Discussion Board

Hey meee again I was wondering if the is an advantage or health benefit to boiled or baked veggies, mostly potatoes??? Like is one more or less cals?? Or more filling??? Or helps ya lose more weight??? hahaha
Also... regular, sweet potatoes, or yams? Is one better than the other??? More filling... less cals???
And then last but not least.. how much in a day? one pound two pounds, 10 pounds?? lol

I think the cooking method depends on the type of potato. Yukon Golds and the little red potatoes are good boiled/mashed. I like boiled whole and have around on hand. Maybe dipped in an "artisan" mustard.

Russets are good baked. However I don't bake them anymore. Once I started microwaving potatoes I rarely go back to baking in oven. Its fast and I prefer the steamed inside versus a fluffy/dry inside.

I havent mastered dry cooking hashbrowns, but they arent my favorite anyway. It just doesnt compare to the greasy, ham and cheesy hashbrowns I used to eat! But it is pretty quick in the morning to dump a half bag of frozen hash browns in a pan and have potatoes for breakfast in 10 minutes.

I also don't mash potatoes much, it falls short of the milky creamy stuff ma used to make. I also don't make chips or baked fries for similar reasons. I just end up disappointed and desiring the "real thing".

Personally sweet potatoes don't keep me full very long, although I like there's no need for toppings.

Eat as much as you want, when you want, no limits on the potato. You will lose weight, unless you may already be underweight. (you may have to limit your toppings though). Search the newsletter archives for "Mary's Mini".

I don't think there's much of a nutritional advantage to any particular cooking method, certainly not enough to make a real difference. How do you like to eat them best?



Why not eat them both? I like plain microwaved sweet potatoes as a dessert or snack.

I don't count calories, I just eat until I'm full, then stop eating. A few years ago I did this WOE and counted calories, restricted starch, basically did everything you're not supposed to do and I didn't last long. I don't like being hungry all the time, it's painful mentally and physically. It took me awhile to change my heavily programmed head that starch is bad. My weight loss has been much faster this time and I lose weight every week. If I feel my weight loss is too slow, I add more vegetables. My mindset is this is my way of eating and not a "diet."

What I do is boil several potatoes at a time and cut them up and make potato salad, usually for lunches or if I'm going to be away from home for more than a couple of hours. Or I serve a big bowl of cubed, boiled potatoes, then have some sort of topping like a bean dish or soup, that's mostly dinner. I also make a blended potato & leek soup for a light meal. My crockpot has come in handy when I need to cook a lot of potatoes. I just scrub them, place in crock, turn on high and they're done about 6 hours later, the texture is perfect. I prefer to peel and boil russets, I don't usually eat the skin. Red potatoes are my favorite and I eat the skin, so I prefer those cooked in the crockpot.

I like garnet yams too, but I only peel and boil those, I prefer them firm, not mushy. I usually like just a bowl of plain, boiled yams. If I have leftovers, they will always go in soup, they can be soft in soup since they break up, I don't get grossed out then.

BTW, half of my food is vegetables and the other half, starch. I eat my vegetables first, starch second. I eat more vegetables now than I did before. I limit my fruit to 2 a day.

Thank you all!! Ok so I boiled/steamed 2 pounds of those baby potatoes, and half are gone!!!! So I ate a pound of taters with my raw veggies (Carrot, cauliflower, zucchini and celery) at lunch!!! I am eating too much right? Should I skip the starch tonight, and just have a big green salad and a veggie soup? I don't wanna gain, but I could easily eat the other pound of potatoes after my veggie din~din. Or I could have apples instead? I got my book today and I am skimming through it now... But when I look at the recipes it serves like 4, 6 or even 8 people!!! I could probably eat them in one serving..lol

I microwave all my taters--so much easier! Boiling does cause some nutrient loss, unless you consume the water afterwards.

I don't have a microwave! lol Got rid of it when I went raw, and read they were bad for ya...lol I think I might go grab one tomorrow!! I did use the water for my veggie soup tonight Ummm how many pounds of potatoes/grains do you eat in a day? Oh and awesome testimony by the way!!

Oh and veganjen... I am in love with the red skinned potatoes too!!!!! Yummmmm!!! Thank you for all the tips! I sooo wanna here how much you all have in a day though really. pounds, or just like a cup at eat meal?

My best guess is 1-2 cups of potato cubes at a time, I don't measure anything, and it really depends on my activity level that day. If I just do my 30 min. yoga w/o, I eat less. If I'm beach or mall walking, I eat more and never leave the table stuffed but comfortably satisfied. Another thing is that I don't necessarily eat potatoes every day, I like brown rice too...but you only asked about potatoes! Breakfast is mostly steel cut oats & fruit.

In the first few weeks I seemed to be eating all the time. Then one day my appetite regulated itself and I eat far less now. But I still lost pounds and inches. I didn't weigh myself until after the first 30 days, I didn't want to get hung up on the numbers. I weigh daily now and have a better relationship with my scale. It always shows progress, so that makes me very happy. I've lost 17.6 lbs. in 40 days.

