MARCH 2019 Maintenance Thread

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Re: MARCH 2019 Maintenance Thread

Postby Starchyme » Fri Mar 15, 2019 2:45 am

I am up a pound! But I ate late. So I'll check it out again tomorrow morning.
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Re: MARCH 2019 Maintenance Thread

Postby Suey51 » Fri Mar 15, 2019 2:52 am

I'm down 1.5 pounds in the past fortnight, so now less than a pound above my goal weight - woo hoo!!!!

Had a great time at the McDougall Three Day Intensive Program last weekend. It was great to see all the presentations, meet the people and enjoy all the yummy food :D

Edited:

PS About to head out the door, so I'll add some more thoughts on the weekend over the next few days!
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Re: MARCH 2019 Maintenance Thread

Postby Lyndzie » Fri Mar 15, 2019 4:56 am

Hi Starchyme and Sue! Good to hear the quick updates.

We moved yesterday and things are in a bit of disarray, but based on the amount of eating out this week I imagine I have some work to do. Looking forward to hearing everyone elses’s updates!
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Re: MARCH 2019 Maintenance Thread

Postby Starchyme » Fri Mar 15, 2019 6:29 pm

Suey, I'm so excited you were able to attend the conference. Can't wait to hear what all you want to share, I guess when you come back down to Earth! :)
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Re: MARCH 2019 Maintenance Thread

Postby Ejeff » Sat Mar 16, 2019 9:25 am

Yes we have been watching the tennis at Indian Wells it’s not an open, but it’s a 1000 event. Week started off good, but then we started to bring too many snacks. Scale is up 2 pounds, but I will just get back to not snacking and less sitting this week. Tennis finishes this weekend, but we are not going to the finals. Starch, veggies, and fruit will be my focus :D Hope everyone’s week is good.
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Re: MARCH 2019 Maintenance Thread

Postby Lyndzie » Sun Mar 17, 2019 7:58 pm

Starchyme - Thanks for touching base. Just water fluctuation, maybe? It’s amazing how much weight can vary due to salt and other factors.

Sue - I am so looking forward to hearing about your experience! Well done on dropping those vacation pounds.

Erin - Sounds like the tennis was so fun. Snacking and sporting events seem to go hand in hand. Great game plan for the week ahead!

I’ve had some weird scale readings this weekend. I don’t know if the scale is manfunctioning or me, haha!
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Re: MARCH 2019 Maintenance Thread

Postby geo » Mon Mar 18, 2019 4:22 am

Opps, so I missed friday...new job schedule change and all :duh:

Its amazing how much you forget, when you've been away from your chosen field for a few years...or decades lol

At any rate, was an interesting week...started playing with taste sensitivities to see how my taste buds have actually changed over the years... and now, right off the bat, my rice tastes salty. Yes I can taste the salt in my plain old boiled long grain brown rice...can't say I've ever done that before...to me it always tasted bland (just the way I like it), now I can taste the real flavor :shock: And surprizingly so does broccoli and a few other veggies...none of this food has salt on it in any way...but I can taste their real flavor...amazing :nod:

Oh and weight was down a fraction of a pound ...just the usual water loss...expected and predicted

...and no Lyndzie, I didnt fall this week :lol:
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Re: MARCH 2019 Maintenance Thread

Postby Suey51 » Wed Mar 20, 2019 3:55 am

Thanks Lindsey ! Hope your move went well!
Starchyme - not sure I have come back down to earth yet!
Geo - hope the new job is going well.
Thanks Ejeff.


Sorry it's taken me ages to share my thoughts on the McDougall 3 Day Intensive Weekend. I looked back through the many many pages of handwritten notes and realised it would take me a very long time to write them all up! Instead of trying to summarise the whole weekend, I've shared some personal impressions.

Living the McDougall Dream

When I initially thought about attending the McDougall 3 Day Intensive Weekend (or 3 dayer as I like to call it!), my ‘business case’ for the expenditure sounded a little flimsy, even to me. These were my reasons:
• See Dr McDougall and the team 'in the flesh'
• Enjoy eating McDougall compliant food that I haven’t had to cook
• Meet other McDougallers
• Meet Amandamechele (Amy) who leads the MWL weigh-in threads here and has become a friend.

I’ve been McDougalling since May 2017, have sorted my previous health issues and am happy with my weight, so there wasn’t a ‘compelling event’ for the trip. At times it's felt like a lonely path apart from the online world of the website, videos and online community so I guess part of me wanted to check that this world really existed! Luckily my husband was supportive and sensed that I really wanted to go, so I booked. As the date approached, I added another reason to the list:
• To help me ‘deepen my McDougall groove’. After the Christmas feasting season, various trips abroad and a drift towards more calorie dense foods, my weight had ‘settled’ about 3 pounds above my goal weight and I felt I needed to get back to close compliance before the weight rose further and to gain the most health benefits.

