June 2021 McDougall MWL Weigh-In Group

[Artista]

Weight change +/- in lbs:  0

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
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.
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.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). I'm still putting soy milk in my tea and on oatmeal, and a little flaxseed.
6. Eliminate any added oil.
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. All good except ate a few prunes one day.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). I missed 2 or 3 days of exercise.

Artista - It sounds like your inability to access your account was probably a result of the website & forum changeover, Nancy. I can imagine being "locked out" felt very frustrating. During that time, do you feel like you drifted because you were reassessing the goals you choose to pursue, or was it more a situation of irritation and discouragement exhausting personal resources that might otherwise be applied to managing behavior? What is most important is to get directly back on track after a lapse, which you appear to have done. Keep that up!

Great question, Mark. I think it was more the first, I was reassessing the goals I chose to pursue. That first week of MWL was harder than I thought it would be and at the end of it I hadn’t lost any weight and that discouraged me. I was hungrier on MWL than I usually am and ended up eating more food than usual do trying to deal with the hunger. I didn't really like the way that made me feel. Seems like I remember from before when I followed MWL for an extended period of time that I eventually adjusted to it and wasn't hungry all the time. As far as how this week went, there is room for improvement. I'm still having trouble doing without soy milk in my tea and on oatmeal, also a little flaxseed with oats in the morning. I'm working on those last few pounds so the amount of wiggle room in how closely I follow MWL is about nil, and so I'm going to keep working on nailing down all ten of the guidelines.

[Noella]

Hi Mark, Jeff and Wildgoose,
Down - 1 pound

154 lbs
1. 7/7 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
2. 7/7 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.
3. 7/7 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.
4. 7/7 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5. 7/7 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6. 7/7Eliminate any added oil.
7. 6/7 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.
8. 7/7 Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
9. 7/7 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don’t starve yourself and don’t stuff yourself.
10. 7/7 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).

We have exchanged houses with friends on the west coast for three weeks. We are enjoying the relaxed seaside lifestyle and strolls on the beach. Our meal prep is the same as it is at home so continuing to follow MWL is easy. I tried cycling on the level and it seems easier on my knees than walking. I especially enjoyed reading Dr. McDougall's article about four ways to be happier: 1. eat starch, 2. get sunshine, 3. exercise, and 4. reduce sleep time. I have been sleeping too much and plan to start sleeping less to boost my energy based on what learned in his article https://www.drmcdougall.com/newsletters/a-natural-cure-for-depression/

cheers,

I look forward to continuing MWL for July.

[Zoey]

Slinking in with head hung low and tail tucked. It was a bad week.

Weight change +/- in lbs: + .2
Considering my massive failures, it's amazing I'm only up that much. It'll probably catch up to me again next week.


1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
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.
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.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
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 (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). .
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).

Victories, comments, concerns, questions, confessions:
Well, I blew it up big time this past week. We're undergoing some major home repair, and I was a hostage here every single day. I held up pretty well until Thursday. The stress of seeing the problems in my home and wondering how the heck we're going to pay for it really took its toll on me.
I stress ate, which is a bad behavior in itself. I stress ate cheese, which is the absolute worst for my body, and of course, I drank again. All of this without being able to leave my home and go for a run. I could cry as I write this, but I'm too happy that it's Saturday and I can get out of here, so no tears.
And predictably, those behaviors made me feel lousy, so I don't feel as if I've triggered an avalanche.
So I'm ashamed, but I'm OK.
Off to read how everyone else is doing now!

[Trish88]

Date Joined MWL: June 4, 2021
Starting Weight: 279.8
Current Weight: 276.1
Weight change for this week +/- in lbs: +1.8
Weight change since beginning June 4, 2021 +/- in lbs: -3.7

