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I totally agree with Dr. McDougall's reasoning for using starch as the core of a healthy diet and I enjoyed the latest newsletter article. I am struggling with weight loss however, and every time I add rice or potatoes or bread or other starches to my meals, the pounds come back quickly. I am mostly vegan and just can't seem to find the right balance of foods and satiation and weight loss. If I eat lots of salads and vegetables, I am hungry again in a few hours; if I start adding starches, the satiation lasts much longer but the pounds reappear immediately, like the starches are magnets for fat. Anybody else had this problem? Am I not giving it enough time to work? (I regained the whole 7 lbs I lost in October when I added rice and sweet potatoes and my homemade whole wheat bread to my diet in November). This is my first post so let me know if I am out of order here.

Butterflygal,

Off the top of my head, refined starches, like whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta and corn tortillas, have double the calorie density of whole starches like potato, sweet potato or brown rice. (About 1,000 calories/lb vs. 500 calories/lb.)

I've noted a lot of people here loosing weight stick to whole starches, and I hope they'll chime in.

Myself, my main starches are brown rice, potatoes and oatmeal, with only occasional bread or pasta, even though I'm not trying to loose weight. The whole starches are just simpler to prepare.

Hi.
Those 7 pounds probably aren't body fat. It's probably water weight. Starch can be a water magnet, but it's not really a fat magnet. It's more work for the body to convert starch to fat for storage, but easy for it to store dietary fat. If you keep the added fats/oils out of your diet, you're not going to easily gain fat on your body. There can be many reasons for difficulty in losing weight or retaining water. You could explore those.
http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/treatme ... htGain.htm

http://www.answers.com/topic/fluid-retention
I remember one time years ago my sister told me she didn't like to eat chili because she gains five pounds the next day. She also used to do body fitness/figure competitions several years ago. Sometimes she'd eat almost no carbohydrates--I guess so that the water stored in her body would leave making muscle definition more pronounced. Along with the water, she said a lot of her thinking ability also left. Low carb intake can make ya ditzy. The brain just doesn't work right without it.

The body is a marvelous machine. So much goin' on in there.

Hi Butterflygal - I love your username! If you are still eating animal products, and added fats, the pounds are unlikely to come off, since the fat you eat is the fat you wear - this is really true! Also, if you are eating much sugar, sugar is a great appetite stimulant.
This way of eating does work, but it works best the closer you eat to Dr. Mcdougall's recommendations.

Hi Butterflygal (love your name too!)

I returned to a starch-based diet this summer after eating a raw food (high fruit, low fat) diet for the past couple years. I gave it up because I started having lots of problems with the fructose in the fruit.

At first I gained weight, but then my body adjusted and let it go again and now I'm actually at a lower weight than I was this summer, at the end of the fruit-based diet.

When i was having doubts about this way, I just reminded myself to look around. Who are the slender, healthy people that you know? For me, the people who eat a lower fat, plant-based diet are the healthy ones, not the low carb folks who eat plenty of animal foods. It seems like people lose weight initially on a low carb diet, but over time health problems emerge.

Thanks for your posts everyone - I'm reading them all very carefully. I'm actually mostly vegan so animal products are not an issue. And I eat very little fat. Sugar over the holidays was a problem though, maybe that was the culprit. I'm back to just eating veggie concoctions, very little grains, fruit for snacks and in my green smoothies, beans, salads, and that's about it. I'll let you know what happens!

I just noticed this. I did this as well. I tested a theory in my own life... I dropped animal protein (meat and dairy) but I had a hard time giving up oil so I thought I could just use a little. An entire month... very little oil... no weight loss at all. Dropped the little bit of oil... bam! Weight loss began. I don't know what effects sugar has as that isn't an issue for me.

Thanks Pacificfords - I'm going to test the same theory. I did have a little safflower oil (locally cold processed) in December but I will avoid it altogether now. How about the fat in nuts and seeds and avocados?

You can safely omit these three, follow the MWL guidelines and I think you will eventually (Patience!) be very happy with the results, BFG!!!

I used to be a huge fan of the green smoothie, too. But, further research, both Dr. McDougall and Jeff Novick say "don't drink your calories" and that applies to green smoothies as well. And, I found this true for me, too. Eating the greens and fruit I put into the green smoothie is far more satisfying than drinking them.

Sharon

Thanks everyone for your responses! I'm heading over to the weight loss discussion at this point to rub shoulders with those wanting to shed pounds like myself. I'm counting on a lot of help there... Sue

You aren't out of line but you might be lacking some useful knowledge.

The bread is calorie dense
Intact Whole Grains vs Refined Processed Grains
viewtopic.php?t=6045
viewtopic.php?t=6512
viewtopic.php?t=6122

Calorie Density, Weight Loss, BMI, How Much To Eat
viewtopic.php?t=6032
viewtopic.php?t=6916

These are from Jeff's hot topics
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=7828

You might also consider getting his DVD's - particularly the ones on calorie density and oil.

You might also consider the Lighten Up DVD - which explains that the bottom line is calories in > calories burned means weight loss.

You can blame the starches - but the whole grains are not calorie dense.

Best wishes.
Vic

I too would look at the bread as a culprit here. Moreso than the other items you mentioned. The list of members that have found bread, even whole grain bread, their undoing is long. Many of us find that almost unlimited brown rice and potatoes are fine.
f1jim

But Dr. McDougall says in his latest newsletter that it's OK to eat an entire loaf of bread a day and still eventually lose weight because it will fill us up to the point we won't want to eat fatty food.

Just speaking from personal experience and history, I'd try a spell without it and watch what happens.
Jim