NOVEMBER 2019 Maintenance thread

Share your McDougall successes here in order to inspire others.

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NOVEMBER 2019 Maintenance thread

Postby Lyndzie » Fri Nov 01, 2019 8:40 pm

Welcome to the McDougall Maintenance support group! Let’s join together for support and camaraderie while we strive to maintain our successes.

Many of us have lost weight and/or reached other health goals. We’re ready for that next chapter, maintaining the gains we’ve accomplished.

This group will have Friday check ins, where everyone can touch base. Weigh-ins are optional, and will not be tracked. Please feel free to share your non-scale victories (NSV) as well.

In order to foster group participation, we do ask that only participants post, so please do join! You can join at any time simply by hitting the “post reply” button and saying something along the lines of “I’d like to join.” As they say, the more, the merrier.


Hi everyone!

The holidays are on the horizon. As a famous chef once pointed out, don’t let Halloween begin a 63 day streak of poor choices (this is paraphrasing, obviously). With all the different holidays, family gatherings and opportunities to make poor choices regarding food, a little extra planning is required to navigate those tempting times. Some people chose to have a “feast” meal or two, while others stick with what they’ve been doing (because if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!). Whatever your plan, visit here as well and we’ll support one another.

Our first check in for this month is today, Friday, November 1st. It’s totally fine if you posted in last month’s thread, because this was posted later in the day.

Best to you all,
Lindsey
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Re: NOVEMBER 2019 Maintenance thread

Postby Mark Cooper » Sun Nov 03, 2019 10:48 am

Hello all & happy November!

I had a really good week in terms of pain management - no flare-ups, pretty mild throughout. I think my weight has stabilized a couple of lbs below my "maintenance weight;" I'm still eating in accord with the 10-pt MWL checklist. It has finally become cold here in Princeton, so I have fully switched over from walking each morning to elliptical or exercise bike.

Best to all for an excellent week and month to come.
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Re: NOVEMBER 2019 Maintenance thread

Postby Lyndzie » Thu Nov 07, 2019 3:44 pm

I am so glad you are all here (non-posters as well!)!

Life has been so busy in my world, but I faithfully keep tabs on this thread.

Mark, you are so good at staying accountable and checking in. I so loved the family pics, it’s so nice to put a face with a name. Does your daughter have a favorite meal you make? Also, do you still enjoy the monster salads with the cold weather?

Erin posted about donairs not long ago, which is something I had never heard of, so thanks for expanding my culinary world. Also, how was France? I lived in Paris for a summer, and survived on olives, bread and cheese. Where did you go in the country? My favorite part is Aix-en-Provence.

Sue, it is so heartwarming to hear that your husband is eating this way with you. Especially since he’s having so much success!

I’ve admittedly made too many exceptions recently, but made a firm recommitment this past Sunday to remove all off-plan eating, and also omit added sweetners (sugar), white flour products and reduce salt. Surprisingly my weight doesn’t jump too terribly when I eat junk, and I reign things in pretty quickly if my pants feel tight. I had just bought new pants, too, so I can’t outgrow them now!

Stateside we have Thanksgiving coming up at the end of the month. Does anyone else have a national holiday this month?

Here is another dilemma I am personally dealing with this month. Usually Thanksgiving is just a one day feast, and my family manages to morph it into a weekend of celebrating with out-of-town visitors, but now we’re getting invited to two more Thanksgiving feasts. How on earth is a person suppose to navigate all of this madness, especially when most of the foods provided are just plain bad ideas? I love spending time with friends and family, but this is getting ridiculous!

Looking forward to hearing from you all.
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Re: NOVEMBER 2019 Maintenance thread

Postby Suey51 » Fri Nov 08, 2019 3:25 am

Hi,

Welcome home Erin! Sounds like you had a great trip round France. I agree about it being good to come home and get back to the basics after travelling.

Mark - so pleased you had a good week pain-management-wise. Your adherence to the MWL checklist is impressive :-)

Lindsey - great to hear from you. New pants - how exciting! And a great motivation to keep on-track weight-wise! I feel for you with the multiple Thanksgiving invitations. One strategy we've used is to decline a lunchtime feast invitation and to ask if we could join them after the meal for a cuppa (as we Brits call it!) so that we still get to spend some time together. We don't have any national holidays this month, although we're in Spain now and I think they had one on 1st November, Dia de Todos los Santos (All Saints Day).

