MWLing

[vegman]

I'm continuing MWL compliance I started June 10, 2019, which I made some posts about here: https://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=59781

I've been generally MWL-compliant since 2011, but my weight has been drifting upward due to overeating on compliant food, and eating things on the regular McDougall program but not the MWL program. Since June 10, I've been eating a lot of salads and/or soups at the beginning of meals, eating most of my fruit raw, and not eating anything off the MWL plan. I've also been doing more walking.

I've been weighing myself daily since June 11, in addition to the long-time Sunday weighing.

I don't have my weight for June 10, but on June 9, I was at 172.2, for a BMI of 25.61. Today: 165.1, BMI 24.56, for a loss of 7.1 lb in 27 days.

Morning walk: 2.7 miles, an entire walking path near my home. 84 degrees.

For my first meal today at 11 AM, I started with a good-size salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, zucchini, carrot, pepper, with no dressing. Then I had some soup I made with canned no-salt tomatoes, split peas, kale, onion, sweet potato and celery. Then oatmeal and raw blueberries. I could only finish 1 cup of the 1.5 cups of oatmeal. Very satisfying, not very many calories.

Afternoon walk: same as AM. 20 mins were shirtless for sun exposure; 10 in each direction on same path segment, to get different parts of skin. 91 degrees.

Dinner, 4 PM: similar salad but with cabbage instead of lettuce. Same soup. Potatoes and corn on the cob. The rest of the oatmeal. A plum, a small apple, and a few blueberries.

Per the Google Fit app on my phone, today: 12,802 steps, 5.37 mi, 126 "move minutes" (total minutes walked), 90 "heart points" (minutes briskly walked). This is more than my recent usual amount of walking, which is sometimes limited by foot pain, but today this was OK.

I plan to post further in this thread at irregular intervals.

[vegman]

This AM, down another .9 lb to 164.2, BMI 24.42, total loss in 28 days, 8.0 lb, or 2 lb/week.

Today's exercise and eating were similar to yesterday's. I hope to maintain the increased exercise on a regular basis, and possibly extend it further.

[dlee]

Good work vegman you seem to be on a roll! It seems like the routines you've established work for you. Always interesting to see what others do. Dlee

[vegman]

Good work vegman you seem to be on a roll! It seems like the routines you've established work for you. Always interesting to see what others do. Dlee

Thanks.

I'm continuing in the same vein.

[vegman]

Today’s food is pretty typical. I recently started using fresh vegetables instead of frozen in my soups, after the farmers market near me opened for the season.

Except for the starch, today’s foods were the same for lunch and dinner. As usual, I ate two meals.

Salad: romaine lettuce, tomato, carrot, orange and red peppers, summer squash, celery, cucumber.

Soup: lentils soaked overnight, no-salt canned tomatoes, fresh vegetables: kale, scallions, carrots, celery.

Starch: Lunch: quinoa. Dinner: leftover quinoa, corn on the cob, sweet potato

Fruit: half a large peach at each meal.

[vegman]

I do almost all my cooking with my Instant Pot and microwave, which I like because I just set the timers, everything is automatic, and I don’t have to turn anything off to avoid burning. Occasionally I will use the stovetop to cook brown rice pasta, and set an alarm on my phone.

My daily food usually consists of two identical meals:

- Often a salad (less often in the colder weather) with no dressing, with vegetables such as lettuce, beets, tomatoes, carrots, celery, cucumber, and zucchini.

- A soup I cook in my Instant Pot for 1.5 hours containing half a cup of legumes (chickpeas, lentils, black beans, navy beans, etc.) soaked overnight, 3 cups of water, a can or box of salt free crushed or chopped tomatoes, and about 2.5 pounds of frozen vegetables such as kale, carrots, onions, peppers, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and okra. Sometimes I will use chopped celery or other fresh vegetables; winter squash is good. If I didn’t soak the legumes, I will cook them with the water for 40 minutes, then add the other ingredients and cook for another hour.

- Potatoes and a smaller amount of sweet potatoes, microwaved in a covered Pyrex dish with water for 30 minutes, or sometimes whole grains such as quinoa, brown rice or buckwheat kasha.

- Sometimes corn on the cob along with the main starch.

- A piece of fruit such as an apple or pear, or frozen fruit such as blueberries, cherries or peaches microwaved for two or three minutes.

If I have no food prepared and want something quick, I will take a Pyrex dish and add half a cup of Wolff’s coarse buckwheat kasha, 2 cups of water, and some frozen vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, and onions. I will microwave this, covered, for 12 minutes.

For a snack other than leftover food from a meal, sometimes I will peel potatoes, cut them into wedges and microwave them dry. They are good plain, but I occasionally use Pomi strained tomatoes like ketchup. Other snacks include fresh or microwaved frozen fruit, and raw vegetables.

I never use salt, sugar or other condiments, and rarely use spices or herbs.

Except for the salad, there isn’t much prep time. Lately, instead of peeling the potatoes I cook in water, I’ve been microwaving them with the skins, and removing the skins with my hands after cooking. This is easier than peeling.

Such a variety of food at most meals feels complete and somewhat luxurious. Simpler meals are good too, sometimes.

[vegman]

Updated 11/14/2019:

After a 4.4 lb weight loss from 172.2 on June 9, the day before I re-started strict MWL, to 167.8 on June 14, weight loss has been fairly slow but reasonably steady, with ups and downs and plateaus. This morning I'm at 157.4, down 10.4 lb from June 14, exactly 5 months ago. This is much better than being UP 10.4 lb.

I've been keeping a spreadsheet of my weekly weight since 2011. It has not been this low for about 2 years.

Since I started MWL in 2011, my adherence level has varied, sometimes being total, sometimes not. 100% MWL compliance since June has made a big difference.