Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Can you lose weight just as well albeit not as fast on regular McDougall plan versus maximum weight loss?

Steflou64 wrote:Can you lose weight just as well albeit not as fast on regular McDougall plan versus maximum weight loss?

In general, as a broad brush statement, most people are going to lose more weight if they strictly following the MWL guidelines than if they follow the regular McDougall guidelines.

But there may be some people where this may not be true, where they might lose just as much weight on regular McDougall. In my case, it's pretty clear I cannot lose as much weight under regular McDougall as I can with Maximum Weight Loss.

(Under MWL, you'll be ingesting slightly fewer calories at the same satiety level. So it stands to reason most people will lose more total weight on MWL.)

Edit: Don't just think of MWL vs. regular McDougall, but watch Jeff Novick's Calorie Density video on YouTube and Doug Lisle's 'How to Lose Weight without Losing Your Mind' lecture, and you'll realize that the lower the calorie density of your daily meals/snacks becomes, the more weight you should lose. And if you want to gain back weight, you just up your caloric density (within the guidelines of the program, of course).

Yes! It depends on how much weight you need to lose. Many people who had a lot to lose, as I did, lose weight on the regular program and progress to the MWL to lose the last few (for me, 30 or so) pounds. I’m sure folks will chime in who had less to lose and did so on the regular program.
And, truly, for me it was a combo, anyhow. I avoided, but didn’t entire give up, bread and tortillas; I used applesauce, soy and other mills once in a while, and so on.
Your weight loss will mostly depend on compliance to the principles of the program.