Discussion Board

"Even as the sky is falling all around us, we can choose a couple of baked potatoes over French fries, water over fructose-filled soda, and a daily walk over the sofa."

That quote is from Dr. McDougall's comments on the sidebar of the article.

I have learned this lesson quite well in the past few weeks. My father died one month ago tomorrow, and the weeks just before that and since have been the most tumultuous of my life. All through it I've kept potatoes in my purse and on the kitchen counter, baked beans in the fridge, fresh fruit in the fruit bowl. Some days I don't know what I ate but I know it was OK. Even when there is no time to cook meals, I can microwave frozen vegetables and a baked potato and have a meal.

No excuses.

Mrs D--sorry to hear about your father. Good for you to not add to your pain with off-plan eating.

I really liked this Star McDougaller's story, esp. this quote:
Others got heavier while I remained trim. Remarkably, the one with the lifelong weight issue turned out to be the one to maintain her weight loss. I, the “disordered eater” for whom eating is still the greatest pleasure and food the greatest temptation, have succeeded where others have failed.

I also like this one from Dr McDougall:
You would think with just one thing to change—the kinds of foods on a person’s plate—everyone would succeed. But obviously this is not true and there are pieces of the behavioral puzzle yet to solve.
The "behavioral puzzle" is what interests me--maybe a lot of it has to do with personality, like what our "default" is. Some people, when introduced to this way of eating, jump in with both feet and are thrilled to pieces to have this new info--and others focus on all the foods they'll be missing and never even give this way a try.

Our most current Star McDougaller tells a wonderful story of overcoming years of obesity. We are so proud of her.
f1jim

Joyce is beautiful.
Does she post here on the board?

Did she attend a 10-Day Live-in Program? I'm wondering how Dr. McDougall became aware of her and her success.

Such an inspiring, and on-going story....

Sorry to hear about you father. My mom doesn't have much time left on earth herself. I know I will be the one handling all the funeral arrangements when she passes away. I am sure it will be stressful. I eat when I am stressed out and you gave me some good ideas to beat stress.

Sorry to hear about your dad's passing. Having lost both of my parents, I know how devastating it is. Congratulations, though, on handling it without adding more to your stress with eating out of control.

When I read that, I remembered Dr. McDougall's comments that
accompanied Karen Barron's (KareninTN) Star McDougaller story.
http://www.drmcdougall.com/stars/karen_barron.html

Dr. McDougall's Comments:
On the first day of each 10-day live-in McDougall Program in Santa Rosa, California, I begin my first lecture by telling participants that those people who have "failed" repeatedly at dieting in the past are the ones who are almost certain to succeed this time, because they have, over the years, put the work in required to finally make changes permanent. Now the staff members of The McDougall Program are going to add the finishing touches. Karen's learning experiences from Weight Watchers were essential for her success with us. Without these "failures" The McDougall Program would have amounted to no more than one of the beginning steps in her journey for better health.

Many people also come to our program with stories of having "failed" with the Pritikin or Ornish Programs, and I try to explain to them that these educational experiences were necessary steps and I remind them that when they look back they must give deserved credit to these excellent programs.

More than half of the people who attend our live-in program have previously tried to follow our recommendations from the McDougall books and DVDs. Fortunately, most of them had experienced sufficient benefits to understand the value of our low-fat, starch-based diet and exercise. But, because permanent changes require time and effort they "fell off the wagon," as the saying goes. Many experimented, before and after their McDougall experiences, with completely opposite, low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets (Atkins, Zone, etc.). They received painful lessons from these diets. Finally through persistence they decided, as Karen did, to commit to the McDougall Program—and that commitment was the turning point. (She recently dedicated 10 days to focusing on her health at our center.)

One comment I enjoy making to people is, "Those of you who have known me for many years will notice that I (Dr. John McDougall) am looking trimer, stronger, and handsomer than the last time you saw me. And the reason is that I take better care of myself now than I did in the past—and it shows." Few people follow a perfect diet, exercise ideally, and have pristine habits. But, as we get older we take better care of ourselves. My sincere hope is that our rate of learning stays ahead of our development of serious disease and disability. We also want to live life looking, feeling, and functioning at our best. Perfection is not required—just steady progress.

So if you feel like an "incurable failure," think again. A worthwhile education is an ongoing, difficult, and sometimes painful process. There is no reason to give up and every reason—since life is good—to seek experiences that will make us better persons, capable of getting more of what we deserve—health, prosperity, and happiness.

Words of HOPE, EXPERIENCE, and ENCOURAGEMENT from two Star McDougallers and from Dr. McDougall to help us all to keep on keepin' on !