Do I need a lot of veggies?

[dstewart]

Gwen, most importantly, you can't overeat vegetables. Canned vegetables do typically have a lot of salt, even if they're "low-salt" or "low-sodium," but yes, they can be all right. Here's Dr McD's list of canned veggies: http://www.drmcdougall.com/pack_canned_beans.html

Lani's answer is long and brilliant (teamwork -- Lani and Jeff Novick!). It is a closed system, so to speak. If you follow the priorities, you can eat what you want and you'll get what you need and you won't overeat and you'll lose weight if you need to or stay the right weight if you're already there.

The Dr Pepper isn't helping, of course. It's dense with calories, and a shot of intense sugary taste pleasure (see Lisle and Goldhamer, The Pleasure Trap, to understand what this is doing to you).

Another thing is... really, you can actually come to like things that are healthful but which you don't now like---the fresh vegetables, raw vegetables. I do think it takes some addiction-breaking--again, see The Pleasure Trap to understand this (also Fuhrman's "Eat to Live" has good information on this, with details on detoxification from unhealthful foods you may be habituated to, like Dr Pepper's sugar blast). But once those are overcome, you may find you like some things that you didn't used to like.

[Gwen]

I do plan to get off sugar again, and for good. I've discovered, as Dr. Lisle says, moderation doesn't work, it just keeps the craving alive. So it will take a commitment to do it.

Ya know what is really hard? It's hard to go out to do anything or meet someone at a restaurant without ordering something to drink. I don't want to pay for just water, and everything else is off limits!
But I do order Iced Passion Tea without sweetener at Starbucks, and bring my own packet of Stevia. :0)
I
t's hard, but it can be done.....I know, I've done it before....I lost 100 lbs a few yrs ago, and have gained a little back....and I know it's because of the sweets. BOOOOO
Gwen

[Spiral]

The only "carbs" that you need to be careful with are things where the water has been removed.

Crackers are an example. Even if they are 100 percent whole grain, the calorie density is going to be high. Thus, it's easy to overeat those.

Think of it this way.

Carbohydrates and protein are 4 calories per gram. Fat is 9 calories per gram.

So, how is it that many of our favorite starches have a calorie density of around 2 calories per gram?

Water.

That's why you should avoid chips, crackers and pretzels.

And liquid calories should be minimized.

[djunamod]

Gwen, I've also found that I can't seem to get into eating cold salads with McDougall. I've tried a lot of options for dressings, both bottled and homemade, but haven't seemed to found much of a niche. I think I just like cooked veggies better anyway. I was stressing in the beginning about not eating enough veggies and then just decided I wouldn't worry too much about having to eat X amount of raw veggies and eat cooked veggies and veggie soups (which I much prefer) and focus on those. I usually try to eat some kind of veggie at least with every lunch and dinner but I don't worry too much about amounts. Usually, I have cooked veggies for lunch and a veggie soup for dinner.

Recently, I've started to experiment more with salads but trying to integrate ingredients that are cooked and that I love in them. It could be things like starches (like a cold quinoa or rice salad or corn with the salad) or cooked veggies (I have a cauliflower salad sitting in the fridge now). Somehow I find that putting no-oil dressings (homemade - I hate the bottled stuff) with these kinds of salads works much better for me than with standard all-veggie green salads.

Djuna

[dstewart]

This may be a solution for you, if you want to eat a good amount of raw vegetables but don't like salads, don't like salad dressings. I've never been crazy about eating salads myself--and never been a fan of many dressings.

So I just eat a big bunch of what might be called "salad vegetables." My lunch starts with half a head of romaine lettuce, just washed and laid out to eat whole. I don't bother making a salad of it, I just eat it leaf by leaf. I add to the selection any other leafy greens, such as arugula, watercress, iceberg lettuce, red lettuce, whatever looked good at the grocery store or market recently, really; and I just eat them in leaf, off a plate or out of the bag, not chopped up in a salad. I add about two to four raw vegetables that I like: Red, yellow peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, green onions, carrots, snowpeas, radish sprouts, mung sprouts, tomatoes or grape tomatoes, etc., etc. You can throw in some hummus or baba ganouge as a dip or accompaniment.

Then I'll add in maybe a cup of garbanzos, which I just eat out of the can as is (I'm a garbanzo nut, I admit); or any other bean.

I find this a much better way to eat what for others would be a salad, because I don't have to do all the chopping (I eat most everything whole) or dressing or . . . well, I don't use a fork! There's no limit on any of these foods, and it's like eating a smorgasbord or garden.

I often finish this kind of meal off with something like a McDougall's Right Foods cup, or a baked potato, or tortillas and beans, or hummus and pita... some kind of more calorically dense and starchy food. Then a piece of fruit.

Now, this turns out to be a lot of food in bulk, though of course you can eat as much or little as you want. Eating all of the veggies but the beans, you would find it pretty much impossible to eat over, oh, 125 calories, but it would be filling. With the beans and starch, my lunches are very filling, and usually come in in the 450 to 600 calories range.