Discussion Board

Hi everybody, my names Jared. I started eating according to the mcdougall philosophy on jan 3rd. I've been pouring over all the medical info on his website and have learned a lot about health! I am still very new to thee ideas and food choices, so there's been some major changes lately and I'm starting to feel the benifits.

Mainly I want to take better care of my body, lower my blood pressure, and have more energy. I've been tired lately and havent worked out for a while. So i'd like to find a nutritional approach that give me the energy i need.

Last year I went vegan and really trimmed up but went back to meat mainly because I thought I was missing a lot. Truth be told I like cheese and meat but they're really rough on my stomach especially dairy. So I know that my body dosent like them. It's mostly advertising and social influences that had me trapped into thinking I need them.

I love how I can really go to town on the starches cause I love eating, and really like potatoes.

Feeling satisfied is really important to me, and potatoes and rice do a great job.

I really thought giving up oils and fatty food would be impossible, but it's been fairly easy.

Anyways, my current weight is 179, and my waist is around 36 inches, so my goal is to be a 31 inch waist and down into the 160's. I'd like to get there by summer, so that means I need to drop at least 10 lbs in 4 months. Definitely do able, but I have t been in the 160's since high school, so for me it's a big goal.

Also my blood pressure last time I checked was starting to creep up so I recently bought a bp monitor and hope to get it down too. So I'll keep updates comming, hopefully they'll be good ones!

Welcome, jaredramos!


That's why they are called "comfort foods"!


After you've been off oils and fats for a while, you will really notice it if you eat some food with oil or fat. It will be noticeably slimy and gross! At least, that's been my experience.

Thanks for the welcome Ronald! I can definitely see my taste changing. I still crave putting fatty things on my potatoes but I'm learning to enjoy them plain, especially sweet potatoes.

I just got my sphygmomanometer in the mail from amazon today so I decided to go to Walgreens to buy a stethoscope so I can measure my bp at home. At Walgreens I was in the checkout line, waiting to pay, and decided to look at some of the fat content in the snacks they sold by the register... I looked at a honeybun with 40g of fat and was shocked. Really an eye opener

Hey Jared, welcome aboard. Sounds like you are doing great so far. It will really be helpful for you reaching your goals if you enjoy things plain. I assume you are doing MWL to get to that goal by summer? I'm in pretty near the same boat as you, just guessing from the weights you posted, although I'm not sure on your height. I'm about 5'10" and started losing weight when I was close to 190. I got on McDougall a few months ago at 183 and I'm currently. Hoping to get into the low 160's by summer as well. I'll be following your progress. I'm keeping a journal here as well if you are interested called "The Last 20 Pounds." Cheers!

Hey biophiliac, looks like we're starting off close. I'm 5'10 and weighed in today at 181. Ill be following your "last 20 pounds" thread.

Hit the scale at 178 lbs today, and that was after spending the previous day at a packer party with plenty of snacks! I ate mostly pretzles and had a couple beers. Tried to stick to a no fat approach, and grazed instead of a bulldozing like in the past. Really amazed how easy it's been so far, I've hardly worked out at all, just mild walking and some pull-ups here and there.

Since I'm getting really positive changes so far I'm just going to keep things the same and see where I level off at.

I'm so happy I've found this woe!

Getting better at taking blood pressure readings, if you've never done it before there is a learning curve. But think I'm getting better. It's interesting to be able to do it myself, hopefully I'll see some positive trends in the future.

Personally I like to cruch calories, I know most hate it, but for whatever reason I enjoy it. I'm a engineer, so calculating things is what I'm good at. I eat four meals a day and have 2 snacks, and after each of the four meals I am very satisified and full. These meals are only around 400 calories and are very satisifing. Each one contains alot of food. The total net calories consumed is around 2000, which is right where I want to be. I have alot of energy eating this way and have seen positive changes with respect to weight.