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. 25% I am just getting into the hang of this for my evening meal.
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. 100%
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. 90% Two meals that contained extra salt.
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). 100%
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). 90% One meal with lots of tofu.
6. Eliminate any added oil. 90% Two meals that contained added oil.
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. 90% One pizza meal.
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). 93% Just a splash of oil-free/sugar-free oat milk on my morning oatmeal, and a 2nd splash in my cup of instant coffee substitute (cereal grain beverage). One meal with extra oat milk.
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. 90% Over ate at the two meals that contained oil and salt.
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). 15% Two 15-minute walks this week. I am still looking forward to getting in a 30 to 40 minute walk daily.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Two meals led to a weight gain, which has taught me that excess indulgences are best avoided. Father's day, I made my husband's favourite quiche (Sundried Tomatoe and Mushroom), and I made for myself the quiche recipe from Cathy Fisher's site. Lots of tofu. Then last night (Friday), I was out all day and got home at 6 pm. I hadn't planned for this and my family asked for pizza. I ordered for myself a gluten free pizza without the vegan cheese and loaded with vegetables. And I over ate. Had 4 slices. I haven't touched flour in weeks and then along comes this pizza and boom, I'm going wild. But it's okay, this week was a good lesson, and I am planning to not get caught out again.

Cheers,
Trish

[Gimmelean]

Weight change +/- in lbs: 0
6/17/2021. 128
6/25/2021. 128

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.Yes

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

Victories, comments, concerns, questions.Mark, as you suggested at the beginning of June, I am looking at where I am now and how far I’ve come. I’m in a very good place at the moment. I feel much better equipped to deal with the inevitable times I will be struggling with the scale and food choices. Thank you for this group, education, and reinforcing support for good health which makes what we do much less isolating. See you in July!

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Team MWL,

I would like to join this group. I have read the Orientation materials and re-watched the wonderful Calorie Density video.

I am somewhat embarrassed (and very disappointed in myself) to be a returner who fell off program (again). Last time I participated was early March 2020 - right before the quarantine. In a period of 13ish months, I managed to pack on 23 pounds. 5/2 I dusted off my scale to confirm what my mirror was telling me and found that I hit my highest ever weight. Starting on that day, I have been practicing / adhering to (with minor missteps) the 10 pt. Checklist for MWL.

Since I re-started, I have lost 11 pounds --- but more importantly:
* Skin has improved
* Energy level is 100X increased
* I feel more able to deal with day to day stresses
* Sleeping better

Probably going to re-visit my journal --- as I think in addition to following below points, I need to have a strategy for dealing with next life challenge with potential to throw me off plan.

Thank you so much for offering this virtual group. I appreciate the support and accountability.

Weight Change - 0 (starting out)
Current weight - 147.8 lbs.

Below is my assessment of last week's compliance.

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Yes, 2 meals where I wasn't very hungry and just ate the starch. I am using mainly salad or fruit right now to pre-load.

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 desert. I am getting better at this. Close to 100%.

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. I have reduced, not eliminated. I will eliminate if this becomes an issue.

4 Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Easily eliminated for 20 ish years... these repulse me..

5 Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). 100% for this week. This was a key driver in me ramping up weight -- mainly peanuts and peanut butter. I haven't consumed any since prior to 5/2.

6 Eliminate any added oil.

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 was another key driver in my weight ramp up - mainly bread and pretzels. I haven't consumed any prior to 5/2.

8 Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Mostly good. I had a glass of wine one night.

9 Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. Getting better at this. It is easier to execute as I am still working from home - so can adjust meal times as needed. Preload has resulted at least a couple of times in me not finishing the starch. I put in container for snack later as needed.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). Has improved since 5/2. I did 30 min at least of walking on all 7 days. This is really important for me to focus on - as working from home has reduced activity in general by about 4K steps / day.

Hope that everyone has a wonderful week!!

Best,
Stephanie

[Drew*#]

Weight change +/- in lbs: -.8 lbs (185.8 lbs.)

MWL checklist

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Continued an average of average 2+ out of 3 meals.

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. 2.7+ out of 3 meals per day on average. Too many snacks this week.

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 added sugar except yesterday. I had some granola that came in the mail to me by mistake (should have deleted it from my order). I am not adding sodium to foods, but do use some Tabasco, umami, MSG at times.

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

5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). 1 day of soy. No nuts, seeds, avocados.

6. Eliminate any added oil. There was some oil in my snacks my goal is to reduce or eliminate (crackers).

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. Not so good with the crackers this week. And while I was in ZOOM meetings from 11 AM to 5 PM with no break, someone brought me to pieces of bread, no spread on them though. I really was not expecting the meetings to go on with no break so did not pre-plan...

