June 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

For those wanting to learn about and follow the McDougall Maximum Weight Loss Program. You can also join our monthly weigh-ins.

Moderators: JeffN, f1jim, carolve, Heather McDougall

Re: June 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby JeffN » Sat Jun 27, 2020 3:10 pm

Congratulations to everyone on their successes and efforts.

It seems like the issue of plateaus has come up a few times recently. Here is a post I made that explains why we hit plateaus and what we can do about them.

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=27333&p=272671&#p272671

Many believe a plateau is because they have hit their “set-point.”

This thread address the set-point

viewtopic.php?t=9808

I hope you find these helpful. If you have any questions, let me know.

Jeff
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Re: June 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby pootsy » Sun Jun 28, 2020 3:59 am

Hi all, I know I am late but I weighed on Friday and want to post a loss of 1.4#. I wasn't home to post yesterday, sorry.
This past month of June has been the most challenging one I have had personally in a long time. Between my own health & pain issues and two emergency hospitalizations for a family member I care for has been tough. I have been running nonstop. Stressed to the max. I know we all have these times. I am blessed with a support network near and far, but Covid 19 makes it more difficult because friends & family members cant just fly in and help out. Praying for a calmer July and the strength to get through this time.
I have spent a lot of time reading and re reading Mark & Jeff's posts about compliance and motivation. I had to do a lot of reflection on whether I could or should continue with MWL. I keep coming back to the fact that I want to be healthy and I believe this is the path to get me there. I am going to give July a try to achieve better compliance. I feel like a failure but I want to succeed.
I have been at either extreme all week- either completely compliant or off the rails completely. I have failed spectacularly at #3 and #7 on the checklist. I decided to use almond milk for a short time to help me transition from dairy and it has worked! Now enjoying the taste of black tea instead of the milk and sugar version I have been drinking all my life! I am enjoying morning fruit and oatmeal, got that down. Doing well with fruits and salads. Need to make some soup to have on hand. Need to improve on planned exercise. Running around in circles like I feel I have been doesn't count! I eat when I am hungry and have been finding a late afternoon meal works best. I no longer think in terms of breakfast/lunch/dinner. SNAP meals are a big help and I even enjoy them cold as leftovers. Drinking more water. Need to completely avoid take out, delivery', or drive throughs. That's the plan. So, that's where I am as we close out this month . On to JULY!
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Re: June 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby moonlight » Sun Jun 28, 2020 7:33 am

Mark Cooper wrote: Simple meditation could be one way to start working toward ……

This video by JeffN is so funny! And, it's a great reminder that simple meditation works. Thank you for sharing!
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Re: June 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby josietheschnauzer » Sun Jun 28, 2020 1:35 pm

Thank you, Mark, Wild Goose, and all the participants for another productive month! I look forward to July! Thank you Dr. McDougall and Jeff for making all of this possible!
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Re: June 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby Mark Cooper » Sun Jun 28, 2020 5:03 pm

moonlight - Good for you, making those specific changes to better manage your blood pressure. I'm confident that, given a sufficient duration of time, your palate will adjust to the differences. That video is a favorite of mine, it always makes me chuckle! :lol:

JaBee - Hang in there! Best wishes for a nice calm, stable week. :)

pootsy - I can hardly imagine the stresses and challenges this month presented for you; that you have weathered all that and continued to persevere in this ongoing effort at behavior change is a testament to your resilience. You have made many significant changes already - not easy - now it is just a matter of ongoing improvement. Good for you omitting that remaining dairy! I'm glad you have decided to continue. Onward to July!

josietheschnauzer - You are very welcome! The July thread should be posted tomorrow, see you there!
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Re: June 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby Abe » Mon Jun 29, 2020 2:35 am

Thank you Jeff and Mark for your insights into equilibrium. I did an experiment on Sunday weighing and measuring all of my food and calculating the calories with the LoseIt app. It is official, I have reached equilibrium. What I ate yesterday was quite typical, and the calories in match what is needed to support my current weight.

Since I enjoy the amount of food that I am currently eating, and do not want to feel hungry, I guess that more exercise would be the way to lose more weight, right?

Here is what I ate yesterday, which is close to what I eat every day with slightly different vegetables like green beans instead of broccoli. Calorie count came to 2,482. This would actually have me gaining a bit of weight if I was not exercising (LoseIt allocated a budget of 2,130).

Breakfast
160 1 box McDougall Low Sodium Tomato Soup
325 Potatoes
87 Broccoli
37 Bell Pepper
14 Kale
10 Ketchup
633 Total

Lunch
180 1 box McDougall Low Sodium Garden Vegetable Soup
101 Canned Chopped Tomatoes
8 Lemon Juice
368 Potatoes
92 Broccoli
20 Arugula
30 Mustard
799 Total

Dinner
249 Oat Groats
105 Banana
40 Arugula
35 Salad Dressing
18 Bell Pepper
8 Lemon Juice
57 Broccoli
32 Spinach
123 Potatoes
658 Total

Snacks
42 Cucumber
350 Beans
392 Total
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Re: June 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby Miss Kim » Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:15 am

Sorry for the late post.
Weight last week: 167
Weight this week: 166

It's been a crazy week. Ate some things not on the MWL guidelines like popcorn, pot stickers, dark chocolate and pretzels. It was just one day really. I didn't eat soup or salad before each meal. I did follow the 50/50 meals, didn't drink my calories, and I exercised 6 days. I will sign up for July, but I will be out of town the first weekend.
I'm 3 months into this and starting to deviate here and there. I will put the guidelines on my fridge to look at everyday.

