JANUARY 2019 McDougall Maintenance Group

[Lyndzie]

Sue - Your trip sounds amazing! Finding plant-based options can be a struggle sometimes, that sounds like a dream to have choices. That book looks very interesting, especially when we work so hard to instill new healthy habits here.

Erin - Eating in restaurants can be a struggle, I usually make a plan by checking the menu before I go so that I can be as prepared as possible when tempted by other food. Mary McDougall has a great video called Dining Out When You Must that I like to review.

Starchyme - Excellent! Stay the course!!

I am about 4 pounds more than I’d like, but still well within a “healthy” weight range. I’m working on eating less nuts/seeds, reducing sodium intake and completely removing refined sweeteners. Today I stocked up on NSA tomatoes, potatoes and beans. We’re expecting some very cold and snowy weather here tomorrow, so having those essentials and water on hand in case of losing power or water. Best to everyone!

[victw]

Hi all,

Weight is .2 more than two weeks ago. But I'm counting that as the same.

The next two weeks are feeling challenging as my niece is staying with us and my habits are off. I am planning on making a big pot of split pea soup on Sunday - so that we will have food on hand for next week. It shouldn't be a problem to make my oat burgers even if I have to make them from frozen beans and not fresh beans.

The veggie of the week was carrots. I don't generally do mono vegetables for each meal. But when I asked husband to bring me home some carrots last weekend - he brought home a two lb bag. And since I never made it back to the store that was the veggie of the week. Obviously two lbs isn't enough - we had others. But it was the star of the week. Yikes. I'm rambling.

The not so star of the week was a cabbage risotto that I made last Sunday - it lasted for 3 lunches. It was edible but... not a repeat. I'm still on the hunt for more red cabbage recipes.

Vic

[geo]

Its Friday but I don't really weigh myself anymore. Rather I just know how my body feels when everything is right. That and a quick check of my waistband and a look in the mirror every morning lol. And so far, I'm pretty accurate at determining when I'm holding water and corelating that with what I eat. Especially if I increase salt intake, its like clockwork how I will retain water and how long it will last. It happened earlier this week when I had some salsa that I didn't realize had a higher salt content than my usual stuff. It took a day or two to get rid of the extra water I retained.

Any how, things are well, I'm getting used to increasing my starch content a bit to increase my satiety during the working day so I dont eat so much at night given my hours. Its not easy trying to stuff my face in 15-20 mins during lunch to last throughout the day.

[viv]

Hi McDougall Maintainers!

This morning's weigh in is 160 pounds. My BMI is 24 a bit higher than I would like, but it's been very very cold here and maybe I need a bit more insulation. So no matter, I'll just exchange the bread for potatoes and rice this week.

I still cannot believe the miracle of this life. I'm a high school teacher and I run around all day feeling energetic and spry. I will be 70 this year and teachers around me are falling by the wayside with bad hips, knee replacements, diabetes, obesity, constant operations of one sort or another, falls - yes two teachers fell last week - both with injuries, and God knows what else. And they are ALL a lot younger than me. Sometimes I think I'm living in the Twilight Zone.

I shudder to think how I would be if I hadn't started this diet nearly six years ago. I think I would have died or be incapacitated in some shape or form. Now I'm in the best health of my live, living in the McDougall Zone!

Viv

[Lyndzie]

Hi Vic. Excellent week for you! Carrots are so good right now. The cabbage risotto sounds like a unique combination.

Hello Geo. How clothing fits is definitely a great indicator of how things are going. Jeans are a good way to stay honest (leggings will lie to you! They lie to me and tell me I’m doing great but my jeans will always tell me to put that avocado down.). Your job sounds so awesome, to get to move your body all day and get paid for it.

Howdy Viv. Isn’t it great to know the little tweaks to painlessly get the scale to move around? Eat this, not that. Simple switches for health that also taste good. High school sounds like such a tough age to teach, kudos to you!

