February 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Thread

[stillcrazy]

Down .7

I had a pretty good week with the exception of nuts and seeds which would have been okay on the regular program but not MWL.

On the upside I am starting most of my meals with a big bowl of my vegetable soup, which this week I seasoned with some Mexican seasoning and have really been enjoying. The other thing is that I have been having a really big potato with most of my meals. Usually with salsa. And one other change I am working on maintaining is not to eat at all after 6 pm (dinner is early at my house).

And some good news. My lifetime lowest cholesterol reading, records since 1988, has been 224, often way higher. Yesterday it was 189! I was amazed and happy happy happy!

Vee

[chaz01]

Weight Change

Week: -4.2lbs
Month: -8.4lbs
Year: -21.6 lbs

I'm a bit humbled and excited with my results this week. I'm even more excited that I improved on some of the behavior aspects this past week as well. I pretty much followed all of the guidelines of the 10 point checklist this week ( I did have a soy based veggie burgers/with wheat bun yesterday, but aside from that I think I did pretty good). Getting some exercise every day continues to be my strong points and I really feel healthier in addition to the weight loss.

I did two things differently this week that really helped me stay on track for the week. One, whenever I go outside for exercise, I'll clean a sweet potato up and pop it in the oven at 400 degrees.By the time I return an hour or so later, I have the perfect post-workout snack ready and waiting. I never realized how good a plain baked sweet potato can be!

The second change relates to rule #1 of the checklist - starting meals off with a soup or salad. I normally find prepping salad vegetables during the week too time consuming, but this week we finally got our refrigerator fixed (after 6 service calls going back to December), so I took the opportunity to prep them in advance and store them in this handy container pictured below, along with some washed and cut lettuce and a home made oil-free salad dressing. Now, I can not only make a healthy salad to start each meal in a snap, I actually look forward this part of my meal! (sorry, I had a cool picture of my prepped salad mix, but I can't figure out how to include it in a post here)

However, next week is going to be a big challenge. I've got 3 or 4 social events going on this weekend, including a big Valentine Day dinner event. I'm hoping to make smart choices and eat as much as possible at home - I've worked too hard to just give back the gains (er, in this case losses) I've made so far this year.

Chuck

[frowsyowl]

Greetings!

Weight change: -2.2

Worked on points 7 and 10, with good compliance. Also keeping ahead of food prep. Still adding soymilk to my coffee, but not ready to change that.

I'm happy with how I'm following the plan, still not trusting that the weight will actually come off.

[pootsy]

Happy Valentines Day!
weight down 4#

Still some work to do with checklist #s 3,4, and 7. DAIRY is a beast for me but I am battling it every day- some days more successfully than others. I do give myself a pat on the back for no butter or yogurt all year so far . I grew up in a home where every vegetable, every hot cereal, and every sandwich was buttered so this is major. I had "progressed" to roasting my veggies with olive oil but have also eliminated that completely. Enjoying the flavor and sauteeing in broth.
I had not had any processed foods but had a bread and cake breakdown this past week at a party. I have since started telling friends I will attend a birthday party but no cake for me! Life is too short to miss all the celebrations.

Doing much better with 1,2,5,6,8,9, and 10. I just got ortho clearance so I can up my exercise program.
I am finding it easier in many ways as time goes on. I am cooking more and enjoying preparing healthy foods. I did a big produce shopping for $20 and had to get chopping, cooking and freezing. I made a great cabbage soup and a swiss chard stew from Mc Dougall recipes. I always loved stuffed peppers and tried a veggie version Mexican style and it was good enough to share with a neighbor. It may be more time consuming but its so much less expensive to eat this way and most importantly, I feel better.
I have been doing a lot of fruit and oatmeal for breakfast and could use some other breakfast suggestions. Thanks to all for sharing!

[pbnew]

2/14 Happy and Healthy Hearts Day!❤️❤️❤️

Weekly loss - .8 lb
Total loss for 6 weeks 6.3 lb. Steady she goes!

Best wishes for a good week to all.❤️

Mark Cooper.
Are we all supposed to change thread every month? I just saw that after posting this.

Also I wasn’t recommending Nubocha for MWL program but for general maintenance under the WFPB program as an occasional treat/dessert.

