September 2020 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[Diane Marie]

Test post

[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 while in the weight loss phase, check out this excellent and thorough article from Jeff - To Weigh or Not to Weigh

My very best to all, and I'll see you tomorrow!

[Expat in NZ]

Happy NZ friday all!

Aug 28 - 188.1lb
Sep 4 - 186.3lb
Sep 11 - 184.6
Sep 18 - 184.6
Sep 25 - 184.1 (-0.5lb)

Total loss for September: -4.0lb


I was 100% compliant save for a single square of vegan 80% dark chocolate on Sunday.

I was happy to see the scale hit a smaller number this week, and I can't be mad at a 4lb loss for September! Let's keep it rolling right on into October!

Can't wait to see how everyone did!

[josietheschnauzer]

I am posting from Memphis, TN on Thursday evening. This is my third day on the road. Happily I have eaten the right MWL food and have exercised. I don’t have a scale at the hotel, but I wanted to report in anyway. Please excuse typos. Since I am by myself, I have used coffee breaks to keep me alert. I have also eaten a lot of carrots, celery, salad and potatoes I brought from home. Eaten more than usual but I decided I needed the fuel. I will be on the road until October 18. Thank you.

[whereamac]

Weight change +/- in lbs - -1.8lbs
Points from the MWL Checklist where I succeeded this week - I don't follow the check list with every meal, but I try my best. I'm fully vegan, not drinking my calories and getting moderate exercise.
Points from the MWL Checklist that need greater attention - I still eat some refined flour products, higher fat foods and some added oil and salt. This happens when I go out for lunch with people, so I'm trying to choose the healthier choices within the options that are available. I appreciate and know I would get better and quicker results if I ordered off menu and entirely on plan, but I've decided that for me, at least for now, choosing the "best" options available is the best option. It means I can have my business lunches without being drawn into conversations about what I eat and why. I already get raised eyebrows from eating the "veggie" options, so I don't want to attract more attention at this stage at least.
General impressions & observations / resources to share / sources of excitement / requests for input & support - I don't know why I'm "surprised" about this, but after two weeks of relatively close adherence to this WOE (and specifically as close adherence as I can get to the MWL regime), I'm beginning to notice changes about myself. My skin seems clearer, especially at this time of the month when I have my period. That seems lighter/easier too. I've always had heavy flow, and while this month has been heavy, it doesn't seem as heavy. I'm also noticing that SAD foods seem very unappealing. Last night I went out for drinks with friends and we were given peanuts and pretzels. I saw them and thought "nope", they're not for me. Just fat and salt and refined carbs. I'm sure I'm feeling on a high about this program because it's new to me and working (I'm thrilled with my weight loss this week). I just hope I can keep up the motivation/momentum when things start to slow down.

The other things I've done this week are (1) adjust my weight loss goal and (2) stop taking Omega 3 supplements. I've realised from reading more on the forum (especially Jeff's posts - thanks Jeff!) that my goal of getting my BMI to 24.9 is not sufficient for optimum health, so I've adjusted it to 21.9. If I achieve this, this will be huge for me because I can't remember the last time my weight put me at a BMI of 24.9 (it was probably before I was 16), so achieving that will be a milestone in itself. Let's see how I go. On the supplements, I've read up about how the body does convert what it needs from short chain fatty acids to long chain fatty acids, so I threw out my supplements. Normally I hate waste so I would keep taking the supplements until they're finished because "why not?" But now I realise why not, so they've gone!

[Cathy Ann]

-0 loss
Current Weight 229
July weight 245

Sept +4
August loss -8
July loss -12

10-point plan
This week has been better than last week, I am happy that there was an improvement, but can do better. I have decided that I will put September down as a learning experience. I've just told my hubby that I'm 100% in for October, (He gave me a screwed-up face look, as he will be losing his indulgent partner again. he also said that I have to go to the pool and exercise) I smiled at him and said he is right. My goal is to be 100% with all 10 points, for the month of October, I hope some-one in the group, who has also been struggling will join me for October ALL IN Challange.
Thank you for the group. I'm feel very excited for October, and feel that I have found my strength again. I'm smiling once again, have a great week everyone.

[PonysPlants]

Down 1.4lbs this week so although the weight gain from last week has gone I hadn’t lost any more but at least I’m back on track. Annoyed with myself because I’m only 0.6 lbs away from reaching a healthy BMI, which I should have hit by now. But maybe next week!

