October 2019 McDougall Weigh In Thread

For those wanting to learn about and follow the McDougall Maximum Weight Loss Program. You can also join our monthly weigh-ins.

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October 2019 McDougall Weigh In Thread

Postby amandamechele » Mon Sep 30, 2019 10:41 pm

Welcome to the October Weigh-In Thread for Dr. McDougall's Maximum Weight Loss Program.

For the program details visit the MWL Guidelines thread in this forum. Please check out as many of the links as you have time for, there is so much here to discover!
A couple of other great resources, for those just starting out, are from Jeff Novick the staff dietician for the program: The Ultimate Guide to Free Calorie Density (MWL) Resources and his 1 hour video explanation on Calorie Density: How to Eat More, Weigh Less and Live Longer.

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Hi All!

I love this time of year with the slightly cooler weather, perfect for brisk walks and bear spotting (in my neck of the woods anyway). I saw my first bear since moving out into the forest just last week, two properties down from mine near the river. It was kind of neat to see, from the safety of my car...LOL. (He or she was too fast to get a picture of or I totally would have shared it with you all.
***
We are getting close to a whole slew of holidays, which means the possibility of many more social gatherings and many more tricky tempting situations which will put internal and social pressure on your ability to follow the MWL guidelines.

I find this is the best time to re-commit yourself to eating well in order to get some good habits/patterns developing. Clean out your cupboards of the processed foods and stock them with salt-free canned beans, tomatoes, and brown rice, quinoa, (other canned veggies too, if you like). Clean out your fridge and fill it with your favourite fruits and fresh vegetables, maybe some sparkling water and low sodium condiments. Clean out your pantry and stock it full of potatoes, yams, and onions. Clean out your freezer and fill it with frozen corn and broccoli, homemade soups and stews, and old bananas for some delicious fruit sorbet. There's much preparing to be done to make this October a great start to losing weight between now and January 1st.

Try to imagine it... being 5-10 pounds lighter after Christmas. It's totally doable if you get started now! If you follow the guidelines really closely, and have more to lose, then the potential for even higher loss numbers exist (I just hate to make false promises, so it's best to keep forecasts conservative and vague. No need to put any added pressure on yourself by aiming for a specific number, just let nature take its course).

Aquaint or re-acquaint yourselves with the guidelines by reading and/or watching all of the links above. Most importantly, commit yourself to doing your very best for a certain period of time. 1 week is a good start.

Ok, I’ve basically just reposted last year’s October Welcome post. I think it says what needs to be said. This next few months are usually the toughest for all of us to stay on track, so it can be a good idea to get an early start on preparations and setting of intentions in order to be ready!

Best wishes for the next few days. I look forward to hearing from each of you on Thursday for weigh-in!

Are you ready?

Amy XO


Our weigh-ins are on Thursdays and you have until 12 PM PST on Friday to report.

This weekly weigh in group is for those wanting to follow the Maximum Weight Loss (MWL) program or Mary's Mini's. There is a sticky at the top of this forum on the guidelines for the MWL program..

In order to tally the results please submit your results by posting the total pounds you have lost or gained that week. You don't have to share your total weight if you'd rather keep that to yourself. This is an honor system so we take the gain, loss or maintain you give us in order to tally. (Please make a new post each week)

If you are a new member and would like to join but don't have a weight to be counted for the week then you will be counted either as a body with a zero starting weight, or when you check in for the weekly weigh in the following week. Large amounts of weight lost over a period of months or weeks, prior to joining the weekly weigh in group, will not be counted towards the weekly total.

If you measure your weight in something other than pounds please convert the measurement to pounds.

All gains will be counted towards the total to encourage weekly participation. Posting is encouraged whether it's a gain, a loss, or a maintain.

You are welcome to share as little or as much as you want on your weight loss journey here in this thread. We encourage members of the group to talk to each other, cheer each other on and set goals together.

