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I have been a very strict raw foodist/vegan for the past 2 years. I am recently transitioning to the McDougall way and have been getting good results. I do not have weight issues, but am able to eat in a more effective manner on the McDougall program. Before I was eating all day long to maintain my weight. I am able to eat about 4 times a day now and feel satisfied in between meals.

However........[u][b][/u][/b]tonight we will be celebrating my husbands 50th birthday . He is joining me on my McDougall woe beginning tomorrow morning. Tonight we will be celebrating by going out for pie after a McD dinner. I would like to eat the pie joyfully without remorse.

Any ideas on how to minimize the damage....or guilt? I am planning on having either chocolate cream or lemon supreme. (Bakers Square).

Thanks everyone!! I value your opinion.

I realize everyone may not agree with the "treat" but respect all advise anyone wants to lend. Since I have been eating great for 2 years, I'm not afraid of creating a bad habit.

I say ENJOY your pie without guilt then just climb right back on board the McDougall train..All will be well

Dr. McDougall talks about "feast days" in his books. These are infrequent times like a birthday or anniversary, holiday etc. where you can treat yourself to a non-McDougall meal. Here is exactly what he wrote:

"There is a place for rich foods, when and if they are introduced into your diet. That place is reserved for festive occasions."

Happy Birthday to your husband. Go out and enjoy yourselves!

Wow, I just posted about this same sort of thing and I can't agree more with the answers people wrote. Moderation and what we do 90% of the time is probably the way to make this eating plan sustainable.

Today I had fun experimenting with new recipes, they are good! This is really going to be great once I get the hang of it.

Have a great birthday celebration!!

To minimize the damage I would joyfully order the french apple or peach pie. Less than half the fat and calories, less dairy = less guilt, and less McDougall's Revenge the next day. There might even be a little nutritional benefit from the fruit (at least that's what I would tell myself).

You can go to the Baker's Square website for nutritional information on their menu items. Always helps to be informed BEFORE you order. You may chose not to make a rational decision - we're all human after all - but at least you'll have the information.
Kate

I vote for lemon supreme

Thanks for your support.

I will eat pie joyfully and hopefully feel good afterwards. It's been two years.

I'll let you know what I have and how I feel.

I'm thinking of a little cinnamon to keep the blood sugar low.

You may find that (1) the pie is painfully sweet and/or (2) that you end up w/ "McDougall's revenge." Both have happened to me. When I have the VERY occasional piece of my SIL's vegan baked goods on feast days, I only take a VERY small piece--the sweetness otherwise makes my teeth ache!

The "pie" experience was interesting.

The waitress reccommended the "pie of the month" which was a chocolate truffle. She asked me to try it and if I didn't like it, she would bring me something else. I told her this was my first "sweet" in 2 years, so she was really kind.

The chocolate was too sweet even though it was dark chocolate. She brought me a piece of cherry instead.

It was tasty, but in all honesty, I would have been just as happy with a big bowl of cherries. I never realized how "greasy" crust tastes.

Couple of observations:

Weight up 1.5 pounds since yesterday and a single piece of pie was the only change.

Tummy a little rumbly after my orange this morning.

Woke up really hungry. Usually I'm fine.

I will have to search on "McDougall's revenge" tonight. Not familiar with that.

I guess I'm not really missing anything. The pie was no big deal.

Have a great day everyone!

LOL! Yup. That's pretty much my experience and my conclusion as well.

After recommitting to McD in June 2010, I hadn't had a SINGLE sweet for 4 mos. My b-day came along and I figured that was a feast day, so we went out to the only vegan restaurant in town, where I got an ALMOST compliant dinner. Then I had a vegan cupcake. People had been telling me how AWESOME this place's cupcakes were for MONTHS so I'd been looking forward to it.

I ate HALF of it and gave the rest to my niece. It was so sweet my teeth hurt! Since then, other than a few occasional bites of my vegan chef SIL's cookies, I have stuck with fruit. It's plenty sweet for me!

I can imagine that the crust was really greasy--all that butter! Ick! And that's what's likely to cause McD's revenge (diarrhea). Hope you don't go through that!

Hope you still had some enjoyment from your pie. I look at desserts with disdain, what I'm dreaming of is having some cheese on nachos, on an appropriate feasting day. 1.5 pounds sounds about right