are noticing a difference so that tells me (and hopefully you) that positive changes are occurring - fat loss and muscle being built. So I would like to reframe your monthly recap from right back where I started to: people think you are looking better, you can see a difference in your muscle definition, and you are no worse off than last month with regards to your scale reading; I know it may not have been the win that you had hoped for, but it is a win! Great month. Enjoy your travels next week and I’ll keep your place in the tally.

You're too sweet and totally right. You said exactly what I needed to hear, and even better, I keep saying things to myself like that daily. The talk in my head isn't actually negative, so that I wrote something that sounded a bit negative, I really didn't mean it. The daily weight (which I've been doing most the time) is just a momentary snapshot.

This is why I tend to follow my "trend weight" which has me down 1.7 lbs this past month. I'll take it.

[sirdle]

A loss of 1.1 lbs this week.

Still roller-coasting down... averaging about 0.5 lbs per week

Cheers,