February 2019 McDougall Weigh In Thread

[JeffN]

Questions for you...

About the 10 point check list....
How do I make a salad from frozen?

I am not sure how the 10 point checklist for MWL leads to that question.

Please clarify.

If you are referring to the list of the 10 Healthiest Packaged Products, that is from my cooking class and is in regard to "packaged products." Fresh produce, of course, is included as part of MWL and recommended too. One of the guidelines listed in the links to the MWL guidelines is to start meals with a soup, salad and/or fruit.

Like tomatoes and spinach go watery and mushy.
Cold starches are no problem for me. However cold soups I don't like.
If I can choose from 0 to 2 fruits, I rather eat 0 fruit.

Or why you think food must be consumed frozen and/or cold.

That's not on the MWL guidelines.

In health
Jeff

[JeffN]

Hi Jeff N, I was reading your list recently reposted here....I realize pasta is not on MWL program but a general question I have is: WHAT IS WHOLE GRAIN PASTA?

First, whole grain pasta is allowed on the MWL program. That is covered here...

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=58681&p=591201&#p591201

and here

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=59258

My husband bought 'durham wheat pasta'....is that whole grain or just another misleading name for regular pasta (as it looks regular, just darker). Semolina is durham? Semolina is regular pasta? I want to buy him the healthiest kind but I just don't understand what kind that is.

You can see my response here...

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=59242&p=596632&#p596632

In Health
Jeff

[Jaap Amesz]

Hi Jeff,

"1) Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit."

-I can eat soup and starches in the morning and evening, hot in my house with cooking gear.
-I don't eat salads, since I cannot freeze them. I tend to have little fresh salad foods in my house, since I like to shop as little as possible. Like once every 3 weeks. I like to freeze and stay away from the supermarket, so I cannot fail.
-I rather eat 0 fruits as an easy way of thinking about fruit. I can choose 0 according to MWL.

During the day, when I am out of my house, I have no microwave. No problem, I just eat cold starches I made in the morning. When out of my house, how to comply with point 1? Since I hate cold soup, I rather eat 0 fruit as an easy principle, and I hate mushy watery salad from frozen.

[JeffN]

Hi Jeff,

"1) Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit."

-I can eat soup and starches in the morning and evening, hot in my house with cooking gear.
-I don't eat salads, since I cannot freeze them. I tend to have little fresh salad foods in my house, since I like to shop as little as possible. Like once every 3 weeks. I like to freeze and stay away from the supermarket, so I cannot fail.
-I rather eat 0 fruits as an easy way of thinking about fruit. I can choose 0 according to MWL.

During the day, when I am out of my house, I have no microwave. No problem, I just eat cold starches I made in the morning. When out of my house, how to comply with point 1? Since I hate cold soup, I rather eat 0 fruit as an easy principle, and I hate mushy watery salad from frozen.

The McDougall Program and the MWL program are a set of guidelines and principles (not rules) based on calorie density that can help anyone solve the problem of losing weight without restriction, going hungry, portion control etc. Everyone adopts the principles and guidelines to their own situation, lifestyle, needs and preferences.

Salads are not required.

If you were to follow my cooking template in the link where the Shopping List is, they contain no fruit, no salad and follow all the principles. You can use fresh, frozen, or canned food.

Each template produces a recipe that is 250-300 calories per pound, which is very low in calorie density and one can eat until comfortably full whenever hungry. By following the recommended batch cooking of each meal, it also provides you with lots of leftovers which can then be refrigerated and/or frozen and used for lunches or other meals either later that day or during the coming days, weeks or months.

In Health
Jeff

[Jaap Amesz]

@ Jeff

So by stating 'eating unlimited' is actually meant, as long as you follow these points*:

2) Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches.
3) Greatly reduce of eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.
4) Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).
5) Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).
6) Eliminate any added oil.
7) Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e. bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.
8 ) Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).
9) Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.

So it's like 'eating unlimited*' with an *. I focus my meals on these 8 points and then unlimited, is truly unlimited? Wow, sounds like a great deal!

Can I drink diet soda's, say under 5 calories per 100 millilitre?

[amandamechele]

Chris - Congratulations on your non-scale victory! Loose clothes are a signal that new clothes are in your future...LOL! And that’s super fun and motivating. We were feeling the same Valentine’s Day vibe there. I hope yours is great.

Alishana Nice job! I’m happy you are feeling good about it.

Landog - Great loss. For between meal snacks, I like baby potatoes too, and chopped raw veggies or fruit. Sometimes some homemade hummus to go with the veggies. That’s a great quote and so very true, especially once out of the pleasure trap phase of transitioning to eating this way consistently. It’s easier to say No, than to struggle to stop.

Anne - That made me laugh. A number of years ago my mom ended up with very pronounced carotenemia due to the amount of carrots she ate everyday. It took a couple of months for it to fade away. It was especially noticeable on the palms of her hands.

