So so so frustrated!!! 21! And 220lbs!

[Vnun42]

Well I'm new to this website! My sister and I started this journey of the starch solution as soon as I started I ate all the foods dr.m wrote about stayed clear from all things he said no too. For 3 weeks we did this I started to notice I was getting a tummy but I chuckedbit up to bloating but in the end I couldn't deny it, it was actually belly fat. I went to weight myself 3 weeks in to the doctors I was a whopping 220!!!! When I started I was 214. My sister as well was experiencing the same results she has belly fat and her whole life always has had a flat tummy. I did Dr.Furmans plan before eat to live but I was always starving! I did loose an extreme amount of weight but I hatedbit so when I found dr.mcdougal I was so happy! With that being said someone set me straight! I honestly hate lo carb diets I always gained back the weight in heaps. help!

[Ltldogg]

First off, 3 weeks is not nearly long enough to gauge results; especially if you are coming from a starvation background. Secondly, please post everything you eat in detail so we can help you determine what foods are not on plan. Lastly, how is your digestion? Are you experiencing lots of bloating, gas, odor, infrequent BMs, etc?

[Vnun42]

Usually 1 cup of oatmeal with any fruit usually a banana for lunch I usually do beans with two 3 yams or potatos for dinner usually 3-5 potatos in wedge formation with ketchup. I came from a back ground of eating the bodybuilder diet which was ground turkey with veggies 6 times a day in small portions it was incredibly unhealthy. So after I chose to take the vegan diet eating in abundance dr. Furman style which helped a lot then I started noticing my body wanting to binge eat so I did and I gained a horrible amount of weight which as completly unhealthy. Now I'm trying to do it the healthy way, but it's scarring me too see I'm having a tummy. My digestion is on point! I go to the restroom twice a day, (tmi) I drink at least 2-3 liters a day.

[Ltldogg]

You did not list any non-starch vegetables (minus the ketchup). Could you please list a day's worth of foods you eat, with portions sizes (estimates are fine)? Also list any condiments, spices, added sugars, fats, drinks, etc.

[roundcoconut]

Yeah, vnun, can we just adjust your mentality ever so slightly? I think you'll be fine, and I'm glad you're here, but I think you'll be happier if we can get you to a good place emotionally, and this will all work better if you're coming from a settled place of deciding which choices to make from here.

So, OK. You're 21. You've been fed a lot of stupid ideas about food and about eating, and that's totally not your fault, but here we are and there's a bit of cleaning up to be doing. All the decades that you learned to have a fearful, panicked relationship with food and a negative, unkind relationship with your body -- that doesn't have to be the case anymore.

I think it's nice to start thinking of your body as something that's really doing it's best for you. No matter what you've done for it, and to it, it's trying to be good for you, look good for you, and feel good for you. It also very much wants some regular care and attention.

So, deciding that you'll take at least a few months to detox it from heavy, toxic foods is a loving act. Deciding that you'll figure out a good food environment for your body, and implement that, is also a loving act. I don't mean that you'll decide some macronutrient ratio or some such nonsense, but that you'll determine whether your body likes oatmeal in the morning or something else, whether you enjoy eating your breakfast on the couch or at the counter, whether your usual cup of coffee really works within your new paradigm or not.

And as much as you can, just say to yourself "I'm so so so motivated! 21! And 220 lbs!" 21 is a good age. 220 lbs is just fine, and nothing to be rude to yourself about. Those are just facts.

OK, and we can help you decide some doors you may want to walk through from here -- try making your plate look like this, try making your meal times look like that. That's easy -- we can do "plant-based intake technicians" all day. So let us help you with that part too!

Kind wishes. We're here to help!

[Vnun42]

Thank you guys for your responses
You guys are too kind!

Breakfast
Cup of oatmeal with some frozen fruit handful of blue berries or one banana
If I don't have oatmeal I probably have 2 1/2 cups of hash brown with ketchup maybe about 3 tbs

For snacks I usually do a banana but I hardly do have snacks just to the fact that I'm full

For lunch and dinner are pretty much the same these are what I've had in the past.
2-3 potatos with 1 can of chickpeas no salt added, I make lentil soup with loads of veggies no salt added maybe some bay leaves, pepper, cayenne pepper and garlic powder (probably consume about 3 1/2 cups of this soup)
, rice i usually do brown rice occasionally white rice and beans with corn and peas is another option when i do have this I probably consume a cup and a half of the whole mixture of rice beans and veggies. I use a lot of canned beans from whole foods without salt. Or I will have whole wheat pasta with a side salad I usually have two servings of this in a big plate. I honestly eat as much as I want due to the fact that I don't want to fall into a eating disorder, having a mentality that it's too much food I'm eating. I basically eat until my mind saids I'm full.

