Starting and feeling desperate

[Ben]

Hi everyone

I am Ben, and I am going to start McDougalling tomorrow morning. I am a 34 yo male from Australia and I have read this forum every day (including when the old forum was running) for a couple of years now but in all that time I have McDougalled for about 3 days

Actually I just reread a post I posted last December saying I was beginning McDougalling and then I was 115 kgs (253 pounds) - now I am 134 kgs (295 pounds)!

The time has come where I have to get serious though. In the last month I have felt even more tired and lethargic than normal, and recent weight gain has made my knees feel a bit weaker than normal. I had some blood tests done last week and the doctor said that one of the liver readings was showing abnormal results. He didn't seem too fussed (and said it was probably due to having a fatty liver) but that has freaked me out. I am hypothyroid too by the way but medication has that under control.

Fatty food, especially icecream and chocolate, have got a grip on me, but I do know from previous experience that once I get used to McDougalling I will enjoy it just as much as I enjoy those. Years and years ago before I even knew about Dr McDougall I followed Susan Powter's eating advice which was very low fat vegetarian (I think her plan was basically based on Dr McDougall's) and I lost all my excess weight and kept it off for a few years, but I started adding fat back in and my weight crept up again.

Anyway, I have gone on too much I am going to start MWL tomorrow. Another reason for starting it now is that in 9 days time I am doing 6 days teaching prac in a Year 2 classroom and I know I am going to need energy to give my best - and I currently feel like I have zero energy.

I will probably post here daily for a while until I get the hang of McDougalling

Ben

[Burgess]

The time has come where I have to get serious though.

Others here will make excellent suggestions for following the McDougall Program (a healthy diet and frequent exercise). I want to make one suggestion: Go through your kitchen and throw out every bit of food that is not 100% compliant with the McDougall program regular diet. You might end up, as I did, with nearly bare shelves. (If you have questions about what is or isn't compliant, you can ask here.)

There are several reasons for taking this step. First, it is a test of your commitment. If you can't throw away a stick of butter (or whatever), because you are still thinking "But I might want it later," then perhaps you haven't fully committed.

Second, if bad food isn't there, you can't eat it.

Third, to replenish the bare shelves, you will need to shop for healthy food -- your first shopping trip on a long, sometimes puzzling road of learning about very low fat, low protein, high-fiber, "whole" plant foods. That is what I found to be true. I had never even considered a fruit such as kiwi (too exotic for me, I thought, as a USA Pacific northwesterner) until I began my particular subset of the McDougall diet.

Anyway, I have gone on too much

I am glad you took the trouble to write as much as you did. The information you provided is important for understanding your situation. I wish everyone had a profile everyone else could consult. In the future, in other topic-threads, you can reference your first post here, if appropriate.

I am going to start MWL tomorrow.

Consider starting with the McDougall regular program. Follow it for a few months. If you aren't losing fast enough (say a pound -- 2 kg?) per week, then consider switching to the much narrower MWL.

[Clary]

Hi everyone

Re: "Starting and feeling desperate"

Hi, Ben. Try this thought and see how it feels:

"Starting and feeling excited and joy-full." I am beginning something wonderful for myself, and I have a proven program to follow, and I have a place to go for help and support!

Welcome to "McDougalling". Keep coming back!

[Lin]

Hi Ben,
We're glad to have you here.

You've been given some good advice and I hope you'll take it.

I second the recommendation to do the regular McDougall Program first. It will make the transition much easier for you. Then if you feel the need to get more strict later, you can switch. That's what I did almost 5 yrs. ago when I started this. It's not easy to go from the SAD to McDougalling, especially to MWL at first.

I would also like to encourage you to get some regular exercise if you don't already. Something as simple as walking for exercise will make you feel strong and vibrant.

Best wishes on your McDougalling journey. You CAN do it!!

[hope101]

Hi, Ben, and welcome. There are a lot of people here who started out at a weight close to yours and have gone on to lose a tremendous amount of weight. It is possible to do.

Change can be overwhelming, but we're all here to help. I have wanted to lose weight for about ten years and took baby steps, but it took a health scare to transmit an ideal into something very, very sought after. But there are a few things that changed in my mindset first that I am convinced helped me make the transition to low fat vegan once I found McDougall. Perhaps they might help you:

1. Get very clear on why you want to change: what are the things you are suffering with that you want to banish? What are the things you can't do now that you wish you could do? Your reasons might differ completely from another's, but write them down and put them where you can look at them.

