Newbie in need of your response!

[michelizer]

Hi, I'm just starting the MWL program, and I need a few questions answered. Are there multiple diets designed by Dr. McDougall? Are different foods banned in different diets? I haven't purchased the book yet, poor college student, and I'm not sure if the MWL is specifically designed in the book. I just saw "Maximum Weight Loss" and loved every word in that sentence, so I wanted to give it a shot!

[Lisa-Anne]

Hi there,

I just wanted to greet you and let you know you are not alone out there. You are making a great choice while you are young enough to keep yourself out of health danger and long term consequences.

Good For You!

I wanted to let you know that I am also VERY new to this program but I went through the 10 day intensive Lifestyle class so I got a crash course for Newbie's. I will mention that there is a difference between the Maximum Weight Loss (MWL) and the Regular McDougall lifestyle change. What I have heard and witnessed from others is that the MWL is a quicker way to lose, yet you can still come to a healthy lifestyle with both programs. There is also a "Mary's Mini" I am hearing about. Which may be even more restrictive. I am sure others can fill you in on that more.

Depending on your needs and what you are willing to adapt to, you might want to compare them. I like the MWL group because for those of us who really need support...you got it here! I do think one could eat either plan and still be welcomed at MWL with open arms... at least receive encouragement to keep on a McDougall lifestyle. Here are just a few pointers I learned but there is a lot more.

While at your college campus, it is sometimes hard to find healthy food that is not prepackaged garbage. We learned a great deal at the 10 day program...so here's some tips on campus (unless you B.Y.O.B.B.) bring your own brown bag:) Which is what I would first and always recommend...bring your own food from home. It is the key to success.

I am ONLY talking about a Newbie person who is wide eyed not sure what to do in choosing foods, eating at the jungle maze at College Chowtime.

In time you will become an expert and will zip through this. So only temporarily follow this plan until you learn more.

If a certain day you couldn't BYOBB, than choose foods close to their original picked state especially if you are not sure what to do. Apples, carrots, banana's...pure vegetables, baked, steamed potato's without anything on them at first except maybe a little salt and non-salty spices. Even salsa is a good condiment but only sparingly. We were taught you can sprinkle just a little salt on your food (i.e. potato but not while cooking it).

Now expanding a little. Steamed/cooked rice is good. It is best to have unprocessed rice without salt in it but eating steamed or cooked rice is VERY healthy. Be very careful what you have with it ie. oily/sausy things. It is best to ask any cook to steam your vegetables, with no oil, dairy or animal products on anything.

If having Mexican or stir fried vegetables, ask them to cook on the back of the oil-less part of the grill. Also with beans, ask if they are oil-less, cooked without meat and if they are whole not re-fried. A lot of times the cook will have a pot of beans on the stove that has not been re-fried. Ask for that. Corn tortilla are usually best with lettuce, whole beans, and vegtable fixings. Watch out for oils in any of your tortilla's.
Remember you have to spell all this out because the cooks may not put cheese on your corn tortilla but add sour cream. What's up with that? ...I don't know. They don't get that sour cream is a dairy product?

Be sure and skip the dips unless they are salsa. Even these may be high in sodium. As a condiment, salsa is acceptable. It's too complicated to explain to a College food preparer the other options unless they are willing to listen, already trained in this way of thinking or allowed to deviate from what they are told to make.

For breakfast at the campus, Oatmeal is a great choice but then you can run into problems. Many times it is cooked in milk which is "liquid meat" so that is out! Besides all the other problems associated with dairy. If the oatmeal was made from scratch with water, that is a great beginning but be sure and ask. Sometimes they throw salt in the water yet that is far better than milk, if you are starving for something to eat. I loved putting banana's in my oatmeal at the McD 10 day program. I never tried it that way before. We were also allowed to sprinkle brown sugar and whole flax seeds on top. We learned whole was better than ground. We also used rice, almond or soy milk in our cereal or oatmeal. Please stay away from cereals unless you understand how to read ingrediants.

I still recommend you bring all your food and snacks with you otherwise you are setting yourself up to get discouraged.

See what the problem is when a person is new at the McDougall lifestyle and already trying to eat out? It is a bit overwhelming, so it is safe, encouraging and best to BYOBB!

This really is a learning curve so hang in there and in time the fog will lift and you'll find yourself on top of the mountain!

Remember: For the poor college student, that is NO problem.
There is ALOT of free information to read and also be sure and sign up for the free Newsletter. There is lots of support so be sure and ask away. Probably it is best to go to the section where everyone meets most often on this forum. That would be a good way to get lots more feedback.

