The Behavioral Path to MWL Success - March 2024 Group

[BambiS]

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
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 good week, nothing eventful

Another great week, nothing eventful. I think 2024 has been successful because I’ve been doing a fairly simple workout of youtube grow with Jo . I do 20-30 minutes daily. I sometimes do yoga for stretches.
I have also been drinking half my body weight in water.
I cut off my eating at 6:00 now, and am better prepared with food.

[sarabee]

Hello, Mark, and MWL friends.I would like to join the March 2024 group if it's not too late. If "okay," I will post on Friday or Saturday morning. I have enjoyed reading through all the information as well as your posts from last Friday and am excited to get on board officially. Many thanks. Sarabee

[Mark Cooper]

Hello, Mark, and MWL friends.I would like to join the March 2024 group if it's not too late. If "okay," I will post on Friday or Saturday morning. I have enjoyed reading through all the information as well as your posts from last Friday and am excited to get on board officially. Many thanks. Sarabee

Hi, Sarabee! It is NOT too late ; you would be most welcome to join the group. If you haven't done so already, review the orientation materials, and I will look forward to your initial self-assessment report. Cheers!

[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

It was a good week of keeping things normal. I felt hungrier some days, but I just ate the recommended food, so that’s a win. Thanks for all the support, hope everyone has a great week.

[Starflower]

Hi MWL team!


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). NO

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:

This week was not bad, considering the pace of life didn’t slow at all. I’m starting to be able to keep that from derailing my compliance. Onward!

Welcome Kirsty and Sarabee!
Wishing everyone a wonderful and healthy week!

[sarabee]

1) Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. YES, I HAVE STARTED TO DO THIS.

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). ABSOLUTELY

5) Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). I’M EATING SOME TOFU AND SOY MILK

6) Eliminate any added oil. YES, NO 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. 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 stuFff yourself. YES

10) Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). I AIM TO WALK 7,000-10,000 STEPS EACH DAY AND I ALSO ROW ON AN ERGOMETER ABOUT 200,000 METERS/MONTH, WHICH IS ABOUT 40-60 MINUTES/DAY.

Thank you, everyone, for your posts, which I have enjoyed reading. I am a returnee to the MWL Forum. I had previously lost enough weight to be at the top end of the “healthy BMI” level for my height, but I never really got down to my goal weight. I absolutely love that this Forum is focusing on a “Behavioral Path.” I am not planning on weighing myself until the end of the month, but rather focus on the TEN points above. I am also resolving to check in each week with this group to give myself positive accountability. I am grateful to be in good health, to live where healthy food is available, and to have a supportive spouse. Best wishes to all of you. I hope you have a positive, happy, and healthy week. Sarabee

[kirstykay]

A 10-POINT CHECKLIST FOR MAXIMUM WEIGHT LOSS (MWL)

1) Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. NO, My goal for this week is to work on this.

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. 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). MOSTLY. Some Avocado and peanut butter

6) Eliminate any added oil. MOSTLY: always when cooking at home. Ate out while out of town this week.

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, some flour products

8 ) Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). YES- Drank mostly water and 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 (i.e., brisk walking). YES-lots of exercise this week.


It was good getting back into this WOE. I didn't have a perfect week, but I feel like I know where I need improvement. I want to work on preloading my meals with soup. I read Jeff's article about this that you posted, Mark, and I feel like this will really make a big difference. I also appreciated his comments about not needing to eat tons of raw vegetables and salads. The other two areas for improvement for me are flour products and avocados. I am working on eliminating these. It was harder this week because we were out of town and had a few meals out that were unavoidable. It's good to be home and I am working on cleaning up my environment. I'd gotten in the bad habit of eating things that are not helping me reach my goals, but I am ready to eliminate them. Looking forward to reading about everyone's weeks. Thanks for everything you post. I find it all so helpful to be doing this in community again.

[Gimmelean]

MWL Post for week ending 3/8/24
Hello everyone.

1) Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.
Yes. Enjoying Evercrisp apples and very fresh raw veggies packed to go.

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.
No- some candy at work

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

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

6) Eliminate any added oil.
No- I’m sure the store bought hummus had 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.
No- pita 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.

11)Posting before the close of the week
Yes.

Victories,Comments, Concerns, Questions,
A much better week. Work is my most challenging environment. A food week at work was my absolute downfall last week but I was determined to get back on a good track this week. Most days were excellent others not so much with pita chips and commercial hummus at a work event and candy. I batch cooked brown basmati rice and water sautéed vegetables and everyone else ate it before I came home. I’m surely not going to complain about that. I just made some more and glad that some of my habits are rubbing off in a good way.
Looking forward to spring. Not looking forward to losing an hour of sleep tonight with daylight savings and moving the clock ahead. Have a great MWL week everyone!

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Team Time & Adherence,

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

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 – 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.
I think so. I continue to be mindful to stop eating at satiation.

10 Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Yes – 7/7. Walked (sometimes outside) and did strength training. Had an awesome week of pickleball!

