Help with Diet Guidelines

[Belindamc]

Hello,

It may be already posted somewhere on this forum, but I was just wondering about a few things. Is there a calorie range you should aim for eating every day? Can you eat too much rice and starches, no fat grams and still gain weight? Im new to this and was wondering how many fat grams/calories are too many? What would be the appropriate range of fat grams/caloires to aim for each day?

Im just curious, because if there is one person in the whole world who will gain weight on this diet it will probably be me!

Thanks for any help you all can give me.

Bel

[auntemmy]

Belindamc - Welcome. This is the place to be. I think your calorie range question would be more suited to Jeff Novick's Forum. Give him a try on this subject.

I'm no expert - but I can say this. Whole grains, potatoes, legumes and vegetables and fruits will not make you gain weight. Added oils, too many processed foods and too much sugar and not cutting animal products out of this plan will lead to no weight loss and probably weight gain.

Dr. McDougall has a free pure vegetarian plan on his website, is that the one you want to follow?

For myself I have been doing this since the beginning of the year and I feel great! I gained weight in the beginning because I was doing what I just said not to do in the 2nd paragraph. Lots of people here have had great success with weight loss and I think most have vastly improved health and well being. You are in the right place. Read read read the boards, the newsletter, etc...ask questions. Think of health improvement first and weight loss will follow naturally. Again, Welcome!

[SactoBob]

Dr. Shintani has a video that explains the concept well.
http://vsh.voip-info.org/Shintani2.html

Everybody thinks that they will be the only one for whom this will not work, but it will work for everybody who does it correctly, and you don't have to count calories.

BTW, you won't be getting 0 grams of fat because there is fat in veggies, grains, legumes, etc. Your body does need fat, but you will get all you need on this plan.

While you are at the Veg. Soc. of Hawaii site, check out Dr. Lisle's presentation on video. He will explain why eating this way is hard in the beginning, but easy later on.

[Belindamc]

Hi,

Thanks for your responses. I will check out the link. I am trying the Maximum Weight loss program, the one with no bread, etc. I have been attempting to do this for a week, now going on to the 2nd week. I just knew that I would die or be deathly ill without eating meat, but Im still alive this week! haha.

I have stuck to the diet for the most part, but have fallen off the wagon a few times. Which was enough for me to gain a pound. Last night we went to Applebees (couldn't get out of it) and I ordered the veggie plate with garlic mashed potatoes, salad and broccoli. But Im sure the potatoes were loaded with fat, and Im pretty sure the broccoli had added fat as well. On the brighter side, the waitress recommended their fat free Italian dressing which was really good. I was surprised by that, but then I forgot to have them leave off the cheese. Oh well, today is a new day so Im starting again.

It just seems like eating all the potatoes and rice is a sure fire way to gain weight. Since I love both I can eat a lot of it! Thanks for the tips and I appreciate any other advice you have.

Bel

[Belindamc]

I just listened to that video link. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing it!

Bel

[TominTN]

It just seems like eating all the potatoes and rice is a sure fire way to gain weight. Since I love both I can eat a lot of it! Thanks for the tips and I appreciate any other advice you have.

Brown rice, naked potatos!

The key is calorie density. The less processed a food is the lower its calorie density tends to be. The problem with potatos is not the potatos but the stuff we like to put on them -- shredded cheese, sour cream, butter, etc. I typically eat four boiled potatos a day -- two at lunch, two at supper. The ones at lunch I eat plain. The ones at supper I doctor with a little mustard, ketchup, and nutritional yeast. So all my potatos aren't naked, but some of them are.

Any grain will have a lower calorie density if it's not refined. White rice will be more concentrated than brown rice because a lot of the fiber has been removed.

Here's a post where Jeff Novick explains the concept of calorie density in more depth:

http://drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=41322#41322

Or maybe Dr. Shintani covered it in the video Bob posted? I haven't watched that one, so I'm not sure what it talks about.

hth...