Weight-wise I'm up about 0.7 pound over the past fortnight, but hanging in there a couple of ounces below my goal weight. My husband is down another half pound; a total of 8 pounds in 9 weeks since he started his new eating/no-alcohol challenge. We're away from home at the moment, so weighing on different scales and I'd love to say that's why my weight's up ;-) However, the likely reason is that I've eaten some more calorie-dense foods and had more salt than in previous weeks. I'm now 8 months into a no-alcohol challenge and that's my number 1 priority so I've recently given myself permission to have some higher calorie foods as a little treat. Also, I realised yesterday that: 1. We have more calorie-rich items in the Spanish ‘home’ environment and 2. The apartment has an open-plan living/kitchen area and with my laptop set up on the breakfast bar, I’m very close to those foods! Their song is much louder without a brick wall between us :lol:

I thought I had a case of McDougall’s revenge the past few days after eating some richer foods at a restaurant to celebrate a friend’s birthday the day before we travelled to Spain. However, I’m now wondering if it’s what I used to call ‘gastric flu’ as I have been feeling a little off colour generally. Digestive troubles were a big part of my motivation to change my diet and lifestyle and the recent minor upset has made me realise how lucky I am not to suffer anymore. The experience prompted me to watch this McDougall video - Intestines from the Beginning. I have his book 'The Digestive Tune Up' but hadn’t watched this before. It features the same lovely drawings by Howard Bartner as the book and is a great watch, but ideally not while prepping dinner! :lol:

Hope everyone has a great weekend, Sue x
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Re: NOVEMBER 2019 Maintenance thread

Postby Mark Cooper » Fri Nov 08, 2019 9:56 am

Lyndzie wrote:Mark, you are so good at staying accountable and checking in. I so loved the family pics, it’s so nice to put a face with a name. Does your daughter have a favorite meal you make? Also, do you still enjoy the monster salads with the cold weather?


Thank so much , Lindsey! My daughter's absolute favorite meal that I prepare is a sushi "burrito" with brown rice, avocado, carrot, cucumber and sometimes sweet potato. My daughter and wife love avocado - the sushi for myself is just brown rice, carrot and cucumber. I DO still love my giant salads - I've heard people say you crave what you eat habitually, and that has definitely become true in my case - my lunch is the same almost everyday (a big salad followed by SNAP stew) and it always tastes really great. :D

Have fun is Spain, Sue! I hope the "gastric flu" resolves expeditiously!

It was another good week for me - fairly moderate pain. I sometimes have to remind myself how fortunate I am, many people with CRPS in the lower limbs end up in wheelchairs or bedridden, so I am definitely fortunate despite never being "pain free." I'm sure the anti-inflammatory aspects of this WOE have played a role in moderating my condition. My BMI is holding steady now - still eating in accordance with the 10pt MWL checklist.

Best to all for a fulfilling and health-supporting week!
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Re: NOVEMBER 2019 Maintenance thread

Postby Ejeff » Fri Nov 08, 2019 2:50 pm

Have a great trip Sue and good advice about going right after the meal to still enjoy the gathering. Lindsey we travelled pretty much all around France, my daughter is living in Rouen so we headed west and a bit north then made our way down the west coast across the south and then back up the east side. Chamonix was one of my favourite towns in the Alps, but there were so many lovely and scenic places. Bordeaux is a nice city too. I feel like I really know France quite well lol. Down 0.6 pound this week. Mark, I completely agree you do crave what you eat regularly, I guess that’s why I am like you, I too really enjoy my large salad with brown rice for most lunches. I made a pot of veggie soup as I wanted to use up some things I had throw into the freezer right before we left. So having a nice healthy soup has been really nice. Ate out last night and it was a pretty oily meal. I still make poor choices when eating out so I need to get better at that. I could have chosen salad and brought my own dressing, but why don’t I do that? Ugh. I think in my mind I am eating out and paying for a meal so I want something I don’t have all the time at home. Stupid way to think. Instead I should be saying if I’m going to pay extra to put food into me, I might as well make it something my body can feel good with. We had a birthday celebration dinner at home this week (middle daughter turned 28) and we made tacos. I made the lentil, walnut and sundried tomatoe “meat” for the filling it sure is tasty. I also made a super simple nacho cheese sauce which I think I will start making every week. It’s just potatoes, carrots, nooch and spice. I am meeting friends again next week so I WILL make a better choice. To be honest I think the only way I will be successful with that is to decide on my order before I go. My sleep has not been good, but slowly getting better. I get about 5 hours and then can’t go back to sleep. I want to be getting 7 to 8 each night. Our temperatures are heading down to about -17C tomorrow and we are supposed to get lots of snow. Hope you all have a good week. :-D
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Re: NOVEMBER 2019 Maintenance thread