Rosey - Thanks for checking-in. No change may still be quite good in your case.

Linda - Though I replied already, I wanted to ask about your brussel sprouts because they sound delicious! How do they turn out? I tend to pan fry mine and wonder hoe they taste baked.

Michele - XO. I’m glad we are on the same team too. Now let’s win the game!

Jaap - I’m too slow responding this week to be very helpful. If you weighed yourself I’m happy to add you to this past tally, just let me know. You are working your way towards MWL eating, like most of us here so every loss counts! I’m glad so many of your questions are getting answered. I like the Mary McDougall’s 2017 presentation Planning Meals as a good Week 2 resource. Also, the May 2005 newsletter Making the Change to a Healthy Lifestyle in Your Life

ForestGoddess - I am sending you a big HUGE hug. I have been there! I named my online journal after exactly what you are going through. In my personal experience when I get to that frantic back and forth stage of daily give-backs it is time for a change of scenery. This is when I would go to a program if money and time permitted. Now I realize that is not a readily realistic suggestion, so the next best thing for me has been to create some time to hunker down for a week or so without ANY temptations. Go out and buy all the groceries, empty the pantry of non-MWL food choices, plan to stay in and avoid social situations. All of them. Ask family for this time, they can cook for themselves or eat with you. You are fighting to get out of the pleasure trap and you just need to “stay clean” long enough that the cravings for off plan foods become manageable. Here is a great interview with Doug Lisle, where he first talks about the finite length of time for these cravings.Weight Loss Wisdom from Dr. Doug Lisle. Definitely start a journal and don’t worry about how it looks! It is a great tracking tool. Sometimes my memory will fool me into thinking I’m doing better than I am, so being able to look back on what I have actually eaten is helpful for making an accurate assessment of compliance. Please do keep reading and lurking! Keep posting too, we are here for you. XO

Jaap - Hard no on the diet soda!

[Jaap Amesz]

Why no diet soda?

It has no fat, nor is an animal product. (the real culprit)
Little suger and salt on top of foods, are oké. (not the real culprit, the scapegoat of being bad in the western diet)
Since artifical sweetener has virtually no calories, isn't that not the real culprit as well?

For me a diet soda can cheer me up, makes my day much better, so I don't feel a loss. Yes this might be a pleasure trap. So what? if isn't the real culprit?

Though I have managed to train myself off diet sodas for months and I do like tea and just water as well. It can be done. But if I don't have to, I won't.

[Lyndzie]

Why no diet soda?

It has no fat, nor is an animal product. (the real culprit)
Little suger and salt on top of foods, are oké. (not the real culprit, the scapegoat of being bad in the western diet)
Since artifical sweetener has virtually no calories, isn't that not the real culprit as well?

For me a diet soda can cheer me up, makes my day much better, so I don't feel a loss. Yes this might be a pleasure trap. So what? if isn't the real culprit?

Though I have managed to train myself off diet sodas for months and I do like tea and just water as well. It can be done. But if I don't have to, I won't.

Dr. McDougall recommends a diet centered on starches with the addition of fruits and vegetables. A good way to figure out if you should eat something is to ask yourself what plant it grows on. Tea and coffee are allowed, but sodas and artificial sweeteners are not.

Diet soda is chemicals. Calories are not the only part of food that matters. This is about nourishing your body and achieving health. There is nothing in diet soda that will help you with that, and may in fact hinder your success.

[Jaap Amesz]

Thx.

So following the 50 percent starch 50 percent veggies principle, what kind of combination works well with oatmeal? Seems strange to add veggies to oatmeal.

[JeffN]

Thx.

So following the 50 percent starch 50 percent veggies principle, what kind of combination works well with oatmeal? Seems strange to add veggies to oatmeal.

The 50/50 is actually, up to 50% non-starchy vegetables and/or fruit and at least 50% starches.

Any fruit, fresh, frozen or canned (no sugar added), as long as it is not dried fruit

The Principles of Calorie Density
4) Dilution is the Solution (the 50/50 guideline) - Dilute Out High Calorie Dense Foods/Meals - Dilute the calorie density of your meals by filling 1/2 your plate (by visual volume) with intact whole grains, starchy vegetables and/or legumes and the other half with non-starchy vegetables and/or fruit.

In health
Jeff

[Jaap Amesz]

@ Jeff

It keeps getting better! So I can choose to eat 100 percent starch as well!
Though I have to keep in mind, that less dilution means less weight loss.
Sometimes you want less dilution, say you need energy for a sports event.
Or in my case, with my weight and height filled in the crosstrainer computer, I just crunch the 2000 calorie barrier in an hour. If I don't carb up, my swet smells like ammonia. I'd like to throw in a 1000 calories of pure starch half an hour before to prevent that.

Late at night, watching TV in bed, I'd like to add more veggies then starch. Sometimes I just eat veggies only with a pinch of tomato sauce, which I cannot do any more, since the max is 50 percent non starch. That's a pity.