This thread is for the mutual support of all who wish to participate.
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Re: October 2019 McDougall Weigh In Thread

Postby moonlight » Thu Oct 03, 2019 4:27 am

Good morning! It's a great day to be McDougalling!

I lost 1 lb. this week. (174) I'm going to celebrate that and hope for a little more next week.

I hope everyone has a great week. :)
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Re: October 2019 McDougall Weigh In Thread

Postby deweyswakms » Thu Oct 03, 2019 6:14 am

Good morning,
last week I was at a new #, 189.4
Today I am at 190.4
So a gain of 1 pound.

I expected it actually because 189 was new to me in years, and I promptly gained back 2#s. So am happy to whittle that back down. This is my 1st 'gain' since mid-July when I started MWL. I am not worried, am pleased with this way of eating and the weight loss.
Today I fly to New Mexico to visit old friends, and plan to eat as cleanly as I can but NM is the home of great Mexican food, so beans, rice, veggies, plenty of vegan restaurants, I can make it work.

Patience and carry on! Marsha
start weight 210 on 7/25/14; MWL recommit 7/2019 weight 197. 6/11/2022 weight 165.0. Height 5'8".
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Re: October 2019 McDougall Weigh In Thread

Postby stillcrazy » Thu Oct 03, 2019 6:37 am

Last week: 226.2
This week: 226.0
Loss: .2

I think my body was just stabilizing this week because I had a couple of weeks in a row of good losses. Plus my weather turned nasty so I hunkered down into no activity and eating lots of comfort food. Soup, chili and potatoes, mostly. I am not sure whether I do better with strictness or flexibility in my plan. I do know I cannot keep nuts around the house. I know that I have done well on Mary’s mini, which is pretty strict, but a week or ten days is all I can manage because by then I am really wanting variety. I do love to read about how we all are learning about ourselves and exploring tweaks and twists that work though!
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Re: October 2019 McDougall Weigh In Thread

Postby vegman » Thu Oct 03, 2019 7:33 am

Last Thursday: 161.2 (BMI 24.0)
Today: 162.3 (BMI 24.1)
Change: +1.1 pounds

Goal: < 148 (<BMI 22)

Bouncing up and down in a range, but a lower range than not long ago. This is normal.

Compliance remains good. I’ve never had problems adhering to dietary plans I choose to follow in my many decades eating a whole food vegan diet, aside from limiting quantities of pleasure trap foods if they are present in my home, which they presently are not.
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Re: October 2019 McDougall Weigh In Thread

Postby laurag » Thu Oct 03, 2019 10:43 am

So I am 151 lbs so up 1 lb. I am fooling around with the idea to be more strict like what worked for wildgoose. I want to be ready and committed I have a habit of jumping in and just kind of adhering. I really think I am one of those people that need to go all in for it to work. That is how I quite smoking and how I became vegan, I just fully committed and did it cold turkey. This food thing gets complex and I'm not sure of how to do it. I know I have a base that is 80-90 percent compliant. I think I want to commit to like a month of just the simple potatoes and veggies with no sugar salt. Thanks for listening btw I can't have nuts in house either! Baked goods would get me too! happy October !!
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Re: October 2019 McDougall Weigh In Thread

Postby Shortnsweet » Thu Oct 03, 2019 11:13 am

It’s been a miserable week. My 14yo daughter has been constipated for 8-days we’ve been to urgent care, pediatrician and now at the ER. Ugh.

My husband is out of town. This was supposed to be vacation week (fall break for kids). My younger son is pissed off because his vacation has sucked. Meanwhile, I’m due to start my period any nanosecond and I’m and emotional basket case.

I weigh EXACTLY the same today as last Thursday so I’m reporting 0 this week. Hopefully that means I’ll have a nice loss to report next week.

