Will I really lose weight withOUT restricting?

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Re: Will I really lose weight withOUT restricting?

Postby Mike » Sat Mar 21, 2015 12:18 am

I lose weight quickly at the moment because I started out really obese (BMI 37). But even I find that it isn't completely without restrictions... If I really try hard to stuff myself, I can stall my weight loss, especially if I eat refined foods (whole flours for examples). But to be honest, I eat lots... sometimes, because of my cravings, I need to apply the brakes... but I'm always very satisfied on the right foods!!! Good luck!
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Start: 13 Dec 2014, 126.9 kg
Target: XX XXX 2015/6, 73.1 kg (BMI = 21.75)
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Re: Will I really lose weight withOUT restricting?

Postby frozenveg » Sat Mar 21, 2015 10:03 am

Everyone here has given you some really good ideas and reactions to your question.

I would like to add that cooking ahead and having compliant food always available is a huge component for success. Forget "restricting" and think "available!" Roundcoconut gave you an excellent example of the inner conversation you will now develop with regard to food and your needs. I always make meals ahead that I could have in the fridge at work and at home. This doesn't mean that I am always eating; it means that I am always covered in any situation, protected from situations which my body might perceive as "starving." It means that at 5 pm on the drive home, I can tell myself that I have a delicious sweet potato-black bean chili waiting at home, so I don't need to stop at McDonald's on the way just because I feel a bit hungry. It also reminds me to go grab a cooked potato or two from the fridge to eat before I go to lunch with a coworker, and then I can happily order a plain salad and hot tea at the restaurant.

As you can see, in both of the examples above, I kind of "restricted" myself by not giving in to the very first impulse of grabbing the first available thing, or ordering something off-plan at the restaurant. So there is mental self-discipline, and self-talk, involved in this way of eating! But as far as the foods we are eating on this plan, the key is to eat until we are comfortably full. As roundcoconut mentioned, if your relationship with food is an adversarial one (as it was for me), you may not have a good handle on what "comfortably full" means or feels like. This is a time to pay attention to yourself, to your body's signals, and to be mindful of what it feels like when you eat the food, especially the starch that will be your main dish, your nourishment, your fulfillment. Take some time, eat thoughtfully, feel the sensations of becoming satisfied, tasting the whole natural foods that you are having.

And leave behind restrictions, and with the new whole plant foods you are eating, think abundance!
5'3", 74 YO. Started Jan. 11, 2010
Starting weight: 222.6
Current weight: 148.2.0


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https://www.drmcdougall.com/articles/st ... -rockwell/
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Re: Will I really lose weight withOUT restricting?

Postby roundcoconut » Sat Mar 21, 2015 12:07 pm

sprout92 wrote:Roundcoconut, would you be able to give an example day with approximate amounts that you eat? I am inerested in how you eat and maintain a low healthy BMI. thanks


sprout, I totally want to document a week's worth of meals at some point! It amazes me how we talk and talk and talk on this forum, and yet, I don't *really* know how other people eat on a daily basis -- what choices they make and why. So, I would enjoy putting that out there.

Thanks for the suggestion!
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Re: Will I really lose weight withOUT restricting?

Postby roundcoconut » Sat Mar 21, 2015 12:12 pm

Ltldogg wrote:This is a Starch-based diet, which means at least 50% of your food should be starches. Yes, add the veggies, but remember, you don't need much and more is not better perse. Same with fruit.


Starch can certainly be the largest contributor of calories, without being 50%, whether by how much space on a plate it takes up, or even by the percentage of calories it contributes.

Starch 40% of calories
Veggies 30% of calories
Fruits 20% of calories
Nuts and seeds 10% of calories

I'm not saying this to be argumentative but let's just say I like to be thorough! :) But I guess I am only being hypothetical, because I have no idea what a cronometer would tell me about how I eat.
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Re: Will I really lose weight withOUT restricting?

Postby Wild4Stars » Sat Mar 21, 2015 12:46 pm

I think if you'll read some of Jeff's posts and some of Dr. McD's recommendations you'll find that the 50% is a visual of your plate. Nothing in the program suggests even counting calories much less determining the % of calories from different foods. Half of your plate can be starch, half veggies.
"If your lifestyle doesn't control your body, your body will eventually control your lifestyle." Ern Baxter
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Re: Will I really lose weight withOUT restricting?

Postby roundcoconut » Sat Mar 21, 2015 1:08 pm

Wild4Stars wrote:I think if you'll read some of Jeff's posts and some of Dr. McD's recommendations you'll find that the 50% is a visual of your plate. Nothing in the program suggests even counting calories much less determining the % of calories from different foods. Half of your plate can be starch, half veggies.


Hmm, true enough! I have leaned so strongly toward the Dr Goldhamer rule ("If your plate of veggies doesn't inpsire awe and disbelief, it's not big enough) that to eat an equally large amount of potatoes would be a horrendous idea.

Well, Dr. McDougall *does* say you can go 2/3 of the plate veg if you have trouble losing, so, in *theory* having 1/3 plate be starch is still kosher with his MWL recommendations. But probably not lower than that. And then the side-salad or the fruit isn't part of the plate at all.

Wow, I'm like the crazy one in this thread, who keeps saying crazy stuff that people need to correct. Thanks for the corrections, guys!
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Re: Will I really lose weight withOUT restricting?

Postby Wild4Stars » Sat Mar 21, 2015 1:34 pm

Since the original poster seems to be a newbie that comes from a background of thinking starvation is the way to lose weight I think it's important that they understand starvation doesn't work. We get our satiation from starches.

