The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - September 2023 Group

[Mark Cooper]

I tried to post this AM and couldn't BUT was YAY able to save my post down --- so posting it anyway.

I'm glad you were able to save it! If anyone else who posted or tried to post previously would like to repost or post now through the end of the day on Sunday(9/23), please feel free to do so. I'll reply to any posts on Monday.

[Mark Cooper]

I find it important to NOT be hungry at work (without compliant food handy) because this may be the environment that I spend the most time in on a regular basis that is full of Pleasure Trap foods. For instance, Wednesdays are popcorn days --- the whole campus smells of popcorn in the afternoon – everywhere you walk.

This feels like an important insight to me, and I think the idea of considering what environments are most "hazardous" to one's adherence (and taking action to "guard" oneself accordingly) may be broadly applicable for other people, too. Fantastic execution with your self-made oat cups and great work leveraging access to the gym to support staying consistently active. Starting the day with movement is a practice I really believe in, as well. Keep up your amazing work!

[BambiS]

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Most days, made a couple soups this week, fresh pumpkin soup was great


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
most days


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, not an issue here

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).some days

Victories, comments, concerns, questions good week, nothing eventful.

Nothing too eventful, except I almost couldn’t get in or find the forum! I hate to keep telling the same thing. I’m still cleaning and doing some sewing dog coat’s before winter hits. I’ll be glad when it settles down.

[Rebecka22]

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
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). NO
6. Eliminate any added oil. NO
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. NO
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). NO
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

This week I started extra tired which is what led to what I’m calling discipline fatigue, which led to eating out twice last weekend and not in a disciplined way. Kind of ironic after just reading about how eating out leads to binge eating. It definitely led me to the pleasure trap. I am back on track now though.

[Starflower]

September 29th

Hi team!

1) Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. NO

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. 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). NO

6) Eliminate any added oil. NO

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). NO

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

It wasn’t my best week. Pain from dental work and taking care of a sick family member was a challenge. Fatigue and not being able to chew resulted in some poor choices and skipped steps. Not an excuse, I know. On the bright side, a new stove and fridge will make batch cooking much easier from now on! There’s a mashed potato casserole baking now, and a big bowl of pasta and two large salads in the fridge. Progress!

Mark, thank you for extending the window because of the server problem. I didn’t have a copy of my post, but that was appreciated anyway!

Wishing everyone a wonderful and successful week!

[Hjklost55]

Hello Everyone…. Sorry I went MIA again. But I am back and committed for October and going forward. Restarted on Tuesday the 26th so my assessment is for Tuesday through Friday.

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 desert .
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.
NO

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: Well my victory is I am back on track. My comments are….. it was a LONG summer and I was not in my normal environment. I am very happy to be back and find my tribe again. Looking forward to October and a successful month.

[Gimmelean]

Post for week ending 9/29/23

Hello Everyone.

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

2). Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals.
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,)
No- had some cheese

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

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.
No- had taco shells,bread, and chips.

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:
Not a great week at all at the onset; cheese, nuts, chips, and bread, but I managed to get back on track yesterday. I’ve got lots of fresh produce and rolling up my sleeves to prep good and easy adherent foods. This time of year is always a weird transition. Knowing it’s coming doesn’t matter. It’s getting colder and darker earlier. A switch from light, summer foods to more soups and stews. It’s vital to focus on not letting go as I did this week.
Glad to have this accountability place and always your insight and moral support. Invaluable!!
Have a good week everyone. One day at a time.

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Team Time & Adherence,

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying fall colors and flavors! Thinking I’m going to make some pumpkin oatmeal this week with apples and cinnamon - will smell like autumn.

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Frequently. I am at about 80% of meals with preload. Having the apples available is helping here.

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. Not perfect - I ate white rice at one meal out – vegetable sushi. They didn’t have brown rice at the restaurant – so this was the best choice available. I don’t go out to eat much, but this week was three times. Have found that a couple of places have easy to get compliant breakfast of steel cut oats made with water with fruit – no milk, no granola = MWL compliant. At another restaurant had a raw veggie salad and brought own dressing / bv--- ate before going so all was good.