Kim
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Re: June 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby Mark Cooper » Mon Jun 29, 2020 2:12 pm

Abe - A few thoughts - keep in mind that the calorie values used in those calculations are based on estimates, not always accurate, and can be off by 20% or more, as Jeff discusses in Accuracy in Nutrition: How Accurate Are the Atwater Values? In general, we probably shouldn't have too much confidence in the accuracy or value of this type of calorie calculation, for the reasons Jeff reviews in his article, How to Successfully Count Calories!

Given that you held steady and didn't gain any weight over the last month, you likely aren't consuming an excess of calories on average. If I were in a similar position and wanted to lose more weight (or increase the rate of weight loss), I'd make some adjustments as Jeff describes in Fine Tuning The MWL Program and Calorie Density
JeffN wrote:If weight is not coming off as fast as you would like, then you have to make some adjustments to what you are doing. There are several adjustments you can make in regard to the caloric in end and the caloric out end.

In regard to calories out, you have three areas you can adjust which are frequency, intensity and time (FIT). You can exercise on more days or more times in a day (Frequency), you can raise the intensity of your exercise (Intensity), and/or you can do it for a longer period of time (Time).

In regard to calories in, you can lower the calorie density of the diet, by shifting the composition of your meals to include more foods that are the lowest in calorie density (vegetables, salads, soups, etc).
If it didn't seem excessive, I would probably moderately increase the frequency or duration of my exercise. I would also try very modestly increasing the volume of preload and non-starchy vegetables, being mindful that I was still eating plenty of minimally processed starches. Continue your excellent focus on the fundamentals, experiment with some small adjustments, and see how that works. I do think you may be making some progress that has yet to be captured by scale measurements. Feeling happy with the food and satisfied is extremely important and you certainly don't want to change that. If this provides any reassurance, I can say that the volume of food I consume in a given day is pretty similar to the amount you've outlined, but probably a slightly greater proportion of non-starchy vegetables and fruit.

Miss Kim - Those crazy-making weeks can barge in and really knock us for a loop, right? Adherence starts to become more challenging to hang on to when our familiar routines get unexpectedly disrupted. It can be helpful to build in an "emergency buffer" or backup plan for when things become chaotic - premade adherent meals stocked in the freezer, an extremely easy "throw together" meal as a goto, &c. The renewed daily attention to the fundamental guidelines is exactly the right approach for making sure those deviations don't start to accumulate.
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June/July postings and responses for/by Belana

Postby Belana » Sat Jul 04, 2020 2:08 pm

Hi Mark,
I saw your June response, so thanks for that!
I just posted for July.
I updated my bookmark for this month's postings. I just need to remember to do that every month!
You'd think I'd get it by now, since I've been a member of MWL for a while!
Yeah, it'll be challenging indeed adhering to MWL while road tripping, so thanks for the support!
On another topic that I'd like to bring up...it isn't purist McDougall nevertheless, I refer people to the documentary on Netflix called, 'The Game Changers,' so they know kind of how I'm eating.
I get tired of trying to explain MWL/McDougall to people I encounter who ALWAYS assume all kinds of annoying presumptions when they see me eat. :roll:
Trying to be diplomatic with folks who are overweight, unhealthy and obviously judgmental as they observe me eat, is irritating. I just don't have the patience for that.
I've never been good at diplomacy. Especially, when it's obvious that the very people who are ridiculing me, are the ones who absolutely could benefit from eating the McDougall way! :D
I could definitely use some diplomacy suggestions about how to deal with those kind of folks!
What I'd really like to say to them is, "Your passion for being a foodie is what's making you fat, and no matter how much exercise or small portioning of fatty food you're doing, isn't going to help you one bit, for getting all that blubber off of you!"
Furthermore, "Instead of telling me that I'm skinny enough and that life is too short for not indulging...
strip off your clothes, stand naked in front of a mirror and while you're looking at that in that mirror, say to yourself what you said to me about, "Life is too short not to indulge in food!" :lol:
Yeah, in my mind when I'm dealing with 'others,' that's pretty much what I'm always thinking and would like to say to them out loud!
Of course, I would NEVER do that! Which is why I asked for some diplomatic suggestions when this situation comes up, as it inevitably and without fail, ALWAYS does!
:-D
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Re: June 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

Postby Mark Cooper » Sat Jul 04, 2020 2:55 pm

Belana - I think the approach Jeff describes in this thread is very valuable for dealing with that type of interaction.
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