2 topics in one: hair and hasty

[Winterraven]

I plan on doing the hasty approach for one week each month, has anyone here done that? I expect that during that time, my body will let me know in many ways that it is detoxing so I know it isn't gonna feel like a walk in the park.

My next topic is hair loss...I have pcos and so have hair in v rude unsavory places. the MWL says that that's going to change with this program. My question is: Does the hair know this? Is it just going to scream and fall out?

Thanks in advance!

[S B]

I MWL. I have tried all levels of its strictness. I did not like the strictest level because I did not get enough starches to keep me feeling satisfied and was tempted to binge out of REAL HUNGER.

However, due to my volume eating tendencies, I recently slightly modified the MWL plan to get-off those last few pounds. (However, since most people do NOT have volume eating tendencies, I suggest that you follow the directions in the MWL book without modifying anything, at first.)

Now, in my slightly modified version of MWL, I roughly estimate the amount of starchy foods I need each day. Then, I space them out by eating small to medium servings of them throughout the WHOLE day. This ensures that I get ENOUGH starchy foods throughout the day to keep REAL HUNGER under control. This also ensures that I do not accidentally eat too many of them as a result of my volume eating tendencies.

In addition, I eat UNLIMITED amounts of veggies. A few of them are cooked but most of them are raw green & yellow ones. Except for at breakfast (which is usually a mixture of whole grain brown rice and rolled oats and a little raw fruit), I usually eat some raw green & yellow veggies before/between my meals and snacks and often some with my meals and snacks, too. (I eat a combo of snacks and small meals throughout the day rather than only 3 large meals -- I practically graze all day long.)

Also, I tend to eat for OTHER reasons than merely HUNGER or even TASTE (like when I am excited, stressed, or worried OR simply when my mind is preoccupied and I am not paying attention to what or how much I am stuffing into my mouth). Therefore, I allow myself to GUILTLESSLY PIG-OUT on raw veggies whenever the need arises. This keeps me from accidentally pigging-out on something more calorie-dense.

Therefore, my starch to veggie RATIO is DIFFERENT every day! Some days, when I am NOT stressed or whatever, I eat at the easiest MWL RATIO and some days, when things are very stressful, I eat at the strictest MWL RATIO -- BUT the AMOUNT of STARCHES remains fairly constant -- and they keep my REAL HUNGER under control.

This modified version of MWL has been working for me. However, I have to remember to ALWAYS keep the refrigerator well stocked with raw veggies! One day, I ran out of salad and accidentally pigged-out on something that was NOT even MWL-legal!

I hope my explanation makes sense!

Anyway, I suggest that if you do the strictest level of MWL, just MAKE SURE you get an adequate amount of starches. Your body needs a certain amount of them. Also, REMEMBER that ALL of the McDougall dietary plans are STARCH-BASED and are NOT intended on being starvation diets.

I cannot answer your “hair question” but I do know that the type of hair growth you are talking about is hormone related and that a healthy diet can improve hormone levels. You might need to ask Dr. McDougall about your hair situation. If you do, and if he replies, please let us know his answer. Thanks!

[Winterraven]

Hey, thanks for the reply. I do think I will need to eat more/graze more. I just bought myself the big mouth food processor to make it a bit more convenient for me.

I have no intention of starving myself...that is so very not my way. I'm glad we can eat until we are full but not stuffed.

I was wondering if you got really bored doing the MWL...I mean, the book says to stay on the MWL for 6 months and there aren't that many recipes in that book to cover all that time and not make me want to eat sand just for variety's sake.

Did you use any recipes from the other books and just modify them?

Pax~

[S B]

I modify Regular McDougall recipes. For instance, I will use whole grain brown rice (or other whole grains, cooked whole) or baked potatoes instead of pasta.

One thing though, except for slicing and shredding raw veggies for salads, on MWL you probably won't be using your food processor very much because (the way I understand it, anyway) the LESS a food is processed/ground/broken down the MORE MWL-legal it is.

Off and on for a few years now, I have been working on (racking my brains out!) trying to create a 100% MWL-legal pie. When you think about it, the terms dessert and MWL almost contradict each other -- so this was an extremely hard task! About a month ago, I finally came up with an 100% MWL crust that is not too terribly calorie-dense, that has an acceptable texture, and a not too terribly bland taste! After more experimentation, I finally came up with an easy to make MWL filling. It is packed with vitamins, does not contain a lot of fruit, and eating more than one small slice could be acceptable -- especially if you let a raw green & yellow veggie salad be the first part of your meal and let this dessert serve as the starch portion. I think it tastes delicious, but I am not sure how others will like it. I might post the recipe in the recipe section in a few days (if I do not have time to write it up today). I am sure that some of you can make improvements on it.

Some might ask why go to so much trouble to come up with an MWL-legal dessert when eating the MWL way involves such "simple" foods and when simply a piece of raw fruit could serve as a nice dessert. My answer to this is --- Some of us will need to be on MWL for the rest of our lives and there are times that we would like to have something "fancy" for dessert (especially when others around us are eating fancy things) --- but without having to go off of MWL. A “fancy” MWL dessert also shows those not familiar with McDing that eating healthy does not have to be boring!