Keeping the weight off: riding the wave

Share your daily McDougall menus and/or keep a journal describing your personal progress.

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Re: Keeping the weight off: riding the wave

Postby SilverDollar123 » Fri Aug 17, 2018 8:09 am

Thanks again for starting this thread. I'm maintaining my weight but the sneaky foods do creep in.The breads or "snacks"
I don't really need. I live alone so I don't buy or bring anything yucky in the house. Work is another story. Family thinks
they have to feed the nurses,like pizza,Crispy Cream Donuts! :eek: Anything we have here in the house you can have!!
Thanks but no thanks."But you are so thin" Yes thank you,it took me awhile to get there too.!

Got back from vacation,didn't do too bad but there was oil in the foods. I am pantry shopping now until EVERYTHING is
used up in cupboards & frig. Making soups&Snap meals,with potatoes rice whatever...& it's been good.

This journey doesn't end when we reach our desired goal weights,so let's keep helping others & we will be helped too.
Blessings To All RAS
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Re: Keeping the weight off: riding the wave

Postby Suey51 » Fri Aug 24, 2018 12:47 am

Thanks for dropping by RAS :-D Congrats on maintaining your weight! How's the pantry shopping been going this week?
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Re: Keeping the weight off: riding the wave

Postby Suey51 » Fri Aug 24, 2018 2:23 am

My weight this morning is the same as last week, which is my target weight.

Writing last week’s journal post helped me reflect on why I had been gaining weight over the past 3 weeks. I had been eating off-plan items between meals and in the evenings. Plus, there’d been less exercise as I’d spent more time sitting at the computer, with fewer gym/exercise class visits and less walking.

So this week, I’ve focused on these two areas, plus continuing to experiment with weekly meal planning.

Healthier snacking – eating larger portions of main meals, has helped reduce the snacking, particularly in the evenings. Plus, I’ve kept healthier snacks close by.

More exercise – I’ve done two gym visits, four exercise classes, the fortnightly health walk and additional walking to/from town plus an impromptu walk with a friend and a couple of trips to pick fruit and veg at the allotment.

Meal planning – this week I’ve learnt that creating the plan isn’t enough, you also have to look at it :lol: On Monday, I was working all day on a project at home, and didn’t think about dinner until my husband arrived home. By then, it was way too late to start cooking the planned meal, so we had some leftovers from the previous day. The meal plans have evolved, as other plans have changed or we discover, for example, that we have some extra courgettes from the allotment. I’ve reorganised my recipe folders, selected recipes for the week ahead and stored them with the week’s plan.

I’m sticking to simple breakfast and lunches, and doing more complex meals in the evenings, alternating newly prepared items with leftovers and dishes from the freezer. So far, weekly meal planning seems to help reduce decision making, increase batch cooking and facilitate a conversation with my husband about who’s cooking what and when. Most importantly, it's helping me stick to this WOE, enjoy more shared meals with my husband and have more time for other aspects of life :D

Best wishes, Sue
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Re: Keeping the weight off: riding the wave

Postby Suey51 » Sat Sep 01, 2018 9:16 am

This morning my weight was the same as last week, although it was higher yesterday.

The waters have been a little choppier and harder to navigate this week. Some very tasty meals that were generally compliant, but I suspect more highly seasoned than my simple meals. My weight fluctuated during the week, perhaps due to extra salt causing water retention as well as eating higher up the calorie density scale. I've been working on an exciting but tiring project and I've slipped back to eating some unhealthy foods and doing less exercise. The project goes live next week so planning to get back to 'normal' then. :-D

Weekly meal planning is working well and I'm just about keeping to my new organisational regime.

Best wishes, Sue x
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Re: Keeping the weight off: riding the wave

Postby victw » Sat Sep 01, 2018 10:39 am

Suey51 wrote:
Surely it’s no coincidence that I also tried out weekly meal planning for the first time this week :lol: Didn’t manage to plan the whole week in one go this first time, but it’s definitely been a helpful tool. For example, we have planned to cook evening meals based on what we have available like my husband’s courgette bake and a new tabbouleh recipe (without the oil) using up garden veggies. Then we eat up leftovers for a day or two and/or freeze them for another day. The meal planner also has entries like ‘freezer meal’ where we plan to get items out of the freezer in the morning to have in the evening, along with prepped veg or leftovers in the fridge. We tend to forget what’s in there, so this has been useful. It also gives us a quick meal when we have a busy day. I’ve made notes on it about batch cooking/preparation and any shopping that’s needed. Do you have any tips on using a meal planner?