Blah!
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Re: October 2019 McDougall Weigh In Thread

Postby squealcat » Thu Oct 03, 2019 2:28 pm

October is starting out good ! :-) I am down 2.2 pounds this week YAY ! :-D I used potatoes in between meals with my own hummas when I got that urge to eat and that worked really well. In the past I tried to make something sweet and that was NO help. Also I have been able to just have 2 fruits each day so far which it hard for me. I ate my oatmeal in the morning with NO blueberries and saved my two fruits for later. That worked well too.

-squealcat (Marilyn)
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Re: October 2019 McDougall Weigh In Thread

Postby amandamechele » Thu Oct 03, 2019 8:37 pm

Moonlight - Excellent, that is worth being proud of! Hoping, wishing and working towards a great new week.

Marsha - You’ve got the right attitude, don’t sweat the small stuff, as Deepak Chopra would say. :) Do your best to keep out of the pleasure trap this week, but most importantly to enjoy your time with friends. :) Patience is a virtue.

Vee - You will find the right mix of strictness and flexibility with a little experimentation. You’ve already figured out that more than 10 days on a Mini is not for you. Slowly add in a new starch or two. See how that works for about two weeks. Things to ask yourself: Do you feel satisfied? Does it feel like “dieting”? (Meaning too restrictive for you). Are you still losing weight? (And you are correct - this won’t necessarily happen every week, so look to the longer term trend when you assess). Wait the whole two weeks before asking yourself these things because, as we have all experienced, the first few days often don’t feel very satisfying. Once you feel like you are in a groove and you are losing (even if it is 1/2 pound per week) just keeping doing what you are doing. That is the key to reaching the goal and maintaining it forevermore.

Vegman - Thanks for checking in. This bouncing around is absolutely normal when approaching your goal and you seem to be doing so well I often feel silly commenting, but I want to acknowledge your effort and your success. It is inspiring to have people in the mix that can attest to the ease at which weight can be lost through good adherence, when that is not the issue. It reminds us all that the MWL program works, not that anyone doubted that, when followed well.

Laurag - Happy October Laura! I think it is a great idea to give the really simple plan a try. It could be just the right strategy for you. Maybe you can commit to a certain short period of time, like a week. See how that goes and then reassess. If you manage to get through 7-14 days with just pure whole food ingredients, I am almost certain you will choose to try it for another week, because the pull of the more stimulating foods won’t be felt as strongly due to creating and reinforcing new neural patterns, like well worn paths in the meadow where the grass and flowers have been trampled away due to much use. As for the food, it can be as simple or as complicated as you wish to make it. It also may not be quite as tasty at first, if you are used to salting or sugaring your food, but you will acclimate over time. Oats and fruit, potatoes and greens, beans and rice. Even MWL soups and stews if you like more complicated mixtures- but I think if you can hack it, going really simple in the beginning works well because there is less expectation that plain potatoes or plain veggies taste great, than with prepared foods. The soups and stews can seem more disappointing due to all the extra effort that they take to make until you neuroadapt to less salty flavours. What are your thoughts? Do you think you want to try 7 days? I will do it with you, if you decide to, and I can post pictures of what I am eating. No pressure if you don’t want to, just thought maybe I could be of help for the first few days of change.
Here’s some of my dinner from tonight: Jeff’s Fries, plain!
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ShortnSweet - Oh man! I’m sorry to hear about your daughter. How stressful and uncomfortable. Count that one blessing - no weight gained! This coming week is sure to get better.

Marilyn - That’s an awesome way to start the month. Wonderful loss and wonderful diligence.
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Re: October 2019 McDougall Weigh In Thread

Postby sirdle » Fri Oct 04, 2019 6:04 am

A loss of 1.2 lbs this week. Not sure where that came from... but I'm not complaining. :-P
"Before Enlightenment chop wood, carry water. After Enlightenment chop wood, carry water." -- Zen proverb
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Re: October 2019 McDougall Weigh In Thread

Postby Artista » Fri Oct 04, 2019 9:25 am

I would like to join you all for October. I don't have a weight change to report for this week since I didn't weigh myself last Thursday, I'll report a weight change next week. I ordered the MWL book and it should be arriving soon. I've read the guidelines and have been following them as best I can. The most difficult thing for me is limiting fruit to 2 a day. I'm still working on that. I usually eat 3 or 4 small servings of fruit a day. I have about 6 pounds to go to get to my goal. I tend to lose weight slowly but that's okay since I enjoy eating this way and don't plan on making any great changes in how I eat once I do get to my goal weight.

