October 2019 McDougall Weigh In Thread

[amandamechele]

A loss of 1.2 lbs this week. Not sure where that came from... but I'm not complaining.

Nice loss this week.
How are you doing Sirdle? I think you are in the lower BMI range now? I am remembering that correctly? It will be interesting to see where you drift down to with excellent adherence to the program.

Best wishes!
Amy

[laurag]

Ok so I am really very low tech! I don't know how to post photos here, I'm ok with that I would love to see your photos here is easier for me and maybe I could just write down what I eat is that all ok? I will start now! Yay !!

[sirdle]

A loss of 1.2 lbs this week. Not sure where that came from... but I'm not complaining.

Nice loss this week.
How are you doing Sirdle? I think you are in the lower BMI range now? I am remembering that correctly? It will be interesting to see where you drift down to with excellent adherence to the program.

Best wishes!
Amy

Hey Amy!

I'm 6', 163 lbs. So I'm at BMI = 22.2 right now.

I started McDougalling when I was 245 lbs, BMI = 33.3! That was in 2017.

My long-term goal has been to get down around 160 (which would be 21.7), but we'll see. I'm at my high school weight, and wearing the same size pants as I did then! I can't believe how great it feels to be thin!

I'd like to add some muscle mass, but that will take some time. My cardiologist wants me to stay away from weights for another 2 months. Meanwhile, I'm eating mostly MWL, and my weight is slowly drifting lower at about 1/4 to 1/2 lb per week. I think I might drop as low as 155. If so, I plan to slowly add muscle to get back to around 160.

Anyway, that's the plan.

Cheers,

[amandamechele]

Sirdle - Nice! I hope you consider writing up a testimonial for the Success forum, you’ve done amazing. You mention seeing a cardiologist, may I ask have you had recent heart troubles? (You may have posted about this somewhere, but I don’t get out much - and if you haven’t and it’s private please just ignore the question. )

Laura - Okay, below is what I ate today. I have a feeling you are going to be seeing a lot of photos of Jeff’s steak fries and bowls of microwaved frozen veggies over the next week...LOL.



Good luck tomorrow!

[sirdle]

Sirdle - Nice! I hope you consider writing up a testimonial for the Success forum, you’ve done amazing. You mention seeing a cardiologist, may I ask have you had recent heart troubles? (You may have posted about this somewhere, but I don’t get out much - and if you haven’t and it’s private please just ignore the question. )

Aren't testimonials by invitation only?

About a month ago I developed a buildup of fluid around my heart. This caused heart-attack symptoms, but was not. The actual cause is unknown, but may be due to some sort of infection... bacterial, viral, or fungal. I am taking anti-inflammatory drugs and I'm not supposed to do anything more strenuous than light walking for the next two months.

I wrote about it here and here.

How did your daughter like the Tamora Pierce books?

Cheers,

[laurag]

Nice Job Sirdle! You are an inspiration! Thanks Amy for everything, I must agree the fries do look amazing instapot interesting , I was thinking of getting something like a griller to make hash browns easier but maybe instapot or air fryer would be better. I really want to make my husband something healthy that he would actually eat. That's always been a huge thing for me he is diabetic and my dad was too and died from that of complications from that so I see him going down the same road and it's scary. and I want him to try McDougall he is very into hamburgers and milk I am trying to keep it going with helping him but I have to do myself I'm ready to be his inspiration but that is hard when I am food obsessed overeating till it hurts everyday and still not losing weight! So I'm glad for help with food challenge!
I had oatmeal with blueberries and cinnamon I do have coffee with non sweetened almond milk in mornings I want to keep that for now, sometimes I will do tea with almond milk . I packed potatoes with kale for lunch later no salsa so that will be different! I also drink diet coke or a Arizona no sugar tea, maybe that is not helping? Maybe too much for me to change the diet coke as well as no sugar salt .
I'm not sure what do you think?

[amandamechele]

Nice Job Sirdle! You are an inspiration! Thanks Amy for everything, I must agree the fries do look amazing instapot interesting , I was thinking of getting something like a griller to make hash browns easier but maybe instapot or air fryer would be better. I really want to make my husband something healthy that he would actually eat. That's always been a huge thing for me he is diabetic and my dad was too and died from that of complications from that so I see him going down the same road and it's scary. and I want him to try McDougall he is very into hamburgers and milk I am trying to keep it going with helping him but I have to do myself I'm ready to be his inspiration but that is hard when I am food obsessed overeating till it hurts everyday and still not losing weight! So I'm glad for help with food challenge!
I had oatmeal with blueberries and cinnamon I do have coffee with non sweetened almond milk in mornings I want to keep that for now, sometimes I will do tea with almond milk . I packed potatoes with kale for lunch later no salsa so that will be different! I also drink diet coke or a Arizona no sugar tea, maybe that is not helping? Maybe too much for me to change the diet coke as well as no sugar salt .
I'm not sure what do you think?

Hi Laura,

Your breakfast foods sound really great, lunch too. I would (and so would the guidelines) recommend dropping the calorie or chemical filled drinks for best results. I know that can be tough, dropping all caffeine at once can cause some headaches. Would you be willing to try and remove the most processed of the drinks this week? The Diet Coke and the Arizona iced tea? How did dinner go?
As for your husband, I completely understand the desire to help get the whole family on board - I have been doing that with mine for years. My suggestion here is to lead by example, and focus on your own changes for awhile. Your husband may notice some of the great changes happening to you over time and then decide for himself to join you.

