May 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Thread

[abible]

Howdy. I'm Anthony Bible (Tony).
Looking to take advantage of the group structure to stay with the program.
Expecting to have trouble restricting salt, but in for a dime, in for a dollar. I plan to hold tight to the guidelines.
Not sure I understand all of this, but that's part of the reason for joining up.

Regards,
tony

[mimiljd]

Oh great!!
Thank you very much!!!

[Mark Cooper]

abible - Howdy, Tony! Welcome to the group! If you have questions or you are confused about any aspect of the MWL 10-Point Checklist, feel free to post questions here.

[Mark Cooper]

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's weigh-in and seeing everyone's reports! Friday is this group's weigh-in day, and participants have until noon pacific time (19:00 UTC) on Saturday to post a report of their result for the week. Reports posted outside that window of time won't be included in the summary that I compile for Saturday evening. This group is all about changing patterns of behavior, so it seems reasonable to me to expect those who choose to participate in the weekly weigh-in to honor that time frame for reporting. In addition to reporting your weight change in pounds, more importantly, please be sure to evaluate your behaviors within the context of the MWL 10-Point Checklist, if you please. I will respond to everyone's reports in a cumulative post on Friday evening and Saturday evening, and the summary for the week will be posted Saturday night.

For more information on why participants are recommended to weigh themselves once a week, check out this excellent and thorough article from Jeff - To Weigh or Not to Weigh

Everyone take care, be safe, and I'll see you tomorrow!

[alishana]

Hi ! I'm in and looking forward to all the posts and encouragements.

Just a question : is vegan milk ok ?

[Mark Cooper]

Hi ! I'm in and looking forward to all the posts and encouragements.

Just a question : is vegan milk ok ?

Plant milks are not recommended for MWL, as they are liquid calories.

8. Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).

Jeff discusses this in more detail here.

[NomeOslo]

4/24 - 135.2
5/1 - 134.8

Weight - lost 0.4 lbs

While I'm happy with *any* weight loss, I'm guessing this decrease in loss might have been due to the banana bread I made my husband (and ate 2 pieces of, over the week). Normally I don't keep an exact record of what I've eaten, except for a general number for the day i.e. 8/10 (principles followed); so it looks like I'm going to have to get back to that - to keep myself accountable. I'm still feeling healthy and have energy, and I feel like my joints are loosening up some; and those benefits are worth all the effort, even without a big weight loss (which I'm sure will come with time, and continued effort).

I hope everyone is healthy, and had a good week.

[josietheschnauzer]

-1.4 pounds.
Strengths: eating more greens.

Thank you. I started the MWL check-in-weigh-in in April to keep me on track during this crazy time. I have been a "McDougaller" since 2012 and have lost now over 85 pounds.

Since last week's weigh in, I lost 1.4 pounds, bringing my total lost since March 21 to 10 pounds. I am thrilled to say the least. I wasn't expecting to lose much because this is the thinnest I have every been in my life.

I am going to stick with the 10 points and see what happens. At this point my goal is not to gain any weight.

Thank you!

[alishana]

I'm very happy to report -2.2 lbs! I haven't lost weight since December so that's great.
Following the 10pts feels normalish now. At the beginning, it was hard to maintain the 50/50 method but now I crave it.

Thank you Mark for you answer about milk!

[tinathescreamer]

CW 187.9 lb, resulting in a total loss for April of 10.1 lbs. If I continue to lose a pound per week, I'll reach my goal weight by the end of November.

[Abe]

Weight Change: +0.6 lbs.

Looks like the extra weight that I thought that I lost last week may have been a scale malfunction. It happens sometimes when the scale gets moved. I am up a bit this week, but I was 100% compliant, and did not change any of the regular stuff that I have been eating.

I am feeling pretty good, and unless I have some non-compliant food directly in sight I am no longer thinking about it. I am happy to report that I am content with what I have been eating. It has been five months of almost 100% compliance and this way of eating has really helped eliminate all of the huge cravings and enormous food binges that I used to indulge in prior to adopting it.