Victories, comments, concerns, questions:

Mark – Hope your weather in Princeton has changed for the better and the sun is shining brightly! Loved your post last week with all of the references on pre-loading! Always appreciate the reminder from JeffN that “MWL guidelines are guidelines, not black and white rules…the more you do, the more you can benefit.”


Kirsty – Thanks for sharing your background. At some point in time, we could have been Chicagoland neighbors… You are so inspiring with what you have already achieved!


Bambi – Grow with Jo sounds fun!


Welcome, Sarabee!


A big HI to Rebecka and Starflower and anyone else to come!


Gimmelean – I am with you on work being a tough environment to navigate. Wish that there were no food days!!! My son’s work provided each employee with a bag of candy bars this week for Employee Appreciation Day – like 12 different full-size candy bars …. (which he left in the middle of the table)… Seriously?


I was THRILLED to see my interview with Heather last summer on the 12 Day Program posted to the McDougall YouTube channel. This community (shout out to Mark, Wildgoose, JeffN) has been a key element for me also. It helps so much to have this space to be able to learn and share. ❤️ Thank you!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unpu3xgMwOY&t=1s


Wishing everyone a terrific week with lots of sunshine, healthy food, and activity.

Cheers,
Stephanie

[Artista]

Hi Mark, I would like to join the group for March. I had so much going on in life during February I had to step away from the group. Things are still busy but I'm in a place now where I can focus on the MWL principles again. I'm looking forward to picking up where I left off.

[Mark Cooper]

Hi Mark, I would like to join the group for March. I had so much going on in life during February I had to step away from the group. Things are still busy but I'm in a place now where I can focus on the MWL principles again. I'm looking forward to picking up where I left off.

Absolutely! You would be welcome in the group; I'll look forward to your participation.

[Artista]

Thank you, Mark!!

Loved your interview, 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 - NICE! Weeks that feel uneventful often turn out pretty great in regard to maintaining the recommended pattern of behavior, right? I do a nice, simple YouTube workout every day, too; I really enjoy it. Keep doing your best practicing the guidelines!

Rebecka22 - Eating the recommended food, whenever you feel hungry, is definitely a win! "Keeping things normal;" I really like that description! Carry on!

Starflower - Not bad at all! That feeling of being able to manage a fast-paced life while supporting and maintaining the pattern of behavior we seek seems like meaningful progress to me. Does that ring true for you? Has any particular practice, technique, or tool been especially helpful in that regard? Have a wonderful week!

sarabee - It is great to have you returning to the forum, and I'm thrilled that you are excited by the "Behavioral Path," too! It seems like you are off to an excellent start. I think having a partner who is supportive of your efforts is DEFINITELY a great thing and worthy of gratitude (as are good health and an abundant availability of the recommended foods). May your week be happy, healthy, and filled with opportunity!

kirstykay - Feeling good about getting back to the recommended pattern of behavior seems a like a great way to feel, Kirsty! It seems like you have made a solid start; we aim for PROGRESS over PERFECTION, right? Concentrating on adopting and practicing the preload recommendation is perfect for your "next step." I think recognizing how soup can work in that regard can be a real game changer for some people. It seems to me that focusing on the immediate environment, which is typically much more within our control than the outside world (especially so on the road), also seems a very reasonable and sensible place to direct your efforts. It sounds like you are heading in exactly the right direction. If you run into any significant obstacles, have questions, or just want a sounding board, feel free to reach out to the group here. You are on your way!

Gimmelean - Each week better than the last is how progress is made! I think workplaces can be especially challenging, since one spends so much time there, and the work environment is rarely, if ever, fully within one's control. Was the main difference between the days that felt "excellent" vs. those "not so much" days the particular foods that were present in the environment, or were there other factors you feel contributed to the disparities? Seeing your good habits have a noticeable impact on your loved ones must feel awesome, no? I CANNOT WAIT for spring, though I can certainly do without all the rain we've been experiencing here in Princeton, and I LOATHE "spring ahead"! I always dread that lost hour. Nevertheless, we progress!

VegSeekingFit - I'm glad to know you enjoyed the preloading references, Stephanie! It is still rainy here, although Mother Nature did sneak in one nice day this week. Thanks so much for sharing the YouTube link; it is a great interview! I think it is SO INSPIRATIONAL! Thank you!!

[Mark Cooper]

Another inspiring week of diligent efforts on display throughout this week's reports! I'm so thrilled and gratified by the positive interactions we have here!

This week I'm sharing Jeff's post Clarifying the 50/50 Guideline, as well as a few other topics that came up in our discussions. Let me know if there are any questions.

Sometimes, people are confused in regard to my 4th principle of calorie density. This is the one that says,

Dilution is the Solution (the 50/50 guideline) - Dilute Out High Calorie Dense Foods/Meals - Dilute the calorie density of your meals by filling 1/2 your plate (by visual volume) with intact whole grains, starchy vegetables and/or legumes and the other half with non-starchy vegetables and/or fruit.

For the record, this 50/50 guideline is the exact same recommendation as Dr McDougall makes for his Maximum Weight Loss Program. As he says, " If you are desperate, then you may push that amount to one-half of your plate (measured roughly by your eye)."