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. This is just how I eat now. So easy and I love it.
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. NO The accidentally salty stock that I got for soup set me off wanting more salt on my food this week. I gave in a couple of times but think now I might need to go cold turkey on the salt. The fact that this makes me feel a bit sad probably means that I really need to!
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). YES Easy. Vegan for life
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados,) YES
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. Had a few medjool dates this week that I’d bought as a treat for my husband. Those things are too delicious. Must avoid going forward.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Still having a little oat milk in my tea.
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 daily. NO Pilates some days, some walking. Not every day.

Is there any info out there as to what the optimum healthy weight is? I was aiming for. BMI of 22 but was curious as to if there’s a perfect sweet spot for health. The BMI range for healthy spans quite a large amount of weight.

Thanks as always, moderators. Your support doing this thing makes it a pleasure.

Naomi

[Abe]

Weight Change: 0 lbs

On track, and doing the same with the checkpoints. Still eating more than 50/50 starch for some meals, but otherwise compliant.

A lot of stress as a result of work and a family situation this week have left me wanting to go eat a pizza. I might try meditating or something, because I need to learn some kind of new way to handle stress. I guess I have been lucky so far during this last year of healthy eating that I have not had to deal with anything bad up until this point.

[squealcat]

This week went much better !

Loss: 2.4 pounds

I started meals with fruit, salad or soup, fruit for dessert, no added sugars but could do better with the salt, no animal foods, no oil, didn't drink calories, and walked most days this week, also doing a squat challenge as well !

The tough things for me: I didn't always follow the 50/50 plate method , I had some higher calorie foods when eating out and also had a little trouble last evening, I always eat when hungry but sometimes over do it once I start eating .

I am starting to feel better about myself again and not so....."I will never get there"... (hopeless?) I have made many changes over the last few months but it just hasn't shown on the scale. The changes that make the scale move (like consistently staying away from high calorie dense food) need to happen so I will concentrate on this this coming week.

_squealcat (Marilyn)

[CindyD]

Female, age 51, 5'8"
SW 7/6/20: 211.7

Sept 18, 2020 178.9
Sept 25, 2020 175.6
Result: -3.3

Woo, going good!
All 10 points going well, which is a bit of a surprise given how stressful American news continues to be. On the other hand, it's nice to feel in control of something, and what we eat is a big something!

I think part of this week's good result is that the daily lunch bowls I have been bringing to work are getting more veggies and a bit less starch. Because it's just one bowl, and I'm not doing a salad or soup before, I am trying to make the bowl 2/3 veggie and 1/3 starch and kind of pretend some of the veggies are the salad beforehand. I suppose this may just be some weird mental gymnastics but I'm ok with that.

Hi Mark and everyone! Hope your weekend is nice. Try not to consume too much news!

[Wfpb2020]

July loss - 9.4 lbs
August loss - 2.8 lbs
9/4/20 - .8 lbs
9/11/20 - 1 lbs.
9/18/20 - 2.6 lbs.
9/25/20 - 1.8 lbs.
Total Loss: - 18.4 lbs

1) Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Yes
2) Follow the 50/50 plate method; Choose fruit for desert. Yes
3) Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. 5/7
4) Eliminate all animal foods 6/7
5) Eliminate all higher fat plant foods. yes
6) Eliminate any added oil. 5/7
7) Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products, puffed cereals, popcorn and dried fruit. 5/7
8 ) Don’t drink your calories. Yes
9) Eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve/stuff yourself. Yes
10) Aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily. Yes.

I ate some reduced fat potato chips 2 days. When I went over the list, I realized that it violated #3, #6 & #7. So that one cheat covered 3 items. I have a lot more work to do but overall still going forward.

[NateKruse]

I think this is similar to what happened the last week of August where I was pretty compliant with the plan but still gained and then showed a massive loss the next week.

I predict my weight at the next weigh-in will be about two pounds less than last week, so about 212.6.

03 January 2020 weight: 276.6 pounds.
04 September 2020 weight: 216.2 pounds.
11 September 2020 weight: 214.6 pounds.
19 September 2020 weight: 217.0 pounds.
25 September 2020 weight: 210.6 pounds.
Change this week: -6.4 pounds.
Change this year: -66.0 pounds.

My prediction wasn't quite accurate. I lost two more pounds than I anticipated, but I can live with that.