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

9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. My goal this week to rate hunger before and after each meal and snack of MWL foods. If I do, it will likely help overall. The MWL foods need to be my go-to.

10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). On track with this including kickboxing boot camp. I have improved a lot according to the teacher and starting mid-July may go early Saturday as well so that the teacher could have time to instruct more with moves. It is a very good 60 minute workout. I also hiked last Saturday, but today will be watching my wife swim at the beach (I have an ear problem) and munching on compliant foods (mostly fruit and vegetable with a little bowl of quinoa with small amount of bean mixed in plus two teaspoons vinegar. I add vinegar to most meals. I know, it is not a magic bullet for weight loss, but worth it since it is MWL compliant.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Tried out some different gloves last night and they are really good. Will be getting a pair at the local sporting store, Big 5.

Things are coming together, but I have room for improvement especially # 7 above.

Drew*#

[texaslil]

Weight change +/- in lbs:
0 lost or gained!
167.8

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. MOSTLY, ONE NIGHT HAD A FEW SQUARES OF DARK CHOCOLATE
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. MOSTLY, SEE CHOCOLATE ABOVE
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

Victories, comments, concerns, questions: Holding steady at 167.8, which I'm quite pleased with. I'm hoping to not return to the 170s Typically at this point in my cycle I'm up a pound or so, so I am satisfied to report on no gain from last week. I'm mostly feeling good about my adherence and it hasn't been too difficult. Once again I made a large pot of soup and ate on that for several evenings. It was Chef AJs artichoke lemon soup and it was quite delicious. I am still on the hunt for a regular dinner I can turn to , I'm taking suggestions if anyone has a favorite they go to again and again and don't tire of it. My morning 50/50 with oatmeal, grapes and bananas with a side of veggies is my regular go to and I still LOVE it. In fact, I tried something different one morning this week and I felt like I was missing something for the rest of the day I did enjoy some dark chocolate with my daughter one evening when we went for a drive and felt like stopping and getting some snacks. Other than that I was pretty much on track. No avocado, No tofu, no smoothies. Thanks for everyone's support!

[Mark Cooper]

The window for reporting this week's weigh-in and behavioral results has officially closed.

The remainder of my replies and the weekly summary will follow.

[Mark Cooper]

Artista - Very good, Nancy! Continuing to work toward fully adhering to all 10 points from the checklist is exactly the right action to take, particularly with little "wiggle room." It can certainly take some time to acclimate one's palate to MWL; be sure to include adequate starch each time you eat for satiety, and know that any lingering cravings should fade with time.

Noella - Down a pound! Enjoy your relaxing time on the coast. I'm delighted that cycling feels like a manageable exercise option for you. Great work sticking with MWL on vacation!

Zoey - That sounds like a frustrating, stressful, exhausting week! I'm sorry you're faced with that major disruption to your home and finances. Try to treat yourself with compassion, you had a rough time, but you also honestly assessed your situation and held yourself accountable. You know how to get back on track, and, as you observed, avoiding an "avalanche" is important. Wishing you better days ahead!

Trish88 - You are so right that these challenging weeks have valuable lessons to offer; your thorough self-assessment helps bring those to the forefront, and some time considering how you might manage those challenges differently in the future can really shore up your practice. Do your best to keep attending to the recommended behaviors, invest some time in planning and preparation when you can, and you'll circumvent those indulgences before they sneak up on you.

Gimmelean - I completely agree! Congratulations for all your efforts and all you have achieved! It's especially fantastic to hear that you are feeling more able to handle those difficult times, along with the smooth stretches. See you in July!

VegSeekingFit - Hi, Stephanie! Welcome back, and congratulations on what you've already achieved since resuming MWL. Re-visiting your journal seems like a great idea; life has a sneaky way of knocking us over when left unattended, right? I love seeing the "consecutive days following MWL" counter! Looking forward to seeing that number climb!

