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Please add me to the list of successful McDougallers. I'm so excited about it.

At 5 feet 5 inches, I was 124 lbs. most of my adult life. (I'm female, now 58). A few years ago I hit 147 lbs. and panicked, realizing it was only going to get higher as I continued my ways -- lots of dairy, eggs, fish, chicken, plus margarine and olive oil in and on top of EVERYTHING. (I thought olive oil was a health food). Throw in premium craft beers on the weekends and eating in restaurants (with more beer) at least 2x week, and I was fast destroying my health with high blood pressure and high cholesterol not to mention looking like my size 12 clothes were painted on and felt sickeningly tight.

I also believed getting fat was a natural result of aging!

I tried Weight Watchers and South Beach in the past, both of which worked temporarily. But I was always hungry, crabby, and thinking about food 24/7. And the weight always came back.

Two months ago, I found drmcdougall.com by accident while googling smoothie recipes. I had just bought a VitaMix, thinking fruit-and-vegetable drinks would be healthy and help in whatever diet I tried. (Ironically, Dr. McDougall doesn't recommend smoothies but of course a VitaMix does a lot more, and a green smoothie now and then helps increase my leafy greens intake).

The upshot: By following the McDougall program, in eight weeks, I lost 18 lbs. (I'm 125 lbs. today), now wear size 8 "skinny" jeans, lowered my blood pressure from 150/90 to 120/75, total cholesterol from 248 to 182, triglycerides from 105 to 72, LDL from 168 to 119. (My goal is total cholesterol to be 150 or lower and I have no doubt I'll get there soon). BMI went from 23.8 to 20.8.

I eat often, I eat a lot, and never have that "gotta eat the kitchen table NOW" feeling. I'm adding avocados, fruit and nuts back in my diet to maintain my weight and not lose any more!

My doctor, who of course had me on blood pressure meds for years and was trying to get me on statins, was shocked and amazed. I'm off BP meds and now have no reason for statins, and I take NO meds of any kind. I told him all about Dr. McDougall, who he hadn't heard of before; he was very impressed.

I've never felt better and have a ton of new-found energy and confidence.

I collect and read ALL of Dr. McDougall's books, watch his videos, listen to his lectures while walking and exercising, bought and read Dr. Campbell's "The China Study" and Dr. Esselstyn's "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease." I'm in total immersion with the program every day because I don't ever want to forget what to do or how to do it and want to be able to share what I know with anyone who asks. I feel so good (and told I look pretty darn good, too) that I'm sure I will never go back to my old, unhealthy lifestyle. It's just not worth it. Not even a little bit.

I'm upgrading my cookware and utensils and find I actually like cooking because it's for such a good reason, the recipes are fantastic, and it's like a fun new adventure. I used to (over)eat just to stop the hunger and took many shortcuts, not giving it much thought (just put cheese on everything and I was good to go!).

And the kicker: I even quit drinking coffee after a very committed 43-year addiction to it, 6-8 very strong cups per day. Now I drink 2 cups of white tea and am moving toward more herbals, but with my blood pressure under control, I'm giving myself permission to enjoy the white tea for now. (Can't find an herbal I like). I never thought I'd give up my precious coffee, but it was important for me to do things right and it was easier than I expected.

All this while continuing my long relationship with an avid carnivore and most of my extended family who eat a lot of meat and standard American fare. I'm sticking to my principles and not letting anything or anyone derail me while remaining polite about it -- but singing the praises of McDougalling, too. A few have expressed some curiosity and mild interest but for the most part, they like their food and alcohol and don't seem to want to change, even with their high cholesterol levels and one a former heart attack victim. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink it.

I have a new, first grandchild who I adore, and want to be around to see her grow up and to be there for her if she needs me. I figure this is my best chance for that. I also don't want to be a burden to my grown children by having chronic illnesses that can be prevented if possible. Oh, and I want to hike, bike, travel, and feel great through my 90s.

I hope this helps to encourage others. Eighteen pounds may not sound like much compared to the battles some are waging with bigger weight problems, but I was only destined to get worse and wanted to avoid that steep downhill slide I was surely on -- and my blood work was looking very bad. The testimonials of others really helped me to keep going, especially during a few plateaus.

Wishing my problems away did not work! McDougalling does!

Thank you Dr. McDougall!

CONGRATS!!!

Very cool, and I am so proud of you for the total immersion you are doing. Great!! You and the living proof that it does work.

Whoooo-hooo! So excited for your success! It feels so good when the body is in top shape. I'm new to the program and am elated to find so many people with great success. My husband is excited about eating this way also. Can't wait to share my experience with the world too. Congrats...congrats.

My oh my girl, can I relate to you!!!! Good on you! Isn't it amazing! I feel like I am not on a diet. (I know, I am looking it as a new WOE, but you know what I mean) That diet mentality....can't have this, can't have that. You wanna eat everything that isn't nailed down.