But one thing I am noticing is that my sodium is still relatively high. I do eat some packaged foods still and while they are low in fats, the sodium is suprisingly high.

I think I'm going to use the cron caloie counter that jeff talks about and see where I stack up wrt salt. Excited to see the results

sphygmomanometer is basically the best word in existence. Seems tricky to do it on yourself, but far more accurate than the automated ones no doubt.

Haha soooo true, and yeah it's a bit tricky. I still think i need to perfect my technique.

It's fascinating to be able to listen to your blood pulsing through your veins. Imho really a good way to start becoming intimate in what's going on in your body.

Joined a gym pretty close to my house. On my way out the door to do some cardio. I love how on this WOE recovery seems to happen sooo quickly. I just have to make sure to remember that while my muscles will recover very quickly, my joints need time to adapt to excersise. So I'll try not to kill myself in this next week of starting up running again

Hopped on the scale today and it was down to 177.8 Great news. It was staying stagnant for a while so yesterday I decided to reduce the meal amounts a bit to jump start the weight loss. Glad it worked.

Well off to the gym, grrrrahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Forgot how amazing the first workout feels, major endorphin rush also my cravings seem to subside after excersing. I stil get hungry but the desire to eat until stuffed is reduced greatly.

That's one area I know I've struggled with, overeating. Like sitting down and eating a couple bean and rice tortillas, and while full going and making another one even though I know I'm full. I know it's not good to do and I feel significantly worse afterwords but continue to do it. I'm assume its emotional eating to cover up some unhandled emotional conflict I am experiencing.

I tend to be a nervous person and find that when in a social situation I will gravitate to the food area frequently. I think I'll start tracking what my behaviors/feelings are next time I overeat.

Really feel good after exercising, did 3.5 miles in an hour. I'd like to work up to get 3.5 miles in 45 minutes next time!

I think that is quite normal actually; gravitating to the food that is. I notice that wherever you put food people will go. If we have a party and set the food out in the kitchen, even with plates to take it wherever, people will hang around the kitchen. They will even stand around in there for lack of chairs when very comfortable chairs are close by. But put that food in the other room and there the people will go. Just like animals being lead to traps I suppose.

biophiliac - That's a great analogy, reminds me of a spin off of the movie Field of Dreams - If you cook it they will come

I'll need to start accounting for my different way of eating in social situations now by either preparing something ahead of time or fasting. I tend to get discourished if I slip up one day, and that usually starts a spiral downword to breaking the diet. So seeing as I'm prone to overeat in social situations it would be best if I could overeat on the food I like. I know it seems like a patch to cover up the bigger problem of eating to be comfortable, but I'd be much more disappointed if I went over on fatty food then on a veggie tray.

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Hit the scales at 176.4 so weight loss has continued. I'm felling ok, just a bit sore in the hips. Going to the gym again to do a mild cardio workout. Don't plan to push too hard, just want to get some miles logged. Since weight is comming off again the plan is to keep doing what I'm doing

Meals have been changed, now they look more like this

2pm - oatmeal, 1/2 apple, rasins, cinimon, soy milk
5pm- 1 cup brown rice, tomatoes, onions, garlic, cumin, peppers
7pm- sweet potato
9pm -1 cup whole wheat pasta, homemade no salt sauce
11pm- sweet potato
1pm- quinoa, tomatoes, onions, garilc, cumin, peppers

I have a clear schedule for the next 11 days, so what should I do. A fast food binge j/k I am going to make a push and get my weight into the low 170's! Currently I'm at 176.4, so l set a goal of 173.4 by the end of the month. Definitely doable, and I think if I stick to what I have been doing I will get there. 173.4 is going to be nice to see on the scale! 3 pounds in 9 days, so about a pound every 3 days. Here we go!

Also I think I'm going to buy a pressure cooker, I love beans but have to stick to the canned varieties, and usually go with instant brown rice. So I think a pressure cooker could really help a lot with the cost, nutritional quality and efficiency of cooking. Now which one to buy.