How healthy is this day?

[Telephone349]

I eat around the lines of this...

In a typical day I'll have

- 4 Banana's (They're medium - http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/frui ... ces/1846/2)
- 1 Dr. McDougall's Split Pea Soup (Nutrition Information - http://rightfoods.com/scripts/display_p ... ct_id=6101)
- 1 Lentil All Natural Soup
Cal: 230
Fat: 1g
Sodium: 960
Carb: 42g
Fiber: 16g
Sugar: 2
Protein: 14g
Vitamin A: 32%
Vitamin C: 36%
Calcium: 30%
Iron: 44%
- 1 Split Pea All Natural Soup
Cal: 200
Fat: 10
Sodium: 840
Carb: 38g
Fiber: 14g
Sugar: 4
Protein: 14g
Vitamin A: 8%
Vitamin C: 12%
Calcium: 12%
Iron: 16%
- 1 tbsp of Olive Oil

For drinks, I'll occasionally drink Pomegranate Juice, but I mostly drink water. This dietary style here is only for weight loss purposes. Once I get to goal, I'm going to increase my juice and banana consumption... But that's about it. I also don't take any vitamins.

Oh, btw, I absolutely never exercise. I hate it... I'm 5'8 and 151lb too... I thought this was helpful too.

[MaryW]

Is that all you eat in a whole day? 4 bananas and 2 soup cups? That doesn't sound very healthy to me. It doesn't sound like ENOUGH, you know? I would be starving. Be sure to eat until you are satisfied. You should never be hungry on this program. And it is a program, not a "diet."

You don't mention any whole grains. A good way to get in some whole grain is to serve the soup cups over brown rice or quinoa. It makes for a heartier, more filling meal. Don't forget that the McDougall Plan is a STARCH based meal.

Where are the vegetables? Fresh, raw, steamed, stir-fried, whatever. The soup cups are fine, but you should have plenty of veggies on the side with them.

Dr. McD. only recommends 2 fruits per day for the maximum weight loss program (if that's the one you are trying to follow). But even if you choose to eat more servings of fruit per day, I would mix them up so you get more and different vitamins and minerals. Bananas are a good source of potassium, but potatoes are a BETTER source of potassium, plus they are high in vitamin C.

Here are some helpful tips on MWL from Letha:

Program outlined in the MWL book, page 60.

1. Eliminate All Animal Foods
2. Eliminate All Oils
3. Eliminate All High Fat Plant Foods: Nuts, Nut Butters, Seeds, Seed Butters, Avocados, Coconut, & Olives.
4. Eliminate All Flour Products
5. Eat Whole Grains and Potatoes
6. Eat Legumes
7. Make Green & Yellow Vegetables One-Half to One-Third of your meal
8. Eat Uncooked Foods
9. Restrict Fresh Fruit to No More Than Two Servings a Day, and Avoid Dried Fruit, Fruit Puree, and Fruit Juice
10. Use Simple Sugar Sparingly

-----------------------

Additional Tips from Letha. There are a million ways to eat on the McDougall plan just like there are a million ways to eat the Standard America Diet (SAD). This is a starch based plan so your meals should usually revolve around potatoes or whole grains (most often brown rice or oats for me). To this menu you can add a couple pieces of fruit, a cup of beans, and bunches of veggies, raw or cooked, fresh, frozen, canned, or dried. You can use some fat free rice/soy milk and you can season with herbs/spices, small amounts of sugar or salt, and small amounts of other fat free condiments like mustard, BBQ sauce, Tabasco, vegan Worchester sauce, etc.

So my favorite thing to eat is some kind of veggie/bean/lentil soup over brown rice. I also really like baked yams and I can eat them hot, warm, or cold. They make great snacks and there is no limit on snacking on this plan. I have a bunch of MWL recipes with photos and even a few sample menus on my food blog.

Letha

Also, if you are looking for a quick but healthy way to lose weight, you might want to try the "Mary's Mini" program. Here is a link to the guidelines:
http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2006nl/june/marys.htm

Good luck!

