newbie, unsure of white potatoes

[Karo]

I am very new to McDs plan, even though I have been dieting since birth I think. Some how some way I am always a newbie needing information and advice. I am confused about the two plans. I think I want to do the 12 day plan just because I like soy milk and bread. I am already a vegetarian so no problem there.

Anyway I have that diet mentality that white potatoes are BAD.
How did you overcome that and start eating tons of potatoes?
What kind of topping do you use? Is spray butter OK? Probably not, doesn't hurt to ask.

I am 54, 75lbs over weight and lazy as heck.
I am no poster child for a vegetarian diet, which makes me sad.
Hoping McDougall plan can help me. Lord knows I am willing.

[SactoBob]

I I think I want to do the 12 day plan just because I like soy milk and bread.

LOL, because everybody, including me, likes soy milk and bread. Those are high calorie density foods that won't help with weight loss. Breads are often loaded with salt too.

Go to Jeff Novick's forum and read up on the topic of Calorie Density. You want to eat a diet that is low in calorie density - the opposite of things like soy products and bread. Since you are mostly interested in weight loss, and need to be, I wold suggest the MWL plan.

To me, MWL is not about weight, but health. It is the healthiest version of the plan because it has the most nutrients for the least calories and the least processed products.

Go to the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii and look at the videos from Dr. Doug Lisle and Dr. Terry Shintani. If you can afford the dvds, get Doug Lisle's dvds on sale here and Jeff Novick's dvd on reading labels (drop him a pm). I also recently saw Dr. McDougall's dvd which contained a section on MWL and one on vitamins. It was awesome good and I am ordering my own copy.

You are worrying about the wrong thing in worrying about potatoes. Enjoy them, and worry about the soy products and bread because that is where the problem resides.

[Faith in DC]

Bob is right that MWL is the healthiest of the plans. McD does allow some processed foods on his 12 Day program. If you want to try and see if you McD approved bread, then go ahead. But keep in mind it probably will slow progress.

I personally don't have pasta and bread on a no never list. I do have it on a not often list. Frankly I have changed my eating so much, that I have no use for bread, and only use soy milk in my corn bread. So it is rare.

With changing how I look at food, it also changed what to do with a potato. It's no longer a side. I make it the main focus and build with it. I put veggies on and marinara or corn and beans and salsa. If I want it simple a bunch a pepper and lemon juice is good. I do that often in restaurants. I get these little teeny taters called creamers that I steam and keep in the fridge to snack on. Nothing on them. I also have lots of herb mixtures I like on the taters.

[Karo]

I had a white baked potato last night, goodness was it good, I haven't enjoyed one in years. I had it just plain, and a large salad on the side.
i can give up bread, but my glass of soy milk at night is giong to be hard.
I'm waiting for my McD books to arrive and learn more about what I can and can't eat.

[MilesA]

Try it and see. Potatoes are one of the most satisfying foods you can eat. If you make them the main course, you will not have to eat as much or as often as before. Try Yukon Gold or Red potatoes, they are great! I would suggest a combination of white potatoes and sweet potatoes. They are both very good foods.

What makes potatoes fattening is the high-fat toppings people put on. Butter and Sour Cream, anyone?

What to put on white potatoes instead? Lots of possibilities, so I'll just list a few: salsa, low-fat hummus, no-fat Asian dressing, 3-2-1 dressing*, healthy ketchup, vegetarian chili, black beans, no-fat tomato chutney, roast vegetables (onion, carrot, celery), hot sauce.

*3-2-1 dressing is: 3 parts balsamic vinegar + 2 parts dijon mustard + 1 part maple syrup or honey.

Something else I've found that is good is to cut up potatoes and mix them with greens and some kind of spicy dressing. This works for either white or sweet potatoes.

What to put on sweet potatoes? They are pretty good plain, but you can add nutmeg + cinnamon, splash on a little fruit juice, etc. Sweet potatoes are also excellent cut up and put into various kinds of cold salads.

Bob was talking about nutrient density -- this is so important. Here are some examples:

leafy green & yellow vegetables = 100 - 150 calories per pound
starchy vegetables = 300 - 400 calories per pound
whole grains = 500 - 600 calories per pound
bread = 1200 - 1300 calories per pound

So, you can see with bread, it is a very concentrated source of calories. It's so easy to eat a lot of it and not realize how many calories you are getting. With potatoes, you really can't eat a large amount because you are going to be full pretty quickly.

[Plumerias]

Potatoes are fun. Remember how we were taught not to play with our food? Bah, play with your food! Experiment.

One more thought on what to put with the humble tubers, fresh dill. Okay, so I have dill on the brain, I've a bumper crop right now.

When it's time where you live, go to the farmers markets. There are so many wonderful FUN varieties that you'll never find in the grocery stores. Stored potatoes are perfectly good, but freshly dug ones are amazing. Last Saturday one of the farmers told me she'd have some in a couple of weeks she thinks. Yum!

[f1jim]

Maybe it's my Mexican side but I load mine up with Salsa!!!
Can't be beat.
f1jim

[Karo]

Last tater I had I put homemade pico de gallo on it, YUM.
I do love sweet potatoes and butternut squash.

[rotemmay]

I totally hear you! I haven't been doing MWL for very long, but one of my biggest stumbling blocks in starting was to get over the "carbs are bad" mentality, especially when it came to white potatoes. I came from a low carb background and lost 30 pounds on a low carb diet (meat-heavy, although I wasn't one of those chugging down the steak and bacon every day!) So the thought of eating a carb-heavy diet (even good carbs) and one that included white potatoes was very frightening to me.

In the end, I understood that each person is different and grains affect some people badly but not necessarily everyone. White carbs aren't the best, but potatoes, from what I understand, aren't necessarily the evil they are made out to be, as I've read that the starch in potatoes does not contain a lot of sugars, which makes it different from, say, white pasta or rice.

I've been eating a medium/large potato with a little BBQ/ketsup mix every evening for dinner and I haven't noticed that all of the evils that my low carb books claimed would happen - shooting the blood sugar so that I would crave bad stuff, making me sleepy and cranky, etc. - happened. In fact, I feel very full and satisfied after eating the potato.

Being on McD has really helped me get over my "carb phobia", seeing that I can eat whole grains, beans, veggies, and a little fruit throughout the whole day and feel good and satisfied and not cranky, tired, or hungry. So I would say, just try it! See how your body reacts. If you feel badly after eating the potatoes, then maybe it's not the best food for you.

Tam

[Melinda]

Growing up in an Irish-Canadian family, we had potatoes EVERY night. When I discovered rice around the age of 15 I never went back, til recently. Now I love potatoes with peppercorn dijon mustard on them. (still love my rice though!)

[Faith in DC]

It's amazing all the rumors and bad things we hear on our beloved potatoes. It's the stuff we do to it that makes it bad. I'm glad that Idaho put out those ads on a potato isn't bad and only 140 calories.

[Melinda]

I have to add that I find potatoes extremely satisfying - more so than brown rice. I think Dr. Mcdougall said that potatoes and oatmeal are tops in the saiety department, according to research.