Questions regarding the food

[cubsfan1961]

I am familiar with the whole food, plant based eating that Dr Campbell promotes and have been doing that mostly for almost a year. Weekends are my enemy for eating out and sweets.

I see where this book is several years old and wondered if some new things that have come out since then are acceptable or not:

I use unsweetened almond milk on my cereal of a morning, is this something you can use?

Also I have been eating kashi GoLean Crunch cereal which has tons of fiber and keeps me full most of the morning. Is this something I can eat? If not, is oatmeal pretty much the only choice for breakfast?

Do you have to follow the meal plan he gave in the book? I don't like to cook at all so my meals are very basic. We might eat a baked sweet potato, some green beans and a salad for supper. I also don't like a lot of vegetables so we eat a lot of the same things over and over.

I do fairly well during the week eating this type of food--lunch is the hardest because I have such a short time to prepare anything and may end up eating a bowl of minute brown rice with salsa on it.

But I have not seen any weight loss at all during the last year, I guess my weekend eating derails it all? I am going to try harder to stick with eating what I'm supposed to for the rest of February and see if I get any results.

[landog]

I see where this book is several years old and wondered if some new things that have come out since then are acceptable or not:

I use unsweetened almond milk on my cereal of a morning, is this something you can use?

I presume that you are referring to The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss book?

If so, you may note that it suggests "Rice milk" (for cooking) and "cereal beverages" (for drinking) as a possible substitute for Milk (pg. 66). Kind of ambiguous. I'm going to suggest that you may be on solid ground, but I'd also suggest that you might ask Jeff Novick, in his forum.

Also I have been eating kashi GoLean Crunch cereal which has tons of fiber and keeps me full most of the morning. Is this something I can eat? If not, is oatmeal pretty much the only choice for breakfast?

Again, I'd ask Jeff, but it looks like GoLean Crunch has some oil and maybe too much sugar. https://www.kashi.com/our-foods/cold-ce ... nch-cereal Personally, I'd avoid it.

On page 10, the MWL book states that "the foods that you should eat include the following: All whole grains and whole-grain cereals..." I'm not a big cereal guy, but there's Shredded Wheat, at least. I hope that others have suggestions.

Do you have to follow the meal plan he gave in the book? I don't like to cook at all so my meals are very basic. We might eat a baked sweet potato, some green beans and a salad for supper. I also don't like a lot of vegetables so we eat a lot of the same things over and over.

Check out My Unprocessed February I think that my meals are very basic and repetitive, too, and not really like the recipes in the book. I will usually microwave frozen veggies and add a starch.

I do fairly well during the week eating this type of food--lunch is the hardest because I have such a short time to prepare anything and may end up eating a bowl of minute brown rice with salsa on it.

But I have not seen any weight loss at all during the last year, I guess my weekend eating derails it all? I am going to try harder to stick with eating what I'm supposed to for the rest of February and see if I get any results.

If you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting the results you're getting. You may want to examine the links under The Ultimate Guide To Free Calorie Density (MWL) Resources and make sure you're eating foods lower in calorie density and/or increase your activity.

I'd suggest that you might start by substituting veggies and potatoes for the morning cereal (just a suggestion). But, make some change! Make it last!

be well,
-dog

P.S. Congratulations from a Tribe fan who attended Games 1, 2, 6, and 7.

[landog]

is oatmeal pretty much the only choice for breakfast?

A cooked cereal is lower in calorie density than a dry cereal.

[kirstykay]

You can definitely undo a good week with a bad weekend. If I were you, I'd do "an experiment" and eat according to a meal plan that you decide ahead of time for your weekend. Do this for 1 month and see if it makes a difference. A food journal would have a similar effect, but pre-planning meals always works better for me. For one month, give up your weekend "treats" and add a 30 minute walk or some other form of exercise. See if it makes a difference.

As far as breakfast, dry cereal will slow your weight loss. I would maybe include it 1 or 2 days a week at most. Oatmeal is a great option and there are lots of ways to prepare it that are MWL approved. But it's not the only thing.
Sweet Potato Beginnings is a MWL recipe that I really love. I think it's in the book, but it's also in the recipe section of this website here https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/educ ... Beginnings
Additionally, I love to eat hash browns and steamed cabbage in the morning with a little ketcup. Sounds strange, but it's strangely good! Or skillet potatoes where I slice potatoes and add onions, mushrooms, garlic, spinach (or whatever veggies you like) is a yummy weekend breakfast. I believe you can also have grits as long as they don't have any butter in them.

I agree with Landog. I have had to tweek the calorie density in my meals. Check out that link. It's full of great info!