Discussion Board

Hello,

I am a woman in my late 30s with 50+ lbs to lose. I am considering starting this program and am thinking of doing Mary's mini version for the first week or so. I am vegetarian so the change I will be making is dropping the dairy, fats, nuts, flours etc. which I am sure form a considerable part of my diet.

I saw the video 'The starch solution' on youtube and have been reading these forums. I still have some outstanding doubts. It will be great if any of you can answer these.

Book
Which is the best book to buy? The MWLP book seems to be written in the 90s. Are the current editions updated? Do these provide any sample menus or meal plans as an example? In your opinion, is this book a must read?

Protein
Is high protein food like tofu or TVP forbidden? So is grilled tofu or tofu added to stir fries or vegetables etc. not an option?
If you eat tofu, should you not eat beans that day?
Is there any upper limit to soy milk used as whitener, or for mashed potatoes, creamed soups or sauces etc.

Quantity of starch
How much starch is adequate and how much is too much? How do we calculate the maximum amount of rice/potatoes/corn etc. that can be eaten at any meal or during the day?

Will this change per activity level? My current activity level is pretty sedentary and it will take time to work up to recommended exercise levels.

Total calorie intake
What should be the minimum or maximum calorie intake? What percent of the calories should be pure starch (the kind outlined by Dr. McD)

Mary’s mini
If I start with a mini version initially, will it be ok to eat oatmeal/fruit for breakfast and then potatoes/ chosen starch for lunch/dinner repeating the same thing every day? I somehow cannot imagine eating potatoes for breakfast. I might be able to eat corn.

Indian food
Does a typical Indian meal fit into the MWLP..e.g Roti/Chapati and dal/vegetables or Rice/Dal/vegetables? (oil free of course)

I suppose the roti/chapatti might be forbidden on MWLP since it is flour, and dal will be limited to 1 cup a day?


Eagerly awaiting your responses and support.

thanks much!!

Welcome aboard, KB!

I expect others will tackle your questions. I think you will be able to find several answers here:

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=22326

I suggest that you start out thinking about having only empty plates and bowls and decide what to put in them based on what you learn here. For me, that means almost exclusively steamed veggies and brown rice. Brown rice and potatoes are probably the most popular choices for Mary's Mini.

You can get all the protein you need from the starches (potatoes, rice, sweet potatoes etc.) and veggies.

If you faithfully follow the MWL, I think you will be very pleased with the results. Be patient. I think it will be easy for you after 60 days of practice and adaptation.

Please keep us posted!

Welcome! Congrats for finding this great way of eating!
IMO the MWL Must Haves are:

MWL book ( http://www.drmcdougall.com/store_mwl.html )
The China Study ( http://www.thechinastudy.com/ )
Jeff's Fast Food DVD ( http://www.drmcdougall.com/store_fast_food.html )

The MWL book is still very up to date--the only thing that might not be is the commercial/packaged food list, and you want to avoid that stuff as much as possible anyway. MANY sample meal plans are included, as well as many recipes. Other than SNAP/Fast Food meals, everything I make comes from that book.

The Fast Food DVD will give you a great method for making and inventing super easy, super fast, super yummy meals that take 10-15 min. It's invaluable.

And The China Study will convince you that you're on the right path.

Not permitted on MWL. Tofu prepared w/out oil is OK on the regular plan, but it's a more calorie dense food so be careful w/ it. TVP is highly processed.
Probably not, since tofu is made from beans.

I'm sure that's mentioned in the book, but I don't recall. Be careful w/ it, esp. full fat soy milk. It is calorie dense and processed. I use it only in my herb tea, and use less than 1/4 cup a day total.

You don't. Technically on MWL you should eat more greens and less starch than on the regular plan, but I have NEVER followed this aspect of it and I lost almost 90 pounds effortlessly and am keeping it off effortlessly. I eat an ABSURD amount of potatoes, LOL. Folks at the grocery store joke about all the taters in my cart. Starch is what makes you feel happy and full--eat LOTS of it. The only reason to limit it would be if you are NOT losing weight. But I doubt that will be the case.