Here is my food for the day:




Best wishes for tomorrow - oops just looked at the time - best wishes for today! LOL.

[amandamechele]

Sirdle - Nice! I hope you consider writing up a testimonial for the Success forum, you’ve done amazing. You mention seeing a cardiologist, may I ask have you had recent heart troubles? (You may have posted about this somewhere, but I don’t get out much - and if you haven’t and it’s private please just ignore the question. )

About a month ago I developed a buildup of fluid around my heart. This caused heart-attack symptoms, but was not. The actual cause is unknown, but may be due to some sort of infection... bacterial, viral, or fungal. I am taking anti-inflammatory drugs and I'm not supposed to do anything more strenuous than light walking for the next two months.

I wrote about it here and here.

That’s brutal, I’m glad you are okay.

Aren't testimonials by invitation only?

No, anyone can write a testimonial for the Testimonials and Success forum. Some of them even get recommended to Jeff and Heather to consider for Star McDougaller stories. I’m pretty sure you would get recommended by someone.

How did your daughter like the Tamora Pierce books?

Cheers,

My daughter has not read it yet. She is a bit like her mom and has a backlogged pile of books sitting on her night table.

[moonlight]

Amy, thanks for posting the pictures of your meals this week. I enjoy seeing what other people's food looks like. Often I think that the amount someone has on their plate looks much smaller than the amount I put on my plate. Lately, I've been aware of this and I've tried to reduce the initial amount of food I choose to eat. My feeling of satiety may be able to be reached with less food and your pictures are helping remind me of that issue. Also, I feel like I get to spend the day with you, seeing your kids lunches lined up with yours, seeing your cute teapot. Bon Appetit!

[amandamechele]

Artista - Thought I posted this already; here is the instant pot attachment my mom got me:



Here it is at work frying up some precooked potatoes for me. Nom nom nom! LOL.



XO

[wildgoose]

Amy, I’ll put in another vote for the Mealthy CrispLid. I love, love, love mine! I got it because I don’t have any room for yet another appliance in my kitchen, and I already had an 8 quart Instant Pot. Plus, it’s much cheaper than a separate high-quality air fryer and it does a tremendous job on small batches of food.

The feature of being able to look through the glass in the lid to see what’s going on is really helpful too.

Goose

[GlennR]

You can count my vote for the CrispLid from Mealthy too. It's quick and dead simple to use. For small portions, it's better to use this than my full-sized convection oven.

[amandamechele]

Amy, thanks for posting the pictures of your meals this week. I enjoy seeing what other people's food looks like. Often I think that the amount someone has on their plate looks much smaller than the amount I put on my plate. Lately, I've been aware of this and I've tried to reduce the initial amount of food I choose to eat. My feeling of satiety may be able to be reached with less food and your pictures are helping remind me of that issue. Also, I feel like I get to spend the day with you, seeing your kids lunches lined up with yours, seeing your cute teapot. Bon Appetit!

Hi Moonlight!

I’m glad you like the pictures (come and spend the day with me anytime!), and just by chance I used my other cute teapot this morning. I saw your message after breakfast and that gave me a smile.
It is important to be cognizant of the amount of food you are eating and sometimes experiment with the amounts, but as Jeff may say, please eat until satisfied.
I should mention that this isn’t the amount of food that I typically eat. When regular McDougalling my volume is possibly double this past few days. That doesn’t even include the semi-regular cramming/bingeing issues I experience. Cutting out everything stimulating, much like soooo many of the experts have advised, really does do something for my ability to recognize satiation cues. I guess, much like my trials in going from SAD to regular McDougall program where I had to explore every possible avenue of little extras for, like, 5 years before I came to the feeling that there was no other way than being very adherent, I have been doing the same thing for MWL by not taking it to the simplicity level that many have recommended may be necessary for some people (but not all!). I’m still not confident that I can maintain this level simplicity, but I will start with a week, just like Laura and see where it takes me. This is why I am so glad you just keep at this too, even when you are frustrated by your perceived lack of adherence or progress. By not backtracking*, when you finally begin to move forward again you will experience exciting and new progress sooner which may add fuel to your motivation to continue. Keep trying to create that time when your knowledge, motivation, and situation combine in just the right way for more progress.
*Sadly, I did do some backtracking this year so I will be digging my way out of a hole for awhile. We will see how it goes.

See below for cute teapot #2!

[amandamechele]

Amy, I’ll put in another vote for the Mealthy CrispLid. I love, love, love mine! I got it because I don’t have any room for yet another appliance in my kitchen, and I already had an 8 quart Instant Pot. Plus, it’s much cheaper than a separate high-quality air fryer and it does a tremendous job on small batches of food.

The feature of being able to look through the glass in the lid to see what’s going on is really helpful too.

Goose

I really love it too! Very easy to clean and doesn’t take up any extra space, which is perfect when you are like me and the only one consistently eating this way, so I can use the bigger appliances to make everyone else’s meals.

What is your favourite Mealthy meal?

[amandamechele]

Today’s Simplicity Challenge Meals:

Cute Teapot with a side of oatmeal:



Forgot my lunch at home; I was so hungry I grabbed a snack before taking the kids to their lessons:
(That blurry orange blob is one of those kids )


A little snacking while cooking dinner (green peppers shown may not represent the exact green peppers eaten...LOL):


My dinner bowl is one of those extra large noodle soup bowls (for visual context):



(No sugar, no salt, all MWL adherent foods and no added spices)