Newbie in search of info!

[Mrs Missakian]

I devised a foolproof plan to make the kick-off to my McDougall experience. I purchased the McDougall Program Refill Kit from Right Foods. This 36 meal kit walks you through your first 12 days. It gives you three meals a day and the Quick and Easy Menu Plan gives snack suggestions and additions to the provided meals that will help ease the transition from the SAD to the best thing you can ever do for yourself (McDougall). The convenience of this kit helped me because it gave me a better idea of what I should be eating and provided a safety net so that I didn't have to sink or swim. Also, I got to taste a big variety of the foods that Right Foods has to offer and I learned what I do and don't care for. I weight myself daily. I started the program on a Monday. Tuesday morning I weighed myself and had dropped 3 pounds. I'm not sure if that's normal or what caused that but it stayed off.
One word of advice: You might want to start when you have a day or two to stay in a place where you are absolutely comfortable. I have trouble passing gas with an audience (for example the bathroom at work has to be completely empty or I just can't do it). Well, during my first 2-3 days on the program my body was processing all that extra fiber and I had so much gas that the pressure in my belly was painful. By the end of day three, it had mostly subsided and by then I was feeling so great and energetic, I didn't care what "side effects" this program had.
Anyhoo, I would recommend trying the regular McD program because you can be assured that you will see drastic changes. After you're comfortable with the program, you can tweak it as you go. Good luck and if you do take that leap, these message boards are awesome. Also, post your planned exercise and daily menu at Roberta's corner because:
1) It helps you stick to what you had planned.
2) I get my best meal ideas from there .