Discussion Board

Hi everyone!

Going to try journaling as a way to track my acceptance of this way of eating.

Really my main goal at this point is to become pregnant. I'm 37 and have an 18 year old daughter that I conceived naturally. But when I conceived her, I was 18, skinny and exercised regularly. At that point I probably had Poly Cystic Ovaries but not to the degree I do now. My fertility doctor says I have less than one-thousandth of a percent to conceive naturally. We went through fertility treatments for five years before we conceived our little 18 month old. Hoping to give her a brother or sister to grow up with. I’m still breastfeeding, so hopefully that won’t make a huge difference. Going to work on getting skinny and excising (in some form or another) every day.

Also hoping to not have 2+ week periods that are very painful.

Today was my first day and I’ve already learned a few things. First of all, I didn’t take enough food to work. I made Rich Richardson’s potato soup and took a BIG bowl into work. Planned on eating it for breakfast and lunch, which I did. But was still very hungry after. Went to a health food store and picked up some Corn Thins (the sesame seed ones that don’t have added fat). Really a better choice would have been to go to Wendy’s and get a couple of potatoes.

Secondly, I realized a ‘Mary’s Mini’ will not work for me. I love potatoes and can eat them every day, but need more variety! Will add in some rice & quinoa. Will be hard not to have the whole wheat pasta (we usually eat it about three times a week), but think maybe I can have a potato on the nights we have pasta. We also have nuts and soy quite regularly, so will miss having those foods.

At 163 lbs, I feel like I really need to be strict to lose weight.

Will add my last blood work numbers to this later on.

Yesterday went fairly well. Was 100% compliant. Yay! No high fat foods either. Came home from work very hungry and cut up a cucumber to snack on while I made tacos. Used seasoned bulgur for the taco 'meat' and sautéed some veggies. For the rest of the family I made Bryanna's melty pizza cheese. I just topped my tacos with shredded lettuce and lots of salsa. Yum! Tried to toast the corn tortillas in the toaster like someone recommended, but guess my toaster isn't wide enough.

So today, having learned from yesterday, I doubled the amount of soup to bring to work. Still was hungry, though. Have had some of the corn thins again. Guess I need to make even more food to take to work. Although from reading these boards, I think my body will get used the new foods and soon I won't be hungry as much. Sure hope so!

Probably for dinner I will serve spaghetti with tomato sauce, using the leftover bulgur 'meat' to put in the sauce. Think I will try it over a couple of potatoes and the family can have it over pasta. Hope it is good that way.

It looks like you are making a good start . Time and sticking to it are the best way to succeed at this way of life. I have 1 highly unlikely child and 1 impossible child (total suprise, after 4 years of not paying any attention) I am usually shocked by my periods, they are virtually nonpainful and last for 2 what used to be medium flow days and two spotting days. I"m 38.

There is a family in our church that have 3 girls now. Mom had first daughter as a teenager. She developed pcos and fertility treatments didn't work - were told that no way no how would she get pregnant. They decided to go the adoption route. She started a healthy diet, lost around 70lbs and then got "sick." After about a month and several Dr visits, her mom suggested that maybe she should test. She was about 8 weeks along... After daughter 2 was born, Dr said that that was a fluke... 3rd daughter was born 4 months ago.

The body can do amazing things with the proper fuel to heal itself. Sticking to it is the best route.

Good luck.

Thank you for sharing your experience and the church member's experience! Love hearing these experiences because it makes me feel like all hope is not lost!

My hair is falling out. Not just a little bit either. Not sure what is causing it, maybe stress. Going to have the doctor check my iron levels. May be loss of blood - on day 14 of my period. Grr. So disheartened. Losing hair is seriously depressing as it was thin before. When I very lightly tug on it, it comes out.

Having big problems with satiety. Never was a volume eater and eating so much food to get the calories/fiber is a pain! And a bit expensive, too. Frustrating not to lose any weight when I don't even eat enough calories to sustain my current weight! But probably need to add more excersise.

I am proud of myself for staying compliant over the weekend. Usually we eat quite richly on the weekends and I end up gaining whatever I lost during. I did eat some richer foods - nuts, avacodo and tofu, but stayed within the McDougall guidelines. Also had some bread. My hubby had Chipotle, but I resisted.