Then you find this Website, and you give it a shot, and you carry on. Before I knew it, I was too, was losing weight. I didn't feel like I needed to eat all the time. I don't feel deprived, and it's not a crisis to be hungry. I started Jan 3, and I have lost 18 pounds as well. It feels like the weight has been just falling off. I could go on, and on, but I won't.

Loved your post, thanks a whole bunch for sharing!

Wow...ParsleyPatch

Congratulations.

Like you I have read every book I can get hold of and watch all the lectures over and over again to keep me immersed.
I am 126 and want to be 118 and want to know if you did MWL strictly for 8 weeks? Do you exercise? I lost just 2 pounds in 4 weeks so I guess each one is different. Can you please give me a sample day's menu that you followed? BTW I turned 49 on Feb 4th the day I became Vegan. I have been vegetarian for about a year but did not restrict oil.

I am enjoying the cooking too and have gone to every vegan site lookng for new stuff.

Love to hear more on how you did it.

Thanks for the nice comments everyone! It's fun to share accomplishments no matter how big or small, and encouraging for other readers of these discussions, I believe, like it is for me.

Meant to say that I eat a lot and often, mainly to avoid getting to the crazy-famished state, not because I'm that hungry. I only get mildly hungry now but can often wait and my version of "a lot" is MUCH less than the old-food ways. Whole plant foods are very filling.

I eat often (but reasonable amounts) because McDougall foods are so darn tasty! And I've also lost all cravings for sweets or chips. In the old days I would crave, then down a bag of BBQ Ruffles in two minutes flat!



Yes, I exercise 4-6x a week with brisk walking for 30-40 minutes and about 3x a week at the gym with not-very-strenuous weight lifting. But I intend to increase as time goes by. I want to be trim and strong, not trim and weak.

Several times I hit plateaus for up to 10 days even though I didn't change habits, then the weight fell off again. I just stayed the course!

Typical day: B- oatmeal with splash of almond or rice milk, a whole orange, white tea; or my new fave, cooked sweet potato, apples, banana and cinnamon chopped together, a cereal-bowlful. Delicious! Now I put almonds and dry oatmeal on top-- tastes like apple pie.

S- Whole wheat Wasa cracker with homemade oil-free hummus or an apple or some of both. Occasionally a green smoothie.

L- Cooked potato with salsa or steamed veggies and nutritional yeast, piece of whole fruit. Or, some great soup from a McDougall cookbook.

D- Mixture of brown rice, beans, and sweet potato, warmed up with hot sauce, cumin and paprika spices, then put on two small warmed corn tortillas with salsa and nutritional yeast; plus a salad and/or steamed broccoli. (I could eat this every single night but enjoy discovering new dishes, too, and variety is good).

S- Whatever's leftover in the fridge that I can find, or a piece of fruit, but I usually don't (and try not to) eat after 8 p.m.

I have not followed MWL but rather have taken advice from all the books and the website and sort of fashioned my own "program" but sticking to the rules.

I threw out (or gave to the food bank) EVERYTHING in my cupboards that were not allowed -- anything processed with all the usual garbage in it. I read every label in the supermarket and if it has a speck of oil or dairy, I don't buy it. I look for no-sodium or very-low-sodium items, too (which means I don't buy much since everything has sodium).

If I have to eat in a restaurant, which I try to avoid but sometimes can't, I ask for plain salad with balsamic vinegar, a dry baked potato with malt vinegar, and/or steamed oil-free vegetables.

I live, eat, and breath McDougalling!

Thanks for all that good information.

I eat almost the same stuff but I have not completely cut down oil. I will do so starting today and see what happens in a month. I do not crave sweets either as I think the body has enough stored glycogen.

I do drink a cup of coffee in the morning.

It was very encouraging to read your post and stats.

Carbmama, you might want to check out this hot topic on oil by Dr. McDougall: http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2007nl/aug/oils.htm

I've read both him and Jeff somewhere referring to oil as the worst "junk food" of all.

In one of Dr. Esselstyn's video lectures, he "yells" at the audience several times in a row, "NO OIL! .... NO OIL! .... NO OIL!" I loved that... it has stayed with me!

I treat oil like poison. I believe not consuming it is the biggest factor of all for losing weight and definitely for lowering my cholesterol. It also has ramifications for causing cancer and inflammation.

Of the list of "illegal" McDougall foods, to me, oil is among the very most important ones to avoid at all costs, and I do.

I find oil and fats to be really disgusting now and I felt that way after only a week or two of getting off them. I bet you will, too!

What a great testimonial! Thank you so much for sharing. I LOVE reading about how people get better eating this way, it always gives me further resolve to remain strict.

I do know exactly what you mean about the 18 pounds. It might not sound like that much compared to those brave souls who have lost 100+ pounds (and I heartily congratulate them!). However, I know from personal experience that 18 pounds can easily send my BP through the roof, and sodium does make a difference.