Postby Ejeff » Fri Nov 15, 2019 3:34 pm

Week was pretty good, but the scale climbed a bit more and I’m still up about 1 pound since the vacation. I did eat out twice this week and both times I decided what I would order before hand. Today I ordered a salad and brought my own dressing so that was a win. Meals have been simple this week, pasta and sweet potatoes. Tonight I think some fries will be good. This week more simple meals, I might make some scalloped potatoes. Have been missing outdoor pickleball play, but will play indoors this week. Finally got back to the swimming pool also and I could sure feel that in my arms. Hope everyone has a great week!
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Re: NOVEMBER 2019 Maintenance thread

Postby Mark Cooper » Sun Nov 17, 2019 7:26 am

I had an excellent week for pain management - very mild. Sadly, the last few days I have come down with a wicked cold (my wife and daughter had it last week), so I'm hoping that fades fast. BMI holding steady, still following the 10-pt MWL checklist.

Best to all for a rewarding and health-supporting week to come!
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Re: NOVEMBER 2019 Maintenance thread

Postby Ejeff » Fri Nov 22, 2019 8:49 am

Week was good and I thought my eating was decent, but scale went up 0.4. I ate lots of veggies I thought, boy when ya gain a couple pounds it sure is hard to get them off. I watched a Jane and Ann Esselstyn video about how to eat greens 6 times a day. It’s a nice video. I learned how to strip kale lol. I like how it reinforced you should eat the stems of all the greens too, like kale, cilantro and parsley. They also said if a recipe calls for one handful of parsley put in 3. Makes sense. I really haven’t made a point of consuming that many greens each day, but I think I could shoot for 4 times a day. I just need to buy more greens when shopping. Do any of you specifically try to eat x number of greens servings each day?

I am doing no walking or exercise for next 2 weeks as I’m trying to heal hip bursitis. So I guess I better adjust my intake this week a bit more or the scales gonna keep going in the wrong direction. Wishing you all a good week.

https://youtu.be/CuXHGdPyxJc
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Re: NOVEMBER 2019 Maintenance thread

Postby Mark Cooper » Fri Nov 22, 2019 11:06 am

Ejeff wrote:I am doing no walking or exercise for next 2 weeks as I’m trying to heal hip bursitis.

Wishing you a speedy and easy recovery!

I had a pretty good week, finally got over my cold on Thursday. My pain was amped up a bit while I was sick, but seems to have settled back down now. My BMI is holding steady and I'm still eating in compliance with the 10pt MWL checklist.

I tried a new recipe for white bean chili this week that turned out quite well - (here's a link to the original post-https://www.facebook.com/plantplottersparadise/photos/a.108227207179634/137853524217002/?type=3)

I doubled the amount of onion and bell pepper, and completely omitted the tahini/cashew butter and soymilk. I thought it tasted great.

Copy of recipe from Plant Plotters Paradise facebook post below.

Creamy White Bean Chilli
This is an absolute recipe to add to your rotation. Loved by omnivores too. It’s creamy, delicious and hearty.

What you will need:
2 cups of dry white beans, rinsed
5 cups of water or broth
A medium or large onion ( depends what you prefer)
1 cup of sweetcorn
1 chopped, red bell pepper
1-2 tbs miso paste ( or salt to taste after cooking)
*1-2 tbs of tahini or cashew butter ( to use after cooking)
*1/4 cup of soy milk or milk of choice ( to use once cooked)
*juice of half a lemon
Spice and herb mix
1tbs oregano
1 tsp paprika
1-2 to 1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp black pepper

What to do:
1- Put all the ingredients- except the miso paste or salt, tahini or cashew cream and plant milk- into the instant pot
2- Cook on high pressure for 30-45 minutes depending on the size and age of your beans
3- Once cooked, allow natural release, then open and stir in the miso paste, tahini and plant milk . If the sauce needs thickening, switch the sauté function in and stir til it get gets to your preferred consistency. Alternatively take the inner pot out using oven gloves and do this on the stove on low heat
4- Serve with a drizzle of lemon, garnish of oregano and eat on its own, with some bread or even some rice or a baked potato.
Enjoy

Notes
*This dish can absolutely be prepared on the stovetop, but will take some time depending on the size of your beans and their age. Be sure to soak overnight to help reduce time. Alternatively, you could use canned beans of course
*This dish should last 5-6 days refrigerated ( put in fridge once cooled to keep fresh for longer)
*It will also freeze
*You can replace the white beans with red kidney beans or any bean of your choice. Also you could make it into a curry by adding curry powder (1tsp). Be adventurous
*A drizzle of vinegar or hot sauce is also delicious when serving or and more tahini if you can handle it
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Re: NOVEMBER 2019 Maintenance thread

Postby Lyndzie » Fri Nov 22, 2019 12:01 pm

Hi everyone!

