September 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[Mark Cooper]

Please note - I replied to each participant individually in the two lengthy posts linked below.

Mark's Replies for September 18 - Part 1
Mark's Replies for September 18 - Part 2

By my count, 42 participants reported for our third September 2020 MWL weigh-in! If I neglected to include anyone, or you notice an error in the tally, please let me know (via PM so we can keep the thread as tidy as possible, or in a post here if you cannot PM).

Here are the results for the third Friday in September:

Week ending 9/18/2020: 42 participants reported a total loss of -22.00 pounds
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Cathy Ann +5.00
Connielovesdogs +4.90
Squealcat +2.60
NateKruse +2.40
Wstokes +2.20
PonysPlants +1.40
Hope410 +0.60
Ladevereaux +0.60
Beeshell +0.40
ChristinaElizabeth +0.10
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Total gains: +20.20
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NO CHANGE / MAINTAIN / STARTING OUT
Dot 0.00
Expat in NZ 0.00
Growing a Pear 0.00
Josietheschnauzer 0.00
Laura_delao 0.00
Wavingwheat 0.00
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Whereamac -0.20
Abe -0.50
Joanne_elon -0.50
Rlechols -0.50
Kirstykay -0.60
Texaslil -0.60
Waterfit -0.60
Amberlina -1.00
Kelly140 -1.00
Pattyj115 -1.00
LittlestTree -1.10
Louie3084 -1.30
Drew* -1.40
Frowsyowl -1.40
GreenFroG -1.40
Noella -1.50
CindyD -1.70
OrangeBird -1.80
Lachoffman -2.00
LesleyMills -2.00
VivianS -2.60
Wfpb2020 -2.60
Creaky -2.90
Reni -3.40
Chef16 -4.00
Oneesotericgirl -4.60
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Total losses: -42.20
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Cumulative group loss for September 2020 to date: 123.91 pounds
Average loss for week ending September 18: 0.52 pounds
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Cumulative group loss for January 2020: 384.15 pounds
Cumulative group loss for February 2020: 96.60 pounds
Cumulative group loss for March 2020: 60.10 pounds
Cumulative group loss for April 2020: 218.00 pounds
Cumulative group loss for May 2020: 191.50 pounds
Cumulative group loss for June 2020: 120.63 pounds
Cumulative group loss for July 2020: 524.80 pounds
Cumulative group loss for August 2020: 240.30 pounds

Next Weigh-In is on Friday, September 25, 2020.


Let me offer my sincere and enthusiastic compliments to everyone who participated this week! Whether the past seven days brought excitement, happiness and delight, or stress, crisis and struggle, you all made your best efforts and continued to learn and grow. That is worth celebrating!

Since a number of participants were faced with difficult situations, unexpected challenges and other struggles this week, I want to highlight a pair of Q&A sessions where Dr. Lisle addresses similar situations and concerns -

Dr. Doug Lisle: Food Addiction, Emotional Eating, Weight Loss (Part 1), Webinar 05/12/16
Dr. Doug Lisle: Food Addiction, Emotional Eating, Weight Loss (Part 2), Webinar 06/23/16

This two-part webinar covers a range of topics, but many of the concepts Dr. Lisle discusses are quite applicable to managing stress, dealing with strong emotions, and supporting and maintaining our pattern of behavior.

I'm also going to share part of a post I made in June, which I believe offers some relevant thoughts for this week.

Just because you are struggling, doesn't mean you are "broken" or something is wrong with you! These are HARD changes to make and, especially in the beginning, they might not feel very good at all.

As Dr Lisle says, part of the problem is that when in the pleasure trap, doing the wrong thing feels so good and doing the right thing doesn't feel good." Even when one finds success, exposure to the Pleasure Trap can very easily put someone right back there.

We live in a very toxic food environment where there is very little social and environmental support for what we do. This is not always easy for everyone to deal successfully with.