I'm working towards losing a last 10 or so pounds right now. To look at me, you'd never think I needed to. But, there is a poochy roll around the waist that tells the truth. And, my BP is not the best. Not high enough to need meds, but not where it should be - and I check it frequently, home and quiet, so I know it is true.

I offer a huge congrats to you for remaining consistent even living with a SAD family. It is hard! I am right there with you, although my family would never, ever agree to keep the pantry free of junk. Hopefully your family will one day come around to a healthy WOE.

What a great success story! Congratulations ParsleyPatch! I appreciate you posting your meals too, being a newcomer it's helpful to see what other people are eating.

Lorax, everything is relative, for sure. I have a sister who had a completely normal weight and had even run a full marathon at one point not many years before she had a heart attack about 15 years ago at the age of 50. She survived with a surgical stent and leads a fun, active life today, but battles, and worries constantly about, her very high blood pressure and high cholesterol that seems uncontrollable with meds. She is still a normal sized person and eats fairly well but does have meat and likes fine wines a lot. So McDougalling isn't just about weight but about health. Losing excess weight is a side benefit to getting a healthy body and a healthy body has no room for excess weight. At least that's the way I see it. And I'm willing to bet that every person with 100 pounds to lose first started out with an extra 18 pounds!



Actually, I live by myself, which simplifies things greatly.

However, when my two kids were in high school in the early 90s, they and my husband agreed to live a vegetarian life at home. I had read John Robbins' "Diet for a New America" and decided I would not buy or cook animal meats any longer. So they were all exposed to that way of life and follow it today more so than the average person. However, they all put some animal products back in their diets over the years, as I had (until I found McDougall). We also continued to consume lots of dairy, oils, and junk food like cookies and chips, so we were not that great at it. (We were also all much younger and youth is very forgiving. For a while).

I can't say I would have been able to pull off McDougalling back then with a family, but with the right incentive and mindset, I would have given it my best shot. But again, we were much better than the average SAD eater and I did do a lot of beans/rice/vegetables cooking from scratch. My daughter is raising her baby 95% on whole, organic vegetarian foods (she gets some yogurt) and is married to an omnivore and they are working things out pretty well that way.

My 30-yr-old son is thin and has high cholesterol from eating a lot of cheese so I'm working on him now!

You could try reducing (slowly throw out?) the junk foods in your pantry and replacing them with healthier alternatives over time, kind of sneakily. Pass it off as "an experiment for a while" then just don't go back to buying the bad stuff. The McDougalls have a wonderful lecture on how they keep fresh fruit around, cut up vegetables and hummus ready to eat, etc. If that's all there is to eat, that's what the family will eat!

Parsley Patch,

How awesome and I thank you for sharing. I'm been here before, turned away and picked-up health concerns along the way and I'm back and hope that this is where bad health will end and good health start and stay. I, too want to be fit and healthy for the duration of my life. This up and down; eating healthy, not eating healthy has taken a toll on me and I want to stop harming me and get it together.

I can back on line yesterday and read some of your posts, as well as others and enjoyed reading that there are those in the world still doing and believing in Dr. John, because I believe in him and what he stands for, but have had a hard time staying the course of what I know is right for me and my health.

I will continue to read and begin to nourish my body in a healthy manner and I know that it works and I need to work it daily without any interruptions and know that either I will one day be able to have or not be able to have and move on.

I thought I owned "The Pleasure Trap", but can't find it, so I guess not, however I feel I need to read it. It was suggested to me some years ago by one of the "Star McDougallers" and I do need to read it.

Thank you so much for your posts.

jamila04

You're welcome, jamila. Mine is a small story --- there are many others who have huge stories of great success overcoming giant obstacles and they are the inspirational ones. I was just excited about posting my own testamonial and thoughts, to be part of the wonderful crowd here.

Almost everyone has tales to tell of going up and down with healthy, then un-healthy living. I've done it many times, only I didn't have McDougall before so I had no real anchor. Hence, I've gained and lost the same 20 pounds about three times! I also put my head in the sand when it came to hypertension and cholesterol and finally, after reading the books from McDougall and the others, I faced reality once and for all and everything clicked. But everyone faces the old temptations all the time. We all have to find ways and reasons to stay strong.

Good luck to you in your journey. Keep reading these forums, like daily, and you won't feel alone, and you will get a steady supply of encouragement and wonderful ideas for delicious foods so that you won't even want to eat the old way anymore! This website is so vast and varied, you will never get bored with it.

Happy trails,
Parsley

OHHH, Parsley Patch, you'll never know how you've inspired so many of us today!! THANK YOU, for your story, for the details you went into, the daily menu was sooo helpful. Your encouragement and strength is simply astounding! I saw myself in so much of what you wrote, & just feeling like I'm chasing my tail, not getting anywhere!Coming HERE, reading EVERYTHING I can, studying the books again and again, until I know it by rote...is what i do each day. The success stories, the tips n motivations are loaded in this board. We just have to find em!! I'm so very very glad to have found yours today. Thank you, dear Parsley...for your open sharing!! You're