[MaryP]

-4 lbs.
211
100% compliant on all points

I should always remind myself that the way my body loses weight is to plateau for a couple of weeks and then have a big loss. This is always the way I have lost weight. Needless to say, I'm happy.

There are several things that are key to making this program work for me. The number one factor is eating a salad before every meal. I even do this when I have oatmeal. It does two things for me. It helps to fill me up, giving me the full feeling and it keeps me full for longer. I usually go 4-5 hours before my next meal. It also gives me mouth satisfaction because of the crunch and chew elements. Between my husband and I, we go through 4-6 bags of lettuce and cabbage a week.

The second factor is, always having prepared food ready and available. I keep two main dishes in my fridge at all times so that I can just heat and eat. This is very important for those times when I am out and busy and I arrive home after I should have eaten. I heat my meal up and make a salad and eat it while my meal heats.

Another thing that has been helping is this discussion board and all the valuable information I get with it. When I am tempted by some of my hubbie's high fat snacks I remember some of the things people have said here or on some of the other discussion groups.like 95% doesn't work and not a drop of oil. It has had me putting back things that for a second, I thought I wanted to eat. Thanks, everyone!

[SherryW]

Weight Change: -2.8 lbs
That's down 3.8 lbs for the month to put me at 165.4 lbs.
I'm about 2 lbs from going from obese to overweight on the BMI scale for my height (5'2") & gender.

Successes: 2, 8, 9
Mostly Successful: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Needs Attention: 1, 10

The Mostly Successful all come from 1 small bag of microwave popcorn (salt & palm oil) and 1 slice of bread with honey butter (dairy).

Needs Attention:
10. Exercise is what needs the most improvement.
1. I'm not sure if I'll ever get #1 down. It feels like a lot to eat at once, and if I have fruit/salad/soup first - then a 50/50 plate - then sometimes end with fruit, that would make my diet more like 25% starches, 75% unstarchy? I'm a good 50/50 right now and that's working for me.

General Impressions:
I think maybe my mind is starting to accept that this is a sustainable way to feel satisfied and lose weight. I still have echoes of "don't drop your calories too far or you'll wreck your metabolism as you go into starvation mode". I've never at this much with so few calories and felt this satisfied before.

Even my failures kind of feel like successes. A year ago, I was sucking down soft drinks like my life depended on them. This year, a 100-calorie bag of microwave popcorn is the worst thing I ate all week. I'm not exactly slipping up - I made the decision to eat that. It was good, as was the bread with honey butter, but I didn't feel any urge to go on an all-out binge, and I went right back to eating right instead of using a single slip-up as an excuse to eat poorly for the rest of the day with the intention of starting over the next. That's a massive change in mind-set for me.

So, I'd say the week was a success even if I did go off plan a few times.

[Mark Cooper]

Abe - Nice job staying on track in what could be a difficult situation to navigate! I'm really impressed with how you requested some boundaries that you felt would be necessary and beneficial.

BlackBeanSoup - Do you have any intuition about why you have such a diminished appetite? Good for you for sticking with health-supporting choices when you were feeling hungry.

NomeOslo - Trips are often trying in a variety of ways. What do you think might feel motivating to you presently?

Stormy - You are right that the majority of options on most restaurant menus are not likely to be adherent to the principles of MWL, particularly sauces and dressings. I actually started bringing a small silicone container filled with lemon juice, cider vinegar and balsamic vinegar when dining out.

Leah Bell - Why do you think this week felt lacking in motivation? I'm glad you felt able to stay fairly adherent in spite of that. Social interactions can certainly be fraught with temptations, and I applaud you for setting boundaries and requesting help from your family to make staying on track more manageable. Perhaps you might find it worthwhile to "study for your big test" by really planning and preparing for how you will handle your expected challenges?

Butterfly043 - Congratulations on a nice loss! I'm glad that you found that feedback from the scale motivating, and that your week felt so positive! Focus that abundant energy on adhering to the MWL 10-Point Checklist, and I'm sure you will continue to see motivating results over a sufficient duration of time.