[Ltldogg]

Hey Vnun42,

You are doing great so far and you have just started this WOE. I would recommend you read through the following thread:

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=7828

This is posted by Jeff Novick, the local nutrition expert. In that thread he has multiple threads linked to cover all topics, including calorie density, time and adherence and protein. One thing I noticed is you are eating high levels of protein, especially from the amount of beans/legumes. That is not recommended as excess protein is bad, plus beans and lentils are at the high end of calorie density for this WOE. I believe the advice is to heat 1/2 to 1 cup per day of beans/lentils. I would replace any excess beans and lentils with more potatoes and whole grains.

I hope this info helps! Keep at it; time and adherence!

Cheers,
Scott

[Vnun42]

Omygosh now that I think of idk where I picked up the idea of eating a lot of beans! Actually I would center all my meals on beans. Okay thank you for this advice! Hopefully I will get back on tracks!

[deweyswakms]

I am so glad you are here. 4 yrs this summer (I'm 68, some could say a slow learner but I truly knew no better) since I have been on this plant strong whole food way of eating. You are at the right place. It takes time to unlearn all that we knew before, and to find new ways of eating (WOE). In these 4 years I started at 221 lbs and am now at 194, moving toward 190 and then to 180. It has taken me time - wish I could lose it as fast as some other people do - to learn what works for me. It takes time to lose the taste for sugar, oil, fat, salt. Plus I have my moments of cheating, emotional eating, etc. Whatever, the most important thing is to be KIND and GENTLE with yourself. I set my intentions each day, so I know what I will eat. When I'm busy, out and about and get hungry, I tell myself that I have good healthy food at home and I can wait to eat there. Yes, you will be doing more work in the kitchen. You are going to become a good cook and sous chef! You won't eat fast food anymore. You won't eat out much at 1st because there are too many temptations, unless you are at a vegan restaurant and make sure they don't use oil etc.

Eating this way is really easy. I LOVE Jeff Novick's fast food approach. I lost about 4 lbs recently when I moved to eating about 2 lbs of vegetables a day and 1 lb of starches, plus grains, nuts and seeds. I'm now focusing on eating 2 or 3 kinds of greens a day, great nutrients, and so very filling.

Take your time, practice, try something new every week or two. It will work, and you will be so impressed in 30-60 days.

[Vnun42]

Honestly thank you thank you thank you all for your replies! Yes! I think what discouraged me the most was the fact of loosing hope. Lost of motivation. I truly want my mother to know that she can live without pain and off her blood pressure medication but I have to show her how healthy I can be with this mcdougal lifestyle. Also for my sister that's recovering from a eating disorder. I'm extremely thankful for you guys helping me not get to upset and be hard on myself. I will be updating and hopin. I become a star mcdougal!

[Trish]

Hey there... GOOD advice, especially about responding to yourself with care and concern AT your current weight.. you will lose on this program, it is impossible not to do so, but it takes different amounts of time. Also if you have been eating the lo-carb way, your body will respond initially to carbs with water retention throughout your tissues that looks like weight gain.

Yet even with that, it seems that you may be consuming too much high caloric density food. A central part of the MWL way of losing excess weight is to eat low caloric density, but high bulk foods -- green and yellow veggies, non starchy but filling, and then to add in some starches so that your hunger is satisfied otherwise it all exits your stomach too quickly! Sorry for the detail, spraking of "excess" , and I don't see many green veggies for the most part?

Ideally, your plate should be split in half, half green/low density veggies, and half starch, legumes limited as you do not need that high a level of protein and they are calorie dense.

I have lived the body builder low carb way as well, and that shift away from protein STILL seems odd but 5 years later, I have more energy than ever and I have lost no appreciable muscle or strength. Sooo... the 6 meals, high protein does not seem necessary for fitness, to say the least!