Bye for now!

[TominTN]

There's a summary of the different plans here: http://mcdougall-friendly-recipes.pbworks.com/Summaries

I'd still recommend getting a copy of the one of the books if you're interested in following the lifestyle. It's helpful to have for reference when questions about details come up. Often you can find Dr. McDougall's books in second hand book stores at a lower price.

[f1jim]

You might be new but you have it down like a veteran. Your time at the 10 day was well spent. The 10-day program, as well as the other McDougall events, seems to cement the principles even more than reading.
You are to be commended for jumping in and helping so quickly. Sometimes, helping others is the best way to help ourselves.

michelizer
I agree it's wonderful you are choosing to embrace your health at an early age. I wish I had been that smart at your age as it would have saved me an awful lot of damage over the years. Do keep in mind that it's about your health and that the weight will take care of itself. Eating healthy means your body will settle in at the best spot for you. You will like what you see.
f1jim

[michelizer]

Thank you so much for the encouragement, it's nice to get it somewhere, my parents aren't huge fans of a vegan diet. I've been a vegetarian since I was 14, so I'm not suffering from total culture shock.

Lisa-Anne:
Wow, if you didn't mention you were new to this as well, you would have had me fooled, you sound like a pro! Some good and bad comes with living at home during my college years (okay, so mostly bad), I am able to always prepare my own meals. I've been avoiding salt, during cooking and consumption, and have used water to cook brown rice. It was so incredibly bland, I'm going to have to use vegetable broth next time. Vegetable broth is okay, right? Low sodium of course! I've been eating plain oatmeal in the morning with some blueberries and raspberries, some green lentils and rice mid-afternoon, and an enormous salad for dinner. Various fruits and vegetables throughout the day for some snacking. The transition from being vegetarian to being vegan wasn't as difficult as others were telling me. Something that REALLY helped me when switching from carnivore to herbavore was telling myself "It's just a craving, it will pass". Sounds simple and obvious, but it helped so much.

TominTN:
Thank you!!! Those lists were exactly what I wanted and needed! I agree that this is no substitution for the book itself, but it will help get me started until I have more of a disposable income during summer.

f1jim:
thanks for the kind words! I'm glad to hear things like that! These healthy eating habbits are definitely ones I plan on implementing throughout my life.

[Lisa-Anne]

Michelizer,

Since we are both Newbie's, I will share what I learned as I recall it or review my notes. I learned soooo much in the 10 day and I will give you tidbits as I go.

Yes, we were encouraged to cook with broth (better yet water) that is low sodium but I found something really neat the other day. I am sure everyone is going to think I fell off my chair during the 10 day class and hit my head but when I steamed a bunch of vege's above the water, I decided to save all the liquid from it instead of throwing it out. Then I put it in a stainless steel water bottle like thermos. It saved me time and "two birds with one stone" sort of speaking so I did not have to make a special time to create homemade broth. Of course that won't be for something I need a lot of flavor for as there is less in this. You can also store it in your ice cube trays, freeze and put in a zip lock for later. It will make a quick broth for cooking using the right amount of cubes for your cooking and of course if you want more flavor to your rice, spray a little Bragg's Amino's on it or a very low sodium soy sauce in a spray bottle. I also found something that was highly recommended by a health practioner at a health food store the other day. It is called "Fortisalt" mineral suppliment. It enhances the natural flavors better than salt to compensate for minerals lacking in many modern diets. It is supposed to have "Sea Minerals" that have passed the heavy metal saftey test and natural. Yet, don't be fooled by anything that says "Natural". We learned at the 10 day class, that word can be a misleading so anything we buy has to be carefully considered. ONLY read the ingredients and labels on the back of the product. Ignore the front!

Remember, these are ONLY condiments, not part of our full meal. In spray form they can go a long way with little. I can still hear "Dr. Jefferiah's or Jeffey (as we March McDougaller's fondly called him) in his elevated New York nasal accent to emphasize his point, "It's just to be used as a CAWN-DOE-MINT!" (condiment) When he referred to topings, salts, sprays, dips, brown sugar ect...NOT to use much but just a little on top or the side of our already prepared food. We were told DO NOT cook with salts because cooking removes the strength of the taste and one has to use more to make our food taste good. So after cooking then we can add salt and do so sparingly on top for flavor which works perfectly!

