30 day commitment to get over my hump day (14 days)

[proverbs31woman]

Debbie,

I'm so glad that you've made it past 14 days. I knew you could do it. The inches that you've lost is inspiring as well. Those are some good numbers.

In regards to your milk supply. Of course, I understand how you feel. You helped me tremendously when I thought my milk supply was decreasing. Have you considered pumping at least once a day in the morning? I know you are superbusy, but if you can, maybe consider going on a nursing vacation for a day or two.

All in all, if you baby is healthy and thriving, then that's all that matters.

[Loveskale]

Debbie, I am so glad you made it over your 14 days, congratulations!

[afreespirit]

"I noticed that when I put on my shoes to go to the bbq they were loose, now they are over 6 yrs old and while they werent tight persay, they were always a bit snug, so loose was good. And the shoes I bought for the wedding stayed fitting good. Normally they would of started to get tight, but at the end of my grocery shopping they fit the same, I had no indentations where the straps were. That was also nice."

This is a really good sign of improved health. Less edema or swelling is always good and is doubtless due to McD and tons of veg! Good for you and I know you can do this, GF (girlfriend )! Well, actually, you ARE doing it ...I wouldn't be too hard on yourself, you are doing an amazing job at balancing an incredibly demanding life. Onward and upward!

[Katydid]

Re: shoes. I noticed a few weeks ago that I was literally walking right out of my shoes. I went to buy a new pair of shoes when my favorite black flats wore out, and sure enough I had lost a full shoe size. I also went from a wide to a normal shoe width. Since I couldn't afford to replace all my shoes, I ended up buying internal heal cushions to make the rest fit better. Now I don't mind having smaller feet, I just wish I didn't also need to go out and buy small bras, too .
Kate

[sksamboots]

Deb,

I think that time was for you to grow and you sure have grown!! You took a slow transition and I think that is okay because now look at you. It can take some time to get past that mental block, I know it did for me. I'm so happy for you. May this be a good day

[Loveskale]

You asked me for this recipe, so here it is:

Lemon Roasted Potatoes

2 and a half pounds of potatoes, peeled and chopped into wedges
2-4 cloves garlic, minced (however much you want)
1 1/4 cups vegetable stock
2 teaspoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons of oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 375F
Place the potatoes in a large baking pan (not a cookie sheet, something like a lasagna pan). Whisk the rest of the ingredients together and pour overtop. Cover with aluminum foil (so it doesn't touch the potatoes...aluminum=bad I know). Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so, until the potatoes are almost tender. Uncover, and bake for 15 minutes stirring at least once more.

I love these potatoes, and make them as often as I feel like peeling 2 1/2 pounds of potatoes haha

[willing2believe]

Those sound wonderful. Thanks for the recipe (even though I'm not the one who requested it ).

Lisa

[lfwfv]

Looking great Debbie! It's funny how things get simpler once you've been completely compliant for an extended period of time isn't it? I find that when I stop questioning things and just eat the way that's best for my body, everything falls into place and I stop feeling confused.

Of course, after about 1-2 months of that, i usually start questioning things again and playing with my food intake again (usually still MWL, but I feel pressure to add in some grains and stuff that I know, long-term, aren't the best for my unique body). After a while, I come back to the conclusion that simple is better for my body.

I hope things continue to be fluid and easy for you as you find your 'groove'.

Take care
lfwfv

[Katydid]

Deb,
Are you still using the CRONometer? It should be a simple matter to enter your meals and get an approximate calorie count. I usually set my daily calorie count half way between where I am and where I want to be. So if you weigh 170 pound and want to weigh 120 pounds, Multiply by ten and you'll need about 1400-1500 calories a day to lose 1/2 to 1 pound a week (depending on the amount of exercise you are willing to do). I personally stopped using the CRONometer in favor of MyFitnessPal.com as the food database is better. It even includes McDougall Right Foods . I keep it on my ipod touch and enter exercise and food during the day, so I'm always on top of my eating. But it works from a standard computer databas as well so you don't need an iPod. Of course, different people have different metabolisms, but I know I'm at the low end of the bell curve. More than 1500 calories a day and I will gain weight.
Kate

[sksamboots]

I wish I had an answer for you but I have to agree that there were weeks that I would eat all the Mcdougall I wanted too and still gain weight or maintain...Right now I find it's a complex measure of how many vegetables I eat versus starches--more veggies of course. I will never count or keep track of a number so I can't help you with that. Just keep on keepin on deb

[Katydid]