I have also found with this way of eating that weight loss is very unpredictable for me, literally a month ago I went UP 3 lbs and wanted to be quite mad about it... at who, who knows? But because this IS a way of life, and I do want to lost the 20 lbs and BELIEVE in this way of eating, I did not go off mad and "eat anyway, it doesn't matter" because it does... 2 weeks later, those three and another two came off. I was totally shocked. I have been fighting to lost this weight, since menopause. Even though I am within a healthy range of weight, I have never weighed this much and don't want it. Fighting, in stead of losing, and having too many "doesn't matters".

SO, be excited, you will become healthier and freer from the ways of eating that got you here, your metabolism will normalize, and you can move it along more easily with the half and half plate, with not eating until you are hungry and stopping when you are comfortable (NOT "full"... you should be hungry for your next meal when it's time).

I look forward to following your journey!!

[roundcoconut]

Trish and deweysmakms, I loved what both of you wrote. Really, really good advice!

Yes! I think what discouraged me the most was the fact of loosing hope. Lost of motivation.

I love hearing that you're in a better place emotionally! As much as I can, I want to encourage you to aspire to having a good relationship with your body, with food and with yourself -- not just an external change. I would think the whole project a tremendous success if you were able to make those relationships positive.

There is so much shallowness and bodyshaming in our culture, and I think that deserves its own attention. Author Marc David on body image:

Let’s get on the same page and agree on one thing: body image is a pretty tough place for a lot of us. There's a lot of people who simply don't like their own body. There’s even more people who don't love their own body. To state it another way, there's a huge amount of people who live in a constant inner conversation of body hate. Women especially are vulnerable to this though I see it more and more amongst men.

When I say a constant inner conversation of body hate, I'm talking about incessant and silent self-criticism, self-attack, self-judgment, negative statements aimed at self, feelings actually even of disgust for one's own body or body fat or specific body parts, and so much more. I think this is one of the biggest and most shocking and most unfortunate mental pastimes that people can engage in in get caught up in.

What I mean by that is it crushes the soul. In robs us of our power. It drains our energy. It has us wasting our time in over-exercising. It has us wasting our time in foolish diet strategies. It stops us from being more intimate with others. It inhibits the flow of love. It weakens us. It slows our personal development and it attracts to us the kind relationships that often wound us. And it's likely going to be a damaging legacy that we pass on to our children.

The rest of the video (from which the above quote was taken) is here. See if it resonates!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88lygyitvqc

[Trish]

Great video, roundcoconut, thank you for the link and a very powerful passage, about females and body image. Been a lifetime struggle for me, only recently in the last decade mostly released. We are trained to be so critical... my early training, trained me right into an eating disorder where I could not GET too thin and my hunger actually disappeared altogether (anorexia) and I thought that was a GOOD thing, except it would cycle into binge eating of sugar. What a MESS!

McD has taught me how to eat for health, and the result is that the body will take care of itself. Not that this weight loss is not work, because it is work to change a mindset and stick with it when discouraged, but it's work I needed to do.

Thank you for your always thoughtful and informative responses on this forum!

[DWu]

Hey Vnun42,

Here’s some more background on why limiting beans is recommended.

Our bodies don’t store extra protein. So if we eat more protein than our bodies use, it needs to be eliminated. This extra protein is filtered from the blood by our kidneys for elimination.

So as we eat more protein, our kidneys increase their filtration rate, which results in higher pressures in the kidneys’ filtration system. Over time, this high pressure permanently damages the kidneys’ tissues, causing you to lose your kidney function.

Beans are one of the higher-protein plant foods – they’re about 28% protein.

That’s why Dr. McDougall recommends limiting beans to an average of 1 cup a day. For example, one day you may have three cups, and none for the next two days.

https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2003nl/030300purestrictprotein.htm

Nathan Pritikin also recommends not eating them too often (which he considers to be three times a day), because of the same reason - you’ll eat too much protein. He says once a day in small portions (although he doesn’t give a specific amount), or three times a week is fine.

https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/education/podcast/nathan-pritikin/

So whether it’s eating a little bit each day, or a larger amount every few days, they seem to be in agreement.

Finally, if you want to minimize gas, Jeff Novick recommends limiting beans to 1 cup a day as well.

https://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10054

Hope this helps.

[FitTrey]

Three weeks is still very early days. It is really unlikely that you gained 6 pounds of fat in three weeks on the foods you listed. It would take 21,000 excess calories to make 6 pounds of fat; spread out over 3 weeks would mean consuming 1,000 excess calories every day of those 3 weeks.