Hi all, I am new to this discussion board!
I am very excited to be joining the McDougall way of life, and have great hopes of feeling better very soon. Here is a little background information about me -
I have struggled with both my weight and my health for most of my life. I was a sickly, overweight child and suffered from many manifestations of my poor diet (chronic migraines, IBS, constipation, depression, anxiety, poor immune function, tonsillitis etc). In high school, I suffered from depression and lost much of the childhood weight I had been carrying... then in about junior year of high school I switched from bagged lunch to school lunches and gained about 30 pounds in one winter. I believe my weight rose from about 120 to 150 at that point. Since then, my weight has steadily been climbing. Im almost 25 now and I weigh about 177 lbs (with a height of 5'4"). Not to mention I have been battling Chronic Fatigue Syndrome on and off since 2012, and have been in a constant search for the answer to my health and weight issues. I have always been focused on being the healthiest I can - before I was diagnosed with CFS, I was a personal trainer - I was muscular, but could never get rid of the fat no matter what I did.
I have been on the starch solution for about a month now. I have been receiving B12 injections for my fatigue, and together with the diet change (I was previously vegan since last Jan) my energy levels are rising. I have started a fairly intense exercise program of weight training and cardio. While I'm excited about regaining my energy, my weight really has stayed the same. I cannot express how exhausted I am from attempting weight loss programs and never seeing any results. I have done everything under the sun - Paleo, Weight watchers, Atkins (at a young age), Fast Metabolism Diet, etc. I know I'm not alone when I say that I've never felt right in my skin. I've always felt that I was supposed to be slimmer than I am - I've never experienced feeling completely natural and comfortable in my body and that is truly all I want - to be healthy and trim!
I know I am on the right track to regain my health and heal my CFS - I am however a bit discouraged that I have only lost two pounds on the scale this month. Maybe my body needs some time to just heal first? What do you all think? I'm in need of some encouragement, this has been a hard journey. I am thinking about starting Mary's Mini - what has been your experience with it?
And just to give you an example of a day's nutrition -
Breakfast:
10 oz black coffee (switching to tea)
Oatmeal w/ sprinkle of blueberries and small sprinkle of sugar w/ cinnamon
Lunch:
Mashed potatoes w/ green veggie (no oil)
Snack:
Kashi whole grain vegan crackers
(about 3g fat for a serving... maybe this is too much fat??)
Dinner:
Brown rice w/ steamed veggies
Coconut aminos (no fat) with sriracha
1 cup almond milk (again, there's a couple grams of fat in this... should I cut this out??)
Thank you all for taking the time to read this ... Please let me know what your suggestions are!!