[Telephone349]

1) There are three soups, and they're not canned. Two of the soups (the one's I listed out in nutrition) are bigger than your average canned soup. The other one (the one I linked) is about as big.

2) This is all I eat, and I'm typically not that hungry throughout the day. I'm not overweight, and I don't have a big body frame. So I can be satisfied on three soups, 4 banana's, and a tbsp of oil. I remind you as well, I don't exercise, so I don't get that extra hunger. And I'm going to add a little more food once I get lose more weight.

3) I drink about 10 - 12 cups of water a day.

4) There's some barley and brown rice in my soups, so I do technically get whole grains. But I've never been big on them...

5) I'm not following Mcdougall's diet plan. I'm following my own... I only posted on this forum because all of the soups I eat are from Dr. Mcdougall. Strangely, two of the soups I eat, the one's that are bigger than canned soups, you can't find anywhere on the net. I found these soups in the grocery store and yet I can't find even a picture on the internet.

Thanks for your input

[xanthia]

I would get really bored with soup all day every day. If you aren't much into cooking or anything I think there are some McDougall oatmeal cups, mashed potato cups and such too. I would also mix up the fruit if you are going to eat that much of it for different vitamins.

Then again cooking a lot of whole grains, have quite a bit of beans/stews/casseroles and fresh veggies would be optimal and you can make big batches and then reheat when you want them.

[bunsofaluminum]

was to ask why you are trying to lose weight, if you are 5'8" and 151 lbs. You aren't overweight at all, unless you are a very fine-framed female, but even then...I am 5'8" and my goal weight is 150, medium frame.

So, are you doing this four banana, two soup cups per day in order to lose or maintain? and I agree with you: if you're not exercising, you probably don't need much calorie intake.

Whoever said "add some grains" was on the mark, but I don't see a problem with fruit and soup if it satisfies you, but do throw some grains in there, for energy.

blessings, heidiw

[Telephone349]

Umm, well... I weight 150 now. I want to get down to around 120lb... as I said, I'm not that bi framed. I'm a male too... And too correct you, I eat THREE soups a day, not two. Again, Three soups, Four Banana's, 1 tbsp of oil. That's what I eat. And I know there are other kinds of soups, but right now I'm eating a certain way to lose extra fat.

I know some people just want to be in the healthy range of weight, but I want to have absolutely no body fat.

[Chumly]

The soups you're eating contain a lot of sodium. If you can make your own soup or purchase soups that are much lower in sodium, it would be better for you and allow you to lose some water weight. Is there a particular reason you are trying to get to 120 lbs?

Michael

[bunsofaluminum]

telephone, I mentioned the frame size because 120 lbs and 5'8" is a reasonable lower end weight for a fine boned female, not because I missed your comment about your own frame size. You are a man with a medium frame, not a woman with a fine frame. That was my point. Sorry for miscommunicating.

To put it another way, I think 120 lbs is not a healthy weight for a man of your height and your bone size.

But your question was about whether your foods are basically healthy.

Four bananas and THREE large helpings of soup a day...and you don't exercise...add some grains, and I'd say it was reasonably healthy.

blessings, HeidiW

[bunsofaluminum]

yeah, I caught that, and I agree it is not healthy to have zero body fat. You die with zero body fat.

but he was asking if the food intake was healthy for someone with no exercise...

I wonder what your reasons are, telephone? why do you want zero body fat?

blessings, HeidiW

[Griffin]

I'm not following Mcdougall's diet plan. I'm following my own... I only posted on this forum because all of the soups I eat are from Dr. Mcdougall.

Actually, I think this was the most important part of any of your posts.

You are doing something very different from the rest of us and in my opinion, this website is really not the right thread for your questions.

[bunsofaluminum]

debbie, I think you're right. Like the dude who was asking about the ingredients in chewing gum!

telephone hasn't been back, either.

ugh. I haven't encountered many trolls in boards I've belonged to, so...