For example, I am a mother who would do just about anything for my children. Trying to educate my kids about health when I was overweight and not eating the best just killed me inside and, of course, sabotaged anything I might have had to contribute to them. So if you are going to be teaching health to youngsters, perhaps regaining your own sense of integrity and living what you preach might make you feel like you are doing a better job at your chosen profession. It will undoubtedly make you more more effective. This might not be your particular touchstone, of course, but it is an example a motivation that for me personally has helped at times more than the numbers at the doctor.

2. Plan for success: I like the saying that "if you fail to plan then you plan to fail". Burgess has some excellent suggestions for getting set up for success. Again, you can use your education background to set your goals and break them up into realistic and conquerable ministeps.

3. Count on failure: At some point almost every one of us has succumbed to temptation, not understood the plan, or been stranded where we hadn't been prepared. It's going to happen. The trick is to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and begin again. Don't waste time on guilt. Just figure out what the pitfall was and get one or several alternate ways of handling it next time.

4. Revisit point number 1 repeatedly. Beginner's mind is a valuable state, as you would know by watching your young people.

Well, that's it for my little pep talk. Just let us know if we can help in any way. And if you can't tell, I don't mind the length of your post. Like Burgess I find it helpful to know the detail.

[Autumn]

Welcome Ben

I would also recommend starting with regular mcdougall too. My starting weight the end of May was not far from where you are and I have lost 42 lbs with just regular mcdougalling. I havent yet tried the maximum weight loss.

[Ben]

Thanks everyone, very much, for your words of support.

After reading all your words, and also becoming more aware today of how I tend to operate, I have decided on a change of course. I am going to start with the regular program.

I actually ate chocolate today. It just felt almost impossible not to. And after feeling this I thought I am going to ease my way into the regular program, rather than making an instant switch. Even though I ate about 100 grams of fat today (I normally eat about 200 grams - I often think it is not a miracle I am not bigger than I already am!) I still feel like it was a success, because I have a direction that I'm heading in now.

Normally (I have done it a million times!) if I ate something off-plan I would (a) not report back here at all, and (b) give up all hope of McDougalling for now. But now I am just determined as I was yesterday, but my game plan has changed

Thanks again for all your advice. I do plan on starting exercising too. I might leave it a week or so because at the moment I feel exhausted, and I am in mid assignment period at uni so I need to spend a lot of time studying. I will post again tomorrow, but probably not in the MWL section (since I have decided against MWL for now )

Ben

[Steve]

Ben, greetings from North America. Amazing to me that we can communicate from around the globe.
I had a fatty liver when I was at 243 pounds. I felt terrible and lethargic. But here is the good news. When I started McDougalling I noticed feeling relief in about 4 days. At the time all I could figure to do was eat microwave potatoes. So I ate a ton of these. All I can say is that in about four days I noticed the lethargy left me. Boy that makes a huge difference. Now that I have some favorite recipes it is much easier.
Please take the liver enzyme problem seriously. The fatty liver can cause damage. Even though it has been many years with normal enzyme levels I think my liver is sensitive now and I have to be careful.
Dr. Esselstyne in one of his talks reported that fat cravings go away in 90 days. So if you can start the McDougall program tomorrow and hang in there for 90 days you can lose the fat cravings. My experience was that the first week was toughest and then it got easier as it went along. At first when I would smell something like steaks barbecuing I would get hungry feeling in my stomach and would salivate in anticipation. Probably at the 90 days I could smell this type of thing and not have the physical reaction at all. Now the smell might be pleasant, like smelling flowers, but does not make me hungry.
Anyway Ben, I can tell you that easing into McDougalling would not do well for me. Cold turkey is the way to go for someone like me. The bonus is that you might feel much better in only a few days. Take Burgess' advice and toss out the junk. (I did this in quitting cigarettes in 1982). By the way quitting cigarettes was a hundred times harder than quitting animal products and added fat. The cigarette cravings diminished but did not go away altogether for probably about 20 years. Oh by the way, if you have not gotten the Pleasure Trap DVD with Doug Lisle, I highly recommend it. (Available from this site for about $25 dollars) Doug explains the whole thing as far as why we do what we know is wrong and gives really practical advice.
Ben, according to Dr. Lisle it makes perfect sense for us to overeat, eat fatty foods etc. He just explains why this happens and gives us the answers to get out of the "Pleasure Trap". Since you know what you should be doing from reading the McDougall books, then the missing piece for your motivation might be the "Pleasure Trap."
If you already have the DVD, I suggest watching it again. I just did and it is very helpful as a refresher. Lisle also gives great advice for handling social pressure that comes with the change.
Good luck "down under"

[Nettie]

Hi everyone

The time has come where I have to get serious though. In the last month I have felt even more tired and lethargic than normal, and recent weight gain has made my knees feel a bit weaker than normal.
Fatty food, especially icecream and chocolate, have got a grip on me, but I do know from previous experience that once I get used to McDougalling I will enjoy it just as much as I enjoy those.
Ben

Press on, Ben! You can do it! As of today, I've lost 117 pounds in less than a year. You can read my story under the Testimonies and Success Stories forum. (See "Now down 60 pounds," "Now down 80 pounds," "Now down 100 pounds," etc.)

