How many potatoes per day?

[Reni]

Is there a limit? Also, if I eat too many calories (even if they are MWL approved), won't I gain weight? I think I ate too many yesterday and feel bloated today. My calorie intake was about 1700.

Thanks for any advice.

[Faith in DC]

Remember the rule with MWL and the one folks tend to ignore is Eat until Satisfied, not full. I know I use to always over eat. Our concept on Satisfied isn't accurate I think, or mine sure wasn't. I eat until the stomach is no longer growling or I'm not showing any signs of hunger. I eat lots of mini meals. I eat until I'm not hungry any more. I could keep on if I wanted, but I don't eat until full. I leave myself with that feeling, I could eat more.

You are allowed to eat as many taters as it takes to reach that feeling. On MWL you balance the plate of starches and veggies depending upon how quick you want to lose. So I'm a bit surprised you consumed that many calories. Think of it
2 fruits is roughly 150 calories
a bunch of veggies is probably no more than300-350 especially if you aren't eating the starchy kind.
a cup of bean is 200

so that makes about 700 calories and I think I'm being generous. An average tater is 150 but lets round it to 200, that means you ate 5 decent sized taters, which surprised me. Taters stick with me especially with the veggies.

[Letha.]

I eat lots and lots of food. Till I just can’t eat any more. I probably have 2 or 3 medium potatoes mashed up for a typical dinner topped with gravy and served with an entire can of hominy and a green salad. To keep the calories down I try to follow Dr. McDougall’s advice and increase the ratio of green and yellow veggies. More salad, extra veggies in the soup/stew/chili that I pour over rice for lunch, & I often put zucchini in my breakfast oats. Plus I don’t eat bread/tortillas/pasta/nuts/dried fruit. I’m losing weight even though I’m pretty sedentary.
Letha

[Reni]

Yes, after having the problem of not getting enough calories, I find myself getting to many! I think it is because my period is starting and I'm usually ravenous the first day or so. (just found out) This also explains some of the bloating.

Faith, I had a 'duh' moment when reading your post! You are right -- I did eat until I was stuffed, well at least at dinnertime. Breakfast felt like barely enough and lunch was the same. I guess by the time dinner came around I wanted that 'full' feeling. Thanks for your advice again! I really appreciate the input.

I thought it would be a LOT easier to balance veggies/starches than it is. Maybe it will take awhile to find a good balance. Hopefully sooner than later since I need to be compliant to help my battles PCOS and Sarcoidosis!

Letha, can you taste the zucchini in your oats? Thanks for your thoughts, and you are right...need to keep upping those veggies. I found a post from Jeff outlining what a typical day would be in relation to what foods in serving amounts. I think this information will help, too.

Just in case anyone is curious...yesterday I ate about 4 potatoes in total. This is what I had for the day:
@ 450 calories -- Breakfast: Apple, 3/4 cup toasted oats with 1/2 cup rice milk
@ 650 calories -- Lunch: about 2 cups of Homemade soup (mostly potatoes, parsley, carrots, sweet onions, red/yellow/green peppers), 1/3 cup hummus with 3 rye crackers (no added fat in the ingredients, in fact two ingredients – rye flour and water)
@ 700 calories -- Dinner: Ok, I tried microwaved potato chips for the first time -- YUM! I'm either going to have to not eat them or be super careful as I ate a whole potato full of chips! Add a banana for a snack, about an 3 ounce rice/lentil patty (trying a new recipe), another potato served with 1 cup of that MWL cheese sauce, 1/2 cup sweet onions and 1 sliced jalapeno on top. Needed some more veggies so I steamed 1 cup broccoli florets, 1 cup cauliflower florets and 1/2 cup sliced portabella mushrooms.

[earnie]

How do you prepare your breakfast of oats and zucchini?

[Letha.]

Reni, With blueberries and brown sugar you can pretty much overlook the zucchini. Cinnamon also helps. I wouldn’t add zucchini to my oats if I wasn’t trying to lose weight.