Amy, those fries look amazing, so crispy. Did you use an air fryer?
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Re: October 2019 McDougall Weigh In Thread

Postby amandamechele » Sat Oct 05, 2019 1:40 am

Hi All!

Thanks so much for checking in this week. :) Week 1 of October is done, with only 13 more until the most tempting time of the year is behind us.
We are off and running the Holiday Gauntlet, and luckily it is early in the race. There is still much time to position yourself for a win!
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To be best prepared to enjoy upcoming Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s and other holiday events it is important to get started now. I have found that the best way to face all of the tempting treats is to be as far away from Dr. Lisle’s Pleasure Trap as possible.

I had a little introduction to the temptations, and the social awkwardness that eating this way sometimes brings, tonight while out for a celebratory dinner. Some of you may know that I gave up alcohol a couple of years ago after deciding the evidence presented here was enough to warrant it, aided by the fact that it was not terribly difficult for me to do so.
Tonight, for the first time that I can recall I was actually really pressured by my dinner companions to have a drink. Multiple times. It was a little weird to go through. I used all of the tricks taught here: deflecting the suggestion, saying not tonight but maybe next time, saying it’s been two years and I don’t want to break the streak (this actually totally backfired as then it almost became a point of challenge). Guilt tactics were used - wouldn’t I have more fun if I loosened up a bit...I deserved it...we were celebrating...they’d have more fun if I had a drink...etc. Yikes!
I think my refusal to celebrate with everyone - their way - turned feelings a bit sour, unintentionally. Even the waiter could tell so he brought out free dessert, which I could also not partake in. This made it even more awkward...LOL. My cousin commented on how wrong it felt to be eating my cake right in front of me when I couldn’t, and couldn’t I just try one bite? I tried to reassure her that I wasn’t upset or even missing it (for I, too, have been working on getting into that good place far far away from the pleasure trap!!) and that it was free so someone other than me better eat it...LOL. She’s very frugal, so that did the trick. Eventually alcohol did it’s magic on everyone else and the evening turned out quite fun. Quite fun and I got to keep my integrity. Yes!
Be strong over the next few months, and do your best to get along without going along! You can absolutely have your cake and eat it too, metaphorically, if you do your best to meet your own needs well while being cognizant of how those needs make others feel and attempt to mitigate any defensiveness with humour and kindness. It won’t always work, but quite often it does.

Amy :)

Here are the results for the first week in October:

Next Weigh-In is on Friday, October 11th, 2019

Total group loss reported in 2019: 393.42 pounds
October 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 pounds
Total group loss in October 2019: 1.5 pounds


Week ending 10/04/2019: 9 participants reported a total loss of 1.5 pounds
---------------------------------------
Deweyswakms - 1.0
Vegman - 1.1
Laurag - 1.0
---------------------------------------
Total gains: 3.1
--------------------------------------
Moonlight - 1.0
Stillcrazy - 0.2
ShortnSweet - 0.0
Squealcat - 2.2
Sirdle - 1.2
Artista - 0.0
---------------------------------------------
Total losses: 4.6
---------------------------------------------

Total group loss in October 2019: 1..5 pounds
Week ending 10/04/2019: 9 participants reported a total loss of 1.5 pounds
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Re: October 2019 McDougall Weigh In Thread

