Judy_Bell - Kudos! Doing fairly well on 9/10 points is definitely progress! Feeling "a lot better" is one of the very best non-scale victories.
The best form of exercise is the type you are willing and able to do; if you're able to get that exercise in as early as possible, who knows - maybe you'll end up repeating that the next day or a couple days later, right?
olga530 - Hi and welcome to the group! I wish you a joyful 70th birthday on Tuesday. Since you're excited about beginning anew, harness that energy and try to get started practicing the recommended behaviors as soon as you are able. Don't worry about being perfect, just do the best you can, recognize that mistakes and struggles will happen and are a natural part of the process for all of us, try to learn from those experiences, and aim for continuing progress. I wish you the very best!
Hope410 - Hello and nice loss! Cheers to 95-100% for points 1-9! It sounds like you were able to stay pretty active this week, even if you didn't hit the mark on that 100%. I'm looking forward to July, as well.
Lucas - That's great progress! Room for improvement gives you a clear path to keep that progress rolling. Woo-hoo! Smaller clothes! That sounds like a fun transition.
taymariekay - Your clothes fitting more loosely is a great non-scale victory! I empathize with the need to do what feels right for you, your body and your current situation; the
elimination diet definitely proves helpful for some. I wish you the very best in dealing with your current issues, and hope I'll see you back in this group at a future date (if it seems helpful at that time), you are very welcome.
Zoey - I think it's natural to feel a little "bummed" when the outcome we're measuring doesn't seem to adequately reflect the effort we're putting forth. How you look and feel is worth noting in it's own right.
Making 9/10 checkpoints feel easy is no small achievement, and you seem to be making real and steady progress on the remaining area where you've been focusing; by those measures I would say you're doing quite well. If a little pout helps, feel free.
"No plans on stopping," gets a
from me!
chaz01 - I actually really like the stems, but I may be an outlier in that regard.
The greens are great in salads; I tend to use them as I would collards, kale or chard - steamed to go in my big SNAP bowls, water sautéd, or cooked into a soup. I chop up the stems and cook them along with the greens.
Moonlight - 2 lbs in a month is worth celebrating! Making mistakes and getting off track is a normal part of the process, and I think it is great that you avoided any bingeing. Are there any lessons to be learned from this week's difficulties? What was different about last week as compared to this week with respect to that bread "coming back?" Setbacks can be a great opportunity for reflection, realization and readjustment. At the next opportunity, just do the best you can.
goal140 - Good morning! Enjoy your weekend and have a health-supporting week to come!
Rufus_519 - Congratulations on the many significant dietary changes you've made already, and losing nearly 15 lbs since the start of April! Peanut butter is frequently mentioned as a temptation by many people, particularly when it includes added salt and/or sugar. Natural, unsalted peanut butter is ~2600 calories / lb with 71% of calories from fat, so one can see how it could raise the overall calorie density of a meal (or day) pretty quickly. If it is at all feasible to remove that temptation from your immediate environment, and do so for a sufficient duration of time, that feeling of deprivation is likely to fade. Continuing to try, and do our best, is all any of us can do. Keep at it!
Lakegirl - That SNAP template is great, right? I don't know what I would do without it!
Lakegirl wrote:easy easy meals that can be stored ahead is key
Very, very true. I think it is great that this WOE is feeling more sustainable for you as an ongoing pattern of behavior. If you haven't already seen
Jeff's video on Stress & Hunger, it is short and fun, with a great basic meditation demo. See you in August! (or July?)
courtneywagasky - My deepest sympathies on that melancholy anniversary, I can only imagine the natural sadness that invoked. Your observation of the balance between happy and sad made me smile. May your promotion bring exciting new challenges, opportunities and rewards.
carwex - Starting your meals with a calorie dilute vegetable soup is a great behavior on which to focus. Just keep on working away at each of the principles, as best you can, each day and week; over time they'll become habituated. Having more to learn is one of the things that gets me out of bed each morning! I'm glad you are continuing with the group, feel free to do so for as long as it feels worthwhile for you.
kirstykay - That change in FBS is a welcome non-scale victory! I love your metaphor of this being "a symphony not a solo performance." A big congratulations on that 28.2 lb cumulative loss, quite thrilling! It appears you had a great week doing your best with the MWL 10-Point Checklist - way to go.
AnnetteW - I'm quite impressed with the immediate effort focused on that particular point; if a quick daily report of your progress here feels helpful, please, by all means do so.
JaBee - I'm sorry your week involved dealing with difficult emotions, that is seldom an easy thing. Attempting to use food / eating as a salve for tumultuous feelings and events is something of a struggle for many of us. I think it is very natural, when faced with stress or big emotions, to feel the urge to turn to the most tempting and calorie dense food available; removing those foods from the environment provides one possible solution. Then, whatever the reason you're eating, you'll be eating the recommended foods. I think the advice about this from wildgoose is solid gold! I also think it is helpful over the long term to work toward cultivating an attitude of emotional poise and equanimity, as Jeff describes
here. Some useful pieces of this would seem to be establishing supportive relationships and intentionally developing some positive coping mechanisms. Simple
meditation could be one way to start working toward that goal. Try not to beat yourself up over these episodes, and get back to doing the best you can, as you are able, at the next opportunity. I think Jeff's general points here can also perhaps apply -
JeffN wrote:On hunger...
The fundamental basic principle of the MWL Program and the principles of calorie density is "whenever hungry, eat until comfortably full of the recommended foods." Because of this, there is no reason for anyone to feel hungry when following our guidelines. The recommended foods are minimally processed starches, fruits and vegetables. The most satiety, short term and long term comes from minimally processed starches and to keep the calorie density low, have them with some non-starchy vegetables. Remember, we do not have to figure out if it is true hunger, appetite, craving, etc. However, to be successful, you have to prepare for success and make sure you have availability of minimally processed starches throughout the day.
At the 10-Day program, the snack room is full of veggies (cherry tomatoes, baby carrots), fruits (apples, oranges) and starches (regular hummus, roasted red pepper hummus, potatoes, Split pea soup, Black bean soup, and Lentil Couscous soup). People choose from both the starches and fruits/vegetables. Choosing just vegetables or fruit will not be enough for most people to feel satiated. if you experience cravings for unhealthy foods, you can beat these cravings by choosing healthy foods to eat and knowing that these cravings will eventually pass and stop. However, you can not beat your biology (hunger) and your biology/hunger will eventually win.
Belana - I noticed those posts in the May thread, I've been replying to them over here in my weekly responses.
That's a substantial loss this week! I wish you the best with your travel and adhering to MWL, hopefully that challenge will be an exciting one, with new opportunities to learn how to make your plan work under all sorts of circumstances.
laurag - That change in weight to 138 is definitely a significant achievement! I think a feeling of precarity or apprehension can be a common response when we've achieved what feels like an important goal - particularly if we aren't quite confident in the process that produced that outcome. Doing your very best to follow the program would seem to be the best approach in that situation. The more you can focus on the process of practicing the behaviors recommended by the MWL 10-Point Checklist, the easier it becomes and the more your confidence grows. A goal weight can bring motivation, but focusing on the process is where all the leverage is in delivering the outcome we seek. I think it is definitely a marathon, rather than a sprint.
Noella - Those are some nice behavioral successes and I'm delighted that this group feels beneficial for you! Raisins are ~1350 calories / lb vs. grapes at ~300 calories / lb; so replacing those raisins with fresh (or frozen) fruit should be helpful - good choice.
). That usually left me depressed, with a lot of practice at giving up, but very little practical experience overcoming obstacles or learning how to mitigate future mistakes.