I think people tend to underestimate how much that toxic food environment is stacked against all of us. The convenience stores, groceries and restaurants are replete with calorie rich, ultra-processed, unhealthy "foods," supported by an unceasing (and increasingly targeted) advertising machine. Untold dollars and resources are expended devising and presenting more and more insidious "food traps" to ensnare us. No wonder it's a struggle! The problem isn't you! As Dr. McDougall would say, "It's the food!" Taking all that into account, it seems essential that we stack the deck in our favor. The people who are able to successfully practice this WOE long-term, the people who make adherence "look easy" have actually invested enormous amounts of time and effort to shift the balance to be as much in their favor as possible. They have a plan for how to succeed, tested by trial and error, time and effort. To paraphrase Jeff, "things may not always turn out the way we planned, but we increase our odds of success by planning to succeed." If we take it as a given that we can't be successful, or don't try, we are planning to fail. This lifestyle only starts to feel "easy" after all that work has been put into making it so. Don't fault yourself when this is hard, but don't fool yourself into thinking it will ever get easy without putting in A GREAT DEAL of work.

When things are feeling hard, and setbacks occur, treat yourself with compassion and forgiveness for the past, try to be open to what can be learned, and do the best you can to keep working at it.

As Jeff has said many times

We only ask you do your best, not perfection.

Take care and have an advantageous week of growth and development!

[louie3084]

Mark Cooper - - I was very compliant with the ten point checklist, 10 out of 10!

Thanks for the information on polenta and wholewheat pasta, I will include that this week. Interesting about the satiety measure for wholewheat pasta, I would agree, it's very satisfying.

[Gimmelean]

Good Morning!
9/4/20. Weight 126.2
9/11/20. Weight 127
9/17/20 Weight 128.2

When I reflect back on the last two weeks, I realize that I’ve only eaten a little bit of bread and nuts but it had a big impact on the scale. As Dr. Lisle indicated in his video even a little bit of hyper concentrated food has an impact on weight loss and I’m 2 pounds up vs where I want to be. I will have to hunker down this week , follow the MWL guidelines and checklist or I can be a slice of bread and a handful of nuts away from regaining the 38 pounds which has taken me years to lose and maintain along the way. Two pounds up in two weeks is a pound a week gained. I would rather see the scale head in the other direction. Thank you for the board and for your support.

1)Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Yes

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. Yes.

2) Choose fruit for dessert. Yes

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. Yes. Did really well here eliminating sugar and salt this week.

4) Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Yes.

5) Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). A little bit of nuts/seeds this week. I have to work on eliminating them this week.

6) Eliminate any added oil.yes

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. Hard to resist homemade bread family made but I really have to work on this starting now and practice pulling my hand away from the breadbasket.

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

9) Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.Yes

10) Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise Yes!

[Mark Cooper]

louie3084 - 10/10! Fantastic!

Gimmelean - That seems like a thorough and well-considered assessment; renewed attention to the guidelines is always an apt approach when we are feeling unsatisfied with our progress.

[jkcook]

+2
Kept vegan but salads and potatoes were few and far between in AZ. Hopefully, I can lose it this week.

[potatohead55]

Hi everyone!

I've toyed around with the program long enough. I really do need some accountability. I've been floundering and need to get things straightened out.

I'm hoping that joining this group and coming back to it at least once a day can help me keep focus. That, and keeping my meals as simple as possible.

So, please, I would like to be added to the group. I've completed orientation and feel I understand the principles of the program.

I am committed 100% to giving this my best efforts, focusing on following the protocols rather than the progress, over which I have no control...obviously!

I am 56, have Hashimoto's thyroidits so losing weight can be slow. Right now I only ride a recumbent bike 2 miles, 3 times a week, so will need to up my exercise at some point. One thing at a time...

I am at 204.2 pounds.

My current goal weight is 160 pounds, so I've got 40+ to drop. I'm not in a hurry...I want this to be my absolute last time at getting this weight off of me.

Looking forward to getting to know everyone here.

Thanks!

