Transitioning from Fuhrman to McDougall...questions!

[Baidarka]

Hi--I've talked with some of you yesterday about my intention to switch from Fuhrman's plan to this one. It's not really much different, except that he's way more strict, from what I can tell, and thinks it's important not to eat too many grains. I've noticed that this one has been difficult for me, although I've made wonderful healing changes on his plan. But for me, I just think rice and oatmeal and etc. are great, and one a day isn't enough for me. So I think maybe I'm in the right place now!

A couple of questions, though:

1. Looking at the McDougall plan here, I don't see much emphasis on portions. I have the metabolism of a snail, and I do lose weight, but slowly, and I'm reaching the conclusion that, even though I tend to eat pretty normal portions, maybe I need to cut back, especially since I have HORRIBLE arthritis and exercise is very difficult for me. Any thoughts on this?

2. Is it okay to have a glass of wine with dinner? I notice that McDougall limits fruits (and that's another difference from Fuhrman), and maybe wine would be in the same category?

3. What's the deal with soymilk? Is lowfat okay? I've read somewhere here that one is to leave soymilk alone. What's the deal?

Thanks for helping me transition.

Baidarka

[Chumly]

Have you read the McDougall Plan for Maximum Weight Loss? That would help you with the idea of portions. Basically, the slower your metobolism, the more non-starchy vegetables you eat and reduce the amount of starch you eat.
I don't think the plans are that much different and have found both to be helpful in determining a healthy way of eating I can stick with long-term. I am currently eating a Vegetable soup recipe I got from the Fuhrman website with a sweet potato and some lettuce. I recently purchased 2 videos from this website (McDougall made Easy and McDougall made Irresistable) that have helped me come up with some new tasty and simple recipes. I highly recommend them.
A big advantage I found with this website is the food tends to be much quicker and simpler to prepare than the Fuhrman recipes. I have found Fuhrman's concept of "toxic hunger" helpful to keep me from obsessing too much around food.

[Letha]

Hi Baidarka,
Alcohol is not allowed on the program. I was not a drinker so I didn’t pay attention to why that is.

There are no recommendations regarding how much whole grain foods you eat on the regular plan. If you’d like to lose weight more quickly, Dr. McDougall did outline a stricter version of the plan in a book for maximum weight loss. You’ll often see this abbreviated on this forum as MWL.

For the MWL program, instead of watching portions he advises that you eliminate flour products such as bread, pasta, and tortillas, and increase the ratio of green and yellow veggies that you eat. This should be easy for you coming from a Fuhrman plan. He also suggests that you limit rich vegan foods such as avocado, olives, soy foods, etc.

Even on the MWL plan you can eat unlimited amounts of potatoes, brown rice, millet, bulgur, oatmeal, or other whole grains. Some folks go back and forth, eating MWL during the week and then doing the regular plan on the weekends so they can have some McDougall pizza or McDougall burritos with the family on the weekend.

If you look at the list of acceptable packaged foods you’ll find a variety of soy milks in the milk alternative section. http://drmcdougall.com/packaged.html Low fat, light, or lite soy milks are the way to go. I use rice milk myself. Best wishes.
Letha

[Baidarka]

Ah ha! Thanks both. If this is the MWL program, then it sounds identical to the Fuhrman program, with the exception of the grains, which it seems to me could help a lot. That's what made me start hanging out here: for the first eight months, I would get up and have a smoothie made with blueberries, kale, flaxseed, 1/2 cup juice, maybe a banana....and I was hungry from then on! Now that I have a bowl of oatmeal with a few raisins or dates, I'm quite satisfied for hours. I like Dr. F.'s concept of "blended salads" for maximum nutrition (and I haven't had time to read all of the McDougall regime, only what''s here and "free" so far), but I find myself wanting heavier foods like rice and potatoes as the weather gets cold. Great to know I can have them!

Letha, I'm going to try to "PM" you......

Baidarka

[LauraA]

Hi Baidarka - We'd love to have you join us on the MWL challenge for Nov. thread. It's not really a challenge, just a group trying to stick with MWL and offer each other a little support. Take care, LauraA