As the date approached, my excitement levels rose. My husband told me not to get 'over-excited’ but I couldn’t help it! The thought of being in Santa Rosa, an almost-magical place in my mind, and of potentially meeting my McDougall heroes – Dr McDougall, Dr Lisle, Dr Lim, Jeff Novick and Amy - was like a dream! I usually try to dampen down my expectations for fear of being disappointed, but this time I didn’t even try. :eek:

I flew to San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon (London time) with the conference starting Friday afternoon (San Francisco time). I caught the Airport Express bus from SFO airport and enjoyed the beautiful California scenery during the 2 hour journey. On a previous trip to San Francisco, I’d not crossed the golden gate bridge so that was great! San Francisco bay was much bigger than I’d remembered and I loved watching the green farm land, hills and trees roll by on either side of the expressway.

After an approx 20 hour journey door-to-door I was relieved to arrive at the Flamingo Conference Resort and Health Spa. It was built in the 1950's and has been modernised but retains a lovely period feel and is very comfortable. On Thursday, I tried out the large outdoor heated swimming pool and a yoga class at the hotel’s excellent health club. The yoga class was similar in style to one I do in the UK but the Brazilian folk music and American accents all around me left me in no doubt that I was a long way from home! I explored the hotel grounds and ventured outside to a large convenience store/pharmacy and to a local Safeway. I was delighted to see some of my favourite leafy greens in their organic veg chiller cabinet and wished I had access to a small kitchen ;) I bought some Mrs Dash salt-free seasonings which I haven't seen in the UK. On Thursday night, I ate from the McDougall menu in the hotel restaurant in the evening.
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Friday morning, I met Amy for breakfast at the hotel. So far, my McDougall dream was coming true and living up to expectations! Amy had hired a car and was kind enough to invite me to join her and her son on some sightseeing. We visited the Charles Schulz museum, historic downtown Santa Rosa and drove to the stunning coastline at Bodega Bay. We had lunch at a casual Mexican place called El Patio where they have a McDougall menu - such a treat!

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The agenda for the weekend is here and featured 3 presentations from Dr McDougall, Dr Lisle, Jeff Novick and Dr Lim. Amy has done an excellent job of summarising this event here and a similar one from 2018 here so I’ll try not to cover the same ground.

Dr Lim’s session on: 'Valuable life lessons from the Blue Zones' was based on the book by Dan Buettner and outlined the nine power principles
1. Movement – Dr Lim advises his patients to exercise that safely, consistently, with joy and ensure exercise is well rounded (for example include resistance exercise for bone density).
2. Destress – for example, meditation, yoga, prayer, afternoon naps.
3. Purpose/meaning – consider ‘Where your deep gladness and the world’s hunger coincide’ ( Frederick Buechner) or ‘follow your bliss’ (Joseph Campbell) for example hobbies, volunteering, journalling.
4. Plant-based diet.
5. 80% rule – eat till you’re 80% full by rating your level of fullness at the end of a meal. The difference between eating to 80% or 100% fullness could easily be 200 calories per day.
6. Wine at 5pm - Dr Lim said he considered excluding this one but left it in. He said, "the less alcohol, the better. There is no safe level of consumption." Blue Zones research found that settings mattered.
7. Family – family first. Blue Zones families lived in close proximity to each other.
8. Community – or finding your ‘right tribe’ - surround yourself with people with similar values
9. Spirituality – vast majority of Blue Zones people attended some sort of spiritual event regularly.

He then linked these principles with Dr Dean Ornish’s advice to: move well (1), stress less (2,3), eat well(4,5,6), love more (7,8,9) approach. Neat :-)

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Some of my fav quotes from the weekend:
Jeff Novick “We’re a commodity program. “Make the best choice whenever you can. One day you’ll be out and the best choice won’t be available.”
Jeff Novick [in response to a question: “Is there a key vegetable for preventing cancer?”] “Yes, all of them. It’s the overall lifestyle approach that will prevent cancer. Dietary patterns are what matter most. There are no super foods only super dietary patterns.”
Dr Lim: “compassionate authenticity” Authentic = say what you mean and do what you promise. Compassion = sensing the other. Or be true to yourself and sensitive/loving towards the other person.” Wise words indeed :)
Dr Lim “I have nothing to sell you” [comparing with programs that promote their own products] “My referral for you at the end of the weekend is to the grocery section of the supermarket.”
Dr McDougall [when talking to people about this way of eating] “appeal to where people are. For example, with kids talk about pimples, ridicule from peers not breast cancer and Alzheimer’s. For adults - gain health and power. For older adults - delay death and disability."
Dr Lisle [in response to a question about Dr Greger saying add oil to your greens] “Get the CRAP out and the good stuff in and don’t worry about absorbing the nutrients.” “Your life needs to have a starch stream”

And some random observations:

The presenters and presentations lived up to and exceeded my expectations. They are all super-knowledgeable, energetic, warm, friendly and entertaining. They managed to hold my attention throughout, in spite of feeling jet-lagged and sleep-deprived most of the weekend. Watching the presentations live felt more interactive and immersive so I 'got' some messages that I'd missed when watching a similar presentation online.