What made this work for me when Dr. Fuhrman's focus on salads didn't, is because I didn't have to be hungry. If I got hungry I simply ate a potato. Or two. Or three. When I got off the salads and on the potatoes I quit being hungry and started losing weight. It was like a miracle.
"If your lifestyle doesn't control your body, your body will eventually control your lifestyle." Ern Baxter
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Re: Will I really lose weight withOUT restricting?

Postby viv » Sat Mar 21, 2015 2:29 pm

Wild4Stars wrote: What made this work for me when Dr. Fuhrman's focus on salads didn't, is because I didn't have to be hungry. If I got hungry I simply ate a potato. Or two. Or three. When I got off the salads and on the potatoes I quit being hungry and started losing weight. It was like a miracle.


Me too! I tried Furhman for a while when starting out PB, and couldn't maintain it, mountains of veg, and very little satiety. Thank God I found Dr. McDougall and the most powerful message on earth. EAT STARCH! Potatoes have literally been a lifesaver for me, I love them and eat them twice or thrice a day. They are my miracle as well and I still cannot believe that I have lost nearly 50 pounds eating as many potatoes as I want!

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Re: Will I really lose weight withOUT restricting?

Postby JeffN » Sat Mar 21, 2015 3:30 pm

Wild4Stars wrote:I think if you'll read some of Jeff's posts and some of Dr. McD's recommendations you'll find that the 50% is a visual of your plate. Nothing in the program suggests even counting calories much less determining the % of calories from different foods. Half of your plate can be starch, half veggies.



viewtopic.php?f=22&t=47294#p487540

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Re: Will I really lose weight withOUT restricting?

Postby Wild4Stars » Sat Mar 21, 2015 3:49 pm

Thank you Jeff.
"If your lifestyle doesn't control your body, your body will eventually control your lifestyle." Ern Baxter
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Re: Will I really lose weight withOUT restricting?

Postby greenteen » Wed Apr 01, 2015 6:34 pm

Wild4Stars wrote:
graciezoe wrote:I don't think spaghetti squash is a starch, I believe only winter squashes qualify.


That is correct. I don't remember where I saw it but Dr. McD says that spaghetti squash is too low in calories to be considered a starch, it is counted as a vegetable.


Hmm I thought spaghetti squash was a winter squash? Like a butternut?
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Re: Will I really lose weight withOUT restricting?

Postby 000 » Thu Apr 02, 2015 10:05 am

If you're coming from some kind of dysfunctional eating pattern in the past (which is probably many many people who start doing plant based diets), then no, you can't "eat all you want" and expect to lose weight, especially if you are fairly inactive in the exercise department. Outliers obviously exist ("my husband lost 93 pounds in 3 months stuffing his face!" or whatever), but for the most part you will need to be cognizant of what goes into your mouth.

Like you said, this diet is extremely carby with no added fats. The protein is on board with the carbs. It can be easy for many people to spin out of control with the amounts of CHO and get into a binge or volume eating problem.

My advice is to monitor what you are eating with actual logging to get an idea of how much you are eating, what types of foods trigger you to want to eat more, and perhaps monitoring things like mood, time of day or eating patterns, etc. You have a lot of weight to lose, which means it is going to take time, and you want to muster up any tools you can to assist in getting you to your goal. Make it a project.

I made a post on volume eating somewhere on this forum (??the weight loss section I think), so read that to get some ideas. The last thing you want to do is go from your prior disordered way of eating to a plant based disordered way of eating. That won't do you any good.

For internal organ health, this diet is the bomb. You'll heal up many inflammatory states and prevent many possible future diseases. For weight loss? Eh, you'll need a plan. Ad libitum eating isn't a good idea no matter what diet you're on, including this one. They won't tell you that, of course, because it's being sold as "eat all you want and still be skinny." YMMV.

Good luck.
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Re: Will I really lose weight withOUT restricting?

Postby scooterpie » Thu Apr 02, 2015 12:00 pm

000 wrote:Ad libitum eating isn't a good idea no matter what diet you're on, including this one. They won't tell you that, of course, because it's being sold as "eat all you want and still be skinny." YMMV.

Such a good point 000. Even a couple of longtime eaters of the McD diet who post here mention from time to time that they can't eat all they want and still maintain the hard-earned health they've achieved AND the "healthy range" BMI they've reached that they've found is most comfortable for them.

If greenteen is reading--they're both adults--so it's okay for them to shoot for that BMI.
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Re: Will I really lose weight withOUT restricting?

Postby f1jim » Thu Apr 02, 2015 1:00 pm

Molly, this way of eating is not billed as a way to sidestep an eating disorder. Eat all you want is true for those that have a healthy outlook on food consumption. Following this plan should result in a healthy weight for most anyone without outside issues.
Just as flying is billed as a hobby anyone can do it's not going to be inclusive of those with blindness. "But you said it appropriate for anyone?" OK. There are exceptions. Dr. McDougall outlines those exceptions in his talks on volume eating.
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Re: Will I really lose weight withOUT restricting?

Postby Debbie » Sat Apr 04, 2015 10:48 am

The idea behind "all you can eat" to me has always meant, it is extremely hard to over eat for most on whole intact plant foods. Sure, I can take some whole wheat and grind into flour and make a loaf bread and eat about a 1000 calories in one sitting but one would be hard pressed to cook up and eat 1000 calories of the intact whole wheat berry.

The notion to eat all you want comes from not having to count calories, log controlled portion amounts etc. So for instance, I can bake up to say 5 potatoes. With no added fats/oils and other unhealthy items I can eat all 5 or just 2 depending on my hunger level.

So many of us come here from a place of restriction and deprivation. We think to lose weight, we must be miserable, hungry and think something is wrong with us because we are hungry as a result. Choose from minimally processed foods (think whole intact grains etc) eat when you are hungry, stop when you are comfortably full and repeat as necessary.
"It's the food" It's always been the food.
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