Amy Princess - Understanding why and how we get derailed from the behaviors we're seeking to maintain can be very constructive, especially if those how's & why's are recurrent. A quick illustration of the effect oil can have -

1 lb of Broccoli = 127 calories, 4% of those calories from fat
1 lb of Broccoli with 1 Tbsp Olive Oil = 247 calories, 51% of those calories from fat

So that added tablespoon of olive oil very nearly doubles the calorie density, and transforms a very low-fat dish into one that is much higher in fat. Definitely drink water if you are feeling thirsty, but please don't feel that you have to "fill-up" on water -

While the thought is excellent in theory, it doesn't work in application. As I have mentioned, water is the key to lowering calorie density and also increasing bulk and satiety in foods. However, this is only when the water is part of the food and bound up in the food.

So, if you compare eating a bowl of fresh grapes, with eating a bowl of the equivalent amount of raisins (in calories) and drinking the equivalent amount of water (that would have been in the grapes) the water and raisins combo will not be as filling as the grapes.

The reason is, the water consumed with the raisins leaves your stomach in 5 minutes or so. But, the water that is contained within the grapes as part of the whole matrix, can stay in your stomach for an hour or more.
. . .
You should drink when thirsty.

Way to go with concentrating on the 50/50 plate and finding a way to exercise that is both comfortable and convenient for you.

Carrieann - Kudos! You are closing in on those 5000 steps! Are you dealing with some particular issues that your doctor is concerned about? (Please don't feel obligated to answer this question, it it feels too personal.)

Michele613 - Woot! I'm so glad you had a good week, and were able to report. Best to you!

Marsha - It can certainly feel disappointing when we feel like our level of adherence isn't reflected by a given weigh-in. I'm glad you are committed to hanging-in for the month. Keep in mind that salad is by no means required, as Jeff explains in this article. Delays in the results we want to see needn't be denials; consider that after another week adhering as closely as you are able to the MWL principles you could be in a different position.

Vee - I'm glad to hear you felt like your week went well, and you have found some "upsides" that are working for you! Awesome news regarding your cholesterol! What a fantastic sign of progress!

LennieP - I hope you had a lovely vacation! Intention in our efforts definitely matters.

Chuck - You should be excited! It seems like you made some excellent progress this week and also saw how much some thoughtful preparation can pay off. I absolutely love sweet potatoes - my very favorite starch! In regard to posting images -

I use flickr for my photos. You can get a free account (if you don't already have one) and then upload the images you want to share. For a specific image, if you select the share button, then BBCode, you can just cut and paste the code for the image into a post here on the forum. (You may know all this already, but I thought a quick primer might benefit everyone ).

The code to embed an image looks like this

Code: Select all

[img]URL for your picture goes here[/img]

Since you have been appreciating how much the preparations you included this week helped make things go smoothly, perhaps devise a specific plan for how you will prepare for those challenging social events.

Jennifer - Kudos! What worked for you this week in finding time to get some exercise? It is great that you are pleased with your adherence to the MWL plan, consistently enacting the behaviors over time and under a variety of circumstances ought to build up your "trust" that it will work for you.

pootsy - Happy Valentine's Day to you! Dairy (especially cheese) definitely seems to be a significant battle for some people. Good for you for doing your best, shunning butter & yogurt, and eliminating that olive oil. Parties can be tough, but celebrating with our loved one's is important, so setting your friends expectations appropriately seems like a wise move to me. It is great that you were cleared for more activity, and finding health-promoting meals that you enjoy is SUCH an important part of putting the plan into practice. Some things I have done for breakfast (besides oatmeal) - I love a baked sweet potato topped with blueberries, it is delicious; I have also very frequently just made my first meal of the day similar to lunch or dinner, and not worried about making it particularly "breakfast-y." Hopefully some other participants can offer their suggestions for you.

pbnew - Steady as she goes!!! We do start a new MWL group thread each month, just to keep the length of the thread manageable and encourage new participants to join the group. I didn't think you were recommending Nubocha for MWL, but I wanted to clarify that it wasn't adherent, for the benefit of any newcomers or guests who might have been reading along with us.

MaryP - Woo-hoo!!! 100% adherence is worth taking a moment to celebrate, AND those efforts manifested in your weigh-in! I'm glad you are happy with how your week went. I also eat a salad (even before oatmeal); having that fresh flavor and tart crunchiness is one of my favorite parts of the day. I definitely agree with you that effective and consistent preparation is a key component of success.