Sue - I don't have tips except to say - that I'm trying to work out a similar system for myself. It sounds like you have something in place - can you share details? I've looked at some of the subscription based services where they send you a batch plan for the week. But it's actually a little more cooking than I would like. I'm fine with leftovers and don't need a new meal every evening.

Vic
11/1/19 Sloppy - 137.6/21.55
1/1/19 Still maintaining - 134.8/21.11
10/12/18 Maintenance wt - 136.4 BMI 21.36
5/6/18 151.8 lbs 23.8 - Normal. 4/8/18 154.6 lbs BMI 24.2 - Normal. 3/11/18 161 BMI 25.2 Overweight.
3 years staying on plan is the goal.
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Re: Keeping the weight off: riding the wave

Postby Suey51 » Sun Sep 02, 2018 2:12 am

Hi Vic,

Yes, happy to share what we're doing. My husband created a simple template in MS Word - I can send you that if you like. Each week I have a think about what ingredients we have on hand, whether we are eating in or out of the house, which days are good for batch cooking and which days we need quick meals etc. I have a look through my recipe folder, recipe books, online etc. if I'm struggling for ideas.

I get the recipes together for the week and keep them with the plan in a folder so its easy, then I just have to remember to look at it each day! I also make a shopping list of any items needed.

It's only been 3 weeks so its early days. So far each week has evolved a little as other plans change or we have more leftovers than we planned etc. We tend to go for similar simple options for breakfast and lunch with a bit more cookery at weekends and evenings....Looking across the 3 weeks, we've tended to cook 2-3 different dinner options each week and have them across 2-3 days, plus items we've previously made and frozen.

Here's the first week's plan - it was done in pencil to make it easy to change so hope you can read it in this image. If you'd like any of the recipes, or other week's plans, let me know and I'll dig them out for you. (Sunday, we didn't eat all those items for lunch and dinner, the two soups were batch cooking for the next few days as we had a lot of courgettes from the garden!)

Image

Hope that helps and would love to hear how you get on! I haven't looked at any subscription services - did you find one that was McDougall compliant?

PS From your recent post on the August Weigh-In thread it sounds like you've reached the weight maintenance stage, which is great news :D

Sue
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Re: Keeping the weight off: riding the wave

Postby Lyndzie » Sun Sep 02, 2018 4:07 pm

Hi Sue! We just started meal planning, too, as a way to keep on plan, maintain a budget and reduce food waste. I’ve only been thinking ahead three days, and lunch is always leftovers. For some reason planning for the whole week is too much for me! Tonight was pasta (with veggies and white beans). On the docket for the next few days is cookout stuff (pasta salad, potato salad, Jeff’s burgers) and butternut squash soup. That should last until Wednesday, and then re-evaluate.

Wishing you continued success!
Lindsey
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Re: Keeping the weight off: riding the wave

Postby Suey51 » Fri Sep 07, 2018 1:53 am

Hi Lindsey,

Thanks for dropping by! Great to hear you've started meal planning too. Your meals sound yummy! Yes, I often struggle with doing more than 3-4 days at one go as well. But overall, I'm finding it very helpful, so going to stick with it for now :)

What's on your meal plan for the next few days?

Wishing you continued success too!

Sue
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Re: Keeping the weight off: riding the wave

Postby Suey51 » Sun Sep 09, 2018 3:53 am

Weight today is up by 1 pound. Not a surprise given some salty/fatty snacks, overall higher caloric density of my meals and still not being back to my usual exercise routine. I'm a pound over my goal weight so it's time to re-focus on closer adherence to the program.

Wandering round a supermarket yesterday, I felt a strong pull towards off-program items, and had a look round the aisles that I don't normally visit. I concluded that none of the highly processed, factory-made items were worth going off-program for. Later on, I did make, eat and enjoy a home-cooked off-program meal. It was a very conscious decision and I'm hoping it's got that feeling out of my system :eek:

It's now been 6 months of weight maintenance, so an opportunity to reflect a little:

- Out of 27 weekly weigh-ins, I gained weight 12 times, lost weight 12 times and stayed the same the other 3 times.

- My weight has fluctuated within a 4 pound range (2 above and 2 below), which feels like a reasonable result. The fluctuations are less when I stay very compliant and more when I have salt or more processed foods - no surprises there then!