I will add a personal comment regarding a college student living at home. Though it appears tough emotionally, perhaps without meal support, that perspective may have another side to it. There are incredible benefits to living at home. You SAVE A LOT of money and could buy the expensive pans that are recommended for cooking without oil, books, DVD's, tapes, the great array of foods, and a whole bunch of other helps to make this lifestyle much easier. That is not all...there are so many benefits and lessons of personal maturity that one cannot always see at the moment when living as an adult student at home. I have witnessed the blessings of adult daughters living at home learning to honor her parents in spite of difficulties benefit them GREATLY when dealing with Managers, Employers at their future jobs. I have even seen them miss this lesson at home and ruin their company reputation because their "people skills" during adversity were not excercised at home. It is amazing, this hard lesson has to be learned anyway and it is ALOT easier to learn with family who will give you honest feedback and love you in spite of it! It's good practice.

Besides living at home is not permanent and would give you an awesome opportunity to build your new lifestyle with a hopechest of equipment that can be used now, instead of in the future. Also, who knows how much your influence could help extend your parents lives someday as they daily watch you work through the challenges of this lifestyle while observing the great changes in their daughter. Maybe not at first, but with your non-judgemental attitude, they will see your quiet change of health & weight lived out daily before them. This speaks volumes more than anything you could ever say to coax them into this new concept or even defend your choice. Seeing is believing and "living it out" is a voice heard. It is powerful! These challenges are nothing new or greater than what you are already experiencing. You are already surrounded with others not supporting your lifestyle daily at the college campus, or if you have roomates and any job you get. You are bombarded with it everywhere you turn. It is a good lesson on "how to" overcome these obsticles while living with people who love you the most.

Just a thought and coming from a mother who understands how important our adult daughters are to us. You may not know how much you mean to your mom, your family or how much they really miss you! Once college is over, you'll be gone forever with sporadic visits anyway and now is a great time to bless your "imperfect" parents (we all are by the way-and you will be too) with your kind, mature presence rewarding them by "giving back" honor for investing their lives raising you all these years. Let them also help financially support your goals to great health by saving you money. Then you can take your pots, pans, books, video and equipment that you saved during your college years at home along with your beautifully new healthy body, mature level of "Lifestyle" training (in the midst of those who differ) along with your diploma to your next destination!

Hope that helps and I will see you with the rest of the MWL group at the "May" section of this forum!

[MaryW]

Don't forget about the free program on the website:
http://www.drmcdougall.com/free.html

It has everything you need to get started plus menus and recipes. Check out the menu archives for recipes and the recipe section in the forum. Letha made a great list of all of the MWL recipes. And there is lots of information and support on the forums.

I do think you should get McDougall's books when you can. They are priceless for the motivation and support. If you can't afford them right now, see if your library has them. Check out used book stores or look for used copies online. I've gotten several of the cookbooks from www.paperbackswap.com.

Good luck!

[LauraA]

Hi there,

I just wanted to greet you and let you know you are not alone out there. You are making a great choice while you are young enough to keep yourself out of health danger and long term consequences.

Good For You!

I wanted to let you know that I am also VERY new to this program but I went through the 10 day intensive Lifestyle class so I got a crash course for Newbie's. I will mention that there is a difference between the Maximum Weight Loss (MWL) and the Regular McDougall lifestyle change. What I have heard and witnessed from others is that the MWL is a quicker way to lose, yet you can still come to a healthy lifestyle with both programs. There is also a "Mary's Mini" I am hearing about. Which may be even more restrictive. I am sure others can fill you in on that more.

Depending on your needs and what you are willing to adapt to, you might want to compare them. I like the MWL group because for those of us who really need support...you got it here! I do think one could eat either plan and still be welcomed at MWL with open arms... at least receive encouragement to keep on a McDougall lifestyle. Here are just a few pointers I learned but there is a lot more.

While at your college campus, it is sometimes hard to find healthy food that is not prepackaged garbage. We learned a great deal at the 10 day program...so here's some tips on campus (unless you B.Y.O.B.B.) bring your own brown bag:) Which is what I would first and always recommend...bring your own food from home. It is the key to success.

I am ONLY talking about a Newbie person who is wide eyed not sure what to do in choosing foods, eating at the jungle maze at College Chowtime.

In time you will become an expert and will zip through this. So only temporarily follow this plan until you learn more.

If a certain day you couldn't BYOBB, than choose foods close to their original picked state especially if you are not sure what to do. Apples, carrots, banana's...pure vegtables, baked, steamed potato's without anything on them at first except maybe a little salt and non-salty spices. Even salsa is a good condiment but only sparingly. We were taught you can sprinkle just a little salt on your food (i.e. potato but not while cooking it).