[amandamechele]

Why no diet soda?

It has no fat, nor is an animal product. (the real culprit)
Little suger and salt on top of foods, are oké. (not the real culprit, the scapegoat of being bad in the western diet)
Since artifical sweetener has virtually no calories, isn't that not the real culprit as well?

For me a diet soda can cheer me up, makes my day much better, so I don't feel a loss. Yes this might be a pleasure trap. So what? if isn't the real culprit?

Though I have managed to train myself off diet sodas for months and I do like tea and just water as well. It can be done. But if I don't have to, I won't.

My apologies if I sounded flippant, you have a legitimate question. It made me smile because diet soda was one of my last hold outs too. I really enjoyed it and couldn’t imagine life without it; additionally I rationalized that it wouldn’t affect my weight so maybe it would be okay.

Lindsey is absolutely correct on the reasons to avoid it, it is truly not a natural or healthy choice and that is the focus of this program. By continuing to drink it, you will also continue to tease yourself with it’s unnatural sweetness which will make it more difficult for your palette to adjust to the taste of natural levels of sweet in foods. This could keep you craving sweet and could work against your satisfaction eating this way. So even though it isn’t necessarily the culprit in keeping your weight on directly, it’s indirect effects will keep you from being able to acclimatize fully to satisfactorially eating this way and thus you will struggle more and potentially not stay the course. It increases the probability of sub standard results and thus reccomendations are the avoid it. What you actually do is up to you and if you need to see if there is a difference, do an experiment and take it out of your diet for 1 month and see how that feels. Then reassess whether you wish to add it back in.

Here’s an anecdote (not to be mistaken for anything other than personal experience): I had the added benefit of once I gave up diet soda my IBS cleared up almost overnight. It was something I had struggled with for years - always needing to ensure a bathroom was nearby. Yet through all my attempts at weight loss I had never given up the “pop” (that’s the name we use for soda here in Canada). Clearly there was an ingredient in there that disagreed with me. (My specialist had told me at the time that a diagnosis of IBS was just a way of saying we can find nothing wrong with you but the symptoms you are experiencing are not in the normal range - it seems I was doing it to myself all along)(IBS is different from IBD).

[JeffN]

It keeps getting better! So I can choose to eat 100 percent starch as well!

You can choose to do whatever you want but we do not recommend 100% starch.

The McDougall Diet and The MWL include fruits and vegetables.

The regular program is about 70% starch, 20% vegetables and 10% fruit.

The MWL is about 50/50 with no less then 50% starch,

We recommend including starch as the center of every meal.

These programs are based on over 40 years of experience, research, science and success. Everyone is always trying to figure out a way to beat the system or outsmart it. In the end, most come back and realize, just stick to the basics. They are time-tested and work

Active people trying to lose lots of excess weight dont need to carb/starch up for activities. Nor do we recommend excessive and extreme activities. We recommend 30-60 minutes a day of moderate activity. There is a full discussion on this in my forum.

Though I have to keep in mind, that less dilution means less weight loss.

Correct. For weight loss, up to 50% of your plate should be non-starchy vegetables and/or fruit and we recommend starting with a soup, salad and/or fruit.

Take some time and read through the website, this forum, my forum and especially the FAQ

In Health
Jeff

[Jaap Amesz]

@Jeff

"Everyone is always trying to figure out a way to beat the system or outsmart it"

I don't see it that way. My aim is to customize to my life, that can't be wrong right?

"Nor do we recommend excessive and extreme activities. We recommend 30-60 minutes a day of moderate activity."

15 years ago, I was on a treadmill in the gym, being forced to watch a moldy wall. The cardio was horribly boring, going for 2 hours straight would have been torture. I mean that. But times have changed. Now we have these cool cardio machines with internet where you can watch a Netflix movie on. I often watch a movie for fun, yes you read it correctly, I have fun in cardio this way. Maybe a toilet break, water refill half way and a dry shirt, but I most often finish the movie, this can be up to 2 hours or so. I feel it helps me through, it distracts me and when the movie is finished, I am soaked with swet, even my socks. It feels like an easy, free, effortless work out. It's an easy 3000 calories gone. It isn't even about the calories. It's about making sports fun and entertaining.

Can this be called excessive and extreme? I totally don't experience it that way.

[Linda Dorrill]

Regarding the Brussel's Sprouts...YUM!!! I like them baked--but really they are roasted, I guess. Need a chef to clarify the terminology! LOL To pan stir-fry (without oil of course) does not appeal. They would probably be overcooked if I did it that way. And I'm not fond of mushy brussel's sprouts. They are a great snack. I fix 2lbs at a time and eat them pretty quickly. (I'm lucky if they last 2-3 days.) The one thing I can't find is salt-free mustard--unless I make it myself. Currently, I'm using one that has jalapeno in it. Boy does it appeal to my TX taste buds!

Y'all have a great day!
Linda