I am a 59-year-old female who weighed 282 pounds. I, too, was addicted to ice cream and other sweets, as well as fast food. I should have owned stock in McDonald's and Chick-fil-A, for all the money I spent there. Honestly, I don't even miss the "bad old days" in which I ate all the junk.

Now everything that goes in my mouth advances my health. I eat only healthy food, and lots of it. I'm never feeling deprived or hungry. I'm more fit and mentally sharp than I've been in years. My osteoporosis is no longer advancing. My knees and hips don't hurt any more. My chest pain is gone. I've reduced my thyroid medicine by almost half.

People, even strangers that I don't know but have been seen by before, come up to me to ask me how much weight I lost, how did I do it, etc. They ask, "Weight Watchers?" "No," I reply. I tell them I don't believe in counting, measuring and weighing because no one can live like that. When I tell them I'm vegetarian (vegan), they want to know where my proteins and calcium come from. I am very patient, and always give them a little nutritional lesson on protein/calcium needs and sources. They all have the idea that olive oil is a health food. And finally they usually reply "Well, I have to have some meat," as they waddle away.

I had some blood tests done last week and the doctor said that one of the liver readings was showing abnormal results. He didn't seem too fussed (and said it was probably due to having a fatty liver) but that has freaked me out. I am hypothyroid too by the way but medication has that under control.

Ben, for your health's sake, don't ignore the doctor's tests. A fatty liver is a diseased liver! I had that same diagnosis years ago. And, man, we need our liver! I know a 38-year-old, my son's best friend since 4th grade, who is on a liver transplant list because he didn't take care of his liver.

Don't wait another day, Ben! Plunge right in. Get the McDougall DVD's and the the DVD's from the Vegetarian Expo and watch them every day for encouragement. You can go to www.vegsource.com and spend all day reading articles; you can order the DVD's from past expos there.

Good health awaits you. I know it's hard to believe. Really, I think that holds many of us back. We've spent more of our life being overweight than in being slim, and a normal appearance seems elusive and out of the realm of possibility. But it can be achieved, as I've proven. I told my husband yesterday I can hardly believe this is me in the mirror. I keep going to the bigger sizes when shopping for clothes. I'm always surprised when I try something on and I need a smaller size. What joy!

Keep us posted on your progress, Ben. There are many people here who are cheering you on.

Nettie

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[Autumn]

I have a need for chocolate once in a while too, the one thing that saves me is Enjoy life chocolate chips. They are dairy and soy free. They aren't calorie free but I like them when I get a craving that I cant seem to get rid of.

For me this lifestyle became a lot easier three weeks into it. It just became normal. Another thing that helped was my motivation. Before now I would always diet for weight loss this time I dieted for health reasons because I was scared I wouldn't wake up one morning. The weight loss was just a fabulous bonus. I also spent a lot of time recreating my old favorite foods and it helped with an easier transition.

[Wendy]

Hi, Ben,

There are plenty of legal, chocolate desserts on the McDougall Program. I suggest you email Mary and ask her which one is her favorite. ([email protected])

You could even break it down into two categories, and ask her:

1. What McDougall chocolate dessert could I have every day or every other day?

2. What McDougall chocolate dessert could I have once a week?

Mary is a great source!

[fatfreevegan]

As of today, I've lost 117 pounds in less than a year. You can read my story under the Testimonies and Success Stories forum. (See "Now down 60 pounds," "Now down 80 pounds," "Now down 100 pounds," etc.)

When I tell [people] I'm vegetarian (vegan), they want to know where my proteins and calcium come from. I am very patient, and always give them a little nutritional lesson on protein/calcium needs and sources. They all have the idea that olive oil is a health food. And finally they usually reply "Well, I have to have some meat," as they waddle away.

First, congrats on your amazing progress! I will go read your story, as I need all the inspiration I can find right now.

Secondly, I can't tell you how many people simply do not believe me that you can get all the protein and calcium you need from plant foods, or that olive oil isn't a healthy food. And they always say they can't give up meat. So I can relate to that!