- In some ways this gets easier, the longer I do it. My taste buds have adjusted and I really enjoy my McDougall meals. I'm now braver about asking for oil-free options when we eat out and am enjoying meal planning. However, in recent weeks, with a busier life and feeling more tired, I have been drawn back into The Pleasure Trap. It's easy to let off-program items creep in, so I plan to continue keeping an eye on the scales and resisting the temptation to bring off-program items into the house.

- Certain foods don't agree with me so its really not worth having them. My tolerance for oil and white flour seems to have reduced and these items cause digestive troubles.

- I feel well, full of energy and am enjoying 'Getting A Life' :D

Best wishes, Sue x
Last edited by Suey51 on Tue Sep 18, 2018 1:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Keeping the weight off: riding the wave

Postby moonlight » Sun Sep 09, 2018 7:04 am

Congratulations, Sue, for your diligence. From reading posts here on your page, it seems like it would be easy to go off and gradually gain weight back. It must be a lifestyle change for life. Thank you for posting. You are an inspiration!
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Re: Keeping the weight off: riding the wave

Postby Lyndzie » Sun Sep 09, 2018 7:20 am

The next three dinners for us: tonight is lentil loaf with mashed potatoes, green beans and maybe mushroom gravy. Tomorrow is veggie stir fry (tofu for the kids). Then taco night, unless we go on a road trip. A replica of the Niña that Columbus sailed is traveling down river and is docked a couple hours from here, and I’m wanting to check it out before it sails on.

What is on your menu this week?
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Re: Keeping the weight off: riding the wave

Postby VegSeekingFit » Sun Sep 09, 2018 5:30 pm

Hi Sue,

I so appreciate all of your thoughtful posts. Your approach to maintenance is one I aspire to emulate. Love your diligence and organization and think they are key factors of success. Thank you so much for sharing your journey!! :D

Cheers,
Stephanie
"Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path.
Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back." - Martina Navratilova
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Re: Keeping the weight off: riding the wave

Postby Suey51 » Tue Sep 18, 2018 1:30 am

Thanks Moonlight for your kind words. Yes, it has felt a little tougher the past few weeks. I think it's mainly some 'turbulence' as Doug Lisle would call it; the presence of some off-program items in the house and a reduction in willpower in the evenings. After Idgie mentioned it elsewhere, I've started reading the Beck Diet Solution to see if I can pick up any extra tips for lifelong weight maintenance. As you say, its for life!

Thanks Stephanie for your kind words. It's been a bit tougher recently, so I really appreciate your feedback :)

Lindsey - your food sounds great! Which lentil loaf recipe do you use? Did you get to see the Nina replica? Last week we were away for a few days so I only made a couple of dishes - stir 'fry' tofu and veggies with courgette noodles (I follow the Regular McD Program and have tofu very occasionally) and baked summer vegetables, and had some courgette chowder from the freezer.

Sometimes it can feel like a lonely journey so its lovely to hear from you and to read the posts in the Weigh-In Threads.

This week, the scales are mostly holding steady at 1 pound over my goal weight (based on an average). There's been some up days after restaurant meals, more food late in the day or more salt/fat than usual. More turbulence is forecast, so I'm working on strategies to stick to the program during this period.

Best wishes, Sue x
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Re: Keeping the weight off: riding the wave

Postby moonlight » Tue Sep 18, 2018 4:37 pm

Hi Sue,
Hang in there! You know, the best part is that you keep paying attention and doing what it takes to maintain your weight loss. It does feel like such a lonely journey out in the real world. Not many places are vegan friendly where I live. However, the other night I was at a restaurant where I thought they had veggie burgers. The waitress said they stopped carrying them. She asked if I was vegan. When I told her yes, she got excited and said she used to work at a vegan restaurant. We decided on grilled mushrooms in place of the burger patty. She even asked if I wanted no oil or butter or how did I want it cooked. So, in time, maybe we will see more and more choices as the world catches up with the sagely McD crowd.

I just purchased the Beck book, too! I've only read the first couple of chapters but I think it's going to be an excellent book to teach life-long strategies. My favorite quote from the book so far, to use when you are working on resisting a food you don't want to want to eat: I'm glad I'm not eating that!

Keep it simple.
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Re: Keeping the weight off: riding the wave

Postby Suey51 » Wed Sep 19, 2018 2:26 am

Thanks moonlight! It really helps to have your support and encouragement :)

What a lovely story! I went to an Italian restaurant recently, where the manager understands how I eat, and had the most delicious veggie risotto made with brown rice. It was such a treat to feel 'normal' and to have a very tasty 'proper' dish, rather than having to go through the lengthy process of asking them to tailor one of the entrees or a couple of the side orders.

Love that quote :)
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