January 2017 McDougall Weigh In Group

[Yomom]

Hey Amanda! I tried Jeff Novick's Italian Pasta Primavera and unfortunately it wasn't my cup of tea. I have some cooked pasta left over and I wanted to make a vegan alfredo sauce to put on it, but wasn't sure if it was MWL compliant. I'm sure the coconut milk probably makes it not, but I thought I would check.

Vegan Coconut Cream Pasta Sauce

½ cup hemp seeds
¼ cup nutritional yeast, adjust as needed
1 tsp. garlic powder (or 1 clove garlic)
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. Italian seasonings
1 tsp. crushed red pepper, adjust as needed
¼ tsp. oregano
1 can coconut milk, refrigerated
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 drops liquid smoke, optional
Salt & pepper, to taste

Your non-MWL sauce contains a whopping 138 grams of fat.
A healthier alternative (although still non-MWL) is Cathy Fisher's alfredo sauce:
http://www.straightupfood.com/blog/2016 ... i-alfredo/

[anne57]

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[Chelspaz]

Chelsea - I dream of finding a delicious coconut milk substitute for curries. That is one thing I really do miss from my vegetarian, but not yet McDougall days. Regarding the olives, they are quite high in fat (like avocados, nuts and seeds and coconut milk). So while healthy, and totally acceptable used in sparing amounts in the regular program, it is reccmomended to avoid them while following MWL. That being said, these are all just guidelines. If a tiny amount of olives is going to make your recipe go from ho-hum to something you'd eat regularly and help you stay the course, then go for it. Same with the pasta. For Alfredo sauce, I tend to use recipes that include cashews and white beans. Katie Mae, who is a Chef Presenter at both the McDougall Program and True North Health Centre has a nice recipe, and you can totally omit the cashews if you are aiming to go low-fat:
http://www.plantbasedkatie.com/vegan-fettuccine-alfredo/?hvid=1k7Zbo

Okay about the olives! As I said, I'm not too huge a fan of them, so I don't think I'll have a hard time staying away from them. Also, thanks for the alfredo recipe and the helpful feedback! I think I will give it a try and I'll let you know how it goes!

[Chelspaz]

Made the Vegetable Risotto and holllly molllly! Adding it to my list of favorites!



Sorry the pic is soo large. Get to see the creamy detail tho.

[amandamechele]

Made the Vegetable Risotto and holllly molllly! Adding it to my list of favorites!

That looks delish. That picture is just the right size.

[amandamechele]

I'm still refining my personalized McDougall plan to get out of my current input-output equilibrium (aka plateau). There is so much information at our fingertips here, I want to periodically highlight it.



Above is one of the many educational graphics explaining calorie density, based on the work of Jeff Novick (check out others at the link below):

https://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=48609#p500426

[amandamechele]

Tomorrow and Saturday are weigh-in days! I look forward to hearing from everyone.
Remember, some weeks are better than others so don't feel discouraged if you are still figuring things out.

Here's what I made for dinner tonight:


They tasted way better than they looked. I just used things I already had in the kitchen. I took 3 pre-baked large russet potatoes and stuffed them with a frozen kale and corn mixture, as well as some green onions and nutritional yeast. I added rice milk, chipotle pepper spice and BBQ sauce and mashed it all together. Then bake for about 30 mins at 375F.

I've made these many times before loosely using the following recipes:
https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/education/recipes/printable-recipe-cards/twice-baked-potatoes/
http://engine2diet.com/recipe/game-day-twice-baked-potato-skins/

[bmccloud]

Down two pounds for the week.

[anne57]

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[GlennR]

Only a half pound down. Still, that beats up.

[Loralei]

No loss (or gain) this week. Still at 132.2 lbs. True confessions, I did eat non-compliant food on Jan. 10th for my father's 92nd birthday celebration.

[fancyfinch]

I have lost 2.4 lbs this week! I thought it would be zero due to a celebratory meal of choc chip pancakes (we bought our first house!) and then monthly lady things (which generally causes me weight gain even if I do nothing, but made me tired enough to be a bit more weak-willed and lazy -- can we say many helpings of toast with gobs of butter and pasta slathered with olive oil?)

I was actually surprised that the pancakes weren't good. And I couldn't figure out if it was the pancakes or my changing taste palate. The pasta with oil definitely tasted weird to me and didn't sit right, and I KNOW that's the oil because that was pretty normal fare for me pre-McD.

I'm glad I had those reactions, so I made a memo to my brain to remind myself of this the next time that it's not worth it and not enjoyable. It's no longer on the 'I can't have' list but on the 'I don't like' list -- WHICH CHANGES EVERYTHING! ...The butter was amazing, though...

Also a good reminder to prepare in advance! I knew my lady time was coming. Next time I know I must take action beforehand to avoid these pitfalls.

Good luck, everyone!

[Nurse_Kim]

Down 4 lbs this week!

[sirdle]

Amazing progress this week! Congratulations to everybody for sticking with this plan... especially:

bmccloud, anne, glenn, loralei, fancyfinch, and nurse Kim! (And all the others who have yet to check in!)

[Asia]

Hey, it reeks in here









...of success!

So many people winning at weight loss in this thread! I'm in! Today's weight is 177 lbs.