Discussion Board

Since my wife mentioned I'm trying to lose weight, I figured I might as well start a Journal thread. Mary had already become interested in the McDougall program when we got married in 1995. I was a bit skeptical at first but have gradually become more and more convinced it's the best program around. I'm about 5' 8 1/2" and take no medicine and want to keep it that way.

Around 2001 we took a vacation to the Napa valley and since we were going to be in the Santa Rosa area, we went to the St Helena Hospital and by asking around arrived in Dr. McDougall's office. I don't remember now which came first, but we got a tour of the facility and when in the office I saw Dr. McDougall standing there and grabbed Mary and we went up and introduced ourselves. Apparently there was a 10 day program going on so he was pretty busy, but we talked one of the people there into taking a picture of us with him.

Then coming back from the Napa Valley area we had some spare hours so we made our way to the Right Foods factory and got a tour of that place, which was pretty interesting.

Over the years we've tried becoming more and more McDougallish, and in the past couple of years I'd come down from about 280 (my all-time highest weight) to 218 when I got a checkup and blood tests. The Dr. called me in and said I had type 2 Diabetes based on the fasting blood sugar levels. (285; Cholesterol 243) So she started to tell me what medicine she wanted to put me on, but I said Woah! Anyway she agreed to let me try reducing my numbers by diet. She did have me take another blood test to get a baseline Hemoglobin A1c which was a very high 12.3 So I immediately (well actually even before I went to see her the first time) switched to a strict McDougall diet, which with a few exceptions; not actually backslides but social occasions, I've been on since then. After two months I got my blood tested again, but the numbers were only marginally better (Cholesterol 222; Aic 11.4. Still I managed to lose 8 pounds in the first two months and another 4 pounds in the past 2 1/2 weeks or so. I was 206.0 this morning which is the least I've weighed in at least 10 years. My next tests are to be in the middle of January, so my immediate goal is to get under 200 before then, which looks very doable. Medium range I want to get to 180 and then see whether I have to go farther or not to get rid of the insulin resistance.

I have no symptoms, and have been feeling better than in ages since I've lost so much weight. I even played ping-pong on Thanksgiving day and was able to play for about an hour and impressed myself on how well I can still move around at age 64. When I talked to the Dr. I asked about liver and kidney function and she said they were in the normal range. So I don't think there's much risk in continuing without any medicine at this point.

I'll try to keep this thread up on what progress I'm making.

Dave,
Congratulations on the progress you've already made! You've come to the right place for help and support as you do the work to restore your health. You sure have the motivation you need, and I think you're right with the strict part. Most people who acheive the results they desire aim for adherence and consistency over time. Your numbers will come down. I look forward to seeing your progress. Best wishes to you.

Cool! I'm so glad you posted. I've just this minute finished reading all 28 pages of your Journal and I was riveted to say the least! Indeed when I was about half through I mentioned to my wife that what we need is someone to write a McDougall thriller (actually a murder mystery would be best). The detective would be struggling to lose weight, etc. and would stumble across the McDougall program, which would also lead to solving a supposed murder s/he was working on.

Of course, if someone has already written such a book, let me know so I can buy it.

Three straight record mornings! This time 205.2. Of course I knew it was coming since I normally lose at least two pounds overnight and i decided to "cheat" and see what I weighed just before I went to bed, which was 208.

Dave, congratulations on the weight loss, and for your newly-minted commitment. Kirstykay is right--this is the right place to be for good information, support, and ideas. Welcome to the Journal thread!

BTW, I did a Wii Fit weigh-in as I knew I'd blown by my previous weight goal and I'd lost 3.5 lbs in 5 days, so I reset it. I do need to start making the goals a bit more challenging. In the past I did 1 lb in 2 weeks and sometimes I'd make it and sometimes not. But now, since I'm averaging a pound a week, it's too easy. Next time I'll change it.

Anyway my BMI is now 30.24, so I'm almost on the boundary between obese and overweight. Yay!

Didn't quite set a new low today. I weighed in at 205.4. We've both had a bit of a cold this week, so Mary skipped church and I went and then stopped at Boston Market for 3-side samplers. No doubt some added oil in the veggies, but best I felt like doing under the circumstances.

Not doing so well weight-wise the past couple of days. Weighed 107.8 this morning But I'm still eating well. I've learned to accept the level or up stretches and expect things will turn around soon. I need to get some veggies cut up for snacking, however.

Well, I finally have a new low weight, 204.6! I've been plateaued for the past couple of weeks, but I have had a bit of a problem with Christmas parties and the like. I've not eaten really badly but it's been tough to be real McDougallish between lack of low-fat fare and tempting cookies, etc.

Anyway, now it's on to losing more seriously and getting under 200 before the middle of next month.

Yesterday I had a new low 204.2 and today I'm 204.4 which is encouraging, though I need to start exercising again to start losing weight faster.

Dave, it is fun to hear your determination. I just wanted to leave you a thought...that you have control over what you eat, not how much you lose. I say that because it sounds like your goals center around losing weight (unless I am reading this wrong. )

You are doing awesome!! This is a more challenging time of year...with Christmas parties and family gatherings.

Lydia,

Actually the deal is I had rather high glucose readings a few months ago and very high A1C, but I don't want to take the diabetic pills unless absolutely necessary, so I'm needing to lose weight to get rid of the insulin resistance. I haven't had any symptoms and actually feel better now than I have for years. But the more weight I lose the less likely I'll have problems in the future. Anyway, I'm not obsessing on weight, I just like numbers. I know my weight will go up, down, and plateau regardless of what I eat, but the trend is what counts.

Well, I'm up a couple of pounds from eating rich foods, but I don't expect I've actually eaten all that much fat, so most of it will come off pretty easy when I get back to more McDougallish eating the next day or so.

"...so most of it will come off pretty easy when I get back to more McDougallish eating the next day or so."

Very few people get back to it. Usually it either becomes your permanent way of eating or you just spin your wheels around every new holiday, birthday event, vacation, etc. It's very tough, especially this time of the year. The good news is if you can maintain around the holidays, then you can make it anytime. This is the time to commit to making it work, now or never. Yes, you can always fall back on the meds but that's a lousy life. There is no substitute for your own health. Keep that in mind when something looks attractive. What was the title of this thread?
f1jim

Oh, I didn't have anything non-vegan, just some treats like fruitcake and brownies. Yes, there was some added oil, but not anything close to a couple of pounds. So that weight must have mostly been water. I did have a fair amount of baked chips and salsa, and that probably has too much salt.