Now down 140 pounds!

[Caroveggie]

Just want to add my congrats and thanks for all your inspirational posts. It's not just the progress you've made, which is wonderful in itself, but you've shared your spirit with us, and what a strong, beautiful one it is

[Mrs. Doodlepunk]

What do you do for ice cream?

<Homer Simpson voice> Frozen cherries.... mmmmmmmm.... </Homer Simpson voice>

What do you do with the cherries, Homer? Are they blended up or do you just eat them? I think if I tried to chew frozen cherries it would really bother my teeth.

Here is what I made last night:

two frozen bananas
1 heaping spoonful cocoa powder
about 1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups spinach (I buy in bags and just put in the freezer)
water to blend in Vitamix

This was a nasty looking color, sort of green brown, but tasted really good. It took care of my ice cream craving

[TominTN]

What do you do for ice cream?

<Homer Simpson voice> Frozen cherries.... mmmmmmmm.... </Homer Simpson voice>

What do you do with the cherries, Homer? Are they blended up or do you just eat them? I think if I tried to chew frozen cherries it would really bother my teeth.

I open a 1 lb bag of frozen cherries in the morning and put half of them on my steel cut oats for breakfast. That all gets microwaved for a minute to soften up the cherries.

The other half pound goes in a plastic tub in my lunch bag and goes with me to work. By midmorning when I'm ready for a snack, the cherries are melty but still cool.

Blended would be good too, I bet.

[catalina1]

nettie , congrads on your impressive weight loss ! one question - i see what u eat but can u give us a sample of what u eat for breakfast , lunch , and dinner ? also , do u snack in between meals ? what do u have as snacks ? if u dont snack , do u have suggestions for snacking for those of us that still snack ?

[Nettie]

nettie , congrads on your impressive weight loss ! one question - i see what u eat but can u give us a sample of what u eat for breakfast , lunch , and dinner ? also , do u snack in between meals ? what do u have as snacks ? if u dont snack , do u have suggestions for snacking for those of us that still snack ?

Catalina, here's what I usually send to those who ask:

Here's my typical week:
Monday through Thursday
Breakfast is 2 fruits - (This is because I can't eat breakfast at home because I take a pill that I have to wait an hour after taking it before I can eat anything. So I eat the fruit once I get to work.)

Lunch is huge baked potato and a huge salad with Kraft ff dressing.

Dinner is varied. Always some kind of greens (I adore turnip greens) and/or cabbage, steamed broccoli, etc.; beans (either right out of the can or more often fixed as a soup/stew that I made the weekend before), maybe a sweet potato or a white potato. It's my largest meal of the day, and I make sure I'm not hungry afterwards. Or I may eat some leftover stir fry. Or perhaps 4-5 ears of freshly cooked corn! Whatever!

Snack is always a big fruit - half a cantaloupe, or half a small watermelon, or big bunch of grapes, an apple, or whatever is on hand. I've got no problem with snacking - I just make sure it's a healthy snack. No refined carbohydrates like crackers or chips, even so-called "healthy" ones. I stick with real food.

On Friday through Sunday
Breakfast is 2 servings of oatmeal with 2 fruits cut up (banana and whatever berry is on sale [strawberries, blackberries, etc.], plus a tablespoon of ground flax seed and a dash of cinnamon.

Lunch is usually some bean recipe I make from the McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook. I usually make 2 recipes from the book or the website every weekend so I have something to eat at night during the week. Plus greens of some kind. Salads. Maybe a potato.

Dinner is similar to lunch. Stir fry (2 1# bags of Birdseye frozen veggies, plus a huge bunch of chopped fresh bok choy, plus a couple of cups of brown rice). Potatoes, whatever it takes to keep from getting hungry.

I pretty much eat all day, actually. One meal sort of morphs into the next one.

Fruit for dessert as we're watching TV. And usually 1 oz. of walnuts. No more than that, because I can get compulsive with them. I sometimes make some popcorn (no oil, little salt).

Other than oatmeal, I avoid most cereals. (Kashi cereal with ff soy milk is an occasional treat.) I can overeat on those, and they definitely slow down (and sometimes reverse) my weight loss. Absolutely NO WHITE RICE! Brown rice is fine. I rarely eat pasta, and when I do it's always whole wheat.

Hope this is helpful. I use the McDougall Quick & Easy cookbook for a lot of my recipes.

Nettie

[rogermoore]

Congratulations Nettie! I too lost over 100 pounds and I have kept it off for about 14 years. I know that you can maintain your healthy weight. I applaud you.

[catalina1]

nettie , thanks for your response - after going to mcdougalls feb 2008 costa rica trip , all the people who were either slim or lost alot of weight said they pretty much ate like you. i guess the reason i ask about this topic alot is because im not at your level of nutritional exellence yet. maybe if i can convince myself that no matter how hungry i am , i should eat fruits and/or fresh veges for snacks and hopefully reach your level. thanks again

[Sher]

Nettie, you are a real inspiration!

Sher

[Nettie]

Congratulations Nettie! I too lost over 100 pounds and I have kept it off for about 14 years. I know that you can maintain your healthy weight. I applaud you.

Thank you for your encouragement. Having lost over 100 pounds several times in my life, only to gain it all back, I'm encouraged when I learn of someone who lost that much and kept it off for 14 years. That's my goal - lifelong freedom from obesity and illness.

As a compulsive eater, I know I'm really only one bite away from 300 pounds again, so I have to be super vigilant about myself and what I eat. Occasional forays off the McDougall Reservation are not for me because the "treat" soon becomes standard fare and before I know it, I'm back binging on sweets and fats.

Congraulations, Rogermoore, for keeping the weight off. That, to me, is the real accomplishment!

Nettie

[Karen in FL]

Congratulations, Nettie! May I ask what you prefer to top (flavor) your lunch time baked potato?


Karen

[Nettie]

Congratulations, Nettie! May I ask what you prefer to top (flavor) your lunch time baked potato? Karen

I eat mine plain. Sometimes I walk around with a potato in my hand, taking a bite every once in a while. When at home, I put pepper on it, but that's usually it. Occasionally, I will put some kind of bean soup/chili recipe over it - something I have leftover in the fridge.

When I first started McDougall, a plain potato was too - well - plain! So I used to put salsa on it. But I no longer feel like I have to do that; my taste buds have been trained to just love the taste of the potato itself.

Nettie

[healthyME]

Which Kraft FF dressings are your favorites?

I always like to hear of good salad dressings.

Sheila

[Nettie]

Which Kraft FF dressings are your favorites?
I always like to hear of good salad dressings. Sheila

I think the only one that does not list soybean oil as an ingredient is the French. They all say 0 grams of fat, but most list oil as an ingredient. So the French ff is what I use.

Nettie

[Caroveggie]

Thanks for your detailed replies, Nettie. You've given me some great ideas for making sticking to McDougalling more manageable.

[chellebee]

Hello Nettie!

Thank you so much for this extremely informative post! I am a new McDougaller and will start my 12-day program on Monday (I need to go to the market and premake a few recipes this weekend to start off on the right foot), but have also order the MWL book from this site. I'm hoping my committment to the 12-day program will ease me into a MWL way of life!

I appreciate your recommendation of the cookbook as well! I'm off to order that one right away!

xo
Michelle