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If you’ve seen Jeff present or watched his videos, you’ll already know what an entertaining presenter he is. I hadn’t seen him present on reading labels before and found it very instructive, to the extent that I was applying his advice in the supermarket the very next day. I can totally see how this could become a hobby! This clip from 2012 shows the part describing how a fat free spray is actually 100%fat and is very funny.

Jeff also delivered a powerful reminder of why to avoid vegan CRAP with an example of high fat vegan burgers:

Image

It was inspiring to chat with a man who’s helping his company roll out a lifestyle program to improve their employees mental and physical health. Oh and reduce their healthcare insurance costs. I can’t remember the exact number, but I think he said that the savings were over 35% for each employee who went through the program.

The food tasted different from my home cooked food. I worked out that when I cook at home, salt has sneaked in way more than I realised and am rectifying that :)

In the presence of an all you can eat McDougall buffet, I felt a little like Goldilocks. The first day I ate small portions at mealtimes and was hungry in between. The second day, I ate huge portions and had a sore tummy from overeating. But by the 3rd day, I’d just about got it sussed ;-)

It was a real treat to be part of the McDougall world (my 'right tribe') for a weekend. The content, organisation, accommodation and food were all excellent and I loved meeting the McDougall team and other McDougallers. I've returned home with a renewed sense of joy in this lifestyle, some practical tips and a deeper commitment.

Dr Lim's closing slide:

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I hadn't done long-haul travel on my own for many years, but enjoyed that aspect of it as well. Having time away from home and family, some clear headspace, plus a stream of great information and interesting people to chat with gave me a valuable opportunity for personal reflection and self-knowledge.

There’s absolutely no need to go to a 3 day event as all the content is on the McDougall website for free and/or in the books and the support and information available in the online community here is outstanding. But, if you can afford to go I wholly recommend it.

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I had a dream about a magical land with a large blue sky, warm sunshine, rolling hills, tall redwood trees and flowering shrubs. A place where the food is healthy, abundant and delicious. Where the people live long, healthy, purposeful and active lives, and the leaders are wise, welcoming and full of good humour. I found that place at the McDougall 3 dayer in Santa Rosa. But as I awaken from the dream and settle back into my real life, I’ve brought back some of that dream with me. For those of us that are given the gift of this way of eating, we are lucky enough to be able to live the dream any where, any time, any place. (Well the food and health part not the landscape :lol: !)

“There was a dream that was Rome, it shall be realised” (from the film Gladiator)

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Re: MARCH 2019 Maintenance Thread

Postby Lyndzie » Wed Mar 20, 2019 9:03 pm

Oh my goodness, I am living vicariously through your trip, Sue! Thank you for your thorough and inspiring post. I’m going to read it multiple times.

Congrats on the new job (and lack of falls!), Geo. Enjoy that promotion. :)

Last Thursday I moved, and yesterday we flew to Arizona for a wedding, so I had not posted a Monday message in between unpacking boxes and packing luggage. What has most inspired me on the boards this week has been the thread about Combining Starch Solution with 5:2 IF.

We’ve seen many times when people have done McDougall Plus, when you take the basic recommendations and then jazz them up with some points from another program or make some exceptions. Shoot, I know I’ve done it. These incarnations never get the results we want. No need to recreate the wheel, they already figured it all out!

What I like most in reading the post is the compassion that Jeff and the fellow board members have. To quote, we live in a “brutal environment.” This is especially ringing true for me right now. It feels a little like swimming upstream, when just going with the flow would be so much easier.

I love how they do not shame anyone for their missteps, just try to guide them back on the path to reach their goals, and meet them where they are. We are so fortunate to have such an amazing support network. I will be doing my own eight week experiment when I get home (and get the kitchen sink plumbing done, oy!).

