The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - October 2023 Group

[Drew*#]

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.****I do not always do this but try especially when very hungry. Otherwise I pick 2 below.
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 except yesterday
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. **** 5/7...does date powder count?
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).*** 5/7
6. Eliminate any added oil. ****6/7 (yesterday)
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. *** 5/7
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.**** 6/7
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). ****1/7 (going for a hike today and maybe tomorrow)

As noted, it is incumbent for me to work little by little in each area so that I can get to "yes." That is working but I had a couple obstacles this week including an order of a treat by my 87 year old mom. I got to really just get her not to buy it or leave and not use it. That might be the best approach. Yesterday I had a CT scan of the abdomen area and did not really eat until 4:30 so the treat and having some retaurant "vegan" food was my mostly my sole meal. Planning ahead would have meant having some fruit and oatmeal ready to go!

Thank you for the soup recipe of potatoes and zucchini. I bought some and will cook it up on Monday or Tuesday. Hope you all are doing well!

Drew

Endnote! thanks Stephanie for commenting on the potato air fryer fries! I like them.

[Drew*#]

Several of you have been talking about soups. I have my standard soups that I make all the time (especially lentil chili and multi-bean minestrone), but sometimes I want something uncomplicated and not too spicy. I just saw a demo of a soup that Chef Ramses Bravo makes for part of the re-feeding process at True North Health Center (where they do water-only fasting). Dr. Michael Klaper devised the soup to be especially digestible.

The technique is simple. Peel a few Yukon Gold potatoes; cut them into about 1-inch pieces; put them in a pot with enough water to cover them and extend about 1/2 inch above; simmer until they're about half-done. Then cut a couple of zucchini (washed but not peeled -- you want the green) and cut them into pieces about the same size as the potatoes. You want about as much volume of zucchini as you have potatoes, maybe a little less. Add the zucchini to the pan of potatoes and continue simmering until the potatoes and zucchini are both tender. Then use an immersion blender to blend everything to the consistency of thick cream soup. You can transfer the contents of the pan (carefully!) to a regular blender to blend, as Chef Bravo did, but I didn't want a blender to clean and the immersion blender worked well. Add more water if you like it thinner.

This soup sounds very bland, but I tried it and I really like it! It's like a potato soup with a green vegetable overtone (and it's a very pretty green, visually). The Yukon Golds make it richer tasting than it would be if you used another type of potato. Chef Bravo says you can use other green vegetables (I tried spinach the second time I made it -- still really good!), but the zucchini is the most digestible. If digestion is not the issue, you could always add spices or things like onion and garlic, but I like the original recipe. It's extremely warm and comforting, easy on the stomach, and simple to make.

If you want to see the episode of Chef AJ Live where Chef Bravo makes the soup, he starts talking about it and cooking it at about the 5:00 mark.

Goose

Thank you Goose for the nice recipe. I have all the ingredients and plan to make a big batch of it in a couple days! Working on getting to yes, btw!

Drew

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Team Time & Adherence,

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Mostly. I skipped preloading a handful of meals this week. Ate a bunch of veggie soup and some salad for preloads.

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. I am loving a huge bowl of warm oatmeal with fruit for breakfast – it is really hitting the spot in the colder weather.

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. No starving or stuffing.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes - 7 / 7. Hoping the weather is nice tomorrow for a hike in the woods.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Loved your post last week, Wildgoose! Thanks for sharing that soup recipe – sounds super easy and flexible! Will definitely give it a go this month. Probably need more green things in my bowl! HA!

Welcome back, Mark! Hope that you had a fantastic time away with your family.

Gimmelean, hope that your injury is healing / healed. I am 100% with you on not liking to (have to) be cautious / sensible.

Drew, your potatoes sound wonderful!

Rebecka, I am “all ears” for if anyone has a compliant recipe!

Have a happy, healthy upcoming week everyone!

Best,
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 - Kudos! Glad this felt like a good week for you. It is always nice when the feedback from the scale matches and support our efforts, right? Keep putting in the work!

Rebecka22 - Awesome! Excellent implementation with the planning and prep work to support you over those extra long days and allow you to successfully navigate the party environment. I'm not sure whether this matches what you are looking for, but this is one of my favorite curry recipes (just opt out of the optional sweetener and it is fully adherent). My family really likes it. Alternatively, your idea of substituting mashed or blended beans would probably work in place of both the coconut milk and the peanut butter; it might just require a little experimentation. Best of luck and have a great week!