As Dr. McD says, "It's about the FOOD!" Exercise a little if you can, but don't worry too much about it. As you lose weight and regain health you will feel better and will WANT to do more. If you do, do it!

You really need to read the MWL book. This plan is NOT about calories. Fergittabout them. If you are staying on plan you should eat until you are comfortably full, then stop. Then do it again later.

Seriously?? Taters are awesome for brekky! Get a ceramic "green" non-stick pan and make hashbrowns. Very yummy w/ salsa.

I haven't ever bothered w/ Mary's mini so someone else will have to answer your question about oatmeal. But to me, the MWL plan as it stands is great. IMO you should not START w/ Mary's Mini. The MWL plan itself is different enough and restrictive enough--don't set yourself up for failure by making it more so.

Well, bread isn't permitted on the MWL plan so rotis are out. If you cook the Indian food yourself so you're SURE there is no oil, Indian is great! There are a number of Indian-inspired recipes in the MWL book. Going OUT for Indian, however, is another matter entirely.

Hope that helps!

Thanks much for your replies, ETeSelle and pinkrose!!

pinkrose -- I read the 'pushing' link and its quite detailed. Also, the clickable recipes are really gr8.

ETeSelle - your weight loss is awesome..for me, its a pipe dream, and what I have obviously lacked is consistent resolve. I am venturing an attempt after a long time!!

I read parts of the China study, and I am definitely going to order at least one book.

I know MWL does not concentrate on calories, but my confusion is about something obvious..
e.g lets say I need 2500 cals per day to Maintain my current weight..I should not possibly be eating more than that, if I want to lose, right?

The Indian food will be home cooked, 95% of the time at least! I am currently in India and the list of processed foods available here is very scarce, which is good in a way.

The disadvantage is no Whole foods/ Trader Joe's either ..no liquid aminos etc.

I agree that the MINI might be too restrictive. I think I am going to draft something along MWLP but with simpler options. Once I get into the whole recipe thing, I get lost in them and overwhelmed.

Another question - would you eat more than one starch in the same meal? e.g potatoes and rice. Classic example - Aloo Matar and rice !

thanks again!!!

Honestly, it would just be really hard to EAT 2500 cals on this plan, LOL! If you're worried about it, input a few meals worth into the Cron-o-meter ( ). You'll be amazed by how much you can eat w/out jacking up the calories and you'll stop worrying. Be sure to input EVERYTHING. If you eat avocado you'll see the calories LEAP up. I don't advocate doing this on a regular basis, as it makes you think about cals which you should not do. But it can help you see that really CAN eat a ton of food on this plan (as long as you are ON PLAN) without consequences.

Even easier: Commit to following MWL with dedication for 2 weeks. Then weigh yourself. Rinse and repeat endlessly!

Oh, LUCKY YOU!!!! I'm hoping to go there next year. Where are you? What are you doing that? What have you seen?


This is why the Fast Food DVD is so awesome.

Sure--why not??? I regularly make stuff w/ taters and put it on brown rice. Can you get BROWN rice over there? White is not the same, alas.

Hi ETeSelle

I live at home here near Mumbai..am here after several years in the US.

Borwn rice -- not that easily..I checked a place yesterday and they did not have it..Maybe only some special store will..

I am starting today and have roped in my mom too. She keeps asking how much she will lose, and I keep telling her 'nothing' or 'don't expect anything'.

Just finished a 2 hour marathon in the kitchen. Made 2 salads for the fridge for snacking - potato salad and corn/peas salad, and also lunch.

I bought a whole bunch of potatoes yesterday and veggies and they already seem to be depleted. LOL. No 10 Lb bags here, although I can buy 4-5 kilos at a time I suppose. Just not used to buying so many potatoes.