Best to you all!
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Re: MARCH 2019 Maintenance Thread

Postby Suey51 » Fri Mar 22, 2019 4:25 am

Wow! Sounds like you're having a very busy week Lindsey. Good luck with your 8 week experiment! Would love to hear how it goes if you're happy to share :)

Thanks for sharing this thread Combining Starch Solution with 5:2 IF. It was a great read and I particularly liked this part:

JeffN wrote:
"Our program is simple, very simple. So simple it becomes difficult. Just eat commodity simple staple foods as close to their natural state as possible (rice, beans, corn, oats, fruits, and vegetables) and get a pair of sneakers and move. That’s it. Adjust to your personal health situation if necessary.

The problem is, to do this in our toxic food environment, is nothing short of brutal. Literally. It puts pressure on family relationships, relationships with friends, social interactions, dining out and restaurants, travel, work, etc etc. We are social creatures (most of us) and like to fit in and get along, so to do this, puts a great strain on fitting in. And, todays current climate of information overload, clickbait and social media, everyone is an expert and makes it hard to figure things out."



And as you say Lindsey, we are fortunate to have such an amazing support network here :D

My weight is holding steady at just under a pound above my goal weight. It's been interesting to compare the food at the McDougall 3 dayer with my home food this past week or so. There are definitely a couple more tweaks I could make to reduce overall calorie density at home. My husband's being very supportive at the moment and is doing lots of batch food prep for us! He is currently eating this way at home but doesn't want to completely cut out animal foods when we eat out. I respect his choices and and am very grateful that overall his diet is much healthier than it was 2-3 years ago :-)

All the best, Sue

Edited: to fix link format....
Last edited by Suey51 on Sat Mar 23, 2019 2:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: MARCH 2019 Maintenance Thread

Postby Lyndzie » Fri Mar 22, 2019 6:47 am

Hi Sue. That’s great that you have support at home. What tweaks are you making when comparing your eating to the program’s meals?

The quote you posted is exactly what I’ve been dealing with on this family trip, and the reason this website is so valuable to me. Trying to plan for an unfamiliar environment with provided food has been challenging. I’m not one to make waves, so “getting along without going along” has been hard for me. It’s one thing to navigate this diet at home, it’s another thing to be on the road, a guest in someone else’s house, etc. Not impossible, but challenging!

No scale here, but I’m thinking all the hiking and sightseeing is at least keeping my calorie balance in check, despite the challenging food environment.
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Re: MARCH 2019 Maintenance Thread

Postby Suey51 » Fri Mar 22, 2019 11:14 am

Hi Lindsey.

Yes, I am lucky :) Well, we're being much more careful about adding salt when cooking. The veg bouillon powder my husband usually uses in soups and stews is almost 50% salt. He has now started using a very low salt veg cube instead :) He loves highly seasoned foods but has agreed to add extra salt on his portion when the food is on the plate. The other tweaks that I 'could' make (haven't made them yet :lol: ) are taking out all bread, dried fruit and nuts. I didn't have these when I followed MWL but they have reappeared now that I'm in maintenance mode. I don;t generally eat those items at mealtimes it's in between times or after dinner that the snack-craving monster attacks.... On a more positive note I'm doing way better at keeping away from the salty/fatty snacks ;-)

Yes, that type of environment is challenging isn't it. Have you found any helpful strategies?

The hiking and sightseeing sound lovely!

Sue

Edited to add section on salt.
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Re: MARCH 2019 Maintenance Thread

Postby Starchyme » Sat Mar 23, 2019 3:47 am

Hope everyone is doing well. Lost 1/2 lb making it need to get off another 1/2 lb to be back to my goal. :D
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Re: MARCH 2019 Maintenance Thread

Postby Ejeff » Sat Mar 23, 2019 8:48 am

Down 1/2 pound. I’m not sure what my goal weight is but I feel that I should be down at least 5 more pounds. Maybe I shouldn’t even be in maintenance mode. The number on the scale isn’t that important to me, but I know I still have some abdominal fat and some in the rear. I am thinking about doing a Mary’s mini. I am fighting a cold so eating hasn’t been so great, had some things with oil in it. Have a great week everyone :D
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Re: MARCH 2019 Maintenance Thread

Postby geo » Sun Mar 24, 2019 3:04 pm

Good week and weight stable. New job going well but it is a lot of brain work now lol. The physical aspects are still there (on my feet walking around a warehouse 10 hours a day) But the lift heavy stuff is mostly gone now...and not missed lol. But I'm starting up my weightlifing again to take its place and doing a little more interval training on the aerobics side as walking is pretty much not progressive enough in terms of effort...but we will see how it goes. At any rate, I'm in a happy space with my lifestyle right now, but really down on the whole financial crap...promotion aside, the $$$ just arent there yet...but hey we will get there...if its between health and money...well, there's simply no choice, bake me a spud :nod:
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Some Random Thoughts on Successful McDougalling
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