This is a weekly weigh-in group for those wanting to follow the Maximum Weight Loss (MWL) program.
The guidelines for the MWL program are posted in a thread near the top of this forum.
Weigh-ins are on Friday; you have until noon PST on Saturday to report your result for that week. Please make a new post each week with any gains or losses in pounds; it's fine if you prefer not to share your total weight. Participants are encouraged to post regardless of whether they have a gain, loss or no change to report.
This thread is intended for the mutual support of all who wish to participate. We encourage members of the group to set goals, provide encouragement and converse openly with each other. Please feel welcome to share as little or as much of your weight loss journey in this thread as you like - questions, challenges and celebrations included.
A very HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone joining us for the first time and returning members! Whether you are brand new to the MWL group or a seasoned veteran, I think you have made an excellent decision to start 2020 by participating here. Holidays are often a really challenging time for all of us, but now is the time for a fresh reset and commitment for a new month and a new year.
I find this way of eating to be so effective and empowering!
Before discovering the MWL plan, I struggled greatly with managing my own weight and health by counting calories, exercising and fasting. I found all these approaches exhausting, ineffective, and ultimately counterproductive (I seemed to always gain back any losses I could achieve). When I finally came to understand and practice the McDougall MWL plan, it was like I finally understood how I was always supposed to live. I definitely still face challenges and struggles, but I feel like I now have a framework with which to face those difficulties. For me, the foundation of that framework has been the MWL 10-Point Checklist. The 10 points provide real clarity and simplicity amidst our society's dietary confusion. Recently, Jeff Novick observed
Weight is an outcome based on behaviors (the 10-pt checklist). Monitoring outcomes without monitoring and adjusting behaviors, doesn't work. So, I think the 10-pt checklist is an important focus as they are the behaviors that will lead to the desired outcome.
Let's all focus on a month of eating in compliance with the following 10 points -
- 1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. Eliminate any added oil.
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e. bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
8. Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don’t starve yourself and don’t stuff yourself.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
For all the visual learners, your plate should look something like this:
You don't necessarily have to check-in here everyday against the checklist, but the more you are willing to use it in your own life (or by posting in an online journal
) the more success you are likely to have.An excellent resource for everyone to check out is Jeff Novick's video on calorie density -
Calorie Density: How To Eat More, Weigh Less and Live Longer
Watching this video is one of the best ways to come to a clear understanding of the principles embodied in the MWL program, and it will likely answer MANY questions and help alleviate confusion.
I am so excited to have the opportunity to get to know all of you, and I really look forward to all of us learning from one another and leaning on each other for support. What are your goals for the new year or the new month or even just this week? What challenges are you facing? What achievements would you like to celebrate? I will do my very best to be present here periodically throughout the week to welcome members and respond to questions, and thank you so much to Lindsey and Wildgoose who have volunteered to help out and jump in when they are able.
I really believe that success in this WOE and achieving your goals has a basic formula -
SUCCESS = ADHERENCE + TIME
I really hope everyone will give a month of their time over to the 10-Point Checklist, perhaps just as an experiment. Let's all see what we can achieve this January!
In addition to participating here, I would highly recommend you all consider starting a journal in the My Daily Menus & Journals forum. These journals can be a really helpful in keeping track of your progress over time and they also help other members to learn from your experiences.
This month's first weigh-in is on Friday, January 3, 2020.
Wishing you all a successful and health-supporting week, month and year!
I answered the questions you proposed. I plan to use the 10 pt. checklist in my journal. Now, if I could just have a personal assistant to cook, organize my time, and be my personal trainer and coach...
I've also been eating cake... In the evenings will be the hardest. I plan to get out my index card on what to do when cravings hit and try those techniques. First, I need to remember it just cravings. My mind can really play tricks on me, making me think I must eat something when I don't. If I can keep up my momentum, the other challenges, like daily exercise and keeping food prepared, won't be too difficult.
I am new to MWL though and downloaded the book just now. My goals are to lose the 40 lbs I gained and to kick my Diet Coke addition. I am also starting a 30 day yoga challenge Jan 1st in conjunction with this. Good Luck all!