I do the same thing, all of my cooking water goes into my soups.

A few comments for you...

First off, 2lbs of potatoes (if measured when raw) are worth less than 700 calories. They are also very low in fat. There was a time when I was doing the elimination diet and eating only yams or potatoes, plus cooked veggies and fruit. I would easily eat 3-5 lbs of potatoes those days.

You keep asking how much you should eat. The reason you aren't getting an answer is not because we are trying to hold out on you. Nobody can tell you. There are women on this board who require just 1200cal per day to lose/maintain their weight. There are other women who require between 1800-2700 to maintain their healthy weights. I am one who needs to eat a ton (1800-2700 cals on the rare days i enter my intake into cronometer), and I maintain a BMI under 20.

I eat liberally of veggies (i start my meal with them) and I also eat plenty of starches. I usually eat completely MWL (lots of veggies, intact starches, fruit), except that i eat far more fruit than McDougall recommends. Some days I eat a ton of fruit, especially in the summer. It has not negatively affected me so far, but i am aware of the risks and will alter my habits if i see high triglycerides etc.. Some people find fruit makes it harder to lose weight, or it raises their triglycerides. Only you can figure that out for yourself by experimenting.

You will likely find that starches satisfy you more than fruit did, and you will naturally reach your correct weight if you pay attention to eating to the full satisfaction of your appetite (don't overanalyze this, if you think you're hungry, it is fine to eat....if you overeat a bit, whatever. It's very hard for your body to store unrefined intact starches (ie. cooked rice, potatoes etc) as fat). I eat until i don't want anymore food. If i am craving unhealthy foods, or sugar, or calorie dense items, it usually means i have not eaten enough starches over the past day or two.

I would recommend the following:

1) Stop weighing or measuring your food. Stop using cronometer for a while. Cook up plenty of brown rice, potatoes, or whatever starch you love. Stock up on plenty of vegetables and eat as many of them as you want to. Eat fruit that you love, as needed to keep you satisfied for now. Eat when you're hungry and stop when you feel satisfied and comfortable. Repeat the next time you're hungry.

2) Start your meals with veggies, raw are especially filling and take a nice long time to chew, and then follow it up with enough starch to fully satisfy you.

3) In two weeks, weigh yourself and see where you're at. If you're satisfied with the loss and are also satisfied with your food, continue on. If it's slower than you'd like, post your menu here for some advice, or just increase your veggies. By doing that, you'll fill your belly more and have less room for starches. The only caveat is that you must allow yourself satisfaction...if you fill up on only veggies and neglect starches, you will likely feel deprived and will end up overeating on calorie-dense foods at some point.

4) Get Jeff Novick's DVD on calorie density and read all his threads on the topic. IMO, the calorie density concept is the single most helpful tool for losing weight without counting anything. It is also great for people who require a lot of food to feel satisfied. You are in control. By simply adjusting the calorie density of your diet, you can tweak things until your rate of weight loss is acceptable to you, while also allowing yourself to eat to full satisfaction.

5) Lastly, be wary of processed foods, flour products (even if oil free), sweeteners, dried fruit, and even puffed products (rice cakes, popcorn). For many people, these foods are too calorie dense and will stall weight loss. They are generally very easy to overeat on, especially for a volume eater.

6) McDougall has a great article on the volume eater which you might find helpful.

Good luck!
lfwfv

Omg lfwfv...thank you for alll that!!! It is soooo wonderful to hear everything you said!!! It makes me soooo happy!!! I am ennjoying fruit still but I have lowered it a ton compared to my previous way~o~eating and I gotta say my tummy feels lighter! Weird I know!!! But I hope to increase it too in the summer! I am very satisfied with these yummy taters! I cannot believe how long I was denying the urge to eat cooked veggies, let alone starch!! I love veggies!!!
Btw, does your name stand for something? it looks like low~fat~??~??~vegan??? Just wondering? Where you a 811 low fat raw vegan before this too???

lfwfv= low fat whole food vegan

No, i have never been raw, but I do have some digestive problems, and bananas were often my go-to, feel good food- cheap, satisfying, tasty, and easy on my intestines. I love them frozen as well. Bananas and yams. I eat far less of both of those foods, now that my digestion is better. But i also go through periods of eating tons of apples, or tons of melon in the summer. I just like fruit!

Too much fruit can definitely leave one bloated and heavy. Starches seem to satisfy with a lot less bulk.

And if you feel the need to just chomp and chomp, i would favor raw veggies (carrots, cucumber, peppers, celery, romaine lettuce etc.) to fill you up instead of overdoing fruit or starches. I think a lot of us have those days when we just want to feel really full. No need to deprive yourself, just choose low calorie veggies and you won't have to feel deprived or overfed.

Good luck!
lfwfv

Yupper... upped my veggies today! Even though I still crave apples! But I ate my two in the morn! and the sweet pots satisfied me tonight I think I will make some herbal tea now, with stevia! Hope that's ok???
Wow just yams and bananas! I actually like the idea of simplicity, if I knew it was ok...i could totally live on taters and apples!! i know not practical though
Nice name!