Marsha's MWL journal

[deweyswakms]

Good Saturday morning, overcast and humid but at least temps are down. Off for my walk before it heats up again.

Weight down a bit more this morning, so motivating to see the program work. I am still playing with Cronometer to enter my foods to track nutrition. It uses metric system weight, so I have to approximate what 1 medium sized yam = in terms of a metric serving size portion. Playing with entering foods to see how it changes the nutrients; still low on Vitamin A. Will try a lot more 'orange' foods there.

Have a great weekend everybody. Marsha

[JeffN]

I use cronometer all the time and it lets you input most foods in grams or ounces.

Cronometer is good for entering your info over a few days/weeks and seeing your average intakes which is what DRI and RDI’s are based on.

You also have to know how to set it up as several of the DRIs and RDIs are either to high (ie, calcium), or sometimes to low (ie, fiber). I have several threads covering these issues.

Once you have done that, and if you think you are low in a nutrient, then you need to find the approved foods that are the highest in that nutrient per calories, not grams. This is very important, especially to someone working on their weight, as nutrient density is calculated per calorie.

There are a few tools out there that do this for you. One is called NutritionData and has a nutrient search tool.

https://nutritiondata.self.com/tools/nutrient-search

The other is MyFoodData which has made the input easier. I did the search for selenium, per calories, here….

https://tools.myfooddata.com/nutrient-r ... /Common/No

As you will see, many everyday foods are high in selenium and it is very easy to hit the RDA. Understand, that there are serious concerns with some food being to high and in this case, Brazil Nuts for selenium, as they have SO much they ashley exceed the DRI?RDI and can be toxic. I have a few threads on this.

You want to set either of them to find the food highest in X nutrient, and lowest in calories, per 200 calorie serving (not that you need to eat 200 calories but it equals them out per calorie), then you pick from the approved foods, (preferably lower in calorie density and fat) that are higher (not always they highest) in the X nutrient that you like, per calories.

In Health
Jeff

[deweyswakms]

I use cronometer all the time and it lets you input most foods in grams or ounces. Cronometer is good for entering your info over a few days/weeks and seeing your average intakes which is what DRI and RDI’s are based on.


There are a few tools out there that do this for you. One is called NutritionData and has a nutrient search tool.
https://nutritiondata.self.com/tools/nutrient-search

The other is MyFoodData which has made the input easier. I did the search for selenium, per calories, here….
https://tools.myfooddata.com/nutrient-r ... /Common/No


In Health
Jeff

Thanks for the info; I will read it. I am enjoying looking at the food I eat, calories, nutrients, etc. It reminds me to be mindful about these things. And I already decided no to Brazil nuts. Just find more plants to eat with these particular nutrients, like adding more orange foods.

Marsha

[deweyswakms]

Sunday, 8/1/21

I am 1 pound away from my original goal weight I chose years ago; I would get within 2 lbs but then plateau and give up, and then eventually regain a few back. Not this time! Now I see how to play with the MWL guidelines to achieve more weight loss. More than that, I really like this way of eating. Gone are the cravings for salty, sweet, rich things.

I've doubled up on orange foods (carrots, yams, cantaloupe) to add more Vitamin A (surprised how much Vit C is in cantaloupe). Today I'll steam some collard greens, but I have plenty of other food prepped for a couple of days.

Today is my son's birthday brunch. Family will eat outside, but nothing on the menu tempts me (I'll have a plain green salad) because I can't wait to eat my delicious veggie chili over a small sweet potato with some collards. Surprisingly good and very filling.

Today I read Dr. McD's newsletter about Vitamin D and how normal vitamin D levels are too high. OMG this annoys me! I have my blood work tests back to 2014, so I reviewed all my D levels. ALL were at or below 30 ng/mL which my MD said was too low, so start supplements. And I live in the PNW with cloudy overcast weeks/months, little sun, and I don't necessarily seek out the sun anyway. Last 3-4 years, my D levels were high 30s and low 40s! I don't need that much. I have stopped supplements. I'll probably share Dr. McD's newsletter with my MD to explain why.

Thanks everybody for sharing your journals; they always inspire/motivate me.
Marsha

[deweyswakms]

Tuesday Aug 2, 2021
Yep, still at 175.2 which astounds me. I fought for this number for years! but not until I gave more attention to MWL guidelines 1 & 2 did the last couple of pounds just fall away. And, I am ready for 174.