Anita

[Noella]

Hi Anita,
Welcome! I hope that you find belonging to this group is supportive and encouraging for you. It has been super valuable and helpful for me. One way it really helps me is simply to know that I am not alone on this quest for better health. I enjoy reading about everyone’s successes, too. These are inspiring. I have decided that I am ALL IN with MWL for as many months as it takes me to lose the excess weight I have added because I am finally at the point where I am fully committed to getting my weight back to normal and hopefully achieving improved health and a more attractive appearance, too. Your idea of taking it slow and steady is exactly what I am trying to do, too. I wish you the very best!
Noella

[Mark Cooper]

jkcook - Travel poses a real challenge for maintaining adherence, for sure. Now that you're back in a familiar environment, get right back to basics - the MWL 10-Point Checklist and planning for success. Be sure you have plenty of easy, adherent foods ready to go.

potatohead55 - Hi, Anita! I'm glad you have made the choice to start changing your behaviors in a way that can support your weight loss goals. Today is always the best day for the MWL 10-Point Checklist. Welcome to the group!

[Mark Cooper]

Reminder - if you would like to share recipes in this thread -

• Please do not post or recommend a recipe unless you yourself have made it and tried it.
• Only post recipes that conform to the MWL guidelines.
• If you have adapted a recipe to meet the MWL guidelines, please clearly list any needed adaptations.

[Noella]

Hi Mark, Wildgoose and Jeff,
I am wondering if you have any information, links, etc. regarding total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, other cholesterol, the cholesterol ratio and triglycerides while following MWL. What are optimum numbers? I think I remember Wildgoose mentioning something about cholesterol being affected during active weight loss.
Noeleen

[Mark Cooper]

Hi Mark, Wildgoose and Jeff,
I am wondering if you have any information, links, etc. regarding total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, other cholesterol, the cholesterol ratio and triglycerides while following MWL. What are optimum numbers? I think I remember Wildgoose mentioning something about cholesterol being affected during active weight loss.
Noeleen

Dr. McDougall's discussion of cholesterol under Common Health Problems is here. He also has a Hot Topics page for Cholesterol & Triglycerides: Risk Factors. In the September 2003 newsletter, he discusses HDL and LDL-cholesterol.

Jeff has several very enlightening threads on the topic, as well:

Dietary Guidelines, Cholesterol & You!
The Benefit of non-HDL: Putting a Low HDL in Perspective.
Cholesterol Rising Over Time
How does the American Heart Association justify 200 mg?

[Noella]

Perfect! Thank you, Mark. I just read the links you provided, and these really helped me to think about, and better understand, my lab results for cholesterol.

I am VERY pleased to know that my total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, Ratio, non HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides are all optimal.

These improved results are exciting! It’s great to know that the MWL diet is definitely helping me to be healthier. In the past my cholesterol results were poor.

Thanks again, Mark. I really appreciated receiving the information about cholesterol today.

[Kathie]

This is past the deadline, but here it is anyway. Didn't do so great, as you can see.
223.2

At least I haven't gained all of it back.

Have a cancer checkup in a few weeks, and I always get stressed and nervous before those. And tend to eat ... But I'm not eating as badly as I usually do. So there's hope.

[josietheschnauzer]

Hi! User (me) problems figuring how to access and post on my phone. Will try. My car is filled with potatoes and salad and all other items MWL. It was a lot of work. First day on the road, no problem because I ate my own food. Here’s hoping you hear from me on Driday! Thank you!

[Mark Cooper]

Kathie - I can imagine you are quite anxious about that coming checkup; I'm wishing you the very best outcome! Each new day, with each meal, you have a new opportunity to make choices that support your important goals, but that often doesn't feel easy (because it is not). Do you have a stock of the recommended foods ready and easy to access?

josietheschnauzer - I hope you have enough room to travel in comfort, among all the potatoes and salad! Maintaining strict adherence on the road definitely requires a lot of work; having "no problem" is the reward for all the effort that goes into preparation. Have a great trip!