Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Bob,

I hope Dr. McD asks you to be one of his "Stars".

It's only natural to get emotional about:

"""THE FACT THAT YOU'VE PROLONGED YOUR LIFE""""

Life is so precious and worth loving. Your choice to be healthy is a good one.

Chrissy

BTW: Would you post all of your very beginning stats against todays,
like weight, bg's, cholestrol's, etc.........anything relevant?

But to be precise, it is more than just prolonging my life, which is good in itself. The real key to me is that I have increased the Quality of my life. I have seen to many people live long lives but crippled by chronic conditions. That is not what I want.

As for my starting stats, I think I posted most of that previously in the Testimonials forum, and you can find them there. But the numbers by themselves don't mean much to me. I have seen people manage their numbers even on a program like Atkins.

Congrats, Bob! This program and others like it truly give people hope, especially when adherents like you have such wonderful results! You were right when you said heart disease seems like a death sentence. Many of the chronic diseases are seen that way--inevitable, incurable, deadly. But a handful of doctors like McDougall, Ornish and Esselstyn have shown that there is another way. People have hope, and most importantly I think, they are able to take action to help themselves. Helplessness and hopelessness can be debilitating.

I just want to add my congratulations and thank you for sharing.

I'm so excited for you Bob. I knew it would show improvement but wow reversal is fantastic. You are a Star. I pray that this opens the eyes of your cardio doc and he starts some research on his own.

I can't say anything that hasn't already been said - you did it - congratulations!

This is such great news Bob. I so much wish that my brother and father who both died very young of heart disease had known about Dr. McDougall. However, I am doing it and will have my first anniversary in two weeks. Thanks to people like you who are a true inspiration, it gives us hope that we can reverse this horrible disease. If only we had been taught as children...
Keep up the good work.

Jessica

Hooray! Thanks for sharing, SactoBob

Congratulations, Bob. There are many people who have the same presentation as you did, who get the same information, yet never quite step up to the plate and do themselves proud. You have earned every bit of that enhanced quality of life.

I'm thrilled for you.

deleted

Let me add my congratulations! It's always so wonderful to hear about success stories and this one is fantastic!

Barbara

Bob, I feel your joy and am so happy to hear your results. You've been a huge influence with this entire board. Congrats to you and thanks to gabagirl, too, for her fine recipes.

Cheers!

Sorry I'm so late with this... That's amazing and inspirational. You should be very proud of yourself!

Some people above have asked for more details on how I managed to get such good results, and the answer is simple - I just eat all I want of the recommended foods. I do take a B12 supplement.

When I first got the diagnosis of Coronary Artery Disease, I did a lot of research. Two programs had documented arrest and reversal of the disease, those of Drs.. Esselstyn and Ornish.

I was particularly attracted to Dr. Esselstyn's program since it was a long term study and the results appeared more dramatic I also came here and saw Dr. McDougall's recommendations - which were practically identical, and I saw some of the Star McDougaller's. I also checked Neal Pinkney's web site (he is from Sacramento). The way to go seemed pretty clear, and I resolved that I would do this program 100%.

My wife decided to join me on the program so that we would be in it together. I had a few questions about some of the foods - mostly reading the labeles to make sure I was eating the correct foods. Even though I thought I understood the program well, I hired Jeff Novick as person coach. He was very helpful. Although I didn't need to use him very often, he was really key on understanding the labels and what was optimal for me.

I bought a number of Dr. McDougall's dvds. Probably the most important were Doug Lisle's (and his book, the Pleasure Trap also). Dr. Lisle's materials promised that the transition pains I experienced would go away soon, and they did.

I resolved that any off plan food were simply forbidden in any amounts, and that i would eat cardboard before I touched any SAD food. I found that there was no problem eating a healthy diet by simply eating from allowed foods and letting my appetite be my guide.

Some of the foods that I personally used a lot were oatmeal, brown rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, lentils, beans, mixed greens, blueberries, strawberries, banana, melons, etc. I resolved not to eat at restaurants since I made a couple attempts and got food with oil or animal products. I have been in the program for 16 months and have not had 16 restaurant meals. That is something I need to change for my wife, but we have not yet found a restaurant that serves what I need and is tasty.

Since I needed to lose weight, I avoided flour products, dried foods, tofu, junk vegan food, etc.

There was really no secret. I just ate the recommended foods, and it is on autopilot now - I don't even think about it. And I enjoy my diet as much as I did before - more since I feel better.

Hi Bob
Thanks for the great information and sharing how you managed this program. It is encouraging to know that people can change their diet when they want to and yes - it can be easy. Most folks (SAD eaters) in my family, etc. just say they can't/won't do it. So they suffer the consequences by remaining on medications that make them more sick.

You are an inspiration. Thank you.

Jessica