SherryW - Awesome! It does sound like a successful week, particularly because you are learning things about how you can make the program work and experiencing some changes in mindset. Keep in mind that it is extremely difficult to determine an accurate "calorie count" for a day's worth of meals - as long as you are eating when you are hungry and following the MWL principles, it shouldn't be a concern. In regard to checkpoint item #1 -

When making use of the MWL 10-Point Checklist, please keep in mind that the 10 points are guidelines that highlight areas on which to focus when you are struggling, or not seeing the results you would like. They are not absolute commandments. One example - you aren’t obligated to begin every meal with a salad, but if you find that you are having problems maintaining satiety, starting a meal with salad or soup can be very helpful. The same reasoning holds true for dessert; you don’t have to eat dessert if you are not hungry, but if you do want dessert - choose fruit.

If you are adhering to the rest of the MWL 10-Point Checklist, and seeing consistent weight loss, then don't worry about a preload if it is too much food in one sitting. If you reach a point where your progress stalls, and you still have more weight to lose, you can reevaluate. Give yourself a big for not letting a couple deviations from 100% adherence turn into a binge. If you are interested, Jeff reviews the myth of "starvation mode" in this very enlightening thread.

[BlackBeanSoup]

Hi Mark

I started a discussion on the health board but I may not have mentioned it here, so here is a summary. I started having low appetite around Feb 1, and thought it was from the green tea I started drinking. But I stopped the tea and appetite did not come back. Then I started to have other issues that sent me to the doctor. After some imaging studies, they found I have a growth on one of my ovaries. It does not look like a cyst but they are still not sure what it is. I have more appointments scheduled to try to get to the bottom of it.

[Carrieann]

Carrieann - Kudos! You are closing in on those 5000 steps! Are you dealing with some particular issues that your doctor is concerned about? (Please don't feel obligated to answer this question, it it feels too personal.)

It's not too personal. I seem to have ongoing issues with my thyroid (underactive) involving finding the right dosage for any long-term time. The problem now is that the thyroid med seems to push my blood glucose a bit higher and sometimes I feel sick because of it. She is helping me to take other supplements/eat other foods to help my thyroid so I don't worry as much about my type blood glucose numbers. My A1C continues to drop. It is down from an initial 6.9 last June, to 5.9 as of February 2020. My doctor, who supports this "diet," said my A1C is perfect, but I know it needs to be lower. What is funny is that my doctor already commented that I've reversed diabetes. I'm getting there but still have a little more ways to go to get to below 5.7.

Another funny thing was that she kept trying to get me to eat healthy fats. At one point she even suggested adding oil and I emphatically told her "nope not having any, it's bad for my epithelial cells" and she dropped that part of the convo. She didn't want to give up on the healthy fats saying that nuts, avocados, seed-based foods, coconut flakes, or plant-based milks wouldn't have that much effect on my losing weight. I got tired of that circular argument and just nodded finally, knowing that I'm going to keep working on being compliant with the MWL 10-point checklist because it works for me!

[wildgoose]

So why do we struggle with fats? I sure did. And periodically I still get this feeling that I’d REALLY like to have something higher in fat. Usually that feeling doesn’t last very long, but there it is.

I understand the inability to "feel full" without eating something higher in fat. I understand never meeting a potato chip I didn't love (fat and salt, what a combination). The other combination that’s so tempting is sugar and fat. It’s Girl Scout Cookie season around here, you know.

Dr. Esselstyn talked in one of his lectures about the fat receptors in the brain. When we're eating the Standard American Diet, full of fat, those receptors are "upregulated." They expect a regular supply of fat to keep them happy. Now we start eating the McDougall/MWL way, and those upregulated fat receptors don’t get their fat supply, and they are not happy at all. They pitch a fit, telling your brain you need to EAT. You don’t feel "full" without that fat. Every tempting fatty snack is screaming your name.

The good news is that those fat receptors will downregulate. They'll get used to the lower fat content of whole natural food. They’ll stop complaining for the most part, and if they do occasionally complain, they’re manageable.

The less-good news is that the downregulation takes a while. At least a couple of months, often a month or two longer. And that’s with excellent compliance.

If you continue to occasionally feed the fat receptors, they’ll still start the downregulation process. After all, you’re still eating a LOT less fat than you used to. But the more fat you eat, the more fat you’ll want, and the more time you’ll need to downregulate. Some people can cut all the added oils right away, some prefer a more gradual approach. For me, it was easier to go all-in and put up with the unhappy fat receptors for a while until they calmed down.

