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Thanks for posting this...it is very encouraging! And you look terrific!! Congrats!

AMAZING! Congrats!

Congratulations, ETeSelle! You look mah-ve-lous!

I've been eating regular plan lately and have gained about 10 pounds, so it's back to MWL for me!

I've made the veggie lasagna with low fat tofu, Shredded Wheat 'n Bran w/ soy milk (containing sugar), air popped popcorn, large servings of oatmeal - and packed on the pounds, bit by bit. I also added a cup of green tea a few days a week with a little honey.

I've become convinced - reminded, really - that we can't change our body chemistry much by eating this way. By that I mean I've always been exquisitely sensitive to refined carbs, and losing over 150 pounds hasn't really changed that; I still am sensitive to them and will gain weight when I eat them. Darn it! I can't get away with anything!



Smart girl. Know thyself. Even after 5 years, I still have to avert my eyes when I find myself walking down the candy aisle at Wal-Mart. Meat and dairy I don't miss, but sweets will always call to me, so I have to keep them out of my house. I'm amazed, really, that I still have that visceral reaction to certain foods, but there you have it.



It has been difficult for me, in a sense, because I'm a goal-oriented person. Once I reached my goal, it's like, "Now what?"

You just have to live your life daily, without the compliments that come along as you're losing weight and the decreasing numbers on the scale. And that for me is a challenge. I do still weigh myself once a week, and record it, just to stay on top of things.

It helps to run across pictures of myself at 300 pounds. Oh, yes, now I remember the misery...

Anyway, congratulations on getting your new life!

Nettie

THANK YOU, Nettie. You're my hero, so it's very helpful to hear that you've had those problems and that my plan seems a good one. I tend not to be so attacted to sweets--for me it's the stuff that kinda LOOKS healthy, you know? It's stuff I can sliiiide in there little by little. But that happened to you, too--with the tofu lasagne, etc. It seems like "just a little" more, so you think it won't matter, but it does. For me, at least, it's a slippery slope, so I just need to stay well back from the edge!

Wow, ETeStelle, I just saw your before and after pictures!!!! Wow!! you look great. It amazes me how much younger people look ...and a new vibrant energy shines through the pictures. People really do feel better after losing that extra weight, not to mention the great nutrition of this way of eating.
Size 6....wow....I think I skipped that number ...Anyhow, just stopping be to say thanks for posting your picture and spurring me on to lose a few pounds . I appreciate your posts on this site...

I think I missed it too--because they didn't HAVE size 6 back when I was small! The lowest size was 8! Really, anybody remember the petite clothing shop line--they were called The 5-7-9 Shops!?! 5 was the smallest petite size, not ZERO!

Yup. It's absurd. I was in college 1980-84 and I was size 10. My clothes from then fit me now. So 10 in 1980 is 6 now.

I'll take it, though, LOL!

You've nailed it... it's the pleasure trap. There's nothing pleasurable about it. Good feels bad. Right seems wrong. I would love to hear how successful McDougallers got through the Pleasure Trap. How do those who have lost the weight stay out of the trap in the beginning of losing weight.

I was just really, really strict. No feast days, no nuthin', for the first few months. After that amount of time you have new habits and your taste buds have changed--sweet stuff tastes too sweet and salty stuff is unbearable.

For me, anyway, it's NOW that's harder. Today I went out for lunch to a Mediterranean place my friend and I love. I got the buffet. I made only vegan choices, but of course there's oil. I only had one medium-sized plate and didn't go back--this is less than half the food I would have had back in the Bad Old Days. But I still feel worried now. I don't think I SHOULD, really--it's been weeks since I ate even slightly off plan and I'm doing great. But bells go off in my head and I feel panicky.

That said, it's NEVER as good as I think it will be. What I had for lunch was NOT better than the meals I make at home. I need to remember that, b/c in future I should just go back to what I have been getting there in past months--side of lentils and rice and a little hummus. That's plenty for me and I love it--no need to get the buffet, but it "calls" to me from the Pleasure Trap!

ET, you look great. As long as you feel that uncomfortable with eating oily food at a buffet, you should be fine with maintenance. It's when you get in the HABIT of eating off plan that you need a wake up call.

Hi,
I noticed your HDL is low. It should be higher than your LDL. Omega 3's will raise it up higher. Flax seeds, nuts.

Um . . no, that's wrong. I've never even heard of anyone whose HDL is higher than their LDL--b/c when LDL goes down, so does HDL. The only reason conventional doctors want HDL as high as possible is b/c its job is to help clean out the LDL, esp. cholesterol taken in externally via food. But it doesn't help a BIT to have a "high" HDL of 60-80 when your LDL is 200.

There is no reason at all, if you are McDougalling, to spend even 10 seconds worrying about your HDL. Lots more on this from Dr. McDougall here:

http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougal ... pufav5.htm

http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougal ... sterol.htm

Hi ETeSelle. I want to thank you for this series of posts on your testimonial. I've had a problem with high blood pressure which reached 180/100 a few weeks ago. It's now down somewhat, but still stage two hypertension. I'm trying to bring it down with diet and exercise. Quite an adjustment and I've a long way to go. The fact that eliminating caffeine brought your bp down to normal is surprising. I'm going to try that and see what happens. Also, I don't know if you have ever practiced yoga or not, but for some people apparently it has been the thing that finally brought down bp. I'm trying that too. Best to you!

Birdy, you may be pleasantly surprised if you give up the caffeine that the BP will come down. I was scheduled a few years ago to go on meds. I asked the doctor if I could wait 10 days (cause I was going to NAVS conference) and wanted to ask Dr. McDougall about it. He mentioned the caffeine and I went off for 10 days. What a surprise in the difference. In a few months it had become an average of 115/60-something. So, if you elect to give it a try, let us know what ensues after a few weeks totally off.

I might add I was a coffee-addict. But the results of giving it up (no BP med.) far outweighs the few minutes of pleasure I was getting.

Yeah, I'll be interested to see if mine comes down still more, given what Dr. Esselstyn told me (see the BP thread) about caffeine damaging the endothelial cells (in the lining of the blood vessels). He said that the research suggests that the endothelial layer will repair over time, so that I can probably expect continued improvement as my cells regenerate and repair the lining.