Wish me luck!

Interesting! If you cannot find brown rice, you can use white rice. I lived in China for years before we finally found brown rice. It is about twice as expensive as the white varieties but I think it is worth it. I am glad you have potatoes--nutritionally superior to white rice...and probably even superior to brown rice....

Keep us posted, KB!

What seems really odd to me is that white rice is a fairly recent invention, isn't it? It requires factories, etc. Both India and China MUST have eaten nothing but brown rice for millenia! At what point did they stop doing this and go to brown rice only? It's kinda sad.

I know that when I go to India to visit there is gonna be NO way for me to stay on plan. As a tourist, I won't be able to eat ANY uncooked veggies or fruit, and I won't be able to cook for myself, so it will be white rice and oil-filled meals for me. I love Indian food but it really is JUST as good cooked w/out oil and served on brown rice. But I know I won't find it like that in Indian restaurants!

Sooooo, ET, visit KB in India and visit us here in China and get a nice McDougall break!!!

LOL..yes!

Raw fruits and vegetables will not be a problem at all. You can easily buy fruits off roadside hawkers, they are present everywhere. Bananas and apples should be most common, and grapes in grape season. Even raw vegetabes such as cukes and carrots can easily be bought by the roadside.

Many tourist places will especially have hawkers selling cukes etc. In the southern parts, carts selling cut fruit are common.

You can get a green salad ( which is actually sliced carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes etc. - not lettuce) and a fruit plate in almost any restaurant/hotel.

You might go for Idlis/dosas etc. that will be lower in oil - Idlis are steamed, the sambhar might have some oil, and then will yourself to stay away from the coconut chutney

Most restaurants will certainly have oil laden stuff - sadly, but asking for less oil might help.

It also depends on where you eat. If you mostly stay in 5 star hotels, they will have huge buffets that will definitely have something simple or might make you something per your instructions!!

Yes, but folks from elsewhere are STRICTLY cautioned not to eat any veggies that have not been thoroughly cooked--failure to adhere to this can result in terrible GI tract issues! You live there so your body is used to the bugs, but folks from outside cannot tolerate them. I sure don't want my trip to be spent in the bathroom, so I feel I can't risk it!

well...you gotta think of your tummy first..personally i have never had any problems with fruits and vegetables....you should be careful about the water tho', definitely!!

Yes--that's the problem. The fruits and veggies are washed in the water. Everyone who goes there is cautioned to eat NOTHING raw, period, b/c anything raw will have been washed in the water and there's nothing you can do about that.

Oh my goodness I must jump in this conversation. No so much because I have great advice for you KingBruce, but because my husband and I ADORE Indian cuisine. We have an Aruvaydic Restaurant out here that we discovered before going totally Vegan, and it's great because most of the dishes are vegan, though they cater to the vegetarian as well. Most of what you would call the Indian Dishes are Aruvaydic. What surprises me is how much oil they sometimes contain. When we went to a cooking class to learn how to make the chapti, I was floored when I saw her pour the oil in. I don't use even a quarter of what she uses when I make mine.

I made this wonderful dish on Thursday night for friends. Spinach Kofta (though I used Kale) and instead of a yogurt sauce I used tofu and coconut milk. I also made a "mock" lamb kofta if you will, here in the states we have the "Gimmie Lean" brand of "ground soy" and used that with a lamb kofta recipe. Came out yum! They are journeying closer to becoming vegetarians, (after seeing my weight loss and body changes) then maybe make the leap to veganism. However, they were impressed with the meal.

We have two Indian cook books. The Foods of India and 50 Different Curries of India. We live in them both and they work wonderfully on a vegan diet. My favorite thing to eat has to be potatoes and cauliflower! Oh man! Can't do the Soma's yet because of the flour.... (we bake them instead of deep fry).

Okay, sorry, I am long winded, and will look forward to hearing about your adventures in India! And wishing the best of luck on the plan. It works really well!!