Been using Cronometer to log food, looking for nutrients. Doing OK on all the targets except Vit A. Their setting is 12788 IU, which seems bizarre. So I changed my setting for Vit A to a daily target of 2333 IUs. Don't know if that is right; with that setting I am way over on Vit A! I do have some symptom of Vit A deficiency (itchy and dry skin, very dry eyes for which I use a liquid tear eyedrop).

Busy day today so breakfast was a lot of my oatmeal (ground flax seed, hemp hearts, watered down almond milk) with more saved for a snack. 2 slices of cantaloupe, a few cherries, chopped romaine lettuce, half a peach. Full!

Dinner will be half a sweet potato covered with yummy veggie chili.

Carry on everybody. Marsha

[JeffN]

\Been using Cronometer to log food, looking for nutrients. Doing OK on all the targets except Vit A. Their setting is 12788 IU, which seems bizarre. So I changed my setting for Vit A to a daily target of 2333 IUs. Don't know if that is right; with that setting I am way over on Vit A! I do have some symptom of Vit A deficiency (itchy and dry skin, very dry eyes for which I use a liquid tear eyedrop).

A plant based diet is adundant in Vitamin A, in the form of beta-carotene, which is the healthier form. It would be very difficult to be low in it.

However, the problem is, cronometer tracks like 74 nutrients, many foods report only a few nutrients, like 10, 15. 20, 35 etc, So, even though it may be in the food, it is not being reported, As you enter a food, you can see where it tells you how many nutrients in tracks. Also, if you highlight just one food in your intake, the program highlights the nutrients in that one food. Some foods are entered by users from a package (ie, frozen corn) and thet Food Label only lists like 14 or so.

So, before loading up on orange foods, I would check the analysis of each food as you will most likely see, that is the issue, not the beta-carotene content of your diet.

Jeff

[deweyswakms]

\

A plant based diet is adundant in Vitamin A, in the form of beta-carotene, which is the healthier form. It would be very difficult to be low in it. However, the problem is, cronometer tracks like 74 nutrients, many foods report only a few nutrients, like 10, 15. 20, 35 etc,
Jeff

Thanks Jeff, very helpful. I am enjoying tracking and looking at the nutrients in foods, not freaking out about the vit A thing.

Marsha

[deweyswakms]

Wednesday 8/4/21.

174.6 this morning, 175.2 yesterday, After years of fighting for every half a pound over weeks, lose 1 pound in 4 weeks etc., I'm rather speechless at how 'effortless' this is. Old people can lose weight too!

Food planning and prep day for me.

Marsha

[deweyswakms]

Friday Aug 6, 2021

I blew past my original goal of 175 and now at 174.6. And I want more! I am still amazed actually; I don't remember how many years ago I was at 174. For me, MWL #1 and #2 are the magic, and I will always eat this way now.

I also enjoy entering my food into the Cronometer tracking tool; I like seeing the nutritional aspects and where I might boost/lower them with different foods.

Today is bulk food shopping; I'm going to add couscous to the food routine to see if it adds missing selenium. I also have some whole wheat spaghetti that I will cook, to add to one of the fast food meals instead of potatoes. Also adding some chopped and steamed collard leaves; not my favorite taste but I want the nutrients.

Now I enjoy a simple salad of chopped romaine lettuce, a few cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber (love cucumber) WITH my 'beans & berries' meal. I may add a few pieces of the leopard skin melon I bought for fruit.

Keep working everybody, Marsha

[deweyswakms]

Sunday Aug 8, 2021

Today when logging in (have to log in twice now), got a message saying I had exceeded the # of logins and had to answer the Captcha questions. Why? Logging in mostly daily is too much? I'll stay off for a couple of days and see.

Scales this morning said 1 more pound lost. Flabbergasted, checked the scale, doesn't seem to be broken; we'll see if it is the same in a couple of days. I know my pants are very loose.

Logging what I eat into Cronometer; interesting to eat for nutrients. I am 'full' but still only about 33% of recommended #s for calcium and selenium. I will try more nuts & seeds (not much of them) to see if that helps. Also not sure I should be concerned about the calcium as last bone density scan a couple of years ago was normal.