Earnie, Here is a link to the recipe on my blog.

http://mwlfood.wordpress.com/2008/12/14/516/

[Reni]

Thanks for the link to your recipe, Letha. I may someday be brave enough to try it!

[earnie]

I plan to try it without the sugar and fruit. I love the taste of zucchini and yellow squash so will try a savory oatmeal rather than a sweet one.

Thanks.

[Letha.]

I plan to try it without the sugar and fruit. I love the taste of zucchini and yellow squash so will try a savory oatmeal rather than a sweet one.

Thanks.

Hey Earnie,
If you’re feeling adventurous, I’ve got another savory oats recipe here.
http://mwlfood.wordpress.com/2009/01/17 ... -cut-oats/


Letha

[Faith in DC]

You do need to bulk up on veggies. Lunch time you basically didn't have any, just the few to flavor the soup. Dinner time wasn't anything but the little bit of bro and cauli. and mushroom, and the two fruits which are allowed. I know I use the veggies to create a good portion of the fullness feeling.

Also remember the hummus and sauces are pretty concentrated foods and you don't feel as full from them as if you ate the actual ingredients. Keep experimenting - you'll get it. It takes a while to find the balance.

I found I do better (thinking and being physical) with lots of high nutients foods at lunch. My breakfast is half starch (oatmeal) and half fruit. Lunch is a large salad (like 7 packed cups of raw veggies), a few chickpeas, and my homemade vegetable soup that has all green and yellow veggies and some carrots and a whole grain cracker like Wasa. that combo will last me from noon until 7-8pm. This meal I usually do feel full. I do eat it slow. Then dinner which is late, I have half starch and half veggies. But it took lots of playing to figure it out.

Don't stress. Feed your body healthy.

[earnie]

Letha,

Thanks for the other savory oat recipe. You have encouraged me to experiment. One of my favorite vegetables and one I often like in the morning is Brussels sprouts steamed with just a touch of Braggs for seasoning. I think I will see how they go with oats.

[Letha.]

Letha,

Thanks for the other savory oat recipe. You have encouraged me to experiment. One of my favorite vegetables and one I often like in the morning is Brussels sprouts steamed with just a touch of Braggs for seasoning. I think I will see how they go with oats.

Most excellent experiment!
Letha

[Reni]

I found I do better (thinking and being physical) with lots of high nutients foods at lunch. My breakfast is half starch (oatmeal) and half fruit. Lunch is a large salad (like 7 packed cups of raw veggies), a few chickpeas, and my homemade vegetable soup that has all green and yellow veggies and some carrots and a whole grain cracker like Wasa. that combo will last me from noon until 7-8pm. This meal I usually do feel full. I do eat it slow. Then dinner which is late, I have half starch and half veggies. But it took lots of playing to figure it out.

Thanks again for awesome advice. I've been trying to follow your tips, however lunch is still a struggle for the veggies and I think adding a salad would help. Dinner is pretty downpat; I seem to get about 2-3 cups veggies. The hubby ate half of my broccoli & cauliflower baked dish tonight--it had the MWL 'cheese' on it.

I'm in awe that you have about 7 cups of raw veggies for lunch. I wish I could find a MWL ranch dip for the veggies, it would certainly help them go down better.

[Faith in DC]

You do have to have a dressing that you like. I'm glad that I love my vinegars.

speaking of, do you like balsamic vinegar? That reduced is suppose to be great.

[Autumn]

I always judge my potatoes by my plate. 1/4 of my plate is my potatoes, 1/2 of my plate is my veggies and another 1/4 is my fruit. This is my basic meals as long as I judge by just looking at my plate I do better and I also start with my veggies then go to my potato then my fruit. Since I love fruit that is my dessert for getting my veggies in I like veggies but I dont care for leafy greens so its hard for me to get those in without having to be creative.