I am even starting to almost enjoy exercising, which was a real dread and hatred at the beginning of the year.

Thanks to Mark, Jeff, and Goose for helping get me on track.

[courtneywagasky]

05/01/2020 Weigh-In

05/01/2020: 127.4

Change This Week: +.04 lb

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. :thumbdown:
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, choose fruit for dessert.
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts.
4. Eliminate all animal foods.
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, puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
8. Don't drink your calories.
9. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
10. Aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily.

Reflections
This week was great for me eating wise but it's not reflected in my weigh-in unfortunately. Although it's less than half a pound in a week I would like to attribute it to water weight, hormones, and the fact that my BMs have slowed since eating this way. I'm wondering if this happens to anyone else and what people recommend to help everything keep moving down there? I feel like I'm eating a ton and I'm a bit gassy but nothing is really coming out!

There were only one or two times I didn't start off a meal with salad, soup, or fruit. Salad has been the new normal in the house and I'm loving it! Will need to have some variety in the dressings though because I'm getting sick of the one I have every day. If anyone has any favorites for those too I'd love to hear them!

Otherwise I'm not totally discouraged. I'm liking this way of eating for the most part and will continue on this month!

[wstokes]

down .2
lost 5.2lb for April

[rebhale]

5/1/2020
Starting weight 250 pounds (9/2019)
4/3/20 242 pounds
4/10/20 240.5 pounds
4/17/20 240 pounds
4/24/20 236.5 pounds
5/1/2020 235 pounds
Weight loss since starting May MWL challenge: 0 pounds
Total weight loss since starting McDougall diet: 15 pounds

Lost 1.5 pound this week!

10 point checklist:

1. Start each meal with a soup or salad - 100% I have been having soup before lunch and dinner.
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 – 100%
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. I just add a little salt and pepper to potatoes or sweet potatoes
4) Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). 100% Done!
5) Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). 100%
6) Eliminate any added oil. Done except for 2 teaspoons of creamer for my coffee.
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. This is still my hardest thing to deal with.
Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Only drank coffee (2 cups/day), water, flavored water and tea
9) Eat whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. I didn’t starve myself but need to reach for healthier snacks.
10) Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Slowly working on increasing my movement each day.

[carolw]

Hi MWLers,

I did not lose weight this week even though I adhered to the first 9 points of the MWL. I had a foot injury 2 weeks ago and cannot get enough exercise. I have been following Dr McDougall for the last 10 years and finding success but have gained some weight recently. Therefore joined the MWL In April I managed to lose 5 pounds (mainly in the first 2 weeks). I would like to still lose a bit more and I need the support I find here to continue to surrender nuts, avocados, bread, tehini, and soy products—all the calorie rich albeit “healthy” plant based foods. It is surprisingly easy for me to eat only grains, legumes, fruits and vegs. I like it. I have had 10 years to develop my cooking skills and everything tastes great. I didn’t think that I could ever give up bread but as long as there is enough starchy stuff to eat I’m filled up. Satiety is so important. That is why “diets” don’t work. Who can eat ½ cup of rice? Not me.

I adopted plant based eating for my health. I will share an experience which illustrates the kind of health benefits that can be achieved thru plant based eating. Last week I turned 78 years old. I had to get a prescription for a regular flu vaccine from a doctor and the receptionist who wanted to fax the prescription to a pharmacist asked,” Who is your chemist (pharmacist).” My answer was: “I don’t have one.” She was taken aback by my answer. “Well then where do you get your medications?” My answer: “My husband and I don’t have any medications”. She couldn’t believe it since most older people have medical conditions and need medications. “OMG you’re amazing,” she replied. I wanted to say a la John McDougall “It’s the food”.

It’s amazing to always feel good, no digestive problems (I suffered for many years from obesity and heartburn). So I’m staying indoors and keeping safe and feeling secure that I have no underlying conditions. Lucky me.

Wishing you all an easy week of MWL eating ad adherence to the 10 points.