Starflower - I'm so happy to know you were able to recover from being sick and get back on plan! You are absolutely right that being prepared with an ample supply of adherent foods is among the best ways to manage when "life happens." Our family outing was great - thanks for your kind words. Carry on enjoying that adherent food!

Artista - That is a strong showing for you first full week back, Nancy!

In the end I decided that the 10 point checklist is hard enough without adding to it, maybe I just need to work on nailing down all of the 10 points before I start adding to them.

That seems like an astute observation, and it makes sense to me. As Jeff wrote,

You don’t have to figure it out or work out it. Only follow the guidelines. When hungry (regardless of whether you may think it is true hunger, appetite, or something else) just eat. Eat of the recommended foods as outlined in the 10 point checklist.

Over time, it will work itself out.

In regard to added salt and added sugar, we recommend buying and preparing food without either and if any are to be used, to add them at the table on the surface of the food. If either one is troublesome and create uncontrollable cravings for you, then leave them out.

Given that recommendation, it sounds like you are doing fine, provided you aren't finding it induces troublesome cravings. On the occasions when I have used salt in the past, I would measure out 1/2 tsp into a pinch bowl and just sprinkle from that throughout the day; it would often still have some salt left at day's end. I'd imagine up to a full tsp of added salt per day for sprinkling would still fit within the overall guidelines. Fantastic how you were able to "get along without going along" with respect to the extra protein. I'm delighted your shoulder seems to have healed nicely. Thanks for the warm welcome back, my family time was a delight. Keep up the great work!

Drew*# - Nice! An unreserved YES for 3 of the recommendations! As you observed, from here it is a matter of working steadily and sensibly toward progress in each of the other recommendations so that those YESes multiply. Your recognition that many issues can be resolved with planning and preparation is right on target. The recommendation for sugar applies to any added sweetener (including date powder): if using, prepare without and sprinkle on the surface of food at the table. Wishing you good outcomes and results with your scans. Onward!

VegSeekingFit - Excellent adherence and efforts, Stephanie! You are certainly consistent, right? A big bowl of warm oatmeal and fruit sounds divine; I might need to rustle some up for myself. Thanks for the welcome back. I loved getting some extra quality time with Beth & Posey. A happy, health week to you, too!

[Mark Cooper]

Hooray for all this week's participants and your continuing, devoted efforts! Smile, knowing you are putting in the work toward your important goals.

Many thanks to wildgoose for her impeccable stewardship in my absence. She is so great! I may have to take some more vacations.

Since the subject of exercise, muscle-building, and protein came up, and it has been quite some time since we've discussed it, I'm sharing some relevant links to Jeff's writing on the topic.

Here is a round-up of links related to protein and muscle growth. This thread on protein and building strength is especially relevant.

You all might also like to check out this post covering The Percentage of Calories from Protein in Common Plant Foods.

I hope that answers any questions and serves as a useful review on the topic.

Have an amazing week building resilience, supporting your health, and relishing life!

Take care & be well!

[BambiS]

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Sone days


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
Some 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,
it was a non eventful week setting wise. I’ve moved on to decluttering the inside.

[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. 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

A solid week. Definitely was tired and had cravings and desire for convenience, but planning helped me stay the course.

[Artista]

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 except for one meal when I was hungry, in a hurry, and not at home and didn’t end up eating enough vegetables to equal 50%.

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. Mark, I like your suggestion to measure out the salt in a little dish and add a pinch to food throughout the day. I’ve been doing that and found I use about 3/16th of a tsp of salt in a day. I hope that’s a reasonable amount. I enjoy the taste of a little salt on my food but it’s never been something that caused cravings or set me up for overeating.

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. I’ve been adding plain, unsweetened soy milk to tea in the morning. It amounts to 2-3 Tbsps a day. I tried giving up tea but wasn’t successful at that, tried the tea without soy milk and managed to do that for a couple of weeks, but just didn’t enjoy the taste of plain tea. So, evidently some improvement still needed with guideline #5.

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). Mostly. There were 2 days when I didn’t get in the full 30 minutes. I had more than 30 minutes of exercise on other days so it averaged out to more than 30 minutes per day, but I feel better if I can get at least 30 min. every day.

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Mark, thank you for your great feedback last week, it was very helpful.