People often confuse the 50/50 guideline to mean calories. However, as stated above, the guideline clearly is in regard to visual volume.

However, for discussion sake, lets see what a 50/50 volume split relates to in regard to calories. And, while we are at it, we will also look at a 67/33 split and a 33/67 split. The 67/33 represent the regular McDougall program, where he often says, make starch around 70% or 2/3rd's of our plate. Also, in the original MWL book, Dr McDougall said for "extra-rapid weight loss" you could make your plate 2/3 green and yellow and 1/3 starch-based (though he no longer recommends this).

Here are 3 simple versions of a 50/50 meal split. Each has 4 cups of food, which is split 50/50 between 2 cups of starches (Starchy vegetables, intact whole grains and legumes) and 2 cups of fruits/non-starchy vegetables.

NOTE! I am not recommending you eat 4 cups of food, or weigh and measure your food, or use this as a suggested meal plan but am only using this amount as an example to make a point.

1) Oatmeal and Fruit

2 Cups Cooked Oatmeal 332.3
1 Cup Raw Blueberries, 84.4
1 Cup Raw Strawberries, 53.1

This meal is 470 calories with 70% of the calories coming from the "starch" and 30% coming from the fruit.

2) Sweet Potatoes, Broccoli & Kale

2 Cups Cooked Sweet Potato 360
1 Cup Cooked Broccoli, 54.6
1 Cup Cooked Kale, cooked, 36.4

This meal is 451 calories with 80% of the calories coming from the starch and 20% from the vegetables.

3) Rice, Beans and Veggies.

1 Cup Cooked Brown Rice, 216.4
1 Cup Cooked Red Kidney Beans, 224.8
1 Cup Cooked Red Peppers, 47.8
1 Cup Cooked Onions 92.4

This meal is 581 calories with 75% of the calories coming from the starch and 25% from the veggies.

Considering these three options, it might be safe to say a 50/50 split by visual volume results in about 75% of your calories coming from the starch foods with 25% coming from fruits & non-starchy vegetables.

I will post the results later for a 67/33 split also but I can tell you from past experience, it results in around 90% of the calories coming from the starch foods.

Here are the same 3 simple versions using a 67/33 meal split. Each has 4 cups of food, which is split 67/33 between 2.66 cups of starches (Starchy vegetables, intact whole grains and legumes) and 1.33 cups of fruits/non-starchy vegetables. Dr Mcdougall has often used the terms, 70% or 2/3rds, but to be exact, I used the 67/33 split. Shifting it to 70/30 would not make a huge difference.

1) Oatmeal and Fruit

2.66 Cups Cooked Oatmeal 441
.66 Cup Raw Blueberries, 56
.66 Cup Raw Strawberries, 35

This meal is 532 calories with 83% of the calories coming from the "starch" and 27% coming from the fruit.

2) Sweet Potatoes, Broccoli & Kale

2.66 Cups Cooked Sweet Potato 478
.66 Cup Cooked Broccoli, 34
.66 Cup Cooked Kale, cooked, 24

This meal is 536 calories with 89% of the calories coming from the starch and 11% from the vegetables.

3) Rice, Beans and Veggies.

1.33 Cup Cooked Brown Rice, 288
1.33 Cup Cooked Red Kidney Beans, 299
.66 Cup Cooked Red Peppers, 29
.66 Cup Cooked Onions 61

This meal is 677 calories with 87% of the calories coming from the starch and 13% from the veggies. I'm

Considering these three options, it might be safe to say a 67/23 split by visual volume results in about 85% of your calories coming from the starch foods and 15% coming from fruits & non-starchy vegetables, etc.

In regard to Dr Mcdougall's regular program, which he says is about 70/30 (I used 67/33), this 70/30 split by visual volume results in about 85% of you calories coming from the starch foods and 15% coming from fruits & non-starchy vegetables, etc.

The program works, as is, with minor modifications when necessary. No weighing, measuring or counting required. And as long as you follow the recommendations and guidelines, you can eat until you are comfortably full whenever you are hungry. And you will have consumed a nutritionally adequate health supporting diet.

The hard part is doing it.

Not just for today, but for this week, and month, and year and once you have done that, then, see if you can get 10 years in.

Eating Between Meals & Meal Frequency

Reflecting On The 5:2 Diet & Intermittent Fasting

"Bottom line, following the recommendations here to consume a unrefined unprocessed plant based diet that is low in calorie density, high in nutrient density and high in satiety, along with the proper amount and type of physical activity may be the most important issue. Whether someone does this in 3 meals vs 5 meals vs 1 meal, may be less important than total calories and overall food choices, and a fine detail that would be up to the individual based on which method helps them incorporate the more important principles."

"Some people just can't maintain a meal plan with fewer meals and some just can't maintain a meal plan with more frequent meals. I am one of the latter, and so, I keep a more limited meal plan but would not insist on that for someone who felt more comfortable with more frequent meals as long as the overall dietary and nutritional pattern is the same."

How many glasses of water a day?

Wishing you all an incredible, delightful, successful week to come! Take care & be well!