Drew*# - You seem to be making significant progress with the recommended behaviors! Keep it going! Eliminating the remaining calorie rich snacks should definitely make a difference; implementing a plan to replace them with adherent alternatives is the surest way to achieve that goal. Enjoy the beach!

texaslil - That looks like a solid week, Laila; I'm glad you feel pleased! My own go-to meals are all variations on Jeff's basic recipes, and I eat a SNAP meal for lunch every single day.

[Mark Cooper]

Please note - I replied to each participant individually in the two lengthy posts linked below, provided that their reports followed the guidelines for weigh-ins.

Mark's Replies for June 25 - Part 1
Mark's Replies for June 25 - Part 2

By my count, 15 participants reported for our final June 2021 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 final Friday in June:

Week ending 6/25/2021: 15 participants reported a total change of -4.80 pounds
--------------------------------------------------
Trish88 +1.80
GreenFroG +1.00
Zoey +0.20
--------------------------------------------------
Total gains: +3.00
--------------------------------------------------
NO CHANGE / MAINTAIN/ STARTING OUT
Artista 0.00
Gimmelean 0.00
Health 1st 0.00
PonysPlants 0.00
Squealcat 0.00
Texaslil 0.00
VegSeekingFit 0.00
--------------------------------------------------
Drew*# -0.80
Noella -1.00
Deweyswakms -1.60
Bunsofaluminum -2.00
Rebecka22 -2.40
--------------------------------------------------
Total losses: -7.80
--------------------------------------------------
Cumulative group loss for June 2021 to date: 34.10 pounds
Average loss for week ending June 25: 0.32 pounds
Cumulative group loss for January 2021: 117.20 pounds
Cumulative group loss for February 2021: 39.40 pounds
Cumulative group loss for March 2021: 73.20 pounds
Cumulative group loss for April 2021: 48.30 pounds
Cumulative group loss for May 2021: 35.90 pounds
--------------------------------------------------

Next Weigh-In is on Friday, July 2, 2021, in the July MWL group thread.


Congratulations everyone! Another month down! As June comes to a close, July beckons with exciting opportunities to continue our growth and development. The new MWL group thread will be posted tomorrow; I look forward to seeing you there.

I'm headed to the shore with my family tomorrow through Thursday, and I'm not sure how easily I'll be able to access the boards, so if you don't see me posting before Thursday, don't be alarmed.

I received an email link to this article today, and thought I would share it here - it is one of my favorites.

When Friends Ask: Why Do You Avoid Adding Vegetable Oils?

Wishing you all the very best! Take care & be well!

[Health 1st]

Health 1st - Hi and welcome! I'm glad you found the group, and it sounds like you have some very good reasons to pursue MWL. I look forward to seeing your self-assessment and weigh-in report next week. Have you started practicing the behaviors recommended in the MWL 10-Point Checklist?

Hi Mark,

Thank you so much for your welcome and accepting me in the group! In recent months I was not practicing the 10 point checklist because I was always planning on getting started the next day or so...which went on for far too long. But I've started now!

I have a question, though. For breakfast I typically like a bowl of oatmeal with fruit in it. Do I first have to have fruit and then the oatmeal with more fruit in it? I never use any sweetener, so I really like the fruit in the oatmeal. Sometimes I make savory oatmeal, but again that would be oats with veggies in it.

[Mark Cooper]

Health 1st - I think this post from Jeff should help answer your question.

[Health 1st]

Health 1st - I think this post from Jeff should help answer your question.

Thanks so much, Mark! So my takeaway is that it should be okay, especially since they're guidelines. Also, I always have a set amount of oats that I measure out. It's not like dinner (and sometimes lunch) where there's a pot of food and I may go back for seconds. I've always just made my standard oatmeal. If I'm still hunry, I'll eat lunch sooner or a healthy snack.

I must admit that my bowl is not 50% oats and 50% fruit, the oats are a greater %. I may have to change that as time goes on. Right now since I'm transitioning from super SAD vegetarian and I obviously have a lot of weight to lose, I'm more concerned with satiety and compliance day in and day out for the rest of my life...no more on again, off again for months/years on end, and I know at the beginning now weight will fall off effortlessly.

Anyway, a long way around to saying, "Thank you, it was very informative, and helped me understand!".