No disrespect to Dr. McDougall, but when I weighed 300 pounds I COULD eat all the starches (including pasta and bread) I wanted, eat until I was satisfied and do moderate exercise and the weight would fall off. But once I got to around 220, that began to change. I needed to start watching the amount of starches closely and up the amount of green and yellow veggies. I've said before, the most valueable kitchen equipment I have is a $1 set of measuring cups and spoons. At some point calories do start to count. That point is different for every person. Over the years I have tracked calories on and off, and 1500 is the cut off point where I maintained my 160 pound weight. Still, every individual is different. My 54 year old metabolism may simply be a bit wonky. I seems to me I could eat more when I was younger. On May 1st I started my 15 pounds in 15 weeks challenge. I have tracked very carefully and in order for me to actually lose weight at a rate of 1 pound per week, I need to eat around 1300 calories a day and exercise for about 1-1.5 hours a day. And some weeks (like last week) I still won't lose. My advice, for what its worth (and that may be very little ), is if you are still stuck at a plateau come Friday, track your food consumption and make sure you are not overeating on the high calorie foods. Maybe 2.5 potatoes for breakfast is a bit too much (I don't know the size of the potatoes). Maybe flour products like pita bread and tortillas don't agree with your system. They certainly don't agree with mine. Keep the volume of food up by substituting high water volume, low calorie 'green and yellow' veggies for some (but not all) of the starches and up your exercise. You never burn as many calories as your exercise equipment says. Once you start to lose weight again, you'll have a better idea at what point calories in = calories out. You don't have to track every day, but a spot check once a week is useful. I happen to be a chemist and I LIKE tracking data. Again, I have nothing but respect for Dr. M, but you are you. You have to look at what is or isn't working and go from there.
Kate

[lfwfv]

I would personally recommend cutting out the pita and any higher calorie density items (even the corn tortillas).

In Jeff's discussions on calorie density, he mentions that nobody eating *only foods* from the 400-500 cal/lb group and under fails to lose weight. That would include veggies, fruits, and root veggies. Grains are a little more calorie dense, and beans are even more. Any flour product is literally three times more dense than potatoes.

I personally have found this to be true. I lose weight if I eat a lot of veggies and even a ton of fruit. I gain if I eat a lot of grains.

Neither McDougall nor Jeff recommend counting. They do recommend adjusting the calorie density of your diet for faster results. I find raw veggies and fruits very helpful for controlling weight loss.

good luck!
lfwfv

[Loveskale]

To answer your question Debbie, the wedges are triangle shaped.

[lfwfv]

Hmmm, well I set up my account and with only having consumed breakfast and lunch I only have a little over 200 cals left for dinner. I am also over my "carbs" for the day by 30, but way under for protien and fat. Is there a way to adjust those a bit?

I will be going over my cals for today, according to the site.

Hi Debbie,

Please ignore me if you disagree, but I just felt I had to chime in on this. i have restricted calories on McDougall before. I was doing MWL but I was set on losing more weight than I should have (anorexic mindset). I decided to track my calories and realized I was eating 2400-2800 calories a lot of days! No wonder I wasn't losing weight! (mind you I was already at a BMI of 18.5-19 and was not gaining weight). The number just sounded too big to me considering most diets have women at 1200-1400cal per day. Well, I decided to cut back to 2000 and then 1800 cal per day. Seems reasonable right? I started losing weight and got down to a BMI of 17.5. Then, after 2 months, I felt crazed. I felt so starved and depleted and I felt I had tricked my body into losing more weight than it wanted to.

I talked to my husband and determined to get off the obsessive track I was on. I spent about 2-3 weeks eating nuts, dried fruit, and gluten free breads on top of my usual veggies/fruit/yams. I stopped counting calories and stepped the weighing myself way back. After a few weeks of that I realized that I really didn't feel good eating all the gluten free breads, nuts, dried fruit, and some of the grain I had added back into my daily routine. So I chose to make some changes and return to the diet I had started discovering seemed to work best in my body; the diet I had been eating before the calorie-counting madness.

I continued to eat freely according to my hunger but went back to a subset of the MWL with a heavy focus on veggies and fruits (I go way over the 2-3 piece limit per day....try 7-10 ), and mostly yams as my starch primarily for food-intolerance reasons (I am finding most grains to eventually cause inflammation in my gut and skin). I gained back a bit of weight, but am still slightly under a BMI of 18.5.

I average 2700 calories per day and, if I went by most websites and dietetic advice, I would be gaining weight at this calorie level. I'm not though...barely maintaining actually. I realize we're all different, but I really believe we should not mess with calories. Ultimately, you're tricking your hunger mechanism and I believe it will lead to non-compliance.

Would you consider giving Jeff's calorie density stuff a try? I find I can even binge on fruits/veggies/yams (I do have my days when i suddenly feel bottomless and ravenous and end up overeating), and I still maintain or lose weight. If I add in grains I tend to maintain or gain (but most grains cause me inflammation so I avoid them anyways), and if I eat flour or puffed products I almost certainly gain a tiny bit of weight. What if you stuck to veggies/fruits/starchy veggies, with 1-2 servings of grain per day or something and see if you don't lose weight? Eat as much as you want, even until very full, but focus on filling up on those low calorie veggies?

I personally find counting calories ultimately backfires. You've worked so hard for compliance and I just fear that counting calories will ultimately cause you to fail because you will end up feeling very hungry some days and will be 'out of calories'.

I'll get off my soapbox now....

[proverbs31woman]

Glad that you're listening to ifwfv in regards to the calories. I've been feeling obsessive lately too, but I'm trying to pay more attention to eating on plan than anything.

You are doing quite well on the plan. Don't get distracted. The weight will come off.