But if you’re struggling with eliminating added oils or other fatty foods from your diet, know that there’s a reason for it, and that you’re not alone. Hang in there.

Goose

[SherryW]

If you are interested, Jeff reviews the myth of "starvation mode" in this very enlightening thread.

Thank you! Jeff made some good points and it was very reassuring.

Like most people, I've had stuff like this drilled into my head for so long that it's hard to wrap my head around the fact that it's wrong.

[Aprincess]

So why do we struggle with fats? I sure did. And periodically I still get this feeling that I’d REALLY like to have something higher in fat. Usually that feeling doesn’t last very long, but there it is.

I understand the inability to "feel full" without eating something higher in fat. I understand never meeting a potato chip I didn't love (fat and salt, what a combination). The other combination that’s so tempting is sugar and fat. It’s Girl Scout Cookie season around here, you know.

Dr. Esselstyn talked in one of his lectures about the fat receptors in the brain. When we're eating the Standard American Diet, full of fat, those receptors are "upregulated." They expect a regular supply of fat to keep them happy. Now we start eating the McDougall/MWL way, and those upregulated fat receptors don’t get their fat supply, and they are not happy at all. They pitch a fit, telling your brain you need to EAT. You don’t feel "full" without that fat. Every tempting fatty snack is screaming your name.

The good news is that those fat receptors will downregulate. They'll get used to the lower fat content of whole natural food. They’ll stop complaining for the most part, and if they do occasionally complain, they’re manageable.

The less-good news is that the downregulation takes a while. At least a couple of months, often a month or two longer. And that’s with excellent compliance.

If you continue to occasionally feed the fat receptors, they’ll still start the downregulation process. After all, you’re still eating a LOT less fat than you used to. But the more fat you eat, the more fat you’ll want, and the more time you’ll need to downregulate. Some people can cut all the added oils right away, some prefer a more gradual approach. For me, it was easier to go all-in and put up with the unhappy fat receptors for a while until they calmed down.

But if you’re struggling with eliminating added oils or other fatty foods from your diet, know that there’s a reason for it, and that you’re not alone. Hang in there.

Goose

Great info, Goose. Thank you..

[wstokes]

-1
Progress!

[Carrieann]

So why do we struggle with fats? I sure did. And periodically I still get this feeling that I’d REALLY like to have something higher in fat. Usually that feeling doesn’t last very long, but there it is.

I understand the inability to "feel full" without eating something higher in fat. I understand never meeting a potato chip I didn't love (fat and salt, what a combination). The other combination that’s so tempting is sugar and fat. It’s Girl Scout Cookie season around here, you know.

Dr. Esselstyn talked in one of his lectures about the fat receptors in the brain. When we're eating the Standard American Diet, full of fat, those receptors are "upregulated." They expect a regular supply of fat to keep them happy. Now we start eating the McDougall/MWL way, and those upregulated fat receptors don’t get their fat supply, and they are not happy at all. They pitch a fit, telling your brain you need to EAT. You don’t feel "full" without that fat. Every tempting fatty snack is screaming your name.

The good news is that those fat receptors will downregulate. They'll get used to the lower fat content of whole natural food. They’ll stop complaining for the most part, and if they do occasionally complain, they’re manageable.

The less-good news is that the downregulation takes a while. At least a couple of months, often a month or two longer. And that’s with excellent compliance.

If you continue to occasionally feed the fat receptors, they’ll still start the downregulation process. After all, you’re still eating a LOT less fat than you used to. But the more fat you eat, the more fat you’ll want, and the more time you’ll need to downregulate. Some people can cut all the added oils right away, some prefer a more gradual approach. For me, it was easier to go all-in and put up with the unhappy fat receptors for a while until they calmed down.

But if you’re struggling with eliminating added oils or other fatty foods from your diet, know that there’s a reason for it, and that you’re not alone. Hang in there.

Goose

Thank you so much for your post. Much of what you explain resonated with me. I went all-in as well eliminating oil and don't even miss it now. But every time I eat nuts, it takes me time to "get it out of my system" was how it felt. Now that I've had a little time (and cut them from my environment as well), I feel better for the time being.