Discussion Board

I am not a star mcdougaller but I have an idea. I hope the stars will join in soon. I say just jump in. You don't need a big windup for this one. It's not scary. It's just eating. Here is a sample of day one:

Shopping list for the things you don't have on hand:
Oatmeal (original NOT instant and NOT packages)
Frozen Fruit
Apples
Frozen spinach or Kale or fresh
Sweet Potatoes
Zucchini
canned beans (or dry lentils)
Brown Rice
Lettuce and salad fixings
a nice vinegar, some maple syrup and mustard
Rice Cakes

Tomorrow eat according to the plan. Here is a suggestion:

oatmeal and fruit (and a sprinkling of sugar if needed)
and separately cook a bowl of spinach or kale (shake of salt if needed)

apple for a snack

Lunch- sweet potatoes, cut up steamed zucchini and some canned beans (or lentils)

Dinner- brown rice and left over beans or lentils, big salad with a dressing made of 3 T vinegar, 2 T maple syrup and 1 T mustard and 1 T H20.

Rice cakes for a snack

Oatmeal in the evening again if hungry.

Get dr McD books or CDs and read read read and watch watch watch.

Riva

Thanks Riva for the information. I am not a Star McD'er either, but I approached this lifestyle from the other end of the spectrum. I wanted to finish reading The McDougall Program before I made the commitment. I used a transition period of 3 months (much longer than needed), figuring it was easier to start the 12-day program in the new year (2012).

I found it beneficial because as a family man there would have been no way I could have put this way of eating in front of my wife and son and have it be acceptable from the start. Little by little I introduced new foods and flavors and took out old ones.

The other problem, the pantry. Way too much food that shouldn't have been in there that could have cause me to nibble at. Thankfully I didn't and the transition period worked well in my case, allowing me to learn about the reasons behind starch and McDougall.

Regardless of how one starts, starting is the important first step.

After my husband's heart attack, we jumped in with both feet. Our son and I understood the general recommendations and cleaned out the kitchen while Maury was in the hospital. I distinctly remember standing in the middle of the kitchen, every cupboard basically empty, my son turning to me and asking, "What are we gonna eat now?" I shook my head and said, "No idea. But we've got to make this work."

Ten years later... it worked. We read every book, purchased every McDougall cookbook, and (most importantly) we got every DVD and watched two sessions each weekend (Saturday morning and Sunday morning) to get an education fast.

We afforded this by purchasing the first books used, then using the prescription drug money to finance the others as his post heart attack drugs dropped off. To this day we figure we have an extra "kitty" to purchase educational materials. Someday we'll build up enough to actually attend a McDougall event.

As Jeff says, "Health is our greatest wealth." We treat our health that way today.

Our story,

Beth

Yes, Ultimately, it requires putting your toes in the water! The good news is even if you make mistakes you will be eating better than before and you allow the learning and experience to begin. A lot of this program is getting into a rhythm with your food. Finding favorites and developing a list of foods you can prepare that you know will work for you will come with time. Also you will reinforce that it's not nearly as bad as you might think it might be. I latched on to it in around 30 days to the point I stopped worrying about what I was going to eat. My wife seemed to transition faster in terms of what went together with what. Her cooking skills helped a lot. But it was even fun discovering new things to try and experiment with. It's a lot like moving into a new house in a new neighborhood. You start without knowing the streets, the people, and what is around you. Before long you are navigating pretty well.
There are a lot of people that can show you around here on the forum. There may also be people nearby to help. We have a small group near me and they are a wonderful source of help.
f1jim
f1jim

I totally agree with Jim. Every time we've tightened the program, the results are amazing and well worth the change.

Beth

It is always so interesting to see different peoples approaches and all of them sound good.

I have been involved in this for many years. some ups and downs for sure. But even my downs get better and better.

The mind is so strange. Even after all these years and books and DVDs and all....every once in awhile I will be standing at the fridge and think, oh shoot, WHAT do these people eat??? As If I am not one of the people as if I forgot all I know. Then I take a deep breath, get out the brown rice, open a can of garbanzos and I'm content.

Riva

I know what you're talking about! It's strange how now food is just... well... food. No rush. No buzz. Nothing but tasty goodness. So yeah, I often find myself simply nuking a potato, whipping up a salad and realizing that food is fuel, not a psychiatrist or drug.

It was a big realization for me, one that I occasionally still struggle with (after ten years).

Beth

When we want to make big changes in anything, the hardest part is always the 'starting' part. After that it's not so bad.

Hooray for this thread. I posted a question on the Ask A Star about the same thing...feeling overwhelmed about starting. Please everyone jump in and let me get some ideas. I've already starting plotting breakfast/lunch/dinner meals already. Hubby and I had a really good talk about this at breakfast this morning. I read out of the MWL book some of the pages covering Chapter 12, especially p 126-127, 131, 137, and especially p 138 "The Mother Of All Excuses, And It's Solution". Hubby is the one on all the meds but I'm the really keen one. Hubby is very interested in feeling better, and we are talking about it a lot. And I'm telling him about stuff I'm reading on the forums. It's all looking good to go for both of us!

PS Hubby is up on the roof, but when he comes in for a cuppa I'm going to read this thread out to him.

One evolves in cooking habits. I used to like to cook elaborate recipes and now, honestly, I eat oat meal, sweet potatoes, potatoes, kale, Zucchini, spinach, broccoli, lentils, garbanzos, black beans and apples and bananas and oranges. All in the original form, steamed or boiled with a touch of salt and a sprinkling of sugar on my oatmeal.

My mother and I are visiting a friend in D.C. soon. They are SAD gourmet foodies. She wanted to know what she can have on hand for me for the 4 days. I told her:
3 sweet potatoes
4 zucchini
1 bunch of broccoli
mushrooms
4 carrots
1 onion
frozen strawberries
1 bunch of Kale
and I would bring my own brown rice, oatmeal and lentils because I am picky and buy special kinds from chefshop.com. See, I can be a foody even with my limited plate.

Love to all reading,
Riva

By the time I found out about McDougall, we had already been vegetarian for close to 8 years. I was already interested in removing all animal products from my diet, since I fully believed that my heart was not benefitting from them. Believe it or not, I was introduced to the program by someone on a weight loss surgery message board. Go figure.

As I started reading more and more about this way of life, it all started to click. Although I had been reading and listening to people like Christina Pirello and Dr. Neal Barnard and incorporating more whole foods into my diet, something about the information provided in the way that Dr. Esselstyn and Dr. McDougall presented it all fell into place for me. I needed someone to just tell me "Don't use oil, it's bad for your heart!" Best advice ever.