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. Reduced, not eliminated.

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. Did not starve or stuff.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes - 7 / 7. Took a couple of beautiful hikes last weekend with my son. Played some pickleball. Went to the gym at work and by my house. I have been trying for over 2 years to consistently incorporate strength training – which I know is important. It is not my strength (no pun intended)! I am hopeful that I am getting closer here --- meeting with a personal trainer next week for a consultation – fingers crossed that we are compatible --- as searching for the right fit has been a mini project.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Thank you, Mark for your amazing patience last week and your feedback! Much appreciated!

Hope everyone has a terrific weekend and start to October! We are closing out September with a bang!!!

Cheers,
Stephanie

[Mark Cooper]

The window for reporting this week's behavioral results has officially closed.

My replies and the weekly summary will follow.

[Mark Cooper]

BambiS - I'm so glad you were able to find the forum and post in the end! I don't think that there is anything worth hating about "telling the same thing"; consistency is desirable, right? Fresh pumpkin soup does sound great!

Rebecka22 - Hang in there! What is most important and valuable is that you are back on track now. Dining out can definitely present a challenge to one's discipline, and for some of us a few "exceptions" can take us right into the Pleasure Trap. I can imagine heading into a week already feeling exhausted could definitely result in "discipline fatigue" or the "adherence fatigue" Jeff has written about. I would note that your self-assessment still shows 5 of the 10 recommendations marked YES, so you adherence didn't disappear in every respect, right? Keep doing the best you can!

Starflower -

It wasn’t my best week.

Certainly not the worst week either, right? Pain can take a major toll on us, and I imagine dental pain poses a particular challenge to certain patterns of behavior. Prepping a mashed potato casserole, pasta and salad to be well-prepared is surely a step in the right direction. Congratulations on the new stove and fridge! Enjoy!

Hjklost55 - Being back on track is the most important victory! Kudos to you for committing and getting started NOW, rather than waiting for the start of October or some other "right" time. The right day is always TODAY, in my opinion. Onward!

Gimmelean - Kudos to you for being accountable and making your clear-eyed self-assessment of this week's challenges! I agree with your observation that (seemingly tangential things) like the changing of the seasons can, in the right circumstances, throw a wrench into the machinery of our adherence routine. I would concur that it's vital to focus on maintaining and, if necessary, modifying one's routine to support ongoing adherence.

I’ve got lots of fresh produce and rolling up my sleeves to prep good and easy adherent foods.

That is a great start! Carry on!

VegSeekingFit - Awesome efforts and progress, Stephanie! Great work finding ways to support and maintain your adherence even when dining out. Best wishes for finding a good match with a trainer; in my experience, a good trainer or PT can make a huge difference. Let us know how it goes. Pumpkin oatmeal with apples and cinnamon sounds amazing! I may have to make some myself!

[Mark Cooper]

Everyone give yourself a big pat on the back and a round of applause for completing ANOTHER MONTH of practice and effort in this way of eating! This brings September to a close, and I will post the new thread for OCTOBER tomorrow. I hope I will see you there.

This week I'm sharing a brand new paper from Dr. McDougall:

The Role of a Starch-based Diet in Solving Existential Challenges for the 21st Century

From the introduction:

Diet is the common denominator for mitigating the negative impacts of chronic diseases, climate changes, and now the COVID-19 pandemic. Each in its own right is threatening the lives of every human being on the planet. Progress in solving problems created by the first two challenges, chronic diseases and climate change, has been negligible; we seem content with eventual doom, barely noticing our demise, like the proverbial frog in the pot of water brought to a slow boil. However, truly radical behavior would be to let destructive dietary behaviors to continue, as they currently are, unchecked.

A really important message for the present day.

Best wishes to all for an extraordinary week! Take care & be well!