My appetite has calmed down since last week and I didn’t experience any days this week when I was hungry all day. I appreciated the posting last week of Jeff’s comments on eating when hungry. Also your suggestion to measure out an amount of salt to use for the day was very helpful. I feel like it’s going pretty well except for the soy milk issue. I’ll be working on that. One victory this week, I participated in a couple of events that caused me to be around food that I don’t normally eat. One event was all day for two weekends in a row. There were cookies and nuts, two foods I used to love. I didn’t eat any of it but I did notice that by the end of the second weekend, I was definitely feeling the pull. A good reminder not to spend any more time in those situations than I can help. I had lots of my own food on hand which saved the day. I suppose one's resolve increases over time and it's possible to get to a point where there's no temptation to eat unhealthy food. I hope so.

Thanks for bringing up the topic of strength and protein. I read through the posts from Jeff that you provided links to and found that info reassuring, it's good to know that I don't need to change my diet to increase muscle and bone strength. My physical therapist give me a set of strength building exercises for lower body to go along with the exercises he has given me for my shoulder, so I’ll be adding those to my exercise routine. I'm looking forward to increasing my strength and overall fitness.

BambiS, I admire your decluttering efforts. That’s something I keep telling myself that I need to do.

Wishing everyone a stellar week.

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Team Time & Adherence,

1 Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Mostly – about 2/3.

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. Lots of oats and fruit, potatoes and veggies, brown rice / beans / corn and salad.

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).
Mostly yes… but (womp, womp) had one night where I did have two handfuls of pretzels. Was a busy week and these do live in my house (for others)– which is just fine most of the time. I am dusted off which I think is the important part for me --- to just stop and move on. I still wish that there was something horrifying that I could visualize about the pretzel, but I have not been able to make any such connection.

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. No starving or stuffing.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes - 7 / 7. Pickleball, walking with some strides, 2x strength training. We had our Pickleball Club costume tournament this week – was so much fun! There was voting for the best costumes. The winner was Pebbles (from Flintstones) then Maverick (from Top Gun) followed by a couple dressed in authentic German attire (lederhosen and all)…

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Thanks, Mark for posting the links to Jeff’s threads on protein and building muscle. So, OMG I laugh every time that I read the quote about not getting nutrition advice from someone whose bicep is bigger than their brain!! (Thanks, JeffN!)

Hope that you all have a terrific and productive week!

Cheers,
Stephanie 

[Drew*#]

1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.****2/3 meals on average
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.**** 2/3 meals on average
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. **** 5/7
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).*** 5/7
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. *** 6/7
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). ****2/7 - will go one step at a time with this

Things went OK with a couple doctor appointments and a follow-up. Overall I feel better, believe it or not, after losing some weight this month. In the next month I need more consistency with the elements above.

The soup with potato and zucchini is good and satisfying especially with some added veggies. It is a meal in itself this way. I have yet to make my own ketchup but will try that out. It is sure satisfying even with a few slip-ups this week the day before and day of my sister's birthday. Still, it is a work in progress and planning ahead this week will really help. Hope all of you are doing well.

Drew

[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 - An uneventful week is usually a good week, right? You have been quite consistent throughout October! Wishing you the best with your ongoing organizing.

Rebecka22 - Awesome! It seems to me like you've had a really solid month overall. Way to lean into planning and preparation to stay on target. Carry on!

Artista - Great efforts, Nancy! It seems to me like you are making really good progress. Successfully navigating those challenging events (and environments) is a fantastic victory, with solid planning, preparation and follow through on your part. Speaking for myself, the "pull" of particular non adherent foods definitely did fade over time (although it took longer than one might expect). Onward!

VegSeekingFit - I find all your Pickleball escapades really entertaining and inspiring, Stephanie! I imagine the costume tournament was quite a sight.

I am dusted off which I think is the important part for me --- to just stop and move on.

Exactly. Have an amazing week!

Drew*# - Nice progress! Glad to know you are feeling better overall and experiencing that feeling of esteem with your ongoing efforts. Meals that feel satisfying are certainly a big help. I think you are right that planning ahead, attending to food prep, and further consistency are a formula for success. Keep at it!

[Mark Cooper]

That closes out the month of October! It really felt like this month zipped by at a lightning pace to me. Kudos to everyone participating for your diligent and continuing efforts! I know it isn't always easy, but the fruit of your labors will be worth it and taste all the sweeter for it.

I'll post the new thread for November on Monday. I hope to see all of you there.

Have an awesome week! Take care & be well!

[Starflower]

Hi team!

I got busy today and missed the deadline. It was a good week. I’ll be away for a couple of weeks or so, with lots of family events and two short trips coming up.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week!