Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

I started on the McDougall program in January 2014. I weighed 196 pounds at the time (at 5’ 11 ½”, making me overweight, but not obese), and had been following the program of Dr. Joel Fuhrman inconsistently for 3 years. Under the Furhman program, I had lost significant weight (when I started the Furhman program, I weighed 207 pounds), but I found the guidelines of the program difficult to follow and my compliance with it was declining over time.

Then I heard Dr. McDougall on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory in November 2013 and had a big ‘aha’ moment. Dr. McDougall’s Starch Solution program seemed simpler and easier to follow, so I decided to start on it with the New Year in 2014.
The results have been more than I hoped for. I now weigh 170 pounds, for a total loss of 26 pounds, which puts me in the normal body weight category.
Furthermore, on the McDougall program my total blood cholesterol has dropped from 177 down to 129 (LDL dropped from 90 to 68). My blood pressure has also dropped from high normal to the upper edge of normal. My goal is to get my blood pressure in the ‘excellent’ range by losing a few more pounds.

The unbelievable part for me is that I have lost this much weight and improved my biometrics without ever counting a calorie, going hungry or worrying about portion size.

In addition to reading the Starch Solution, some resources that have really helped me along in this program :
1. Listening to the interviews and talks of Dr. McDougall, Jeff Novick, Doug Lisle and Alan Goldhamer on YouTube over and over again.
2. Buying Jeff Novick’s Fast Food Volume 1- this has been critical in ensuring I don’t fall into the habit of going to Taco Bell when I absolutely don’t feel like spending more than a few minutes cooking.
3. Spending time in this forum McDougall Friends FB page, most importantly to get a feel for simple recipes that people here are using to make this program work.
If there’s one key that has made the program work, it is simplicity. I am a busy person, as is my wife, and we don’t have time to do a lot of meal planning. So we have a limited menu that is based on brown rice, beans, white potatoes, Japanese sweet potatoes and fruits and vegetables. Do I miss the rich foods I used to eat? Not really- thanks to Dr. McDougall's description of the number of puss cells contained in dairy products, nachos with melted cheese kind of grosses me out now.

One final benefit of adopting this WOE is that my overall mood is better and I feel more centered and balanced. Even stress at work doesn’t bother me much anymore. No matter what else is going on in my life regarding finances, relationships etc., I am finally eating the food my body was designed to eat. Sometimes I even think to myself, 'Woo hoo, I finally got my food right!'

I would highly recommend this WOE to anyone. Thank you Dr. McDougall, Jeff, Doug and Alan!

Great testimonial!
A great aspect of what Dr McDougall recommends is that it is easier to follow long term. Dr Furman recommends pounds of green leafy veggies daily which is difficult to adhere to long term.

Openmind - thanks for telling your success story, and congratulations!

Wonderful story. So great.
One question - you say you didn't worry about portion size.....did you include whole grain bread and pasta products in your menu and were you just naturally limiting or did you have to consciously say, ok, just one piece of bread a day?

Riva

Hi Openmind,
I really like your post and congratulate your success! Just wondering how old you are and also how the changes you've made affected your family? From your post, it sounds like your wife is also eating a starch based diet.

Riva wrote:Wonderful story. So great.
One question - you say you didn't worry about portion size.....did you include whole grain bread and pasta products in your menu and were you just naturally limiting or did you have to consciously say, ok, just one piece of bread a day?

Riva

Great question- I used whole grains and pasta until I reached about 180/lbs. I cut them out for the most part to get down to 170 lbs.

Amazing! Thank you for the great story - you made our day.

John McDougall, MD

Great news, openmind!

I've lost at least 10 pounds since I started this WOE on Nov. 1st. I've gone from about 210 or 211 to 200 today (also have seen 199 in the past couple days).

I haven't weighed less than 200 since probably late 2012!!! Woo-hoo!!!

This has all seemed to happen just in the past week, so I'm over-the-moon! I mean, I was hovering (plateauing) around 203-204 (occasionally 202) for the past month, it seemed.

I've been mostly following the McDougall/E2 diet, but with some oil. I'm now taking an Engine 2 class at Whole Foods, as well. Maybe the E2 gave me the kick-start to eliminate more of the oil, which is why my weight went down in the past week... I'm not sure. Anyway, the numbers below 200 are sure welcome to see!

Have not been exercising much, even as much as I did last summer.

This way of eating just feels so natural to me. Yeah!

Thanks for sharing your story openmind, and also your success tips. It's great to read how you have applied the principles to be successful! Very inspiring.

Birdy wrote:Hi Openmind,
I really like your post and congratulate your success! Just wondering how old you are and also how the changes you've made affected your family? From your post, it sounds like your wife is also eating a starch based diet.

Birdy, sorry it took so long to reply, but with my family it's a little more complicated. My wife has also adopted the diet, but she was normal body weight to begin with, so not much to lose for her. Further complicating her case is that she has chronic pancreatitis and a brittle form of diabetes. We both feel adopting this diet has improved her pancreatitis- she has not had any attacks since we adopted the diet. Making things more complicated is an endocrinologist who has never really supported this WOE- so we are in the midst of getting her to a good vegan, primary care doctor. I'm starting to understand why Dr. McDougall doesn't think much of specialists- they don't really see or understand the whole patient.

Our daughter is 10 years old, and we try to get her to eat as much like us as possible, but that too is difficult. We have gotten her in the habit of having her Korean sweet potato for breakfast, but we eventually had to cave and let her eat from the school lunch program. Dinner is also a challenge to get her to eat healthy. I feel we are moving her in the right direction, but given all the other influences (school, teachers, family, friends), she is nowhere near 100% compliant.

I know that when I was a child, I was 100% at the commands of my parents. That is why I ate the way I did. What do you think, Openminded? What has changed in the parent-child relationship so much that other people can be blamed for what parents are or are not responsible for with what their own children do? Are parents not really in-charge of and responsible for their own home and the raising of their own children any more?

Learning wrote:I know that when I was a child, I was 100% at the commands of my parents. That is why I ate the way I did. What do you think, Openminded? What has changed in the parent-child relationship so much that other people can be blamed for what parents are or are not responsible for with what their own children do? Are parents not really in-charge of and responsible for their own home and the raising of their own children any more?

The world has changed quite a bit. Especially where we live, trying to impose strict McDougalling for a child can lead to a certain amount of social isolation, especially if you live in the South. We had been packing our daughter's lunch for her, but she was cheating, throwing it way, and getting the hot lunch anyway. We scolded her but she complained of other the children making fun of her lunches.

Our strategy is to teach her healthy eating, allow only healthy eating at home, and if she has an unhealthy treat, it takes place outside the home. Eventually, we are told, she will 'get it', and likely make healthier choices on her own as she grows older.

Hi openmind,

I can definitely empathize with you! My parents were from MS. They moved to CA before I was born. So, I am sure you can guess at the type of foods I was eating I can still remember being a kid in the 60s and all the words they used to describe all the things that were going on in CA that were different from back home. My mother had a critical comment about any food that wasn't fried to her southern standards. I also suffered from social isolation, just kind of for reverse reasons

It sounds as though you have a good plan for your daughter. I know that if I tried to explain this WOE to my cousins in MS they would think that CA had gotten to me Keep up the good work. I think the best we can do is be good role models. With time that changes minds.