Another week of solid compliance to the maximum weightloss plan including exercise. At 6'5", 210.6 pounds puts me at a BMI of 25 which is the very bottom of the overweight region. (210.4 would be at the top of the healthy range with a BMI of 24.9. So close! Haha.)

I have been trying to lose weight since the first grade. I was drinking SlimFast shakes to meet the 140 pound weight cut-off for Midget-League football as a fourth-grader. I tried Adkins and South Beach when I was a kid. The McDougall Maximum Weight Loss Program is by far the most effective plan I have ever tried for weight loss. It just works! The food can taste great, I eat as much as I want, and the weight still falls off. 66 pounds in nine months.

During the majority of this health transformation I was teleworking due to COVID-19. Last week I returned to the office for a few days. The dramatic weightloss (combined with a facemask) legitimately led to some coworkers not even recognizing who I was until they heard my voice. One person said I looked like I just graduated high school. I feel great and have much more confidence than I used to.

I am rapidly approaching my current goal weight of 195 pounds. I still have a decent amount of fat to lose, so unless I pack on some muscle mass I don't think 195 would put me at my ideal body composition. I have been working out consistently this year and I haven't seen the increases in strength and performance that I expect.

I am planning on experimenting by adding more protein-rich whole foods as well as some vegan nutritional supplements to see if it affects my athletic performance. I know Americans are obsessed with protein and it is overhyped, but I want to see what happens if I bump my numbers up. Putting my typical meals into MyFitnessPal suggests that I have been intaking about 57g of protein per day. At my weight of 95 kilograms, the recommended daily intake of 0.8 grams of protein per day per kilogram of bodyweight for a healthy adult is 76 grams of protein. Given the amount of exercise that I do, I could probably bump up that ratio.

I'll still eat basically the exact same food but will introduce more beans and lentils into my meals and will add one protein shake after my workout. Since this won't follow the guidelines of the plan, I won't be posting for the weigh-ins next month, but I still might pop in to cheer people on. If I don't like my experiment I will be right back here when I need it.

Thanks for the support and for being an accountability group! I wish you all the best on your health journeys! Enjoy the process.

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. 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. NO Still using garlic salt for seasoning. Started dipping fries in honey and dijon mustard instead of the cheeze sauce.
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). YES
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. YES
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 daily (i.e., brisk walking).YES

[Amberlina]

09/25/2020 - weight 150
Weight change +/- in lbs - (0)
Total loss since 7/7/2020: (-10)
Points from the MWL Checklist where I succeeded this week- 1 through 9
Points from the MWL Checklist that need greater attention- 10- I was able to find a great workout on amazon prime called Dance that walk circuit 2 and it made me feel great!
General impressions & observations / resources to share / sources of excitement / requests for input & support- Overall, I feel really good this week. I am going to try and add another workout day or two this week. Last week I was too sore! Lol. Another great accomplishment was that my husband was off work yesterday. I got him to eat a 50/50 plate with potatoes and frozen veggies with me at lunch...I also made a stew, salad and a few pieces of homemade naan bread for everyone for dinner and they all loved it. I am not trying to force my husband to eat this way but I am hoping to plant seeds!

[jkcook]

Yes! Lost the weight I gained on my trip!

-2

Back to more green salads and potatoes and weight loss. Happiness! Plugged this program on my WFPB Facebook group, too. Regular WFPB is heathy, but this is the only way to lose weight.

[Noella]

-2 lbs.Yay!

Hi Mark,
Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.YES
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. Choose fruit for dessert. YES
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
Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). YES
Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). YES
Eliminate any added oil. YES
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. YES
Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). YES
Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. YES
Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).NO

My major challenge: The inflammation in my knee joints has flared up. I’m not sure why. My knees have been improving steadily over the past few months but now they are back to being stiff and painful. I cannot walk briskly; I can barely walk. I am willing to do an elimination diet again to see if it is related to diet. I have been eating a lot of potatoes. I hope it isn’t related to that.

My main success: I prefer vegetables, fruit, legumes, lentils and whole grains to any other food. So true!! So I am enjoying my meals. I am close to a healthy BMI I am feeling so much more confident in my appearance. Many health issues have cleared up...past tense...a long list of improvements in my overall health.

I’m wishing everyone success with following the MWL behaviours.
Best regards,
Noella

—Nate Kruse- Congratulations on reaching a healthy BMI for your height. It’s an impressive achievement. I hope your experiment with eating more legumes and lentils goes well. I also hope you check in a couple times next month to inspire us all!