What books do I need?

[Veganlife]

Hello I have been a vegan for about 8 months and truly enjoy it! I wasn't much of a meat eater or dairy eater anyways so the vegan lifestyle just seemed like common sense to me. My husband is also a vegan and he also does all the cooking. He gets most of his recipes from Christinacooks.com and her show.

Since I have been a vegan I have gained weight! I love junk food (dairy free). I do exercise every other day and I drink only water and have 1 cup of coffee in the AM. I have read alot of articles about vegans trying to lose weight and came across Dr. McDougall's maximum weight loss. I immediatly ran out and got his book.

I am really really want to lose this weight but I don't think i really understand Dr. McDougall's book. I'm already a vegan so i eat most of what he states I should eat with exception of the sugar & coffee which I will definitly get off of.

Can anyone help me to understand exactly what I should do to lose weight since I AM a vegan? Is there another book of his I should get?

[S B]

Go to www.drmcdougall.com (home page) and click on the "Free Program". This will explain a LOT of things.

Also, McD-vegans differ from many "regular" vegans in that we McDers do NOT consume free oils; do NOT consume a lot of high protein vegan foods (The McD program is very high in STARCHY foods which are very good for us!); do NOT consume a lot of highly processed/refined foods; and, due to a recent study on ISOLATED SOY PROTEIN, should NOT consume foods containing this substance. (It is OK to consume small amounts of whole soy and/or low fat soy foods such as soy milk and tofu -- but NOT OK to eat things containing ISOLATED SOY PROTEIN. I seems that, once it is isloated, it behaves similar to animal protein and is more harmful than dairy protein -- which is very bad for us.

I wish you much success with McDing!

[hope101]

Veganlife: I think Carroll cleared up a misunderstanding for you on another thread, so sorry if this duplicates what you are looking for, but here are a few links that you might find helpful. I don't own any of Dr. McDougall's books yet, but I personally found watching his DVD's that I was able to rent from my library really enhanced both my understanding and commitment to the program. I would highly recommend watching any and all of them that you can. Anyway, welcome to this very supportive and helpful board!

http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2005nl/050100pupushing.htm

http://www.drmcdougall.com/free.html

[Callalilly]

Welcome. I found the 12 Days to Dynamic Health at a used book store about a month ago and picked it up, I had read about Dr. McDougall in the China Study so I was so interested in him. Anyway I read that about a week ago and it is filled with all the basic info that you will need, I would read that one first. I am planning on getting two of his cookbooks today on Amazon, I am so excited. Also I bought the DVD, McDouagll Made Easy and it is great. I love how he is so straightfoward and spells things out clearly for you then he takes you into the kitchen and shows you how to put this plan into action.

[Veganlife]

I am following the program and I am not losing any weight. HELP.

[Callalilly]

Perhaps you can switch to Meximum weight loss program which means you have to cut out flour products and use only whole grains and no high fat plant food like tofu, soymilk, nuts, seeds and avocados and see how that goes also another aspect is to eat more raw veggies. Try that out and see how that works.

[Veganlife]

Okay will definitly try that. Thanks for your help

[Callalilly]

I would get McDouagll's Maximum Weight Loss book, it will explain so much more.

[DianeR]

How quickly you lose depends on a number of factors. Have you cut out all added fat and eliminated high fat plant foods? How strenuously and long do you exercise (you may need to do so more like every day, not every other day)? Have you cut out all that "junk food" you mentioned? Any other sources of calories, like alcohol? Are you a volume eater?

I have been on this diet for six and a half years. In the first few weeks, I lost nothing at all. Then I slowly lost weight. Then I got lazy with the exercise, stopped weighing myself, started sampling too much of my good cooking (living with a big husband and two teenagers didn't help -- I was having seconds and thirds just to keep them company, not because I was hungry!) -- and slowly gained it back. I wasn't overweight at any point; it was just disappointing.

So last year I decided to do McDougalling better. I stepped up the exercise, ate for hunger reasons, went closer to a MWL approach, cut out a lot of the tofu and fake meat products I was eating, and started a diet and exercise journal. All that weight came off, slowly but steadily, and now I'm lighter than I was in high school.

Even so, there were weeks (and a few multi-week periods) in there I didn't lose a thing. It is easy to get discouraged, I know, but hang in there. It doesn't sound like you've been doing this for very long.

Weight can bob around quite a bit. For most people, this leads them to weight themselves once a week. For me, I do it every day, but then average the week and consider that my true weight. That is the only way I could see the steady one pound or one-half pound weight loss each week.

I know it is hard to be patient. But remember each day you are getting HEALTHIER, whether that number on the scale changes or not. Also, if you lose too quickly, you will have more of a problem with loose skin I was impatient last year and now I'm sort of saggy ...