Must say that I am enjoying the 50/50 plate formula, making the difference I think. I used to think I had to make a complex salad (buy a lot of ingredients, prep them, and mostly not eat all of them). Now I love a simple salad of chopped romaine lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes. Broccoli always a favorite. I cooked some whole wheat spaghetti noodles and added chopped collard greens to the water to cook them as well.

Have a great day, Marsha

[Health 1st]

Sunday Aug 8, 2021

Today when logging in (have to log in twice now), got a message saying I had exceeded the # of logins and had to answer the Captcha questions. Why? Logging in mostly daily is too much? I'll stay off for a couple of days and see.

Marsha,

I've had to log in twice for almost each time I log in + yesterday I had the exact same thing happen where it said I logged in too many times, but hadn't since Friday. So Friday to Monday doesn't seem excessive to me. Then I did the whole process with which foods Dr. M says are good + bad + I still couldn't log in. But today I only had to log in twice + got in. Hopefully the glitches are going away.

Congratulations on your weight loss + all your food prep--you are continuing to do wonderfully--yay!!!

[deweyswakms]

Wednesday 8/11/21

I am very close to 173#, so will pay strict attention to MWL guidelines now. Besides, I really like eating this way. My simple salad of romaine lettuce, cucumber and tomato is so refreshing and filling. Thinking of adding a few tasty herbs to it.

Using Cronometer is fun; I do like puzzles. Have learned a lot about how little food type we need to meet daily nutritional requirements. One slice of cantaloupe = about half the Vitamin C requirement (and all the Vit A!); plus raspberries and cherries = over 100%.

I am still low on Calcium (not eating dairy and certainly not fish), so am investigating what to eat to bump that up; maybe a fortified cereal?

Anyway, keep on everybody. This is doable. Marsha

[JeffN]

I am still low on Calcium (not eating dairy and certainly not fish), so am investigating what to eat to bump that up; maybe a fortified cereal?

As I discussed with you earlier, you have to know if the DRI/RDA is accurate and if it applies to us or not.

In regard to calcium, the RDA/DRI was raised due to the American diet being high in Animal Protein and Salt. Eat a healthy WFPB, Low SOS diet and your needs drop to around 450-600. Interestingly, that is probably want you are hitting.

I go over all of this here and in the links I provide in the thread...

https://www.drmcdougallforums.com/viewt ... 22&t=36604

You may want to review this document by the WHO/FAO that reviews all of this.

http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/Y2809E/y2809e0h.htm#bm17

If you look at figure 18, you will see the impact of sodium and animal protein on calcium balance.

Quoting from the chart (Intercept value means where "balance" is reached)

Note: In a western-style diet, absorbed calcium matches urinary and skin calcium at an intake of 840 mg as in Figure 14. Reducing animal protein intakes by 40 g reduces the intercept value and requirement to 600 mg. Reducing both sodium and protein reduces the intercept value to 450 mg.

This thread discusses absorption rates.

https://www.drmcdougallforums.com/viewt ... 7&#p555516

And this one lists the best sources

https://www.drmcdougallforums.com/viewt ... 57&#p62757

As you will see, dairy (or fish) are not a good source.

In Health
Jeff

[deweyswakms]

Sunday 8/15/21

Hot, humid, not good in the Pacific NW, so I got in my mile walk early. Looking at my MWL recommitment in 2019 and where I am now, I have lost over 20# in 2 years. Perspective. Lost .6 pound since last week. STARING at 173, and I want more.

This morning I wrote out the foods I planned to eat today and realized that, just as I plan out my day in terms of how I'll spend my time, I do plan out the foods I will eat. I rarely wait till I get hungry to think "now what will I eat?" That often leads to poor choices. And on those days when I just don't want to cook, I am so glad to have some frozen portions.

Today I bought a pint of mixed cherry tomatoes; soooo tasty, and pricey ($5 a pint) but good for 2-3 salads. Have to admit I do love my simple salads now; chopped romaine lettuce, celery, tomatoes, cucumbers.

Carry on everybody! Marsha

[deweyswakms]

Thanks for the calcium info Jeff. I have learned a lot using Cronometer, including how little of a food type we need to eat to hit (their) daily targets; and how easy it is to exceed those targets.

"As I discussed with you earlier, you have to know if the DRI/RDA is accurate and if it applies to us or not."

Based on my past 2 normal bone density scans, I'm pretty sure my calcium levels are good. Cronometer shows I am at 43% of 519.3 mg of calcium. Probably from beans, broccoli and greens.

Marsha