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This summer marks our tenth anniversary as McDougallers. We are
not your typical American family, and we are not your typical McDougallers.
My husband and I have 5 children, ages 13, 12, 10, 7, and 5, all
of them McDougall (the verb) and most of them are lifelong McDougallers.
We live in suburban Atlanta, where there aren't many families with
5 vegan children, but then again, we're different in other ways,
too.
How are we different? My children don't eat meat or crave it. They
love fruits and vegetables and can order a healthful meal at nearly
any restaurant. Although I have never prohibited them from eating
any food they like, I have educated them. My friends marvel at their
unwillingness to eat potato chips, ice cream, cheese pizza and other
"junk foods." Even as babies, they have asked, "Is
that sorbet or is it made with cow's milk?" I love to see them
pick up a Frito and say, "Iiiick. that is GREASY," or
hear them beg for mangoes in the produce section. As a result, they
are rarely at the doctor. None of them has ever had a cavity. My
older daughters (13 and 12) have clear complexions and all five
have slim physiques. Their friends are amazed that they "eat
all the time." After 15 years of marriage and 5 pregnancies,
I weigh the same that I have always weighed. I never diet and I
am never hungry, my pants are never too tight to zip, and I EAT,
EAT, EAT. "How are you so skinny when you eat all the time?"
is something that I have grown accustomed to hearing. In fact, I
love to McDougall because I love to eat and I love to cook. (One
thing I love about the McDougalls is they believe in EATING!) My
husband and I work together in a small business that we own. Recently,
I was talking with one of my husband's associates about the seasonal
pressures of our business. He said "Erik [my husband] can take
the pressures of the business a lot better than the rest of us.
His heart isn't going to explode, I've seen how he eats...pizza
with no cheese...he'll live forever." Sure, that sounds like
a pretty unscientific diagnosis, but the truth is, Erik's cholesterol
is 160, pretty impressive for a 42-year-old American guy with a
family history of high cholesterol and heart disease. Ten years
ago, Erik used an inhaler and took oral steroids to control dust
mite and cat allergies. Within weeks of our change in diet, Erik's
allergies disappeared....remarkable since we would never have thought
these unrelated allergies could be affected by diet.
We started McDougalling when I heard Dr. McDougall talk on television
during the summer of 1993. At the age of 34, I didn't yet have noticeable
symptoms of the rich American diet, but my parents did. What Dr.
McDougall taught me about the connection between diet and disease
terrified me because I believed him. My mom and I ordered McDougall
books and tapes, decided we could try the McDougall plan for 12
days with very little downside risk. Starting the plan was easy,
we just followed the recipes and shopping lists that Mary McDougall
handed us on a silver platter. After 12 days, my mother was off
of her blood pressure medicine. Her physician had told her that
there was nothing else he could give her to control it, her blood
pressure was still too high but medicine had no answers for her.
When McDougalling brought her blood pressure into the normal range
after a couple of weeks, quitting the McDougall plan was not an
option. My parents are STAR McDOUGALLERS themselves. At ages 66
and 70, they are vibrant, active, healthy and a walking testimonial
to me.
Soon after we began the diet, my husband said, "Here are our
choices: We can say, 'I believe Dr. McDougall is right...so I am
going to change my life and follow the plan. OR we can say, I believe
Dr. McDougall is right, that I COULD control my health with my diet,
but I choose to eat the American diet anyway and be sick. We don't
have the option of saying that the plan is wrong.'" The choice
seemed too clear-cut and low-cost to us, so we dove right in and
have never looked back.
To non-McDougallers, our life might seem weird. We eat no meat,
fish or animal products and we don't use oils or fats of any kind.
But the truth is, we live pretty much like our neighbors. We eat
out. We go through drive-through restaurants. We entertain. We are
entertained. Our kids go to birthday parties and school functions,
swim meets and banquets. Most of the people who know us, don't know
a thing about the particulars of our diet, though they eat with
us at restaurants, at their home, or come to our house for dinner.
We have a big family and my mother and children and I love to cook.
We rattle around in the kitchen, make huge portions of mashed potatoes
and gravy, vegetables and desserts which we serve for holiday dinners.
Most of our company will never know that the stuffing they ate is
made without animal products or fat in it. We never tell them that
the pumpkin pie is made with tofu, if we did, they probably wouldn't
ask for seconds. My kids' friends join us for tacos and spaghetti
or burritos and veggie burgers and never know that they have eaten
a vegan meal. My daughters love to watch the Food Network and make
healthful versions of recipes that look good to them. We all look
forward to new recipes in the McDougall Newsletter. It feels a bit
like a recipe exchange at a family reunion, except that you never
have to buy cream cheese or Jell-O to make them. My daughter, Caroline,
loves to cook. She recently commented that she thought the recipes
on t.v. seemed pretty easy, "All the chefs do is dump in some
heavy whipping cream and cheese to make their stuff taste good."