[geo]

On a lark, I pulled out my trusty BIA* scale and I'm weighing 0.8 lbs lighter. That is unexpected and not really welcome in maintenance mode but I can account for it in that I did a lot of extra walking this past week at work. This just means that I probably could consider increasing my calorie density just a tad (i.e., a bit more starches). My hydration level is reading the same as usual, so I'm not dehydrated and my hunger levels seem ok. So all in all everything seems fine. I really don't bother too much these days with a +- 1 lb chnge in weight as long as I can account for the change. (And yes when I do weigh myself its at the same time in the morning, naked, after evacuations, and the scale in the same exact position and zero'd out)

*Bio Impedance Analysis scale - basically a small current is sent through your body through one foot and the amount it takes to go into your body and through to your other foot is measured. From there they can do all sorts of mathematical calulations (i.e., approximations) to come up with values such as: body fat, visceral fat, bone mass, hydration level, BMR, BMI, lean muscle, etc... Is It accurate, depends on the device but i wouldnt expect more than maybe a ballpark figure, but it is useful as a relative measurment over time to track changes and such and help understand your body changes and can be a great motivational tool.

[Lyndzie]

Geo, that’s amazing that you keep such close tabs on yourself. The scale sounds super cool. Did you have when you started the program and could really see the results from multiple angles? I debated getting a BAI scale, but went cheap due to budget constraints and concern about the accuracy of the scales.

[Ejeff]

I have a scale that also calculates body fat % as geo mentions, so today I was 111 lbs and 28% body fat. I agree that this is useful in terms of a relative measurement. I have had this scale for several years and one time I went to a clinic where they measured body fat % more accurately and it was close to the scale I use. So I do think it’s quite accurate and I would like to see this drop to 24% for myself. I don’t rely on the scale only, but I can see and feel where I have excess fat on my body that I know shouldn’t be there.

[Lyndzie]

Erin, it sounds like we have a very similar build. I’m very petite as well. That is so neat that the scale can give such accurate information. Really useful when you are trying to maintain specific biometrics!

[geo]

Hey Lyndzie,

No I didn't have my BIA scale when I started my journey and I'm not sure whether I would have appreciated it much back then. Reason being is that I was already tracking dozens of physical and blood markers as it were. Trying to track even more would have may me even more crazy lol. These days I'm tracking far less and those particular bio-markers are more appealing and approrpiate today since I'm leaning more towards the exercise/activities part of this lifestyle an less on the food aspects.

None the less it is quite easy to get mired down in too much detail. And detail for the sake of detail is pretty useless. you really have to make some use of it, i.e., try to understand what each marker is telling you in context to the results you are seeing and then connecting that to your daily activities and dietary patterns. At any rate, none of this is recommended on the program or even needed to reach your goals. But it is nice to be able to see and understand how your particular body works and the results you get. Knowledge and understanding leads to wisdom

[Lyndzie]

Happy Monday everyone! Well, it's almost Tuesday at this point. I don't have any real words of wisdom at the moment.



I came across this picture a while back and it really resonated with me. Until relatively recently, removing animal products from your diet automatically improved what you were eating. Now, almost every pleasure trap food is available in a version that fits within the parameters of a "vegan" diet.

Jeff's post Beyond Meat or Beyond Health really does a great job of summarizing the problems people who are trying to eat better face as companies try to come up with new and innovative ways to make a profit by engineering food that is addicting and irresistible. Premium CRAP is right!

I'll stick with the carrot.

Have a great rest of the week, everyone!

[Lyndzie]

Happy Friday everyone! Today is our last check-in for the month.

I have actually lost 2lbs since last Friday. I am still surprised at how well calorie density works! I had been eating an embarrassing amount of cocoa balls made with dates and walnuts, and cut that out, in addition to focusing on getting some beans with my rice and veg. And all while not being hungry. It’s amazing! (I know I’m preaching to the choir here, I’m just so pumped!)

Tomorrow I have two birthday parties to attend, and one of them is a pizza party, so I’ll have lots of SAD food to contend with. Then, dinner at my mother-in-law’s on Sunday. They do Paleo/Keto, so nothing tempting there, just a “food desert” if you will.

I look forward to hearing how everyone is doing!

[Starchyme]

I may have gained a pound! Will know tomorrow when I weigh before eating.

[Ejeff]

Was a good week, stayed very active my new love is pickleball. Also did my 2 swimming days and a long hike with the group here. Eating could have been better, didn’t need the donut that’s for sure. Scale down 2 pounds 109 today. Have a good week and starch on!

[geo]

Was a good week, as usual No change is just the way I like it! MWL stays the course (and of course, being poor helps a great deal to stay that way lol... poor as in money...otherwise I'M the richest man in the world...health, love, learning makes life worth living ).