Postby laurag » Sun Oct 06, 2019 11:47 am

Hi Amy on my goodness that was a crazy story about the going out to celebrate! That was very impressive to hold your ground, really! Sorry for my late response to simple food challenge. That is amazing u want to do that together, yes I will absolutely love to do that . I am very excited! When would I like to do it? I think I am ready anytime, like u said maybe do a week and see how it goes, maybe other people would like to do it too?
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Re: October 2019 McDougall Weigh In Thread

Postby amandamechele » Sun Oct 06, 2019 1:06 pm

laurag wrote:Hi Amy on my goodness that was a crazy story about the going out to celebrate! That was very impressive to hold your ground, really! Sorry for my late response to simple food challenge. That is amazing u want to do that together, yes I will absolutely love to do that . I am very excited! When would I like to do it? I think I am ready anytime, like u said maybe do a week and see how it goes, maybe other people would like to do it too?


:)

Awesome! Let’s go until next Friday.

I recommend re-reading Wildgoose’s story (because it is already within this thread and thus easy to access and explains the simplicity quite well, with a great big dose of inspirational success to boot!)

Most simply put it’s the MWL program without any added salt or sugar (as flours are already not advised). I am also not adding any sauces/spices and such, just to keep it very simple and plain - mostly to hasten the transition period of my pallet. That will be up to you.

I must still consider removing caffeine from my life - it has slipped back in, with 2 teabags a day. I say this because you will see pictures of tea in my photos and that is not meant to confuse, I just know my limits of successful change, so this will be for a later time.

If you want to, also consider going caffeine free for this period too.

Anyone can try. I started the day after I posted that message, just in case you responded right away. I will post my pictures, thus far, tonight. I should warn you they are quite boring, as is the taste of the food, BUT, cravings for off plan and hyper palatable foods are manageable. And I am finding I don’t always finish everything on my plate (that is unusual for me). Now, to be fair, I have gone into the challenge with a month or so of really high adherence to the MWL principles which had already dialled down cravings, but was still having some overeating and bingeing issues.
I mention this so that you can prepare yourself for more discomfort, possibly, than I experienced if you are in the Pleasure Trap at all. This first week may be quite uncomfortable and unsatisfying feeling, but please know that this will pass.

I’m excited for this short little experiment Laura! If you wish to, please post your pictures too. I can post mine in my journal with links to it, in order to keep the thread from becoming unwieldy (not that I really fear that lately... LOL). Or I could just post them here, I have no preference.

I’ll check in tonight with the photos. Take today to get yourself ready!
Best wishes
Amy
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Re: October 2019 McDougall Weigh In Thread

Postby amandamechele » Sun Oct 06, 2019 1:16 pm

Artista wrote:I would like to join you all for October. I don't have a weight change to report for this week since I didn't weigh myself last Thursday, I'll report a weight change next week. I ordered the MWL book and it should be arriving soon. I've read the guidelines and have been following them as best I can. The most difficult thing for me is limiting fruit to 2 a day. I'm still working on that. I usually eat 3 or 4 small servings of fruit a day. I have about 6 pounds to go to get to my goal. I tend to lose weight slowly but that's okay since I enjoy eating this way and don't plan on making any great changes in how I eat once I do get to my goal weight.

Amy, those fries look amazing, so crispy. Did you use an air fryer?


Hi Artista, my apologies for not getting back to you sooner.
Welcome back and I’m so glad you are going through the book. That will be so helpful.
Once you feel like you are more comfortable with your satisfaction level to eating the plan as you are currently doing it, then worry about the fruit. Maybe 2 extra servings than recommended won’t hinder weight loss or promote more eating for you and then you can stop worrying about not following that particular guideline.

With regards to my fries, they were really crispy! I have a Breville airfryer (Chef AJ had made a recommendation about it) and it is great for large amounts of air frying - and dehydrating which I do with certain herbs and plants from my garden.

Those fries, however, were done in my instant pot with a special lid that my mom recently sent me. It is fabulous, especially if you are only in need of 1 serving of Jeff’s steak fries and don’t want to turn on the oven for them. I’ll post a picture of the lid tonight too.

XO.
Amy
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