How is life most different for a McDougalling suburban family from
your typical American family who eats the rich American diet? Preparation.
That's all. As the mother, I find that a little forethought is the
sum total of my costs to maintain the health of my family. Putting
McDougall soups in my husband's desk drawer at work, looking for
a Wendy's not McDonald's at an exit ramp on a car trip, buying a
travel guide describing restaurant food on vacation, packing lunch
for my kids, filling the back of my car with baked corn chips and
rice cakes to stand in for French fries for sudden hunger pains,
starting the rice cooker in the morning of a busy day to make supper
a snap are simple steps that I take to keep us healthy. I've even
brought a little McDougall to my neighborhood swim meets by talking
some other moms into helping me by baking potatoes and making pasta
salad to serve at the swim meet snack bar. Most of the moms who
have thanked me for the wider range of options have no idea that
we are vegans.
The fact is, rather than finding this lifestyle burdensome, I describe
it as empowering. It's a way to see the world as a little less chaotic
and to take control of a part of my family's life that may seem
more random and uncontrollable to others. No one can promise any
family perfect health, but the McDougalls have proven to us that
it is possible to change your health by changing the way you eat.
They make what may seem like a radical lifestyle change as easy
to make as a new walk through the same grocery store.
The truth is, there are a world of delicious foods and flavors
that satisfy and nourish. Mary and John McDougall have taught us
that eating the right food is simple and rewarding. Our children
have taught us that eating well is all about developing good habits.
My parents have taught us that changing your diet can change your
life forever. Our friends who have started McDougalling since learning
about the plan from us have taught us that there isn't really any
pleasure in eating foods that make you sick and fat. If you are
thinking about starting the McDougall plan, I have some advice for
you. Start. It isn't hard and you don't have to make a 10 year commitment
today. Just decide to try it wholeheartedly for the next 12 days.
Let's face it, you can do ANYTHING for 12 days. Read Mary's recipes
and shopping lists and think of this as a 12 day adventure. You're
probably sick of the recipes you make every day anyway and the "McDougall
12 day plan" found in the book, The McDougall Program –
12 Days to Dynamic Health by John A. McDougall, MD, is a whole lot
more fun than the Slim-Fast diet or the grapefruit diet or the no-carb
diet you tried last year.
If you tell your family and friends about your lifestyle change,
you may get some resistance. That's okay. I have two brothers and
one sister, each of them have families of their own. None of them
are completely committed McDougallers yet, but they all have made
big steps towards health by adopting varying aspects of the diet
into their own lifestyles. My youngest brother and his wife are
on their way to the McDougall Clinic in Santa Rosa next week. In
our family, the McDougalls have 9 down, 2 on their way, 5 who are
almost there and 4 to go. Now that's one heck of a track record
when you consider that when we started, most of my extended family
thought we were totally NUTS. My oldest brother snickered, "I'll
give you a month." This is the same guy who brags today that
he hasn't eaten meat for 10 months. Never underestimate the power
you have to influence the health of the people around you by quietly
making better choices yourself. Don't think it is worth it to change
your life for yourself? What about the others you know? Your example
could be key.
We are so grateful to the McDougalls. My 3 oldest children can
whip up a healthful meal for themselves without help. They are living
proof that the McDougalls have made eating right child's play. Learning
a new way to live and eat is a blessing to your health, and an adventure
in the kitchen. Three generations of my family highly recommend
it.
Dr. McDougall's Comments:
The McDougall Program is all about families and people caring
about each other -- And it only takes the one person following
the program for this "infectious anti-disease" to spread
throughout the family. The McDougall family has known the Christensen
family since they went on the McDougall Costa Rica vacation in
1999. We have known the Alexander family for almost 8 years and
they have traveled with us to Alaska, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama
and Belize. Our family has the fortune to count in the hundreds
similar relationships. Friendships formed over positive issues,
like good health, become lasting, productive and mutually supportive
friendships. What better way to show caring than by having a positive
influence on others?
Many of you who follow a healthy diet have
been frustrated and hurt by criticism of your dietary choices
and by resistance from others to make this obviously overdue change.
Learn from Cheryl's example. She lives her life as a shining
example and is always ready to help people when they are ready
to listen. She knows the truth about good health and is relentless
in her efforts to share it with friends and family – she
never gives up nor becomes discouraged. I encourage you to act
the same way. Someday soon someone you care about will make the
change and you will feel an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.
There is no greater reward than to help other people. There is
no one more important to help than a friend or family member –
someone you love.
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