Mark, bummer to hear about the illness going around, but glad to hear you are feeling better! That chili recipe looks delicious, we’ll have to give it a try.

Erin, that’s a good question about eating greens. I shoot for one serving a day. Have you read Jeff’s thoughts on greens? Good luck with the bursitis, that sounds like a pain, literally.

I joined the accountability thread that Buns started in the Lounge to help with making better food choices through the holiday next week. To many treats had been sneaking in. We have four (4!!!) Thanksgiving celebrations to attend, starting this Saturday, plus a couple holiday related get togethers loaded with junk. I’m trying to come up with a plan, but am feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Side note, I’ve been reading The Secret Garden to my girls and have been doing the British accents. I think of Sue every time and how she’d surely cringe if she could hear me butcher proper speaking (much like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins). It’s a valiant attempt but definitely falls short!

Wishing everyone a lovely week!
Lindsey
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My pregnancy journal: Maybe a Baby 2017
www.lindseyhead.coach
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Re: NOVEMBER 2019 Maintenance thread

Postby debknott » Fri Nov 22, 2019 4:40 pm

"I’ve been reading The Secret Garden to my girls and have been doing the British accents. I think of Sue every time and how she’d surely cringe if she could hear me butcher proper speaking (much like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins). It’s a valiant attempt but definitely falls short!"

Lyndzie,

I'm sure your British accent sounds perfectly wonderful to your girls! :)
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Re: NOVEMBER 2019 Maintenance thread

Postby Suey51 » Fri Nov 29, 2019 3:04 am

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating this week!

Erin – thanks for mentioning the lentil, walnut and sundried tomato taco ‘meat’. I found a recipe online and made it for the first time last week. It was great! Hope the hip bursitis is improving. I don’t try to eat a set number of portions of leafy greens each day, however, I do have them for lunch and dinner if possible. If it’s true that you grow to love what you mostly eat, then that’s certainly the case with leafy greens for me and I miss them if I don’t have them for a day.

Mark – good to hear you’re over the cold and thanks for sharing the white bean chili recipe.

Lindsey – LOL. Your comment about English accents made me chuckle out loud, causing my husband, who was in another room, to ask what was going on! I’m sure you do a super job and I bet your girls love that special time with you. How’s it going wit the Thanksgiving celebrations? What strategies have you been using?

Weight is up 1 pound since my last weigh in here 3 weeks ago. I think it’s mostly down to some salty / fatty snacks that have crept in to my life in the early evenings. Otherwise my eating has been on plan. At lunchtime we’re having either a salad, with either hummus or chick pea salad or a veggie soup with potatoes and greens on cooler days. For dinner it’s been baked white and sweet potatoes or roast beetroots/carrots/swede/parsnips with green veggies and a spicy chick pea stew or bean chili. We’ve found some kale and savoy cabbage locally which makes a pleasant change from spinach which is more widely available in this part of Spain.


Best wishes, Sue x
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Re: NOVEMBER 2019 Maintenance thread

Postby Ejeff » Fri Nov 29, 2019 9:46 am

I agree Sue you crave things you eat often. It’s why I have a large salad nearly everyday and if a couple days go by without one I have to make one. Nice you found different greens to eat. Overall down 0.4 this week as I’m not doing much activity I’m quite sure I’m overeating. My strategy of preplanning what I will order when eating out is working well, much better than deciding once I’m there. I definitely would have had alcohol a couple times without decidIng not to order any ahead of time. Haven’t cooked too much this week, made hummus and a large batch of veggie burgers. I need to do a big produce run soon. I don’t really have a great plan for losing the couple pounds I gained so I will think about that some more. It’s likely I will need to cut out some nuts and avacado for at least a short period of time. Wishing you all a good week.
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Re: NOVEMBER 2019 Maintenance thread

Postby Mark Cooper » Fri Nov 29, 2019 10:23 am

Happy Thanksgiving to all who are celebrating!

My BMI is holding steady, still eating in compliance with the 10pt MWL checklist. My wife and daughter enjoyed Quorn faux turkey cutlets, stuffing and gravy for Thanksgiving dinner, I enjoyed my usual big salad followed by roasted Normandy vegetables and a Jersey White Sweet Potato with lentils. I had a very good week for pain management, mild the majority of the time.

Best to all for a lovely, successful, health-supporting week to come.
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