Now expanding a little. Steamed/cooked rice is good. It is best to have unprocessed rice without salt in it but eating steamed or cooked rice is VERY healthy. Be very careful what you have with it ie. oily/sausy things. It is best to ask any cook to steam your vegtables, with no oil, dairy or animal products on anything.

If having Mexican or stir fried vegetables, ask them to cook on the back of the oil-less part of the grill. Also with beans, ask if they are oil-less, cooked without meat and if they are whole not re-fried. A lot of times the cook will have a pot of beans on the stove that has not been re-fried. Ask for that. Corn tortilla are usually best with lettuce, whole beans, and vegtable fixings. Watch out for oils in any of your tortilla's.
Remember you have to spell all this out because the cooks may not put cheese on your corn tortilla but add sour cream. What's up with that? ...I don't know. They don't get that sour cream is a dairy product?

Be sure and skip the dips unless they are salsa. Even these may be high in sodium. As a condiment, salsa is acceptable. It's too complicated to explain to a College food preparer the other options unless they are willing to listen, already trained in this way of thinking or allowed to deviate from what they are told to make.

For breakfast at the campus, Oatmeal is a great choice but then you can run into problems. Many times it is cooked in milk which is "liquid meat" so that is out! Besides all the other problems associated with dairy. If the oatmeal was made from scratch with water, that is a great beginning but be sure and ask. Sometimes they throw salt in the water yet that is far better than milk, if you are starving for something to eat. I loved putting banana's in my oatmeal at the McD 10 day program. I never tried it that way before. We were also allowed to sprinkle brown sugar and whole flax seeds on top. We learned whole was better than ground. We also used rice, almond or soy milk in our cereal or oatmeal. Please stay away from cereals unless you understand how to read ingrediants.

I still recommend you bring all your food and snacks with you otherwise you are setting yourself up to get discouraged.

See what the problem is when a person is new at the McDougall lifestyle and already trying to eat out? It is a bit overwhelming, so it is safe, encouraging and best to BYOBB!

This really is a learning curve so hang in there and in time the fog lift and you'll find yourself on top of the mountain!

Remember: For the poor college student, that is NO problem.
There is ALOT of free information to read and also be sure and sign up for the free Newsletter. There is lots of support so be sure and ask away. Probably it is best to go to the section where everyone meets most often on this forum. That would be a good way to get lots more feedback.

Bye for now!

Hi Lisa- Anne - What a great reply! I would love to attend one of the programs some day! You mention whole flax seed being better than ground. Please tell me about that. I have always read/heard that flax seed needed to be ground or it would pass right through you whole. I'd love to hear about eating it whole. Thanks, LauraA

[Lisa-Anne]

Dear Laura A, (*I copied this from my response to you at the McDougall Marcher's forum-just to make sure others benefit also).

I am so sorry that I had not received this post until today. We are juggling a lot right now with two companies, trying to build a home, teaching, writing and traveling until recently.

Regarding flax seed, I thought it odd also. I used to grind up my seeds and sprinkle it in my food to give that extra kick of fiber I heard was so great... that was until I attended the 10 day class. I thought to myself, "Do you mean I spent money on a flax grinder (I don't drink coffee) for nothing?" At the McDougall program when we had breakfast, there was always a bowl of whole flax seeds to sprinkle on our hot oatmeal, fruit or whatever's. So I asked myself, "Why whole flax seeds verses ground especially after hearing the recent negatives on seeds and nuts?" Well, as "Jeffy" AKA Dr. Jefferiah's (we fondly called him) emphatically reminded us in his New York nasel accent, "IT'S ONLY A CONDIMENT!" He constantly warned us to only use foods like seeds or other unrefined high calorie-to-low portioned size foods as sprinkled condiments. Okay, what does that have to do with ground flax seeds verses whole? I perused my notes on that particular question. Alas I could not find the specific note but I do recall asking that very question and was given a green light for whole flax due to the way it processes through the body verses its change of property from ground up flax. I believe it is the grinding that is the problem not the flax seed itself-which we know is an excellent internal cleanser. I understood that grinding flax changes its structure which absorbs into higher calories when broken down verses sweeping through the colon like a broom in its whole state.

*I want to add that I understood flax in its whole state cleanses and moves debree like a broom sweeping the colon. You may want to confirm this.

This recall not being fresh off the press (excuse the flax pun) but from memory (today I forgot to take my memory pill), I will refer you to a higher source, in Mcdougall nutrition that is

For better clarification please ask Jeff Novick.

[ncyg46]

you can find many of the McDougall books for a good price on half.com from the various booksellers. That's where I got most of mine. But the free program and the newsletters give you all the recipes you ever need for right now!