Discussion Board

(I also placed this on the starMcdougaller's section as well)


I have been strictly and happily doing the Mcdougall plan for about 9 weeks and doing good overall with it and dropping weight at around 1.5 lbs a week. I do around 25 minutes of moderate running 5 days a week and do body weight exercises for muscle building. Things are changing and I'm even growing a nice amount of muscle on the plan. However, there have been a few times I have felt bad. I figured maybe too few calories, so I have been pretty good about keeping them up to around 1800-2200 calories a day.
2 days ago, I had this feeling going on in my brain like I was super thirsty, but, it turns out that's NOT what it was. I kept drinking insane amounts of water and the feeling did not subside. It's hard to explain, but it was only in my brain I felt something was missing, my throat was not craving water, at all. After feeling so horrible I could not function,at all, and not knowing what was happening, I went to a buffet and I decided I would break the diet to just load up on TONS of calories including fat as a kind of possible "remedy". I did not eat this food because my willpower snapped. I truly have the attitude that I would almost rather be carried off in a body bag than give up on my diet. I don't screw around with diet discipline and I was NOT mentally struggling with the plan. In fact, I love it. I ate all this junk because it was either eat this or probably end up in the emergency room. It was that bad. I probably ate, during that meal, around 2300 calories-plus and it was almost ALL fat. I had pizza, lasagna and even chicken and just gorged on it in order to end this awful feeling. Within 15 minutes, the crappy feeling was MUCH better. Within 75 minutes, it was totally gone. The next day I felt OUTSTANDING and today I do as well. I kept eating extra fat and it seemed that was supplying my brain with something I may have been missing. I just don't know. I love, love the Mcdougall plan but is it possible I need to up my fat intake a bit here? There is no denying it made a HUGE improvement. Also, I don't see how just eating more carbs would have helped since that day, I was eating TONS of starchy carbs..mostly huge bowls of oatmeal, potatoes, dates and yams and it seemed to not help at all and in minutes I felt better after the fat intake.

Any feedback would be so appreciated.
thanks

Had you thought of adding a few nuts or avocado?

I had a similar experience after about a week my first time McDougalling. It knocked me for a loop and like you, I took a nosedive into whatever I could find. Fast forward...next time the changover happened with much more ease. Stayed 100% compliant for about four months then had some scary health issues that required testing. I fell back again. Ok, one more fast forward. After a year and two major set backs, I am very very content on this WOE. I have a clear head (no foggyness at all), I sleep well, I heal well, my anxiety is much less, I am losing weight, I have more energy and I love not having to figure out and pick and chose what I should or should not put in my mouth. It's easy and comfortable and routine and I love it. My home is McDougall friendly.
But if I were to feel 'off', then I might try for a short period of time adding some plant fats..like avocado, or pumpkin seeds or nuts. You can take in quite a bit of fat that way, if that's your goal.

Yup! That is what I am going to do. Get a higher % of omega's in for a while and play with that a bit. I am pretty certain I was MAXED OUT on carb in take when that occurred and I feel a lot better. Now I need to just do it with the stuff you said, nuts, seeds, avocados. I am quite sure that's what I need. I know Joel Fuhrman talks about that not getting too "fat phobic". I think I need to do what you said.
thanks

You say most of your experience is in the brain.
Have you considered what you felt might be withdrawals?
The SAD diet is quite addictive both physically and psychologically.

Dr Barnard has a great video -
Chocolate, Cheese, Meat, and Sugar -- Physically Addictive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VWi6dXCT7I

I noticed in the s-mcd post you said you know you don't have diabetes because of McDougalling. Based on what?

You or anyone could have diabetes and be a McDougaller:-)

Might be good to have your A1C checked if you haven't. Don't know if you've mentioned your age, but for some people Type 1 Diabetes shows up in their 20s.

I wish you well!

Thanks. I thought it could be that, at first, but, as I said, the issue TOTALLY vanished when I gorged on that fat. It was NEVER thirst to begin with. I only thought it was. It was an odd feeling in my brain that felt like thirst, but it was not. It was just plain weird..haha...
In less than an hour, the issue had dissolved away to nothing after eating the fat, so, i have a feeling I may have been severely depleted of something. I know Dr Fuhrman recommends everyone take in a little omega daily and I did that today and I honestly feel better than when I was doing pure Mcdougall. That's the truth. Oh, and I've only had very normal amounts of water as well.

What you describe is nothing knew to millions of people. How many issues have I made totally vanish after gorging on a quart of ice cream? All of them!! Except my ever expanding girth and ever deteriorating health.

Addiction is a cruel thing.

-Norm

ha
The gorging on the fat was necessary. I thought I was going to end up in the emergency room. It was like an "extreme" treatment to reverse not passing out. Today, I'm back to my normal 1800-2200 calories, but, with a little omega added in and I feel way better.

Did you ever think that it might really just be in your head? I'm not being mean...I've had a few times where I started to think about all the fatty food that I'm not eating, and I could feel myself physically start "needing" something fattening. I was able to stop myself and realize that I just need to eat (McD friendly balanced meal)... then I felt better!

I hope this gets better for you! You can do it!

McDougall has never advocated not getting omega fats! Omega 3 and 6 fats are essential! Jeff Novick has several posts on this topic. You can get them by following a low-fat diet. Despite eating a lot of veggies and MWL most of the time, I still add 1 Tbsp of ground flax per day or I end up low on essential fats per cronometer. You can check your intake on cronometer. You don't need to eat a lot of fat, but you do need to be sure you're meeting your needs for omega 3's in particular.

I have had the very same experience. I am one of those people who does feel better when I eat a little meat. I do really well on this WOE most of the time, but I find myself getting just the way you describe and feeling not quite right. A little meat solves the problem. And yes, I eat my oatmeal every morning and my flax. I work really hard at avoiding the meat, but it is very hard for me ... especially when I know a little meat will make me feel so much better. So, I have no answers. I keep working at it ... it is hard and such a struggle. Everyone says it gets easier over time, but I am not there. I do really well for a long time and then I lose it. The past 6 weeks or so, I have not been doing so well -- I am completely on board for about 2 weeks and then I fail. I am weak. I keep working on it.

Sharon

[quote="lfwfv"]McDougall has never advocated not getting omega fats! Omega 3 and 6 fats are essential! Jeff Novick has several posts on this topic. You can get them by following a low-fat diet. Despite eating a lot of veggies and MWL most of the time, I still add 1 Tbsp of ground flax per day or I end up low on essential fats per cronometer. [quote="

Yes, I do know that, but it seems a touch more may help me. I know Dr Fuhrman says some people do better on up to even 30% omegas. I'm not planning on going that high, but, I think even some avocados and nuts or possible a plant based omega capsule may help me. Today, I probably had around 16% Fat instead of my normal 9% and I seem to feel a bit bitter on 16%. The issues that sent me into that tail spin are not at all around and I know that 16% omega fats is still very low and I feel quite a bit better. More of a "complete" kind of feeling. That's just me. I wish the simple McD plan of like 9% fat worked perfectly, but 16% feels considerably better for me.

Maybe it's not fat -- maybe it's iron that's low? Hmm, I will have to do some research on that.

Sharon

the stars will educate you....
harry